Scott Rolen's return to the Blue Jays lineup makes this team a better team but until the lineup starts hitting, they will struggle to get wins.  The lineup shakeup by John Gibbons on Sunday could be considered a success as the team walked away with a victory but it is not like the team really tore the cover off the ball. 

Gibbons has said he will bat David Eckstein in the second spot in the order for the forseeable future leaving Alex Rios to bat in the leadoff spot.  I like moving Eckstein out of the leadoff spot as I think he'll be more effective in the two spot given he doesn't strike out a lot and can hit to all fields.  I can't say I'm a fan of Rios in the leadoff spot as he is probably the team's most consistent hitter and should be in a spot to drive in runs.  Unfortunately, the Blue Jays do not possess a typical lead-off hitter so Rios is the next best thing. 

The Blue Jays face Jon Lester in tonight's opener in Fenway.  With Lester being a leftie, the chance of Gibbons using the same lineup as Sunday is low.  But what will he do? Not sure but here would be my lineup for tonight:

1. Stewart, DH

2. Eckstein, SS

3.  Rios, RF

4. Wells, CF

5. Rolen, 3B

6. Hill, 2B

7. Barajas, 1B

8. Lind, LF

9. Zaun, C

Now the team is exposing itself to a potential problem if Zaun gets hurt as Barajas is at first and no other catcher is on the bench.  However, a simple switch to Barajas at catcher and Overbay can come in for Zaun.  This lineup also gives the team two solid left-handed bats on the bench (Stairs, Overbay) if Boston brings in a right hander from the bullpen after Lester is done for the night.

However, my best guess for tonight's lineup is as follows:

1. Rios, RF

2. Eckstein, SS

3. Rolen, 3B

4. Wells, CF

5. Barajas, C

6. Hill, 2B

7. Overbay, 1B

8. Stewart, DH

9. Lind, LF

We'll see if I'm even close.  This will be a tough series given the Jays swept the Sox at the Rogers Centre earlier in the month.  The Sox will be looking to return the favour and end their losing streak after getting swept in Tampa.

7:00 p.m: Turns out I was pretty close on the lineup for tonight.  Zaun is catching instead of Barajas and batting ninth.  So if you took Barajas out of the fifth spot in the lineup above, move everyone below him up a spot and insert Zaun in the ninth spot, you have tonight's lineup.  

1. Rios LF

2. Eckstein, SS

3. Rolen, 3B

4. Wells, CF

5. Hill, 2B

6. Overbay, 1B

7. Stewart, DH

8. Lind, LF

9. Zaun, C

If Scott Rolen wasn't coming off the DL tonight to make his debut with the Jays, I'd definitely not be tuning in tonight as they open their series against the Royals.

Other commitments prevented me from watching or listening to the game last night but I did get home to catch the ninth inning.  Down 5-3, the Jays managed to get the tying run in scoring position with only one out.  A glimmer of hope that the team could end this slump.  I honestly was thinking positively at this point as Tampa had carted out their aging closer, Troy Percival for the third straight game.  Things were looking up but then Marco Scutaro struck out on a 3-2 fastball and David Eckstein flew out to end the game.  It was almost laughable. 

But it is still early right?

What I am looking forward to is tonight should be the first time this season that we'll see a healthy Jays lineup.  No Joe Inglett, No Marco Scutaro, No John  MacDonald, No Robinson Diaz in the starting lineup.  Nothing against these players but they are not everyday players.  Diaz might be some day but not at this point.  I'm also hoping they'll call up Adam Lind for tonight's game but no word yet of this happening.  In my opinion, he should have been called up a number of days ago but the Jays were holding off because he was battling a bit of a sore neck.  It looks like Inglett will probably be sent down to make room for Lind.  I don't mind Inglett as a bench player but with Lind up, the Jays have a stronger lineup.  Lind will play everyday in left with Stairs and Stewart platooning at DH. 

I'm just hoping that nobody gets some sort of ailment or the sniffles and give John Gibbons the excuse to give them the night off! 

I used the word 'devilish' in relation to a post discussing the Rays, does this mean I'm going to get sued?

A rough game last night for the Blue Jays.  Roy Halladay was cruising for most of the game but gets roughed up in the sixth for four runs and that was all she wrote.  Matt Stairs provided the only offence for the club by hitting two homeruns and driving in all three Blue Jays runs.

The offence is a mess right now.  The Jays hitters seem to be working their way into good hitter's counts but are then missing very hittable pitches.  They either foul them off, hit the ball of the end of the bat, pop out or hit the ball hard but right at somebody.  Not sure what the solution to the problem is but another night where the team goes 0-for with runners in scoring position, I may have to take a "Jays vacation". 

I take a "Jays vacation" every once in awhile when my frustration level with the team gets so high that it affects all other aspects of my life.  For instance, last night I had to go pick my wife up in downtown Ottawa after she had been out for dinner with friends.  The Jays game had just ended and as I was driving down to get her, I was listening to Mike Wilner's post-game show on the radio.  I picked my wife up and she kindly asked how the Jays did and I told her they lost 5-3.  Her response went something like this:

"They lost with Halladay on the mound? What is wrong with him? He only has two wins this season!"

