Aaron Hill and Adam Lind were a dynamic one-two punch for the Blue Jays a year ago, thriving in the heart of the order and cruising to Silver Sluggers awards.

This season, they’ve been more of a one-two punch to the gut for Toronto’s all-or-nothing offense. With the Jays still exceeding expectations as the All-Star break nears, it makes one wonder where the team would be with even average production from the pair of struggling sluggers.

Talking to Hill, he has said throughout this season that it is best for him to just keep going with his same routine, avoiding messing with the type of consistent approach that helped him to such a great season last year.

Asked about his issues at the plate, Lind is quick to say that sometimes it feels like he is trying something new every day. That is a big contrast to Hill’s reply, and manager Cito Gaston was asked which approach — staying consistent or trying a bunch of different things — offered the better chances of turning things around.

Gaston answered by discussing Lind’s current state of mind…

“He’s got to figure that out for himself,” Gaston said. “Sure, he probably feels that way. I’ve talked to him more about the mental part of the game — not much about [mechanics]. One thing I will talk to him about is getting ready, and I still don’t think he’s getting ready on time. But, once again, he’s got to feel it.

“I think that’s why you have super, super stars and guys that are just stars, or whatever. The super star gets it back right away. They don’t lose it that long. With Lind, he’s probably listening to [hitting coach Dwayne Murphy] and he’s listening to everybody and he’s listening to me.”

Entering Tuesday’s game in Cleveland, Lind was hitting .204 with a .265 on-base percentage and a .344 slugging percentage. The left-handed hitter was averaging one strikeout per 5.3 at-bats, compared to one every 3.7 at-bats on average in 2009. Lind had a .169 average with two strikes, a .213 mark with runners in scoring position and had only managed to work to a 3-1 count 13 times this year, going 0-for-7 in those situations.

EARLY EVALUATION…

Asked for his thoughts on what he has seen from his team over the first three months, Gaston immediately heaped praise on the Blue Jays’ young rotation. As far as Gaston is concerned, the starting staff is in a position to be one of the game’s elite groups in the next few years.

“What I see is that this organization,” Gaston began, “we’re going to be able to stand up and say, ‘You know what? We have as good of a rotation as any team in baseball.’ That’s what I see happening right here, right now, with these kids that are pitching now. This is just going to get better.

“Now, we need to maybe add some hitters in here, too — some different hitters for next year. I mean, all these guys are not going to be back here for sure. To get better, I think we’re in the right direction as far as the pitching and I think [the hitting] is where you have to get better, and we’ve got to do a little bit in the bullpen, too.”

~JB

TORONTO AT CLEVELAND
at 7:05 p.m. ET, Progressive Field

BLUE JAYS (40-36, 7.5 GB AL EAST)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Alex Gonzalez, SS
3. Jose Bautista, RF
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Adam Lind, DH
6. Aaron Hill, 2B
7. Lyle Overbay, 1B
8. John Buck, C
9. Jarrett Hoffpauir, 3B

Pitching: Ricky Romero (6-3, 2.85)

INDIANS (27-47, 13.5 GB NL WEST)
1. Trevor Crowe, CF
2. Shin-Soo Choo, RF
3. Carlos Santana, C
4. Austin Kearns, LF
5. Travis Hafner, DH
6. Jhonny Peralta, 3B
7. Matt LaPorta, 1B
8. Jayson Nix, 2B
9. Anderson Hernandez, SS

Pitching: Jake Westbrook (4-4, 4.90)

~JB

PHILADELPHIA AT TORONTO
at 1:35 p.m. ET, Citizens Bank Park

PHILLIES (39-33, 3.5 GB NL EAST)
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Chase Utley, 2B
3. Jayson Werth, RF
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Shane Victorino, CF
6. Ben Francisco, LF
7. Raul Ibanez, DH
8. Wilson Valdez, SS
9. Dane Sardinha, C

Pitching: Jamie Moyer (8-6, 4.43)

BLUE JAYS (40-35, 6.5 GB AL EAST)
1. John McDonald, LF
2. Alex Gonzalez, SS
3. Jose Bautista, RF
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Adam Lind, DH
6. Aaron Hill, 2B
7. Lyle Overbay, 1B
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Jarrett Hoffpauir, 3B

Pitching: Brett Cecil (7-4, 4.06)

–JB

 

“It’s really sad. They’re tearing up our home.” — Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston

PHILADELPHIA AT TORONTO
at 4:05 p.m. ET, Citizens Bank Park*

PHILLIES (39-32, 2.5 GB NL EAST)
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Shane Victorino, CF
3. Chase Utley, 2B
4. Ryan Howard, DH
5. Jayson Werth, RF
6. Raul Ibanez, LF
7. Ross Gload, 1B
8. Brian Schneider, C
9. Juan Castro, 3B

Pitching: Cole Hamels (6-5, 3.75)

BLUE JAYS (39-35, 7.5 GB AL EAST)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Alex Gonzalez, SS
3. Jose Bautista, RF
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Adam Lind, DH
6. Aaron Hill, 2B
7. Lyle Overbay, 1B
8. John Buck, C
9. Jarrett Hoffpauir, 3B

Pitching: Shaun Marcum (6-3, 3.24)

*Series moved to Philadelphia due to security concerns about the G20 Summit being held in Toronto this weekend. The Blue Jays will serve as the “home” team, receiving the last at-bat and the use of the designated hitter.

~JB

var OutbrainPermaLink=’http://mlbastian.mlblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/bluejaysretro-thumb-160×152-19231515.gifarchives/2010/06/game_70_lineups_giants_at_jays.html’;
var OB_Template = “mlbblogs”;
var OB_demoMode = false;
var OBITm = “1241712535489”;
var OB_langJS =’http://widgets.outbrain.com/lang_en.js’;
if ( typeof(OB_Script)!=’undefined’ )
OutbrainStart();
else {
var OB_Script = true;
var str = ”;
document.write(str);
}

PHILADELPHIA AT TORONTO
at 7:05 p.m. ET, Citizens Bank Park*

PHILLIES (38-32, 2.5 GB NL EAST)
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Placido Polanco, 3B
3. Chase Utley, 2B
4. Ryan Howard, DH
5. Jayson Werth, RF
6. Raul Ibanez, LF
7. Shane Victorino, CF
8. Ross Gload, 1B
9. Brian Schneider, C

Pitching: Roy Halladay (8-6, 2.43)

BLUE JAYS (39-34, 6.5 GB AL EAST)
1. Fred Lewis, RF
2. Alex Gonzalez, SS
3. Jose Bautista, DH
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Adam Lind, LF
6. Aaron Hill, 2B
7. Lyle Overbay, 1B
8. John Buck, C
9. Jarrett Hoffpauir, 3B

Pitching: Jesse Litsch (0-1, 6.75)

*Series moved to Philadelphia due to security concerns about the G20 Summit being held in Toronto this weekend. The Blue Jays will serve as the “home” team, receiving the last at-bat and the use of the designated hitter.

~JB

var OutbrainPermaLink=’http://mlbastian.mlblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/bluejaysretro-thumb-160×152-19231517.gifarchives/2010/06/game_70_lineups_giants_at_jays.html’;
var OB_Template = “mlbblogs”;
var OB_demoMode = false;
var OBITm = “1241712535489”;
var OB_langJS =’http://widgets.outbrain.com/lang_en.js’;
if ( typeof(OB_Script)!=’undefined’ )
OutbrainStart();
else {
var OB_Script = true;
var str = ”;
document.write(str);
}

With my brother in town, and then the G-20, I’ve got a couple days off to finish up this homestand. I will be tweeting and blogging throughout the upcoming tour through Philadelphia, Cleveland and New York. Until then, try to survive without me…

~JB

ST. LOUIS AT TORONTO
at 7:07 p.m. ET, Rogers Centre

CARDINALS (38-31, — GB NL CENTRAL)
1. Felipe Lopez, 2B
2. Matt Holliday, LF
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Ryan Ludwick, RF
5. David Freese, 3B
6. Nick Stavinoha, DH
7. Yadier Molina, C
8. Randy Winn, CF
9. Brendan Ryan, SS

Pitching: Jaime Garcia (6-3, 1.59)

BLUE JAYS (38-32, 5.0 GB AL EAST)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Alex Gonzalez, SS
6. Jose Bautista, RF
7. Lyle Overbay, 1B
8. John Buck, C
9. Jarrett Hoffpauir, 3B

Pitching: Brett Cecil (7-3, 3.58)

~JB

var OutbrainPermaLink=’http://mlbastian.mlblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/tlogo-thumb-160×141-2101491.gifarchives/2010/06/game_70_lineups_giants_at_jays.html’;
var OB_Template = “mlbblogs”;
var OB_demoMode = false;
var OBITm = “1241712535489”;
var OB_langJS =’http://widgets.outbrain.com/lang_en.js’;
if ( typeof(OB_Script)!=’undefined’ )
OutbrainStart();
else {
var OB_Script = true;
var str = ”;
document.write(str);
}

