BALTIMORE — J.P. Arencibia hit his first career grand slam, Rajai Davis had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Friday night to end a two-game losing streak.

Carlos Villanueva (3-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, walking one. He is 2-0 in three starts since moving into the Toronto rotation from the bullpen.

Arencibia’s fifth-inning slam was his ninth homer of the season and gave the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead against Orioles rookie Zach Britton, who has lost three straight decisions after starting the season 5-1.

Toronto has won 21-of-27 games against the Orioles and is 16-3 in its last 19.

J.J. Hardy homered for Baltimore, which has dropped six of seven games to fall five games below .500, matching a season high.

Britton (5-4) allowed seven runs — five earned — and six hits over five innings, his shortest outing.

Two miscues by the Orioles helped Toronto to a 2-0 lead in the second. After Juan Rivera’s leadoff single, Arencibia reached on an error by third baseman Mark Reynolds. Aaron Hill singled in a run and Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a double play before Britton’s wild pitch plated Arencibia.

In the third, Yunel Escobar led off with a double, went to third on Corey Patterson’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Rivera’s sacrifice fly.

Arencibia’s slam broke the game open in the fifth. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on a walk to Escobar, a single by Jose Bautista and a walk to Rivera before Arencibia ripped Britton’s 2-2 fastball into the seats in left.

Villanueva didn’t allow a hit until Hardy led off the fifth with a single to centre, the first of four Baltimore hits in the inning. Hardy later scored on Robert Andino’s two-out liner to left and a single by Adam Jones to make it 7-2.

Escobar’s broken-bat single in the sixth scored Davis, who had doubled with one out and stole third base.

Hardy hit a two-run homer off Jason Frasor in the eighth.

NOTES: Friday night marked the first meeting of the season between the AL East rivals. … Toronto is 14-14 on the road. … In 12 games since being activated from the DL on May 16, Toronto 2B Jayson Nix is 5 for 32. He went 0 for 4 Friday night. … Orioles 1B Derrek Lee, sidelined since May 15 with a strained left oblique, began an injury rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Bowie on Friday, going 2 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter.

BALTIMORE (AP)—Zach Britton(notes) is adopting a closer’s mentality, vowing to
wipe away a couple of subpar outings before they develop into a trend he can’t
escape.

The Baltimore Orioles’ rookie left-hander had his second straight rough
outing in Friday night’s 8-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The five-inning stint was the shortest in his brief major league career and
Britton has dropped three straight decisions after beginning the year with a 5-1
record.

“You’re going to have bad outings,” he said. “I had bad outings in the
minors. I had three bad outings at Triple-A last year that I can remember off
the top of my head, so it’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of bouncing back
and not letting it turn into three, four, five bad outings.”

Britton had trouble getting his sinker to sink but thought he made a pretty
good pitch to fellow rookie J.P. Arencibia(notes) in the fifth—a down-and-away
fastball that Arencibia poked into the stands in left for his first career grand
slam, turning a 3-0 game into a rout.

“It was down where I wanted to. If he doesn’t swing, I think it hits the
ground,” Britton said. “… If you watch that at-bat, he wasn’t able to hit
those pitches down-and-away when I threw it there. That last pitch kind of cut
on me a little bit and ran right on his bat. He did a good job, he hit that ball
very hard for where it was. But I think if I make a better pitch, we get out of
that inning.”

Arencibia cleared the bases with his ninth homer of the season, Rajai Davis(notes)
had three hits and the Blue Jays ended a two-game losing streak.

“It’s one of those things you don’t really think about,” Arencibia said.
“I don’t remember the last time I hit a grand slam in baseball. It was just one
of those things. If I say I was trying to hit a grand slam, I’d be a liar. I
just hit the ball and it was able to go out and we had three guys on base. The
biggest thing, I think, was it gave our pitcher a cushion and he can pitch with
that lead.”

The slam was more than enough for Carlos Villanueva(notes) (3-0), who allowed two
runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, walking one. He is 2-0 in three starts since
moving into the Toronto rotation from the bullpen.

