Game 67 – 2-Hole

Great start from McGowan. Now if only he could do this on the road. I was a little surprised to see McGowan come out for the 9th but he had retired the last 7 batters and wasn’t showing signs of tiring throwing 1st pitch strikes to all 3 hitters in the 8th. Overall he threw 23 of 34 1st pitches for strikes.

The Jays didn’t exactly hammer Silva but they did hit 2 solo HR’s and went 2 for 4 w/RISP. It took them awhile to figure Silva out but they certainly seemed to be getting to him late as they had 3 straight hits in the 6th and again in the 7th. However, those only produced 1 run thanks to a DP in the 6th (after 1 run had scored) and a CS in the 7th.

Thanks to the pitchers this game breezed along in a cool 2 hrs 2 mins.

Tough day for Jose Lopez going 0 for 4 w/3 strikeouts, part of the 7 totalled by McGowan. I think that is part of the reason for the Mariners struggles, they have too many free swingers that lead to a lot of strikeouts.

I don’t get the whole batting Matt Stairs 2nd. Yes he is a LH bat and one who pulls the ball a lot so it is nice to have that hole on the right side when the leadoff man gets on, but I prefer to have a guy who gets on base a lot more than Stairs has been in the 2 spot. Plus I like someone who I feel comfortable hit and running with. Stairs is more suited to hit 5th or lower.

Now let’s see some stats:
Adv: Beltre
P-Adv: McGowan (3)
WG: Beltre