FIRST: So it’s back to the drawing board for Blue Jays pitcher Brandon Morrow. Or at least it’s back to the original drawing board.

Morrow turned in an “embarrassing start” — six walks (five in one frame) and six runs allowed in 1 2/3 innings — against the Red Sox in a 7-6 loss on Monday night and said much of it dealt with poor mechanics.

The fact that the Jays lowered his arm slot earlier this season has been well documented. That worked beautifully from the start. One of the only issues was that Morrow felt better out of the stretch than the wind-up.

So over the past week, Morrow and pitching coach Bruce Walton tried to work on changes that would hopefully create a similar feeling out of the wind-up as from the stretch.

 “It all starts, I think, with my leg kick a little bit,” Morrow explained. “I was collapsing on my back side, meaning my leg was dropping and I was spinning off real bad. I was just a mess really. We’re going to erase this whole week pretty much and go back to what I was doing the last four.

“We know what we were working on prior to that. We know what we worked on this last week and we know what didn’t work. We’re going to wipe that out and try to keep going forward.”

SECOND: All hail the Bullpen Fox. After Morrow’s performance, and one run allowed in 2 1/3 innings by Josh Roenicke, lefty Rommie Lewis entered for the Blue Jays and was sharp. Lewis held Boston off the board for three innings, giving Toronto’s offense time to hopefully mount a comeback. The Jays fell one run short, but Lewis’ effort in this one should not go unnoticed.

THIRD: The Jays nearly escaped the disastrous second inning with a 4-3 lead. As manager Cito Gaston said after the loss, though, there were a whole lot of “ifs” in this one. “If” second baseman Aaron Hill did not make the uncharacteristic throwing error he made in the second, who knows how that might have altered the course of the game.

With one out and the bases loaded, Morrow got Boston’s Victor Martinez to chop a pitch to shortstop Alex Gonzalez. After gloving the ground, Gonzalez flipped it to Hill at second base (one out) and Hill fired it to first to complete the would-be double play. The throw sailed wide, two runs scored and the rest is history.

Hill also went 0-for-4, making him just 2-for-his-last-29, or 10-for-51, dating back to April 28. Gaston was quick to point out that Hill had a good seven-pitch at-bat with Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. Down 0-2, with a foul ball to left that nearly served as a game-tying homer, before working the count full prior to a groundout.

“Hopefully he’ll take that home and not the other things tonight,” Gaston said of the at-bat.

HOME: The Blue Jays also lost their first home run review of the season, and the first at Fenway Park this year. In the second inning, Gonzalez belted a pitch from John Lackey over the Green Monster in left for what was ruled a double. Gaston came out to argue and the umps reviewed the hit. The ruling stood, because the ball hit the red line on the wall, according to Gaston. He was told it has to hit the green above the line to be a home run. Gaston said there were a lot of angles on the play, some where the ball appeared to hit above and others where it looked like it hit the line. “Inconclusive, I guess,” Gaston said with a shrug.

~JB

TORONTO AT BOSTON
at 7:10 p.m. ET
Fenway Park

BLUE JAYS (19-14, 4.0 GB)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Alex Gonzalez, SS
7. Jose Bautista, 3B
8. John Buck, C
9. Travis Snider, RF

Pitching: Brandon Morrow (3-1, 5.40)

RED SOX (16-16, 6.5 GB)
1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Victor Martinez, C
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Adrian Beltre, 3B
7. Jeremy Hermida, LF
8. Darnell McDonald, CF
*9. Jonathan Van Every, RF

Pitching: John Lackey (3-1, 3.89)

*JD Drew a late scratch due to “vertigo”

~JB

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FIRST: Thanks in part to one big swing from Fred Lewis, the Blue Jays mnaged to do what they couldn’t one day earlier.

They overcame some shaky pitching with a pile of offense.

Ricky Romero didn’t have his best stuff (five walks, 5 1/3 innings) and the bullpen struggled behind him. Shawn Camp gave up a homer to Alex Rios, Scott Downs hit Juan Pierre with the bases loaded and Jason Frasor allowed a run.

Have no fear, though, @fdotlew is here. With two on and the Jays down 7-5 in the ninth inning, Lewis drilled a pitch from Bobby Jenks to right for a three-run shot that regained the lead for the Jays.

“A burst of energy came out of nowhere when I saw those guys out there on base,” Lewis said. “I was like, ‘Man, I’ve just got to hit this ball somewhere.'”

Boy, did he ever.

Lewis is looking more and more like a great addition, making for a bit of a mess in terms of what to do when Edwin Encarnacion is ready to return from the disabled list. My guess is the Blue Jays continue to take their time with EE while Travis Snider is heating up, Lewis is producing and Jose Bautista is holding steady at third base.