I, having watched the game and seen that Roy pitched well except for one inning had to defend him.  I went on a rant the whole way home about how the offence is pathetic and when Halladay does give up four runs the team should be able to win.  I went on to say that the team was lucky to even score three runs in that game and went on and on and on.  I got home and realized, I don't need to subject my wife to this.  She just asked an innocent question based on the fact that the Rays had scored five runs when Halladay had started the game.  Thankfully my wife shares the same frustration with the team right now and realized that my anger was not directed at her.  But as you can see, the Blue Jays right now are affecting my emotional state and I may have to take a brief 'Jays vacation'.

It's almost a must-win tonight in Orlando. Hopefully Dustin McGowan can get the team back on track and maybe, just maybe, the bats will wake up tonight.

Oh how I love it when the Jays play the Rays. The history, the drama, the heated rivlary. All right I'm kidding.  Usually a trip to Tampa results in frustration for Jays fans as the team somehow will lose the series to the perennial American League punching bags. 

I thought this time it might be different as the Jays have played well on the road so far this season and they weren't flying to Tampa to play the Rays but were flying to Orlando to play at Disney World's Wide World of Sports.  Isn't there something wrong when a major league baseball team has to play a regular season game in a Class A ballpark?  How can this team survive in Tampa? 

Well the change of scenary didn't help as the Jays dropped the first game of the series 6-4.  From the outset, it appeared Mickey Mouse took over as manager. It was clear John Gibbons was mailing this one in as he thought last night was a great time to rest one of his best hitters in Alex Rios.  You know this is a wise move when your offence is sputtering and you have your fifth starter on the hill against the opposing team's number one guy.  I may have only played for the East Mountain Cobras in Hamilton and not the New York Mets and I may not have ever managed in the big leagues (or any league for that matter) but I don't think John Gibbons gave his team the best chance to win.  Yes I'm well aware that not all players can play all 162 games but resting Rios with Litsch on the mound last night was ridiculous.  I have a hard time thinking this team can be a contender when they have Joe Inglett and Marco Scutaro in the starting lineup. 

Why did the team release Frank Thomas if they weren't going to use this lineup flexibility to their advantage? I thought the idea was to use the DH spot to get Stairs in the lineup more and allow guys like Rios and Wells to get a night off in the field?  Why didn't Gibbons start Stairs in left, have Rios DH and plug Inglett into right.  I'd take Stairs and Rios in my lineup over Stairs and Stewart.    This is where the release of Reed Johnson hurts the team.  Stewart can't play right field.  Johnson could play all three outfield positions.  If Stewart could play right (his throwing arm is horrendous), you could have plugged him in right with Stairs in left and had Rios in the DH spot.  Joe Inglett would have never needed to see the field!  Sorry for beating up on Joe but there is a reason he has found trouble staying in the show. 

I'm not saying that having Rios in the lineup last night would have changed the outcome, I just think as a manager, Gibbons has to pick his spots better when resting his starters.

What hurt last night the most is that Eric Hinske almost beat the Blue Jays single handedly.  Hinske was a single short of a cycle. and had two RBIs.  In fact, he even contributed to the Jays offense as well by making an error in the second inning that resulted in the Jays scoring two runs that inning. 

Jesse Litsch had a bad start and didn't get through the fourth inning before yielding to the bullpen.  He said he wasn't locating his pitches well and as a result, they were getting hit hard.  Hopefully Jesse can get his sinker working again before his next start.

Some good news is that Scott Rolen is nearing his return to the Jays.  It looks as if he'll be in the lineup come this weekend against the Royals.  I'm eagerly anticipating seeing Rolen slip into the sixth spot in the batting order (my best guess as to where Gibby will put him).  Hopefully we'll see Adam Lind get called up in the next few days as well and we should see the following lineup against righties:

1. Eckstein

2. Hill

3. Rios

4. Wells

5. Stairs

6. Rolen

7. Overbay

8. Lind

9. Zaun

Against lefties, you'll likely see Stewart playing in place of Lind and possibly Barajas instead of Stairs.  All of this is speculation of course.

Well regardless of last night's display, I'm looking forward to watching tonight's game.  The Jays will have the pitching edge tonight with Halladay on the mound against Jason Hammel who is 1-0 with a 5.14 ERA in three starts.

Where has the offence gone? After a great road trip where the Jays swept Texas and split with Baltimore, the blue birds returned home to get swept in their own next by those same Texas Rangers they looked so dominant against this past weekend. 

The pitching has been decent but in the last two games, the bats have gone cold.  In the first game against Texas, sure the team scored five runs but this was more of a result of some poor pitching (walks) and defense (errors) by the Rangers than productive at bats by the Blue Jays.  The Blue Jays had no business being in that game but after getting fortunate and tying the game at five they had a multitude of chances to win the game and couldn't do it despite some clutch pitching from the bullpen.  Recent call-up Jesse Carleson looked fantastic in three innings of scoreless work.  At the end of the day, the Blue Jays batted 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

Last night with Roy Halladay on the mound the team still didn't hit and Texas walked away with an easy 4-1 win.  The team doesn't seem to have any problems getting runners on but are consistently letting opposing pitchers off the hook by grounding into double-plays or striking out.  I know it is still early but this is an alarming trend.

