Toronto Blue Jays’ Edwin Encarnacion, centre, after scoring on an infield single by Ben Revere during the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 23.Alex Gallardo/The Associated Press
When the Toronto Blue Jays were playing in Philadelphia against the Phillies on Wednesday, Russell Martin stroked a single to left field and was limping visibly as he gingerly made his way to first base.
The Blue Jays' catcher has been dealing with a nagging left hamstring.
Martin also has a sore left thumb that he aggravates regularly, usually when he is catching R.A. Dickey, whose floating knuckleball makes it impossible to catch the baseball cleanly every time.
"Just doing the best I can," Martin said at the time, referring to his physical issues.
As the Blue Jays continue their impressive play, which they hope will lead to a postseason berth – they defeated the ham-handed Los Angeles Angels 12-5 on Sunday to take a half-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East – injury concerns are also beginning to pile up.
It was another emphatic outing for the Blue Jays, the league's top offensive unit, who outscored the Angels 36-10 in sweeping the three-game weekend set.
The 36 runs established a club record for a three-game series, bettering the previous mark of 34 that they piled upon the Boston Red Sox from May 30 to June 1 in 2003. The 48 hits in a three-game series is also a club record, surpassing the old mark of 46 established against the Milwaukee Brewers from Sept. 27 to 29 in 1985.
Before Sunday's game, the Blue Jays promoted Josh Thole from their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. It's a move to keep Martin relatively spry as they head into the final six weeks of the regular season.
With Thole on board, the Blue Jays have three catchers on the 25-man roster with Martin and Dioner Navarro. In order to make room for Thole, the Blue Jays optioned infielder Matt Hague to Buffalo.
Thole has carved out a decent major league career as the personal catcher for Dickey. With Dickey on the mound on Sunday, Thole was behind the plate.
It is a role that Thole will probably continue for the rest of the season – catching Dickey – to give Martin a break.
Martin, who did not play either Saturday or Sunday, will be able to enjoy a bit of a holiday with the Blue Jays not resuming play until Tuesday night in Texas against the Rangers.
The Blue Jays have already played most of the season without left fielder Michael Saunders, who injured his knee in spring training.
And the team is starting to prepare itself for the possibility that Devon Travis, the spark-plug rookie second baseman, might not make it back this year.
Travis, who was hitting .304, last played July 28 when he reinjured a shoulder that kept him out of the lineup for more than a month earlier in the season.
Over the weekend it was reported that Travis will see a specialist, while the team is in Texas, to get a second opinion on an injury that is taking more time to heal than expected.
With the demolition of the Angels, the Blue Jays continued their game of first-place leapfrog with the Yankees in the AL East. The Yankees lost 4-3 to the Cleveland Indians to allow Toronto to lead by a half-game.
And while the Blue Jays are rolling, you get the sense that some desperation is starting to infiltrate the Yankees camp.
Not only did the Yankees lose to Cleveland, they also might have lost starter CC Sabathia.
The hefty lefty departed the game in the third inning with right knee pain. There is no word if he will be able to make his next start. The injury is to the same knee that limited Sabathia to just eight starts in 2014.
The Angels appeared ready to rout the Blue Jays on Sunday, rocking Dickey early to take a 5-1 lead after the first inning.
But Dickey hung in and the Blue Jays' offence started to chug, notching two runs in the second, three in the third and two in the fourth to charge in front 8-5.
In the fourth, Jose Bautista (29) and Edwin Encarnacion (24) stroked solo home runs back to back.
Dickey, 8-10, threw for six innings and allowed five runs off 11 hits.
Now it is on to Texas for an important three-game series against the Rangers, who are pursuing Toronto in the wild-card playoff race.
The Texas stint ends an eight-game trip for the Jays, who return to Toronto on Friday to begin a three-game set against the Detroit Tigers. It's the start of a nine-game home stand.