Game 136 – Say Goodbye in Winning Fashion

The Jays came out swinging today and put up some runs vs a lefty to support Halladay. The Jays scored 3 runs in the 1st off Pettite and that would to be all Halladay needed. Doc gave up just 2 runs in 7 innings and Downs and League finished off the victory. Both runs Halladay gave up came on solo HR’s to lead off innings.

I think Halladay could have gone another inning but w/the off day tomorrow I had no problem having Downs and League pitch even though they pitched yesterday. Plus 2 of the first 3 hitters due up in the 8th were LH and the other was Alex Rodriguez who homered earlier off Halladay.

Pettitte struggled in the 1st as he walked the leadoff man and then gave up 3 consecutive 1-out hits, although a misplay in LF by Nady certainly didn’t help. Then after giving up a leadoff HR to Rolen in the 2nd Pettitte settled down and the Jays went back to their lack of hitting against lefties, not recording more than 1 hit in any inning until Pettitte tired in the 7th. Frankly I’m surprised Girardi stuck w/Pettitte so long. He had thrown 100 pitches through 6 and at this stage in his career he doesn’t have the same stamina. I would have pulled Pettitte to start the 7th but at the very least have someone ready to come in at the 1st sign of trouble. Instead Pettite was allowed to give up 3 hits while he only recorded 1 out.

A big difference in this game was the Jays hitting w/RISP. The Jays went 4 for 11 compared to the Yankees 0 for 8.

I’m not sure what Barajas was thinking not going after the strike 3 pitch to Cano. I know he was trying to argue that Cano swung but there were runners on base and you have to go get that ball. Get the ball first and then make the argument if the umpires haven’t already called it a strike. It didn’t hurt the Jays as the runners as Barajas wouldn’t have been able to throw them out anyways even if he went straight for the ball. Had the ball taken a funny bounce or something though who knows how far Barajas would have to go to retrieve it and him not chasing after it immediately could be the difference in an extra base.

I was surprised to see Bautista’s name in the lineup at first base. I realize Overbay doesn’t hit lefties great but w/Halladay on the mound you know there will be lots of ground balls (Halladay ended up getting 11 outs on the ground) so you would like a strong defensive first basemen since he’ll be seeing a lot of throws. It is the same reason you play Johnny Mac at SS. You sacrifice some offence to put your best defensive infield out there knowing Halladay gets a lot of ground balls and doesn’t need a lot of offensive support.

Here are the stats:
ME(f): Nady

Day 155 – Say Goodbye to the House that Ruth Built

The Jays left Yankee Stadium in style w/Halladay pitching them to a win. It was their 100th win at the stadium. The Jays finish w/an all time record of 100 - 124, in other words a .446 winning percentage, the best of any visiting franchise.

While checking the greyhound schedule online I noticed an ad for Greyhound Neon. Apparently they run a bus between Toronto – Buffalo – NY that they have electrical outlets for each seat and wireless internet. It only runs twice a day but there was one leaving at 8:45 pm that I figured I could make. Since I didn’t have a ticket I had to wait to see if there were any open seats. The bus was sold out, but according to the driver there always seemed to be several no shows. That was indeed the case and I got a spot on the bus along w/some other people who also didn’t have tickets.

They played the movie Cleaner on the bus. It wasn’t anything great, story just seemed too familiar to other movies. I spent most of the rest of the night working on my laptop and watching my own movies. The internet did indeed work, but it was pretty slow so it was hard to accomplish too much there. It was just nice to not have to worry about my battery dying.

From the old to the new

Game 135 – Worth a 2nd Look

The Jays kicked it into gear late and managed to grab the victory from NY. The Jays scored 3 in the 7th to pull within one and then scored 2 in the 8th to go ahead. Each team scored at least one run in 3 innings and in fact all 6 times a team scored, they scored more than one. The Yankees scored 2 in the 1st, 4th, and 5th and the Jays scored 2 in the 4th and 8th and 3 in the 7th.

Parrish did not have a very good start giving up 4 runs in 4 innings including back-to-back HR’s to the 8 and 9 hitters, Cano and I. Rodriguez. On the plus side Parrish did not walk anyone and that has been his biggest problem in the past. Parrish’s control did hurt though in the 1st as he threw not one but 2 wild pitches. The 1st moved Jeter to 2nd who then scored on the single by A. Rodriguez. Parrish then threw another wild pitch moving Rodriguez to 2nd. This one was more costly b/c that forced the Jays to use a less drastic shift w/Giambi up as the 3B has to be close enough to 3rd in case Rodriguez tries to steal. Giambi then proceeded to pull a ground ball through the right side to score Rodriguez. Not only does it allow Rodriguez to score on the hit but if they still had the original shift on it probably isn’t even a hit.

Tallet struggled in relief walking 2 and giving up a 1B to set up a bases loaded 1 out situation. After he got Nady to foul out to first, Matsui hit a 2-run 2B. The rest of the bullpen was solid for the Jays surrendering 3 hits and no runs in 4 innings. Frasor, League, Downs, and Ryan each chipped in an inning.

I have to admit I was getting rather worried in the 9th as Ryan allowed the first 2 batters to reach on a 1B and BB. Ryan then came up big getting Alex Rodriguez to ground into a DP. Normally I would be pretty comfortable w/the left-on-left matchup of Ryan facing Giambi but after what happened here in June I wasn’t about to relax yet. Thankfully Ryan got Giambi to fly out ending the game. Ryan has actually done a good job converting saves as far as percentage wise but he is making them a lot shakier than in 2006. Most of it stems from all the walks he is issuing. I’m willing to believe some of that has to do w/the quick recovery from TJ surgery. Most pitchers it takes them a yr to get back into game action but it takes 18 months to get truly back to full form. Ryan got back into games in less than a yr but he won’t hit the 18 mth mark until the offseason, so here is hoping he’ll be his old self come next season.

A couple of Jays got to see the same relievers as last night and apparently they learned from those AB’s. Wells fouled out against Bruney yesterday and today he led off the 8th w/a single. Lind struck out vs Marte yesterday and today he followed up Wells 1B w/a 1B of his own. However, Snider didn’t fare as well as he faced Ramirez again but struck out for the 2nd straight day against him.

I don’t agree w/using Overbay to bunt in the 8th. For one, I don’t think Overbay is a very good bunter. Although that is just based on the fact I don’t think I have ever seen him bunt. Also you only have 6 outs left to work with. I don’t think you can afford to give up 1 of those 6. Furthermore the bottom of the order is coming up decreasing the likelihood of being able to cash in the runners even if the sacrifice is successful. All that said Overbay got a bunt down that moved both runners up. Bautista then followed w/a 1B to score one and Zaun grounded into a FC that put the Jays ahead.

It was very interesting to see Veras intentionally walk the RH hitting Wells in the 9th w/a runner at 2nd in order to face the LH Lind. Either they are showing Wells a lot of respect or really don’t think much of Lind (despite hits in his last 2 AB’s). The move worked out ok as Veras got Lind to ground out and end the inning.

I know Eckstein has a weak arm, but wow was that a horrible throw on Jeter’s infield 1B in the 1st. He had absolutely nothing on behind it. It doesn’t change my opinion that Eckstein should be the starting SS for this team. His defence is below avg, but he is easily the best hitter of the candidates and the Jays need offence.

Let’s look at the stats:
NAdv: Snider (2), A. Rodriguez 2
P-NAdv: Tallet (3), Ryan (3), Bruney

Day 154 – World Trade Center

Given the afternoon game today I had originally thought about going to the US Open after the game. However, when researching tickets they didn’t have a very favourable refund policy should a cession get rained out given I could only really go that night. I decided I would just wait until closer to the event to try and get tickets, that way I would have a better idea of the weather forecast. Given they were calling for rain today I decided against going and instead headed down to ground zero after the game (I originally planned to go in the morning if I was going to go to tennis at night). A tennis major will have to wait for another year.

It was kind of hard to really get the sense of what the area looked like before, having never seen the area as it was in person just on TV. Now it just looks like one big construction site. I took some time just walking around seeing what was left. It certainly was not one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had on my odyssey.

From there I just walked around exploring the area. I made my way to the water where you could see the Statue of Liberty. Eventually I called it a night and went looking for a subway stop to make my way back to the hotel.

Game 134 – Over-managing

The Starting lineups including #45 Travis Snider batting 9th and playing LF.

Well it was another good start wasted by the Jays offence. This time it is Burnett drawing the short stick as the Jays managed just 1 run off Pavano and 5 Yankee relievers. Burnett got the 8 inning CG game giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. He struck out 8 and walked one. Both runs came in the 4th inning and the only other inning the Yankees had more than one runner reach was the 5th. Burnett ended 5 of the innings (incl. the last 4) by striking out the last batter.

Inglett led off the game w/a 1B but the Jays didn’t get another hit until the 6th. That hit was by Travis Snider the 1st of his career. It was a ground rule 2B to straight away CF. Snider also lined out to short his 1st major league AB and struck out looking in the 8th w/runners at 1st and 2nd none out. Snider also made a nice leaping catch by the LF stands, although he might have made it more awkward than it needed to be. Overall, a nice ML debut.

After Snider struck out in the 8th, Inglett and Scutaro failed to come up w/the hit needed to tie it. The Jays went just 1 for 7 w/RISP.

I think Joe Girardi over-managed his bullpen using 5 relievers to get 9 outs (5 of them by Rivera). First of all I’m surprised Pavano was pulled so early. He only gave up 3 hits and 1 run through 6 innings while throwing just 72 pitches. Instead Girardi goes to Bruney to start the 7th and has him face just 1 hitter. I would have had no problem leaving Pavano in for the whole inning but if you really want the left-on-left matchup why not have Pavano face Wells to start the inning then go to the lefty.

With 2 RH’s due up to start the 8th Girardi then went to Veras who faced just 2 hitters and retired none. On came another RH in Ramirez to face the LH Snider. I believe Ramirez actually handles lefties really well so it is sort of like bringing on a lefty. However, Ramirez faces just the 1 batter before Rivera is brought in to try and get a 5-out save. Now I have no problem using your closer for more than an inning but if you were comfortable using Ramirez to face one lefty why not another. I would have let Ramirez try to finish off the 8th. Either that or why not bring Rivera in to face Snider rather than waiting 1 batter.

