11:11 PM Eastern

Except to say that it turned out to be a lovely month for the Blue Jays in general and Alex Gonzalez, Vernon Wells and a bunch of Blue Jays pitchers in particular.

Gonzalez hit seven April homers – a Blue Jays record for shortstops in the season’s first month – and Wells heard nary a discouraging word from the home crowd with his MVP-calibre start to the season, culminating with his 200th career home run tonight.

The Jays have stayed relatively injury-free to this point, and are on pace for (how’s this for quick math?) a .500 season.

Here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Saturday, there’ll be a pre-pre-game show starting at noon Eastern on the Fan590 and right here on this very website.  We may hear from Red Sox third base coach Tim Bogar or we may hear from Angels’ centrefielder Torii Hunter.  I’m not sure which, but I’m leaning towards Hunter right now.  I’ll check your votes in the comments section before I go on the air and choose based on that.  Bogar talks about the process he went through this off-season when he was a candidate to manage the Houston Astros, a job that ultimately went to Brad Mills, with whom he worked on the Red Sox’ staff last season.  Hunter talks about all kind of stuff, from playing outside in Minnesota to the difference between Spring Training in Florida and in Arizona to playing practical jokes on David Ortiz.

Here’s tonight’s transcript of “Miked Up LIVE”!  We’ll be back at it again tomorrow, first pitch to last pitch:

11:0 PM Eastern

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you snap a five-game losing streak.  One of the new guys drags a .155 batting average into a game for a team that has had a terrible time hitting all season long (last in the league in OBP, second-last in batting average, first in striking out) and comes out of his cocoon with, as they say, authoritah.

John Buck has only hit more than 12 home runs in a season once in his major-league career, but he got a quarter of the way there tonight, becoming only the 15th Blue Jay in history to hit three home runs in a game.

The first was belted into the seats in left-centre, the second a towering blast halfway up the 200 level in left, and the third was pummelled off the bottom of what used to be Windows restaurant above the gap in left-centre.

Buck led off the 8th looking for home run number four, and took three prodigious swings, missing twice and fouling a ball straight back, before popping up to right.

It was a great night for Buck, and his five runs batted in helped Ricky Romero overcome a shaky start and finish strong to pick up the win.  The bullpen looked pretty good, too, as Shawn Camp, Scott Downs and Kevin Gregg threw a shutout  inning each – Gregg striking out the side in order.  The A’s managed all of one hit after the third inning, which is kind of nice to see coming from the other side.

Travis Snider had a big night too, following Buck’s first homer of the night with one of his own – a first-pitch bomb to right-centre, and doubling into the left-centre gap against a lefty no less!  Hopefully this is the kind of night that can get Snider off and running.  It would be great if he could hot his stride and start turning some people’s opinions around.

Curious that A’s starter Justin Duchscherer tried to stick it out in the 4th inning despite an injured left hip.  He seemed to hurt it on a pitch to Jose Bautista, and everyone came out to check on him, but he insisted on staying in the game (afterwards, he said he thought he might be able to get Bautista to ground into an inning-ending double play and get the hip stretched out between innings) then gave up a single and got yanked.  I understand the competitive aspect, especially with a team that’s beaten up, but Duchscherer has to know that he’s risking damage to a lot of other things, shoulder and elbow included, by trying to pitch on a bum hip.  On April 29th, you come out as soon as you feel something.  Bob Geren won his pitcher’s trust by letting him stay in for a few more pitches, but it could have gotten ugly, injury-wise.

Aaron Hill walked three times tonight.  I had to mention that.  There was a spirited discussion during tonight’s “Miked Up LIVE” session about who might be the best second baseman in baseball.  I said, and Chase Utley supporters be damned, that if Hill learns plate discipline to the point where he can get his on-base up to .380 or .390, then he’s the best.  Hopefully, with his walkful spring and tonight’s fine eye, he’s on his way – though it’s a long climb from the career .337 he brought into this year.

