Dana Eveland, acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays prior to Spring Training 2010 for cash considerations from the Oakland Athletics continued his stellar starting pitching last night in a 7-3 Toronto win over the visiting Chicago White Sox.

Eveland, who came into spring vying for a Jays roster spot of any sort, whether it be as a starter or reliever, dazzled his way to the number five spot in Toronto’s rotation and continued his pitching dominance in last night’s game.

Eveland, who did not allow a run in his debut against the Baltimore Orioles last Saturday, set a Blue Jays record for scoreless innings pitched to open his Blue Jays career at eleven and a third innings pitched, surpassing the previous mark of ten and two thirds innings set by Mike Flanagan in 1987.

Eveland would eventually allow his first run as a Blue Jay in the top of the fifth inning when backup Sox catcher Donny Lucy would take Eveland deep for a solo home run into the left field stands.

On the night Eveland would pitch six innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits, walking three and striking out four.

Eveland was backed by a great offensive performance from his fellow teammates, as the Jays got a four for five performance out of shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Gonzalez had two doubles and three runs batted in on the night, while Travis Snider broke out of his home run drought hammering a Freddy Garcia pitch to right field in the bottom of the second inning.

Mike McCoy had a nice night going two for four with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored, while Jose Bautista reached base four times on three walks and a hit, scoring twice.

Lyle Overbay continued his struggles at the plate for Toronto, striking out in four of his five at-bats. Overbay is hitting for an average of just .077 this season so far.

Toronto’s bullpen was solid yet again, despite one blip on Shawn Camp’s radar courtesy of an Alexei Ramirez two run home run in the top of seventh.

Camp, Casey Janssen & Jason Frasor combined to pitch three innings for Toronto, allowing one earned run on two hits, walking none and striking out four.

Eveland’s fantastic pitching as well as the Jays offensive contributions were not the only things that continued for the franchise on Thursday night.

I reported yesterday that the Jays set an all time low for attendance in Wednesday’s contest against the White Sox, which followed a disappointing 12,167 attendees on Tuesday.

The attendance mark for last night’s contest was 10,744, just barely beating out the 10,610 from Wednesday night.

It turns out that the Jays are not the only Major League ball club dealing with this issue as both the Baltimore Orioles (9,129 on Monday, 10,248 on Wednesday) & Cleveland Indians (10,071 on Wednesday, 10,198 on Thursday) had massive attendance drops in their home series this week as well.

However, the Jays (7-3) are in first place in their division, while the Orioles (1-9) & Indians (3-6) sit at the bottom of theirs.

The attendance is a large matter of concern for the squad as they cannot rely on the home opener and visits from the popular Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees to get through the year financially.

With no money coming in the higher ups at Rogers Communications will not be pleased and it could easily spell the end of the franchise in Toronto unless the fans have something to say about it.

Obviously, a move to another city is an option that would take quite a period of time, but why even risk it? Fans in Toronto need to support this ball club if they want to see it remain as Canada’s only representative in Major League Baseball.

The Jays continue their home stand tonight as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim come to town. Shaun Marcum will get the ball for Toronto as he squares off against the Angels Jered Weaver

In other Blue Jays news, the Jays have acquired speedy outfielder Fred Lewis from the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later or cash. I reported the possible move here earlier this week with my source coming via Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News as well as MLB Trade Rumors.

Lewis has a career average of .277 with 16HR, 81RBI, 34SB & an OBP of .355 in 326 games spread across four Major League seasons with the Giants.

Jays manger Cito Gaston will use Lewis as a left handed bat off the bench who will fill in for Travis Snider in left field on his off days, as well as use him as a base runner in key situations and as a stolen base threat.

The addition of Lewis to the Jays is another low risk, high reward acquisition by general manager Alex Anthopoulos, as Lewis has all the athletic ability to be a very useful player in the Toronto organization and brings Major League experience to a young ball club.

To make room for Lewis on the team, Toronto optioned outfielder Jeremy Reed to Triple A Las Vegas and moved pitcher Dustin McGowan to the 60-day disabled list to clear up a 40-man roster spot.

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