Toronto's driving force

Blue Jays' Wells, Delgado crank up the RBI machine

Even in this age of pumped-up offense, driving in 100 runs in a season remains a sign of baseball studliness.

So what's that make Carlos Delgado, who could have 100 RBIs by the All-Star break? What's that say for Vernon Wells, who doesn't figure to be far behind?

Where's that place the Toronto Blue Jays' tandem, in whatever age?

There have been some really, really good 1-2 RBI punches in baseball in recent years. San Francisco had Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent. Colorado still has Larry Walker and Todd Helton. Boston has Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez.

But the Wells-Delgado run-producing monster threatens to make all of them look like Abbott and Costello. Wells and Delgado, in fact, could end up with the likes of Ruth and Gehrig before the season is through.

They've been that good. And then some.

"I think it's been a couple of things," says J.P. Ricciardi, the young general manager of the Jays. "No. 1, Delgado is finally healthy. He got his knee fixed over the winter, he's over a rib cage injury. He really feels good. And I think, in Vernon Wells' case, he's picked up right where he left off in the second half of last year.

"And, obviously, you need people on base to drive in. And the front part of our lineup has really done a good job of getting on for them."

Center fielder Wells, a right-handed swinger, hits No. 3 in the Jays' lineup. First baseman Delgado, who bats from the left side, is the team's cleanup hitter. In the first 85 games of the Jays' season, no one has stopped them.

Wells already has 80 RBIs, and Wednesday night Delgado became only the ninth player in history to drive in at least 90 runs before the All-Star break. The record for first-half RBIs, set by Detroit's Hank Greenberg in 1935, is 103. The Jays still have 10 games to go before the break.

Separately, Wells and Delgado clearly are having All-Star first halves. Delgado is a cinch to be elected by fans as the starter at first base for the American League. Wells almost undoubtedly will be chosen in a balloting of coaches, managers and players, though he's not liable to crack the fans' starting lineup.

Together, they are even better. Together, they are onto something historic.

Wells and Delgado are on pace to drive in more than 300 runs this season. Only seven other duos in the history of the game have driven in that many runs in a season (although some did it several times), but none since Vern Stephens and Ted Williams knocked in 159 apiece for the Boston Red Sox in 1949.

It's a long way until the end of September, as many point out. But the way the Blue Jays are hitting -- .292 as a team, second only to Boston in the major leagues -- suggests that Wells and Delgado will get plenty of RBI opportunities for the rest of the year.

Wednesday night in Detroit was a perfect example. After the lowly Tigers beat the Jays in the first two games of the series, Wells and Delgado came alive in the final game. Delgado had a pair of solo home runs and Wells had a home run and four RBIs in an 8-2 Toronto win.

The hard numbers for these two would be a great season's worth of production for most players. Wells is now hitting .307 with his 21 homers and 80 RBIs. Delgado is hitting .305 and leads the majors with his 28 homers and 91 RBIs.

"He's unbelievable," Wells said of Delgado after Wednesday's game. "It is a pleasure just to try to get on base for him and watch him work his magic."

As Ricciardi says, though, there are plenty of people getting on base ahead of Wells and Delgado. Leadoff man Shannon Stewart is hitting .305. Frank Catalanotto, out of the No. 2 spot, is hitting .299.

The people hitting behind Wells and Delgado are doing the job, too, which makes it almost impossible for opposing pitchers to work around the two sluggers. Whoever is catching, Greg Myers or Tom Wilson, normally hits directly behind Delgado. Myers is hitting .341. Wilson is hitting .315. DH Josh Phelps is hitting .270, but he has a combined on-base and slugging percentage approaching .900.

Still, most of the credit has to go to Wells and Delgado. Wells has willed himself into becoming more patient at the plate and has continued a hot streak that began in the second half of 2002, when he drove in 58 runs. He is hitting .310 with runners in scoring position, .356 with runners in scoring position and two out.

Delgado is strong and uses the entire field. He is hitting .425 with runners in scoring position, behind only Kansas City's Mike Sweeney for the major league lead. He's even better with runners in scoring position and two outs. Then he's hitting .433.

The question that hovers around these two now is: Can they can keep it up? Combined, they're responsible for better than two RBIs in every game the Jays have played.

"It's hard to predict what kind of numbers and what kind of results you will end up with," Delgado told reporters Wednesday night. "All I can say is that it is fun right now, challenging myself to push to be a better player."

Before Wednesday night's win over the Tigers, the Jays were in the midst of one of their worst slumps of the season. They had scored only six runs in four straight losses to Montreal and Detroit. The slide, it seemed, had started.

Then came the resurgence against the Tigers, which sends the Jays into a five-game series this weekend in Baltimore feeling like they're back on track.

"These guys have hit when they've had the opportunity to hit," says Ricciardi. "But for us to really sit here and say we're going to average seven runs a game and be able to hit .300 as a team … I think that would be a bit of a reach. I think we sometimes forget that baseball is a six-month game."

It's a long season, for sure. A lot can happen in the next three months.

For Wells and Delgado, there's no telling what.

John Donovan is a senior writer for SI.com.

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