Game 162 – Going out with a Bang

The Jays won their season finale finishing 10 games over .500. Thanks to Wells’ 2 HR game the Jays finished w/1 player reaching the 20 HR mark. Those homers represented 4 of the 5 RBI’s Wells got on the day. It was all part of a 4 for 4 day for him pushing his avg up to .300.

Litsch ended the season on a good note throwing 7 innings giving up just 1 run on 3 hits. Litsch retired the first 10 batters of the game. Litsch’s big mistake was beaning Roberts on a 1-2 pitch w/2 out in the 6th. Litsch had struck out the first 2 batters of the inning and had a chance to make it an easy inning. Instead it brought Markakis up who singled and then Mora followed w/a 2B to drive in their only run.

Cito decided to pull out the hit and run for maybe the 3rd or 4th time. He used it w/Scutaro at bat and Inglett on 1st in the 5th inning and nobody out. I don’t like the fact he used it on the first pitch after a new pitcher had just walked the first batter he faced. Scutaro ended up fouling off the pitch.

Wells and Scutaro each went 2 for 2 w/RISP and the rest of the team went 2 for 9.

Snider did not end the season well finishing 0 for his last 9 while Lind finished 0 for his last 8. For Snider it included 4 strikeouts. I’m not sure he is quite ready to be in the big leagues. He hit well (.301 avg/.338 obp/.466 slg) but there were times when he looked outmatched and out of place. He showed flashes of how good a hitter he can be, but he also struck out 23 times in 73 AB which is more than the # of hits he collected (22). I think he would be better served to spend at least a half yr at AAA to start next season.

Brandon League pitched the final inning for the Jays and he recorded 2 outs on the ground and had 1 strikeout. For League that means he finished w/a 2.18 ERA. He did have a 1.30 WHIP mostly due to the 15 walks in his 33 innings. However, he kept the opponent batting average down to .230 and the slugging at .320. He did not blow a save picking up 1 save and 5 holds. Note however how League improved. In his first 16.2 IP he walked 14. In his last 16.1 IP he walked just 1. If League is able to continue to show that kind of control he will be one of the most effective relievers in baseball. It is also worth pointing out that over his last 8 outings he did not record a single out in the air. He got 17 outs on the ground while striking out 4 finishing the season w/a 3.71 ground ball to fly ball ratio.

One last time, here are the stats:
NAdv: Rios (12)
P-NAdv: Simon
ME(r): Inglett (2)