Chicago has sent pitcher Edwin Jackson, acquired at least year’s deadline, and IF/OF Mark Teahen to Toronto for reliever Jason Frasor and prospect Zach Stewart. The Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly working on a swap that would send Jackson to LaRussa-land for outfielder Colby Rasmus.

Rasmus and manager Tony LaRussa have not seen eye to eye during Rasmus’ time in St. Lou and even some fans have been annoyed at Rasmus’ perceived inconsistency. The deal also is said to involve cash above the $1MM ceiling and would have to be approved by the Commissioner’s office.

Jackson was 7-7, 3.92 in 19 starts for Chicago after going 4-2, 3.24 in 11 starts after he was acquired from Arizona last July. He’s due the remainder of $8.35MM for this season. Frasor will help bolster a shaky White Sox pen after spending his entire 7 1/2 year career with Toronto. He was 2-1, 2.98 in 44 appearances for the Blue Jays this season.

Stewart moves to his third organization in three years. He was the centerpiece of a deal that sent Scott Rolen to Cincinnati in 2009. He was 0-1, 4.86 in three starts for the Blue Jays this season, with 10 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched. after an outstanding season at Double-A New Hampshire, the 24-yr struggled at Triple-A this season, going 5-5, 4.20 in 16 starts.

The 29-yr old Teahen played five season for Kansas City before joining the White Sox the last two seasons. He was hitting .203 with 3 HR and 11 RBI in 51 games.

Update 1:25 pm

Blue Jays and Cards have reportedly agreed on deal; waiting on Commisioner’s approval of cash involved.

Update 1:58 pm

ESPN’s Buster  Olney is reporting the deal would send Colby Rasmus, Trever Miller, Brian Tallet, and P.J. Walters to the Blue Jays with  Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, Marc Rzepczynski and Corey Patterson going to St. Louis. Olney also reports that Miller will be sent to the White Sox to complete the deal made  earlier today.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

“…Yes, Pete, it is. In fact, it’s pronounced “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the good land.”:  In “Wayne’s World” Alice Cooper helped give Milwaukee its most notoriety since “Laverne & Shirley”. But in 2011, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Yovani Gallardo may help bring Milwaukee back to the promised land. No one is saying the Brewers will win a World Series, something the town of Milwaukee hasn’t seen since the Braves took the title in 1958, but the team should be competitive this season with the aforementioned trio at the top of the starting rotation. GM Doug Melvin had to give up highly touted 2nd base prospect Brett Lawrie to Toronto to land Marcum, and then swung four other prospects to KC for Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. The Brewers also added reliever Sean Green to help set up for closer Joe Axford.

Pujols Country: It may take a country to pay Albert Pujols the kind of money he’ll want to stay parked in St. Louis forever. LaRussa just has to hope it doesn’t distract a team that has Wainwright, Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, and Jake Westbrook in the starting rotation. The Cards signed catcher Gerald Laird to back up starter Yadier Molina, inked Lance Berkman who’ll see most of his time in the outfield, and grabbed lefty reliever Brian Tallet to shore up the bullpen.

Chicago Hope: It’s going to be a time for pundits predict the Cubs will dominate the NL Central. None of the predictions over the last few years came to fruition, and the team is not ready for a charge to the top. Gone is long time Cub Derrek Lee with Carlos Pena signed to take his place. The team also reunited with Kerry Wood, who left for a free agent deal after the 2008 season. He’ll set up for closer Carlos Marmol. The Cubs have stated they won’t deal Carlos Zambrano, but that could change in order to either dump salary and/or no longer have to deal with his personality.

It’s spelled V-o-t-t-o: Just in case you were’t sure how to spell the name of NL MVP Joey, who led a baseball revival in Cincinnati this past summer. The Reds won their first division and made their first playoff appearances in 15 years, before being summarily dispatched in three games by the Phillies. The Reds haven’t been very active this off-season, preferring to “dance with the one who brung ya”. They gave their top starter, Bronson Arroyo, a three year contract extension, re-signed catcher Ramon Hernandez and utility man Miguel Cairo, and exercised the option on Jonny Gomes’ contract.

