Is 3 the Charm for Blue Jays? : AL playoffs: A four-man rotation hasn’t worked, so Gaston will use Guzman and come back with Morris.

Toronto Blue Jay Manager Cito Gaston used a four-man pitching rotation twice in American League championship series, and twice he lost.

This time, with Jack Morris on his staff, Gaston decided to go with three starters during the Blue Jays’ playoff series against Oakland.

But Gaston has found a new worry.

He frets over whether Juan Guzman, who had shoulder problems this season, will bear up under the strain of starting today in Game 3 at the Oakland Coliseum and, if needed, in a sixth game on three days’ rest.

Gaston wonders whether David Cone, who did not start on three days’ rest this season, can come back for Game 5.

And Gaston can only guess whether Todd Stottlemyre and Jimmy Key, sent to the bullpen when the rotation was changed, can perform well in unaccustomed relief roles.

Morris’ loss in the series opener Wednesday and Cone’s victory Thursday did not change Gaston’s plans. Morris will start Game 4 on Sunday, no matter which team takes a 2-1 lead. In their first starts, Morris worked nine strong innings in a 4-3 defeat and Cone eight innings in a 3-1 victory.

“You can’t win either way,” Gaston said Friday of his decision to go with a three-man rotation. “I went through that one last year, too. You put out there what you think is right. If it works out, fine. If it doesn’t, you take the rap for it.”

Gaston went with four starters in 1989 and again in 1991, and in each case lost in five games.

His Oakland counterpart, Tony La Russa, is using a four-man rotation, with Ron Darling pitching today and Bob Welch on Sunday. But La Russa has employed both options. The A’s used a three-man rotation while sweeping the Boston Red Sox in 1988; went with a four-man rotation for their 1989 victory over the Blue Jays; then returned to a three-man rotation for another sweep of the Red Sox in 1990.

Both times Oakland used the three-man rotation, Dave Stewart started the first and fourth games. Stewart started the opener of this series, too, but after a season during which elbow problems prevented him from having his sixth consecutive 200-inning season, coming back on three days’ rest wasn’t a consideration for La Russa.

“Every year you evaluate what your best shot is,” La Russa said. “Obviously, the Blue Jays like their three and feel comfortable pitching them on short rest. It’s a setup we’ve used a couple of times. For us, it was too big a risk.

“(With four days between starts) you can expect guys going in to give you more innings. But I’ll be damned if we’re thinking Sunday or Monday in the sixth inning we’re going to see somebody other than Morris or Cone. Our bullpen is real deep, and a lot of pitchers haven’t even gotten into the series yet.”

Each Blue Jay starter will be kept to a pitch count to ensure that he doesn’t exhaust himself. Morris threw 118 pitches Wednesday.

“I would have liked to see us ahead after 100 pitches because he’s going to pitch on three days’ rest,” Gaston said. “It becomes a factor. But the way Jack pitched over the course of the season, I felt Jack should get a chance to go back out there. It also gets him pumped up for the next game.”

Pitching for the Twins last season, Morris won the fourth game of their playoff series against the Blue Jays, three days after winning the opener. He also pitched on three days’ rest twice during the World Series.

But Morris, 37, has pitched on three days’ rest only once this season. In that appearance, he was taken out after six innings and 62 pitches. Guzman won the only time he pitched on three days’ rest, but in his subsequent start, gave up six runs in four innings.

“We see no downside,” pitching coach Galen Cisco said of the three-man rotation. “Jack is the only one who will have to go three times (if the series goes to seven games), and we don’t feel like we’re putting a big burden on him unless we extend him beyond the pitch limit. . . .

“The option you have in this situation is with Todd and Jimmy down there. If you see your starter tiring, maybe you have to go to your bullpen sooner than you normally would. Our bullpen is capable of handling that, and they’ve been a factor in our success.”

Cisco also said Key might be used to face a left-handed hitter such as Harold Baines, and that Stottlemyre might pitch in long relief. The flaw there is less work for Duane Ward, who hasn’t pitched in a week.

“You have to be satisfied with the way we’ve got things set up,” Cisco said. “I thought both the first two games were outstanding ballgames for our pitchers.

“Morris’ mistakes (home runs by Mark McGwire and Terry Steinbach) happened primarily early in the game. The (home run pitch) to Harold Baines, if he could take it back and do it again, I’m sure he would. Jack pitched an outstanding game. Gave up three runs early, and we had an uphill battle. He pitched magnificently to keep us in the game. He certainly deserved the chance, and he wasn’t up there in the pitch count.

“David had to go hard from start to finish, and he had several innings he had to pitch out of trouble. We’ve had great success with Ward and (Tom) Henke. It was just the manager’s choice to take (Cone) out.”

No matter his choice, Gaston was prepared for criticism.

“Tony had the same thing,” he said. “People were talking about whether he should walk (John) Olerud (in Game 1) and pitch to (Candy) Maldonado, and Olerud gets a hit.”

Olerud’s single against Jeff Russell drove in the run that tied the score, 3-3.

“You can’t win,” Gaston said. “You only can do what you feel is right. If you say you’re going to go with three, go with three and forget it.”