Here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tomorrow, Trevor Cahill gets activated off the disabled list to make his first appearance of the season for the A’s, who will try to stay both in first place and above .500, and he’ll face Brandon Morrow, who is coming off a loss in Tampa Bay in which he gave up just two runs over six innings despite walking six – thanks to the good right arm of Jose Molina.  We’re on the air at 7:00 pm Eastern and the LIVE portion of the conversation will begin at about 7:07, with the first pitch.

Tonight’s “Miked Up LIVE” was a little less crazy than the inaugural edition, which was good.  I still have to learn not to answer as many comments, though.  I did feel that I got to see the game tonight at least, though I wasn’t paying as much attention as I ordinarily would.  It’s still a work in progress, though, and I’m sure we’ll find our footing eventually.

Speaking of the “Miked Up LIVE” from tonight – here it is:

11:35 PM Eastern

Wow.

I think it’s safe to say that the opening night of “Miked Up LIVE” was a runaway success.  I was very literally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of comments and questions and did my best to keep up – the game has been over for an hour and a half now and the adrenaline is still pumping.

The counter to the great night online was that I really didn’t have a chance to watch much of the game at all.  I mean, I listened to Jerry and Alan, and popped my head up when something happened, but could never really get into the flow.  Maybe that’ll change as time goes on.

But there was nothing really to see except utter domination on the part of Jon Lester.  Lester came in here last May and  was just about as awesome, striking out 12 in six innings of three-hitter.  Tonight it was seven innings of one-hitter, striking out 11.  Of course, the Blue Jays’ offense hasn’t inspired many letters home lately, with the exception of Monday night’s dozen runs in a game they still lost.

Brett Cecil looked great again, and fits in brilliantly with Shaun Marcum and Ricky Romero in the “Pitch Fantastic But Don’t Win” Club.  I think he’s here to stay, and he’s going to be a great one.

Josh Roenicke looked terrific in his return from AAA, throwing strikes, getting ahead, and taking care of Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez and Kevin Youkilis in order, and relatively easily.

As for the 8th inning, as I mentioned on the live chat, I wouldn’t have pinch-hit for Ruiz, and I don’t get why you go Lind then Lewis, unless you’re worried about Lewis hitting into a double play, denying Lind a chance to tie it with one swing.  There was a runner on second, which eliminates most double-play possibilities, as well.

Here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tomorrow, the first-place Oakland A’s come to town fresh off a series loss in Tampa Bay – they’ll start their ace, Justin Duchscherer (maybe their co-ace with Ben Sheets, who starts Sunday) against the hard-luck Ricky Romero.  Join us for the broadcast, and join us as well at live.fan590.com for “Miked Up LIVE” – I’ll be opening the comments at 7:00 PM Eastern, but should have the starting line-ups up closer to 4:00 or 4:30.

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome, but they will be posted only, not answered.

Here’s the transcript of tonight’s “Miked Up LIVE”:

12:10 AM Eastern

It’s almost like clockwork – a team scores a bunch of runs one day, and there’s nothing left in the tank for the next game.  Often it’s worse than it was yesterday and today, when there were two one-run ballgames, because often when a team scores 12 or 13, it wins by seven or eight, and then manages only one or two the next day to lose a close one.

Just ask the Milwaukee Brewers.  Don’t you think they could have used a few of the 13 extra runs by which they won last night tonight?  By the way, if there ever was a Peter Gross Streak Theory (TM) wager to be made, it’s on the Pirates in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale, since they just snapped a 21-game losing streak at Milwaukee.

But I digress.  A day after 13-12, we saw 2-1, and we saw 1-1 until the 8th inning, when Kevin Gregg failed his new team for the first time.  Gregg came in with the bases loaded and two out to face Mike Lowell, who was pinch-hitting for David Ortiz.  Gregg came in having not walked a batter all season, and he couldn’t throw Lowell a strike.  In walked what proved to be the winning run.

It was a crappy way to lose, and the Jays have now dropped a pair of one-run games to Boston and been passed by the Red Sox in the standings (not that that wouldn’t have happened soon enough anyway).

Shaun Marcum was brilliant again.  I don’t think there’s an 0-1 pitcher in the big leagues who is having the kind of year that he’s having.  If he keeps this up, he’ll get his fair share of  wins.  Well, maybe not his fair share, but a few anyway.

Tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk had its regular portion of attendance complaints and  “why didn’t Cito pinch-hit for John Buck” complaints.  To the latter, I’ll elaborate on what I said on the show.  I believe that Cito feels very strongly about treating his veterans respectfully.  He has said in the past that he doesn’t feel comfortable pinch-hitting a veteran with a rookie, no matter who that veteran – or that rookie – is.  I think Cito feels that he owes it to Buck, as a veteran, to let him hit over a rookie like Mike McCoy or a pseudo-rookie like Randy Ruiz, because it’s his due as a guy who has put in his time in the majors.  I don’t think it’s right, but I think that has a lot to do with how Cito sees things.  He wouldn’t want to be pinch-hit for by a rookie, so he’s not going to do it to anyone else.

That said, if Buck’s average still hasn’t climbed over the Mendoza line by June, all bets are off.

Here’s today’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tomorrow, the series finale with Brett Cecil, who gave up four homers in one inning at Fenway last season, against the struggling Jon Lester.  With a lefty on the hill, will we see Travis Snider in the line-up?  Snider wasn’t supposed to make the team if he wasn’t going to play every day, yet he has only started (and therefore played) once in a game started by an opposition southpaw.

Remember – tomorrow everything changes.  We move from regulation blogaroo to “Miked Up LIVE”.  I wish I could give you a url at which to find the new thing, but they haven’t given it to me yet.  Look on the website and listen to the radio throughout the day Wednesday to find out where to send your browser.  We’ll have a live, interactive chat throughout the game, from first pitch to last pitch, every game – starting tomorrow night at 7:00 PM Eastern.

It appears, for now, that “Miked Up LIVE” is going to take the place of the current comments section, since I don’t have enough time to answer all the comments and do a live, interactive chat during the game.  There will still be post-game blerg postings, and that night’s edition of The JaysTalk as well as that night’s transcript of “Miked Up LIVE” will be included in those.

I hope you’re all excited about this bold, new venture in the world of interactive media.  You, the listener/reader, will get to go right into the broadcast booth with me!

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome, but they’re no longer likely to be answered.

1:10 AM Eastern

Well, that took a while.

One of the longest nine-inning games in franchise history checked in at four hours and three minutes of pretty entertaining baseball, but unfortunately for the Blue Jays, they fell a run short.

Had to come on a night before I have to be out helping coach my daughters’ school softball team at 7:45 the next morning, though, didn’t it?

So quickly, I’ll say that I was very impressed by the fact that the Jays were able to come back so often and I was unimpressed by how poorly Dana Eveland fared in his first real AL Eastic test.  That’s not to say that he should be written off, but it is to say I was hoping that he might emerge as more than just a placeholder in the rotation for Marc Rzepczynski, Dustin McGowan or Jesse Litsch.  We’re still not sure yet, obviously, but he’s had a couple of poor outings in a row right now, and he is coming off a 7.40 ERA last season.

It’s nice to see Lyle Overbay coming around.  With his three hits tonight, Overbay is now hitting .357/.400/.750 over his last eight games, with five doubles, two homers and seven RBIs.  Can everyone climb off his tail for a bit now?  Vernon Wells stung it beautifully tonight, too, and whod’a thunk that Jose Bautista would be leading the team in RBIs three weeks into the season?  Certainly not I.

I also have to point out that Fred Lewis can flat-out fly.  Watching him gear up on his third-inning triple – he even kind of half-stopped between second and third and was able to re-accelerate and beat the throw by plenty.  The man has speed unlike we have seen around these parts in a long time.

There was a call on The JaysTalk wondering why Cito Gaston didn’t pinch-hit for John Buck in the 8th inning, when the Jays had the tying run on first and two out.  Cito could have pinch-run for Overbay with Mike McCoy and had him try to steal second, then bring in Randy Ruiz to hit for Buck.  Honestly, it never occurred to me that such a thing could happen, because I’ve watched this manager too long.  It would have been the right thing to do, but it’s not something we’re going to see, so try not to drive yourselves nuts.

The decision to yank Shawn Camp when he did was curious, with two out in a tie game in the 6th, two on (courtesy of broken-bat hits) and the ninth hitter up.  The only thing I can think of is that Camp was at 38 pitches, just one off his season high, and he had thrown the day before.  Unfortunately, Casey Janssen didn’t hold up his end of the bargain.

After the game, the Jays switched up the bullpen, shipping out Jeremy Accardo and designating Merkin Valdez for assignment, calling up Josh Roenicke and Rommie Lewis.  They both should arrive on the red-eye from Vegas in the morning.  Roenicke has been simply tearing it up down there – having allowed five baserunners in 8 2/3 shutout innings with eight strikeouts.  Lewis hasn’t been as good, though he has five saves for the 51s, but for his minor-league career the 6’5″ lefty has allowed a hit per inning with 3.6 walks and 7/3 strikeouts per nine.

It’s a shame the Jays didn’t really get the chance to take a good, hard look at Valdez.  They loved the arm, but didn’t like the control issues, and as the 7th guy in the bullpen, he just didn’t get any work over the first three weeks.  They might be able to sneak him through waivers, but someone could very well take a chance on that arm.

Here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

You may have heard on the broadcast tonight that we’re going to be moving in a different direction with the ol’ bloggaroo.  Beginning with Wednesday night’s game against the Red Sox, we’ll be shifting over to “Miked Up LIVE”.  Basically, it’s the same thing as this, except you’ll actually get to Live Chat with me all game, every game.  It’ll likely take the place of our normally-vibrant comments section, we’ll just have the conversation during the game.  I’ll pull out the occasional question to answer on the broadcast, as well.

Just like the comments section here, I don’t want “Miked Up LIVE” to be about instantaneous reaction to what’s going on on the field – no “He sucks” after a strikeout or “Yay!” after a run scored.  Those types of comments won’t get through.  I continue to attempt to raise the level of discourse on baseball around these parts, and “Miked Up LIVE” will carry on that tradition.  I look forward to moving into the next generation of interactive media with you all!

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!  And for at least another day, they’ll be answered.

5:30 PM Eastern

Going into this season, I thought the Blue Jays’ bullpen would be the club’s greatest position of strength; led by Jason Frasor and Scott Downs, with help from a Kevin Gregg who wasn’t going to be nearly as awful as the blogosphere anticipated.

Through the first three weeks of the season, Gregg has been stellar, Casey Janssen (with the exception of last night)  has been far better than anyone could have imagined he’d be, Shawn Camp has been terrific, Scott Downs has been OK and Jason Frasor has been awful.

So awful, in fact, that I’m thinking there has got to be something wrong with him physically.  I’m not saying he’s hiding an injury or anything like that – he may not even recognize what it is that’s got him 2-3 miles an hour slower than usual – but there’s got to be something wrong.

I preached patience at the beginning of the season when none of Frasor’s three first-week saves were pretty, and two blown saves were thrown in there as well.  There hasn’t been any indication through his career that he can’t handle being a closer, but some people are put off that he doesn’t look the type (which I talked about a lot in March and early April).  I’m not one of them – but he’s just not right.

Frasor usually sits at 93-94 miles an hour with his fastball, and he can touch 96.  This year, he has sat at 91 for the most part, only very occasionally touching 93.  As Alan Ashby put it during that ugly eighth inning this afternoon, that turns Frasor from an above-average reliever to just an average one.  And he’s getting his average tail kicked all around the yard right now.

It’s tough to come down on a guy after his worst outing of the season, and today was particularly ugly, with Frasor facing seven hitters and only retiring two of them, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk, but this was his 10th outing of the season, and he’s only had one clean inning.  Just one.

