JAYS-RAYS: NO GLAUS-ING THIS OVER

Sunday -- Rays 3, Jays 2: Say your piece and get out... would it be too much to draw a single walk against the Tampans, who have handed out free passes at the highest rate (3.5/game) in the majors? It's really hard to win a game when the only tablesetter across the last six inning is done by Frank Thomas.

It's been like this all year, the lack of plate discipline. It's far too late to get mad about it, now please explain how this has nothing to do with Mickey Brantley's coaching again?

Saturday -- Rays 5, Jays 4: Consider the ninth-inning collapse karma giving a kick in the teeth to everyone who thinks John McDonald's defence can carry his bat well enough for him to be an everyday shortstop.

It seems like Sir John J. has a major evenout with the leather since the debate over his worth reached a boiling point about two weeks ago. His error in the ninth started the unravelling for Jeremy Accardo, giving the Rays an extra out they needed to get B.J. Upton up to bat for a pinch-hit, walk-off home run.

That said, Accardo doing an arson job on well-earned win for A.J. Burnett (eight innings of three-hit, one-run ball) was all part of God's great plan. The common people and certain dipshit sportswriters -- remember, He made so many of them - need to believe pitchers' worth as a player and a person is reflected in his win totals. It would be dangerous to have Burnett get two games above .500 and risk putting the kibosh on all the columns that question his manliness, his talent, his heart and try to ignore that his WHIP, ERA and opponents' batting average each surpass Roy Halladay's, albeit in five less starts.

Some of us turn to sarcasm, the protest of the weak. Meantime, John Brattain at Hardball Times has piece heavy in '87 Jays references that captures how many of us feel about 2007. That team blew a pennant across seven days; this team has blown a 90-win season with six months with terrible, turgid offence. Which is worse?

Friday -- Jays 7, Rays 2: Most baseball fans have become pretty shock-proof with ballplayers and steroid use — we all know the adult reaction is that baseball buried it head in the sand for a few years — so Sports Illustrated's report the Jays' Troy Glaus received banned steroids in 2003 and '04 is easy to digest.

You always figure it can be anyone with performance-enhancing drugs, so sometimes the natural human response is not block it out. With Testosterone Troy, the players whose career arcs are the closest to his all happen to be power hitters who had short careers for various reasons such as Bob Horner, Al Rosen and Kevin Mitchell. So the first instinct was to believe Glaus' declining numbers this were the residue of history repeating itself, plus his body type (6-foot-5, 225 lbs.) is more suited to a NFL tight end than third base. That's not to say PEDs were never out of the question, but it was never really on the front burner.

The follow-up question, obviously, is what the Jays' obligation is; the baseball union is strong, so terminating Glaus' contract is just out of the realm of possibility. Bottom line, this sucks since the Yankees are in next week and that means chanting "Sterrrrr-oids!" every time Jason Giambi comes up will be less self-righteous.

Much obliged to The Tao for a nice pickup. By the way, is it proper to feel grateful that S.I. couldn't even find a picture of Glaus in a Jays uniform to go with the story?

Oh, right, the game: It's the Jays 'n' Rays in September. Who can get excited over it, other than those paid to do so? For one the Jays didn't make Edwin Jackson (4-14) look like the second coming of Bullet Joe Rogan. They couldn't hit him at all earlier in the season when he was getting racked, and now he's throwing fairly well and they chase him early.