“It’s very fine because we got the win, but still I’m a little upset that I
haven’t been able to go deeper in games. … I didn’t want to come out, but I
understand, and we had a very comfortable lead at that point,” Villanueva said.

Even though Arencibia is batting only .255, the rookie catcher has 30 RBIs,
among the most by a first-year player in the AL. Nineteen of his 41 hits have
gone for extra bases.

“He’s been extremely productive against left-handers and that was the case
again tonight,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said of Arencibia. “He’s done
an excellent job at the plate and behind the plate, and tonight he had a very
good game all-around.”

Toronto has won 21 of 27 games against the Orioles and is 16-3 in its last
19 versus Baltimore.

J.J. Hardy(notes) homered for Baltimore, which has dropped six of seven games to
fall five games below .500, matching a season high.

Britton (5-4) allowed seven runs—five earned—and six hits.

“I don’t think I did a good job out there,” Britton said. “Falling behind
too many hitters. Watch on video and the hits I gave up were all balls out over
the plate (and) up. That’s what a good-hitting team does—they hit those
pitches. … The last two outings I haven’t executed well and those are the
results.”

Five of Toronto’s runs came with two outs, a trend Orioles manager Buck
Showalter wants to see corrected.

“It’s something they’re aware of and we’re aware of,” Showalter said.
“It’s not that they’re backing off with two outs. It’s just that we can’t seem
to make that putaway pitch, a lot of those with two strikes. We haven’t done a
good job of using those counts to our favor.”

Two miscues by the Orioles helped Toronto to a 2-0 lead in the second. After
Juan Rivera’s(notes) leadoff single, Arencibia reached on an error by third baseman
Mark Reynolds(notes). Aaron Hill(notes) singled in a run and Edwin Encarnacion(notes) grounded into a
double play before Britton’s wild pitch plated Arencibia.

In the third, Yunel Escobar(notes) led off with a double, went to third on Corey
Patterson’s(notes) sacrifice bunt and scored on Rivera’s sacrifice fly.

Arencibia’s slam broke the game open in the fifth. The Blue Jays loaded the
bases on a walk to Escobar, a single by Jose Bautista(notes) and a walk to Rivera
before Arencibia ripped Britton’s 2-2 fastball into the seats in left.

Villanueva didn’t allow a hit until Hardy led off the fifth with a single to
center, the first of four Baltimore hits in the inning. Hardy later scored on
Robert Andino’s(notes) two-out liner to left and a single by Adam Jones(notes) to make it 7-2.

Escobar’s broken-bat single in the sixth scored Davis, who had doubled with
one out and stole third base.

Hardy hit a two-run homer off Jason Frasor(notes) in the eighth.

NOTES: After the game, the Blue Jays activated OF Adam Lind(notes) (lower back
strain) from the 15-day DL and optioned IF Eric Thames(notes) to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Farrell said Lind would serve as the designated hitter Saturday. … Bautista
walked twice, once intentionally, and leads the AL with 49. He has reached base
safely in 46 of 49 games this season. … Friday night marked the first meeting
of the season between the AL East rivals. … Toronto is 14-14 on the road. …
In 12 games since being activated from the DL on May 16, Toronto 2B Jayson Nix(notes)
is 5 for 32. He went 0 for 4 Friday night. … Orioles 1B Derrek Lee(notes), sidelined
since May 15 with a strained left oblique, began an injury rehabilitation
assignment with Double-A Bowie on Friday, going 2 for 3 with a walk as the DH.

BALTIMORE – J.P. Arencibia hit his first career grand slam, Rajai Davis had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Friday night to end a two-game losing streak.

Carlos Villanueva (3-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, walking one. He is 2-0 in three starts since moving into the Toronto rotation from the bullpen.

Arencibia’s fifth-inning slam was his ninth homer of the season and gave the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead against Orioles rookie Zach Britton, who has lost three straight decisions after starting the season 5-1.

Toronto has won 21 of 27 games against the Orioles and is 16-3 in its last 19.

