An outstanding start from Litsch tonight going the distance for the shutout and giving up just 4 hits and 2 walks. Litsch retired the last 13 hitters he faced. Only 1 runner reached scoring position and that was a leadoff 2B by Punto in the 3rd. Litsch threw first pitch strikes to 20 of 32 hitters.
The Jays offence really kicked it into gear against the Twins bullpen. After scoring single runs in the 1st, 5th, and 6th off Slowey they added 1 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th off a variety of relievers. The Jays went 5 for 12 w/RISP.
It was a big game for Travis Snider. For the 2nd straight game he got 3 hits, which included his 1st major league HR. It was a bomb to straight-away CF. Snider has shown he can really battle w/2 strikes. Last night he came up w/the 2 strike hit off Nathan, now tonight his 2 singles both came w/2 strikes. In his final AB he fell behind 0-2 but managed to draw a walk (had to foul one pitch off). In his minor league career Snider did strike out a lot and that is one of the things he still has to work on but he is showing some good AB’s up here w/2 strikes.
Lind also had a nice day w/3 hits (2 1B, 1 2B), scored a run, and drove in a run. Lind has been keeping up the average recently but his power seems to have disappeared. That 2B was his 1st extra base hit since Aug. 19, a span of 15 games, which just so happens to be when he last homered. Over those 15 games he is 19 for 63 w/17 1B, 1 2B, 1 HR. It is good to see Lind still getting hits but the Jays need to see more of the power he has displayed in the minors and during June/July. The HR drought may happen on occasion for this long but you would expect him to at least be picking up a few 2B’s here and there over this kind of stretch. It is worth noting that the HR Lind hit on Aug. 19 was the 3rd straight game he had homered in.
Watching Denard Span play in the OF these past 3 days makes me think he has to be among the top 5 fastest players in baseball right now. There were a couple of balls I didn’t think he could get to but he closed on them so well. If he shows he can hit and get on base at a reasonable rate he should be a fixture at the top of the lineup. He did go 2 for 4 today and 4 for 15 in the series but no walks. He also struck out 6 times which for someone w/so much speed is really not good. He stole 1 base and was caught stealing another but that is something that will come if he works on it. His pure speed will allow him to steal a number of bases but there is more to stealing bases than just speed.
By the way with this sweep the Jays finished the season a perfect 6 – 0 against the Twins.
Let’s check the stats:
Adv+: Rios (8)
P-Adv+: Slowey
NAdv: Span
P-NAdv: Litsch (7)
WG: Scutaro (11), Inglett (4)
ME(f): Casilla
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