OAKLAND—It was all-star selection Sunday and the Jays had received the good word that three members of their second place squad had been named to the AL team.

It should have been a time for celebration, but for the struggling Jays, there has not been much to rejoice over the past 30 days. And the beatdown continued as the AL’s best team defeated the Jays 4-2 for the four-game sweep.

“We got shut down big time here, manager John Gibbons said. “We’re not very good right now. You’ve got a couple of guys injured, not everybody. We’re cold right now.”

Cold is an understatement. The Jays scored just four runs in 39 innings at the Coliseum. With Edwin Encarnacion out, Brett Lawrie gone indefinitely and with Jose Bautista, Adam Lind and Colby Rasmus battling lingering injuries, scoring runs is a difficult task. They need someone to step up.

“We’ve got a couple of guys that can do that,” Gibbons suggested. “Just for the present, we need somebody to go out there and have a big day. String a few hits, drive in some runs, kind of set the tone. But it’s always been tough to score runs out here, regardless, whether you’re going good or bad. We need a breakout game. We need to regroup fast, that’s for sure.”

In an attempt to ratchet up the talent level even just a bit, the Jays put 30-year-old Cole Gillespie in the starting lineup in right field. Gillespie was claimed by GM Alex Anthopoulos on waivers from the Mariners. To make room, the Jays designated outfielder Brad Glenn for assignment. The club also on Sunday claimed another outfielder, Nolan Reimold, from the Orioles on waivers. He will report to the Jays in Anaheim when another move will have to be made.

That move to create room on the 25-man roster will likely be by putting Encarnacion on the 15-day DL. Encarnacion injured himself on Saturday running out a ground ball. Sunday, he had an MRI, which revealed a strained quadricep. If the Jays do put Encarnacion on the DL, he’d only miss 10 games, and would be eligible to return July 21 vs. the Red Sox. The MRI results came in and he was named to his second all-star team. Not the kind of back-to-back Encarnacion is used to. He was named to the team by AL manager John Farrell.

“The number one thing right now is getting ready from my injury,” Encarnacion said, revealing doctors told him it would be about two weeks. “I’ll be doing my therapy and working my leg to get it stronger and get it ready. It was Grade 2, so it makes me feel happy.”

The Jays started righthander Drew Hutchison, coming off an excellent outing at the Rogers Centre against the Brewers on Canada Day. He felt he was sharp vs. the A’s, even though he allowed a run in the second inning and two more in the fourth. He left with two men on in the sixth, working 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, with two walks and four strikeouts.

“I thought I threw the ball real well with the exception of the two walks in the sixth,” Hutchison said. “You’ve got to fight and keep trying. What’s done is done, there’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to move on and continue and get back to playing good baseball.”

There must have been a certain bitter irony for Anthopoulos as he was forced to watch newly-acquired righthander Jeff Samardzija make his first start in an A’s uniform and win. The Jays had been scouting the Cubs’ ace heavily as his availability became more and more apparent.

Not only did the Jays not obtain him, but the A’s also acquired righthander Jason Hammel in a blockbuster deal Friday that took another available starter off the trade-deadline market. In his AL debut, Samardzija pitched seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, with a walk and five strikeouts.

Back to the good news.

Along with Encarnacion, the Jays placed Bautista and starter Mark Buehrle on the all-star team. Bautista was the leading vote-getter for the second time in his career and will be taking part in his fifth straight all-star game. He is the AL captain for the Home Run Derby.

“Playing among the game’s best, a lot of talented people in this league, just to be a part of that elite group that has a chance to play in the all-star game is awesome,” Bautista enthused. “I get a chance to meet some of those guys, not as opponents, but as teammates and just have a little fun.”

Buehrle was named to his fifth all-star team. He was selected by his peers, on the player ballot. He has pitched in three previous midsummer classics, starting the ’05 game, when he was with the White Sox.

“Obviously that means a lot,” Buehrle said. “For the players to select you means a bit more. Guys around the league are paying attention and notice and recognize what you’re doing on the field. In the past couple of years, I didn’t think it was ever going to happen again. We’re all getting to where the prime is kind of in the past. I’m just going to go soak it up and try and have some fun.”

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The Jays had four all-stars a year ago. In addition to Bautista and Encarnacion, they placed relievers Brett Cecil and Steve Delabar. The most all-stars the Jays have ever had was seven in 1993, the summer after they won their first World Series. Cito Gaston was the manager.

The Jays are banged up, both physically and mentally and the break can’t come soon enough.

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