Sure each of these guys didn’t throw many pitches but it is all the warming up in the bullpen that adds up on a reliever during the course of a season. So each of those relievers got up at least once and threw a bunch of pitches in the bullpen on top of the warmup pitches on the mound and the pitches they threw in the game. Yes the strategy worked out and Yankees held on for the win, but who is to say it wouldn’t have worked out another way. Plus in the marathon of a 162 game season these are the kinds of moves that can hurt.

I was surprised to see Rolen not diving for the ground ball 1B by Cano through the left side in the 7th inning. It made me wonder if he is a little tentative b/c of the shoulder.

Here are the stats:
NAdv: Snider (1), Jeter
P-NAdv: Burnett (18), Ramirez
WG: Snider (1)
DE: Barajas (3), Scutaro (6)

Day 153 – One Final Stroll through Monument Park

I tried to setup a shuttle time that would be late enough in case the game went long last night so I wasn’t at the airport super early. The nice thing about Tampa airport though is it is one of the few that offer free wireless internet. There is even a section in the airport where they have tables and chairs and electrical outlets right by. So many of the airports you can find chairs by outlets but it can be hard to find a table to use.

I was flying into La Guardia but my hotel was actually out towards JFK so I had to take the bus to the hotel. I arrived at the hotel around 1 and my room wasn’t ready yet, so since I hadn’t had lunch I dropped off my bags and went looking for a place to eat. By the time I got back my room was ready and I got checked in.

It wasn’t long before I had to leave for the Bronx. I wanted to make sure I was there as soon as the gates opened so I could take one last visit to monument park. I figured this would be the best day of the 3 to go. They usually shut down monument park about 45 mins before game time so that is why you have to show up early. Actually they usually stop letting people in prior to that b/c they want to have it cleared out by 45 mins to game time. So I got one last walk through monument park, at least as it stands. I’m not sure if they plan on transferring it over to the new ballpark or if they will be leaving it in its current location.

Tonight Travis Snider made his major league debut. His 1st AB he line out, but in his 2nd AB he hit a ball deep to straight away center that bounced over the wall for a ground rule double. He struck out looking his 3rd time up w/the Jays trailing by 1 in the 8th and runners at 1st and 2nd none out. He also made a nice leaping catch in LF by the foul line, although it looked like he took a little bit of an awkward route to get there. I didn’t like seeing him go down looking in that situation in the 8th but overall a nice debut. Making your debut in Yankee Stadium cannot be easy, but it certainly will make it even more special especially being the last season.

Game 133 – Leaving Bats on the Bench

Another night in St. Petersburg and another 1-run loss. The Jays outscored the Rays 8 to 6 in the series yet only won one game. In the 6 games at the Trop they outscored the Rays 22 to 18 but went 2 – 4. Even if you include the sweep in Orlando the Jays were only outscored 34 to 32 and yet went 2 - 7.

The Jays had some chances throughout the game but went just 2 for 9 w/RISP. The Jays had at least 1 runner on in every inning but the 7th and 9th. Their best chance came in the 6th when they had 1st and 3rd none out but couldn’t score. They finally broke through in the 8th w/a pair of runs but PR Eckstein was left standing at 2nd.

It seemed like nothing would drop in for the Jays. Jackson only struck out 2 batters and he retired 15 in the air (10 by the OF) versus 3 on the ground. It started right from the get go as Hinske made a great diving grab on a bloop down the left field line to start the game.

I would have had Stairs PH for Barajas in the 8th. However, since Cito stuck w/Barajas and he ended up getting a 2B, then why didn’t he use Stairs for Bautista to follow. At the very least use Zaun for Bautista since at that point you only needed a 1B to tie it.

Litsch pitched ok in this game giving up 3 runs in 6.2 innings. He gave up 10 hits but what really did him in was a pair of solo homers. Litsch was able to avoid further runs scoring thanks to the Rays going just 1 for 6 w/RISP.

I can’t believe Cito actually used the hit and run in the game. It is just too bad that Scutaro swung through the pitch and Inglett was thrown out. I wouldn’t say it was the ideal place to try it though. Scutaro isn’t my favourite hitter to use but the bigger issue is doing it against Jackson after he just issued a walk. Jackson seems to be realizing his potential this season but he still struggles w/control sometimes. Plus he has good movement on his pitches, which I think is part of his control problem, so it is harder to get a good pitch to make contact with even if you expect a strike.

Jose Bautista had a tough game going 0 for 4. 3 times he came up w/a RISP and he struck out 2 of the 3 times.

Onto the stats:
Adv: Wells (4)
P-Adv: Bradford
Adv+: Lind (4), Upton
P-Adv+: Litsch (2), Jackson
WG: McDonald (11), Hinske

Day 152 – The Greedy and the Kind

Previously I’ve never had any problems w/the hotels I’ve stayed at as far as leaving my luggage there after I check out and go a ballgame that afternoon/evening. However, this morning while at breakfast I checked w/the employee at the front desk to confirm that it would be ok. They said they wouldn’t do it unless it was only for an hr or two. That did me no good since it was a night game so I wouldn’t be back possibly until midnight. They gave me two other choices I could leave my luggage in the laundry room, but of course there is no lock on the room or they would give me a discount on a room. I pleaded my case as best I could but knew I wasn’t getting anywhere when she started referencing the fact they charge you to park downtown to defend her point and only large hotels can store your luggage (which as I have experienced is completely untrue). My issue wasn’t paying to leave my bags, I would have had no problem paying a fee for it just not the same cost as a room. All they need to do is place it in a corner in their office, is that so much to ask.

Once I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere I tried phoning a couple places to see if they had locker storage, including Tropicana Field but none was available. Since that came up empty I decided to just try some of the other hotels near me and see what they would charge me to just store my stuff there. Most of them said they either didn’t do that or you had to be a guest of the hotel. On about the 8th hotel I found a generous employee who said they usually only do it for hotel guests but she would make an exception for me (and it wouldn’t even cost me anything). By that point it was probably around 10:45 or 10:50 so I was getting pretty frustrated and worried about what I would do w/my bags since I was supposed to be checked out by 11. So maybe she saw it on my face or maybe she is just a kind person, but it certainly was appreciated and gave me a sense of relief.

After my whole luggage ordeal was settled, I headed downtown and towards the bay. I spent the day just walking by the water, enjoying the view. I walked around The Pier and had lunch there. I was mostly just staying out in the fresh air and trying to find shade where I could. In my rush to find someplace to store my luggage I forgot to put on sunscreen this morning and as a result ended up w/a fairly bad burn on one side of my neck.

After the game I went back to pick up my stuff from the other hotel. There was a 24 hr diner nearby that I had spotted earlier and was saving for tonight’s supper. As a bonus they even had wireless internet access so I just put in some time working on my laptop in the diner until the shuttle to the airport arrived.

Game 132 – Hello, Purcey

David Purcey was stellar tonight, the only problem was Matt Garza seems to be unhittable vs the Jays. Purcey made just one mistake, throwing a get-me-over 1st pitch fastball to Pena. The leadoff HR by Pena would be the only run scored in the game. Purcey gave up just 4 other hits and walked none while striking out 11. Of the 4 other hits, 1 was a bunt hit (that I think Scutaro may have had a play on had he picked it up instead of hoping it would roll foul), 1 an infield hit, and the other 2 were ground balls that found holes. It was Purcey’s 1st CG (albeit an 8 inning one) and he needed just 92 pitches (70 of which were strikes). He only threw 9 first pitch balls to the 29 hitters he faced. Purcey only had 3 balls on a batter once all game, the last hitter he faced. By no means do I expect Purcey to be this good w/regularity but it shows you how good he can be if he has his control.

As mentioned above, the problem for Purcey and the Jays was Garza was just a little better. He gave up 6 hits and 3 walks in 7.2 IP and Balfour and Wheeler combined to get the final 4 outs to complete the shutout. Garza has now given up just 1 run in 4 starts against the Jays this season.

Inglett was the only Jays to really have any success against Garza tonight w/a 1B and 2B in 4 trips to the plate. The Jays went 0 for 3 w/RISP.

The Jays almost tied this game up in the 9th as Barajas was robbed at the wall by Ruggiano to end the game. I don’t think the ball would have cleared the wall but at least it would have been a 2B. That would have allowed a PH (since McDonald was due up) to try and get the 2-out hit to tie it.

Let’s see the stats:
WG: Ruggiano

Day 151 – Sit Down

I did very little today prior to heading to the ballpark for tonight’s game. I got up to have the continental breakfast but about an hr after breakfast I went back to sleep. I went for a short jog in the afternoon and then cooled off in the pool.

There was no improvement in the attendance tonight, only 12,678 showed up or should I say tickets sold.

I’ve sat in the same section for the past 2 nights (upper deck right behind home plate) and I also sat there for 1 of the July games. I’ve noticed there seems to be a small core of people who show up every game. These fans have their own chant anytime an opposing batter strikes out. As the batter is walking back to the dugout they chant left, right, left, right, … and as the hitter goes into the dugout they yell “Sit Down!”. I’ll give them credit for coming up w/something unique (at least I’ve never heard it anywhere else).

Game 131 – It can’t happen 4 times can it?

Finally Halladay gets a win against the Rays after losing his first 3 this season (Halladay has never lost 4 games in one season to one team). He only lasted 6 innings due to an uncharacteristically high pitch count but only gave up 2 runs on 6 hits. He walked none (hit one batter) and struck out 7. The hits batsmen for Halladay was his 12th of the year, which is 3 more than his previous career high.

Halladay was followed up by 3 scoreless innings by 4 relivers (Carlson, League, Downs, Ryan) on just 1 hit. I would have left Downs in to pitch the 9th as well. I realize Ryan was already warming up since it was a 3-run game heading into the 9th and then the Jays scored one in the top half to remove the save situation, but I don’t think you have to bring Ryan just b/c he was already warm. Downs only threw 5 pitches in the 8th so why not let him go another inning and save Ryan for tomorrow. It is not like Ryan needed the work as he pitched in their last game 2 days ago.

