The first two men in Toronto's lineup are great guns. Marco Scutaro leads the majors in walks and he's third in the majors in runs, while Aaron Hill leads the majors in hits.
That's a lot of production from the double-play combo, and to add to that, Hill is batting .381 with men in scoring position and he leads the team with 31 RBIs. Then there's the third spot in the lineup, where the production drops off noticeably. On Sunday at Oakland, Alex Rios homered and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly, but he's still just four for his past 21.
One day before, manager Cito Gaston said that the outfielder's mechanics "are a mess. He's staying back on his back half, he's not getting around in time and it's pitch selection, too... all the things we're talking to him about."
Overall, Rios is batting .255, the lowest among Toronto regulars and more than 30 points below his career average of .288 entering the season.
BLUE JAYS 5, A'S 0: Alex Rios emerged from a 2-for-17 slump on the road trip with a solo homer off Dallas Braden in the third, a sacrifice fly in the fifth and an RBI single in the ninth. LHP Brett Cecil earned his first big-league win with eight scoreless innings, limiting the AL's worst hitting team to five hits.
