Toronto (5-8-2) at Philadelphia (6-7-1)
at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater, Fla.

Today’s lineups:

BLUE JAYS
Reed Johnson, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Vernon Wells, CF
Alex Rios, RF
Gregg Zaun, C
Aaron Hill, 2B
Royce Clayton, SS
John McDonald, 3B
Josh Towers, P

PHILLIES
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Shane Victorino, RF
Chase Utley, 2B
Ryan Howard, 1B
Patt Burrell, LF
Wes Helms, 3B
Aaron Roward, CF
Carlos Ruiz, C
Cole Hamels, P

NOTES: Prior to Thursday’s game against the Phillies, Toronto optioned RHP Dustin McGowan to Triple-A Syracuse. … LHP Davis Romero has a torn labrum and was scheduled to undergo surgery on the shoulder on Thursday. Romero will be out for the season.

UPDATE — 10:20 pm: Jays manager John Gibbons confirmed that Troy Glaus received a cortisone shot in his left shoulder and will miss a few games.

I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts here the past few days — only putting the lineups and not having any postgame notes on the blog. Apparently, all this warm weather and sunshine has taken its toll on poor ol’ Bastian. I’ve been battling a cold and sore throat the last few days and have been taking it as easy as I can. Let me tell you how it isn’t much fun trying to conduct interviews when you’ve lost your voice.

Anyway, I’ll try to pick up the slack here this week. I’m at Toronto’s Minor League complex today, taking in some action before heading to Knology Park for BP, and then to Bright House Networks Field for the night game against the Phils. I had a nice chat with Minor League prospect Travis Snider today, and will be writing about that shortly.

For now, I hope you can forgive this ailing sportswriter for taking a few days off from the blog. I’ll be updating more soon.

Cleveland (8-6-0) at Toronto (5-7-1)
at Knology Park in Dunedin, Fla.

Today’s lineups:

INDIANS
Josh Barfield, 2B
Franklin Gutierrez, LF
Jhonny Peralta, SS
Ryan Garko, 1B
Shin-Soo Choo, RF
Andy Marte, 3B
Mike Rose, C
Michael Aubrey, DH
Trevor Crowe, CF

PITCHING: Adam Miller

BLUE JAYS
Reed Johnson, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Vernon Wells, CF
FranK Thomas, DH
Troy Glaus, 3B
Alex Rios, RF
Gregg Zaun, C
Aaron Hill, 2B
Royce Clayton, SS

PITCHING: Tomo Ohka

The Jays and Indians also have a split-squad game in Winter Haven, Fla., but as you can see, Toronto’s starters stayed home on Wednesday. Right-hander JohN Thomson started for the Jays on the road against righty Paul Byrd.

Boston (7-6-1) at Toronto (4-7-1)
at Knology Park in Dunedin, Fla.

Today’s lineups:

RED SOX
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Alex Cora, SS
Eric Hinske, 1B
Manny Ramirez, DH
Wily Mo Pena, LF
Brandon Moss, RF
David Murphy, CF
George Kottaras, C
Joe McEwing

PITCHING: RHP Kyle Snyder

BLUE JAYS
Reed Johnson, LF
Matt Stairs, 1B
Vernon Wells, CF
Frank Thomas, DH
Alex Rios, RF
Jason Smith, SS
Jason Phillips, C
Russ Adams, 2B
John McDonald, 3B

PITCHING: RHP A.J. Burnett

Toronto (4-6-1) at Cincinnati (8-2-0)
at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.

Today’s lineups:

BLUE JAYS
Royce Clayton, SS
Aaron Hill, 2B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Troy Glaus, 3B
Gregg Zaun, C
Curtis Thigpen, DH
John-Ford Griffin, LF
Chad Mottola, RF
Jeff Duncan, CF

PITCHING: LHP Gustavo Chacin

REDS
Ryan Freel, CF
Alex Gonzalez, SS
Brandon Phillips, 2B
Adam Dunn, LF
Edwin Encarnacion, 3B
Jeff Conine, DH
Scott Hatteberg, 1B
Javier Valentin, C
Chris Denorfia, RF

PITCHING: RHP Matt Belisle

YAWN:

Roy Halladay 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 11 BF, 7 GO, 36 pitches (23 strikes)

Halladay is a baseball writer’s best friend. The guy is about as steady as you can get, and works so dang quick. On Sunday, he threw 11 pitches in the first (man, he was struggling — sarcasm), and then 8 in the second, 8 in the third and 9 in the fourth. Halladay is also an infielder’s best friend:

"I love it. It keeps me in the game," said shortstop Royce Clayton, who scooped up four of the seven grounders Halladay induced. "It keeps everybody sharp and you’re ready. His pace is great. He doesn’t take a lot of time. He gets the ball, makes his pitches, and tries to get contact early. That’s the key to getting deep into the ballgames."

Clayton couldn’t have been more dead on. Over the past five seasons, games that Halladay has started has lasted an average of 2 hours, 37 minutes. That’s the second-fastest average by any Major League over that span. Only White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle ranks better.

Halladay stuck mainly with his sinker and changeup again on Sunday. He also threw four curves. Halladay said he’s confident in the break and the location of his curve, he just wants to build up more arm strength before throwing 20 each time out. He threw another six curves in the bullpen after his start.

