Blue Jays demote RHP Marcum

Aug 23, 2008 - 10:34 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday optioned Shaun Marcum to Class AAA Syracuse in order for the righthander to work on his control problems.

Believing they still are in the race for the American League wild card, the Blue Jays opted to send down Marcum rather than have the 27-year-old struggle at the major-league level. Toronto (67-62) climbed within seven games of the Boston Red Sox (74-55) for the wild card with Saturday's 11-0 victory.

"We've got some chance here to catch these guys," Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told the team's web site. "We want to put the best possible group out there that we can right now. He's just been struggling throwing strikes, so we want to just let him go down there and work out some of the kinks."

Marcum made 22 starts for the Blue Jays this season, going 8-6 with a 3.60 ERA. He had won three straight games before being tagged for five runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings of an 8-4 loss to the Red Sox on Friday.

To replace Marcum on the roster, Toronto recalled lefthander John Parrish from Syracuse. The 30-year-old made seven appearances - four starts - for the Blue Jays earlier this season, going 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA.