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By Rob Longley

CLEVELAND — After a gruelling and gruesome 10-day road trip came to a close Sunday at Progressive Field, there were no more positives left for Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons.

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No half-hearted praise of a beaten starter.

No talking about how tough the opponent was on this day.

No excuses, real, contrived or otherwise.

“Today was just a horses–t game all the way around,” Gibbons said after an 8-1 throttling at the hands of Cleveland. “I can’t describe it any better than that. It’s just a crap day. Move on and get back home. It’s been a while.”

Horse bleep indeed, but not just this one.

Cleveland throttled the Jays by a combined score of 23-5 in three weekend games here, making it necessary to have a vivid imagination to believe it was these two teams who competed in the American League Championship Series last October.

Photo by Tony Dejak / AP

As for going home, who knows what reception will be waiting at the Rogers Centre when the Jays open a seven-game home stand against Oakland? It’s been two full weeks since the team has been in Toronto, and after a brilliant 14-strikeout effort by Cleveland starter Corey Kluber on Sunday, the Jays finished their 10-game road trip with a miserable 3-7 record.