Rain gives Blue Jays extra day to ponder

ROBERT MACLEOD

From Monday's Globe and Mail

May 11, 2008 at 7:48 PM EDT

CLEVELAND — The rain washed out Sunday's game, giving the Toronto Blue Jays another 24 hours or so to try to figure out whatever has become of their bats.

Maybe the Jays should plan a team excursion to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to see whether that might rekindle some passion in their dead wood.

"Everybody's frustrated about it," manager John Gibbons said Sunday of the continued lack of offence, which has hampered the Jays throughout the season. "The odds are in our favour to explode. I like this team and I'll stick to that. I really believe we'll come together."

The Jays, 17-21, will have to wait until Monday afternoon to see whether it will be that breakout day. Sunday's game against the Cleveland Indians was supposed to begin at 1:05 p.m., but a steady rain that began to fall at Progressive Field in the late morning caused officials to postpone it.

The Blue Jays will play the Indians Monday in a traditional doubleheader that will wrap up their four-game series. The first game is scheduled to begin at 4:05 p.m., and the second will begin about 30 minutes after the end of the first.

This will be the first time since Sept. 29, 2004, when the Jays lost two games in Baltimore against the Orioles, that Toronto has played a traditional doubleheader.

The last time Toronto was engaged in a split doubleheader, where fans are obliged to purchase tickets for each game, occurred on Sept. 27, 2005, at Boston, where the Jays split the pair with the Red Sox.

Sunday's postponement will not alter either team's pitching plans.

"[A.J.] Burnett will start the first game," Gibbons bellowed from the visitors office to reporters trying in vain to uncover a decent quote after the rainout was announced.

Burnett (3-3 and 5.19 earned-run average) will square off in the first game against Fausto Carmona (3-1, 2.95 ERA). In the second game, Shaun Marcum (4-2, 2.59) will start for the Jays against Cliff Lee (6-0, 0.81).

The extra day's rest might actually help Burnett, who was 3-0 (2.74 ERA) last year in the six outings he had with five days off between starts.

The Blue Jays will also unveil yet another new batting order today — this one featuring newcomer Brad Wilkerson hitting leadoff in place of Alex Rios.

With centre fielder Vernon Wells sidelined for up to eight weeks after breaking his left wrist making a diving catch on Friday, Gibbons is planning to bat Rios third and slide Scott Rolen into the cleanup spot in place of Wells.

After a 12-0 whitewashing at the hands of the Indians on Saturday, the Jays have lost the first two games of this series and their past three overall, getting outscored 26-4 in the process.

While Dustin McGowan had been mostly reliable in his seven previous starts, his eighth is one he would rather forget after giving up six Cleveland runs in a bat-around first inning on Saturday.

The Jays, who felt their offence would be the least of their worries this season, continue to struggle at the plate. In their past 24 games, the Jays have managed to score six or more runs on only one occasion.

Toronto has a team batting average of .254, eighth best in the American League, but its situational hitting remains pathetic, batting a collective .209 with runners in scoring position, last in the AL, where the average is .268.

Through 38 games last year, the Jays had connected for 42 home runs. Though 38 this year, they have hit just 24.

Rolen, who has been one of the more potent bats in the lineup since his return from the disabled list on April 25, collecting hits in 11 of his 14 games, said the problem is a real head-scratcher.

"I don't know what to say about it," the veteran third baseman said. "I know the guys are taking their bats and taking their bats seriously. You tip your cap to the pitching, but at some point you've got to look at yourself in the mirror and see what's going on, too."

The Blue Jays better not look too hard. They might not like what they see.

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