JAYS-OBSESSED: WELLS SOUNDS OFF LIKE HE'S GOT A PAIR; IS RIOS STRUGGING?

Forget, for a moment, that the Blue Jays starting pitching is in a shambles, the relief corps is ramshackle and there's a growing sinkhole in the middle of the diamond.

Those are all obvious concerns, of course. However, it can't be ignored that the two losses this weekend to the Tigers, including today's 10-5 exercise in suckitude, pointed out that this team has deep flaws. It can't manufacture runs, or seem to win a game without hitting homers.

There is hope. There's a tendency to get hung up on statistics in baseball. Championships are ultimately won in the clubhouse, which was why it was good to see Vernon Wells, who normally seems pretty laconic, sound off after today's game.

"It's been a frustrating year on both sides of the table. We haven't done what it takes to win and that's been frustrating for everybody."

It sounds like Wells was calling guys out, but in a sense, he wasn't. When a veteran star says that, it's usually meant to take the attention off other players and put it on himself. After all, If you're going to go on the record saying that your teammates are screwing the pooch, you better have your shit together.

Wells seems to realize he's the guy who has to take the bull by the balls here and be The Guy. The Jays have leaders but no viable candidate to be The Guy: Shea Hillenbrand's a DH; Troy Glaus is new and a little too California; Gregg Zaun doesn't play every day; Roy Halladay is pitcher who works only once every five days.

None of them have a role that's ideally suited to being The Guy. Wells does.

This might be the first admission out of Jays-land that it's no longer enough to keep saying, "Despite this, that and the other, the Yankees and Red Sox haven't pulled away."

It's true that despite only getting two starts from A.J. Burnett; despite the demotions of Russ Adams and Josh Towers; despite having Ty Taubenheim in the starting rotation; despite Gustavo Chacin's elbow problem that will keep him out until well into July, the Jays remain only 2½ games out in a three-team race with Evil Empires 1 and 1-A.

However, that's like continuously spraying Febreze instead of doing actual housework and maybe picking up the pizza boxes that have been accumulating in the corner for the past three months.

The schedule can create the impression the Jays are underachievers, but after this space went on and on about how the Tigers were a façade, Detroit walked in and took two out of three. Now the nostrils are breathing in that bachelor-apartment aroma, and it's wince-worthy.

Beyond the pitching, there are deep flaws. As noted before: at times the Jays just seemed like a re-run of the 1998-2000 teams that scored a lot of runs, but couldn't really hang with the top teams, due to a lack of pitching and defence, as well as a chronic inability to win games without hitting homers.

All three of those elements are absolutely essential in September and -- dare to dream, dare to dream -- October.

Instead, the six home runs in the past two days produced only eight runs.

THAT KIND OF SEGUES into the second part of this phillipic: What's up with Alex Rios? The Jays right-fielder homered today (I had bailed by then, deciding, after Pudge Rodriguez's three-run double put the Tigers up 8-2 in the sixth, that shooting hoops in the park was a far better way to pass a rare free Sunday afternoon), but his hitting of late has sent up some red flags.

Rios is still a 25-year-old who had less than 1,000 career playoff appearances prior to the season. His homer broke a 1-for-17 slump. His average is now .338, down from .361 through May 31.

Sure, you couldn't expect that to last, but the pitch-by-pitch from today's game speaks volumes about how he doesn't have the control of the strike zone you'd expect for someone with his stats.

Scenario: Fifth inning, one out, tying run at second. Nate Robertson gets behind 3-1 on Rios. The next pitch looked like a sure Ball 4, but Rios swung and fouled it off. The next pitch was much closer -- and Rios took it for Strike 3.

After Wells popped out (which might have had something to do with his post-game remarks), Robertson practically floated back to the dugout. The Jays were scarcely heard from again, although in classic fashion, they made it mildly interesting once the game was pretty much lost.

Here's why that Rios at-bat was so worrisome: He just seems to get cheated on too many at-bats. On a team that isn't going to win many 2-1 and 3-2 games, there's a lot of pressure on the table-setters who hit in front of Wells and Glaus.

The Jays might be wise to give Rios a couple days off or move him down in the order, just to let him clear his head -- and give some at-bats to Eric Hinske as they showcase him for a trade that will bring in pitching.

Johnson and Frank Catalanatto are an acceptable 1-2 combo against righties. Against left-handers, with the way Aaron Hill (hitting .310 with a 769 OPS against lefties on the year) is hitting lately, it might be a good idea to give him some time in the 2-hole.

So if Hill is hitting second when the Jays face Orioles lefty Adam Loewen on Tuesday, yours truly will say, "Hey, that was my idea."

And someone will no doubt reply: "What? Making a lineup change for a baseball team you don't manage, or paying its the players money you don't have?"

As for the pitching, it looks like something's gotta give. Towers probably comes back from the 'Cuse to replace Chacin, and it's obvious Taubenheim isn't ready to take a regular turn. It says here it's worth trying Francisco Rosario or Scott Downs.

Last month's persona non grata is this month's Only Option. C'est la vie, if you're a Jays fan.