Just how important was the Jays' come-from-behind victory last night? Time will tell. While it could just be a blip of Chris Gomez magic, it might also be the game when the Jays, facing a stud starter with nary a break to be found, reversed their slide and began their ascension into relevance in the American League East.

In recent years, the Jays have owned the Orioles, but the new-look Birds trounced Toronto in three straight at SkyDome last weekend. Will it be "road sweet road" for the Jays?

The Orioles' offensive acquisitions have been hitting up a storm. More impressive, though -- and possibly more important to the club's early success -- has been the outstanding work up and down the Orioles bullpen. Other than a Jorge Julio gag job in Tampa a week and a half ago, Baltimore's bullpen has been as lights-out as any in baseball. Here's hoping the Jays channel some of last night's late-inning magic -- but a few early leads wouldn't hurt, either.

On to the Advance Scout!

I'm stealing ideas from the Will Carroll Weblog, but I thought this would be fun.

I'm not sure when it happened, but Clay Davenport has started updating his "Current Equivalent Averages" page. Javy Lopez of the Orioles is leading the AL with a 0.431 EqA, while Android Bonds is leading the NL with a 0.577 EqA!

The Blue Jays EqA's really show how badly the Jays bats are slumping:

It’s been a rough week for sports fans in the National Capital Region. It’s all bad enough that the Senators were subject to a depressingly predictable first-round elimination by the hated Maple Leafs (it says here, BTW, that Patrick Lalime wears the goat horns unfairly in Ottawa; his high-scoring linemates were shut out three separate times by an inferior Maple Leafs squad), but there’s also the hapless Lynx, who have lately run into a buzzsaw called the Syracuse Skychiefs. Last night’s 10-7 Chiefs win wasn’t as close as it seemed.

Much later baby you'll be saying never mind.
You know life is cruel, life is never kind.

If you've been following the Jays at all lately, you know all too well that they haven't been hitting. The best guess as to why is that they're trying too hard. No doubt, they're all busy watching game films, endlessly practicing, and otherwise behaving like hardworking, type-A professionals. I'm thinking perhaps it's time for them to loosen up and do something silly.

There are worse things than getting swept at home by a key divisional rival and starting the year 0-9 on your own turf. Getting malaria, for one thing. Finding a fire ant colony in your backyard. Owning several thousand shares of Air Canada stock. Being Courtney Love's personal assistant. Being Courtney Love. The point is, things aren't all that bad so long as you look at it the right way. Miguel Batista is way overdue for a good game, Delgado and Hinske can't bat less than .180 much longer, and the Red Sox don't have anyone better to send to the mound tonight than Curt Schill ... er... have I mentioned that nobody has malaria? It's still baseball, folks, and that in itself is reason to smile; enjoy the game.

We left Fredericton, NB at 4 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time on Monday morning, in a haze of sleep deprivation. Were it not for the discovery of a wonderful beverage called Red Bull, we most certainly would not have made it to our destination: Boston, MA. The group was comprised of four classmates and friends - one from New Brunswick, one from Ontario, one from Quebec and one from Newfoundland - the goal of which was to take in a couple of marquee sporting events.

A slightly abbreviated roundup summarizes another eventful day for Toronto's minor league affiliates:

Save your breath
Don’t look at me, don’t smile at me
Just close your eyes

Well, there really isn't too much to say about this team right now (not that that's kept us from yapping :-)). At 3-10 to start the year, the Jays have hopefully hit bottom and are now rebounding -- there were hopeful signs in last night's loss to Pedro Martinez. With the Leafs gearing up for the second round of the playoffs, the Jays have another week to ten days to work out the kinks and get back to a respectable level of play. It's a battle of traditional susceptibilities tonight, as the Red Sox face a lefty in Ted Lilly and the Blue Jays face a knuckler in Tim Wakefield. Advantage Toronto, at least if last night's silliness with Manny Ramirez carries over to this game: Wakefield's pitches would have difficulty breaking a pane of glass.

As reported by a few people, Howie Clark has been called up to the big club, and Chad Hermansen has been optioned down to Syracuse. Details available on this press release.

This is a poll of sorts, with a twist.

Two of the Jays' top pitching prospects took the hill last evening. One pitched a complete-game shutout; the other was pulled in the second inning for reasons of which this correspondent is unaware.

Welcome to the first installment of a new Batter's Box feature. Impressed by the quality of questions presented in the "Ask Jerry Howarth" thread, the Blue Jays broadcaster has agreed to do this with us again on a regular basis. We're very grateful.

My apologies if I paraphrased, combined or omitted any of your questions. Though Jerry was generous with his time on Sunday morning, he did have a game to call, and we tried to get to as many as we could. Perhaps as this season progresses, there will be more focus on what he's seeing on the field and in the Jays' clubhouse. This time, we get to know Jerry a little better, beginning with his responses to our Roster questionnaire.