Yeah, the break helped a bunch. AJ goes 7, gives up two runs and gets the loss. I have them at 0 for 4 with RISP.  Lind hit his fourth home run and got his average up to .272. Overbay went 2 for 4 with a double. And that sums up the good news of the game.

Bad.....everything else. Inglett 0 for 3, Scoot (how long can we have him bat second???) 0 for 4, Rios 1 for 4 with a caught stealling. Stair 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts. Rolen 0 for 3 and Wilk 0 for 2 with a walk.

Man do we need a DH. And we need to take Scoot out of the number 2 spot in the order. I know Eck's defense is.....well poor is likely the wrong word, comical is the one that comes to mind, but if a shortstop is going to bat second, it should be Eck. And we need Wilk out of the lineup. I'd love them to bring up Travis Snider but I know they don't want to start the arbitration clock. It would be nice if they would make a discission that wasn't based on money once in a while. Travis is the future....really can't hurt to give him a look now.

The Fangraph:

As you can see it was anyone's game til the Zobrist home run. Then it was a 75% chance that the Rays would win. Then in the 8th Lind reached second on an error by Zobriist (did anything happen this game that didn't center around those two?). Inglett bunted him to third. I really don't understand that. Inglett has been the one batter that has shown an ability to drive in a run when it is needed. The chance of scoring a runner from second with no outs isn't much different than the chance of scoring a runner from third with one out.  And since we needed more than one run to win, the chances of scoring more than one run is much better with a runner on second with none out than with a runner on third and one out. Add in that the two guys after Inglett aren't hitting with RISP at all, the bunt was a dumb more. Anyway, Lind's on third and Scoot grounds out and Rios strikes out and suddenly there is about an 85% chance the Rays win. Oh well. I hate the bunt and I hate the bunt that much more when the guys behind the man bunting can't hit.

Anyway...Jay of the Day Adam Lind (.227 WPA). You have to be impressed with him. I thought, when he was sent down after just a handful of at bats, that his confidence would be shot and his career was quite likely over. The change of managers was a great thing for him and for the organization as we really need him. Honorable mention should go to AJ, 7 innings and just 2 runs should mean a win but a guy has to be perfect with this team.

Suckage Jay? Scoot (-194 WPA), Barajas (-.127), Rios (-.127) and Stairs (-.106). Wasn't Cito supposed to fix the bats? It takes time you say? Well, hurry the f### up.

Tomorrow a battle of All-Stars Doc vs Kazmir. Should me a great pitchers duel. In Jays news, they announced Marcum will be back with the team to start on Tuesday. Not sure who they will send down to make room for him, but if I had to bet I'd say League.

The Yankees have signed Richie Sexson. I guess  signing a Mariner cast off is admitting you aren't an elite team any longer. But, he has hit lefties well (.334 with 5 home runs in 61 at bats this year) and can share time with Jason Giambi. I think I'd rather have Giambi out there full time, but then they don't pay me to be GM there.

And in other news, the A's traded Joe Blanton to the Phillies for three prospects: second baseman Adrian Cardenas, left-handed pitcher Josh Outman (was a great name for a pitcher) and outfielder Matt Spencer. It seems funny to me that the A's only 6 games out of first in the West and 4.5 out of the Wild Card spot would be sellers. Would have to figure the Wild Card leaders, the Rays, will fall back some, so you would think they would be in a good spot. But then, Blanton was 5-12 this year with a 4.96 ERA. He eats innings though.

Outman and Cardenas are very well thought of as prospects. Spencer has power but I wouldn't expect him to be a star in the majors. I think Beane will win this one in the long run.

The trade is interesting for the Jay's because the Phillies were one of the possible trade partners for them to unload AJ. But then it might make AJ more attractive with one less pitcher on the market. It might make the Mets eager to make a move to improve their pitching if they have anything we'd want.

The Jays Start a three game series against the Ray's tomorrow night with AJ (10-8, 4.96 ERA) going up against James Shields (7-6, 3.83). AJ is coming off an amazing start before the break. If he can do that again it would help his trade value. Doc will go up against Kazmir on Saturday in a battle of All-Stars and Litsch faces Garza on Sunday.

If we are going to catch up to the Rays this season, a series win, if not sweep, is needed here. The Rays came into the break with a 7 game losing streak, maybe we can keep their streak going.