No cut fastball yet, though. Excessive use of that pitch wound up sidelining Halladay in September with a right forearm strain. So he’s holding off on using it much right now. He’s started throwing it in the bullpen during side sessions, but it might be another start or two before he works the cutter into a game.

Minnesota (3-8-1) at Toronto (4-5-1)
at Knology Park in Dunedin, Fla.

Today’s lineups:

TWINS
Denard Span, CF
Jeff Cirillo, 3B
Joe Mauer, C
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jason Kubel, LF
Glenn Williams, 1B
Matthew LeCroy, DH
Luis Rodriguez, 2B
Alexi Castilla, SS

PITCHING: LHP Glen Perkins

BLUE JAYS
Reed Johnson , LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Vernon Wells, CF
Frank Thomas, DH
Troy Glaus, 3B
Alex Rios, RF
Gregg Zaun, C
Royce Clayton, SS
Russ Adams, 2B

PITCHING: RHP Roy Halladay

Josh Towers looked sharp in his second outing of Spring Training:

3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 10 BF, 27 pitches(18 strikes)

Jays manager John Gibbons and pitching coach Brad Arnsberg both say that Towers has looked nothing like the pitcher that went 1-9 with a 9.11 ERA out of the rotation last season. They see a much more relaxed, confident pitcher — and, honestly, I’d have to agree. Towers isn’t let bad pitches affect his mindset, and that was one of his major issues a year ago.

If he keeps up his current pace, Toronto will have a big decision to make at the end of Spring Training. Towers is scheduled to make $2.9 million in 2007, and he’s a guy who logged 200 innings and won 13 games just two years ago. So far, he’s done nothing to show he doesn’t deserve a spot in the rotation, but it’s still very early in Spring Training.

Dustin McGowan, on the other hand, did not look as sharp. The right-hander yielded three runs on four hits in two innings and saw his spring ERA jump to 10.80. Geremi Gonzalez pitched two scoreless frames, and Pete Walker allowed one run on two hits in one inning of work.

OTHER NOTES: Brandon League is scheduled to throw a fourth bullpen session on Sunday, when he’ll begin working on breaking balls and splitters, too. He’ll then have a 30-pitch BP session on Wednesday, followed by a Minor League game on Saturday. He still might not crack the Opening Day roster because of the time he’s missed due to the lat injury, but he probably won’t have a long stay in the Minors, either. … Josh Towers and Jeff Duncan each had bunt singles against Braves pitcher Mark Redman in the third inning on Saturday. Gibbons told his pitchers not to swing at any pitches after seeing Atlanta hurler Mike Hampton injure his oblique during BP recently. … When asked on Friday about the bullpen situation, GM J.P. Ricciardi said Casey Janssen could be an option: "I think we’re just going to be really open-minded in putting our team together, and we’ll break with the best guys who can give us a chance to get off to a good start."

OVERHEARD: "Hey, Frank Thomas! Someone over here wants your autograph. Hey, Hurt! Frank! Come sign this autograph over here." –Gibbons, sarastically yelling over to Jays reliever Tracy Thorpe in the dugout after Saturday’s game when a fan mistook the pitcher for Toronto’s DH

Toronto (4-4-1) at Atlanta (6-2-1)
at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Today’s lineups:

BLUE JAYS
Jeff Duncan, CF
Aaron Hill, 2B
Matt Stairs, 1B
Alex Rios, RF
Jason Smith, SS
Kevin Barker, LF
Jason Phillips, C
Ray Olmedo, 3B
Josh Towers, RHP

BRAVES
Kelly Johnson, 2B
Edgar Renteria, SS
Chipper Jones, 3B
Andruw Jones, CF
Brian McCann, C
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Scott Thorman, 1B
Matt Diaz, LF
Mark Redman, LHP

Houston at Toronto
at Knology Park in Dunedin, Fla.

Today’s lineups:

ASTROS
Orlando Palmeiro, DH
Chris Burke, 2B
Mike Lamb, 1B
Morgan Ensberg, 3B
Luke Scott, RF
Jason Lane, CF
Hunter Pence, LF
Eric Munson, C
Eric Bruntlett, SS

PITCHING: LHP Wandy Rodriguez

BLUE JAYS
Reed Johnson, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Vernon Wells, CF
Frank Thomas, DH
Troy Glaus, 3B
Alex Rios, RF
Gregg Zaun, C
Aaron Hill, 2B
Royce Clayton

PITCHING: RHP John Thomson

NOTES: Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi told reporters Friday that he is not looking to trade Rios, especially for Phillies starter Jon Lieber. "You can blame Jeff Blair for all those Rios-for-Lieber rumors. You can write that," joked Ricciardi, giving the Globe and Mail writer a hard time. The Phillies covet Rios, but a deal might only be realistic if Philadelphia was willing to part with pitchers Cole Hamels or Brett Myers. Said Ricciardi: "They won’t trade those guys." So, for now, you can put those rumors to bed. … Outfield prospect Ryan Patterson did break his right forearm, and he could miss more than three months. … For the first time, Toronto unveiled its projected regular-season lineup. … The Blue Jays are high on infielder Ray Olmedo, who has a realistic chance of breaking camp with the big-league club.

FLAGGED: During batting practice, Toronto outfielder Matt Stairs, who is a native of New Brunswick, launched a baseball deep to right-center field. The ball hit the Canadian flag on a fly before disappearing behind the fence. "Pride," laughed Stairs afterward.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more…