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TORONTO - Vernon Wells feels good about the way he started the 2010 season, and so far there's a lot to like about the way he's finishing the campaign.
It's the down period through the summer that will leave him wanting when he reflects on a year filled with both success and failure.
"Ups and downs, not consistent enough," he said of his season after hitting a pair of solo shots to help lead the Toronto Blue Jays past the Texas Rangers 8-5 on Tuesday night. "There's been some encouraging times, and some times you think you have it figured out and you don't.
"I've been around this game a long time and I'm still learning things. I think I still have a lot more I can accomplish in this game."
The Blue Jays certainly need that to be the case with their all-star centre-fielder, who has four more seasons remaining on his US$126-million, seven-year extension. The 31-year-old has shown flashes of being an MVP-calibre player this season, like in April, when he batted .337 with eight homers, 16 RBIs and 20 runs scored, and again in May when he hit .278 and knocked in 20 more.
His production tapered in June and July, when he had a total of 19 RBIs, but picked up in August when he drove in 14. So far in a scorching start to September, he has gone deep in three straight games and has four homers and eight RBIs in six outings, upping his season totals to 27 homers and 77 RBIs with a .272 average.
Good, but not great.
His summer dip coincided with the move of Jose Bautista up to third in the batting order, and the right-fielder hasn't left many RBI opportunities for Wells in the cleanup spot.
"My neck got sore just watching balls fly out of the ballpark," Wells quipped. "It's been fun to watch him, he doesn't seem to leave too many guys on but I've still got to be better with guys in scoring position when I do get those rare opportunities to do drive them in."
Much like the Blue Jays (72-66), who are now 7-1 against the Rangers (75-63) this season, Wells has dominated against the struggling AL West leaders. In the eight games, he's 13-for-29 with eight homers and 16 RBIs, feasting on his hometown club.
"I've got some people upset at home," he said.
John Buck, with a solo shot in the second that needed a video review to confirm, and Adam Lind, with a two-run drive in the seventh, also homered for the Blue Jays. Bautista broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth with a two-run double to right field, just his 14th hit to the opposite field all year according to information on fangraphs.com, and Dewayne Wise added an RBI double in the sixth in support of Shaun Marcum (12-7), who allowed three runs in seven innings to match his career-high with 12 wins.
It was also a milestone victory for manager Cito Gaston, the 900th of his career.
"That's quite something for me," he said. "I'm proud of that."
Scott Feldman (6-10), just back from the DL with a right knee bone bruise, was of little help to the Rangers, who lost their fifth straight game and ninth in 12 outings. He allowed four runs in 4 2-3 innings.
Vladimir Guerrero's two-run shot in fourth put Texas up 2-1 but Wells levelled things against his hometown team in the bottom half when he crushed a 1-1 Feldman offering into a luxury box above the Tom Cheek sign on the fourth level.
"That was a pretty good shot," said an impressed Buck.
Like much of the stadium, the box was empty. Just 10,518 were on hand, the second smallest crowd of the season, ahead of only the 10,314 who took in an 8-1 win over Kansas City on April 19.
After Andres Blanco's RBI single in the seventh made it a 5-3 game, Wells replied in the bottom half by lining his 27th of the season over the wall in left. Lind's 20th followed later in the frame.
Blanco added a two-run single in the ninth off Shawn Camp before Kevin Gregg came on to record the final two outs for his 31st save.
Notes: The Blue Jays are adding a seventh minor-league affiliate for next season, reaching a four-year deal with Bluefield of the advanced rookie ball Appalachian League. They also agreed on a two-year extension with the single-A Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League. ... Vernon Wells is the Blue Jays nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, given to the player who combines charitable work with strong on-field play. ... Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston bristled when asked if Jeremy Accardo, the triple-A Pacific Coast League's reliever of the year, was considered for a September call up. "That subject right there I'm not going anywhere close to," he said. "I can't tell you anything about that. It wasn't brought up to me." Accardo recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he felt lied to by the Blue Jays last year. ... Playing time will continue to be scarce for Jays catching prospect J.P. Arencibia. "I don't know how much playing time he's going to get," said Gaston. "He's going to have to come back next year and have a hell of a spring, I guess."
