Brett Cecil didn't have a lot to say in the wake of his spotty performance in Tuesday's sloppy 10-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels at Rogers Centre.
But what little the pitcher did say spoke volumes to the dissatisfaction he obviously felt after manager John Farrell opted to pull him from the game after just three innings with the Blue Jays trailing 4-2 at the time.
"Just got the ball up a little bit and gave up three runs," Cecil said of the ill-fated third inning where the Angels whacked him around for four hits. "I've done it before. I don't know."
Cecil, who took the loss and is now a puzzling 4-10 on the year after winning a team-high 15 last season, said he felt fine in the start despite missing his last outing after he cut the index finger on his left pitching hand cleaning out a blender.
And he started off well enough, striking out three while allowing a hit to L.A. in the first inning.
In the second, Cecil surrendered a home run to Vernon Wells before everything fell apart in the third.
And while he did not come right out and say it, Cecil was obviously struggling with Farrell's decision to give him the hook after three, the shortest outing of Cecil's season and his quickest stint since 2009.
He was only at 65 pitches at the time.
"Really surprised," Cecil said when asked for his reaction at not being able to come out to pitch the fourth. "I think that's why I'm at a loss for words. I only had three innings to work.
"I just can't find the words to really explain anything right now. Just the ball got up in the third inning and that's really it. I just don't know."
Farrell said he decided to act after noting the way his left-hander's pitches were elevating through the strike zone, an enticing target for the heavily right-handed batting lineup of the Angels.
"I thought Brett came out tonight, first inning, gave a good assortment of off-speed pitches to keep some people off balance.
"But then we got into the second and third innings he started to elevate the ball a little bit more. he really didn't have a finishing type of pitch."
Farrell said that's why he decided to go with Drabek, a right-hander, whose night did not get off to a solid start either when the Angels torched him for five runs off five hits in the fourth to take a 9-2 lead that stretched to 10-2 in the sixth..
Farrell said the fourth inning was the decisive inning, but he agreed he needs to get more than three innings and 65 pitches from his starter.
"As you look back, the five run fourth inning certainly spread things out," he said. "Certainly we didn't anticipate that. But to their credit they put some good swings on some fastballs that found the middle of the plate.
"A 10-2 deficit is a big hole to come back from."