Halladay rocked in second straight outing

Roy Halladay has not looked himself in his past two trips to the hill. He has battled control issues, fashioning un-doc like performances that only be described as head scratching. Making matters worse, in his past 12 trips to the hill, the club has lost 9 of those contests, mostly due to lack of run support.

In his last two outings, both losses, Halladay has surrendered 11 earned runs along with 20 hits in just over 11 innings of work, representing his worst two start stretch in over two seasons. Excluding games that Roy left due to injury, The two consecutive starts were the first time he didn't last into the 7th inning in over two campaigns.

In a season marred by the drastic fall from atop the American League East, a stint on the disabled list and trade rumours regarding his future with the ball club, Halladay has put on a brave face, refusing to admit those were factors in any poor performances. However, the constant pressure paired with a team that is playing out the string certainly has affected the former CY Young winner.

Just don't expect this to last for any length of time. After all, he hasn't become the best at his craft bynot making adjustments so he'll bounce back, displaying his legendary focus and intensity that has made him the preeminent pitcher in baseball.

Ruiz stating case to be Jays DH next year

Randy Ruiz is seizing his opportunity to remain an every day major league baseball player. Since being recalled by the Blue Jays two weeks ago, the burly designated hitter has been a force in the middle of the batting order. Don't blame him for being nervous about his job security however.

The 31 year old Ruiz, a veteran of 11 major league organizations, is making just his second appearance in the big leagues after a cup of coffee with the Minnesota Twins last season. Manager Cito Gaston has made it very clear Ruiz is auditioning to be the Blue Jays designated hitter for the 2010 campaign. Ruiz, who is a backup first basemen, also plans to step up his effort to learn the nuances of playing the outfield to prove his versatility to the ball club.

He has performed wonderfully at the plate in his brief stint in Toronto, hitting .348, cranking 4 home runs, driving in 7 runs and recording at least one hit in 11 of the 12 games. This after raking in AAA Las Vegas, where he put up gaudy statistics; 25 home runs, 106 RBI's with a batting average of .320 in 114 contests.

If Ruiz continues to pile up the stats in the heart of the Jays order, he'll leave the organization no choice but to retain him next year, which would be a welcomed relief after being cut 12 times in his pro career.

Is Brian Tallet out of gas?

With the Blue Jays on course to shut down rookies Brett Cecil and Marc Rzepczynski in order to cap the amount of innings they’ve thrown this season, there is one pitcher that is curiously being forgotten in the discussion of hurlers that might be maxed out: Brian Tallet.

Tallet has started 19 games for the Blue Jays this season when his previous high in one campaign was 3. Tallet has thrown 65.2 more innings than at any other point in his major league career, and is showing signs of wear and tear. The 31 year old is expected to make a few more starts to replace Cecil and Rzepczynski, but is that a wise course of action?

While Tallet was never as good as his numbers suggested in his first 11 starts, where he allowed more than 3 runs just twice, he surely isn't as poor as his record would indicate as of late. In his last 9 outings, 3 of which were starts, he has struggled mightily, giving up 23 runs in 27.1 innings.

Despite the fact the lanky lefty was a starter in the minors, he hasn't been through the grueling stretch at the major league level. There has been no indication that the club is considering shutting down Tallet, like the others, but the question is, why?

Wells producing late in the season

It would be easy to chalk up Vernon Wells recent success at the plate (at least relative to the rest of the season) as "Wells being Wells" given the fact that the Blue Jays are now out of playoff contention and that's when he usually heats up. Instead, let's just be happy that Wells has shown some sign of life and (like most years) hope he can carry it over into next season.

Wells came through with a clutch RBI double in the first inning Friday against the Angels, following that up with a solo home run in the 3rd, which proved to be the winning run. This month, V-Dub has cracked three home runs to go along with 12 RBI, one run driven in away from matching his highest output for any one month this season, which came way back in April. In his solid month of August, Wells has hit safely in every game but three, going 19 for 68 for a respectable .279 average.

It's easy to assume this type of month from Vernon is solely because Toronto is out of contention, like his 11 HR, 36 RBI output in the final two months last year, but let's just be content he's producing more like the hitter he should be. In fact, I'd be shocked at the end of the season if we didn't learn of hamstring problems, which kept him out of a good portion of spring training, weren't attributed to his slow start to the campaign.

Cecil's brain cramp indicative of Jays season

What were you thinking Brett Cecil? That gaffe might have been one of the funniest moments and also one of its most depressing of the season wrapped int one, poignantly signifying the Jays fall from contention.

Cecil dropped a ball from Rod Barajas, and failed to call time to request a new one before firing the baseball back into the dugout allowing Jason Bay to trot from first base into third, where he'd later score. The problem was the ball Cecil threw away was live, and afterwards he blamed himself for the blunder.

Cecil wasn't smiling about the rest of performance either. Making his first start after missing time with a knee injury, Cecil got rocked by the Red Sox, giving up six runs, four earned, including a pair of long balls to J.D. Drew over 4 and a third innings. The 23 year old picked up his first loss in two months, which also came against Boston. In that game, Cecil was lit up for a total of five home runs, four of which came in one inning. Of the 11 home runs allowed by Cecil, seven have come against Boston.

Romero can't solve Red Sox

Ricky Romero must wish the Boston Red Sox were playing in another division, or better yet, out of the American League all together. The Blue Jays rookie hurler is considered the leading candidate for the American League Rookie of the Year award, but if he doesn't win, he can squarely blame the Red Sox for causing him plenty of heartbreak.

This season, Romero has been pummelled by the Bosox in 3 starts, going 0-2 while giving up 14 earned runs in 12 innings for a bloated 10.50 ERA. Tuesday's start was no different, as Romero, who credits the Jays A.L. East rival for having extremely patient hitters, failed to make it through the 4th inning after surrendering 5 runs, marking the shortest outing of his career.

In 17 starts against teams other than Boston, Romero has fashioned an excellent 10-3 record with a solid 3.26 ERA. However, factoring in the starts against Beantown, those numbers jump to a still respectable 10-5 with a 3.95 ERA.

To his credit, the 24 year old Romero has said he won't let Boston get him down, and he will be prepared the next time for the stern challenge the Red Sox present.

Snider returns to Blue Jays with a bang

Travis Snider didn't waste any time creating a positive impression upon his return to the Blue Jays lineup. In his first at bat the 3rd inning, Snider blasted a Josh Beckett offering over the fence in left field for his first home run in the major leagues since he swatted two in the same game April 13th against Minnesota.

Snider finished the evening 2 for 3, putting together a solid effort upon hearing he will be the every day right fielder for the remainder of the campaign, regardless of whether righties or lefties are pitching. The 21 year old right fielder perhaps showed some rookie jitters in the 4th inning, taking a bad route to a Nick Green fly ball, committing a costly error that led to a run.

Snider admitted to putting too much pressure on himself in his first tour of duty with Toronto. After jumping out of the gates with 3 HR and 10 RBI in his first 14 games, he struggled mightily, hitting just .193 with 2 RBI in the following 18 contests. The Jays prized prospect didn't handle the demotion in May as well as he would've liked, but says he's much more mentally tougher and will be able to enjoy the game more now.

Snider's promotion comes at the expense of utility man Joe Inglett, who was sent down to AAA, clearing room for the young slugger. Over 48 games with AAA Las Vegas, Snider hit .337 with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs, most of which occurred after he returned from a back injury in July.