J.J. Hardy homered for Baltimore, which has dropped six of seven games to fall five games below .500, matching a season high.

Britton (5-4) allowed seven runs – five earned – and six hits over five innings, his shortest outing.

Two miscues by the Orioles helped Toronto to a 2-0 lead in the second. After Juan Rivera’s leadoff single, Arencibia reached on an error by third baseman Mark Reynolds. Aaron Hill singled in a run and Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a double play before Britton’s wild pitch plated Arencibia.

In the third, Yunel Escobar led off with a double, went to third on Corey Patterson’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Rivera’s sacrifice fly.

Arencibia’s slam broke the game open in the fifth. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on a walk to Escobar, a single by Jose Bautista and a walk to Rivera before Arencibia ripped Britton’s 2-2 fastball into the seats in left.

Villanueva didn’t allow a hit until Hardy led off the fifth with a single to center, the first of four Baltimore hits in the inning. Hardy later scored on Robert Andino’s two-out liner to left and a single by Adam Jones to make it 7-2.

Escobar’s broken-bat single in the sixth scored Davis, who had doubled with one out and stole third base.

Hardy hit a two-run homer off Jason Frasor in the eighth.

NOTES: Friday night marked the first meeting of the season between the AL East rivals. … Toronto is 14-14 on the road. … In 12 games since being activated from the DL on May 16, Toronto 2B Jayson Nix is 5 for 32. He went 0 for 4 Friday night. … Orioles 1B Derrek Lee, sidelined since May 15 with a strained left oblique, began an injury rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Bowie on Friday, going 2 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter.

BALTIMORE — J.P. Arencibia hit his first career grand slam, Rajai Davis had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Friday night to end a two-game losing streak.

Carlos Villanueva (3-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, walking one. He is 2-0 in three starts since moving into the Toronto rotation from the bullpen.

Arencibia’s fifth-inning slam was his ninth homer of the season and gave the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead against Orioles rookie Zach Britton, who has lost three straight decisions after starting the season 5-1.

Toronto has won 21-of-27 games against the Orioles and is 16-3 in its last 19.

J.J. Hardy homered for Baltimore, which has dropped six of seven games to fall five games below .500, matching a season high.

Britton (5-4) allowed seven runs — five earned — and six hits over five innings, his shortest outing.

Two miscues by the Orioles helped Toronto to a 2-0 lead in the second. After Juan Rivera’s leadoff single, Arencibia reached on an error by third baseman Mark Reynolds. Aaron Hill singled in a run and Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a double play before Britton’s wild pitch plated Arencibia.

In the third, Yunel Escobar led off with a double, went to third on Corey Patterson’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Rivera’s sacrifice fly.

Arencibia’s slam broke the game open in the fifth. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on a walk to Escobar, a single by Jose Bautista and a walk to Rivera before Arencibia ripped Britton’s 2-2 fastball into the seats in left.

Villanueva didn’t allow a hit until Hardy led off the fifth with a single to centre, the first of four Baltimore hits in the inning. Hardy later scored on Robert Andino’s two-out liner to left and a single by Adam Jones to make it 7-2.

Escobar’s broken-bat single in the sixth scored Davis, who had doubled with one out and stole third base.

Hardy hit a two-run homer off Jason Frasor in the eighth.

Notes: Friday night marked the first meeting of the season between the AL East rivals. … Toronto is 14-14 on the road. … In 12 games since being activated from the DL on May 16, Toronto 2B Jayson Nix is 5 for 32. He went 0 for 4 Friday night. … Orioles 1B Derrek Lee, sidelined since May 15 with a strained left oblique, began an injury rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Bowie on Friday, going 2 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter.

BALTIMORE – J.P. Arencibia hit his first career grand slam, Rajai Davis had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Friday night to end a two-game losing streak.

Carlos Villanueva (3-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, walking one. He is 2-0 in three starts since moving into the Toronto rotation from the bullpen.

