It was a tough week to have the out of town series report, especially when you have a seventeen-month-old baby who likes to get up at the crack of dawn and start the day at full speed. But it's all about you, dear reader, so I'm drinkin' extra coffee and pushin' on through.

When Seth McClung shut down the Jays on Friday, the usual complaints were heard. "The Devil Rays always give the Jays trouble." Or, you know, it could just be the fact that even if the Jays win 90 this year, that means they lose 72. (Though this is yet another series in which the Jays did not sweep nor get swept; that's another topic, however.)

Okay, I'll admit having thought that the Fighting Jays show less fight against the boys from St. Petersburg, but I quickly dismissed it. It's one of those things people say so often that they think it's true. But it's not. Or is it?

When you have more than one Molina brother, you know what you're going to get in terms of Jays-Angels coverage: Jobu. Somewhat relieved that he didn't have to write about a Roy Halladay no-hitter (or a Jeff Weaver no-no), here's Mr. Buscemi himself with another one of his articles:

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This report isn't my fault, I SWEAR!

That's where you put baked beans on your ice cream, right?

This is my first series report of the year -- it's odd to think the season has been going for a month and I haven't written anything; at least Photo of the Day is batting .714, wih an OBP of .777, four runs scored, three RBIs and one home run in the early going.

The Jays have 12 wins and 11 losses, which is more or less the same record they had when April 2005 came to a close. Too much is made of early-season struggles – a similar month from any of these players would be relatively unnoticed in June or July – and since the AL East still looks screwy to me (three games separating first from last?), there's not much to analyze there.

But what's up with the Blue Jays' rotation?

Due to some crossed wires, today's series report has been delayed.

In the meantime, here's a photographic summary of last night's game:

Was it bad luck to schedule the second installment of long-lasting pens with another Josh Towers' start? It sure looked that way early on, when Big Papi homered as the Sox scored 3 in the first. Towers gutted his way into the 6th inning, and the Jays' bats came to life, making a game out of what had the feel of a rout early on. This time, though, the Mighty Troy was unable to come through.

The Blue Jays couldn't keep it going yesterday afternoon against Mike Mussina, after knocking Randy Johnson up and down Front Street. The result is a simple two-game split, leaving both teams at the .500 mark they entered the series with, and further behind the Red Sox.

Now, while the Advance Scouts are generally some of the best work on this site (he says humbly), I was thinking the other day: do we ever look back at them after the fact? Not to point out the flaws, of course, but to see how helpful it was. The fact that I'm reviewing an Advance Scout that I didn't write is purely coincidental; I assure you I am a fan of Bruce Wrigley's writing -- I actually have a book of his from a few years ago and I endorse it heartily. So that's not the point here -- it's simply a fun exercise in hindsight.

On to the Advance Scout Review!

"6-4, Good buddy" says the C.B.  So, with the final score in the books, you turn from the ballgame to a country radio station.

That could have gone better. What has made the biggest impression on me so far?

Well, the new catcher is really slow.

Did we learn anything from this series? No not really. A baseball season has to be 30 or 40 games old before you know what you have. Sometimes you know sooner, if your team is 16-4, or 4-16, you have a good feel for the season but 2-1 tells you little. A series win is a series win and as long as the Jays keep recording them they will be fine.

You couldn't ask for a better opening day matchup - the two best pitchers in the American League squaring off against one another.

Here we look at what the Blue Jays did in those 47 games decided by a single run. Seeing as how they lost 31 of these games, there are a lot of painful memories in here. Viewer Discretion Advised. But it's always a good day when I get to be the Dude's Advocate!

We'll have a quick recap of all 47 games, data tables of how the hitters and pitchers performed, and a few random observations.

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Before last night's game I asked a few people around the press box the following question: "If you had known that Josh Towers would lead this rotation in wins, innings, quality starts, and ERA, what do you think Toronto's Won-Loss Record would be?" As I recollect, I don't think anyone anticipated even 70 wins...

Hey, who knew?