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JAYS GET LEWIS
The Jays on Thursday acquired speedy outfielder Fred Lewis from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Lewis, who is recovering from a sprained left knee, has a .277 career average in parts of four seasons with the Giants.
SHOULDER WOES
For Thursday's game against Chicago, manager Cito Gaston had to do some shuffling with his lineup as 3B Edwin Encarnacion has come up with a sore shoulder. He was replaced by Jose Bautista which meant there was an opening in right field. Gaston plugged that hole with Jeremy Reed.
"Edwin's probably going to miss a couple of days and it gives Reed a chance to play too," Gaston said.
Encarnacion missed most of spring training with a lingering left wrist problem. In nine games this season, he is hitting .219 with one homer and five RBIs and has made three errors.
VELOCITY DOWN
Because of two blown saves in five save situations, Gaston turned the closer job over to Kevin Gregg who has gone 3-for-3 in save situations. Another minor problem with Jason Frasor is that his velocity is slightly down. He usually throws 93-94 m.p.h. but this season has been throwing 91-93 with more 91s, according to pitching coach Bruce Walton.
FIRST LOSS
Right-hander Brandon Morrow didn't have a good game Wednesday as he gave up seven earned runs including a grand slam to DH Carlos Quentin in the Jays' 11-1 loss. It represented the first loss by a Toronto starter this season and the longest stretch to start a season (9 games) before a starter posted a loss since 1984.