Arencibia’s fifth-inning slam was his ninth homer of the season and gave the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead against Orioles rookie Zach Britton, who has lost three straight decisions after starting the season 5-1.

Toronto has won 21-of-27 games against the Orioles and is 16-3 in its last 19.

J.J. Hardy homered for Baltimore, which has dropped six of seven games to fall five games below .500, matching a season high.

Britton (5-4) allowed seven runs — five earned — and six hits over five innings, his shortest outing.

Two miscues by the Orioles helped Toronto to a 2-0 lead in the second. After Juan Rivera’s leadoff single, Arencibia reached on an error by third baseman Mark Reynolds. Aaron Hill singled in a run and Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a double play before Britton’s wild pitch plated Arencibia.

In the third, Yunel Escobar led off with a double, went to third on Corey Patterson’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Rivera’s sacrifice fly.

Arencibia’s slam broke the game open in the fifth. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on a walk to Escobar, a single by Jose Bautista and a walk to Rivera before Arencibia ripped Britton’s 2-2 fastball into the seats in left.

Villanueva didn’t allow a hit until Hardy led off the fifth with a single to centre, the first of four Baltimore hits in the inning. Hardy later scored on Robert Andino’s two-out liner to left and a single by Adam Jones to make it 7-2.

Escobar’s broken-bat single in the sixth scored Davis, who had doubled with one out and stole third base.

Hardy hit a two-run homer off Jason Frasor in the eighth.

NOTES: Friday night marked the first meeting of the season between the AL East rivals. … Toronto is 14-14 on the road. … In 12 games since being activated from the DL on May 16, Toronto 2B Jayson Nix is 5 for 32. He went 0 for 4 Friday night. … Orioles 1B Derrek Lee, sidelined since May 15 with a strained left oblique, began an injury rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Bowie on Friday, going 2 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter.

BALTIMORE (AP)—J.P. Arencibia(notes) hit his first career grand slam, Rajai Davis(notes)
had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on
Friday night to end a two-game losing streak.

Carlos Villanueva(notes) (3-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings,
walking one. He is 2-0 in three starts since moving into the Toronto rotation
from the bullpen.

Arencibia’s fifth-inning slam was his ninth homer of the season and gave the
Blue Jays a 7-0 lead against Orioles rookie Zach Britton(notes), who has lost three
straight decisions after starting the season 5-1.

Toronto has won 21 of 27 games against the Orioles and is 16-3 in its last
19.

J.J. Hardy(notes) homered for Baltimore, which has dropped six of seven games to
fall five games below .500, matching a season high.

Britton (5-4) allowed seven runs—five earned—and six hits over five
innings, his shortest outing.

Two miscues by the Orioles helped Toronto to a 2-0 lead in the second. After
Juan Rivera’s(notes) leadoff single, Arencibia reached on an error by third baseman
Mark Reynolds(notes). Aaron Hill(notes) singled in a run and Edwin Encarnacion(notes) grounded into a
double play before Britton’s wild pitch plated Arencibia.

In the third, Yunel Escobar(notes) led off with a double, went to third on Corey
Patterson’s(notes) sacrifice bunt and scored on Rivera’s sacrifice fly.

Arencibia’s slam broke the game open in the fifth. The Blue Jays loaded the
bases on a walk to Escobar, a single by Jose Bautista(notes) and a walk to Rivera
before Arencibia ripped Britton’s 2-2 fastball into the seats in left.

Villanueva didn’t allow a hit until Hardy led off the fifth with a single to
center, the first of four Baltimore hits in the inning. Hardy later scored on
Robert Andino’s(notes) two-out liner to left and a single by Adam Jones(notes) to make it 7-2.

Escobar’s broken-bat single in the sixth scored Davis, who had doubled with
one out and stole third base.

Hardy hit a two-run homer off Jason Frasor(notes) in the eighth.

