Archive for the 'Regular Season Game Recaps' Category

Mission ’13, Game 44: Jays win 7-5

Published May 20, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps 2 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Melky’s May Meter

2-4

25 hits

Melky continues to tear the cover off the ball this month. He has 25 hits in 17 games and is about half-way to the 51 hits has raked last May for the Giants. May has been a good month so far for the Melk-ster; he’s emerged from the offensive doldrums he experienced in April.

The Jays played poorly in New York but received a weather-related respite and didn’t have to face CC Sabathia trying to salvage game 3 of that series.  However the Tampa Bay Rays are on the playlist, and the Jays traditionally match up poorly against Maddon’s Rays. It’s RA Dickey against Jake Odorizzi, the young pitcher that Tampa picked up from Kansas City in the James Shields deal.

The Jays’ offense took advantage of a couple of early opportunities, leading 3-1 after a Brett Lawrie triple, but the Rays came right back to knot the game at 3 runs each. That’s the way it would stay for a few innings.

The way things have gone for the Jays this year, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the next team that scores will win and the next team that scores will probably be the other guys. Today it wasn’t the other guys. Things have been a little weird, not only for the Jays but for other teams as well. Last year the Rays’ ‘pen pitched to the tune of a 2.88 ERA, thanks in large part to Fernando Rodney’s career year. This year the ‘pen had a 4.78 ERA. The Jays were beneficiaries of the less-effective ‘pen in Tampa Bay just a few games ago, as the ‘pen coughed up leads in successive games, allowing the Jays to split the 4-game series.

Today it was Josh Lueke. Lueke was just called up from AAA Durham, and was brought in to face the bottom of the Jays’ line-up. Three walks later, Edwin Encarnacion made him pay the piper. He doubled to drive in all three base runners and the Jays led 6-3. A Kawasaki triple drove in Henry Blanco from first base to round out the Jays’ scoring. Make it 7-3 Blue Jays.

Strangely, the game wasn’t over, as Casey Janssen was called on to pitch the ninth inning. It’s been a little more than a week since Casey’s last appearance, so a little rust would be understandable. Given his customary efficiency, that means maybe a walk and a hit. Not so. A single and a 2-run home run by Yunel Escobar made the score 7-5 Jays. Then a single by Brandon Jennings and Matt Joyce’s 3rd walk of the day set up a confrontation with Ben Zobrist. Janssen didn’t need to be told who followed Ben Zobrist in the Rays’ line-up. A 3-pitch strikeout ended the Rays’ uprising, and the Jays scuffled away with a not-so-pretty 7-5 win.

RA Dickey pitched very well again and, like Melky, seems to be emerging from his first-month blues. The Nashville native has pitched better of late but the Jays, their fans, and RA himself expect more. Today he delivered. He pitched eight innings of 4-hit ball, and gave up 3 runs—2 earned—while walking 3 and striking out 5. The walks (3) and passed balls (1) are going to be a staple of RA Dickey starts. We Blue Jays’ fans need to realize and accept that.

The other side of that coin is Henry Blanco. Typically White Hank has been an automatic out, but today he was on base three times (2B, 2 BB) and scored twice. I don’t think his offense is the issue anyways. Comments are being made regularly about his influence in the dugout, as well as his rapport with the pitchers—RA Dickey in particular—and JP Arencibia. If there’s one thing the Jays have lacked in recent years, it’s good quality leadership. This year they have several of them, and it’s one of the few pleasant surprises early in the season.

No matter how you slice it, taking game 1 from the Rays is good. The Knashville Knuckler did his thing, and the defense and offense followed suit.  Even Emilio Bonifacio’s getting on base regularly.Good win.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 43: Yankees win 7-2

Published May 18, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps 3 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Melky’s May Meter

1-4

23 hits

Forgotten last night in our look at the Jays’ pitching staff was Melky’s May Meter. He went 2-4, to increase his May total to 22 hits in 61 ABs. It’s been a good half-month or so for Melky.

Speaking of Melky, watching him chase a fly ball in left field reminds me that it’s time to look at the defense. His hammies are bothering him, and he covers noticeably less ground or, perhaps, he covers the same amount of ground but it takes him longer to do it. Either way, we’ll take a peek at the D.

Brandon Morrow isn’t sharp today, not surprisingly. It’s his first start in 13 days, and it comes against a team that hits well and speed bags the Jays. The damage was done by two players who hit especially well against the Jays: Brett Gardiner and Robinson Cano. Cano hit a pair of 2-run homers against Brandon Morrow. Travis Hafner tacked on a 2-run shot in the 8th to complete the scoring.

