Casey Janssen - Lucky Charm?

Jays Mount Another Comeback Win

Five wins and four of them the comeback variety has got to have this team brimming with confidence heading into the home opener tommorrow. The Jays face the White Sox who have a very good team but have had a tough start to the season. Four games against some of the toughest starting pitching in the league will be a litmus test for the Jays hitting lineup. With 4 homers today, the Jays have passed the Twins to lead the AL pending the outcome of today's games. If Toronto can come out of this series with a split they may just begin to see themselves as the surprise competitive team some predict they will be in spite of the prognosticators. With continued strong play and more comebacks this early, by the time they play the Red Sox at the end of the month, they could be on everyone's radar rather than under it.

Sean Marcum used a similar formula to Dana Eveland yesterday by keeping the Orioles off balance with a mixture of well placed fastballs and changeups. Save for a 2 inning first, Marcum gradually gathered confidence as the game went on and was strongest near the end of his outing. Unfortunately for Marcum, it wasn't until after Janssen finished the seveth inning that the Jays pulled the trigger on 2 homers to take the lead which got Marcum off the hook and gave Janssen his third victory already this season. Janssen was again solid with a scoreless inning but has been somewhat of a lucky charm being in the right position prior to a Blue Jay rally. He was followed by similar performances courtesy of Downs and Gregg who recorded his second save.

The Jays middle of the order was 0 for 10 but got 2 home runs from Alex Gonzalez and 3 hits from Johnny Mac. The key hit however was off the bat of Jose Bautista with his 2 run shot in the 8th. Edwin Encarnacion finally got his season off the ground with his frist homer of the season in the 9th.

Jays face Jake Peavy in the home opener. Expect a big crowd to see a confident group of 5-1 Blue Jays.

William Bruyea