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Latest Games

Date	Opponent	Result
4/10	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	W 3-2	W: Quantrill, L: Sturtze
4/11	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	L 4-3	W: Yan, L: Koch
4/12	Kansas City Royals	Postponed
4/13	Kansas City Royals	W 2-1	W: Michalak, L: Suppan, S: Koch
4/14	Kansas City Royals	W 5-4	W: File, L: Hernandez
4/15	Kansas City Royals	L 4-2	W: Stein, L: Carpenter
4/17	New York Yankees	W 6-5	W: Loaiza, L: Keisler, S: Koch
4/18	New York Yankees	W 7-2	W: Michalak, L: Hernandez
4/19	New York Yankees	L 6-5 (F/17)	W: Choate, L: File, S: Mendoza

Jose Cruz Jr is on fire, and may have silenced all trade rumors with his current 13-game hitting streak (19-for-49, .388, 5 HR, 13 RBI entering Friday's game against the Kansas City Royals). On Thursday night, however, Cruz - celebrating his 27th birthday - couldn't save the Jays from falling 6-5 to the New York Yankees in a 17-inning marathon that lasted five hours and 57 minutes, making it the longest game in team history. Only about 1,500 of the original 24,648 fans remained at 1:06 a.m. ET when Jeff Frye hit into the game-ending double play, after Paul O'Neill had driven in Chuck Knoblauch to give the Yanks the lead in the top of the inning. What makes this game frustrating is that in the bottom of the ninth, the Jays had the bases loaded and no outs, but were unable to score off Yankees reliever Mike Stanton, who struck out both Carlos Delgado and Cruz on three pitches, and then got Brad Fullmer to bounce out to second. After the game, Jays starter Joey Hamilton stated, "I already forgot about the game to be honest with you. It's been too damn long."

More on the game... Cruz started off with a single and a bases-loaded triple off Roger Clemens, but ended up only 2-6 with three strikeouts. Clemens was making his first start in Toronto since being traded to the Yankees in 1999, and allowed five runs on eight hits in six innings of work. Brian Simmons filled in for Shannon Stewart in left field after Stewart had to leave the game in the sixth with cramps in his hamstrings; the injury doesn't appear to have been very serious. Both teams used seven pitchers, and the Jays were about to go to starter Steve Parris had the game went on longer.

Other than that heartbreaking loss, the Jays have been continuing their fine start in the American League East. They have a record of 11-5, and are currently a lone game behind the Boston Red Sox, who are at 12-4. The bats have been getting it done, with the exception of Tony Batista, who has struggled with a .188 batting average. Cruz has been on a tear, as aforementioned, and is now hitting in the 5th spot, providing protection for Delgado. The starting pitching has been faring fairly well, as Esteban Loaiza and surprising rookie Chris Michalak both have three wins. From the bullpen, Kelvim Escobar (0.93 ERA, 16 K's in 9-2/3 IP) has been remarkable, and the same goes for Paul Quantrill (2-0, 0.00 ERA in 14 IP). Closer Billy Koch hasn't been at the top of his game, but I'm sure he'll be fine.

Some more stuff: On Thursday the 12th, Skydome experienced its first postponement, as pieces of the retractable roof came crashing down onto the field during a routine test. Apparently, a mechanical malfunction resulted in a collision between two of the three panels of the roof, creating two large tears. Fortunately, no one was hurt when the sky(dome) came falling down, and the situation was fixed in time for Friday the 13th's game against the Royals.

In The Jays' 6-5 win over the Yanks on Tuesday the 17th, Raul Mondesi became the first player in club history to pull off a straight steal of home. With the bases loaded, New York pitcher Randy Keisler had opted to pitch with the windup, rather than from the stretch. Mondesi and Cookie Rojas noticed that Keisler was taking a long time to deliver to the plate, so with two outs in the inning, Mondesi broke for home and slid in safely, without a tag as the pitch was high. Said Cruz, who was at-bat, "I just saw the big old bull coming from my left so I just got out of the way ... I didn't swing so I didn't kill him. It wasn't rehearsed, I'll tell you that much."

Some expected news: starting pitcher Mike Sirotka is done for the season, and will undergo surgery on his left shoulder. Sirotka was acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the David Wells deal, which was disputed by the Jays but upheld by commissioner Bud Selig. After the surgery is performed (most likely on next Tuesday), Sirotka will be out 7 to 12 months. This deal may burn the Jays this season, but hopefully, Sirotka will be ready for the start of 2002, and the trade will be beneficial in the long run.

So far, the Jays are 8-4 against the AL East. With the new unbalanced schedule this season, games played within the division will be crucial, and the Jays look like they're up to the challenge. For what it's worth, the Jays have won their first six series of the season for the first time in the franchise's 25-year history. Hopefully, for new manager Buck Martinez and crew, there will be many more series wins this season.

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