ANAHEIM, Calif. – Maybe you haven't heard much about the Toronto Blue Jays for a while.

For going on two decades, they've rested somewhere between great and atrocious, winning just enough to avoid derision, losing just enough to avoid the postseason. So, better than some, worse than others, not terribly threatening but not a comfortable out, either.

As a reference point, the Blue Jays have served as another reason the AL East has long been regarded as the most rigorous of the six divisions. Not that they'd win it or necessarily come close. But, they'd help provide depth, and they'd help cover for the monstrosities the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were and the Baltimore Orioles had become, until the Rays passed them, too.

Instead, they were the place where Roy Halladay and Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green came from, or where Roger Clemens and A.J. Burnett and Raul Mondesi went.

[ Yahoo! Sports Radio: Jeff Passan on Mariano Rivera's ACL injury]

* More

Then, of course, they became the place that flowered Jose Bautista.





And still they bob capably along, better than average, but forever in the shadow of whatever else might be going on. Maybe that's because they've done little to warrant attention since the World Series years, or because they're in another country, or something.

Well, here they are again. They're 16-11 and have won four games in a row, have one guy among the league leaders in home runs and RBIs (Edwin Encarnacion) and another in wins (Ricky Romero), and now the story is the born-again Orioles, or when the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will come to life, or if the Rays really are this good again.

Darren Oliver, the relief pitcher you may have heard of but had no idea was in Toronto, previously played in Texas, St. Louis, Boston, Colorado, Florida, Houston, New York and Los Angeles. Now he's got a cool place near the ballpark in Toronto, has discovered he really likes the city and even has found a few favorite restaurants.

Asked if he ever senses the rest of the baseball world overlooks Toronto and the Blue Jays, he grinned and nodded.

"Always," he said. "Totally agree. It's like, 'Canada? They got a team in Canada?'

"They're not in the postseason a while, not in the states. You tend to forget about them."

[MLB Power Rankings: Find out what team made a huge jump to claim top spot]

They do have a team in Canada, which would explain the other song before games that involve the Blue Jays. More, they've played with some competence for a month, and so have come out with one of the better starts in franchise history.

True to their recent history, that leaves the Blue Jays squarely in the middle of the division, contending in what could be viewed as a somewhat non-threatening way.

The fact is, however, they've gotten this far without much from Bautista, and with a pitching staff that is quite young and whose preferred closer is on the disabled list. They've just shut out the Los Angeles Angels on consecutive nights, Brandon Morrow on Thursday and Henderson Alvarez on Friday, both complete games and with a combined 199 pitches.





So, the rotation – headed by Romero – has hung in there so far and been spectacular at times, which is very good news. And the offense has produced enough to be third in the league in runs, which also is good news, particularly since Bautista is batting .172 in the three hole and Adam Lind .231 at cleanup (.193 overall). Under the radar is a batting order that entered Friday night tied with the Red Sox in hitting with runners in scoring position, along with a huge month for Encarnacion, who, if ready to become a consistent producer, could make the Blue Jays a beast.

Story continues