Ugh

TORONTO -- Either Kelvim Escobar is the next coming of Roger Clemens, or the Cubs' offense needs some major help.

I'd lean toward the latter, as the ballclub looked almost totally lifeless in a boring 5-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

There's not much to say about the baseball; I keep thinking Tom Goodwin should never again darken a starting lineup, but he had three hits last night, for all the good it did. In fact, the Cubs had twelve hits, and it took all 12 to generate one lousy run. Kerry Wood seems to be becoming someone who can't put his best game on if it's not a big game; last Saturday against Roger Clemens, he had his "A" game on. This one was maybe a C+.

Alex Gonzalez still seems very popular here in Toronto, especially among the adolescent-girl set, and I was surprised that the crowd, 23,018, was as small as it was, given the advance hype of Sammy Sosa coming here (even though, of course, he's not even here taking BP, as he was sent home to work on his stroke in the privacy of the empty Wrigley Field). They were enthusiastic though, and since the Cubs have never been here before, they got a chance to exercise all the lame "1908" jokes that we've all heard a million times from Cardinal fans.

I give them credit for a sense of humor, though. When the PA played the trumpet blasts that normally get the crowd response "Charge!", some local fans yelled "SARS!"

Off to tour the city, then to this afternoon's game. If Mark Prior is to be the ace of this staff, it's time to step up today.