Lewis’ heroics aside, one of the better developments on Sunday was some life out of the bats of Aaron Hill and Adam Lind. The bullpen struggled on Saturday, but Hill and Lind combined for an 0-for-8, making a comeback that much harder. On Sunday, Hill snapped an 0-for-18 with a double in the third and then scored when Lind snapped an 0-for-12 with a two-run single.

The Jays can only hope that’s a start of a turnaround for their dynamic duo.

SECOND: When Downs hit Pierre with a pitch in the seventh, forcing in a run with the bases loaded, it got me thinking. It sure seems like the Jays have allowed a good chunk of runs to score on walks or hit batters with the bases loaded this year. I mean, Casey Janssen walked in two runs just a day ago.

I hate when I’m right…

The Blue Jays have allowed eight runs to score with the bases loaded on either walks (six) or hit batsmen (two) — the most in baseball. Ouch. On Sunday, Toronto had six bases-loaded plate appearances, and the pitchers allowed five runs on two hits (another two came in on grounders.

Overall, the Blue Jays have allowed 29 runs to score on 11 hits with the six walks and two hit batters with the bases loaded. That’s in 34 plate appearances for opposing batters. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s not that good.

THIRD: This just in: Rios loves facing the Blue Jays. Who knew? In eight games against Toronto this year, Rios has hit .394 (13-for-33) with three doubles, three homers and five RBIs. On Sunday, he went 4-for-4. Rios wasn’t even being booed for extra motivation this time around.

HOME: I’d love to end on a high note, like the fact that the Jays have four wins when trailing after eight innings or that they have 11 comeback victories already. But, I’m going to head back into Debbie Downer territory for a moment…

Ricky Romero leads baseball with 12 wild pitches — more than double the No. 2 man, Tim Wakefield. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, this is not all Romero’s doing. In fact, I applaud him from still pounding the lower half of the zone, even though his catchers — two signed for their defensive abilities — have struggled so mightily to block pitches this season.

Catch you from Fenway.

~JB

TORONTO AT CHICAGO
at 2:10 p.m. ET
U.S. Cellular Field

BLUE JAYS (18-14, 5.0 GB)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Randy Ruiz, 1B
6. Alex Gonzalez, SS
7. Jose Bautista, 3B
8. Travis Snider, RF
9. Jose Molina, C

Pitching: Ricky Romero (3-1, 3.00)

WHITE SOX (13-18, 7.0 GB)
1. Juan Pierre, LF
2. Gordon Beckham, 2B
3. Andruw Jones, DH
4. Paul Konerko, 1B
5. Alex Rios, CF
6. Carlos Quentin, RF
7. Alexei Ramirez, SS
8. Ramon Castro, C
9. Jayson Nix, 3B

Pitching: Gavin Floyd (1-3, 6.89)

~JB

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FIRST: First, the bright side. The Blue Jays are 8-2 over their last 10 games.

That is an especially silver lining considering Toronto has been picking up wins without much assistance from their two big dogs: Aaron Hill and Adam Lind.

Over that 10-game span, the Hilldebeast and Mighty Lind have combined to hit .150 (12-for-80). Hill is 8-for-40 and Lind 4-for-40 across that stretch of contests.

In the two losses, Hill and Lind have combined to go 0-for-15 in the batter’s box. During Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the White Sox at The Cell, Hill and Lind went 0-for-8. In a game where the Jays struggled to get much of anything going on offense againse Jake Peavy, production from that duo is sorely missed.

“It’d certainly be a little bit easier if they were hitting the ball,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. “They’ve done their share here and there.”

Gaston said it reminds him of last season, when Vernon Wells and Alex Rios were slumping and Hill and Lind actually helped pick up the slack (on their way to a combined 71 homers and 222 RBIs). This year, it’s been guys like Wells, Alex Gonzalez and John Buck carrying most of the load (26 homers, 67 RBIs combined through 32 games).

SECOND: Casey Janssen suddenly appears to be the low man on the totem pole in the Blue Jays’ bullpen. Before Saturday’s forgettable appearance, it had been one week since Janssen worked in a game. “That might have been some of his problem,” Gaston admitted. Tough to get everybody work when the rotation is lasting deep into games, though.

Janssen walked in a pair of runs with the bases loaded in a four-run seventh for the White Sox. That makes it six inherited runners across home plate for Janssen over his past five appearances. Over that span, he’s allowed seven runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings. This after and great spring and a 1.17 ERA across his first seven games.