NOTES: Friday night marked the first meeting of the season between the AL
East rivals. … Toronto is 14-14 on the road. … In 12 games since being
activated from the DL on May 16, Toronto 2B Jayson Nix(notes) is 5 for 32. He went 0
for 4 Friday night. … Orioles 1B Derrek Lee(notes), sidelined since May 15 with a
strained left oblique, began an injury rehabilitation assignment with Double-A
Bowie on Friday, going 2 for 3 with a walk as the designated hitter.

Toronto, ON – The Toronto Blue Jays placed infielder Jayson Nix on the 15-day disabled list Saturday because of a left shin contusion.

Nix suffered the injury during the second inning of Friday’s game against Tampa Bay. The Rays’ Sean Rodriguez went hard into second base for a take-out slide, and his spike connected with Nix’s left leg.

Blue Jays manager John Farrell said X-rays were negative, but the contusion forced him to the DL.

Nix played at second base on Friday, but has spent most of his time this season at third. John McDonald, who replaced Nix in Friday’s game and hit the winning two-run homer in the 11th inning of a 6-4 Toronto victory, started at third base Saturday.

Mike McCoy was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas prior to Saturday’s contest and started at second.

© Copyright (c) The Sports Network

The Blue Jays placed infielder Jayson Nix on the 15-day disabled list Saturday because of a left shin contusion.

Nix suffered the injury on Friday during the second inning of the Blue Jays’ 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays’ Sean Rodriguez went hard into second base for a take-out slide, and his spike connected with Nix’s left leg.

Blue Jays manager John Farrell said X-rays were negative, but the contusion forced him to the disabled list.

The Jays called up Mike McCoy from triple-A Las Vegas. He played second base Saturday.

THE HILL TIMES

The Jays will decide on Sunday whether to put infield Aaron Hill on the disabled list.

Hill hasn’t played since Tuesday, when he strained his right hamstring while stealing second base. Hill underwent an MRI test Wednesday but the results were inconclusive.

“He’s going to jog some (Saturday), he’s swung in the cage (on Friday) a little bit,” Farrell said. “He’s feeling some improvement. But I can tell you that by Sunday, we’ll have some definitive answer on his status, either active or retroactive to the DL to create another spot to get another player.”

If Hill goes on the DL, Jesse Litsch will be recalled to start on Tuesday.

If not, reliever Carlos Villanueva will be called on for a spot start.

Litsch pitched three innings for Las Vegas on Friday night, giving up three hits and one earned run. “That keeps him as a definite option for Tuesday,” Farrell said. “And obviously the only way he returns is if we make the determination with Aaron to go to the disabled list.”

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jon Rauch (60) towers over all his teammates as he listens to his coaches during spring training Friday in Dunedin, Fla. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Toronto Blue Jays pitchers and catchers were joined on the field by the position players Friday as the club held its first full-squad workout.

A total of 61 players were put through the paces by new manager John Farrell and his fellow coaches, missing only recently signed outfielder Scott Podsednik, who is due to join the club Monday.

Farrell enjoyed the day and is looking forward to turning things up a notch in the coming days.

“It’s great to have everyone in camp and shown up,” he said. “The fact that we get both sides of the team in full swing, it was a good work day. I think it’s important for the first day or two, now that we’re using a little bit of a different format in spring training, for everyone to be accustomed to where the rotations are, how things flow, and it’s been very workmanlike, which is what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The Blue Jays open Grapefruit League play Feb. 26 against the Detroit Tigers and the coming days will be tailored to get the players ready for that.

A pair of six-inning intrasquad games are set for the 24th and 25th, and hitters will face live pitching for the first time over the next four days.

“The first two days of that four-day stretch will be the hitters won’t swing, they’ll track,” said Farrell. “It’ll be 25 pitches for each pitcher against individual hitters. Days 3 and 4 in that series will be actual live BP, and in many ways in pitchers’ practice.

“Hitters don’t typically like it too much but it’s the next progressive step towards intrasquads.”

Rauch returns

Hulking reliever Jon Rauch threw his first bullpen session of the spring after recently turning his right ankle, and had no issues with the injury.

The mound was a different story for the six-foot-11 right-hander.

“Bigger guy, longer stride, not as much clay,” he said. “Hopefully they get that resolved.”