In those 10 appearances, Frasor has pitched 8 2/3 innings and allowed nine runs on 16 hits with eight walks and 11 strikeouts.  I’m not sure what the fact that he’s struck out more than a batter an inning means,  given his reduced velocity (which has also made the change-up that was so great last year far less effective) – but 24 baserunners in 8 2/3 innings suggests that this is a guy who shouldn’t be pitching in the major leagues right now.

I think it’s because of an injury, because I’m not willing to believe that Frasor could simply lose 3-4 miles an hour off his fastball over the course of one winter.

On to the good stuff – Brandon Morrow had another great outing, kind of.  He worked past some serious control issues to the point that he might well have thrown six shutout innings had Aaron Hill been able to come up with a hot shot by John Jaso with the infield in in the 5th.  It was a tough play, made even tougher by the lack of reaction time, but I think Hill would tell you that it’s a play he can make.  Then again, if Morrow doesn’t have four baserunners erased by his catcher, six shutout innings are just a pipe dream.

Morrow walked six Rays in six innings of work.  He needs to clean that up in order to reduce his pitch count so he can go later into games.

Jose Molina was outstanding, setting a Blue Jays record by throwing out those four baserunners attempting to steal – and he did it over the course of the first four innings!  Molina got Carl Crawford twice and B.J. Upton and Sean Rodriguez once each before Rays manager Joe Maddon wised up and took away all the green lights.  The previous Jays record of three had been shared by Ernie Whitt, Pat Borders, Alberto Castillo and our very own Alan Ashby.

I don’t think Molina’s defense outweighs John Buck’s offensive potential, though, not on a team that’s dying for hits.  Neither of them appear to be all that good at blocking balls in the dirt.

Randy Ruiz got a very rare start today, and swung from the heels as you’d expect from a guy who thinks every chance he gets could very well be his last.  He went 0-for-3, including a strikeout on three pitches in the 5th, but in his final at-bat stung a line drive to shortstop that was hit so hard that it literally knocked Reid Brignac right off his feet after he caught it (or rather, after it caught him).

In the pre-pre-game JaysTalk, I let Cito have it for once again not giving Ruiz a start when all indications were that it would be a good idea.  I found out later that I was working off some incorrect information, obviously Ruiz did start today, and I did apologize for it on the air.  So when you listen to the following, be aware that I know I sounded like an idiot and did make up for it later:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I still don’t get, though, the whole “Travis Snider won’t make the team if he’s not going to play every day” thing that we heard all spring long, when you look at the fact that Snider has started exactly once against a lefty this season.

Here is the post-game edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The long, arduous, three-day road trip over, the Jays come home for seven to try to work that home record back to the .500 mark, with three against the Red Sox followed by four with the Oaklands.  The Red Sox just accomplished what the Blue Jays couldn’t – losing to the lowly Baltimore Orioles.  Dana Eveland gets his first taste of the A.L. East tomorrow night, facing Josh Beckett.  We’re on at 7:00 pm Eastern – join us, won’t you?

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!

8:25 AM Eastern

Before I head off to the Davidi Ritual Circumcision (mazel tovs all around!), I figured I’d toss last night’s edition of The JaysTalk your way.  There was an international flair to the programme, with a caller each from Australia (a JaysTalk record!) and Israel.

Here it is, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

It’s too bad about the bullpen last night but really, what can you do?  Ricky Romero was done – he only threw 105 pitches, but the last dozen or so were awfully high-intensity as he fought hard to keep the tying run at third base – a runner who had made it there with  nobody out as a result of Romero’s own errant pick-off throw.

Since Friday night featured a struggling Jason Frasor’s and Kevin Gregg’s four-out save, the move was to go to Scott Downs, and he didn’t have it.  Nor did Casey Janssen, who was the obvious second choice because you can’t ask Gregg to get six outs a night after he got four.  Most of the time, it’s gonna work.  Sometimes, like last night, not so much.

