TORONTO - Shaun Marcum was nearly untouchable Wednesday night, and for a while the Toronto Blue Jays offence looked ready to squander yet another outstanding pitching performance.
But Marco Scutaro, only in the lineup because of injuries to shortstops David Eckstein and John McDonald a night earlier, broke through with a big RBI single that opened the scoring in the seventh and helped open the door for a break-out five-run outburst in the eighth.
The end result was a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays that was much, much tighter than the score would suggest. While the late rally - keyed by Scott Rolen's two-run blast - bodes well for an offence still seeking consistency, it was Marcum's near-Herculean effort that led the Blue Jays (17-18) to their sixth victory in seven outings.
Marcum and McGowen, the beginning of something great in Toronto. I just hope with the market for pitchers that we can even keep all our guys. Though I expect Burnett and Halladay to be gone when their contracts are up (and when Burnett opts out).