SMART MOVE, SKIPPING OUT ON THIS JAYS GAME

Well, those who have been worrying about the Blue Jays bullpen breaking down from overuse have some ammo after it blew a late-inning lead for the third time in four games last night, only this time it actually led to a loss in a 5-2 setback to the Texas Rangers.

What can you say? Texas, which had been held to something like one earned run in 30-plus innings, was due to bust out, the Jays were down three regulars, and the bullpen is sucking a little wind.

Frustrated? A little. But yours truly, in a moment of rare prescience, sensed trouble and split out for a night of Triple-A baseball, the Ottawa Lynx vs. the Richmond Braves.

Believe you me, if you want some perspective on baseball futility, take a trip to any random minor-league yard and you'll soon remember that it's not how much it takes to make you happy as a fan, it's how little. The Lynx not only lost to the worst team in the International League, but they allowed a guy to score all the way from first base on a combination uncontested stolen base/wild pitch/throwing error. (In the minors, about once a game it seems you get the stolen base with the runner advancing to third on an error. It serves to remind you how good the major leaguers are.)

Another time, a Richmond player stole second, and neither middle infielder covered the base as the catcher's throw skipped into centre-field. Who knows? Maybe the centre-fielder was supposed to cover the bag. It's only the second Lynx game I've attended.

Still, even if the Lynx had fewer hits than I had hot dogs on 25-cent hot dog night, a good time was had by all. There were some decent plays, one of our party snagged a foul ball and the ballpark hot dogs and beer stayed down even on a bumpy bus ride home. So it's all good.

Bottom line, the booing last night at Rogers Centre was probably was understandable, but this author said a split of these two games with Shawn Marcum and Casey Janssen starting would be acceptable. If Janssen somehow bounce backs and the Jays win tonight, then all is relatively a-OK. It's a long haul, this baseball. It's all about setting the stage for a tour de force against the Yankees this weekend, anyways.

Other random stuff from a night of Triple-A ball:

• Atlanta Braves GM John Schuerholz's kid, Jonathan, is Richmond's regular third baseman. He went 2-for-4, raising his average on the season all the way up to .157 with zero homers and an OPS in the neighbourhood of .430. At one point, he swung and missed a pitch and someone in the stands yelled, "Call your dad!" Tony Peña Jr. is Richmond's shortstop and wears his dad's old No. 6.
• The Lynx had a decent crowd (3,105 fans), but they couldn't reach the plateau of 10,332 hot dogs consumed that would have given one lucky fan free franks for the rest of the season. Is this is a good thing -- i.e., people are more health-conscious -- or is it bad? Yours truly stopped just short of double digits, so you know my answer.

That's all for now. To answer your question, no, nobody's really sure what the New York Islanders are thinking. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.