Not quite ready for lift off: The Astros finished 10 games under .500 or worse each of the last two seasons and it’s going to be difficult to improve on that with not punch in the lineup. The Astros dispatched their ace Roy Oswalt to Philadelphia last season and former Phils’ exec/current Astros head honcho Ed Wade may be helping his former team again. Rumors of a Joe Blanton to Houston deal is rumored to be in the works. If so it would give the Astros a decent top three starters in Wandy Rodriguez, J. A. Happ (acquired in the Oswalt deal), and Blanton. The Astros also added lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith, who can work out of the rotation or pen. But outside of Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence there’s not much offense to work with.

They don’t shiver your timbers: The Pirates have a lot of good young talent, but they won’t be looking down at other teams in the standings for quite some time. The Pirates made some small moves that could help new manager Clint Hurdle keep the team’s hopes up in the meantime. 1st baseman Lyle Overbay, pitcher Scott Olsen, outfielder Matt Diaz and corner man Garrett Atkins will try to help out stars on the rise Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Neil Walker.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

Just as they did with Johnny Damon, the Yankees reportedly had internal discussions about Bronx native Manny Ramirez.  Nothing is likely to happen.

The Nationals signed reliever Sean Burnett to a two year contract.

In a minor league deal, the A’s sent Corey Wimbley, who stole 56 bases at Triple-A last year, to the Pirates for pitcher Ryan Kelly. The 23-yr old right-hander spent the 2010 season in Single-A.

Some last minute items on Santa’s gift list

Yankees fans: One more season of watching Andy Pettitte.

Randy Winn: A chance to finally appear in the playoffs after 1,721 career regular season games.

Bert Blyleven: Induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Marvin Miller: Enough sense in the coming year for the veteran’s committee to elect you into Hall next December.

Fans: Reduced ticket prices and better national TV announcers.

Jamie Moyer: Recovery from Tommy John surgery and the chance to pitch into your 50′s.

Nick Johnson: No doctor’s appointments.

Oliver Perez: Regain control.

The Dodgers: No more McCourts.

Bryce Harper: Humility

Stephen Strasburg: Complete arm strength.

Ryan Westmoreland: Complete health and a return to baseball.

Opposing Announcers: A guide to pronouncing the name of the Royals’ Kila Ka’aihue.

Jermaine Dye: The chance to play again.

To BaseballDigest.com readers: A most wonderful, healthy, happy, and safe holiday season and 2011.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and a contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

1999-2000: The Seattle Mariners sent icon and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. to the Cincinnati Reds for Mike Cameron, Antonio Perez, Brett Tomko, and Jake Meyer.

It was the beginning of the end of a magical era in the Emerald City when Junior and Alex Rodriguez were teammates.  For Griffey it was a return to his hometown and team his father won two World Series titles with.  His first season in Cincy was outstanding- 40 home runs, 118 RBI, 100 runs scored, and a .942 OPS.  And of course there was the Gold Glove defense he displayed in centerfield.  But then the injuries started and Griffey was never the same offensive force.  Griffey would play more than 140 games just twice over the final 10 years of his career, which finished where it started in Seattle.

Cameron played four seasons as a Mariner, before leaving as a free agent.  His 16 years in the majors have been marked by solid defense, good power, and many strikeouts.  After two average to below average seasons in Seattle, Tomko was dealt to the Padres and ended his career in 2009 having won 100 games for 11 organizations over 13 years.

2000-2001: The Oakland A’s, Kansas City Royals, and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays pulled off a three team, seven player swap. The’s The A’s got the better of the deal, receiving Johnny Damon and 2nd baseman Mark Ellis from the Royals. The A’s sent Ben Grieve to the Tampa Bayand Angel Berroa and A.J. Hinch to the Royals. Finally, the  Rays sent Cory Lidle to the Oakland and Roberto Hernandez to the KC.

