I’m reminded of an old Calvin and Hobbes strip where the duo are discussing whether there is life after death or is this life all we get. Hobbes makes the most poignant remark when he said about our current kick at the can: “What the heck, I’ll take it.”

Yeah, I know the post season is a darned near impossible dream and this seven game winning streak will likely go for naught and while it’s nice to be 33-19 over the last 52 games, the Red Sox and Rays have been almost as good and the Jays are still over 10 games out in the AL East and 8.5 in the wild card.

Still, it has been fun of late–what the heck, I’ll take it. Let’s face it, back in the first part of July the Jays were alive as any team and let’s be honest–they have gotten it done playing .635 ball and had the bats not gone so dead August 27-29 they would have an 11 game winning streak, be winners of 18 of 22 and sitting at 78-63 but still 5.5 back of Boston.

As I said, the Rays and Red Sox have gotten it done too.

The Jays are 40-27 under Cito Gaston–whoda thunk it?

I have to give B.J. Ryan credit–when he blows a save, he goes up like Puff the Magic Dragon drinking jet fuel shooters sneezing on Thich Quang Duc.

While he hasn’t blown many saves this year, this one didn’t really surprise me–he’s made ninth innings an adventure of late.

Nevertheless, this one–despite nothing really riding on it insofar as the Jays’ post season aspirations go–stung. The Jays shooting for a seven game winning streak, a series win over the Rays with an outside shot at a sweep (fat chance with Matt Garza going tomorrow) and a shot at nine games over .500.

However, Ryan would have none of it. He made quick work of a 3-0 lead by hitting Carlos Pena with his first pitch, followed that by letting Rocco Baldelli (39 AB this year) jack one, then walked Willy Aybar, who was pinch run for by Fernando Perez, gave up a stolen base and a Joe Inglett error tied it up.

Easy as can be.

The Jays had a chance in the bottom of the ninth (although Adam Lind was pinch hit for by … Brad “Jedi out-master” Wilkerson–who went 1-for-3) after a Scott Rolen double but a base hit by Gregg Zaun didn’t get out of the infield and Rolen was caught in a rundown between third and home.

Perez’s speed finally put the Rays on top in the 13th. He beat out the back end of a double play, stole second, took third on defensive indifference and came home on a Dioner Navarro base hit.

Nobody, but nobody would have predicted what followed. First Alex Rios made out, Vernon Wells smacked a 2-0 pitch up the middle for a hit, Wilkerson inexplicably singled, Overbay’s three hit, two home run (1 BB) game seemed to end poorly as he stung a ball that looked like it might be a game ending double play.

The Rays settled for the out at second, Scott Rolen walked to load the bases and Zaun–who nearly had the walkoff hit in the ninth, got his third knock of the day in a manner nobody expected–a grand salami off of Troy Percival.

Today I went from loving baseball (for eight innings), hating the game for one inning, agnostic for three more innings, back to hating for a half inning to falling in love all over again at the end.

Yes, my mental playground has a mood swing on it. Now I know what my wife must go through for one week every month–no wonder she’s so cranky.

(I pray to God she’s not standing behind me.)

The Jays were smacking the ball hard off James Shields for the first four innings but after that, Denbo’s Heroes made a return appearance (being shutout for 8.2 innings) and Shields hung around long enough to be taken off the hook with 8 IP/3 ER worth of work.

Shaun Marcum, after some early jitters, settled down to pitch seven shutout innings of four-hit ball (3 BB/7 K) and after Scott Downs pitched a Ryan-esque eighth (although a double play got him out of it–the Jays turned five against the Rays) the stage was set for Johnny Torch.

The Rays did a terrific job keeping the middle of the order quiet as Rios/Wells/Lind went 2-for-15 although Rios smacked his 43 double (I’m rooting for 50) of 2008.

Although Lyle Overbay had a two home run game but when all was said and done the day belonged to Gregg Zaun who took Ryan off the hook and made it a bad day for AL East closers as B.J. and Percival combined for 1.2 IP 4 H 7 R 6 ER 2 BB 2 K 1 HBP 2 HR worth of flammable, f-bomb inducing work.

So, the winning streak is at seven, the Jays are nine games over .500 and I think it’s time to give B.J. Ryan a break–in his last three innings of work over four days he’s given up five runs (four earned) five hits, two walks a HBP and thrown about 25 pitches each time out. He’s given up nine runs (seven earned) in his last 15.1 innings of work since the beginning of August.

Give the man a breather–he had Tommy John surgery last year and besides–our nerves could use a break from the man’s tightrope walks. He’s done yeoman’s work this year and struck out just a whisker under a batter per inning and has a chance at being the 2006 edition of Beejthejuice so let’s not overdo it.

Still, I’ll take it–but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see the Jays hitters serve up Matt Garza’s head (or ERA) on a platter tomorrow. Hopefully David Purcey can duplicate (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) his last effort against the Rays and we can enjoy the moral victory of a sweep.

Best Regards

John