Wow, what a difference a week makes.

Fresh off taking a series in their last set at Yankee Stadium, the Blue Jays ran the table during their latest homestand, taking six straight games against the AL Central contending Minnesota Twins and the AL East leaders Tampa Bay Rays.  I went to the last three games against Tampa Bay, and here’s a few things that ran through my mind while witnessing the three-game sweep.

• The crowds were pretty healthy, at least when the opponent is a former also-ran.  Good to see the Toronto fans recognize a potentially exciting matchup, though I was a bit puzzled there wasn’t something comparable against the Twins (Morneau is a native son, but don’t hold the fact that he’s from B.C. against him).
• Roy Halladay may not win the Cy Young this year, but he sure knows how to gut out a win when he needs to; case in point, he held the line despite falling behind in the first inning, and didn’t break when the Rays cut the lead to one run late in the game.  The Rays may have had his number early in the year, but Doc certainly trumped them on Friday night.
• Good on Zaunie for hitting the walk-off slam on Saturday; he should have been the hero four innings earlier if not for an outstanding play by Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett to keep Zaun’s grounder in the infield, and thus picking off Rolen at third.  Were the late inning heroics enough to keep Zaunie in a Jays jersey next year?  We’ll see…
• Say what you will about the anemic offence, but it has stepped up of late.  Three homers in total used to be a good week for the team (in total); that was the number Alex Rios hit in four games, earning him AL Player of the Week nods.
• B.J. Ryan has been effective this year, and while other elite closers have been ralphing up leads in the late innings as well, I’d still give him the ball in the ninth despite the emergence of Brandon League.  I’ve seen three out of Ryan’s four blown saves (counting Saturday, the June rubber match in Anaheim, and the August opener in Arlington) and the alarming thing is his control; in both the Angels/Rays opportunities, he hit batsmen that were part of the rally.  Joe Inglett’s error that scored the tying run on Saturday was unforgivable, but so was Ryan’s wildness (the tying run got on base via a walk, following the Baldelli two-run homer).
• Can Purcey pitch against the Rays only?  If I were Cito, I’d save his starts for Tampa.  Unfortunately, they won’t play each other until next year (unless there’s a playoff…!)
• Speaking of which, playoffs are a long way off to think about, for this year at least.  But after seeing Colorado almost run the table last year during the regular season, I’m thinking why can’t the Jays do it?  They’ve got the pitching, and the bats look like they’re awakening…it just may be a case of too little too late. 
• Welcome back Marcum.
• Unwelcome back, Eric Hinske.
• Tampa’s Matt Garza only gives up two runs all year to the Blue Jays.  Those two runs are responsible for the same number of losses to these same Blue Jays.
• V-Dub does not look comfortable as the DH.  Personally, I think it should be between Lind and Snider, for next year, if not presently. 
• It was my friend Gerard’s first time to witness a ball game on Sunday…and he’s lived here for almost twenty years or so!  I have to thank him for hooking us up with the move on down to the 100 level; we got a good glimpse of how short Baldellli’s fly went to left for Lind.
• My jumping Joe Carter figurine broke.  Boo…
• Surprised to see Carlson close the ninth on Sunday; but makes sense given the left-handed power on the bench (i.e. Hinske, Floyd) that stayed there because of the left-hander on the mound.  Either him or League would have been a good enough choice to sub for Downs/Ryan that day.

On a final note, the last time this team won more than eight in a row was in 1998.  That year the Jays pulled off an 11-game unbeaten string that helped the team to their best record (88-74) since the World Series days.  I’m not sure they’ll make the playoffs, but I have a good feeling this will go a long way to cracking that 90-win barrier come the end of this month.  I’ll be there for the last weekend homestand against Boston, and most likely the last home game of the year against the Yankees.  By then, who knows if they’ll still be vying for a playoff berth come then?  Until next time…