Still, as players emphasized one after the other, that isn't something unique to a road trip involving Japan. That happens. They still have to win.
"There's no more excuses," Kevin Youkilis said, after the Blue Jays finished off a 7-4 win in front of 30,114 at Rogers Centre. "We've got to play the game. We've got to go out and play. Tired or not. We've got to find a way to win. There are going to be some days you're tired, there are going to be some days you're not. Now it's time to go play. If we start making excuses, it's going to be more of a negative. We've just got to stay positive.
"We're 3-4. We've got a long, long way to go. Teams that are at the tops of their divisions now, you never know where they could be at the end of the year. For us, there's 150-plus games left. Long way to go. Once we get home, all we've got to do is get our sleep, get our rest, just have fun. Play the game and have some fun."
There wasn't much fun to be had in Toronto, certainly not for Manny Delcarmen and Julio Lugo, and not for the team as a whole. Though the Jays' Frank Thomas did seem to enjoy himself.
Josh Beckett, expected author of a emotional and on-field lift for his team, started his first game out of spring training, returning from back and hip ailments that stunted his preparation. But, after three impressive innings, Beckett seemed to tire, giving up two runs in the fourth on walk and a home run to Vernon Wells. Helped by a Manny Ramírez catch up against the wall - he left cleat marks - but not by the first of three errors by Lugo, Beckett made it out of the inning.
Not so, the fifth. With two outs, Beckett loaded the bases on a single by Aaron Hill and two walks.
In came Delcarmen, who had lost a battle with Thomas Friday night, the designated hitter's double providing the winning margin. Then, it was a changeup. Yesterday, it was a fastball that was supposed to go down and away and ended up perfectly placed, middle-in, for Thomas. Grand slam, the 11th of his career.
