(CP)
Friday, May 9, 2008

TORONTO—They’re sick of talking about it and really, what more is there left to say about an enigmatic offence that can’t even bring home the winning run from third base with nobody out?
An out-of-nowhere three-run rally in the ninth gave the Toronto Blue Jays a chance to pull out a game they looked sure to lose last night, but instead they were left to once again rue missed opportunities in an eventual 8-3 defeat in 13 innings to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

That sent them out for a daunting 10-game road trip through Cleveland, Minnesota, and Philadelphia that most certainly will test their mettle as they wonder what kind of team they’ll be at the plate from night to night.
“We tie a ball game late, have our opportunities, and don’t get it done,” catcher Gregg Zaun said in a rare frank assessment of things. “That’s the way it’s been going for us, we just haven’t gotten the job done.
“There’s no excuses, we can talk about it until we’re blue in the face, I’m pretty sick of talking about it,” he added. “We need to go out there and start getting those runs home when we need to. . . .
“It’s pathetic. We’re a way better club than this,” Zaun stressed.
The Blue Jays (17-19) should have won the game in the 10th when Alex Rios broke out of a 6-for-30 slide with a lead-off triple against Dan Wheeler.
But both Shannon Stewart and Matt Stairs struck out before Rod Barajas also went down swinging with the bases loaded.
“That’s a tough one,” said Jays’ manager John Gibbons. “We were down the whole way, got to Troy Percival who hadn’t been touched all year, climb back in it, that was a heartbreaker. . . .
“We’ve got to regroup and regroup fast.”
Elsewhere in the AL yesterday, the Chicago White Sox beat Minnesota 6-2, the N.Y. Yankees doubled Cleveland 6-3, Boston downed Detroit 5-1, Baltimore upended Kansas City 4-1, and Texas blanked Seattle 5-0.
Over in the NL, Arizona beat Philadelphia 8-3, Colorado dumped St. Louis 9-3, Atlanta nipped San Diego 5-4, Pittsburgh edged San Francisco 5-4, Florida upended Milwaukee 7-2, and Washington bounced Houston 8-3.