Ramblings from the Nation – Toronto Blue Jays

Fresh of the series sweep against the New York Yankees (yes, technically, according to MLB rules, the Sox won the series, via the sweep), the Blue Jays come into town for their second visit. The Jays have won 4-6 so far. JP Riccardi has done a decent job rebuilding this club, although questioned for the big contracts of unproved closer BJ Ryan and AJ Burnett, who is once again on the DL. Many of the baseball experts feel the Jays are winning like the Red Sox did during their championship year of 2004. Time will tell…..Josh Beckett faces Doc Halladay in the series opener Wednesday…..Beckett has given up 12 runs in the past 4+ innings…..Halladay has gone 6-0, with a 2.01 ERA, over his past seven starts against the Sox and Yankees…..Shea Hillenbrand is OK after colliding with Gary Sheffield at first base last week. Shef has been out of the lineup ever since, and might make a trip to the DL with a bad wrist…..Troy Glaus was in a 6-39 skid until he went 4-5 and 4 RBI against the Orioles Monday. Why couldn’t he continue the slump until after he left Fenway? He comes into Fenway with 8 HR’s and 22 RBI…..For the Sox, these are games 7 & 8 of the 19 game series…..10 players from the Manchester Fisher Cats, the AA team of the Jays, have made the big league roster. The latest additions this year are Casey Janssen and Steve Andrade. I watched Janssen’s first MLB start and he did pretty good against the Orioles. He is 0-2, with a 6.30 ERA. Another former Fisher Cat, Steve Andrade, a member of the 2005 team, was recently called up by the Kansas City Royals, making him the 11th Fisher Cat to make the bigs, first with another team….Pitcher Jason Frasor was optioned to AAA…..Reliever Scott Downs returned recently from the bereavement list and is back in the pen…..