JAYS-TWINS: BAD MANAGING 101...

Sunday -- Twins 4, Jays 2: Another tutorial in Bad Managing 101 by John Gibbons got lost in the shuffle amid the two walks and the throwing error which sunk A.J. Burnett (who took the loss despite an eight-inning complete-game three-hitter) in the third inning.

As you probably saw, the Twins scored twice in the third to go ahead for good when Justin Morneau hit a two-out Baltimore chop that bounched high off home plate. Burnett, after having to wait an eternity for the ball to descend, overthrew first base instead of eating the ball, allowing Jeff Cirillo to score the second run.

Gibbons had just sat there like a goon after Burnett walked Cirillo on a 3-2, two-out pitch moments before the error. Perhaps Gregg Zaun, when he's in the lineup, goes to the mound and says something such as, "Look, you have good stuff, we'll give you some runs, you've got it." Gibbons could have got the attention of Jason Phillips, who was catching, or one of the infielders, or sent pitching coach Brad Arnsberg to the mound, but whatever the reason, he didn't.

The TV closeups seemed to indicate Burnett was feeling a bit burned after not getting a third-strike call from the home plate ump, Gerry Darling, earlier in the inning. Sure, Roy Halladay typically fights through those gumption traps, but Burnett's a different dude and might have needed someone to put him right. A manager who knows what he's doing would have acted there.

It all unravelled from there. Burnett lost track of the runners to give the Twins a gift double steal and issued another walk before having the bad break when he outwitted the reigning American League MVP, only to have Morneau's grounder go off the plate and shoot 20 feet into the air.

That's inexcusable for Gibbons to just sit there like a goon let the chips where they may. Burnett giving up that two-run upper-deck homer to Morneau that decided the game three innings later is forgivable. Good hitters always get theirs eventually.

Who knows, maybe Burnett would have reacted differently in the third inning if he had reason to logically feel his hitters were going to produce more than two runs for him. Ultimately, the Fire Gibbons and Fire Mickey Brantley bandwagons could be filling up soon.

(Related: John Brattain of Hardball Times captures just how bad the bottom of the Blue Jays order has been.)

Saturday -- Jays 9, Twins 8 (13 innings): It seems best to be on the up-and-up about Tomo Ohka throwing seven strong innings and the Jays not falling apart after blowing a four-run lead in the eighth and ninth innings. Casey Janssen and Jeremy Accardo have been so reliable that they're allowed one off-night.

Momentum only lasts so long as who starts the next game. Meantime, Lyle Overbay's game-winning hit which completed his four-RBI night couldn't have come at a better time. The Jays were running out of hitters since the genius manager who shall remain nameless pinch-ran for both his No. 4 and No. 5 hitters, and the Twins could have potentially brought the top of their order up in the 14th.

Putting in John McDonald for Troy Glaus after a leadoff walk with a four-run lead in the eighth was penny-wise and pound-foolish. True, the Jays have to play it safe with Glaus' sore heel, but that baserunner was moved up by another walk and then Matt Stairs hit a long double that could have scored anyone (non-Molina family) from second base. Unless Glaus was hurting, you only pinch-run there if he's on second with two out and you need the upgrade on speed. You-know-who got away with another rock there -- especially since McDonald started a 5-4-3 double play after taking Glaus' spot at third base -- but if that's the biggest complaint aside from the bullpen, it must have been a good night.

Friday -- Twins 4, Jays 3: Love that run production -- Alex Rios was on base three times tonight and scored once.

What was up with Scott Downs' fielding flub, plus another blunder by the pitcher, that gave the Twins an extra out to score the tiebreaking run in the seventh? That's the third time in about two weeks a pitcher's fielding error cost the Jays in a one-run game. When it happens that often, it strains coincidence -- it's on the manager and his coaching staff.

Jesse Litsch: He gave Jays fans a great night a couple weeks ago. Isn't that enough for now? He's geeked out of his mind, clearly.

So much for waking up this morning (hey, at 12:09 p.m. Eastern, it's still the morning in more than half of Canada) believing the Jays can go into Minnesota and sweep the Twins. That Garrison Keillor Prairie Home Companion pragmatism works after all.