Damon spent just one season in Oakland, helping the team to the final game of the ALCS before falling to the NY Yankees. He then left for free agency and helped end the the Red Sox World Series drought in 2004.  Damon just completed his 16th season in the bigs and is a free agent.  Ellis has been a steady presence on an Oakland team that has seen much turnover during his eight year career.  The A’s recently picked up Ellis’ option for 2011.

Berroa was rookie of the year for the Royals in 2003, but that was the highlight of his career.  Grieve was also a rookie of the year, but his career became average at best when he played for Tampa and injuries led to a premature end to his career at age 29.  Hernandez had the last two 20-plus save seasons of his career in KC.

2001-2002: Cleveland sent Roberto Alomar, pitcher Michael Bacsik, and minor league Danny Peoples  to the New York Mets for Alex Escobar, Matt Lawton, Jerrod Riggan, Earl Snyder and Billy Traber.

In Alomar, the Mets thought they were getting the offensive and defensive force that helped Toronto to two World Series titles. But the then 34-yr old’s best days were behind and he was dealt away on July 1, 2003.  Lawton had three decent seasons for the Indians, but the trade turned out to be a bust for both sides.

2002 – 2003 Bartolo Colon traded by the Montreal Expos with a minor leaguer to the Chicago White Sox for Rocky Biddle, Orlando Hernandez, Jeff Liefer and cash.

With his contract expiring after the 2003 season, Colon was in much demand during the preceding hot stove.  Chicago won out but not before acquiring Hernandez first from the Yankees for Antonio Osuna and a minor leaguer.

Colon won 15 games, threw 242 innings, and led the AL with nine complete games, and then bolted for a contract with the Angels prior to the 2004 season.  The deal was a disaster for the Expos as Biddle and Liefer were unremarkable players and El Duque missed the entire season with an injury and never wore an Expos uniform.

2003-2004: Alex Rodriguez was on the verge of becoming a member of the Boston Red Sox, but the player’s association would not allow him to restructure his contract to complete the deal.  The Yankees hopped in and sent Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias to Texas for A-Rod.

So began a love/hate relationship between the Yankees fans and A-Rod that hit a low nearly every post-season, but hit an all-time high when A-Rod helped the Yankees to their 27th World Series title in 2009.  Soriano averaged 32 HR, 97 RBI, and 24 steals in two seasons before Texas, fearing a big free agent pay day, dealt him to the Washington Nationals prior to the 2006 season.  In the long run, the deal proved huge for the Yankees and A-Rod’s career.

2004 – 2005 The Oakland A’s were perennial contenders at the turn of the decade due to their fantastic starting rotation.  Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito were a force to be reckoned with.  But all that changed in a matters three days.   On December 16, 2004 GM Billy Beane send Hudson to the Atlanta Braves for Juan Cruz, Dan Meyer and Charles Thomas.  On the 18th, Beane sent Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals for Daric Barton, Kiko Calero and Dan Haren.

The Hudson deal turned out to be a bust for the A’s.   Hudson has been a stud for Atlanta, while Cruz was dealt after one season. Neither Meyer or Thomas reached their potential.  But the latter deal worked out wonderfully for the Oakland.  Haren has developed into one of the best pitchers in baseball, Barton is the A’s starting 1st baseman, and Calero was a mainstay of the A’s bullen for four years before injury and free agency sent him elsewhere.  Meanwhile, Mulder won 16 games his first year in St. Louis, but a bad hip derailed his career and he didn’t pitch in the majors after 2008.  Though Haren was ultimately dealt, Beane was able to bring back young stars Brett Anderson and Carlos Gonzalez in a trade with Arizona.

The two deals definitely demonstrate the motto, “sometimes you win, sometimes you lose”.

2005 – 2006 The Red Sox knew that Hanley Ramirez was going to be a star, but when they had the opportunity to get Josh Beckett from the Marlins they couldn’t resist.  Even when Florida insisted that the Red Sox take Mike Lowell as part of a salary dump.  In return for Beckett, Lowell, and Guillermo Mota, the Marlins received Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado, and Harvey Garcia.

