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Gose impresses with defense

ARLINGTON -- Anthony Gose has caught a lot of attention this week for his ability to change the outcome of a game with his speed on the basepaths, but left-hander Mark Buehrle wants to point out another aspect of his game.

During a scrum with reporters, Buehrle was asked to comment about Gose's contributions on offense this week. Gose played a pivotal role in each of Toronto's victories vs. the Rangers on Friday and Saturday night with a pair of key hits and a stolen base.

Buehrle acknowledged the contributions, but wanted to shift the attention to something else.

"I don't want to talk about scoring runs, I want to talk about defense," Buehrle said. "He has been out there the last couple of days, balls have been hit, this isn't a knock against Colby [Rasmus] because he's pretty fast, but there have been some balls that were hit in the gap and you were like, 'damn there's a double' and all of a sudden here comes Gose catching the ball.

"But the bunt hit, speed beating it out, running all over the place, that's big for us. We have some thumpers in the middle of the lineup that are going to hit home runs and drive guys in. We need some speed guys in there too."

Gose has taken over the everyday duties in center field vs. right-handed pitching while Rasmus is on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. This marks the third consecutive season that Gose been called up from the Minor Leagues, and so far he's really been making it count.

"He has been here for a couple of games now and he was here for a couple of games earlier in the year and he looks confident," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He wants to be here and he's showing that he belongs here. Guys that can do what he does, they constantly put pressure on the opponents because, when they get on base, they're tough to stop. He's a tremendous outfielder, I think some day he'll win a Gold Glove, he's as good as anybody out there."

Gregor Chisholm is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, North of the Border, and follow him on Twitter @gregorMLB.
Read More: Toronto Blue Jays, Anthony Gose