As a result of going through their entire bullpen on Wednesday night and having to use tonight's scheduled starter, A.J. Burnett out of the pen, the Blue Jays will turn to David Purcey tonight. After a dominating Arizona fall league season and a few strong starts in triple-A Syracuse, Purcey will be making his major league debut against the Tigers.  To make room for Purcey the team place Brian Wolfe on the 15 day DL with a sore tricep muscle.  I wonder how sore Mr. Wolfe's tricep really is but it seemed like fortunate timing to have Purcey called up yesterday after the team used it's entire bullpen the night before!

The Jays face the Gambler tonight who is not exactly hot at the moment.  I believe he has lost seven straight decisions going back to last season.  Kenny could be the cure for what ails the Jays bats!  I don't have a good feeling about this series. The Tigers have struggled to start the year but they are too good of team to be playing this poorly.  Their pitching and offense have to turn it all around sometime and I'm just hoping it is not this weekend.

Pitching Matchups for this series:

Friday: Purcey vs. Rogers

Saturday: McGowan vs. Bonderman

Sunday: Burnett vs. Robertson

Monday: Marcum vs. Galarraga

The Jays miss Verlander which is nice even though he has struggled early on this season.  The Jays should have the edge in pitching matchups in two of the four games (Sunday and Monday) but Robertson pitched the Jays tough last season and they have never seen Galarraga which has been the kiss of death for Jays hitters so far this season.  It will be interesting!

Another interesting game with the A's last night.  The Blue Jays had no business winning that game as their pitchers escaped so many situations where the A's had runners in scoring position with less than two outs.  I couldn't believe it! 

Somehow the Blue Jays, after scoring three runs in the bottom of the first, held onto a one run lead heading into the ninth and Jeremy Accardo on the hill to close out a win they did not deserve.  Then the wheels completely fell off.  A hit batter and then a triple later, the game was tied and the A's had the go-ahead run on third and nobody out.  Accardo managed to almost escape the ninth with the game tied but with one out and runners at first and third, Emil Brown hit a chopper to Scutaro at third.  Scutaro decided to try and cut the run off at home but threw wildly and the ball went to the backstop.  The A's then ended up scoring two more runs and basically put the game out of reach.  However, Scutaro could have tried for the double play which would have been difficult to turn but at least they would have recorded one out and possibly got out of the inning only trailing by one run.  Very ill-advised and not smart baseball but as I wrote earlier, the team did not deserve to win this game anyways. Good teams find ways to win.  It seems like in the last two games the Blue Jays are finding ways to lose.  The good news is that B.J. Ryan could be back in the fold by the end of next week.

Now the Blue Jays turn to Shaun Marcum to try and salvage the last game of this series.  

On a player transaction note, the Blue Jays designated Randy Wells for assignment while calling up LHP Jesse Carleson  from Syracuse. The reasoning behind this as stated by the team is that they have been facing a lot of left handed hitters of late and needed the extra lefty in the pen.  Wells, as a Rule V draftee, has to be offered back to the Cubs (team he was claimed from) for half the price of what the Blue Jays paid for him or the Jays can maybe work out a trade to keep him. 

I can't say I watched all of last night's game against the A's but I did watch the first few innings.  Tuesday nights are movie night with the wife so baseball takes a back seat.  For the first two batters of the evening, it looked like A.J. was going to cruise but then he gave up back to back hits and one run scored before he got out of the first.  After Vernon Wells put the Jays up 3-1 in the bottom of the first, I thought A.J. would settle down and the Blue Jays would cruise to a victory.

It took about two batters into the second inning to change my thinking.  The A's were hitting A.J. all over the park, he couldn't locate any pitch but his fastball and I knew we were headed for another A.J. meltdown on the mound.  Five runs later and the Jays were down 6-3. 

The Jays' bats were facing Chad Gaudin who was fresh off the DL in place of an injured Rich Harden so I had confidence they could come back but I was concerned of whether the Jays could stop the A's bats and keep the game in range.  Well I missed the rest of the game and all the fireworks!  The Jays bats continued to hit, putting up eight runs but Brian Tallet struggled and Accardo couldn't keep the game tied and they ended up dropping the first game of the series.

What was encouraging was that the team kept battling and could have easily won the game.  What was discouraging was Burnett's awful start and the bullpen not shutting a weak hitting A's team down after the team had taken the lead. 

The Jays need to take the final two games of this series and with the A's starting two rookies in the next two games, they should have the pitching advantage.  Hopefully the bats stay hot and the Jays take the series.  If not, the team will have dropped two of their first three series which would be quite discouraging and kill the buzz this team was getting in the City of Toronto after their sweep of the Red Sox.