Lansing Lugnuts Baseball

Blue Jays' Lawrie joins Lugnuts on rehab assignment

LANSING, Mich. – Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie will join the Lansing Lugnuts on a rehab assignment tonight, with the Lugnuts hosting the Fort Wayne TinCaps in Game 2 of the Midwest League postseason at Cooley Law School Stadium.

Lawrie, 22, was drafted 16th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008 and made his professional debut in the Midwest League in 2009 with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.  He was acquired by Toronto in a trade for Shaun Marcum on December 6, 2010.

The native of Langley, British Columbia, opened the 2011 season with Triple-A Las Vegas before making his Major League debut on August 5th.  He quickly captured the attention and rooting interest of the Rogers Centre faithful, batting .293 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs in 43 games.

Lawrie was batting .282 with nine homers and 40 runs batted in this season with the Blue Jays before suffering a strained oblique at Oakland on August 3rd.

He comes to Lansing after going 0-for-3 with a walk in a rehab start last night for the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League playoffs.

Lawrie is the eighth Major Leaguer to rehab with the Lugnuts, joining Kevin Appier (1998), Jeremi Gonzalez (2000), Ryan Dempster (2004), Andy Pratt (2004), Mark Prior (2004), Anthony Sanders (2005), and Jesse Litsch (2011).

The Lansing Lugnuts and Fort Wayne TinCaps meet in Game 2 in their Midwest League 1st Round playoff series at 7:05 p.m. this evening on a special Labatt Blue Light Thirsty Thursday.  The game features $2 beer and soda specials, with the popular band, The Verve Pipe, playing a postgame concert.

Lansing faces a must-win circumstance in the best-of-3 series after losing Game 1 on Wednesday night at Fort Wayne, 5-2.  The starting matchup will feature Lugnuts team MVP and top prospect Justin Nicolino (10-4, 2.46) opposite TinCaps right-hander Matt Wisler (5-4, 2.53)

Tickets are available for purchase online at www.lansinglugnuts.com, at the Cooley Law School Stadium box office, and by calling 517-485-4500.

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