ROYALS-JAYS: TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD

Wednesday -- Jays 7, Royals 4: You know the saying about how you'll win a third of your games in spite of yourself? This one had that feel. The young left side of K.C.'s infield, Alex Gordon and Tony Peña Jr., each misplayed balls

• Why did Gustavo Chacin get the quick hook after allowing a leadoff double in the sixth with the Jays ahead 4-2? Emil Brown, who'd homered off Chacin in two of eight meetings coming in, was up, and the Jays probably figured they'd be happy to hold K.C. to a single run there, which Casey Janssen did.
• Scorecard on the Lyle Overbay Experiment in the two-hole: The unpigmentated one is hitting .222/.279/.325, but it's very early yet and the Jays have faced five lefty starters in the first nine games. Aaron Hill (pictured) is off to a .387/.441/.645 start. The numbers don't tell you much -- it's just fun to argue over whether he should hit No. 2 vs. left-handed starters.
• Getting Jorge de la Rosa, who started tonight, from the Brewers last July 25 for bit player Tony Graffanino might have been one of new Kansas City GM Dayton Moore's first good moves. Acquiring the shortstop, Peña, from Moore's former organization, Atlanta, might also pan out.

Tuesday -- Royals 6, Jays 3: It's a little hard to begrudge Zack Greinke picking up his first win of '07 after reading the article Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan published yesterday about the young right-hander's effort to manage his social anxiety and depression.

Coincidentally, while Greinke was the picture of mental health, Josh Towers (pictured) could hardly be excused if he went home and ate a whole plate of Haagen-Daaz and watched Blind Date. He wasn't half-bad, but he wasn't half-good, giving up three earnies over five-plus while the Jays committed four errors in the field. The jury is still out on Towers, so our top 10 list of activities more preferable than a Towers start stands:

1. Family dinners.
2. Dentist appointments.
3. Listening to people talk about a hockey pool you're not involved in.
4. Having the middle seat in a row with Pierre McGuire and Tim McCarver on a flight to Tokyo.
5. Signing a going-away card for a colleague you never talked with much.
6. Riding the bus and sitting near university students talking about Laguna Beach.
7. Watching Laguna Beach.
8. Experiencing Grade 9 again.
9. Having a hangnail removed.
10. Seeing a grown adult reading a Harry Potter book in public.

Monday -- Jays 9, Royals 1: From the sounds of it, the evening was pretty tame for a recent Jays opener -- the fusillade of golf balls and giveaway fridge magnets flying out of the 500 level was reportedly somewhat minimal, since most of the crowd was hauling ass by the sixth or seventh inning. (UPDATE: One reader points out that six innings was enough for the kegger crowd, who also tend to have a thing for the $2 Tuesdays.) The Royals just tend to have an anesthesizing effect on home-team fans -- it's hard to keep up yob rule when the game is in the bag after four innings.

• Overbay, who broke it open with that fan-assisted three-run double in the second, came in 1-for-17 lifetime against the Royals' Odalis Perez. As noted before, this was a very enjoyable home opener since Perez doesn't seem to have it anymore.
• The guy who showed up in the Islanders sweater is an A-hole. No way he wore that for any reason but to tick people off.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.