TOP 5: BLUE JAYS BLOWOUT WINS

The Geek insisted that, in the wake of yesterday's diamond debacle in Baltimore, where the Jays lost 15-0, it would be good not to dwell on the hows and whys of that loss, like how is it that Daniel Cabrera has now pitched two complete-game shutouts this year against the Jays, but can't find that plate with GPS device the rest of the time. (All kidding aside, if Baltimore's young pitchers live up to expectations, look out come 2008.)

Anyone, this should remind everyone that the Jays, have, lo these many years, been on the other side of some serious ass-forkings. Besides, it's baseball. There's always a game the next day, and as of this writing, Troy Glaus just homered to put the Jays up 2-0.

Here's the five most lopsided wins in team history, and yes, this did involve poring through 30 years' worth of scores at Baseball Almanac and Retrosheet.

July 6, 1996: Jays 15, Tigers 0: Pat Hentgen pitched a three-hitter in the Jays' biggest shutout win, while Carlos Delgado, in his first full season, went 4-for-5 with two of the team's six homers. Strangely, for a 74-88 team, this win came during a three-week span where the Jays scored 15 runs in a game three times. Then again, those other two games were against the Milwaukee Brewers. It all makes sense now.

Aug. 9, 1999: Jays 19, Rangers 4: With Joey Hamilton pitching, the Jays knew he would need a lot of run support. They gave him three runs in the first, courtesy of a Delgado dinger, and two more in the third. Each time, Hamilton went out and gave up a home run in the bottom half of the inning. However, he lasted long enough to get the win, coming out after the Jays went up 16-3 in the top of the sixth. Jacob Brumfield started for the Jays in centre-field that night and had four hits, but only scored once and didn't get any RBI. Strange, that.

Sept. 14, 1987: Jays 18, Orioles 3: Yep, the legendary 10-home run night at the Mistake By The Lake, as the Lakeshore Lumber Co. (too bad that nickname never caught on) set a major-league record for most round-trippers in one game. It started in the second inning, when Ernie Whitt hit the first of his three on the night, and Rance Mulliniks and Lloyd Moseby followed with two-run shots off Orioles lefty Ken Dixon. Dixon, like three of the other five pitchers the Orioles ran out there this night, never appeared in the majors again after '87.

In the seventh, the Jays were a dinger shy of tying the record when pinch-hitter Kelly Gruber, as you might expect, hit into a double play. No problem for the Jays, though, who kept the inning going as Rob Ducey hit homer No. 8 and Whitt added the record-breaking ninth. Just for good measure, Fred McGriff added the 10th homer in the Jays' final at-bat.

Now you know the rest of the story: About three weeks later, the Jays would have traded all of that for two measly runs on the final day of the season in Detroit.

Sept. 10, 1977: Jays 19, Yankees 3: The first-year Jays were on their way to 107 losses. The Evil Empire was on its way to the first of successive World Series titles and was throwing future Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter on a Saturday afternoon at the Stadium. So naturally, Roy Howell had what still ranks as the greatest single day at the plate by a Toronto hitter: 5-for-6 with two doubles, two homers, nine RBI and four runs scored.

Two weeks later the Yankees made a return trip to Toronto. They swept the series, winning the middle game 15-0. That stood alone as the worst shutout loss in Jays history until yesterday.

May 16, 2003: Jays 18, Royals 1: The immortal Tom Wilson, given a rare chance to hit in the No. 5 hole, went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored against the Royals, who actually were a .500 team in '03. The real coup de grace came in the eighth, when the Jays scored seven runs in an inning that saw Vernon Wells get two of his four hits. Someone named Jason Gilfillan made his major-league debut for the Royals and gave up four runs in an inning's work. He would pitch 12 more times for K.C. that season and has never been seen in the majors since.

Honourable mention
June 26, 1978: Jays 24, Orioles 10: Earl Weaver's Orioles were 10 games above .500. The second-year Jays were 25 games below .500, and it wasn't even July yet. Mike Flanagan, who won the Cy Young Award the following year, pitched a scoreless first, and then gave up five straight hits and a walk in the second, as the Jays were well on their way to scoring 24 runs in a four-inning stretch. John Mayberry didn't start the game against the lefty Flanagan, but pinch-hit in the second and finished the night going 3-for-5 with seven RBI. Dave McKay doubled from both sides of the plate in the same inning, and 18-year-old Jays catcher Brian Milner collected three of the four hits he would get in his brief major-league career.

In the interest of equal time, here are the Jays' most lopsided losses:
Sept. 28, 2000: Orioles 23, Jays 1 (a long reliever named Roy Halladay pitched two-thirds of an inning and allowed seven unearned runs)
Aug. 25, 1979: Angels 24, Jays 2
Aug. 28, 1992: Brewers 22, Jays 2 (Milwaukee had an AL-record 31 hits)
Apr. 29, 1999: Angels 17, Jays 1
Aug. 15, 1984: Indians 16, Jays 1
Sept. 25, 1977: Yankees 15, Jays 0 (first game of a doubleheader)
Aug. 19, 2006: Orioles 15, Jays 0

That's all for now. Hey, look, the Jays are now up 4-0. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.