There’s a pre-game edition of The JaysTalk this afternoon at 12:30 pm Eastern – make sure you check it out!  Then – the game, with Brandon Morrow looking to build off his terrific performance against the Royals on Monday taking on Rays’ lefty David Price.  It’ll be interesting to see how the line-up looks.

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!

12:30 AM Eastern

Other than to say that it was great to see Brett Cecil take advantage of his opportunity this time.  He was tremendous tonight and I hope that he’s in the Jays’ rotation to stay.  A caller suggested that he’d been left in too long, but I don’t buy it – low pitch count, 6-2 lead, runner on first with two out in the seventh and facing the nine hitter?  Not a situation that screams for a pitcher to be yanked.

Also, with Aaron Hill back in the line-up, Alex Gonzalez moved down to the six-hole, apparently to take advantage of his hot bat.  The bat’s not hot anymore, but the move paid off tonight as Gonzalez delivered a huge two-run single in the first inning and added an infield single in the 7th.  A few people have wondered what the Jays should do with Gonzalez when he cools off, and the short answer is – he has.  He had a massive first week, hitting .346/.346/.923, but over the last 11 games (including tonight), Gonzalez has hit .261/.306/.408.  I guess that’s strong by Blue Jays’ standards. though, and it still warrants hitting him ahead of John Buck.

Anyway, here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tomorrow, it’s an early start for a night game.  We’re on at 5:30 pm Eastern for a 6:10 first pitch, and if Ricky Romero keeps pitching as he has been through his first three starts, the Jays are looking awfully good for yet another series win.

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!

12:05 AM Eastern

Yes, it has taken me this long to calm down enough to write a blog post about this afternoon’s game.  Actually, that’s not true, I had to pick the kids up from school, eat dinner, trade for Rafael Furcal, go to a meeting, those sorts of things – but those are all beside the point.

A couple of days ago, some of you true believers were asking if I would be reluctant to be critical of Cito Gaston, even if I felt it was warranted, given my apology for going a little too far on the speculation front a few days back.

Ahem.

One would think that I and other Blue Jays observers would have gotten used to Gaston’s managerial style by now.  There ought to be things that one knows are coming, and therefore when those things do happen, one could imagine that they wouldn’t be accompanied with heavy sighs, V-8 level smacks to the forehead and/or the tearing out of one’s own hair.  One would be incorrect in that assessment.

You’ll often hear references to “the book.”  There’s not really a book, but it’s the thing by which you’re supposed to run the show.  Things to do, and things to not do, in order to give your team its best possible chance to win a game.  Cito usually ignores the book.  This afternoon, he gave it to Big Jim and Billy Sol and made sure it blowed up real good.

The Blue Jays entered the 8th inning down by a run, with the spectre of Joakim Soria on the horizon.  Soria has been one of the game’s best closers over the past couple of years and this season has been no different.  The 8th inning was going to be the Jays’ best chance to tie the game.

Due up?  Jose Molina and John McDonald.  The book says that since these are the two worst hitters on the Blue Jays’ roster (pitchers excluded), neither of them should be allowed to come to bat in this situation.  It was a light bench, I’ll give you that, with Edwin Encarnacion unavailable, so the only replacements were Mike McCoy, Randy Ruiz and John Buck.

In McCoy you have a guy whose specialities are getting on base and running, in Ruiz a guy who hits home runs and in Buck a guy who is a catcher.  The book says that you lead off the inning with McCoy, and then your options open up depending on what happens.  Cito sent Molina out to hit.

Stunningly, Molina smacked a hard ground single between short and third.  Then (given the new space/time continuum) – the right move from the Jays’ skipper:  McCoy comes in to pinch-run.

Now that there’s a runner on first, there are two options.  The preferable one is to send Ruiz up to the plate and let him do his thing while having McCoy try to steal second against the weak-armed Jason Kendall.  The other option, still acceptable in many circles outside this one, is to let McDonald go to bat and sacrifice the runner to second.