The Jays have been quiet against David Phelps for the most part. Phelps is the pitcher who, in 4 innings of relief against the Jays earlier this season, struck out 9 batters. The Jays have put runners on base, but done very little with them. Phelps and Kuroda used the same game plan: to their shame, the Jays didn’t change their approach. The result was strikingly similar.

Buck and Tabby have nailed it. They’ve concluded that “they [the Yankees] know how to win”. I guess that’s it, then. A line-up featuring Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay, Jayson Nix, Austin Romine, Curtis Granderson (fresh off the DL), Travis Hafner, and David Adams “know[s] how to win.” They didn’t pick up all these scrubs and cast-offs, nor did they call up the young guys simply because they needed to fill holes pretty desperately. No, the Yankees are never desperate; they simply added another layer of criteria to their decision-making process. Yes, they needed to fill holes because their all star line-up is seriously depleted, but not just any player will do. The players have to “know how to win”, and these guys fit the bill. *facepalm*

Here’s the Jays’ defense by the numbers:

Inn

BIZ

Plays

RZR

ARM

DPR

RngR

ErrR

UZR

UZR/150

Total

3363

591

493

.834

2.7

-1.0

-8.9

-2.9

-10.2

-3.6

Rank

6

3

3

10

4

12

13

13

12

9

Prev. Rank

3

6

8

14

4

10

14

14

13

13

This info was adapted from: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=fld&lg=al&qual=0&type=1&season=2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=19,d

  • There’s good news and there’s bad news: the good news is that the Jays’ D isn’t as bad as it was a month ago; the bad news is that their D is still bad;
  • poor defense has meant extra outs, more batters, and considerably more pressure on a pitching staff and offense that have also underperformed
  • let’s illustrate from today’s game:
    • Morrow’s dropped ball opened the door for a 3-run inning;
    • an Izturis error in the 8th inning led to a 2-run HR by Hafner;
    • this was followed by Adam Lind dropping a ball that was squibbed up the 1B line, allowing Lyle Overbay to reach safely;
    • it meant extra work for Oliver, and that the Jays, instead of facing a difficult 3-run deficit heading into the top of the ninth, faced a near-impossible 5-run deficit;
  • Maicer Izturis has committed 3 errors at 3B (Lawrie’s territory) and 2 errors at SS (Reyes’ territory) but no errors at 2B;
  • Brett Lawrie’s arrival has stabilized the infield somewhat, and Reyes will probably have a similar effect defensively but the Jays don’t have the luxury of waiting;
  • the Jays still have significant defensive weak spots at C, 2B, SS, and wherever Rajai (OF) or Bonifacio (OF/IF) play;
  • taken together with the offense and pitching numbers that we’ve already seen, the Jays are right where they ought to be: the bottom of the AL East, and one of the worst teams in MLB.

Looking at the offense, pitching, and defense is illuminating. Any improvement is slight and slow but, dang it, that glass is half full: they’re improving. Realistically, though, we’re watching a team that has so many big problems that 80-85 wins would be a significant achievement.

Todays’ game illustrates the problems they’ve created for themselves all year. Ineffective starting pitching by Brandon Morrow (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO), in concert with a bobble by Morrow himself and ineffective offense (8 H, 3 xbh, 3 BB, 11 SO leading to 2 ER) led to a 5-run loss. Jose Bautista’s base running gaffe in the first set the tone; the errors and ineffective offense finished the job.

Will the Jays pull it together this season? Their incremental improvements on offense, on the mound, and in the field suggest that if they do it will be too little, too late sort of like the chicken wing in the game today. Edwin’s solo HR, while welcome, only made the score 5-2. Is RA Dickey vs. CC Sabathia another case of too little, too late? That depends on which RA shows up; we can count on a quality start from CC. The Jays will try and avoid the sweep in game 3.

Other Links:

A.L. East Prospect Report – May 16, 2013 – See the daily prospect report with all of the best American League East prospects.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 42: Yankees win 5-0

Published May 17, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps 1 Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Ah, pitching. It’s the middle of the month and we’re taking a more in-depth look at the Jays at two levels: how they compare to the rest of the AL, and whether they’re improving or declining. Today, as the Jays roll into YS3 to play the Yankees we’ll consider how the pitching staff is performing.

