It didn't add up for the Blue Jays -- either the final score or the move by Blue Jays manager John Gibbons.
In dropping a 2-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays yesterday afternoon at the Rogers Centre, the Jays wasted a splendid start by Shaun Marcum, who no-hit the Rays through six innings.
But it was the move by the Gibbons with his team trailing 1-0 in the eighth inning that was the head-scratcher.
Catcher Jason Phillips was due up to start the inning, but instead Gibbons sent up light-hitting John McDonald to pinch-hit.
McDonald came to the plate with one hit in his past 25 at-bats and promptly hit a checked-swing tapper to the pitcher for the out.
It was odd because Phillips, who was 0-for-2 in the game, has decidedly more power than McDonald.
But the big question is that if Gibbons wanted a pinch-hitter, why not use Alex Rios, who leads the team in home runs and is second in RBIs? Rios had the day off as Matt Stairs started in right field and hit a ninth-inning home run for the Jays' lone run.
After the game, Gibbons dodged any questions about his decision.
Why pinch hit for Phillips?
"I've got my reasons," he said.
Would you like to share them?
"No, I'd rather not. You don't need to know everything," Gibbons said.
Maybe Rios was hurt and unavailable for duty?
"No, uh-uh," Gibbons grunted.
Why use McDonald?
"I told you, I have my reasons," Gibbons said.
There was another question about Rios being healthy.
"He's fine, he's fine. I just chose to do it that way that time," Gibbons said.
Rios was unable to shed any light on the subject. Asked why he didn't start, he replied: "I have no clue."
Could he have pinch-hit?
"Yeah, of course," Rios said.
Are you healthy?
"Everything's good. It's all good," he said.
In the seventh inning of a runless game, with two out against Jason Frasor, Carlos Pena collected Tampa's first hit by drilling an opposite- field home run to left.
"At the time, I thought it was a good pitch. But he's ahead in the count (1-0) looking fastball and he got it," Frasor said. "He connected and there's your win."
As it turned out, it wasn't.
What proved to be the winning run came in the ninth when, with two out and runners on the corners, Pena hit a grounder off reliever Brian Tallet that was fielded by Lyle Overbay who was far off the bag.
When Tallet was slow breaking to first, Pena beat Overbay to the bag for the RBI single. It should have been a routine out.
"I didn't do what I'm supposed to do, get over to the bag, plain and simple," Tallet said. "There's no excuses for it. I got caught standing around on the mound."
