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)