The Jays finally gave Halladay some run support and a key was they didn’t stop scoring. They got 3 runs early and then after Halladay gave up 2 in the 6th, the Jays came right back w/1 in each of the 7th, 8th, and 9th to give the bullpen a cushion. The Jays weren’t great w/RISP but weren’t terrible either as they went 3 for 12. They were helped out by 2 solo HR’s by Barajas and Wells (1 of his 3 RBI hits, all coming w/2 out).

I would have PH Bautista for Stairs in the 8th against the LH Howell. It is possible the Rays would have countered w/a RH due to 2 more righties due up after Bautista, but Stairs does not hit LH’s well and I’d rather take Bautista against a RH if it comes to that. Stairs ended up popping out, but they left Howell in to face Barajas and he hit a HR.

Overbay has started to heat up with his 3rd straight game w/a 2B. Over his last 4 games he is 8 for 18 w/3 2B & 2 HR.

Here are the stats:
NAdv: Barajas (8)
P-NAdv: Shields

Day 150 – Disappointing

I took the now familiar route to the bus stop in Buffalo to go to the airport and it was off to Tampa w/a stop over in Atlanta. I arrived in Tampa early enough to take a city bus downtown and catch the greyhound to St. Petersburg. After walking in the heat to my hotel and getting checked in I was ready to take a quick swim before heading to the ballpark.

I got to the ballpark and as the game started I was wondering what happened to all the people. On my previous trip to TB the Jays were playing here on the weekend and they had pretty decent crowds. It was the 1st series after the All Star break and I thought maybe the fans were starting to come out and support the Rays. However, tonight in the last week of August and the Rays in 1st place the announced attendance was just 13,478. Clearly that was the reputation of the Rays fans and they have lived up to it tonight. Complain all you want about Jays fans but not once have the Jays drawn that low this season even on wknights in Apr and May when hockey is still going. It is a real shame that more people aren’t showing up here for an exciting 1st place team. I do believe the location is clearly an issue as evidenced by the discrepancy between wkend and wkday games. I don’t know about all the other surrounding areas but it certainly isn’t a short drive from Tampa. Plus there is no easy public transportation that could get you between Tampa and the ballpark. Hopefully if they do indeed build a new ballpark they will consider a more accessible location.

They had a little malfunction during BP tonight. While the Jays were taking BP the lights went out. Luckily it only took about 15-20 mins before they got them back on.

After the game they allowed the fans to walk across the field. I almost didn’t make it down to field level from the upper deck in time as I guess they close it off pretty quickly. You enter by 1st base and walk through the outfield exiting in CF. That makes it the 2nd time I have been on a major league field and both have come at the Trop.

Day 149

Work, Eat, Pack, Catch the 11:15 pm bus to Buffalo.

Game 130 – Heartbreaker

What a heartbreaking loss. With a win the Jays would have moved to within 6 of the Sox w/32 to play. It would still take a big Sept. but sure would look better than 8 back. Burnett was not up to the challenge today surrendering 4 in the 3rd to blow a 2-0 lead, then giving up a solo shot in the 7th to tie things up at 5.

Burnett gave up 4 hits and walked 2 in the 4-run 3rd. The other 6 innings he gave up 3 hits and walked one. The real killer was walking the 8 and 9 hitters. After retiring Varitek, Burnett walked both Cora and Crisp on full count pitches. He then got Ellsbury to line out before Pedroia took him deep on the 1st pitch, but it never should have got that far.

When it got to the bullpens I thought the Jays had control and Downs and Ryan did their part w/2 and 1 inning respectively. However League picked a bad time to end his scoreless streak (it was 14 2/3 innings) and the Jays could not take advantage of a leadoff BB from Delcarmen in the bottom half.

I thought it was a good move by Cito leaving Downs in for a 2nd inning. He could have went w/Ryan at that point since there would no longer be a save situation, but if you can get 2 innings out of Downs then you just keep Ryan for the 10th and that pushes all your other relievers back an inning in the pecking order.

It was a good send by Leyva in the 6th trying to get Stairs to score. It is too bad HP ump, Campos, blew the call at the plate as it was one of those the ball beat the runner so you’re out calls regardless of whether the slide beat the tag. The Jays had 2 out and McDonald coming up so you had to take that chance no matter how tired Stairs looked coming around 3rd. Plus it required pretty much a perfect relay from the Sox to get him.

Surprisingly enough it wasn’t the walks that got Matsuzaka in trouble. Matsuzaka only walked one batter and it was an intentional walk. Instead, it was the hits that got him as he gave up 8 hits including 2 HR’s and ended up leaving after giving up 5 runs in 6 innings. Matsuzaka’s #’s this yr are so misleading if you just look at W-L record and ERA.

I thought a smart play that Inglett could have tried was to drop the ball on the Ellsbury line drive in the 3rd. It was a soft line drive and Ellsbury wasn’t running it out very hard. Inglett would have had time to pick the ball up and either throw to 2nd and onto 1st to get a conventional DP or he could have thrown to 1st to get the force out and then they would have had Crisp stuck between 1st and 2nd assuming Crisp would have broke for 2nd once he saw the ball drop. Of course the umpire may have decided to rule it an infield fly. Even if that were the case you may confuse the runners and still be able to get one of them out. When an infield fly is called the runners are allowed to attempt to advance should the ball drop, but they do so at their own risk.

The difference in this game could very well be the teams hitting w/RISP. The Jays went 1 for 6 whereas the Sox went 2 for 4.

Now for the stats:
Adv: Lind (4)
P-Adv: Matsuzaka
NAdv: Stairs (9)
P-NAdv: Matsuzaka
WG: Bay

Day 148 – Injury Delays

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful but the Red Sox should not have been allowed to leave Ellsbury in the game after his injury. The delay lasted about 10 mins which is unacceptable. If the player isn’t ready to continue in a couple minutes then he should be taken out of the game and replaced. Just because they are the Red Sox they should not get any special treatment. The umpires did not even go out there and warn them to hurry up.

Game 129 – Lefty Mashers

I did not expect this kind of game w/the LH Lester opposing the Jays. This is the same Lester who 1-hit the Jays through 8 innings at the end of April. You combine that w/the struggles all year the Jays have had w/lefties it doesn’t spell Lester leaving after 2.1 IP giving up 7 runs on 8 hits.

The Jays got a 2-run HR from Wells in the 1st to start if off. They added 1 more in the 2nd before 5 of the first 6 Jays got hits in the 3rd to chase Lester. Wells had a big day w/4 hits, 2 of them HR’s, he drove in 3 and scored 4 runs.

Mench did what the Jays could have used more of this season and that is mash lefties. Mench had a pair of 2B’s off Lester (added a 1B later off the Sox pen). It is not like Mench holds the keys to the Jays offence but he has not hit lefties close to his career numbers. The most glaring stat is that Mench has 0 HR this season.

It was a nice start from Litsch shutting out BOS through 6 and giving up just 3 hits. The concern was he walked 3 (and hit one) and had to throw 105 pitches. The BB I really had issue with was Crisp in the 4th inning. By that point the Jays were already up 7 so there is no excuse to not just go after the hitters. Litsch’s other 2 walks came in the 1st and 2nd so at least the game was still close but given Litsch relies a lot on his control that is still not a good thing.

I’m not sure why League was in this game given the huge lead and the fact he just worked 2 days ago. Both Ryan and Carlson could use the work so they made sense. The 3 did combine to complete the shutout giving up just 1 hit.

I thought McDonald should have been bunting in the 2nd after the leadoff 2B. Normally I’m not big on bunting so early but they already had a 2-run lead and this was bunting a runner from 2nd to 3rd not 1st to 2nd, where you would still need a hit to score the runner. Plus McDonald is just that bad of a hitter. Cito did have McDonald attempt to bunt at 0-1, but McDonald failed to execute. It worked out in the end though as McDonald got him over w/a ground ball.

Boy, Ellsbury does not have much of an arm, it certainly does not fit in RF. Twice the Jays picked up SF’s on fly balls hit to medium RF and both times the runner at 3rd was Mench who isn’t the most fleet of foot.

Here are the stats:
Adv: McDonald (2), Lind (3)
P-Adv: Lester, Smith
NAdv: Ortiz, Barajas (7)
P-NAdv: Lester, Litsch (6)
WG: McDonald (10), Wells (6)

Day 147

Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep.

Game 128 – Taking the Defensive Indifference

Marcum’s control was not there again today. He threw 46 strikes to 31 balls. Of the 20 hitters he faced, 12 of them took first pitch balls. Marucm’s control really cost him in the 4th as the Sox scored 4 runs. The inning went 1B, then back-to-back BB’s to the 7 and 8 hitters, he then beaned the 8 hitter to push in the 1st run, and that was followed by an RBI 1B, RBI groundout, and a SF. All told Marcum gave up 5 runs in 3.2 IP.

The bullpen struggled to keep it close (although they didn’t let it get out of hand either) giving up 3 runs the rest of the way. Those add-on runs can really hurt as instead of just being down one (as they were after the 4th) late in the game, you are now thinking about needing a big inning to get back in the game.

The Jays offence came from a pair of 2-run HR’s from Rios and Overbay. However, that was all they could manage despite facing Byrd for his 3rd straight start. I guess some credit needs to be given to Byrd here. Byrd has never been one to get by on his pure stuff, he has had to rely on knowing how to pitch and outthink the hitters. Generally the more a team sees a pitcher, the advantage swings to the hitters. The reason being they see all his pitches and learn exactly how hard they are and how much they break. They also can pick up on tendencies of the pitcher. Of course baseball is a game of adjustments and the ones who adjust the quickest will succeed more often than not.

The Jays had some chances against the Sox bullpen but a couple of DP’s hit into by Inglett certainly hurt. In the 7th after a leadoff 1B by McDonald, Inglett grounded into a 4-6-3 DP. That was followed by back-to-back walks but Wells could not come through w/the 2-out hit. In the 9th McDonald got a 1-out 1B, but again Inglett grounded into a DP, this time ending the game.

The DP in the 9th could have been avoided if McDonald had taken off for second base during the AB. I can say w/about 99% certainty that if McDonald had took off for 2nd the Sox would have done nothing allowing him the base. They had a 4-run lead in the 9th w/1 out and were playing behind him. It should have been a classic case of defensive indifference but instead McDonald stayed put. Sure in the grand scheme it probably won’t change the outcome of the game, but there will be that once a season maybe where by removing the DP and extending the inning they will start a 2-out rally to come back and win the game.