THIRD: One outing after flirting with a perfecto, lefty Brett Cecil issued a one-out walk and a two-out homer in the first inning against the White Sox. Cecil then walked in a run with the bases loaded in the second. Sox appeared to have done plenty of homework against Cecil and his changeup. Here’s what the lefty said: “It just seemed like every changeup I threw they would check swing or they were just spitting on it. I just don’t think it was in the zone long enough for them to even offer at it.”

HOME: Ah, the hometown call. It’s the difference between reliever Josh Roenicke’s ERA staying at 0.00 and ballooning to 8.31. In the decisive seventh inning, Roenicke made a throwing error on a one-out bunt “single” off the bat of Juan Pierre. Watching the replay, a clean throw clearly would have beat Pierre to first base. That should have meant Pierre reached on an E-1, not on a single.

Instead, Pierre got credit for a hit and then advanced to second on the E-1. Roenicke then caught a flyout, which would’ve ended the inning under normal circumstances. What followed was two extra-base hits, four walks and four runs. Now, the inning was ugly when it was all said and done. But, it says here that Roenicke should’ve been charged with four unearned runs.

Catch you tomorrow.

~JB

TORONTO AT CHICAGO
at 7:10 p.m. ET
U.S. Cellular Field

BLUE JAYS (18-13, 5.0 GB)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Alex Gonzalez, SS
7. Jose Bautista, 3B
8. John Buck, C
9. Travis Snider, RF

Pitching: Brett Cecil (2-1, 2.61)

WHITE SOX (12-18, 7.5 GB)
1. Juan Pierre, LF
2. Gordon Beckham, 2B
3. Andruw Jones, DH
4. Paul Konerko, 1B
5. Alex Rios, CF
6. A.J. Pierzynski, C
7. Carlos Quentin, RF
8. Mark Teahen, 3B
9. Alexei Ramirez, SS

Pitching: Jake Peavy (1-2, 6.31)

~JB

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TORONTO AT CHICAGO
at 8:10 p.m. ET
U.S. Cellular Field

BLUE JAYS (17-13, 5.0 GB)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Jose Bautista, 3B
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Alex Gonzalez, SS
7. Randy Ruiz, DH
8. John Buck, C
9. Travis Snider, RF

Pitching: Shaun Marcum (1-1, 3.12)

WHITE SOX (12-16, 7.0 GB)
1. Juan Pierre, LF
2. Omar Vizquel, 2B
3. Andruw Jones, DH
4. Alex Rios, CF
5. A.J. Pierzynskui, C
6. Carlos Quentin, RF
7. Mark Teahen, 3B
8. Mark Kotsay, 1B
9. Alexei Ramirez, SS

Pitching: Mark Buehrle (2-4, 5.30)

~JB

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FIRST: Dana Eveland feels the pressure from the other pitchers on the Blue Jays staff.

Shaun Marcum flirted with a no-hitter on Opening Day. Ricky Romero took one into the eighth inning early in the year. Brandon Morrow toyed with a no-no one night. Brett Cecil upped the anty, carrying a perfecto into the seventh on Monday.

Eveland?

“These guys have been motivating me to throw the ball well,” Eveland said. “It’s almost a little competition between all of us. Obviously, we want all of us to succeed, but at the same time I want to pitch just as well as the other guys are.”

Well, Eveland pitched on Thursday and the Blue Jays picked up a 2-0 win over the White Sox. Does that tell you anything?

No, Eveland didn’t flirt with history or anything like that. What he did was keep the Sox hitters off-balance with a strong changeup — something that had abandoned him over his past three starts — and a well-located four-seamer. Eveland said he relied less on his cutter and slider, mainly due to the effectiveness of his change.

The result was seven innings of two-hit shutout ball on just 90 pitches. And, let’s be honest, Eveland needs to keep it up to convince the Jays to keep him in the rotation. Think about it, there’s a wave of Minor Leaguers on the cusp, and a handful of injured arms on the mend. It’s hard to see Marcum, Romero, Morrow or Cecil going anywhere.

SECOND: The Jays went pretty quiet offensively against John Danks (again) on Thursday. In the fifth inning, though, Toronto finally broke through. The man behind the runs was Fred Lewis, who doubled home the only two runs managed by the Jays. Lewis said he felt really good about coming through since he admittedly made a poor decision to try to steal third base in the first inning. Over his past six games, Lewis has hit .440 (11-for-25). He’s been a nice little addition up to this point.

