Jays try to wing it

They're clinging to 'wild' hopes

Teams have been in the same situation as Toronto before. Last year, as a matter of fact. The Phillies seemed to be all but eliminated in the NL East, seven games behind a Mets team manufactured for postseason play.

The Phillies won the division. Of course, they had the help of one of the most epic collapses in sports history. But the point is, wiping out the 6 1/2-game½wild-card deficit Toronto carried into Boston this weekend isn't impossible.

"The odds aren't with us," Vernon Wells acknowledged after the Blue Jays' 8-1 win over the Sox in Game 1. The odds are even greater after the Sox took the nightcap, 7-5, pushing the Jays 7 1/2 games back in the wild-card race.

"The Red Sox obviously are a pretty good team and they've established themselves as one of the best organizations in all of sports."

But still, he said, "It's not impossible."

When Cito Gaston took the managerial reins from John Gibbons June 20, the Sox were one game ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East, and Toronto - last-place Toronto - was 10 games behind the Red Sox.

Since then, the Blue Jays have gone 45-29, including a stretch in which they won 10 of 11, snatching series from the Yankees, White Sox, and Rays. Now, with the season down to 13 games, a playoff berth is barely within reach. This series at Fenway and next week's in Toronto is crucial.

"We're aware of it," Gaston said. "We've just got to go out there and do it."

Some players are more aware than others. Wells cracked two doubles off Paul Byrd yesterday, and knew all of it was crucial.

"Obviously we all know what's at stake," said Wells. "We know we've got to come out and pretty much win every game from here on out. It's not pressure. It's fun. Everybody's having a good time with it."

Travis Snider has been in the big leagues about 2 1/2 weeks and suddenly he's swinging to stay alive. He was the youngest position player in the majors (birthdate Feb. 2, 1988) when Toronto brought him up, and yesterday he smacked a three-run homer off Byrd and then tagged David Aardsma for a two-run double.

"You're excited to play every day when you're here anyway," he said. "But it's kind of an extra boost when you get out there knowing your team's playing for a chance to play in the playoffs."

Gaston pushed his chips in on this series, pitching A.J. Burnett, Jesse Litsch, and Roy Halladay on three days' rest.

Burnett carved up the Sox yesterday with 96-mile-per-hour fastballs and breaking pitches. Burnett struck out six and allowed just three hits and an unearned run. The win was his eighth in 10 starts going back to July.

"We just came in here to try to make some noise," he said. "Hopefully we can make something special happen.

"We feel like we can win every game. We feel like pitching-wise - starters and bullpen - we can get it done, and the they way we're hitting it's going to be a fun little ride.

"It's going to take some luck, and some gifts from the man above, but I don't think any of us think we're out of it. We're going to play as hard as we can, try to get as many wins as we can, and see if we can try to creep into this thing."

The schedule is a gift in itself. The Blue Jays have three more chances to eat into the Red Sox' lead at home next weekend.

"We're going to take full advantage of it," Burnett said. "Everybody in here knows how important these games are."

Important and not impossible, Wells says.

"It's all in front of us," Wells said. "We either play well or we don't, and if we play well, we give ourselves an opportunity to get closer in this race. This is what it's all about."