Series Preview. Jays v Brewers in Milwaukee

Series Preview Toronto v Milwaukee. Tuesday June 17, 2008.

Jays really need this road trip to get out of the fire in Toronto. Stumbling badly right now after such a great month of May and that 20-10 record which seems like very distant history. Bats once again the root of their problems. However I felt that the defence in the last week has contributed bigtime to at least two of the defeats. I refer to Eckstein error leading to four and Barajas dropped ball on throws to the plate in at least three games resulting in runs scored on each of throws. I had not noticed this weakness by Barajas until the second and then the third mistake. Little things on defence but the way Jays are playing and no hits they loom very large in the defeats.

Pitching has not been as superb as earlier but no team can win games without scoring runs and it is this area that needs huge improvement and specifically with runners in scoring position. Vernon Wells has been one of the major culprits but very few of the lineup can be considered perfect in this situation. In fact Joe Inglett was probably the most reliable on Sunday with two key hits and he did not get into the game until the seventh inning.

Rolen, Stairs, Rios and Overbay are all failing here. Tonight Overbay returns home and perhaps this might be a trigger to new life. Reed Johnson and Ted Lilly certainly raised their game at the weekend when they returned to Toronto.
The enigma of Lyle is that he has one of the best on base percentages of the team and yet his hitting has suffered. He has sacrificed that aggression at bat for more patience. I think the same can be said for Alex Rios as well. But when we look at Alex he really has not produced since the All-Star break last season. It is as if that Home Run derby cost him his swing.
Bat, bats and more bats.
Toronto 35-36. Milwaukee 36-33 but home advantage tonight with NL rules. McGowan will have to swing that bat.
What they are saying: Gibbons: "We're scuffling, that's probably an understatement. Maybe it's good to hit the road - change of scenery."
Overbay on going back home: "They were always good to me. And the fans were always pretty good fans ... Hopefully, they won't boo me too bad."