One thing I noticed and it happens on occasion is when the 2B or SS breaks towards second base on a pickoff play even if the pitcher decides not to attempt the pickoff they should at least step off. The reason being you need to give your defender time to get back into position. You don’t want them trying to run back to their position while you are delivering the pitch. It can make for an awkward time if the defender has to switch directions on a ground ball.

Let’s see some stats:
Adv: Ellsbury
P-Adv: Marcum (6)
Adv+: Crisp
P-Adv+: Marcum (5)
NAdv: Scutaro (5)
P-NAdv: Byrd
WG: Lind (2)

Day 146

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 127 – Sir Sidney

When the Yankees have no one better than Sidney Ponson to throw out there every 5 days, you know things are not well in Yankee Universe. The Jays jumped all over Ponson for 7 runs in 2+ innings. The offence did not stop there adding 6 more off Robertson and Traber over the next 3 innings. It all adds up to Halladay cruising to the win.

Halladay gave up just 3 hits and a walk through the first 6 innings before surrendering a 3-run HR to Matsui in the 7th. No doubt if it were a closer game Halladay handles that AB differently.

I was ok w/Downs getting work as he hadn’t pitched since he got hurt in DET 6 days ago. I would rather not see League used on the same day as Downs though in a blowout game. League had the past 3 days off but we saw what can happen when you use your main setup men w/large leads as they were all unavailable in a 1-run game in the DET finale. I don’t think 4 days off would have killed League especially during the dog days of August.

To see Lind tag from 2nd on that medium fly ball to CF and easily advance to 3rd in the 2nd inning just reiterates my belief that Damon has the worst OF arm in baseball. Almost any other outfielder and you don’t even think of tagging.

In the 3rd inning the Jays had 1st and 2nd none out and Stairs up. Stairs took a 1-2 fastball for strike 3. I’m not sure what he was thinking as he has to try and at least make contact in that situation. With 2 strikes you should always be protecting the plate but Stairs took a pretty good fastball w/o even offering. If I recall correctly, this is not the 1st time Stairs has gone down looking w/RISP.

There were a lot of big days offensively for the Jays. Inglett had 4 hits (3 1B, 1 2B), a BB, and scored 3 runs. Scutaro also had 4 hits (2 1B, 1 2B, 1 HR) and scored 3 runs while driving in 4, combining for a nice 1-2 at the top of the order. Rios and Stairs each picked up 3 RBI’s. Wells was the only one not to get a hit, but he did BB and score a run.

Here are the stats:
Adv: Nady, Scutaro (4), Stairs (3)
P-Adv: Ponson 2, Halladay (5)
Adv+: Rios (7), Lind (3), Scutaro (5)
P-Adv+: Ponson 2, Traber
NAdv: Stairs (8), Wells (7)
P-NAdv: Robertson 2
DE: Scutaro (5)
ME(r): Giambi, Scutaro (5)

Day 145

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 126 – Play the ball, don’t let it play you

Purcey had a rough start today giving up 5 runs on 7 hits in 4 innings. It started bad right from the get go as he gave up 3 straight 1B’s to start the game, 2 of which eventually scored. The bullpen came in and did what they usually do, shut the opposition down, but there was no offence to speak of. Tallet, Carlson, and Frasor combined for 5 shutout innings giving up just 3 hits.

It was the LH Pettitte on the mound and he had no problem dispatching the Jays. He went 7 innings giving up just 1 run on 5 hits before giving way to Bruney for the final 2 innings. The Jays lone threat was in the 6th inning when they got 3 straight 1-out 1B’s from the top of the order to score their only run. They only had one other runner reach second base in the other 8 innings.

I was surprised to see Pettitte not come out for the 8th inning. He had thrown just 83 pitches to that point and he certainly didn’t look like he was struggling. I know Pettitte is getting towards the end of his career, but he should be able to last longer than that.

Something I noticed was Robinson Cano was continually backing up on ground balls hit to him. Now there is the occasion where it is useful to back up on a ball to catch a better hop, but more often than not you will get burnt doing so. By backing up you put yourself on your heels and often the ball will play you rather than you play the ball. If you just stay forward and in a good fielding position more often than not you will come up w/the ball. Even when you don’t, the ball will likely hit your body somewhere and fall right in front of you. One of the advantages of second base is the short throw and you can afford to just knock a ball down and still have time to throw out the runner.

On to the stats:
Adv+: Abreu
P-Adv+: Purcey (3)
NAdv: A. Rodriguez
P-NAdv: Purcey (3)
ME(r): Matsui

Day 144

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 125 – Yankees drop the ball

Great start from Burnett and the offence woke up late to give Burnett another win. Burnett allowed just 1 run (coming in the 1st) over 8 innings. Burnett’s lone walk was to lead off the game and that ended up being the only runner to score. He gave up 5 hits and struck out 13. The first 4 outs were all via strikeout and he struck out at least one batter in every inning but the 8th.

Only Abreu and Cano did not strikeout, while Giambi struck out 4 times (3 against Burnett, 1 vs Ryan) and Alex Rodriguez struck out 3 times.

The Jays did little offensively in the 1st part of the game. Thanks to a Damon dropped fly ball in the 1st the Jays had 2nd and 3rd w/1 out but could not score. They didn’t get another runner to 2nd until Lind’s solo HR tied the game in the 7th and they hit into 2 DP’s along the way. However, in the 8th after a 2-out 1B by Inglett, Scutaro hit a fly ball to the track in CF and Damon dropped another one. This time it was scored a 2B but that was mainly b/c Damon did a little jump and official scorer’s rarely give errors if you jump for a ball even though the ball clearly should have been caught (it looked like it went off the heal of his glove). Since there were 2 outs Inglett was running all the way and was able to score to put the Jays ahead.

You have to wonder if the Yankees regret sending Melky Cabrera down. At this point in his career Damon is one of the worst defensive outfielders. His range is greatly diminished and I think he has the worst OF arm in baseball.

I was surprised to see Scutaro not in motion on the 3-2 count to Rios in the 1st. Then again in the 4th w/Wells on 1st and a 3-2 count on Lind, Wells was not in motion. I don’t get why Cito wouldn’t send them. I know Cito doesn’t like the hit and run but this isn’t a straight hit and run as you have a 3-2 count and you are not forcing the hitter to swing the bat no matter where the pitch. With a LH on the mound I get not sending the runner b/c you don’t want the runner breaking on 1st movement and possibly getting picked off, but if he waits until the pitcher is committed to home plate then he’ll be a dead duck at 2nd if the batter strikes out. However, Rasner is a RH pitcher so you do not have to worry about the runner getting a bad jump. Plus Rasner is not a big strikeout pitcher so you can expect the batter to put the ball in play if it is a strike. Furthermore, it is not like we’re talking about Stairs or Barajas on the basepaths, Wells and Scutaro both can run a little.

I don’t think the move by Rodriguez to try to stretch the 1B into a 2B in the 9th was a bad play. He represented the tying run and you’d love to get into scoring position so a 1B would tie the game. Plus Overbay maybe the only first basemen w/a strong enough arm to throw him out.

With Rios going 0 for 4 his hit streak vs the Yankees ended at 26 games.

I get the scoring of the Damon dropped fly ball in the 8th as a 2B based on the definition of an error but the Jeter infield single in the 6th should have been an E5.

Here are the stats:
NAdv: A. Rodriguez
P-NAdv: Burnett (17)
WG: Scutaro (10), Overbay (8)
DE: Damon

Day 143

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Day 142 – Catching a Break

We didn’t quite make up all the time getting to Buffalo as we arrived around 7:40, 10 minutes after my connection in Buffalo was scheduled to leave. However, I got good news as the bus to Toronto had not yet left. About 15 mins later I was on the bus and headed home.

I was back in my apartment by about 11:30. That left me time to pick up some groceries and have lunch before heading into work. The Jays were off tonight so I could still put in a full day’s work.

Game 124 – A Fun Blowout

Normally I’m not a fan of watching blowouts, no matter which team is winning, but this one was kind of enjoyable. From the Jays hammering Beckett, to doing it in Fenway Park and hearing the crowd reactions, to the fact it completes the sweep (albeit a mini one) and a 5-1 road trip, to the Jays scoring runs in 7 of 9 innings, and to the Jays scoring at least 1 run against each of the first 6 relievers (only Papelbon escaped unscathed).

Only Barajas didn’t collect a hit, as he went 0 for 4 w/3 K’s, though he did walk and get HBP leading to 2 runs scored. Everybody but Wilkerson scored a run and only Scutaro and Barajas failed to drive in a run. Rios had the biggest day w/5 hits (in 6 AB’s) and 4 of them were 2B’s (making good use of the monster) tying the Jays franchise mark, while scoring 3 runs and driving in 2. Lind had 4 RBI’s and had not one, not two, but 3 chances to complete the cycle. Lind had a 1B, 2B, and HR (his 2nd in 2 games) after his 1st 3 AB’s but failed to get a hit in his final 3 AB’s. McDonald had a nice day down in the 9 hole w/3 hits (2 2B’s) and he drove in 3 runs.

The Jays 10 2B set the franchise mark for a single game, while the 12 X-Base hits tied the franchise record.

Marcum really struggled w/his control as he walked 4 in 5 innings despite having a 6-run lead before he even took the mound. Marcum also gave up 5 hits but thanks to 3 DP’s in the first 4 innings (the Sox hit into 4 DP’s today and 7 total in the 2 game series) Marcum only gave up 1 run.

The Jays bullpen didn’t fare too well but good thing it came in a game they had lots of cushion. Camp, Carlson, and Ryan each gave up a run in their innings of work. Only League worked a scoreless inning.

The Jays certainly padded their RISP #’s going 10 for 24.

Let’s see the stats:
Adv: Scutaro (3)
P-Adv: Timlin
Adv+: Cora
P-Adv+: Ryan (2)
NAdv: Wilkerson (6), Cash
P-NAdv: Ryan (2), Okajima
WG: Wells (5), Scutaro (9), McDonald (9), Cora
DE: Youkilis

Day 141 – Tight Schedule

It is going to be touch and go today to make it on my way home. The game today is in the afternoon starting at 1:30. The Jays pounded the Red Sox around today but as a result the game went very long. I had to catch the 5:50 train to Wakefield in order to get my stuff and have enough time to get back into the city and to the greyhound bus terminal. I didn’t make it back to North Station until about 5:45 and they were already boarding the train.

