I put the blame squarely on A.J.erk Pierzynski.  I think that “hit batsman” rattled RR a bit , even though he had too much class to say so the postgame interview.  Great start nonetheless.  Can’t wait to see what he does next time out.

JP is definitely smiling:

• MLB TOR: 6-2 (1st place)
• AAA LV: 5-1 (1st place)
• AA NH: 4-1 (1st place)

Ricciardi's "smiling" because the Jays are paying him to impart his sage musings to the adoring masses, under the auspices of "Baseball Tonight".

Somewhere... B.J. Ryan's smiling, as well...

Looks Gregg is in

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&hl=286714&id=3745

Anyone know where from?

According to BBRef, Shawn Douglas Bain Bowman is from New Westminster, British Columbia.

I don't think this a productive way to run a starting rotation filled (predominantly) with young starters and I don't believe it's necessarily conducive to finding the best five arms at the AAA/MLB level. I'm on record several times here as saying I would have started Morrow in the minors, but given that Toronto believes he should start in the majors, as Mike Green said you don't pull him after two starts.

I believe that principle also applies to your "3 bad starts" theory. I don't want my young starters nervously watching over their shoulders because they're afraid of having a third bad start in a row (or even a second if they know they're going to face NY or Boston next time out). It may be best to send certain pitchers to the minors for some reason after several bad starts, but with other pitchers it may not. If the pitching coaches have told a pitcher to work on a particular skill/pitch/location (and they want him doing it at the majors and not in Las Vegas) than I don't want that pitcher ignoring these instructions because he fears being demoted. Consequently, if the team has demoted a pitcher to work on a particular skill, I don't necessarily want him promoted if the team does not feel he has made the desired progress.

Morrow may need more time in the minors, but two starts shouldn't be determinative of that. Your philosophy may make sense on a team expecting to compete, but on a developing team it makes little sense, IMO, to manage pitching demotions/promotions with a blanket rule as opposed to performances and development based on individual expectations.

Point taken, but 3 good ones is perhaps an overstatement. Frasor's let the lead runner reach base every inning. You don't want your closer doing that with a lead of more than one run (or a one-run lead, but it could be understandable in that instance). I suspect, with no way of proving it, that if Frasor's other 3 outings had been 1-2-3 innings or had consisted of allowing meaningless 2-out singles the decision to switch may not have been made so quickly.

I think Thomas has a point that had Frasor's 3 saves been quick and clean he might still have a job as a closer, but it should be noted his fastball is down about 3 miles to 91, which I think is enough tangible evidence to move him out of the role. (evidently the Teahen homer was a 93 fastball).

Cito very likely has psychologists working around the clock to determine what ruins confidence more: two blown saves or being demoted to the back end of the bullpen. I think the real irony is that Frasor will be facing the exact same competition in the 7th, in possibly higher pressure scenarios than the 9th.

I think you may be conflating pressure and leverage. Frasor may well be pitching in higher leverage situations, but I think an argument can be made that the players themselves view the 9th inning duties as higher pressure, even if it is a 2-run lead as opposed to a tie game in the seventh.

I agree with the thought. It won't be today, but I hope Cito utilizes that lineup at times. For example, t would make a great deal of sense on days Rzepczynski pitches (once he's back up with the club).

Alex Gonzalez has a 1.036 OPS this year. I wish all our hitters were that boring.

It's not a big deal for Snider to get a night off vs. a LHP, but let's hope it doesn't become a pattern - he needs the experience vs. them at the MLB level if he's going to learn to hit them. I would have preferred to see Overbay, EE, or Bautista take a seat first.

Fred Lewis' career line of .282/.362/.443 would platoon very well with Bautista's .265/.361/.479 in RF at the top of the order. If you're desperate to get Bautista's bat in the lineup, you can also start him half the time at 3B vs. RHP, which would result in him starting around 70% of the games.

Alex Gonzalez's offensive outburst has been a pleasant surprise, considering most of us were just hoping for everyday, steady defense from him. He sure turns on those inside fastballs and whacks them hard, far, and foul.

Snider does this little bat flip when he launches a HR that I absolutely love, and he's starting to look more comfortable out in the OF. There's no reason he can't be at least average defensively, and I'm still not convinced he'd be a butcher in RF.