One year later, the Red Sox were winning their second title in four years, thanks in large part to Beckett’s pitching.  And the World Series MVP was none other than Mike Lowell.  Ramirez has become a star, as expected, in Florida and Sanchez has been a serviceable starter, though he has also been beset by injuries.  He threw a no-hitter in September, 2006. The deal was definitely a win-win for both sides.

2006 – 2007: At the end of the 2006 season the Yankees realized their deal for Randy Johnson prior to the 2005 season did not turn out the way they hoped. Johnson never seemed completely happy, and though he won 17 games both years, his first year was much better than his second. The Unit’s last season in NY saw an ERA of 5.00 and a bad back.  So that January, the Yankees sent Johnson back to Arizona for Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson, Alberto Gonzalez, and Luis Vizcaino.  Johnson struggled through two more pain filled seasons in AZ before playing one final year in San Francisco.  All four players the Yankees received are no longer in the organization.  Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

2007-2008:  Miguel Cabrera was a terror on pitchers in the National League, but the Marlins knew they couldn’t afford to pay him when the time came.   So the Marlins went looking for buyers and on December 4, 2007 traded Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers for Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz,  and Mike Rabelo.

Cabrera now terrorizes AL pitching to the tune of an eight year, $153.3M contract.  Maybin and Miller were the keys to the deal for Florida, but both were recently dealt after not reaching expectations quickly enough (Maybin) or being continually hurt and ineffective (Miller).

2008-2009: Beane took another big game gamble when he acquired free agent to be Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies for Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Huston Street.  Holliday’s numbers in a half season in Oakland were average due to a spacious ballpark and a weak lineup around him.  He was dealt at the deadline for three prospects, none of which so far have made an impact in the majors (though Brett Wallace was later dealt from Oakland and may get a legitimate shot for playing time in Houston).  Gonzalez has developed into a triple crown threat for the Rockies, while Street has been a decent closer.

2009-2010: Two deals were swung last hot stove that directly affected the pennant races and future in both leagues.  The Blue Jays gave Roy Halladay a chance to finally be on a winner, shipping him to Philadelphia for big time prospects Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud.  Halladay had a perfect game, 21 wins, a CY Young award, and a no-hitter during his first post-season.  Drabek is expected to have a major impact for Toronto, possibly beginning in 2011.  This deal has the potential to be very good for both teams.

The second deal also involved the Phillies as they sent their prior ace, Cliff Lee to the  Seattle Mariners for prospects J.C. Ramirez, Phillippe Aumont, and Tyson Gillies. At the deadline, the M’s then dealt Lee to the Rangers for Justin Smoak, a star in the making.  Lee then helped Texas to the first World Series appearance.  The Mariners and Rangers got the best of the deal, with most pundits feeling the prospects sent to Philly could have been better.

Update 7 p.m.

Dontrelle Willis is giving it another go.  The left-hander signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds and will be used as a reliever.

According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, at least three teams are interested in Jarrod Washburn, who hasn’t pitched since 2009.  The Brewers are said to be one of the team looking at the lefty.

It’s odd to hear a report from Boston about the Yankees free agent offers, but the Boston Globe reported that the Yankees are offering Cliff Lee a five year deal valued between $115M and $120M.   FoxSports Southwest speculates that the Yankees beginning point might be the Texas top bid.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and a contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

WP – Burnett (7-4)  SV – Rivera (21)  LP – Tallet (5-6)

A.J. Burnett heard the boos when he struggled at times in April and May.  There was no mistaking them.  Having signed a major free agent contract, Burnett was expected to win 40 games by Yankees fans.  Okay, not really, but they certainly expected him to pitch a lot better than he did.  But since the calendar turned to June 1, Burnett has been everything Yankees fans were hoping for.

Yesterday, Burnett celebrated his independence from the Toronto Blue Jays a day early with a dominant performance in the Yankees 4-2 win.  The right-hander, who was a member of the Blue Jays from 2006 -2008, fired his fastball past his former teammates in an outstanding 7 inning performance.  Afterwards, Burnett said the difference between his pitching now and in May is the location of his fastball and throwing first pitch strikes.

