The wait continues

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Five former Toronto Blue Jays woke up Saturday bound for the post-season, focused on a present full of promise, while their former teammates headed to work hoping to nudge their own developmental curve a little bit closer toward a brighter future.

For Aaron Hill, John McDonald, Lyle Overbay and Ryan Roberts of the NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks, and Shaun Marcum of the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers, that work is finished. Their time has come.

For the Blue Jays, meanwhile, the wait continues.

"We feel we're getting closer," said manager John Farrell. "To sit here today and say next October we'll be one of the final eight teams, that certainly will be our goal, every move made in the off-season will be geared toward accomplishing that. With what we've seen from the position player group, we feel pretty good about it. …

"I think there's a growing belief in this young group of players that the way we're playing this month against the teams we've been playing against that we're poised and primed to begin to take that next step."

As it turned out, even life as a spoiler didn't go as planned against the Tampa Bay Rays, who closed within 1½ games of the wildcard-leading Boston Red Sox with a 6-2 victory. A crowd of 27,773 was on hand at Tropicana Field, many just to see Miranda Lambert perform on field afterwards.

Ace Ricky Romero (15-11) deserved a far better fate in his 7.2 innings of work during his final start of the year, let down by his defence in a comical first that included errors by first baseman David Cooper and shortstop Mike McCoy, plus a single that fell between second baseman Kelly Johnson and centre-fielder Colby Rasmus, who each pulled off thinking the other had it.

That led to a pair of unearned runs that gave back a 2-0 lead supplied by Jose Bautista's 43rd homer in the top of the frame, and made Romero's only real mistake, on Ben Zobrist's solo shot leading off the fourth, the difference in the contest.

"It's disappointing, obviously I don't want to be the reason why those guys go to the playoffs," said Romero. "I'm pitching my heart out, we're playing our hearts out and we want to win every game from here on out. It's disappointing but there's nothing you can do."

Romero was hurt by more shaky defence in the eighth, when McCoy's second error helped set the stage for Johnny Damon's three-run blast. In all the lefty surrendered five unearned runs, was forced to record three extra outs and throw 15 extra pitches (12 in the first, three in the eighth), but endured a confidence building moment when Farrell visited him on the mound and let him pitch to Damon.

It was symbolic of the faith Romero has earned with a brilliant season, and the confidence his manager has in him.

"I think when I first saw him come out I said, 'No way,'" said Romero. "Then he said, 'I haven't made a move yet, you're my guy here, can you make this out?' I said absolutely. He showed confidence in me there, obviously I feel like I let him down. It is what it is."

Lefty Alex Torres (1-1) took over from a dodgy Jeff Niemann in the second and threw five shutout innings at the Blue Jays (80-78), and the bullpen kept things in check from there as the Rays (87-71) put some more life into their post-season hopes.

Either way, the Blue Jays feel there is value in these contests against teams desperate to win, particularly since many of their position players are in place. Before the game, Farrell went around the diamond and found only a hole at second base to address, and noted that as things stands now, rookie Eric Thames will return in competition for the job in left field.

Prior to making the two errors Saturday, McCoy had been playing well in Yunel Escobar's absence and was putting himself in position to take over the departed McDonald's role as the club's primary utilityman next year.

One bad game won't make or break McCoy, but he has four more contests to keep making a case for himself.

"Definitely," he said before the game. "I don't know what they're going to do this off-season but hopefully if I play well maybe I'll open some eyes and they'll see me as their number one choice for utility player. If not, I'll work hard and compete at spring training. We'll see what happens."

The season has been both successful and trying for McCoy, who was shuttled back and forth between Toronto and triple-A Las Vegas six times each way. He's started 47 games with the Blue Jays, 16 at short, 14 in centre field, 10 at second, five in third and one in right. He even pitched a shutout inning.

"I think it's been a great year for me," he said. "This opportunity when I've gotten to play every day has been great to display what I can do to everyone. I've gone through a lot of adversity; I probably won't ever have to go through that much adversity, going up and down on a kind of emotional roller coaster of being sent down. It kind of wears on you, but I think I've dealt with that pretty well, and it will make me stronger and better player in the long run."

The Blue Jays as a whole are thinking the same way. Gaps in the pitching staff must be addressed for further improvement, but at least they know they have an ace they can count on in Romero.

"I think you see the youth movement that we've had and we're taking steps in the right direction," said Romero. "That stuff you should get excited about but we have a lot of work to do. Nothing is going to be given to us, especially in this division, we just have to continue to play hard and continue to work hard and just came back next year with that mentality that we want to win."

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LAWRIE ON TRACK: Third baseman Brett Lawrie's follow up appointment with a hand specialist confirmed the initial diagnosis on his fractured right ring finger. "It's a non-displaced fracture," said manager John Farrell. "The tendon is not involved, the follow-up will be a week after the season concludes, he'll have another follow-up X-ray back in Arizona where his off-season home is. That will determine the next step."

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NOT YET YUNEL: SS Yunel Escobar, still recovering from getting hit on the left elbow two weeks ago, must take some BP Sunday or any likelihood of him playing again this season will disappear. Either way, the Blue Jays want to see him hit before all is said and done. "Not only for us and seeing him swing the bat but also for his own peace of mind that physically there's no lingering effects," explained Farrell. "The range of motion is pretty much normal right now, it's just a matter of building it up and he hasn't really started to swing the bat in earnest either in tee work or in cage work." Farrell added that Escobar's pain has subsided, but he's "not free of mind when he puts the bat in his hand."

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NOTES: As the Blue Jays took the field for batting practice, Adam Lind's wife had yet to deliver the couple's first child. Lind returned to Toronto early Friday to attend the birth. … Farrell on his team's defence in the first: "I thought Cooper went into foul ground and overran the ball and tried to come back and obviously the ball was behind him. The ball in centre field, that's miscommunication, that's a ball that's got to be caught."... Farrell says that the swing of injured outfielder Travis Snider (wrist) will be watched more carefully next year to ensure he doesn't fall into bad habits. "There are some specifics to his swing that as he came up he was sharp, he was on time," Farrell said. "Once he got into a period of games where the performance wasn't there, then we saw him start to get caught in between again. He was late on fastballs, he was out in front on breaking balls. That's the area we're going to hone in on."

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.