Wednesday -- Jays 7, Giants 4: That five-run rally in the fourth that put the game away early was a good pick-me-up. The Jays did all the damage with two out and didn't even have to hit a ball more than 180 feet in the air.
That, along with six decent innings from Dustin McGowan (who pitched well in both his starts this road trip), is what should have happened. The Giants, with a series win already sewn up, rested a couple of their, uh, more experienced regulars and had phenom Tim Lincecum (who gave up all seven runs to absorb his first professional loss) working with a 28-year-old rookie catcher, Guillermo RodrÃguez, who was making his major-league debut. The Jays also had the B team working -- Howie Clark scored three runs out of the leadoff spot -- but it would have been really
Bottom line, it was a 3-3 road trip where the Jays outscored the Dodgers and Giants 27-20. With a break here and there, it could have been 5-1, easy. That suggests they're going to win some games they're not supposed to during this nine-game set vs. the Nationals, Rockies and Dodgers.
Meantime, the lads over at The Tao (who've been supportive over the past few days, I should add) reckon that Sal Fasano shouldn't have any problem clearing waivers and going to Syracuse.
Tuesday -- Giants 3, Jays 2: The endgame was your 2007 Jays in the nutshell, teasing with hints of what might be before reality -- or San Francisco's Randy Winn reaching over the outfield wall right in front of the 382-ft. sign -- snatched it away.
Winn's game-saving catch on Aaron Hill in the ninth was the capper to a night that was a general bummer. A.J. Burnett will likely be done for a while after coming out in the fifth inning with a strained right shoulder strain. In "way to make sure" news, his his teammates got only one hit over the final six innings, leaving Burnett with the loss and a 5-6 record. On the plus side, this activates the cynics' argument that he's a pretender, a "career .500 pitcher" and all that jazz. (So what if the Jays have scored two runs or less in four of his six losses and got only one hit over the final six innings in this game -- that's just having too much perspective.)
Seriously, the feast-and-famine hitting is nuts. Across their past eight games, the Jays have had a 12-run game, an 11-run game... and scored 14 in the other six contests. It's no wonder Cool Standings has them pegged for a final 77-85 record -- that's not injuries talking, that's a team-wide funk at the plate that reflects on coaching, preparation and scouting.
Monday -- Giants 4, Jays 3: It's pretty hard to begrudge Matt Morris throwing a complete-game win after a certain superannuated slugger gift-wrapped a three-run first inning for the Jays. The Giants probably needed this more than the Jays. NoCal baseball writer Tim Kawakami actually wrote yesterday that Bengie Molina (yep, same one) is San Fran's best hitter. Enough said.
Josh Towers, who was gone after four innings and Barry Bonds' 747th career homer, wasn't that bad. It's more about not hitting than pitching poorly. As for the Vernon Wells-Frank Thomas early-season struggles (how long does this "early season" last, anyway?) update: Jays radio play-by-play man Jerry Howarth is usually pretty protective of the players -- it comes with having been with the team for 26 years and seeing the guys every day for six months -- but he seemed disappointed when V-Dub was thrown out in the eighth after hesitating to run on a ground ball down the third-base line. "If you're going to assume anything, assume that it's fair," Howarth said, sounding like a Grade 10 math teacher.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Lowry is a lefty ( and a pretty good one ).
Yeah the Giants are struggling, but there is hope. They have outstanding starting pitching ( Morris, Lowry, Lincecum, Cain & Zito ). Starting pitching is the scarcest commodity in MLB.
As for Barry, has age finally caught up to him? He appears healthy, running better than in years, but perhaps time has diminished the hand eye coordination.
Neate, sorry I misspelled your name on my words of encouragement above.
Thanks for the correction, Pete -- I knew Lowry was a southpaw, but must have cut-and-pasted wrong.
The Giants have a +17 run differential, which suggests they should not be six games below .500.
Matt Cain has something like a 3.31 ERA and he's 2-6.... compare that to Roy Halladay being 6-2 with a 4-something ERA. Even when you account for park factors and the DH in the American League, that's really something.
Post a Comment