I'll sleep when I'm dead
TORONTO — Got to Baltimore’s airport at 5 a.m. this morn to catch my 6 a.m. flight, which was cancelled because of a dented door on the plane. It’s always something with me, huh? Caught some shuteye on the floor at the airport and eventually made it on to a flight that got me to Toronto by Noonish.
After a quick power nap at home to try and shake this nasty cold I’m fighting, I sucked it up and headed over to the ball yard. Once, just once, I would like a completely smooth day of travelling with no horror stories to pass along. But I’m here and I’m living, ready to cover the Blue Birds game against the Rangers.
Jays skip John Gibbons tinkered with the lineup today, giving Shannon Stewart the night off to rest a sore groin — apparently tweaked when he threw out Baltimore’s Jay Payton at the plate in the eighth inning on Monday. If absolutely necessary, Gibbons said Stewart was available to come off the bench.
Aaron Hill was back in the lineup one day after taking a pitch off his left elbow, but Gibbons said the second baseman was fine. No X-rays were needed, but Hill exited Tuesday’s blowout a little early to get some treatment. Gibbons also noted that closer B.J. Ryan, if he didn’t pitch tonight, would probably need to get into tomorrow’s game to get some work.
The Jays are trying to juggle the throwing schedule for Ryan until he’s able to pitch on consecutive days. For now, Gibbons said he doesn’t want Ryan to go without work for more than three days and the closer can do light bullpen sessions to keep fresh if he’s not getting into save situations.
There’s no timetable as to when Ryan will be able to pitch in back-to-back games, but GM J.P. Ricciardi said he’d like to wait until the pitcher at least moves past the one-year point from the time of his elbow surgery. That’d be May 10 — so I’d say you can expect to see Scott Downs and Jeremy Accardo getting some save opps until at least mid May.
Today’s lineups:
TEXAS (5-9) at TORONTO (8-6)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre
RANGERS
Frank Catalanotto, LF
Michael Young, SS
Josh Hamilton, RF
Milton Bradley, DH
Hank Blalock, 3B
Jason Botts, 1B
David Murphy, CF
Gerald Laird, C
Ramon Vazquez, 2B
PITCHING: LHP Kason Gabbard
BLUE JAYS
David Eckstein, SS
Aaron Hills, 2B
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Frank Thomas, DH
Rod Barajas, C
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Marco Scutaro, LF
John McDonald, 3B
PITCHING: RHP Jesse Litsch
Major League Bastian 
Tough break with the travelling Jordan. Hopefully, from here on out, it’ll be smooth sailing for you. You still manage to post line-ups and do some great work on the site, which is appreciated.
So far 5 of Toronto’s 6 losses were 1-run games. I hope this doesn’t continue throughout the season. Hey maybe when Rolen comes back, he will provide that extra run we need to tie or even win these games.
So far 5 out of 6 of Toronto’s losses have been 1-run games. I hope that this doesn’t continue throughout the season like last year. Maybe when Rolen comes back he will provide that extra run we need to tie and win these games.
Me thinks I like this Jessie Carlson.
Jesse was outstanding, even he ends up with the loss now, he’s got my confidence for a while.
I like Jessie Carlson like you guys do. The guy I don’t like is our dumb *** manager’s handling of the bullpen that put us in a situation that we have no one else to put in. That”s the reason Jessie is in there for 3 innings.
How is that game helping your sleeping habits Jordan? Wow! What a game for Jesse Carlson. He put his heart on the mound today. What a gritty performance, striking out the side with the bases loaded. I liked that squeeze bunt idea Gibbons had with Inglett. Why did he give up on that? Of course, Inglett then hits into a DP.
Frustrating game but also fun to watch, until the end.
Yeah, gsumner, I guess if John was a mind reader in the 6th and could figure out the game wasn’t half over yet, he would have let Tallet and Frasor go longer. As it is, we have Halliday tonight, and the only guys not available are Carlson and Ryan. Not bad for a stoopid ol’ Texan.
Too bad he couldn’t have used McGowan instead of Burnett, but Dustin only had 1 day rest.
This is a bulletin for all you Eckstein haters out there:
In his last 10 games, the wee lad is hitting .317, with 9 runs, 5 rbi, and a stolen base. The last time I checked, his fielding percentage and range factor were pretty much on a par with Jeter. He is definitely doing better at this point than Izturis, who he replaced in St. Louis. Izturis probably eats more, too.
Always nice
EDIT:
He is definitely doing better at this point than Izturis, who replaced him in St. Louis. Izturis probably eats more, too.
Always nice
My beef isn’t with any of Eckstein’s stats, it’s just that he doesn’t make anything look easy. Routine grounders always seem to turn into a fumble or a bounced throw that he somehow manages to recover from. As for the adage that being lucky is better than being good: luck eventually runs out. 🙂
I don’t think that Halladay could be pitching at a better time than he is today. After we went 14 innings and used I think 8 pitchers, they could use the break.