Once I got back to the hotel and picked up my stuff the next problem was there was no train heading into the city that I could catch in order to make it to the bus terminal by 8:30, which is when the last bus headed for Toronto leaves. I had to ask the hotel clerk to call me a cab to take me to the closest subway stop. I then took the subway all the way to the bus terminal arriving there around 8:00. As it turns out I had more time than I thought. The bus ended up leaving over an hr late. This had me worried that I could have a long wait in Buffalo the next morning as I had to transfer buses there and the scheduled layover was only 15 mins. I was hoping that traveling over night we would be able to make up time.

Game 123 – Rematch (sort of)

In the rematch of Byrd vs Halladay (only the teams have changed), it is Halladay winning this time as it was his turn to go the distance. Byrd, now w/BOS after the trade from CLE, pitched ok but this time he couldn’t go the distance. Halladay was very sharp working on 6 days rest due to the Jays wanting to push him back a day in order to face BOS instead of DET and then the rain out last night. Other than the HR in the 9th the only time the Red Sox had a RISP was w/2 out in the 1st when they had 1st and 2nd. Halladay threw 21 first pitch strikes to the 32 hitters he faced. Of those 21, only 3 batters got hits and 2 of those were on the 1st pitch. Compare that to 4 hits from the 11 hitters who saw 1st pitch balls.

Halladay was helped out by 3 DP’s, 2 on the ground and one off a line drive. The Jays could have turned 4 if not for Inglett failing to complete the DP in the 5th.

Alex Rios had the big stick for the Jays w/a 2-run HR in the 1st, and then he tripled and scored in the 8th. Inglett and Scutaro each chipped in a pair of 1B’s. For Inglett he is now 5 for 8 against Byrd this season.

I’m not sure why Stairs wasn’t playing other than he is 0 for his last 8 and Wilkerson went 1 for 3 compared to Stairs’ 0 for 3 against Byrd when they faced him in TOR.

The 2 teams combined for just 2 AB’s w/RISP. The Sox went 0 for 1, while the Jays were 1 for 1.

Here are the stats:
WG: Scutaro (8), Ellsbury
DE: Inglett (3)

Day 140 – Live vs Tape Delayed

Nothing too exciting today just stayed around the hotel most of the day. I watched some of the tape delayed Olympics on NBC (some of the events I didn’t see last night). I took a jog around the lake. Eventually made my way into the city in time for a late lunch.

I’m not a fan of NBC’s Olympic coverage and the fact they show so much of it tape delayed with all their edits thrown in. I prefer watching the events live and in their entirety, not what some TV Executives think are the most interesting parts. At least NBC is streaming almost all the events live online.

The rained out game from yesterday was being rescheduled for the Jays final series in BOS in Sept. as part of a day-night doubleheader. So that will be my 2nd doubleheader of the season to go with the one earlier in the year in CLE (excluding the partial one in BAL where they finished the suspended game).

I found a really good deal on stubhub for a ticket right behind home plate so I ended up w/a really nice seat to watch Doc work his magic.

The last train to Wakefield is not as late on Sat (only 11:30) as weeknights so I couldn’t take as much time getting back to North Station. However, thanks in large part to Halladay the game was over by 9:30 so I didn’t have to rush to get something to eat before getting back for the train.

Day 139 - Directions

My cousin generously woke up at 3 in the morning to drive me to the pickup location, a hotel in Windsor, to catch the shuttle to Detroit airport. We had some problems getting to the airport as the driver got lost, but luckily someone else in the van knew how to get to the airport and eventually we got back on track. I still made it to the airport with some time to spare since I made sure to allow lots of time when booking my shuttle time given we had to go across the border and through customs.

I actually had to fly to Chicago and then on to Boston. Once I arrived in BOS, I made my way to North Station and then out to Wakefield as I am staying at the same hotel. I managed to get there mid afternoon so I wasn’t rushed to head back into the city but at the same time I am restricted as to the train times.

The only problem tonight was it was raining and they never got the tarp off the field. I’m glad my seats were in the upper half of the lower deck so I could sit in them under the roof while waiting out the rain delay. Once the game was officially called I decided to walk back to North Station (I knew the general direction to head) and find somewhere to stop and eat along the way. I got a little off course once or twice but by using subway stops as my guide I was able to find my way to North Station.

Even the rain couldn't keep Halladay from getting some throwing in.

Game 122 – Burning your Bridges

Well the sweep was not to be as the Jays mustered only 1 run on an Overbay solo HR. Despite the lack of offense the Jays were in a position to win thanks to Litsch’s strong return to the majors throwing 7 shutout innings. Litsch gave up just 4 hits while uncharacteristically walking 2 and hitting another. The Tigers did not get a runner to 3rd off Litsch, in fact only one even got to second.

The big mistake in this game didn’t come tonight, it was in Mon and Wed’s games. By using both Downs and League in 3 straight games (2 of which the Jays had at least a 4-run cushion) left Gaston limited in his choices to get the ball to Ryan. Furthermore w/Frasor throwing 2 innings last night and the quick turnaround of a day game after a night game (that went late due to a rain delay) I would really try to avoid using him. However Cito didn’t think that way and after Carlson got the 1st out, Cito went to Frasor. I know the next 4 hitters were all right handed, but I think Carlson has proven he can get righties out. But if Cito insists on going w/a RH why not go to a fresh Camp over Frasor. The move blew up in Cito’s face as Frasor got just 1 out while allowing 3 to score and 2 more to reach (both of whom later scored).

Wells had a tough day going 0 for 4, grounding out 3 times to short and once to 3rd. Zaun joined Wells in the 0 for 4 department. Since Cito has taken over Zaun’s playing time has dwindled to at most 1 game a wk. As his playing time has dwindled Zaun’s #’s have been dropping steadily. I still believe Zaun is the better catcher and should be getting more starts then Barajas but at the very least they should be splitting the time more equally.

Moving to the stats:
WG: Inglett (3), McDonald (8), Wells (4)
ME(f): Lind (2)

Day 138 – Near HR Catches

My cousin, his girlfriend, and roommate were all going to the game this afternoon so I was able to get a ride with them. In fact, I was going to be sitting with them since they had 4 tickets and one of their friends pulled out so I bought the extra ticket from them.

The tickets were in RF about 10 rows up. If any of you were watching the game on TV (or saw the highlights, I think you can still find it on MLB.com) you just may have saw me. The Jays lone run came via a Lyle Overbay HR that was only a couple feet away from me. My cousin’s roommate was beside me and he was within reach and ready to catch it when some guy from several seats down cut across this old couple and reached out with his glove to catch it.

That was the 2nd time I have just missed a HR ball in my life despite only single digit games where I have sat in the OF. In 1999, my Mom and I decided to take advantage of the cheap bleacher seats they had for 1 game at County Stadium (my Dad didn’t want to join us b/c the bleachers at County Stadium were just benches there was no back rest). There was no assigned seating for the game you just got general bleacher seats. We were in about the 5th row in LF. Most people were sitting two rows apart since there was plenty of space and it allowed you to stretch out your legs so the people behind us were two rows up. Jeff Cirillo hit a line drive that got out to us in like 2 secs and it went right over my head above my glove and was caught by one of the guys behind us. Had I stepped up onto the seats I probably would have caught it.

To try and save time going back across the border we went across the bridge and there was hardly any wait there. It just took a little more time getting to it from the ballpark.

We ran into a # of people my cousin knew at the game and we ended up going to one of their places once back in Windsor for a bonfire the rest of the night.

I had an early flight to BOS so I just stayed up and watched the Olympics until it was time to catch a shuttle.

Game 121 – Trust your Depth

David Purcey looked the best he has all yr. Too bad for him the rain cut short his outing, although he had thrown 99 pitches anyways so he might not have lasted much longer regardless. The Tigers had problems squaring any balls up resulting in a bunch of lazy fly balls. Purcey didn’t give up a hit until 2 outs in the 5th and he gave up just 2 total. He did walk 3, which is part of the reason for the high pitch count.

Downs’ scoreless streak came to an end in part due to him leaving w/an injury. Downs came in to pitch the 9th (don’t ask me why when they are up 4 and he had pitched the last 2 days) and he gave up a BB and a 1B but injured himself going to back up home. League then came in and after a groundout scored one, Rios made a horrible error, and later a 2B scored 2 more, 1 charged to Downs (only 1 of the 2 runs charged to Downs was earned though).

I don’t get Cito at all using Downs to start the 9th, when he has worked the past 2 days. That is supposed to be an advantage of the Jays bullpen is they have good depth. Surely someone else could have got the 3 outs w/o giving up 4 runs. Like Downs, League and Ryan had thrown the past 2 days. In fact those are the only relievers to work the past 2 games. Why not use Carlson who hadn’t pitched since Fri. Now injury aside Downs is burnt for tomorrow and so is League. By the way, as proof the other guys can get it done, Frasor threw 2 perfect innings once Purcey was chased by the rain to get it to the 9th.

I mentioned Rios made a horrible error in the 9th. Well he dropped a fly ball that he got back to in time. He was settled under it, he just simply dropped it. That brought the tying run to the plate. After League struck out Raburn, Renteria doubled bringing the Tigers to within a hit of tying it, but League struck out Inge to preserve the win.

The Jays managed to beat a lefty in this game, but all their offence came in a 4 batter span to start the 3rd. Scutaro walked, Eckstein got a bunt 1B, Rios an infield 1B, then Wells jumped on the 1st pitch for a grand slam. Beyond that the Jays did little although if not for a McDonald baserunning mistake trying to stretch a 1B into a 2B they might have got something in the 7th.

David Eckstein was one Jay who had success as he ended up w/3 hits and a BB.

