It looks like the Jays might remain undefeated until at least tomorrow.  The forecast does not look good for baseball in New York tonight:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/usny0996

If the game is rained out again, would they play a double-header on Wednesday or Thursday, or would they make up the game on June 2nd, a day off before their 3-game series in New York?

Also, I'm not an ESPN Insider, can someone give me the gist of what Olney had to say about the Hill negotiations? 

The Blue Jays attempted to sign second baseman Aaron Hill to a multiyear deal but could not reach an agreement.

I beleive I heard during last night's telecast that the Yankees had spent millions in upgrading field drainage at The Stadium, thus the grass should be in decent condition with minimal rain.  I am optimistic that we will see some ball tonight!

seems like they might have avoided the T-Storms.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/hourbyhour/USNY0996?from=36hr_fcstHourLink_business

• 6pm: Few Showers/Wind
• 7pm: Few Showers
• 8pm: Few Showers
• 9pm: Partly Cloudy
• 10pm: Partly Cloudy

Oh well, at least it was close, and there are 161 games to go.  One question though, is it just me, or does Frank Thomas look absolutely terrible at the plate? 

At least Wells didn't look overpowered, and he hit the ball well in spring training.  Wells looked more like a guy who wasn't seeing the ball well or was shaking off some rust (he is recovering from surgery, afterall).  It's the same with Eckstein.  He had a bad night, but he didn't look bad.  However, if I just emerged from a capsule today having never heard the name "Frank Thomas", after watching him at the plate tonight I'd have thought he was Toronto's attempt at a Billy Crystal type publicity stunt.  I mean, he must have been a full second behind Joba's strikeout fastball.  Hill, on the other hand, stung the ball twice and just missed that last fly-out.  I also liked to see Rios take some pitches.

Anyway, I completely understand now what Jeff Blair meant when he said Thomas "just looked awful".  I hope he gets it together, but I'm a little nervous.  In the meantime, Rolen needs to get the best manicurist in the world.

I sure hope Gibbons is quicker to take action on the batting order if the guys he likes don't produce.

I'm pretty sure that our best option for the top of the order this year is Hill-Overbay-Rios-Rolen.

Hopefully Gibbons doesn't stay married to the notion that Wells has to be our #3, and Eckstein has to bat leadoff, if the other guys are clearly outproducing them in a couple of weeks.

- The problem seems to simply be that it is unclear what type of production is to be expected from Hill over the next few years, and there is thus a gap between what the Jays expect to pay and what Hill expects to receive.

- Neither side dismisses the idea of a deal - they simply can't agree on what it should look like at this stage. It doesn't seem to be a case of Hill wanting to leave town or anything.

- Hill comes across well in his comments, which is unusual: he seems to usually just repeat old baseball cliches without really saying anything.

- Blair mentions that Eckstein had a brutal spring; I hadn't heard that before.

- Interestingly, the botched defensive plays in the 7th had Hill and Eckstein "huddled over the videotape machine in the clubhouse and chatting in the shower."

- Blair doesn't buy into the whole Eckstein is gritty stuff. I believe the Sun and the Star have run this type of article, but the Globe has not. It should be fun to see whether or not he or McLoed cave and write one of these articles.

The odd thing about the Wells "strikeout" was that neither Wells nor Gibbons complained about an ovbiously botched call. Perhaps they, too, were distracted by Rios' attempted steal and didn't notice the location of the pitch.

Rivera's strikeout of Overbay in the 9th was on a pitch a good six inches outside, a classic case of perfectly hitting a target, albeit one outside the strike zone.

Managers can't argue balls and strikes or they will be ejected.

Players can and do argue them all the time. There's no automatic ejection for a player unless it gets extreme, like any other ejection scenario.

That was a brutal call on Wells. I screamed at the TV when it happened.

Not that you can place blame on any one player for a team loss, but man, I'm sure Hill tossed and turned all night thinking about what could have been. First, the double that should have been a triple (It was Damon who had the ball... Johnny "Noodle Arm" Damon!). The first base coach should have read that better and had Hill in full gear immediately after hitting first. Second, it was far from a routine play, but he really should have had that grounder in the 7th that led to the 3rd run. Really should have had that for the double play to end the inning.

Great at bat from Rios on Joba in the 8th.

Great recovery from Downs to save Vernon's ass on a terrible judgement call.

Thomas didn't look that bad. He was way late on Joba's 98 fastball, sure. But he was definitely sitting on that vicious slider (which was coming in around 84... what a great change in speed). It was an 0 - 2 count. I don't blame him for sitting. But that's one thing Thomas really, really, has to work on is coming up with a defensive swing to be able to foul off a fastball when he's sitting on something off speed. Rios did it wonderfully against Joba and earned a walk.

I liked to see the Jays stealing some bases. Rios could steal 30 this year.

And finally... Doc looked good. Kept arguably the best lineup in the game to 3 runs over 7innings with no real help from his defence. Better defence and he only allows 2 of those runs. Ah well, the season is early.

Yet again Aaron Hill chokes at Yankee Stadium.  The misplay last night was almost identical to the errors he made last season in two seperate games at Yankee Stadium, both games lost by the Jays.  It seems the dude has a mental block whenever he plays there.  He also booted and bobbled a few routine grounders that he ended up making a play on. 

It's only one game so I'll laugh at people screaming doom and gloom, however, yesterday's performance was frighteningly similar to the same old stuff we've been watching with the Jays for the past few seasons now.  Great pitching performance, horrific clutch hitting, absolutely no ability to move runners over or hit fly balls when needed, and untimely meltdowns. 

Let's hope the boys put this one behind em and AJ gets his season started proper.  I too have absolutely no faith in this lineup whenever they are facing a RHP, even if it's older than dirt Mike Mussina.

Scottt,

I don't think Halladay made a real mistake in the Cabrera at-bat.  That 'homerun' would have been a fly-out in literally every ballpark in the league except AT&T and maybe Fenway, if it hugged the pole.  It really shows what a disadvantage it is to head into Yankee stadium with 7 right-handed hitters facing a Yankee team with 7 left-handed hitters, in that ballpark.  As good as the Jays starting staff is, it would be nice to have some LHP too when facing the Yankees.

Uglyone,

I absolutely agree with your comment about the lineup.  While I believe Wells will bounce back this year, if he doesn't, and Thomas struggles too, Gibbons needs to juggle up the lineup.  I'd even play Stewart every day and platoon DH Stairs, but I'd have Stewart further down in the order and have my best hitters getting the most at-bats near the top of the order.

As for the Hill negotiations, it's nice to see he'll be motivated this year.

After sleeping on it, it becomes painfull clear that the difference in this game was DEFENSE.

The Yanks made 3 key hit-stealing defensive plays, and the Jays coughed up one or two out-saving defensive plays.

Considering that defense is supposed to be our strength, that stings.

And, of course, the fact that they tied it up on the shortest HR possible in major league baseball, stings as well.

Otherwise, though, we battled one of the best teams in baseball very tight - against their three best pitchers, no less - and barely lost in their much hyped last season and home opener in Yankee Stadium history - and arguably deserved better.