Salvaging the Series

On the surface a 4-5 record at home might not look so bad, but when you take into consideration that two or three of those losses could have easily translated into wins, that’s what makes it sting a little more. All things considered, at least the Blue Jays closed out their nine game homestand with a win.

One player in particular that struggled a great deal this week was Scott Downs. He blew two leads earlier this week, a save on Saturday and really hasn’t been himself since coming off the disabled list earlier in July. In six appearances since July 8th, Downs ERA has shot up to 9.00 and opponents are hitting .333 off him. So I’m sure that Scott Downs certainly had a lot to reflect on during that flight to Seattle.

Not that I had a look at the Jays flight manifest, but I’m pretty sure Roy Halladay was on the plane to Seattle. With J.P. Ricciardi’s self-imposed trade deadline closing in, unless something significant happens within the next 36 hours it looks like Halladay will stay with the Blue Jays (for now). Reports of astronomical asking prices have steered most teams away from Halladay and may instead be seeking the services of Cliff Lee as a more affordable alternative.

With the next few games starting at 10:10pm, make sure you get those pre-game naps in and stock up on Red Bull to catch these West Coast games. We’ll likely see lots of Jays fans at Safeco field during this series (Dave, you better be there).

There will also probably be plenty of Lyle Overbay family members and friends there since he’s from Centralia, which is about 90 minutes outside of Seattle. Maybe that means we’ll see the return of the multi-coloured O’s and The O-Zone that used to be so prevalent at the Rogers Centre. Does anyone else miss watching those fluorescent paper O’s that used to dance each time Overbay came up to bat? Maybe it’s just me.