Otherwise it was all systems go for Rauch, who is in the running for the closer’s role.

“Everything is kind of back to normal, obviously we’re still going to be cautious because there’s no real reason to rush through things and create a bigger problem than there already is,” he said. “So it’s still day-by-day but right now it feels pretty good.”

Getting back on a mound felt good, too.

“It’s just fun to do,” he said. “I had knee surgery in November so this is the first time for anything, really. It’s exciting to get out there, knock the rust off and now it’s getting ready for the season.”

McGowan on mound

Dustin McGowan threw his third bullpen session of the spring Friday and reported another good day in his delicate return.

The right-hander, trying to work his way back from a second shoulder surgery last summer, says there is “still a long ways to go but everything felt good. I’m on the right path.”

He threw fastballs and changeups at about 80 per cent, and plans to incorporate some breaking balls into his next session.

The pain he’s feeling so far is the right kind, too.

“I’m getting my normal soreness back,” he said. “That’s almost a good thing because I haven’t felt that in a long time, what it feels like to be sore after I throw in the right spots instead of the wrong spots.”

Manager John Farrell watched the session and liked what he saw.

“I think the biggest thing with Dustin is that he’s making every single bullpen session,” he said. “I don’t want get too high, I don’t want to get too low with each throwing session but the most important thing is that he walks off that mound and feels good about himself.

“Those are indications that we’re making strides.”

Watching Lawrie

Canadian prospect Brett Lawrie took his first full infield at third base Friday, a first step in his transition from second base to the hot corner.

While cautioning that it was just a simple practice session, manager John Farrell feels, “he should be able to adapt to the position readily.”

Farrell also feels Lawrie’s bat is close to being ready for the majors and that he can become an impact hitter in the big-leagues. The big question is whether his glove lags behind in development.

CP Video

Published Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 11:51AM EST

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed third baseman Jose Bautista to a US$64-million, five-year contract extension. Last year’s home run champion says he hopes he can duplicate his 2010 season.

Jose Bautista, centre, was among the nine Toronto Blue Jays to file for salary arbitration ahead of Friday’s deadline (Jim Mone/Associated Press)

Home run king Jose Bautista was among the nine Toronto Blue Jays to file for salary arbitration ahead of Friday’s deadline.

Joining him were starters Brandon Morrow and Jesse Litsch, shortstop Yunel Escobar, outfielder Rajai Davis and relievers Jason Frasor, Shawn Camp, Casey Janssen and Carlos Villanueva.

Frasor passed up free agency in order to accept arbitration.

The Blue Jays and their players will exchange salary arbitration figures Tuesday, and last year general manager Alex Anthopoulos said once the team reached that point, he would cut off all talks and go to a hearing.

He said earlier this off-season he planned to maintain the same policy this year, feeling the deadline helped push the sides toward a deal.

The Blue Jays haven’t gone to a hearing with a player since reliever Bill Risley in 1997.

The most interesting case this year will be that of Bautista, who led the majors and set a club record with 54 home runs in 2010.

Bautista earned US$2.4 million last year but industry speculation expects his salary to rise into the $6-$10 million range.

He’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2011 season, and the sides are expected to examine the possibility of a longer-term deal.

Other big names among the 119 players who filed for salary arbitration Friday was Prince Fielder, AL MVP Josh Hamilton and Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon.

All expect to get large raises, either in settlements or in cases that go to hearings next month.

Fielder made $11.25 million with the Milwaukee Brewers last year, when he hit .261 with 32 homers and 114 RBIs. He is eligible for free agency after next season.

Papelbon, who also can become a free agent after the season, made $9.35 million last year. He was 5-7 with a 3.90 ERA —two runs higher than in 2009 —striking out 76 in 67 innings.

Hamilton, not eligible for free agency until after the 2011 season, batted a major league-best .359 with 32 homers and 100 RBIs last year, continuing his resurgence following cocaine and alcohol addition. He missed much of the last month of the regular season because of broken ribs.

With files from The Associated Press