Let’s check the stats:
Adv+: Rios (6), Wells (3)
P-Adv+: Rogers 2
WG: Granderson
ME(r): McDonald (1)
ME(f): Cabrera

Day 137 – Tearing the Walls Down

Once again slept in after watching Olympics and then made my across the border early in the afternoon. Once in Detroit I took a walk to see Tiger Stadium, or should I say what is left of it. The stands around the infield are still standing but they are not in very good shape. The construction crew was working in the OF area. I’m not sure what they are actually doing with the land and how much if any of the stadium are they leaving standing. I’m a little disappointed I never got to see a game there.

Had to sit through another rain delay tonight, although this one didn’t last too long. Now I’m not sure if it was the wet grass that caused it or not but the injury to Downs did not look good. If the Jays are to keep their slowly dimming playoff chances alive they need Downs healthy and by the looks of it he could be gone for at least a couple wks. It will mean both Carlson and League will really be relied upon to get the ball to Ryan.

Because of the rain delay it meant I wasn’t back in Windsor until late again but my cousin was still nice enough to come pick me up at the Windsor terminal. Once back at his place it was time to watch some more Olympics. One of the things I have experienced over these past couple days is watching HD television. I have yet to buy an HD TV for myself b/c I’m waiting until I move into a more permanent home so I can buy a really big TV. My apartment cannot really fit a huge TV and I also don’t want to go through the hassle of moving it. I wouldn’t say I noticed a huge difference in picture quality but I’m sure once I’m back home watching my TV it will seem a little worse than it did before.

Game 120 – Opposite Bullpens

A.J. got out pitched by Zach Miner but Detroit’s bullpen imploded giving the Jays a lead and A.J. the win. The Jays were down 4-1 through 6, but they rallied for 4 runs off Bobby Seay and Zumaya in the 7th. Zumaya was particularly bad as he didn’t record an out. His day went 1B, BB, 2B, IBB, BB. He threw just 5 strikes compared to 15 balls, and only threw 1 first pitch strike.

By contrast the Jays bullpen was lights out. League, Downs, and Ryan each threw an inning and gave up just 1 hit combined.

I found it worth noting how long Cito was arguing the HR by Magglio Ordonez. You can always tell the umps feel bad b/c they know they screwed up when they allow the manager a lot of leeway w/their arguing. Although they got the call right in the end, they initially made the wrong call that the ball did not clear the wall. I was already marking down HR in my scorebook when I realized what was happening on the field and that the umpire didn’t initially rule it a HR.

I cannot figure out why Rios did not slide into home in the 9th. Did he not want to slide into the pitcher? or did he just think he was going to be safe easily. Even still it looked like Rios used those long legs to step on the plate while bending back (like doing the limbo) and beat the tag which was applied up around the chest. The Jays didn’t get the call though, as many umpires just don’t look close enough to see where the tag is applied and whether the tag truly happens before the runner touches the base. Of course, had Rios just slid then he probably does get the safe call.

The Tigers went just 1 for 8 w/RISP as they did most of their damage on 3 solo HR’s (2 by Sheffield). The Jays had one solo HR of their own by Lind. However, they went 3 for 11 w/RISP incl. a 2-run 2B by Wells.

Despite the struggles by Stairs this yr he still gets pitched around, drawing 2 intentional walks tonight. My guess is a lot of that has to do w/him being a LH hitter and more often than not the opposing manager would rather have a righty-righty matchup. Plus the lack of LH relievers means they don’t want to waste one just to face Stairs.

Adam Lind kicked in a pair of 1B’s to go w/his HR and he ended w/2 runs and 2 RBI’s. Overbay was the only one left out on the party failing to reach base in 5 AB’s.

Here are the stats:
NAdv: Wells (6)
P-NAdv: Dolsi
WG: Polanco
DE: Inglett (2)

Day 136 – Who to root for?

After a late night watching Olympics, I had a nice sleep in. It is nice to stay in Canada during this time since I can watch the CBC feed and get the CBC streaming online.

Heading to Detroit on my own today so I took a city bus from my cousin’s place to the Windsor bus terminal where I caught a regular tunnel bus. They have tunnel buses running all day between Detroit and Windsor just these ones don’t take you straight to the ballpark, but there are a couple different stops on the Detroit side and no matter where you get off it is still a fairly short walk to the ballpark. I left plenty early enough in the afternoon to make sure I wouldn’t get stuck in the tunnel again and was across the border with time to walk around DET a bit before the gates opened at the ballpark.

I got a chance to actually walk around the stadium today and take it in. It is a really nice ballpark, I was a little surprised. It is not usually among the new stadiums that I always hear from people saying which are the nicest.
It is amazing how quickly fans can go from booing to cheering. Last night Sheffield was getting booed mercilessly, partly b/c of the struggles he has had this year and partly b/c of some comments he made about how he should be playing in the OF. Now tonight he hits a HR and gets some cheers then later in the game hits another and gets a lot of cheers. I think it just shows how quickly fans are willing to forgive if you go out and perform.

I caught one of the special tunnel buses outside the ballpark after the game and again it was a slow process getting back across the border. It is really interesting to see the split between Tigers fans and Jays fans that are from Windsor. I would see groups of people where half would we wearing Tigers gear and the other half would have Jays gear. I understand where the split comes up. On one hand you have the team you are closest to and can easily go to the ballpark to see play. On the other you have another team only a couple hrs away that is a Canadian team. Plus you factor in that before Toronto had a team, probably almost everyone was a Tigers fan (with maybe some Expos fans?) and often favourite teams can get passed down generations. I’m only guessing, but I figure they probably get both Detroit and Toronto baseball games on TV and the media probably focuses on both so there is no advantage either way there.

By the time I got back to Windsor and called my cousin he had already gone to sleep (Oh right some people actually have to work) so since the bus I needed to get back to his place does not run late (I think it stops at like 10:30 or 11) I ended up taking a taxi. The taxi was a van and so it had a sliding door for the back. I got in and went to shut the door and the door handle broke off (apparently I don’t know my own strength). The driver then tells me don’t worry about it, it is not made to be shut manually, sure now he tells me.

Game 119 – Hidden Injury

It has not been a good yr for Verlander. After a horrible start he seemed to be getting back on track but has really struggled again his past few starts. Against the Jays he gave up 6 runs in 4.1 innings while giving up 7 hits and 2 walks w/just 2 strikeouts. It almost makes me wonder if we won’t hear that Verlander has some kind of injury.

Ex Blue Jays Rule 5er, Aquilino Lopez, did a nice job in long relief going 3.2 innings giving up just a solo shot to Barajas (1 of this 3 RBI’s), and a 1B to Scutaro.

The Blue Jays did a very good job of cashing in the runners they got. They went 3 for 4 w/RISP and added 3 SF’s. They stranded just 4 runners, although they also lost 2 on DP’s.

It was a good start from Marcum; he only gave up 2 runs both on solo HR’s leading off an inning. The concern was the # of times Marcum was falling behind in the count. He threw 16 first pitch balls of the 27 hitters he faced, including the 2 players who homered against him.

The other issue for Marcum since he came off the DL is he really seems to be lacking stamina. It seems like every game he is tiring early. Look at his last inning tonight: Goes to 3-2 to Cabrera before giving up a HR, Joyce gets a 1B on 0-1, then he got the next 3 batters but he fell behind all 3 w/2-0, 1-0, and 2-0 counts. So going back to the last inning he threw 1st pitch balls to 5 of the last 6.

Interesting to see Cito use all 3 of League, Downs, and Ryan for an inning each even though the Jays were up by 5. Now Downs and Ryan had the past 3 days off so it makes sense to get them in there, but League worked just 2 days ago so he didn’t need the work and I would have kept him back. Carlson would have been a better choice as he hadn’t worked in 3 days, or even Frasor, who the same as League pitched 2 days ago. The difference w/Frasor over League is if you have another close game tomorrow you’ll need League. There is no reason to not be comfortable putting Frasor out there w/a 5 run lead.

I could not believe Granderson got credit for a hit in the 3rd inning. It clearly should have been an error on Overbay. Talk about hometown scoring.

On with the stats:
Adv+: Barajas (9)
P-Adv+: Verlander

Day 135 – My Biggest Stumbling Block

Added a new method of travel to my journey as I took the train to Windsor. It is a little more comfortable of a ride than the bus and they have electrical outlets so I didn’t have to worry my laptop battery would die. I ended up sleeping most of the trip anyways due to the early morning departure though.

I was staying in Windsor, well LaSalle to be exact, w/my cousin for the Detroit series. Once it Windsor, after grabbing some lunch I got on a city bus and after transferring onto another bus I got to my cousin’s place.

I found out that my cousin’s roommate was going to the game tonight and I could get a ride w/him. He was going w/some of his friends who me met up w/at the Windsor Bus Terminal. We took one of the tunnel buses (one of the special ones that goes right to Comerica Park). The problem was the tunnel was completely jammed and it took forever (at least 1.5 hrs) to get through the tunnel and across the border.

By the time the bus got to the ballpark, the game had already started. I didn’t have tickets yet so I figured it would be quicker to just buy from a scalper. Since the game had already started at least I could use that to bargain but on the other hand I was in a rush and that hurt since I didn’t want to waste time bargaining too much. I finally made it in as Marcum was recording the 2nd out in the bottom of the 2nd. This game is now officially the most of any game I have missed (whether it be start, middle, or end).

After the game met up w/my cousin’s roommate and friends and we went back across the border on the tunnel bus.

Game 118 – Can anyone say Cy Lee?

Based on the matchup the Jays had little hope in this one. The Jays have been bad vs LH’s and Cliff Lee is having a great yr. Not too mention Lee threw 9 shutout innings only to get a no decision (it was tied 0-0 through 9) back in May when the Jays visited CLE. If you want even more reason against the Jays, they have scored just 4 runs in the last 2 games, and have scored only 8 runs in 6 games (totalling 55 innings) against CLE this season.

The game played out as one might expect w/Lee shutting down the Jays for 8 innings on their way to a 4-0 victory. Lee gave up hits in each of the 1st 5 innings. The Jays had 1st and 2nd none out in the 5th w/2,3,4 due up but couldn’t score. They ended the game 0 for 4 w/RISP and never even got a runner to 3rd base. Lee struck out just 1 batter, retiring 12 on the ground, and 11 in the air. So the Blue Jays did nothing to help Halladay in his Cy Young case by hurting Lee’s #’s.

