What'd I miss?
TORONTO — So Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch have been used in relief? The Jays are a .500 team again? Toronto had a winning record on a road trip? Gee, I guess I missed a whole heckuva a lot in the past week.
The trip back to Chicago was swell. My little brother-in-law is all married up and probably kicking it on a beach in the Bahamas as I write. Must be nice. I got to watch my little nephew and niece kick butt in Karate class and enjoyed quality Chi-town pizza on three occasions.
But enough about me, how ’bout them Blue Jays? They drop three in a row in Cleveland and then go 6-1 on the rest of the trip, sweeping in Minny and taking two in Philly. In those six wins, the Jays hit .326 with runners in scoring position. How’s that for a change?
With the day off and the rain out and doubleheader and everything else, the Jays have switched up their rotation some. Dustin McGowan goes tonight, followed by Shaun Marcum, A.J. Burnett, Halladay and Litsch. Halladay might just be the best No. 4 starter in baseball.
John McDonald is a little behind on his recovery from a sprained right ankle, apparently. Jays skip John Gibbons said today that Johnny Mac might be able to head out on a rehab assignment sometime within the next week, though Mac’s eligible to be activated on Thursday.
David Eckstein, on the other hand, is on pace to be ready to come off the DL on Thursday. Eckstein strained his right hip flexor the same day as Mac’s sprained ankle — May 6. Eckstein is already rehabbing and he had an assignment with Class A Dunedin on Monday, going 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
QUOTABLE: “Why is there such a drop-off in offense? It’s alarming. It really is alarming. The first two months have been eye-opening in terms of offense around the league.”
— Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi
Today’s lineups:
LOS ANGELES (26-20) at TORONTO (23-23)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre
ANGELS
Maicer Izturis, 3B
Gary Matthews Jr., LF
Vladimir Guerrero, RF
Garret Anderson, DH
Torii Hunter, CF
Casey Kotchman, 1B
Mike Napoli, C
Sean Rodriguez, 2B
Erik Aybar, SS
PITCHING: RHP John Lackey
BLUE JAYS
Brad Wilkerson, RF
Aaron Hill, 2B
Alex Rios, RF
Scott Rolen, 3B
Matt Stairs, DH
Shannon Stewart, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Gregg Zaun, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
PITCHING: RHP Dustin McGowan
Major League Bastian 
We’ve been getting some unlikely contributions, Scutaro, Stewart and Barajas. Gotta love those unlikely contributions!!! Ya!
Haven’t heard of Sean Rodriguez for the Angels?
http://homerfoodandhistory.mlblogs.com/
I can live with Aaran Hill’s pop up in the ninth with the bases laoded. Where I was really frustrated was with Rios getting caught looking and Stairs as well in the 8th. I hope the offensive struggles do not start again because with KC coming in, it’s a good chance to win 5 or 6 games on this home stand.
I dont think I want Eckstein to come off the DL, Scutaro has been hitting the ball well. His defence isnt all that bad either, definatly at least equal to Eckstein.
I want Eckstein back… Our bench is a tad thin right now. Scutaro has been great all year filling in where needed. Guys like him that aren’t “stuck” at one position are extremely valuable and I’m sure we will need him to keep it up all year.
enigma, I am really upset with Aaron Hill’s pop up in the ninth inning. It is not so much because he popped out, it is because that guy on the mound was CRAZY. He couldnt throw a strike to save his life. Hill swung at a pitch that was 1-0. You always want to take the first strike in a situation like that. Rios has no excuse either, but I think he knew that he was very wild.