The Blue Jays have hit the skids and with three losses to the Orioles in the most recent sweep, the Jays have now lost five in a run. At the beginning of the skid, the Jays were in first and now they’ve dropped all the way to fourth place just a game ahead of the Devil Rays.
Most of the troubles have been at the plate, although the offense hasn’t been great either. In the Friday game, A.J. Burnett had a nice start and he gave up just two runs on three hits and five walks with two strikeouts in seven innings of work. Unfortunately the pen gave up three late runs to blow the game. Victor Zambrano gave up the game winner in the ninth although the two runs that Shaun Marcum gave up in the eighth definitely didn’t help. Vernon Wells drove in two runs in the 5-4 loss and Adam Lind finished with two hits, a run and an RBI.
On Saturday, Josh Towers was hit hard and he dropped to 1-2 on the season. He gave up five runs on nine hits and three walks with four strikeouts in five innings. Alex Rios had two hits and a run while Royce Clayton singled twice and drove in a run in the 5-2 loss.
Yesterday, it was more of the same as the Orioles scored just three runs and Gustavo Chacin was hammered. He lost his first start of the season and he gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in just 4 1/3 innings. Alex Rios drove in two of the three Blue Jays runs and Frank Thomas had two hits and a run in the 7-3 loss.
Next up is two against the Red Sox so we can make up some of the ground if we can end the skid. Tomo Okha will throw in the opener tonight and Roy Halladay throws tomorrow.