Cito chose option 2, as expected, even though this meant that he would wind up keeping McDonald in the game beyond that 8th inning, when he could have simply sent McCoy, the better hitter and not significantly weaker defender, out to play second base for the remainder of what became a tie game.

McDonald got the job done, as is to be expected of him, and McCoy found himself bunted to second with two out.  With Fred Lewis due up, the Royals brought lefty John Parrish in from the bullpen, giving Cito the massive upper hand.

Once a reliever enters a game, he must face one batter before being pulled.  This meant that Gaston had three options:  1 – Send Randy Ruiz up to try to put the Jays ahead with one swing.  2 – Send John Buck to the plate to try to put the Jays ahead with one swing, since he was going to have to come in the game to catch anyway.  58 – Do nothing.

Cito chose the latter, sending Fred Lewis and his career .242/.329/.328 line against lefties (.492 OPS in ’09!) to the plate.  Short bench, you say.  But that doesn’t address letting Lewis hit over Buck.  What if he was going to need Ruiz later?  Well, as we saw, that question was moot, but even if he was saving Ruiz for something, what could it possibly have been?  It’s not as though you’d pinch-hit for any of the next five hitters in the line-up.  Maybe Overbay against a lefty, but Overbay wasn’t going to come up against anybody but Soria if the Jays hadn’t at least tied the game.

But just like the move to let Molina hit, the move to let Lewis hit worked!  Lewis hit a rocket on which Royals’ second baseman Alberto Callaspo barely got a glove, and the ball squirted into right field as McCoy crossed the plate with the tying run.  Lewis even went on to steal second, but neither Alex Gonzalez nor Adam Lind could drive him in to give the Jays the lead.

Things went swimmingly from that point on, until Scott Downs made a mistake in the 10th that Alex Gordon took out of the yard to centre.  With a one run lead going to the bottom of the 10th, the Royals went to Soria and the Jays had the bottom of the line-up coming up.

Travis Snider struck out looking and Buck, in defensively in the 9th because Molina had been pinch-run for, flied out to right with Johnny Mac on deck.  It was stunning enough that McDonald was actually on deck, and that Ruiz hadn’t started swinging a bat in anticipation of a big opportunity.

Standing at field level, I watched McDonald and he spent a few extra seconds in the on-deck circle after Buck returned to the dugout anticipating, I’m sure, Ruiz’s shadow to engulf him as the big pinch-hitter emerged from the dugout.  Nothing.  McDonald took a step towards the plate, then turned around to look back into the dugout, expecting to be called back.  Nope.  He then went to the plate and meekly grounded to short fighting off an 0-2 pitch to end the game.

If you look hard enough, you can see the reason that Gaston does a lot of the things that he does, but that single move defied all logic.  Unless Ruiz was otherwise engaged, biologically or some such, there’s no earthly reason not to use him there.  I said it on The JaysTalk, and I firmly believe it to be true:  Not one other manager in the majors sends John McDonald up to bat in that situation when he has Randy Ruiz on the bench.  Not one.

Of course there’s no guarantee that Ruiz does something positive, but there’s a FAR greater chance that he does.  A home run to tie the game, a hit or a walk just to keep things going.  Sure, if he gets on you can’t pinch-run for him, and he’s not especially fast, BUT YOU HAVEN’T LOST THE GAME YET!

Yes, you have to worry about your defense, and had the game gone to an 11th inning, it would have been awfully ugly – BUT YOU’D BE PLAYING IN THE 11TH INNING WITHOUT HAVING LOST THE GAME YET!

Sorry, I get frustrated.  That honestly might have been the single worst managerial move I have ever seen, and that’s coming from someone who really likes John McDonald.  Everything that could possibly point to anything in the history of everything was pointing towards using Ruiz there.  Nothing – not a thing, find me a thing, I defy you! – suggesting that sending McDonald up to hit was the best course of action.  You can’t even point out something ridiculous like McDonald was 1-for-2 in his career against Soria, as this was the first time they’d ever faced each other.

