Toronto Blue Jays batter Jose Bautista (R) celebrates his second home run of the game against the Kansas City Royals with teammates Lyle Overbay (L) and Travis Snider during the seventh inning of their MLB American League baseball game in Toronto April 19, 2010.MIKE CASSESE/Reuters
The bat struck the ball with that satisfying smack that Lyle Overbay has heard all too infrequently during his early season batting miseries with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The ball sliced the opposite way into the left field corner and when Overbay pulled into second base in the second inning with a stand-up double he also heard the unfamiliar, yet unmistakable, sound of cheering.
Yes, Toronto's favourite whipping boy was actually being shown some love for a change by the hometown fans, who have booed the veteran first baseman mercilessly during Toronto's first home stand of the 2010 season.
The Blue Jays fed off that good vibe, especially pitcher Brandon Morrow, who kept a hot-hitting Kansas City Royals outfit off balance for most of the night, hurling a three-hitter in an 8-1 Toronto victory.
It was the opener of a three-game set for the Blue Jays (8-6) and snapped a three-game losing skid.
The crummy home attendance figures throughout their first home stand of the season has also been one of the storylines for the Jays, and last night did nothing to dispel that.
The announced paid attendance was 10,314, a record low for a baseball game at Rogers Centre, eclipsing the old mark of 10,610 that showed up for Toronto's third home game of the season last Wednesday.
Not even the lure of former Toronto manager John Gibbons, now the bench coach with the Royals, was enough to pique the interest of the city's baseball fans.
Toronto manager Cito Gaston announced prior to the game that left-handed starter Brian Tallet will be given some extra time off to rest his sore left forearm.
Tallet complained that the arm was hurting after his last start on Saturday when he was roughed up for four runs off five hits, including two home runs, over five innings during a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Tallet will skip his next start on Friday in Florida against the Tampa Bay Rays and will next pitch Monday in Toronto against the Boston Red Sox.
Ricky Romero will start in Tallet's place Friday.
Gaston refused to tinker with his batting order, leaving the struggling Overbay batting fifth despite a horrendous .080 batting average heading into the game.
"He plays, he plays," Gaston said in almost exasperated terms before the game. "I mean he plays until he just gives up. I don't think he's going to give up.
"There's some suggestion to move him up and down the lineup. Well, anybody who can tell me where I can move him, please let me know."
Gaston has a point there.
Apart from Vernon Wells, Alex Gonzalez and Adam Lind, who are all hitting above .300, the rest of the club is hitting a sickly .168.
Last night, however, the Blue Jays finally managed to get some production from the bottom half of the order, starting with Overbay, who went 2-for-2 in the game with two walks.
Travis Snider, who came into the game almost as cold as his teammate - 4-for-37 to begin the year - chipped in with his second homer of the year.
It was a moon shot to right in the fourth inning that put Toronto in front 2-0.
The Blue Jays broke it open in the fifth when Jose Bautista belted his second round-tripper of the year, a three-run drive to left field that put Toronto up 5-0.
Bautista belted another home run in the seventh, a two-run shot that gave him five RBIs in the game.
After that the story was Morrow, who carted a no hitter into the sixth inning before it was broken up by Yuniesky Betancourt with a single to left field.