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POPULARITY PLUS
Manager Cito Gaston came up with a surprise answer to the question of whether any player approaches Roy Halladay in popularity among the fans. "We have a kid right here that doesn't play a lot but the fans love him too, John McDonald," Gaston replied without any hesitation, naming the Jays' seldom-used shortstop. "He gets as big an applause as anybody out there."
THE DAY AFTER
The Rays, of course, came into last night's game fresh off having Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox throw a perfect game against them.
Before last night, the 16 teams that had a perfect game thrown against them during the regular season had gone 8-8 in the game following the rare achievement.
The Rays didn't take long to register their first hit last night as Carl Crawford, who bats second, singled to centre in the first inning.
NEXT HILL
Second baseman Aaron Hill long ago obliterated the franchise record for most home runs by a second baseman when he blew by Roberto Alomar's standard of 17 set in 1993. Hill, who has a team-leading 22 home runs, also leads the club with 64 RBIs. That leaves him 29 RBIs shy of tying the club record for most RBIs in a season by a second baseman -- set in 1993 by Alomar when he drove in 93 runs.
IT TAKES A THIEF
Right fielder Alex Rios is far from having a banner year offensively but he already has recorded the second-highest stolen base total of his career with 18 thefts. He has been caught just three times. Rios' single-season high is 32, set last season.
NEXT UP
Today -- Rays (LHP David Price, 3-4, 4.86) at Blue Jays (LHP Brian Tallet, 5-6, 4.95), 1:07 p.m., SNO, Fan 590.
