It can be described as a coast-to-coast road trip and so far, the Blue Jays are surviving quite well.
After stubbing their toe in the first game of the nine-game road trip, the Jays have bounced back to win three in a row, including Friday night's 10-4 victory in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. After losing in Oakland by a 3-1 score Tuesday, they bounced back to take the final two games of the three-game set from the Athletics. Toronto did it both ways, beating Oakland 2-1 Wednesday and blowing them out 12-0 Thursday.
The road success came in the wake of a fairly successful homestand in which Toronto went 5-2, winning the last five games in Canada before hitting the road. The Blue Jays have won eight of their last nine games overall.
After playing the A's and the Angels on the West Coast, the Blue Jays make the cross-country trip to the East Coast for a three-game set in New York against the Yankees. And they will have their ace Roy Halladay on the mound for the opening game of that series, facing left-hander Andy Pettitte.
But before that, the Blue Jays could guarantee a road series win in Anaheim with right-hander Shaun Marcum on the mound. Marcum has put together a 5-3 record and a low 2.64 earned run average in his 11 starts.
He is coming off a victory against Kansas City Monday in which he allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in 7 1/3 innings. He is 3-1 in his last four decisions, but the loss came to the Angels in Toronto May 21 by a 4-3 score.
BLUE JAYS 10, ANGELS 4: Toronto used the power of three ex-National Leaguers to blast out a win Friday in Anaheim.
Lyle Overbay, who played for the Diamondbacks and Brewers, went 3-for-5 with a pair of solo home runs, driving in three. Scott Rolen, a former Phillie and Cardinal, also went 3-for-5, adding a triple and driving in two. And ex-Expo/National Brad Wilkerson went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs driven in. Toronto is a season-best five games over .500 at 31-26.