SAN FRANCISCO AT TORONTO
at 1:07 p.m. ET, Rogers Centre

GIANTS (37-30, 1.5 GB NL WEST)
1. Andres Torres, RF
2. Freddy Sanchez, 2B
3. Aubrey Huff, LF
4. Juan Uribe, 3B
5. Pat Burrell, DH
6. Buster Posey, 1B
7. Edgar Renteria, SS
8. Aaron Rowand, CF
9. Eli Whiteside, C

Pitching: Jonathan Sanchez (5-5, 2.78)

BLUE JAYS (38-31, 4.5 GB AL EAST)
1. Fred Lewis, LF
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Alex Gonzalez, SS
6. Jose Bautista, RF
7. Lyle Overbay, 1B
8. John Buck, C
9. Edwin Encarnacion, 3B

Pitching: Shaun Marcum (6-3, 3.31)

~JB

FIRST: Ask me, and I’ll say we should probably wait until Jesse Litsch squares off against some of the elite teams in the American League before announcing that “He’s back!”

That said, what Litsch did on Saturday against the Giants is definitely an encouraging sign for the Blue Jays, especially considering how his last start went.

On Sunday against the Rockies, Litsch allowed seven runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and one walk in 2 1/3 innings. On Saturday against the Giants, he logged seven shutout innings, scattering three hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Will the real Litsch please stand up?

At least on Saturday, Litsch looked — approach wise — more like the pitcher we saw down the stretch in 2008. He mixed his pitches better and did not rely heavily on his cutter. Against the Rockies, Litsch admittedly was a bit “cutter happy.” If you remember, when Litsch was sent down midway through ’08, it was to work on a four-seamer to take away emphasis on the cutter.

Beyond that, Litsch boasted an effective changeup and he mixed in his breaking pitched well against San Francisco. Said Giants leadoff man Adres Torres: “He was throwing a lot of sliders and sinkers. He was moving the ball everywhere. At the beginning it was tough [to pick up the ball], I wasn’t seeing it good. He pitched well.”

SECOND: Two 1-2-3 innings in a row for closer Kevin Gregg? If that seemed odd it’s because that’s the first time the Blue Jays have had that this season from the big righty. Taking it a step further, this was not simply in back-to-back games, but in consecutive days for Gregg.

Prior to Saturday, Gregg only received save chances on consecutive days three times this season, and he blew the Day 2 opportunity each time (May 7 at Chicago; May 20 at Seattle; June 1 vs Tampa Bay). So what’s gotten into Gregg these days? Manager Cito Gaston thinks it’s the rest he has received.

Consider that over the past 19 days, Gregg has only worked in five games. Over that span, he’s notched four saves in four chances with. In the previous 26 days, Gregg appeared in 11 games and blew three saves, picked up two losses and had a 9.90 ERA.

THIRD: It’s not the hottest streak we’ve ever seen from Aaron Hill, but the second baseman is starting to at least shown signs of offensive life in spurts lately. Over his past six games, he’s hit .269 (Hey, he’s hitting .194 on the year. Stay with me on this one) with a handful of clutch hits. Consider that Hill’s two-run, eighth inning homer on Saturday came with two outs. In San Diego earlier in the week, Hill had a pair of two-out, RBI hits in the same game — something he hadn’t done since Aug. 1 of last year. The guy hitting behind him, Adam Lind, had two hits in Saturday’s win, marking his first multi-hit game since May 24.

HOME: Wins always make the clubhouse more fun. Following Saturday’s game, Vernon Wells and Hill were giving Fred Lewis a hard time about the outfielder’s capris pants. “Come on, Fred. Let me see them,” yelled Wells from across the room. Lewis, sitting down: “I’m the hardest man you’ll ever meet wearing capris.” Hill: “I’m going to stop calling you Fast Fred. I haven’t seen you steal a base this month!” Lewis then ripped Hill’s lack of a tan and offered to loan him some tanning spray. After it all died down, Shaun Marcum walked in, spotted Lewis, and said, “Are you wearing capris?!” And the whole clubhouse erupted with laughter.

NOTE: Apologies for the lack of blogging lately. Sometimes, life simply gets in the way. I’ll try to be a little more consistent with the postgame blog entries as the season goes on. When I’m not blogging, though, make sure you’re reading bluejays.com and following me on Twitter (@MLBastian) for full Blue Jays coverage.

~JB