The Yankees swept the Jays in four games late last month; the Jays are looking for a measure of payback. We’re also curious to see what kind of quality this hot streak is. A split is good; a series win is better; a sweep is ideal. Getting swept, well, we won’t go there. Mark Buehrle pitched well his last time out, but struggles against the Yankees; Hiroki Kuroda doesn’t struggle against the Jays.

Kuroda cruised throughout the game as the Jays didn’t really mount a serious challenge after Melky’s double to lead off the game. It was impressive considering how well the Jays were hitting lately. The Jays had some very good AB’s but weren’t able to square up anything against Kuroda.

When we put it into context, Mark Buehrle pitched well through 6 innings. He doesn’t match up well against the Yanks, but held them to 2 runs on 3 hits to that point. It was the seventh inning that was his undoing, as he loaded the bases and gave up a run with none out before being relieved by Aaron Loup. Loup allowed two inherited runners to score, meaning Buehrle gave up 5 ER in the game.

The Jays’ run differential this season (-35 entering the game) means that we’re seeing the bottom of the pecking order in the ‘pen a little too often. The regulars at the bottom of the pecking order are Brad Lincoln, Esmil Rogers, and Brett Cecil. Cameos have been made by Edgar Gonzalez (now with HOU), Mickey Storey, Dave Bush, Justin Germano, and Jeremy Jeffress. I didn’t intend to do this originally, but the numbers just jumped off the page. Here’s how the bottom of the ‘pen has performed:

IP

ER

ERA

H

HR

BB

SO

HBP

WP

sans Cecil

46.0

38

7.77

61

11

24

30

4

3

Cecil

21.0

6

2.57

15

1

7

23

0

2

Total

67.0

44

5.91

76

12

31

53

4

5

This info was adapted from: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/2013.shtml

  • compare the overall performance by the staff (see below) and the performance by the bottom of the ‘pen;
  • here’s a revealing look at the proportions: the bottom of the ‘pen has pitched 18.3% of the total innings thus far, but have given up 20.8% of the hits, 23.5% of the HR, 19.7% of the BB, 23.5% of the HBP, 31.3% of the WP, but only 18.5% of the Ks (the proportions are worse when Cecil’s numbers are removed);

Brett Cecil has been terrific. However, the Jays get into too many situations where they need to turn to pitchers who are of such low quality that inherited runners are likely to score and their own performance will cost the Jays runs. It’s a fairly significant issue on a team that gives up too many runs and struggles to score runs consistently.

Here’s how the pitching staff as a whole has performed this season:

R/G

ERA

ShO

SV

IP

H

R

ER

HR

BB

SO

HBP

WP

BF

ERA+

H/9

Total

5.12

4.75

1

11

365.2

378

210

193

51

157

287

17

16

1621

91

9.3

Rank

13

13

t-6

t-4

4

3

3

3

t-2

t-2

11

3

t-7

t-3

13

12

Prev. Rank

15

15

t-7

t-2

6

1

1

2

10

13

14

t-3

t-8

3

14

14

This info was adapted from: http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2013.shtml

  • I re-arranged some ranks on the original table for clarity—some in ascending, some in descending order (it felt wrong to say they were ranked 3rd in the AL in R/G and ERA when it really means 3rd worst): anyhow, the upshot is that it was bad a month ago and it’s bad now, though marginally less bad;
  • HR and BB haven’t been re-arranged—the Jays are tied for 2nd worst in the AL in those categories;
  • something not shown on the table is that they’re the 2nd oldest staff in the AL (31.2; New York Yankees, 32.4);
  • the typical Jays game by the middle of April: 9 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO;
  • consider that over the last month, the typical game has improved to this: 9 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 7 SO (an error or two will have made one of those runs unearned);
  • two fewer hits per game, one less run per game, and a couple more Ks, combined with improved offense means the Jays are giving themselves better chances to win;
  • in the time between glimpses, the Jays haven’t faced any push-overs either;
  • the home run continues to plague the staff: they’d given up 12 in their first 14 games (1.17/gm), but 37 in the 29 games (1.28/gm) since the last glimpse we took;

I think Hiroki Kuroda’s pitched well enough for long enough in the Major Leagues to include him in any discussion about quality pitchers from the NPB. He’s accumulated 16.5 fWAR while posting a 3.61 FIP and a 3.36 ERA in almost 1000 IP since 2008 with the Dodgers and Yankees. This season he’s stranded 82.7% of the runners he’s put on base in 8 games. He knows how to pitch and is exactly the type of pitcher against whom the Jays struggle.