I don’t mean this to be a scathing rebuke of McDonald as a hitter.  He’s not here for his bat, and he knows it.  We all know it.  McDonald is a beautiful player to watch, and there are lots of things he can do to help a major-league team win.  Not a single one of them involves being at the plate with the bases empty when your team is down by a run and down to its last out.

That move alone should be grounds for being called on the carpet by the bosses and being forced to explain your thinking and promise never to do such a thing again, assuming you even get to keep your job.  That’s the level of ridiculosity we saw at the ol’ ballyard today.

The JaysTalk was even a chore, because there remain those who believe that Gaston walks on water and can do no wrong, and that allowing McDonald to hit in the 10th was a show of faith in his player.  I think it was the first time in the history of the program that I have hung up on a caller because my own incredulity overwhelmed me.  Here’s the show, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

After the game, the Jays placed Encarnacion (arm) and Brian Tallet (forearm) on the disabled list and recalled Brett Cecil from Las Vegas.  Cecil will start Friday night’s opener against the Rays.   Aaron Hill will be activated before that game to take Encarnacion’s spot on the roster.

By the way, the Jays managed all of four hits in this game.  It was the 6th time in the last eight games that they have had three hits or fewer over the first six innings.  That remains ugly with a capital “UG”.

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!

11:55 PM Eastern

It was a lovely five-hit rally what got the Blue Jays up off the mat and netted them a win and a chance to sweep the Royals.  And it was a game-winning rally that came about in kind of an unusual way, at least that’s the way it seems.

Generally, over the last few years, Lady Luck hasn’t often cast her visage the Blue Jays’ way, but tonight – there she was.  A Lyle Overbay fly ball in the right-centre gap that Rick Ankiel got to, but couldn’t squeeze.  A Jose Bautista wormburner hit in exactly the right spot to go for an infield single, and Overbay just barely managing to dive back into third base before Willie Bloomquist could tag him.  A swinging bunt by John Buck – again winding up on the perfect piece of turf to allow both a run to score and Buck to reach safely.  He couldn’t have placed it in a better spot.

The comeback took Dana Eveland off the hook for what would have been his first loss as a Blue Jay.  Eveland wasn’t bad, but he certainly wasn’t close to as good as he’s been.  Shawn Camp, Jason Frasor and Kevin Gregg were terrific in relief to hold the league’s best-hitting team (at least, that’s what they were when they came to town) off the scoreboard.

Lady Luck even helped out Jason Frasor, who came within about 15 feet of having another blown save hung on his record.  With a runner on and two out in the 8th, Mitch Maier crushed a 3-2 pitch into the second deck in right field, just foul.  On the next pitch, Maier blasted one to deep centre field, but Vernon Wells hauled it in.

Gregg, in his first save opportunity since being named the closer last week, was able to shake off a pop-up that fell in between Mike McCoy and Travis Snider with two out in the ninth.  It’s a tough thing to do – you see the ball go up, think the game is over and shift into celebratory mode, but then it drops and you have to immediately refocus.  He did, and struck out Billy Butler.  Now the guy over whose acquisition Jays fans were gnashing their collective teeth this winter has become a fan favourite.  Who’d'a thunk it?

Speaking of the gnashing of teeth, Wells went 3-for-4 tonight with two doubles (giving him 301 for his career), his seventh homer (tying him for the major-league lead) and an RBI that pushed him past Joe Carter for sole possession of third on the all-time list.  Man, he’s fun to watch when he’s actually healthy.

There’s a whole other debate, by the way, about whose fault it is that he’s used the way he is when he’s unhealthy and unproductive, but we’ll save that for another time because it’s late and there’s a day game tomorrow.

On that note – here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tomorrow afternoon (sleep fast everyone!) the Jays look for the sweep, but to do it they’ll have to beat reigning A.L. Cy Guy Zack Greinke.  KC-area native Shaun Marcum goes for the home side.  Tuna sin at 12:30 pm Eastern!

Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!