Blue Jays 3, Phillies 0: Carlos Villanueva tossed four scoreless innings of relief as host Toronto snapped a three-game losing skid despite seeing a third starting pitcher succumb to injury this week.
Drew Hutchison retired two batters in the first inning before exiting with a sore right elbow. Starter Brandon Morrow left Monday's outing with a strained left oblique muscle and fellow right-hander Kyle Drabek is nursing a possible tear in his ulnar collateral ligament.
The Phillies were also bitten by the injury bug as catcher Carlos Ruiz suffered a left oblique strain. He exited the contest in the sixth inning.
Brett Lawrie provided all the offense that was needed in the third inning when he hit a breaking ball from Vance Worley (3-3) off the wall in right field. Rajai Davis cruised home to score the game's first run.
Jose Bautista scored on an error by third baseman Mike Fontenot and Edwin Encarnacion also crossed the plate in the fourth inning for the Blue Jays, who posted just their second win in eight games.
After Aaron Laffey allowed one hit over 1 1/3 innings, Villanueva (2-0) came on and scattered two hits and struck out five - including all three batters in the sixth inning. Casey Janssen, who was the sixth Toronto pitcher of the night, retired the side in the ninth to secure his sixth save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Drabek is expected to receive a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews on Monday. Should the initial diagnosis be confirmed, Drabek will likely undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career. ... Phillies ace Roy Halladay threw off flat ground on Friday for the first time since being placed on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his back. ... Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard went 3-for-3 with two homers in an intrasquad game in Clearwater, Fla. on Friday. ... Philadelphia 2B Chase Utley played four innings in a rookie league exhibition.
Philadelphia | Toronto | |
Vance Worley | Player | Drew Hutchison |
Loss | W/L | No Decision |
7.0 | IP | 0.2 |
5 | Strikeouts | 1 |
5 | Hits | 0 |
1.29 | ERA | 0.00 |
Philadelphia | Toronto | |
Carlos Ruiz | Player | Kelly Johnson |
1 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
1 | TB | 2 |
.500 | Avg | .667 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Philadelphia | 5 | 0 | 7 | .161 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
Toronto | 6 | 0 | 9 | .214 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |