Amid offensive struggles, Gibbons sees improvement

TORONTO -- Three runs in four games won't win a lot of ballgames.

Sure enough, the Blue Jays find themselves in the midst of a four-game losing streak and saddled with an offense stuck in a rut.

However, manager John Gibbons has seen improvement on the offensive front since the beginning of the season.

"I think it's gotten better," said Gibbons about the team's offensive approach. "[However], I think a little more discipline at certain times would help us."

That discipline has certainly cost the Blue Jays when it's come to scoring runs. They've struck out 244 times, fifth-most in the Majors prior to Saturday's game. The club is also among the league leaders in striking out with men in scoring position, doing so 26 percent of the time in such spots.

As a result, the Blue Jays' offense has been feast or famine all year.

"That's frustrating," Gibbons said. "We haven't put together any stretch of games where we've come out and pounded it from top to bottom, for any length of time. We're built that way, it just hasn't happened yet."

There's been an expectation as the days continue to fall off the calendar that at some point this offense, that was among the league leaders until Jose Bautista's injury in the middle of last season, would erupt. But, like its fans, the players and manager are still waiting.

"Until it does, I can talk all I want," Gibbons said. "Deep down, there's too much there for it not to explode sooner or later."