Scott Downs's biceps tendinitis abated with two days off (Sunday and Monday) and Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said he would use the left-handed reliever Tuesday if necessary. The soreness will be monitored, but general manager J.P. Ricciardi said that as of now Downs will not need a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination. "We don't think it's that serious," Ricciardi said before Tuesday's game against the Red Sox, seeking shelter in the visitors dugout at Fenway Park as a heavy pre-game rain fell. The game will start at 7:15, just a few moments late. It will be cold as all get-out, but likely dry.
Ricciardi did not accompany the team to Kansas City, but he did talk to Gibbons by phone on Sunday morning. Ricciardi's opinion about the teams slide is pretty straight-forward: Gibbons has pulled as many strings as he can and pushed as many buttons as he can but he can't swing the bat for the dough-heads at the plate.
(That last line is my editorial comment. Ricciardi referred to them as players.)
Gibbons was true to his word with the lineup, installing David Eckstein as the No. 2 hitter behind Alex Rios. Vernon Wells was batting cleanup against lefty John Lester, but let's see what happens when a righty is on the mound.
Eckstein is OK with the move. More than OK with it, in fact. "A lot of my game is execution, and that is an execution spot," Eckstein said, in a statement so begging of a smart-ass retort that I'm not even going to bother.
Gibbons spent Monday's off-day visiting his 96-year-old grandmother, Mary Boyson, who lives on the North Shore. Her first question? "What's up with your team," he said. "I didn't expect her to hammer me. I thought I'd get a hug or something." Gibbons is a Texan through and through, but he admitted an awful truth: both his parents were born in Massachussetts, which makes him at least part Yankee. I told him considering his grandmother's last name, he could also have some French blood in him - you know, it's a short move from Boisson to Boyson considering how immigrant's names had a way of changing back in the day. Perhaps envisioning himself wearing a beret and hobnobbing with peace-loving, anti-war, Gitanes-puffing Parisians, Gibbons, whose leanings are to the right, did not seem overly amused.
Line of the day from Ricciardi: While discussing our mutual amazement of the people who think the Blue Jays should bring in Barry Bonds despite the fact he has a few small legal matters hanging over his head and hasn't played a game since last fall and hasn't had a spring training(OK, I told him I kind of liked the idea but only from a voyeuristic point of view and because I'm a liberal guy when it comes to performance enhancers), Ricciardi said: "That's great. I already had to release Frank Thomas. Bonds might make it two Hall of Famers I'd have to release in the same year."
Shawn Marcum's back in the hotel puking, yet another victim of the flu that has whipped through the clubhouse.
And now, while I'm listening to Stiff Little Fingers sing "Johnny Was" here are your lineups ...
Blue Jays
Alex Rios, RF
David Eckstein, SS
Scott Rolen, 3B
Vernon Wells, CF
Aaron Hill, 2B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Shannon Stewart, DH
Adam Lind, LF
Gregg Zaun, C
P: Roy Halladay
The Hated Red Sox
Coco Crisp, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Mike Lowell, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Julio Lugo, SS
P: John Lester