The Yankees home town home run barrage helped Burnett out with Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez hitting solo shots.  But the game winning 2-run rally, against Jays starter Brian Tallet, was accomplished with just one hit, an infield single.

Tied 1-1 in the 5th, Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter drew back to back walks to start the inning.  Johnny Damon laid down a good bunt along the first base line.  Tallet slipped as he fielded it, enabling Damon reach base safely.

Mark Teixeira earned the third walk of the inning to force in the go ahead run.  Tallet got A-Rod to bounce into a force out at home, but with Cano at the plate, catcher Raul Chavez committed a passed ball that allowed Jeter to score for a 3-1 Yankees lead.

Burnett struck out 7 and scattered 6 hits, including a solo home run by Vernon Wells in the 6th that cut the Yankees lead to 3-2.  He  stranded the tying run at first base when he got Aaron Hill to pop out to end the 7th.

New 8th inning setup men Phil Coke and Phil Hughes kept the Jays off the board for an inning before Mariano Rivera picked up his 21st save in the 9th.

Game Notes

A-Rod’s home run was #569, putting him two behind Rafael Palmiero.

After the game Joe Girardi made it official, Brian Bruney is out of the 8th inning set up role for now.

The  Yankees have their work cut off for them this afternoon when they send Chien-Ming Wang up against Roy Halliday.

At the beginning of the week things were looking up as the team planned to play four games against the Blue Jays and would miss Roy Halladay and then play a three game series against the Manny-less Dodgers.

But as baseball has shown us before things are not always the way them might seem.

Monday: L, 3-6 (33-24)

Scott Feldman took the mound looking to get the Rangers started on the right foot to take game one against Toronto.  Feldman was very effective against seven of the nine Blue Jay hitters, his only problem was Vernon Wells followed by Adam Lind.

Twice in the game Feldman walked Wells and then Lind followed with a two-run home run.  Those four runs would be enough to hold on and take game one.

Tuesday: L, 0-9 (33-25)

Though the Rangers would not face Halladay in this series, they did run into Brian Tallet.  The well travelled pitcher had one of his best outings of his career.

Tallet went seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits and two walks while striking out three.  The bullpen couldn’t do any better as they pitched two perfect innings in relief.

Doug Mathis made a spot start for the Rangers for the injured Brandon McCarthy, who will likely miss about six weeks.  Mathis was solid at times but struggled to get out of jams and allowed five runs (four earned) through five innings.

Wednesday: PPD (due to rain) – makeup set for September 1st

Thursday: W, 1-0 (34-25)

Rangers ace Kevin Millwood and Blue Jays youngster Ricky Romero faced off in a good old-fashioned pitchers’ duel.

Millwood pitched 7.2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing only five base-runners in his efforts to nab the win.  Romero went 6.1 innings, giving up only the one run on five hits and striking out six.

The Rangers notched the one run of the game in the bottom of the second.  Nelson Cruz stroked a single and then moved to third on David Murphy’s ninth double of the season.  The next batter, Marlon Byrd drove a sacrifice fly to the outfield scoring Cruz.

Friday: W, 6-0 (35-25)

Though it took him 108 pitches to get through only five innings, Vicente Padilla did keep the Dodgers off the scoreboard.  Jason Jennings followed with three scoreless innings and then newly acquired Jason Grilli closed out the combined shutout pitching in the ninth.

The Ranger bats came back to life a little from their struggles with a two hits, two double, two RBI game from backup catcher Taylor Teagarden.  Hank Blalock also launched his 13th home run of the season on the way to back-to-back shutouts for the Rangers.

Saturday: L, 1-3 (35-26)

For five innings starters Feldman and Randy Wolf blew through the lineups in a scoreless game.

Then came the delay!  A one hour and 41 minute due to a power outage on one of the light embankments above the seats on the first base side.  After the power company finally got the lights back working, the break was too long for either Feldman or Wolf to return to action.

