15
KANSAS CITY — Credit them this: the Toronto Blue Jays are aware of the fact that they could be in the process of costing manager John Gibbons his job and Vernon Wells said Saturday night that he's pretty much had it with running managers out of town.
Jim Fregosi, Buck Martinez, Carlos Tosca — and, geez, we haven't even got around to the hitting coaches, yet.
"He's not out there hitting for us or on the field," Wells said Saturday night, after the Blue Jays bats turned to sawdust in their hands once again in a 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. "He can only do so much from the bench. He's said things to us here and there but we have to come out of this on our own. I've been here long enough and seen enough managers come through here ... a lot of good people. He's one of them.
"I don't think I've ever been on a team where top to bottom everybody's just kind of a tick off," Wells said. "We're doing half the job. We're getting men on and not finishing off, and a lot of us are dumb-founded."
Jose Guillen runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Shawn Marcum in the sixth inning during their game in Kansas City on Saturday. (Dave Kaup/Reuters)
Related Articles
Internet Links
The Blue Jays went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position Saturday night in losing the second game of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. Wells, who is 0-for-his-last-12, had three of those at bats on a night when the Blue Jays left 11 men on base. The Blue Jays drought with runners in scoring position on this road trip is now 4-for-42.
Not surprisingly, Gibbons has had it. The note of resignation was evident in his voice last night as he said: "That's a game we could have won, should have won," he said. "That's basically it. I don't have anything more to say about it. All right?"
Those who know general manager J.P. Ricciardi do not expect him to jettison Gibbons of his own volition. But with Ricciardi on the record as saying this is the best team he's had as Blue Jays GM ("I said last year I liked this team. I had a lot of belief about them, too. But this … this is the best group of guys we've had together. The most depth," Ricciardi said on the eve of the regular season) and fail to improve will have a price. It's just the way it is.
For now, the Blue Jays can take solace in the fact that the New York Yankees are in straits of their own as well and some other postseason contenders have issues with health and pitching. But the thing with the Blue Jays is they more or less have the players they wanted — and they still can't hit worth a lick.
The Blue Jays put the tying run aboard with one out in the ninth inning against Royals closer Joakim Soria. But Aaron Hill popped up and Alex Rios flied out to strand David Eckstein at first base.
The loss was the Blue Jays sixth consecutive. They are 0-5 on this 10-day, nine-game road trip and are five games under .500 for the first time since May 25 of last season. They are 10-15, one game behind the fourth-place New York Yankees in the upside-down American League East and a three-game swing from their record last year after 25 games.
The game marked Adam Lind's 2008 debut with the team and he instantly fell in step, going 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position — although to his credit it took a highlight reel throw by Royals shortstop Tony Pena, Jr., to nick him at the bag for the final out of the eighth on what could have been a game-tying infield single. Lind, who was hitting .356 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in at Triple-A Syracuse, was recalled before the game. Joe Inglett was optioned to Syracuse to make room on the 25-man roster.
Gibbons has been pressing for Lind for some time, but the Blue Jays had service-time concerns with the prospect. Lind batted eighth and went 0-for-2.
Pitching on a cool, Fall-like evening in his hometown and off-season home, Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum was forced to walk a thin line because of his teams lack of hitting in the clutch. He overcame early wildness — three walks in the first three innings — to settle in to his usual routine and limited the Royals to four hits in seven innings.
One of those was a Jose Guillen home run to lead off the sixth, after Marcum had retired the side in the fifth on three well-hit line drives to shortstop, first base and third. Ross Gload's single in the fourth inning scored Mark Teahen, who'd led off with a double.
Marcum (2-2) didn't walk a batter after the third and finished with four strikeouts.
Luke Hochevar (1-1) picked up the win. The teams will wrap up the series Sunday afternoon, with Jesse Litsch (2-1, 6.16) matched up against Gil Meche (1-3, 8.00.)
In Pictures:
