TORONTO – Jose Bautista and Aaron Hill returned from injury and stepped back into the spinning wheel of Toronto Blue Jays lineups Sunday, just as back tightness forced Adam Lind out of the starting nine.
So in game No. 34, manager John Farrell put together his 30th different batting order of the still young 2011 season, hoping that sometime soon he'll be able to field the team he and GM Alex Anthopoulos envisioned back in spring training.
A day after getting no-hit by Justin Verlander, the latest makeshift arrangement couldn't get it done against Brad Penny and the Detroit Tigers either, mounting few threats during a 5-2 loss on Mother's Day.
Bautista came back from a five-game absence due to neck stiffness with a bang by ripping a two-run blast in the third that opened the scoring, but the Blue Jays (15-19) could neither hold the lead or add to their total in falling a season-worst four games under .500 before a crowd of 17,392.
Jo-Jo Reyes (0-3), trying to maintain his tenuous grip on a spot in the starting rotation, gave back the 2-0 lead in the fourth when he walked leadoff man Scott Sizemore and surrendered a two-out RBI double to Victor Martinez and an RBI single to Johnny Peralta.
The Blue Jays nearly prevented the second run from scoring when Edwin Encarnacion cut off Juan Rivera's throw from the outfield and relayed home to catcher J.P. Arencibia, who tagged Martinez but had the ball pop out of his glove as his hand hit the ground.
Penny (3-3) took over from there, allowing just two hits after the Bautista homer before handing things off to his bullpen with two down in the eighth.
Austin Jackson's two-run shot just inside the left-field foul pole in the seventh broke the tie while Miguel Cabrera's RBI single in the eighth added some insurance as the Tigers (17-18) won for the fifth time in six games. Daniel Schlereth got the final out of the eighth before Jose Valverde wrapped things up in the ninth for his seventh save of the year, and 200th of his career.
Reyes's status is up in the air – the left-hander is out of options so he can't be sent down to the minors without clearing waivers first, but he's now gone 25 straight starts without a win – but the Blue Jays are at least getting closer to fielding their usual lineup.
Hill (hamstring) was activated off the disabled list before the game and was 1-for-4 in his return.
Lind, meanwhile, is aiming for a return Monday night after his back flared up on him Friday and forced him from Saturday's contest. He's never experienced back problems and spent Sunday getting a variety of treatments for it.
"I'm looking at (Sunday) as a day off, not a missed time," he said. "It's only one game, hopefully I don't miss more. I don't want to lose my rhythm and timing at the plate, so just take a day off, get healthy and get back out there (Monday) night."
Once he's back, the Blue Jays will get more of a chance to assess how their batting order produces when it's all intact. Save for Rivera and catcher J.P. Arencibia, all of the club's regulars have missed some time due to injury.
"It's kind of made the lineup making interesting every day," Farrell said before the game. "We haven't had the chance to look at (the lineup as a whole) too extensively.
"You go in with a Plan A and knowing you're going to probably operate in Plan J or K for quite a bit of the time. The fact that Jose and Aaron are both in the lineup is an extreme positive."
NOTES: Blue Jays manager John Farrell said left-hander Ricky Romero experienced no problems with his oblique following Saturday's start. He said the left-hander's trouble were related to command, not health issues. … Reyes's last win was on June 13, 2008 for Atlanta, throwing eight innings in a 5-2 victory at the Angels. … Asked what kind of treatment he's getting on his back, Lind replied: "Muscle activation treatment, acupuncture, strectching, rubbing, massage, hot tubs, strength training, whatever." … The Blue Jays handed out roses to all the mothers in attendance.
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