Blue Jays call up veteran southpaw reliever Coke

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons talks about what veteran left-handed relief pitcher Phil Coke will bring to the young bullpen.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays called up veteran left-hander Phil Coke from triple-A Buffalo on Friday.

The 32-year-old reliever signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays last month after he was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs. Coke pitched four scoreless innings over three appearances for the Bisons before the Blue Jays selected his contract.

The six-foot-one 210-pound native of Sonora, Calif., appeared in 16 games for the Cubs this season. He did not record a decision and had a 6.30 earned-run average over 10 innings.

Coke made his major-league debut with the New York Yankees in 2008. In 399 career appearances with the Yankees, Cubs and Detroit Tigers, Coke has a 22-27 record and 4.21 ERA.

The Blue Jays were scheduled to start a three-game series at Boston on Friday night.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.