Game 38 – Sizemore for MVP

Not a very fun game to watch as Cleveland scores 6 in the 1st and never looked back on their way to a 12-0 win. Blowouts are never exciting to watch but it is all the worse when it is the opposing team and you have to sit there in their stadium listening to their fans cheer.

The Jays haven’t exactly been hitting anybody these days but they seem to really struggle against LH’s which should not be the case given the RH dominant lineup. The only thing that may be a factor, aside from them struggling overall, is 2 of the new RH bats in the lineup this yr, Scott Rolen and Shannon Stewart, do not have the huge difference in their splits like say Lefty killers Troy Glaus and Reed Johnson do.

I know Rios played CF coming up through the minors but I haven’t been impressed w/him in his limited time in CF in the majors. Of course that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t improve if he were to actually play there everyday. He got a horrible jump on the ball Carroll hit in the 5th although he still got there in time to make the catch. He really seems to struggle reading the ball off the bat when in CF. It will be worth watching as he gets extended time out there.

The Jays did manage one hit w/RISP as part of a 4-hit inning but did not score thanks to a DP and stranding the bases loaded after a nice catch by Cabrera to end the inning.

It was appropriate night for Grady Sizemore to come up big as it was Grady Sizemore fleece blanket giveaway night. He had 3 hits, 2 HR’s and 1 2B, 5 RBI’s, and 3 runs scored. With Hafner in a slump for a year and a quarter now and Martinez lacking power so this yr a lot of the offence has been left to Sizemore. He has been up to the task hitting well but one man cannot make an offence and consequently the Indians have struggled to score runs. Like the Jays though they have a strong starting rotation that gives them a chance to win even w/only a couple runs. Their bullpen however is another story, particularly the backend. I have no faith in Joe Borowski as a closer and Betancourt has struggled a bit in the closer position while Borowski is on the DL.

Now to the stats:
Adv+: Martinez, Sizemore
P-Adv+: McGowan 2 (3)
NAdv: Zaun (1), Carroll
P-NAdv: McGowan (8), Laffey
WG: Cabrera
DE: Wilkerson (1)