KANSAS CITY -- John Gibbons had to do something because, let's be honest, there will come a time when the decision making is taken out of his hands.
He knows it, and has become increasingly open about how much longer he will or won't have to manage the Toronto Blue Jays. He's down to the short strokes, in other words, so it was only right and proper that he pull off a massive lineup shuffle yesterday.
It worked. The Blue Jays snapped a six-game losing skid with a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Royals because starter Jesse Litsch got his mojo back (not to mention his sinker) and because Gibbons's new-look lineup was energized by Alex Rios's 4-for-5 performance out of the leadoff spot. Rios tripled and doubled and scored three runs.
Gibbons moved Rios into the top spot for the first time this year, moving left-hand-hitting Lyle Overbay to second in the order and moving Vernon Wells out of the cleanup spot, replacing him with Matt Stairs. Scott Rolen hit third and Aaron Hill sixth.
And there will be more changes. Gibbons said afterward that shortstop David Eckstein, given the day off yesterday, will now be the everyday No. 2 hitter.
Truth be known, Gibbons had toyed with all these ideas for a while, even before his team fell into a funk during which it hit just .212 with eight extra-base hits during the first five games of this trip, and 4-for-42 with runners in scoring position (.095). But he wanted to wait until third baseman Rolen (finger) was ready to return to regular action - and wait until outfielder Adam Lind joined the team from Triple-A Syracuse, which he did Saturday.
Rios was the least-surprised person in the Blue Jays clubhouse when he saw the lineup posted with him in the leadoff spot.
"I probably saw it coming at some point this season," said Rios, who batted .282 with 12 home runs as a leadoff hitter last year, but he had played most of his games in 2008 out of the No. 3 spot. "Hitting's hitting."
The five games against the Tampa Bay Rays and the first two against the Royals were a study in opposites.
The Blue Jays looked sluggish and slow against the go-go Rays and the Royals. Their pitching also wasn't good enough, routinely giving back runs in the bottom of the very innings in which the pop-gun Blue Jays managed to score. Yet for all the mess, the Blue Jays actually gained a game in the American League East standings the past week, and are 3½ games out heading into a three-game series that begins tomorrow at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.
Truth is, the Blue Jays look a better team with Rolen in the lineup. He slugged a solo home run yesterday and showed himself to be a presence in the field and at the plate.
When asked how his surgically repaired finger was holding up, he shrugged and said: "Fine ... as far as you know."
Rolen and Rios also combined on the kind of offensive play the Blue Jays have been unable to make this week: Rios scoring from first base on a fifth-inning single by Rolen.
Rios was off with the pitch and scored when third-base coach Marty Pevey alertly saw that Royals left-fielder Jose Guillen was going to throw to second base, lured apparently by Rolen's aggressive turn at first. Rios scampered in and Rolen made it back to first, which had been left uncovered by the confused Royals.
Gibbons once again used the hit-and-run effectively, getting Wells to swing away and snap a 0-for-15 skid with a single that advanced Stairs to third base. Gibbons had Wells try to steal second base - but Wells's jump was not good and he was thrown out.
"Not a sound baseball move," Gibbons said later, with a chuckle. "But then, these aren't sound times, either."
No they're not. Not by a long shot.
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