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Hinske attempts to haunt former team again

May 7, 2008 - 12:57 PM Tampa Bay (17-15) at Toronto (16-18) 7:07 pm EDT

TORONTO (Ticker) - After an American League Rookie of the Year campaign in 2002, Eric Hinske seemed destined to carry the Toronto Blue Jays well into the future.

Six years later, he seems to be fulfilling his potential with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Hinske tries to lead his Rays to a second straight win on Wednesday when they meet the Blue Jays in the second game of a three-game set.

In 2002, Hinske had 24 homers and 84 RBI in his first season with Toronto, becoming the first Blue Jays player to take AL Rookie of the Year honors since Alfredo Griffin shared the award with Minnesota's John Castino in 1979.

However, Hinske's production has dropped since then, lately due to injuries. During the 2006 season, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox, where he played for a 1 1/2 years until he signed with Tampa Bay this past offseason.

As the regular designated hitter in the Rays' lineup this season, he has flourished once again, batting .289 with seven homers and 16 RBI through 29 games.

The last of those homers came against his former team on Tuesday, plating the team's final run in a 5-4 win over Toronto.

Hinske will be searching for his first career hit against Shaun Marcum (3-2, 2.70 ERA), who enters this contest eighth in the AL in ERA and sixth in strikeouts with 35.

The righthander allowed two hits while striking out nine over 6 2/3 innings in the Blue Jays' 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday.

His counterpart on the mound will be Matt Garza (1-0, 6.16), who will be targeting his second win in as many games after starting the season with three consecutive no-decisions.

The righthander yielded two runs and three hits in six innings in Thursday's 4-2 win over Baltimore.