The Dodgers would win the game in the seventh on a Matt Kemp two-run home run off of Grilli, his eighth of the year.

Sunday: L, 3-6 (35-27)

Even before the game started the Rangers had a difficult task at hand, as their young prospect Derek Holland took the mound against one of the most dominant strikeout pitchers in baseball, Chad Billingsley.

Holland held his own for five innings, except for a third inning mistake that eventually would cost him the game.  He threw a full count pitch right down the middle to Casey Blake who blasted the ball for an eventual game-winning three-run homer.

The Rangers cut into the deficit in the fourth inning when former Dodger Andruw Jones hit his seventh home run of the season and second in the series.

Not only did the Rangers have the rainout on Thursday night and the power outage on Saturday night, but the offense had their own power outage over the week.

In the six games, the Rangers only scored 14 times on 37 hits and other those hits only 12 went for extra bases (8 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs).

The team looks to rebound from their offensive woes with a three-game series to wrap up the Silver Boot with the Astros in Arlington and then travel to San Francisco for three games.

With the 2-4 week and through the games on Monday afternoon the Rangers lead in the AL West has now shrunk to only two games over the Angels (33-29), who are winners of four straight games.  Texas also continues to lead the Mariners (30-33) by 5.5 games and the Athletics (27-35) by 8 games.

The Braves are coming off a rollercoaster ride of a four-game series with the Rockies. After a relatively normal 5-1 loss on Monday, the Braves answered with 8-1 and 12-4 wins. The Rockies then salvaged the split with a 9-0 win on Thursday. The Braves continue to sit at .500 (20-20, 2.5 out).

The Blue Jays continue to be the story of 2009 as they ride on their hot start. After a 15-9 April, they are currently 12-8 in May and are half a game ahead of the Red Sox in the East at 27-17. After sweeping the White Sox four straight, the Jays found themselves on the wrong end of a sweep by the Red Sox in their most recent series.

(2009 stats followed by career stats vs. opposing team)
5/22 – 7:30, PTV
Roy Halladay (8-1, 2.78…1-0, 2.45 in 1 start)
vs.
Kenshin Kawakami (2-5, 5.73)

Considered one of the game’s top pitchers, Roy Halladay will make his 10th start Friday night. He has been a model of consistency through nine, going either seven, eight, or nine innings in every start. Halladay has allowed three runs or less in seven of his nine starts, and only one earned run in five of those. He leads all of baseball with eight wins. Kenshin Kawakami has proven more consistent in his past three starts, though he still struggles to get past five innings. He is coming off three runs allowed in five innings against the Diamondbacks.

5/23 – 7:00, PTV
Scott Richmond (4-2, 3.64)
vs.
Derek Lowe (5-2, 3.58…5-9, 4.87 in 9 starts, 40 total games)

Toronto’s 29-year-old rookie, Scott Richmond, will make his first career start against a National League team. Richmond has been solid in his rookie campaign and rebounded from consecutive bad starts to shut out the White Sox over seven innings in his most recent start. Richmond toiled in the Independent Leagues for a few years before the Jays picked him up last year. Derek Lowe looks to continue his strong pitching after eight innings of two-run ball against the Rockies.

5/24 – 1:30, FSS
Brian Tallet (2-2, 4.47…1 IP, 4 ER)
vs.
Jair Jurrjens (4-2, 1.96…1-0, 8 IP, 0 ER)

Spot starter Brian Tallet will make his eighth start, seemingly earning a solid spot in the rotation now. Tallet has allowed seven home runs this season and his ERA is still recovering from allowing 10 runs to the Royals earlier in the season. Tallet has allowed three runs or less and pitched at least six innings in his previous four starts. Jair Jurrjens continues to baffle hitters, allowing just one run on three hits in seven innings against the Rockies in his last start.