Lee only threw 21 balls all game. You would think a guy throwing that many strikes would give up more hits. Generally if a pitcher is throwing that high percentage of strikes you would think more than a few would be catching too much of the plate (think Josh Towers). Evidently not though, or at least the Jays weren’t taking advantage.

Some more notes about Lee’s start:
- He only threw 1 ball in each of the 1st and 2nd innings and he threw none in the 6th.
- He didn’t throw 2 balls to a batter until the 17th hitter he faced (coming in the 4th inning).
- He didn’t throw 3 balls to a hitter until the 27th hitter he faced (7th inning).
- He threw more than 1 ball to only 4 batters (of the 31 he faced).
- He threw 8 first pitch balls. Of those 8, 2 ended up getting hits.
- Blue Jays hitters put the first pitch in play 5 times, 4 of them resulted in hits.
- That means when Lee got ahead 0-1, the Jays went just 2 for 18.

Richmond had a rough 1st inning giving up 4 hits and 2 runs. However, it was good to see him settle in and throw 4 more innings giving up just 1 more run. On this day it wasn’t enough b/c of the Jays lack of offence, but that is 3 starts now for Richmond and he hasn’t given up more than 3 runs in any of them and he has gone at least 5 innings in each. Richmond has walked just 1 in his 3 outings, although he did hit 2 batter in today’s game.

The Indians could have blown this game open as they went 3 for 15 w/RISP. They had 1st and 2nd none out in the 4th but a DP (hit into by Sizemore) and a strikeout (following a hits batsmen) ended the inning w/them not scoring. They again had 1st and 2nd none out in the 6th, and again it was Sizemore up. This time he flied out and was followed by Francisco hitting into a DP. The Indians got 1st and 2nd none out for a 3rd time in the 8th and they almost wasted it too. After a strikeout and flyout it was Sizemore up w/2 outs. This time Sizemore came through w/a hit scoring 1 and Gutierrez was thrown out trying to score from 1st to end the inning.

Speaking of Gutierrez getting thrown out, I think that was a bad send. Even w/2 out I think he should have been held in that situation. Staying in the 8th, I would have Marte bunting w/1st and 2nd none out. Marte has struggled hitting since coming to the majors and you already have a 3-run lead so all you’re looking to do is add a run or two. You don’t need to play for the big inning.

Conversely, I don’t get having Eckstein bunt in the 5th when you are down by 3 runs. The way the Jays have struggled against LH’s you just cannot give them outs. Even against a righty you cannot give up outs when down by 3. You need to go after the big inning when you get the chance.

Although Rios picked up hits in his first 2 AB‘s against Lee he has had a tough time against him this season. In 8 AB’s against Lee, Rios has grounded into 3 DP’s, all of the 6-4-3 variety.

Part of the reason the Jays didn’t score much was their offence only came from a limited # of players as they had no player get exactly 1 hit. Four players, Scutaro, Rios, Overbay, and McDonald, had 2 hits apiece.

Moving to the stats: Talk about bad execution.
NAdv: Shoppach, Sizemore 2, Marte, Eckstein (6)
P-NAdv: Lee, Richmond 2 (2), Parrish 2 (2)
ME(f): Garko, Lind (1)

Day 134

Baseball, Work, Eat, Pack, Sleep.

Game 117 – Defensive Letdown

Tonight was the rare occasion that the Jays defence cost them the game. First it was Rios’ error in the 4th leading to an unearned run, then McDonald’s error in the 6th led to 2 unearned runs. Those 3 unearned runs combined w/the 1 earned run Halladay surrendered were enough to give CLE a 4-2 victory.

Halladay certainly had his hands full all game allowing 10 hits, 2 walks, 1 HBP plus 2 runners reaching on errors in just 6.2 IP. There was only 1 inning in which Halladay did not allow a runner to reach base. That is the 2nd start for Halladay against CLE and neither has been Halladay-esque after giving up 9 runners and 4 runs (all earned) in 6+ IP at CLE earlier in the year. Make that 5 losses this season for Halladay against TB and CLE.

Rios shouldn’t have dropped that ball in the 4th, but maybe had he got a better read off the bat, he would have had more time to settle under the ball and make the catch. The more I see of Rios in CF, the more I think he should stay in RF. Of course w/Vernon locked up Rios won’t be moving anytime soon.

I was surprised to see Halladay throw a 3-2 curveball to Dellucci w/the bases loaded and 2 out in the 6th. If anybody can drop in a curveball at that point it is Halladay, but I still wouldn’t be throwing it. There is no doubt it is a great choice if you get it over, but I save it for a scarier batter. Dellucci is a solid hitter but I think Halladay could get him w/o the curveball.

It looked like the Jays might chase Byrd early scoring single runs in each of the 1st 2 innings. They even got a leadoff 2B in the 3rd but then the bats went cold and they only got 2 more hits the rest of the way. Byrd went the distance using just 94 pitches.

Joe Inglett and Overbay combined for 5 of the Jays 6 hits. Inglett came up to bat in the 8th needing a HR to complete the cycle, but grounded out.

I have no idea what Overbay was thinking in the 9th trying to get to 2nd on his hit. When you are down by 2 runs you cannot make that mistake and the play was all in front of him so he should have saw Francisco get to it and play it cleanly.

Let’s see the stats:
NAdv: Francisco, Scutaro (4)
P-NAdv: Byrd, Halladay (9)
DE: Wilkerson (2)
ME(r): Overbay (2)
ME(f): Choo, McDonald (1)

Day 133

Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep.

Game 116 – Just when you think …

Coming off a 4-game sweep of OAK the Jays are shut down by Anthony Reyes. Yes that Anthony Reyes who helped the Cardinals win the World Series in ’06 but has been back and forth between AAA and the majors the past 2 seasons. The Jays managed just 1 run on 7 hits in 6.1 innings. To his credit Reyes did throw strikes (62 strikes, 26 balls) and worked ahead in the count most of the night (20 1st pitch strikes out of 27 batters).

The Jays had 1st and 3rd 1 out in the 2nd but Stairs grounded into a DP. They then loaded the bases in the 4th w/2 out after scoring 1 but failed to add anymore as McDonald flied out. The Jays ended up 2 for 10 w/RISP.

It was a pretty decent start for Purcey but it looked like it could turn into a disaster in the 4th. Through the 1st 3 innings Purcey gave up 2 hits and had struck out 5. In the 4th after getting Carroll to line out, Shoppach ripped a 2B. Then after another hard hit out, the Indians got 2 more 2B’s and a 1B. The inning only ended b/c Gutierrez tried to stretch his 1B into a 2B and got thrown out by Rios. Purcey then came out in the 5th a little gun shy walking the 8 and 9 hitters to start the inning, a major no-no. Luckily in between the walks Gonzalez was caught stealing 2nd (or quite possibly a missed sign on a hit and run). Purcey then settled back down getting 5 of the next 6 (the only batter to reach was on an error), striking out 3 of them.

I would have PH for Inglett in the 7th when the Indians went to the LH Perez. They had both Scutaro and Eckstein available off the bench.

After Rios finished 0 for 5 w/3 strikeouts he is now 1 for his last 11. He looked particularly bad in the 7th w/2 on and 2 out as he struck out on 3 pitches, chasing 2 balls in the dirt.

Jhonny Peralta joined Rios in the 3 strikeout club, while Shin-Soo Choo led CLE w/3 hits.

Here are the stats:
WG: Marte, Inglett (2), McDonald (7)

Day 132 – Hello Beijing

As if I’m not busy enough between baseball and quarter-end the Olympics are starting. With the time zone difference that means I will actually be able to watch some of the Olympics live. However, that may not be a good thing as it will be at the expense of sleep.

The good thing is I’m not nearly into the Summer Olympics as much as the Winter Olympics. Unlike most people I don’t just turn into amateur sports every 4 yrs, at least when it comes to the winter sports. I actually follow them during their World Cup Seasons every year. There isn’t nearly as much TV Coverage/Online streaming in Canada of summer events so that is a big reason why I am much more into the winter games. Plus it doesn’t hurt that Canada is much more competitive in winter sports. It is so much nicer to actually know all the athletes competing, and I’m not just talking the CDN ones. It is a lot easier to follow the Winter Olympics since I’m not hearing about these people for the 1st time.

The other problem w/the summer games is there are just so many sports and each sport has so many variations. It can be hard to follow all of them.

Game 115 – ERA Leader: Don’t tell the Jays

Once again the Blue Jays are able to get to an ERA leader. They didn’t pound Duchscherer but they certainly put a dent in his ERA. The Jays scored 4 runs in 5 innings (that is a 7.20 ERA) off Duchscherer, forcing him to throw 101 pitches. Duchscherer gave up 7 hits and 2 walks.

The Jays then jumped on a left, Jerry Blevins, for 2 more runs in the 6th to regain the lead for good. The funny thing is the Jays didn’t really hit the lefty, in fact they had zero hits off him, they didn’t even put a ball in play. Blevins hit the 1st batter, struck out Mench, walked the next 2, and then the Jays pulled out their secret weapon the RBI HBP. That was it for Blevins and in came Devine who gave up a SF to score the Jays 2nd run of the inning w/o the benefit of a hit.

Burnett was ok in this start and he certainly got help from his offence in this start. It is funny how fans opinions of him have changed recently as he racks up the wins. The thing is if you look at his other #’s they are actually a little worse than the past 2 yrs w/the Jays and even his career. The only difference is the offensive support he is receiving and the fact he has been healthy the whole yr.

The Jays bullpen continues to be great throwing 3 more shutout innings. That is another reason for the higher win total for Burnett, the bullpen isn’t blowing any of his leads. Today it was the LH trio of Carlson, Downs, and Ryan each going 1 inning. I actually thought Cito might go to the bullpen an inning earlier. I didn’t think A.J. should be coming out for the 6th. He had thrown 98 pitches (45 balls) to that point and he gave up 3 hits in the 5th incl. a HR. Through 5 innings he had thrown 1st pitch balls to 15 of 24 hitters.

The Jays had a nice 2-out rally in the 4th w/nobody on as they got 5 straight hits capped by McDonald’s 2-run 2B. All 3 of the Jays hits w/RISP came in that inning. They ended the game w/a total of 7 AB’s.

The game Stats are:
ME(f): Ellis

Day 131

Work, Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep.

