Series Preview. Jays v Mariners

Series Preview Toronto v Seattle Monday June 9, 2008.

Jays know better than to take Mariners lightly even though their record is not the best and the Jays should sweep this team on paper. Seattle took one from Boston at the weekend 8-0 in Fenway and that is not done easily and only lost 2-1 yesterday. Seattle is however 8-22 on the road this season. And have lost six of the last seven. BUT it is against teams like this that Jays have trouble and they have to stay very focused tonight.

Washburn has lost his last three decisions and has not won since May 5.
Manager John McLaren ex-Jays third base coach is under the gun right now with some saying he could be fired by Thursday. Thus he will certainly be pulling out all he stops in this series and has a great advantage knowing some of the habits of the Jays hitters and pitchers.

Vernon has been outstanding since his return last two games. Jays need him to get this offence moving, take some pressure off Rolen and Stairs. Not least to get Alex Rios moving out of his season long slump. Vernon said in interviews yesterday that he is not forcing anything just taking it as it comes. Don’t worry about the HR’s they will come with the power. Nice easy swing and it is definitely working so far. Alex has to lay back and do the same. I still believe that this team can make some noise in this division and with so much parity a good run of six or seven wins can make huge difference.
Other good signs yesterday were the double steal by Wilkerson home and Scutaro to 2B.The double play by Johnny Mc and Scutaro. Helps relieve some of that pressure on the pitcher.

Other Jays news: I believe Rod Barajas has made huge claim to the catcher’s spot whilst Zaun is injured. The only weakness has been three dropped catches at home plate allowing three runs to score. But he has been hitting very well and throwing runners out. Yesterday 2-4 with two doubles and a great highlight catch behind the screen. It will be tough to bench him when Zaun returns.

BJ Ryan returned to form yesterday to save for Halladay his thirteenth save in fifteen tries. I think most clubs would take that average.
Hill is still on disabled list, they are not taking any chances with that concussion and there is no rush here with Scutaro very amply filling in at 2B and anywhere else Gibbons puts him. Now with Johnny Mc also back that helps with lineup. I would rather see Eckstein at leadoff than Alex. I don’t think he is a leadoff hitter and especially right now when he is struggling.
Joe Inglett back again as Stewart is put on 15 day disabled list. Shannon was in a mini slump anyway and Inglett is not a bad guy coming off that bench for speed and contact hitter. He can also fill in at 2B.

Tonight Litsch 7-2 3.45 ERA and Washburn 2-7 6.56 ERA. Jesse Litsch last outing was loss in New York giving up ten hits and four runs in the 5-1 loss.

Seattle bring in Suzuki batting .290 and always a threat as leadoff. Jays will not see Bedard having pitched in Fenway yesterday. However they will see Carlos Silva tomorrow 3-6. 5,96 ERA and on getaway day on Wednesday Felix Hernandez 4-5 and 3.07 ERA. Jays reply with McGowan and Marcum.

What they are saying:
Wells on yesterday’s win: "It was a game we needed to win. You never like getting swept and you obviously never like getting swept at home. We've had some tough losses, they've been hard to watch from afar. It was a good win today."
Sean Green on the road record: "I have no explanation for our road woes. We're playing hard and it's just not happening right now."
Jarred Washburn on his record: "I feel like I'm throwing pretty good for the most part, but one or two key mistakes in each game comes back to bite me,"