Key Blue Jays Relievers:
CL – Scott Downs (19.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 SV…21 IP, 17 ER, 1 BlSv)
SU – Jesse Carlson (22 IP, 8 ER, 5 HLD…0.2 IP, 0 ER)
MR – B.J. Ryan (8.2 IP, 7 ER, 2 SV…11 IP, 0 ER, 4 SV)

Key Blue Jays Hitters:
2B – Aaron Hill (.351, 11 HR, 35 RBI….200, 0 HR, 1 RBI in 3 games)
RF – Alex Rios (.272, 5 HR, 21 RBI….208, 0 HR, 2 RBI in 6 games)
CF – Vernon Wells (.268, 5 HR, 21 RBI….292, 2 HR, 5 RBI in 6 games)

Blue Jays Injuries:
C – Michael Barrett (15-day, shoulder muscle tear)
SP – Jesse Litsch (15-day, right forearm strain)
SP – Dustin McGowan (15-day, shoulder surgery)
SP – Shawn Marcum (15-day, elbow surgery)

A 4-2 road trip is much better than a 3-3 road trip.  While it’s only a one game difference, there’s a world of difference in the confidence that can be built off of the better record.  Especially when the final game of the trip is a win.  That was the case last night in Toronto where Hideki Matsui’s 7th inning home run put the Yankees ahead for good in a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays.

The Yankees had been bedazzled, for lack of a better word, by journeyman starter Brian Tallet for six innings.  They’d managed a run in the first on a Johnny Damon one out double, his 10th straight game with an extra base hit, and three walks, the last coming to Nick Swisher with the bases loaded.  But Robinson Cano continued his failure with the bases loaded (.235) by grounding out to end the inning.

The Blue Jays tied the game on Alex Rios‘ solo home run in the 4th and went ahead in the 5th inning when CC Sabathia walked Scott Rolen and gave up an RBI double to Rod Barajas. (The Blue Jays catcher owns Sabathia- he’s now 8-19 with 3 HR and 5 RBI.)  John McDonald followed with a single to center, but Brett Gardner made a strong throw home and catcher Francisco Cervelli did an excellent job of applying the tag to nail Barajas for the second out of the inning.  Sabathia retired Marco Scutaro to avoid further problems.

The Yankees managed just two singles and a walk against Tallet after the 1st inning, but the 32-yr old left-hander walked Gardner to start the 7th.  Joe Girardi put the hit and run on and the Yankees executed it to perfection.  Cervelli singled through the hole vacated by Scutaro at shortstop to send Gardner to third.  Cito Gaston sent for righty Jason Frasor to face Derek Jeter, whose prior at-bats clearly reflected his strained oblique.  But this time Jeter got enough of a pitch to loop it into right-center field for a game tying single.

The Yankees were in prime shape to break the game open with two on, no outs, and the heart of the order up.  But Frasor struck out the red hot Damon and retired Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez on fly outs to keep the game tied at two apiece.

Sabathia worked his way out of his own mess in the bottom of the 7th after a lead off double by Rolen and a deep fly out by Kevin Millar advanced the Rolen to third.  Sabathia wised up and intentionally walked Barajas before striking out McDonald for the second out.  Sabathia issued an unintentional walk to Scutaro, but retired Aaron Hill on a ground to get out of the jam.

Gaston brought in lefty Jesse Carlson out to start the 8th, but anyone who has watched Hideki Matsui play on a regular basis knows he isn’t afraid to bat against southpaws.  Godzilla produced further tangible evidence by hitting his 4th home run of the season to right-center field for a 3-2 Yankees lead.

Sabathia retired the side in order in the 8th and then Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning, finishing it off by striking out Barajas for his 7th save of the season.

Game Notes

Johnny Damon extended his streak to 10 games in which he has reached with an extra base hit and scored a run.  It’s the longest streak by a Yankee since Don Mattingly had a 10 game streak in 1987.  Damon leads the team in average, home runs, RBI, and runs scored.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, CC Sabathia has now gone 25 straight starts without allowing an extra base hit to a left-handed hitter.  That’s the longest streak since Randy Johnson went 28 games over the 1998-1999 seasons.

The Yankees begin a four game series with the Minnesota Twins tonight at the Stadium.  Phil Hughes faces Francisco Liriano in the opener.