It's a little hard to see past the series loss, even when Vernon Wells, Frank Thomas and Troy Glaus are starting to swing the bats a bit better. Granted, it was Edwin Jackson, who's not too versed in the subtleties of the pitching arts.
Thomas falling down while running the bases in the second inning might have swung the game to Tampa... if it had been second and third with none out, someone might have been able to hit a sac fly or slow grounder to score a valuable run.
No mo' Tomo? When the philosophical differences between pitcher and ballclub include a 5.79 earned-run average, guess who loses the argument. Ohka was worth taking a flier on; it seems like the Jays are just doomed to audition 11 fifth starters each season before Josh Towers bobs up all Rasputin-like.
As for callups in The 'Cuse, there's the former 14-game winner John Thomson with a respectable ERA and a high WHIP, or Josh Banks, who's got a decent WHIP (1.27) and a 5-plus ERA. Banks is a lot like the Rays' Andy Sonnanstine -- doesn't walk anyone (nine in 60-some innings), but might not be overpowering enough to pitch in the American League.
Wednesday -- Rays 6, Jays 2: Well, that's why you don't get too euphoric, even after six-run ninth-inning rallies.
GQ's Jason Gay wrote a satire (thanks for alerting us slow learners that it was fictional) a while back about a child prodigy named Jake Floyd, a 13-year-old who's a general manager of an indie-league team. As Gay relates, when the kid approached the team owner about becoming the GM and was asked, "How old are you," Floyd snapped back, "Old enough to know you can't bring anyone home from third with two outs." That seemed pretty apropos tonight after Scott Kazmir skated unscathed on a 31-pitch first inning and then got out of the second when Alex Rios obligingly hit into a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded in the second. It just wasn't the Jays' night.
Tuesday -- Jays 12, Rays 11: There's always been a temptation to write something along the lines of what Harold Kaese wrote after a rousing Red Sox win during the summer of the Impossible Dream, 1967, "If the Red Sox can finish the season in the same fantastic manner that they finished Thursday's ball game, they will be in the World Series for sure."
Writing that the Jays will win the wild card if they can finish every game off with something akin to tonight's comeback is risky, but seeing them come back from 8-1 and 11-6 deficits was that kind of pure sweet, even vs. the Rays. (Fortunately for the accredited media, Joe Maddon, with his professorial look, doesn't seem possessed of a Tomma Lasorda temperament.)
It seems wrong to do any rational analysis on this win (even with Tomo Ohka throwing tomorrow, when the ball could again be jumping off the bats like some souped-up Titleist made for long-drive competitions). Adam Lind had five RBI in the first game since Lyle Overbay's injury, which a welcome sight for a team that needs lefty hitting.
Something else to take from that decisive six-run ninth, which was framed by Aaron Hill drawing a pair of walks, was that the Jays did without the home run. In May, the Jays hit the second-most homers in the American League, but didn't really score a ton of runs or put together many rallies. For one night at least, they did.
It was just a freaky night, all the better to get away with a rough Roy Halladay start which doesn't seem to be too much to worry over (he just got hit hard, that's all, one hopes). Rays rookie Andy Sonnanstine (pictured) didn't quite pitch à la Jesse Litsch vs. the Orioles three weeks ago, but he wasn't half-bad. We're rooting for Sonnanstine -- anyone who says his non-baseball ambition would be "professional ping-pong player" is fine by us. (Rays Index has some good background.)It's pretty rueful over at D-Rays Bay, but those cats should know what they signed up for.
Meantime, The Tao notes that the Jays have brought up Curtis Thigpen from The 'Cuse to take Lyle Overbay's spot on the roster, which means there are now four catchers on the roster. Who is catching for the Syracuse Chiefs now?
Recommended reading for Jays fans: Todd Devlin of The 500 Level caught up with Rick Donaldson, AKA The Blue Jays Drummer. Meantime, one of us actually noticed that Rays first baseman Carlos Peña would be fourth in the American League in slugging percentage if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. It's officially time to get a girlfriend.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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8 comments:
The D Rays will play this series a man short. Iwamura is not making the trip, apparently he will rejoin the team Friday.
As well for Game 1 the D Rays closer Reyes is apparently not available having just pitched 3 consecutive days.
I'm surprised that you aren't taking some pot shots at Dukes for allegedly threatening to kill his estranged wife and their children.
Pete,
I saw... injured eye for Iwamura. That only seems to happen to the Rays. Jackson got head in the head with a throw from the outfield a couple starts ago.
Dukes seems like too easy a target. He's still just 22 years old and he screwed up big-time, and he seems to be fortunate that Western jurisprudence hasn't fully figured out how to deal with spousal abuse, namely when it comes to balancing "crime and punishment" with some measure of restorative justice. What he did was bad, but I don't feel right with piling on.
Fair enough about Dukes. Spousal abuse is so screwed up, did you know that this is the 2nd restraining order that Dukes' wife has had against him? The bizarre part is that she got the first one prior to marrying him.
Subsequent to my first post re. Dukes, I read Peter Gammons reporting that the D Rays are trying to move him. He claims to get him away from his Tampa homeboys, I suspect to get away from the bad PR.
I missed Dukes when I saw the Bulls play here last year, he had been suspended for attacking a teammate. Fortunately I did see Young, he had returned from his IL record 50? game suspension for tossing / throwing? a bat which hit an ump.
It is next to impossible for a lot of people to relate to that, I guess that's why I figure I shouldn't infer judgement by making jokes.
Neate, you do know that the GQ article on Jake Floyd was a satire, right? the whole thing was a hoax, poking fun at the push for young GMs in baseball. don't worry, i bit on it too.
that said, i guess the quote was apropos given tonight's events at rogers centre.
I do, now.
I'm a bit surprised that the Jays are dumping Ohka, only because they don't appear to have any credible aleternative. Towers /Ohka, what's the difference? How's Zambrano doing? As for Thomson, the Jays made room on their 40 man for Thigpen by moving Thomson from the 15 day to the 60 day DL, so I don't know when he is eligible to come off.
If the Jays can get in the Wild Card hunt ( good news, Nate Robertson went on the DL today, joining Rogers & Zumaya ) come late July will Rogers pony up some dough to beef up the roster? Godciaardi were pitching that to us fans this winter & spring but how much credibility do they have now post BJ injury?
There's no difference, really... be interesting to see what's out there in July if the cash is available.
With Godfrey you can never trust him -- he's the guy who says Toronto's getting the NFL.
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