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Blue Jays hope to avoid fourth straight loss

May 12, 2008 - 12:21 PM Toronto (17-21) at Cleveland (18-18) 4:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - With their rotation starting to show some cracks and Vernon Wells out for up to two months, the Toronto Blue Jays hope their fortunes do not go down with them.

The Blue Jays hope to avoid their fourth straight loss when they meet the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a doubleheader on Monday.

Sunday's matchup was postponded do to rain, leading to the fourth traditional doubleheader in Progressive Field history and the first since August 13, 1997.

Wells was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday with a broken left wrist after making a diving catch in Friday's series opener. His injury is expected to sideline him for 6-8 weeks.

More disturbing for Toronto is that two of its top starting pitchers have been knocked around over the team's first two games of this series. After ace Roy Halladay allowed four runs over six innings on Friday, Dustin McGowan surrendered nine runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings of Saturday's 12-0 loss.

The Blue Jays will look to reverse their fortunes when they send A.J. Burnett (3-3, 5.19 ERA) to the mound.

The righthander has fallen into a pattern of alternating wins and losses over his last five starts. In Tuesday's 5-4 loss to Tampa Bay, he allowed five runs and nine hits over six frames despite striking out a season-high 10.

Cleveland will counter with Fausto Carmona (3-1, 2.95 ERA), who has been uncharacteristically wild lately. After issuing just 61 walks over 32 starts during in his breakout 2007 campaign, the righthander leads the majors with 31 free passes after just eight turns this season.

The sinkerballer absorbed his second straight no-decision when he permitted three runs and six hits over five innings in a 5-3 win over the New York Yankees on Tuesday.