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Toronto's Ryan May Lose Closer Job

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The Associated Press

Published: March 30, 2009

DUNEDIN - Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston expressed concern about closer B.J. Ryan after he pitched a shaky eighth inning in Toronto's 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Monday.

Ryan gave up one run and two hits, including Angel Berroa's RBI double to left-center. The left-hander, who skipped the World Baseball Classic to work on his mechanics, has a 9.00 ERA this spring.

Gaston said he might consider making Scott Downs the closer and putting Ryan "somewhere else for a while and go from there." He said he wants to see how Ryan does in his final two spring appearances.

"I haven't checked the velocity yet," Gaston said, "but it looked like it might have been down today. So there are still some concerns about him."

Ryan said he's moving in the right direction.

"The runs are just (from) pitching behind," he said. "Pitch behind in counts and you get in predictable counts. Aside from that there were some good things that came out of today."

Andy Pettitte worked 6 2-3 innings for the Yankees, allowing one run and five hits. The left-hander struck out seven and walked none.

"He was exceptional today, threw all his pitches," manager Joe Girardi said. "His curveball was good, changeup was good, he located his fastball well. That's about as good as it gets."

Rookie left-hander David Purcey went six innings for Toronto, yielding a run and two hits. He walked five and struck out two.

"He started the game off a little rough," Gaston said, "but I thought he threw the ball real well. His whole thing is control. If he goes out there and throws strikes he usually pitches a good ballgame."

Mark Teixeira went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for New York.

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