THIRD: As Eveland noted after his outing: “To have a good outing, there always seems to be one or two special plays” on defense. Eveland got his in the form of a spectacular running catch by Vernon Wells to end the second inning. Chicago’s Mark Kotsay sent a pitch deep to right center field — looked like a homer off the bat. Wells snared it right before crashing into the wall. No one else really hit the ball hard against Eveland.

HOME: How about this? The Blue Jays are now 10-3 on the road this season. It marks the first time in franchise history that Toronto has won 10 of its first 13 games away from home. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said before the game that there’s no way to pinpoint why the Jays are playing so well on the road right now. I don’t know… ever since the Jays’ manager of team travel, Mike Shaw, switched a few of the team’s hotels, the wins have been pouring in. Hmm…

~JB

TORONTO AT CHICAGO
at 8:10 p.m. ET
U.S. Cellular Field

BLUE JAYS (16-13, 5.0 GB)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Alex Gonzalez, SS
7. Jose Bautista, 3B
8. John Buck, C
9. Travis Snider, RF

Pitching: Dana Eveland (2-1, 4.76)

WHITE SOX (12-16, 7.0 GB)
1. Juan Pierre, LF
2. Gordon Beckham, 2B
3. Andruw Jones, RF
4. Alex Rios, CF
5. Carlos Quentin, DH
6. Alexei Ramirez, SS
7. Ramon Castro, C
8. Mark Kotsay, 1B
9. Jayson Nix, 3B

Pitching: John Danks (3-0, 1.85)

~JB

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FIRST: Well, that took long enough. Shaun Marcum is back in the win column. The righty helped lead the Jays to a 9-3 victory over the A’s on Sunday afternoon, earning his first ‘W” in…

 …598 days.

Marcum’s last win came against the White Sox on Sept. 11, 2008 — shortly before he underwent reconstructive elbow surgery that cost him all of last season.

This year, Marcum had been solid through his first five outings for Toronto, but whether it was due to a lack of run support or a shaky bullpen, he simply was not able to pick up any wins. Not until Ben Sheets absolutely imploded for the A’s on Sunday, allowing the Jays to run out to a 9-1 lead after four innings.

Marcum worked 6 1/3 innings, scattered six hits, struck out six and walked four. He allowed just the one run in the 105-pitch effort. True to his character, Marcum downplayed finally getting a win and instead said it was just great that the team found the win colum. Good on him.

Also, good on the crowd for its stading ovation as Marcum headed off the hill in the seventh. Those used to be reserved for a certain ace, but Marcum — now in Doc’s old slot in the rotation — was the recipient this time around. Much like the good doctor did for years, too, Marcum gave a quick tip of the hat in response.

SECOND: The Blue Jays scored nine runs combined over Marcum’s past three starts. So nine runs on 13 hits was much appreciated by Marcum this time (even though he wouldn’t admit it). But, this was more about the ineffectiveness of Sheets than the awesomeness of the Blue Jays’ offense.

Sheets faced 22 batters and this is what happened: 10 outs, 10 hits at a cost of $10 million for the A’s. The Jays drew two walks, pounded out two singles, four doubles, one triple and three home runs against the righty. Over his past two starts, Sheets has allowed 17 runs across a grand total of 7 1/3 innings.

Every Blue Jay in the lineup had at least one hit with the exception of Adam Lind and Jose Bautista. Fred Lewis launched a two run homer in the fourth that actually bounced up when it hit the seats in the second deck. He and Aaron Hill went back-to-back, and Hill finished a triple shy of the cycle. Alez Gonzalez hit his eighth homer (two-run shot in the first) and John McDonald (!) went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.

Sheets? Boom! Roasted.

THIRD: Beyond all the guys mentioned above, how about that John Buck? A few days after launching a trio of home runs, Bucky put a few dents (see what I did there?) in the wall in left with three doubles against the A’s. Since manager Cito Gaston and hitting coach Dwayne Murphy held a séance to revive Buck’s bat, the catcher has gone 8-for-12 at the plate with three homers, three doubles and seven RBIs.

HOME: In the first edition of “You Know It’s Getaway Day When…” let’s take a look at one telling stat from Sunday’s tilt in Toronto. After running out to a 9-1 lead through four innings, exactly ZERO Jays hitters looked at a called strike. The final 15 Toronto batters gripped it and ripped it, bringing a speedy end to the contest. The last player to take a strike was Gonzalez during the final at-bat of the fourth inning. Consider that seven of the first 13 Jays hitters and 10 of the first 24 took at least one called strike. In the first inning, six of seven hitters took a called strike on the first pitch.

NOTE: I will not be in Cleveland for the upcoming series between the Blue Jays and Indians. I will be tweeting and blogging again about your Jays from U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, beginning on Thursday.

–JB