We all love AA around here, right? Okay, maybe not all of us love him enough to write a tribute song. But some of us do. Hope you enjoy!

And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck.

The Jays finish their 10 game road trip tonight in Dee-troit, a 6.05 start, making up for an earlier rain out. The Jays then get 6 at home (Pirates, Halladay's) and 7 on the road (Red Sox, Cleveland's) before the All-Star Break. Let's ruminate.

This = Pitching. That = Hitting.

With all the focus on the draft and the status of Brett Lawrie's third metacarpal the big boys continue their winning ways in Kansas City.  It wasn't a pretty victory, the bullpen tried to give it back, but an ugly win is still a win.

Today it's a day game at 3pm Toronto time.  Ricky Romero takes on Luke Hochever, the Jays have to be favourites in that match-up.

Was there a game last night?  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your perspective, I had to go to a funeral last night and I don't mean at the RC.  By the time I came home the Jays had conceded twelve runs.  I got to see the Jays mount their comeback of a sort.

Kyle Drabek had been dodging bullets all season with his loose command but last night it came back to bite him in a big way.  I have to say the Indians impressed me with their willingness to go the other way with a lot of pitches in this series.  The question du jour, as per the poll on the left, is what to do with Drabek?  Was this just a bad game, or was it a reflection of his season and a sign that something has to get fixed?  It can be hard to fix things in-season but I am sure the big brains in the front office are trying to figure out what to do with Drabek today.

After 54 games, 1/3 of the season, the Jays sit at 28-26. They've won four in a row, their second longest streak of the season (they also swept a 2-gamer with Boston, had Bautista unleash his 5 HR weekend against the Twins and took the first from Detroit.) After the next two with Cleveland (Mitch Talbot, 3.77 FIP, Josh Tomlin, 4.42 FIP) they travel to Baltimore and Kansas City for 3 game sets before a difficult stretch to reach the All-Star Break - 3 each against Baltimore and Boston, before a 10 game road trip in the NL, where they get one of if not the most difficult schedule - Cincinnati, St. Louis, Atlanta (plus a rain out against Detroit). They then get six at home against Pittsburgh and Philly, before closing out the first half with 3 at Boston and 4 at Cleveland. So, if you're scoring at home, after this upcoming road trip they play 6 games in 5 weeks agaisnt sub-500 teams, and those teams are a combined 8 games under. Suffice it to say, this is a make or break point in the season.

So, how's the team doing at the third mark then?

We get to witness history this year.

I was at the RC tonight for the Jays win, thanks to a JP Arencibia bomb.  I had excellent seats, thak you vendor, and I had a great view of BJ Upton's ninth inning shot to the wall.  From behind the plate it looked like his earlier home run, I thought it was gone and we were looking at a tied game.  It was a relief to see Davis cruising to the wall watching the ball into his glove.  Upton's hit came after Nix and Arencibia botched a foul pop-up.  Normally that would be Nix's ball but Arencibia was right under it and pulled off at the last minute.

The affiliates swept in convincing fashion, winning 29-9. Somebody even hit a home run! You'll have to keep reading to find out who (hint: it was Anthony Gose. And like 3 other guys.)

I haven't done a cross-post with my blog in a while. Never a bad time for some self-promotion. Hope you enjoy!

Stringer extrodinnaire, Eddie Michels, sent me yet another nice shot of Jayson Nix in his final rehab appearance in the Dunedin game against Jupiter on Sunday.  Sportsnet (noted via BlueBirdBanter) says Nix is being activated from the DL today and that David Cooper is going back to Las Vegas. 

Nix went 1 for 4 today with a BB and 2 RBIs. 

We don't usually post daily threads on the weekend so things like Bautista's epic three-homer game (after four homers in six games) sometimes don't get the recognition they deserve. After the jump, some of the crazy Bautista stats as researched by Bauxites.

While watching tonight's game, I couldn't help but feel that the Jays are trying to win games with one hand tied behind their collective backs. They just aren't very good and there are a number of players who are in roles they can't handle. I welcome readers to give their own opinions/gripes, here are mine ...

Adam Lind went 4-4 as the Jays won against the Rays.  The rubber match is a day game today, at 1:10.

Lind is on fire at the moment, he is hitting over .500 on the road trip and he has moved his batting average over .300.  The Jays need him because Jose Bautista is out until the weekend and no-one else on the team is "hot".  Consider:

Juan Rivera did have a hit last night but his batting average is .215.

Halfway to Joe D.
Okay, twenty-eight is when it may be worth starting to pay attention.

That's the length of Andre Ethier's current hitting streak, and exactly half as long as the legendary Joe D'iMaggio's streak back in '41. It's already the second-longest streak in the illustrious history of the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers. (Quick, a thousand cuttlefish says you can't name who's first, at 31, without looking it up).

So Bauxites, how far does Andre's streak extend?