Scott

Downs

The competition has been very tough, but Downs has given up 11 runs while pitching just 11 innings in his three starts. It would be for the best if he’s returned to the pen ASAP.

Rondell White’s homer to start the top of the eighth got Downs removed from the game after 89 pitches. In the previous three starts Downs made this year, he had allowed 11 runs in 11 innings. He’ll stay in the rotation until the Jays get both Roy Halladay and Ted Lilly back, but he shouldn’t be worth owning in AL-only leagues.

Downs has turned in back-to-back quality starts after working a total of 11 innings in his first three starts. He’s now clearly ahead of Dustin McGowan on the SP depth chart, meaning he’ll keep his spot if either Roy Halladay or Ted Lilly beats the other back by any considerable margin.

Rosario is having back problems, so Downs will make the spot start against the Twins.

That’s twice this week the Jays have started a reliever with stellar results. Tallet, Jeremy Accardo and League combined on a two-hitter against the Orioles on Monday. Downs lasted five innings tonight. He’s thrown 11 scoreless innings this month, lowering his ERA from 4.93 to 4.03. It’s expected that he’ll be returned to the pen with Gustavo Chacin set to come off the DL next weekend.

Downs gave up three straight singles to start the third and was pulled in favor of Vinnie Chulk despite having thrown just 47 pitches. Chulk, Francisco Rosario, Scott Schoeneweis, Justin Speier, and B.J. Ryan combined to throw seven innings of scoreless relief in the victory. The Blue Jays won’t need a fifth starter again until A.J. Burnett returns, so Downs will head back to the bullpen.

It initially looked like they’d call up Josh Towers, but since they can arrange it so that they’ll only need a fifth starter once before A.J. Burnett returns, they decided to go with Downs as a spot starter instead. The left-hander will rejoin the pen this weekend.

Downs pitched five scoreless innings against the Twins last weekend. The decision means Francisco Rosario will continue to utilized out of the bullpen. Shaun Marcum will now go on Saturday.

Downs has been filling in with Gustavo Chacin still not ready to return. However, tonight’s outing showed why he’s not an option even after shutting out the Twins for five innings last week. He should head back to the pen with Chacin set to come off the DL next week.

After the Angels suffered back-to-back painful walk off losses, Downs had a pretty uneventful 1-2-3 ninth inning Saturday, including a swinging strikeout of Carlos Santana. It’s not clear how long the Angels intend to keep former closer Jordan Walden in a set-up role, but Downs is worth owning in all formats for now.