Jays and Rays.....look at the difference in the last 6 weeks.......

On May 18, the Blue Jays were 3 1/2 games ahead of Boston after winning 27 of their first 41 games. Since going 27-14, we lost 9 straight on the road during the rest of May. On the other hand, the Rays were 20-20 on May 18 after starting 8-14 in their first 22 games.

Since then, when the Jays had their biggest lead in the division this year, Toronto has 23 losses and a 14-23 mark in its past 37 games. All in all, Toronto is now 41-37. Over the same period instead Tampa Bay has won its last six games, going 14-4 in the last 18 games and winning 23 of its last 38 games to claim 3rd place in the AL East, two games ahead of the Blue Jays!

Take Carl Crawford for example: aside from his (sadly) impressive career numbers against Toronto, he has an 8-game hitting streak and has batted .469 (15 for 32) during that span. The Rays also have 38 homers in June, so far matching a team record set in August 2005 and equaled in August 2008.

Odd fact about Matt Garza: he's 3-3 lifetime against Toronto with a 1.99 ERA and all 3 of those losses were shutout victories by Toronto. Infact, Garza is 3-0 in his career against the Jays when his team scored at least a run for him. Sounds scary! In his last start on Wednesday, Garza beat the Phillies allowing 1 run in 8 innings. The Rays won 7-1.

Before those two wins, Garza had lost three straight decisions though and for the year, he's 5-5 with a 3.61 ERA. In short, the Toronto offence must click again after scoring just five runs in the last three games, all losses. Moreover, Toronto is 1-4 in the last five games and over that period, the team posted an awful .203 batting average!

Scott Richmond will start Wednesday for the Jays. He's 6-4 this year with a 3.68 ERA and has won his last 2 starts including the latest, at home against the Reds on Wednesday (Toronto won 8-2 as Richmond allowed 2 runs in 7 innings). Yet, Richmond lost the only start of his career against Tampa Bay on July 30, 2008 in Toronto.

Scott Rolen has a career-best 17-game hitting streak, has hit .429 during that span and is second in the AL with a .332 average this year. Toronto is 3-4 on its 9-game homestand (with a total of 34 runs allowed) and is a bad 3-7 in its last 10 home games. During this homestand, Toronto has allowed four or more runs in 3 straight games on two different occasions.

Since the slide started May 19, Toronto went 8-11 at home and 6-12 on the road. An example of Toronto's latest offensive issues is Alex Rios who has 2 hits in his last 21 at bats and got the night off on Monday. Since going 3 for 5 on June 21, Lyle Overbay has two hits in 16 at bats.

The Jays better hope that Rolen can carry them along with Adam Lind (hitting .348 in June with 7 homers and 14 RBI) and Aaron Hill, who leads the club with 56 RBI and with 19 dingers, the most ever for a Blue Jays' 2B in a season (Roberto Alomar had 17 in 1993). Still, Toronto has yielded 26 runs in its last four losses. Way too many.