Game 114 – Running the Catcher

Now that was more like it from Marcum. He goes 7 innings giving up just 3 hits and 2 walks resulting in one run. He even kept his pitch count down throwing just 89 pitches. For that reason I was surprised not to see Marcum come out to start the 8th and at least face the righty Crosby. At one point in the game Marcum struck out 5 straight batters.

I was also surprised to see Downs the one to come in. With a 4-run lead I don’t see the need to go to Downs when you only need 6 more outs. It is not like Downs needed the work as he just pitched 2 days ago. However, I guess part of the reason maybe the fact Downs was already warming to come in w/the game 3-1 but then the Jays added 2 on in the bottom of the 7th. So instead of trying to get another pitcher warm, Cito just let Downs go out there.

Making his MLB debut Gio Gonzalez settled in nicely after a rough 1st inning. It is a good team for Gonzalez to make his debut against given the Jays struggles against LH’s. Gonzalez gave up a 2B, BB, 3-run HR and then a 1B in the 1st. After the 1st Gonzalez didn’t give up another hit until the last batter he faced, a 1B to start the 7th.

Clearly John McDonald should not be trying to run over any catchers. As he hit Suzuki it was McDonald who went down harder while Suzuki barely moved. Granted w/2 outs there was no point getting in a run down and its not like he was going to be able to slide in safely, but if you are going to hit the catcher then you better put everything into it and make sure he is the one feeling it after.

The Jays had some nice defence on display in the 7th. First Barajas came up w/a nice scoop on the low throw from McDonald. It was probably a good thing it was a force play b/c I’m not sure Barajas makes that catch and applies the tag in time. Then Overbay came up w/a nice scoop on the back end of the inning ending DP on another low throw from McDonald. McDonald doesn’t make many mistakes defensively, but he got bailed out on back-to-back plays and the Jays got out of a bases loaded none out situation. The way the inning went you would have thought that was the Jays batting.

Here are the stats:
NAdv: Ellis, Mench (5)
P-NAdv: Casilla, Marcum (7)
DE: Casilla
ME(r): Suzuki

Day 130

Work, Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep.

Game 113 – One Year Wonder

It is too bad the Jays offence didn’t score earlier allowing Richmond to get credit for the win. He had another decent outing, although it would be nice to see him be able to get through 6 innings. Once again he gave up 3 runs coming on 7 hits and 1 walk.

Nice to see the Jays grab another late comeback win and doing so in walk-off style. They struggled again w/a lefty pitcher as Smith held them to 2 runs in 6 innings on 4 hits. That is the 3rd start this season for Smith against the Jays and all 3 he has gone at least 6 innings giving up no more than 3 runs (actually no more than 2 earned runs). Over the 3 starts Smith has gone 18.2 IP giving up 12 hits and 8 BB’s for 5 runs (4 earned).

Luckily for the Jays Street blew another save. I think he may be close to losing the closer role in OAK, especially if Ziegler keeps pitching so well. Ziegler certainly has gone an impressive streak to start his career however I don’t see him being that good of a long term reliever. I think a lot of his success has to do w/his windup and once players get used to seeing him they will have a lot more success against him. It has happened all too often where a pitcher who throws sidearm or has some other funky delivery will have great success when they first reach the majors but it only lasts for one year. Heck, that even happens to a lot of relievers who throw conventionally over the top. Relievers seem to be the hardest to predict as to what they will do from one year to the next. Dare I say that Jesse Carlson may very well fall into that category. I sure hope he proves me wrong but anytime a guy has bounced around that many organizations you have to wonder.

I would have much rather seen Gaston put on the Hit and Run w/McDonald up at the plate in the 5th than the bunt. My reason being the Jays are down by 2 runs at that point and I’d rather not give up an out in hopes of getting 1 run. Plus I trust McDonald to be able to put the ball in play so why not try to start a big inning. Unfortunately, the hit and run doesn’t seem to be in Gaston’s playbook as I’m not sure he has utilized it once.

I would have PH for Mench in the 7th, and since he was left in I would have PH for him in the 9th also. Mench hasn’t hit much at all this year, but his strength is against LH’s, he should not be getting any important AB’s vs RH’s. In the case of the 7th, I doubt the A’s would counter w/a lefty should the Jays have say PH Wilkerson since there were several righties due up afterwards. In the 9th, I would have used Zaun since Wilkerson was already in the game and Zaun was going to have to come in to catch anyways should the game go extras. However, I guess it paid off not pinch hitting either time as Mench ended up getting the walk-off hit.

I don’t know what Scutaro was thinking stopping in the 8th inning on the ground ball by Stairs to first. If Barton throws to 2nd then obviously you want to get to 2nd as quick as possible to at least try to break up the DP. Even if Barton steps on first base first taking off the force play at 2nd, the best chance Scutaro has of being safe is to go hard for 2nd right away. That way Barton has to tag first and make an accurate throw to 2nd, which is easier said than done w/a runner in the baseline, and the A’s have to get the tag on him. As much as you can hope a team will botch a rundown, it happens very rarely at the major league level. You should only be getting into a rundown when you are out by a large margin or if you need to buy time so the runners behind you can advance an extra base.

It was a very good day for Carlos Gonzalez as he had 4 hits and scored 2 runs.

Overbay is struggling right now as he is 0 for his last 11 and 1 for his last 16.

On with the stats:
Adv+: Gonzalez
P-Adv+: League (1)
NAdv: Ellis
P-NAdv: League (1)
WG: Cust
ME(r): Scutaro 2 (4)

Day 129 – Q3

Work, Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep. Well the first 4 anyways, the sleep part may be disappearing as it is the start of 3rd quarter at work.

Game 112 – Secret Weapon

Roy Halladay was once again dominant giving up just the 1 run over 8 innings on only 4 hits. He walked one and struck out 8. Sometimes he just makes it look so easy, but it sure is a joy to watch.

The Jays pulled out a new secret weapon for scoring runs. Since they don’t seem to be able to get many hits to drive in runs, they have now resorted to getting hit. Twice in this game a Jays batter got hit by a pitch w/the bases loaded. Given the way Halladay pitched those 2 runs would have been enough, but nonetheless the Jays did kick in a few hits as well. They went 3 for 13 w/RISP and also picked up a SF. Not exactly impressive but it got the job done.

The A’s pitchers really struggled w/their control. They issued 4 walks and hit 3 batters. Gallagher especially struggled as he issued all 4 walks and hit 2 batters. He threw 49 strikes and 45 balls, and that was just in 3 innings of work.

It was interesting to see Eckstein out there at 2B. Maybe it is a way to try and get him more playing time. The thing is its not Inglett he should be replacing, it is Scutaro. I don’t get where this Cito lovefest for Scutaro comes from. This team needs offence and clearly Eckstein is the better hitter of the two. He has proved over his career and even this year he has better numbers across the board. He has a higher AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, even AVG w/RISP. Plus even if you consider defence I’m not sure Scutaro is any better defensively at SS than Eckstein. Eckstein has even had to keep his numbers up while his AB’s come few and far between.

Bobby Crosby was one of the only A’s to have any success against Halladay as he provided all their scoring thanks to a solo HR in the 8th. He also had a 1B in his prior AB in the 5th. He was one of just 3 A’s who did not strike out (in fact the only players not striking out were the 7-8-9 hitters).

Here are the game stats:
Adv+: Barajas (8), Stairs (5)
P-Adv+: Gallagher 2
NAdv: Stairs (7), Eckstein (5)
P-NAdv: Gallagher, Meyer
DE: Suzuki

Day 128 – Quick Turnaround

Waited at the hotel for a couple hrs before the shuttle came to pick me up and take me to the airport, where I had to put in a couple more hrs before my flight actually left.

I wasn’t flying directly back to Toronto as I had a layover in Philadelphia. Consequently, I didn’t get back to Toronto until around 2:45, and back to my apartment ‘til around 4:30. So basically all I had time to do was grab something to eat quickly and make my way in to the Jays game. The game was starting at 6 tonight rather than the usual 7 due to the holiday and the fact they had fireworks scheduled after the game.

Needless to say it was nice to get home that night.

Game 111 – Umpire Conference

I wouldn’t say the start was quite as bad as the line looks for Purcey. His control was a problem as he walked 2 and hit 2 batters and he gave up too many long balls. Purcey only gave up 3 hits through his 5 innings but all 3 were HR’s and 1 came after a walk, another after a bean ball leading to 5 runs.

The Jays staked Purcey to a 4 run lead heading into the bottom of the 4th, but once again the Jays let an early lead slip away here in TEX. Unlike on Fri where the Jays offence at least threatened after TEX caught up and eventually retook the lead (only to again blow it) tonight they did very little after the 1st. They scored 3 runs in the 1st on 3 hits and a walk. They picked up just 4 hits the rest of the way, 2 of which led off the 4th and led to their other run. The Jays were retired 1-2-3 in 5 of the innings. They finished the game going 2 for 10 w/RISP (both hits came in the 1st inning).

The Jays bullpen had a bit of a rough outing as Camp and Carlson combined to give up 3 runs in the 8th before Frasor came in to get the last out. It may not have mattered but it at least would have made the 9th more interesting if the Jays were still down just 1, especially since Mench got a 1-out 2B. Of course the Jays didn’t cash him anyway, and the Rangers probably would have had Wilson in to start the inning rather than Guardado had it been just a 1-run game.

I was pretty upset that the umps ruled that the pitch in the 5th inning hit Metcalf. The initial call by the HP ump was that it didn’t hit him, but after all the umps got together the call was changed. It was pretty hard to tell from where I was sitting whether it just hit the dirt or it hit Metcalf, but I don’t think that is a call that should be getting overturned. I think the HP umpire has the best view of the batter’s feet so there is no need to even get together w/the other umps, how could any of them have seen it any better.

Laird certainly had himself a nice game w/a pair of 2-run HR’s. They weren’t exactly cheap ones either as they both went out to right-centre field. Although Hamilton didn’t record any hits he still got on base 3 times due to 2 walks and a HBP. Kinsler’s tough series continued as he finished 1 for 13.

Checking the stats:
Adv: Scutaro (2)
P-Adv: Mendoza
NAdv: Murphy
P-NAdv: Carlson (3)
WG: Inglett (1), Davis