With Gregg under wraps, Blue Jays implosion is a tag-team act

Here's the thing with a closer like Kevin Gregg: you can't manage with his implosions and even when they're in dry-dock for the night you still can't manage around them.

"We got to get three outs in the ninth, somewhere," Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said Wednesday night, after the Tampa Bay Rays gave everybody trying to figure out the 2010 Blue Jays a whole heaping plate of food for thought in another come-from-behind win - this time, 7-3. This time it wasn't Gregg imploding; this time, it was a tag-team act.

And so a streak of games that is a proving ground for the Blue Jays has started with them losing two of three to a Rays team that has beaten them in eight consecutive series. The New York Yankees come in for three games starting Friday and then it's back to Tampa for three more and there is even a stronger whiff of significance after back-to-back torch jobs by the Blue Jays relievers. Could it be that after all the excitement, this really is a bullpen that is good enough to nurse a team through a lame-duck season and keep young arms healthy but not at all up to the task of contending for a postseason berth in the American League?

Sure seems that way.

With Gregg under wraps for the night after his third blown save and second loss of the season on Tuesday and Gaston's, um, "exhuberant," handling of his middle relievers in that game the subject of ferocious debate, sending out Shaun Marcum for the ninth after 99 pitches was a no-brainer. But in the end, this game showed off all the reasons the Rays deserved to be the preseason pick for the AL East pennant and why they are the best team in the majors - never more the case than when Dioner Navarro squeezed home the tying run. Marcum said he expected the squeeze - these are the Rays. "The pitch was down and away," he said, shaking his head.

But these Rays seem up to any challenge. After his third blown save and second loss of the season, you can't say the same about Gregg. Those suspicions that Gregg's stuff isn't up to the task of closing in the AL? Accurate, and Gregg's difficulties facing the same team (any team) on back-to-back nights are just as worrisome. All three blown saves and both losses have come in that scenario, and the Blue Jays noticed two things about Tuesday's loss: first, home plate umpire Angel Hernandez did not deserve the abuse he took from Gregg, who was ejected on his way out of the game. Those borderline pitches were balls. Second, the Rays went from being aggressive and jumpy against him on Monday to patient. Pitching coach Bruce Walton, for one, took note. If teams are changing their approach that radically on Gregg, time for the pitcher to do likewise.

Look: Gaston knows by now he must avoid using Gregg in those situations and that's a helluva strategic consideration for a guy whose bullpen management is, frankly, not a strength. Moving left-hander Brian Tallet to the bullpen would allow Gaston a chance to use Scott Downs along with Gregg in a tandem closer's role because, frankly, Jason Frasor doesn't inspire any more confidence than Gregg, even though Frasor was the guy who broke camp as the closer by default.

These series within the AL East are telling, aren't they? Unlike Gregg, lead-off hitter Fred Lewis went into Wednesday's game with 19 doubles, tops among Major League lead-off hitters and just one behind teammate Vernon Wells for the American League lead. Despite playing in just 41 of his team's 54 games, Lewis led AL lead-off hitters in slugging and extra-base hits (25) and with his lead-off single Wednesday was 6-for-9 leading off the last nine games. Yeah, his game's a mixed bag - his defence is erratic, and on Tuesday he lost track of the number of outs.

"I can see sometimes that he needs some work here or there, but I think that's something that whoever's here next year will address," said Gaston. "The only thing we've told Fred is that when the ball's hit right at you, just make sure you go to your strong side."

Hitting coach Dwayne Murphy does have one worry about Lewis: "He's in the cage every single day," said Murphy. "He does his routine - his flips, his tee work - and today I made a comment to him about maybe shortening it up a little bit, because he spends a lot of time and takes a lot of swings. I know he hadn't played every day when he was with the Giants, but I told him 'Now that you play every day, you can't have those big long sessions in the cage because you eventually get tired.' "

Lewis will have enough to deal with. This is the AL East. And treading water in this sucker, let alone trying to put together a run to the postseason, can't be accomplished with smoke and mirrors.

Can it be done with Fred Lewis as your lead-off hitter? Maybe. ("I'm just looking for a pitch in a certain zone and looking to drive it," Lewis said. "I like playing period - and I like the AL.") But with Kevin Gregg as your go-to closer? After these three games, highly doubtful. It's one thing to maintain and another thing to challenge.