The Jays let this one get away from them in the seventh. It wasn’t a pretty start to the series for the Jays. They’ve now lost nine in a row in Yankee Stadium.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 41: Jays win 11-3

Published May 15, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps 12 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Melky’s May Meter

1-3

20 hits

Ryan Vogelsong vs. Ramon Ortiz isn’t exactly a marquee match-up. Truly, it would have been difficult to predict even a week and a half ago. Injuries have called for a shuffle in the Jays’ pitching staff, including a four-man rotation and moving Brandon Morrow’s start date to accommodate nagging back issues.

We know exactly how it feels when a good pitcher (Vogelsong) has a tough start to the year, then gets victimized by shoddy fielding. Errors by normally-surehanded fielders Marco Scutaro and Angel Pagan led to a 5-1 lead after the first inning. All of the runs were unearned. They kicked it around a little in the second inning, too, and the Jays scored some more. Didn’t the 8-1 lead look familiar, but a little out of place? It’s no time to gloat. We’ve seen some laughers, but it’s been the other team laughing so far this season.

The Jays’ offense is the focus of this recap, and they’ve obliged by taking the Giants out to the wood house. John Gibbons has received his fair share of criticism for the Jays’ bad start, but he doesn’t get much praise for the job he’s done. One of the experiments he’s done since Jose Reyes’ injury is to put Melky at the top of the line-up, followed by Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and JP Arencibia. The team’s offensive surge owes part of its momentum to this particular move. Since Gibby filled out that Melky-Jose-Edwin first line-up card against BOS on May 11, they’ve combined to go 21-46 (.457).

The general upswing by the offense has taken advantage of the extra base runners, as well. The Jays’ improved focus at the plate, mentioned in yesterday’s recap, includes longer at bats, better situational hitting, more walks, more base runners, more runs, and deeper pitch counts for the opposing pitchers. They have taken greater advantage of opportunities, such as errors committed by the opposition. Tonight’s game serves as Exhibit #1. Vogelsong threw 64 pitches in 2 innings; Chad Gaudin threw 72 pitches in 3.1 innings. Eleven runs, 10 hits, 5 BB, and 3 K on 136 pitches in 5.1 innings. Teams are paying for their mistakes.

It’s the middle of the month, so get out the shovels: it’s time to dig deeper. Here’s how the Jays’ offense ranks among AL teams and relative to their position last month:

R/G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO OBP SLG OPS TB
Total 4.10 1489 1341 164 326 61 6 51 29 7 118 308 .307 .412 .733 544
Rank 12 7 6 10 12 12 t-6 2 t-1 t-4 t-8 6 t-13 8 7 8
Prev. Rk 9 8 11 10 12 5 5 7 3 7 10 2 11 10 11 11

*This info was adapted from: http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2013.shtml

Here are a few observations:

  • The Jays are have played more games than most teams;
  • The Jays have improved from a bottom-of-the-league offense to an average offense;
  • The improvements (SB, BB, SO, OPS, TB) are encouraging, while we need to keep an eye on some of the declines (R/G, 2B, OBP);
  • The Jays steal bases at an 80.6% success rate—this is an underused weapon in the arsenal;
  • In an average game, the Jays get about 8 hits, about 3 of which are xbh;
  • However over the last 10 games they’re 7-3, scoring 68 runs (6.8/gm) on 107 hits (10.7/gm)–prior to that they were 10-21, scoring 107 runs (3.5/gm) on 230 hits (7.4/gm);
  • The drop in OBP is almost insignificant as their OPS has actually improved, leap-frogging a quarter of the AL teams;
  • The Jays ground into a lot of DPs (37; 3rd, AL)–the teams with the fewest GIDP are typically the weakest offensive teams in the AL.

Did anyone see this coming? Sure, Zito and Vogelsong are their #4 and #5 starters, but to beat San Francisco in both games the way they did? The Jays have run their streak to seven wins in 10 games to end the first ‘quarter’ of the season at 17-24. It’s not where many of us thought they’d be, but they’re showing signs of playing to their capabilities. Some are even—dare I say it?—overachieving: Ramon Ortiz (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) pitched seven complete for the first time since 2007. Thursday is an off day for the Jays, then they head into the Big Apple for a three-game set against the Yankees. Can they keep it going?

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 40: Jays win 10-6

Published May 14, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps 5 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Melky May Meter

4-5

19 hits

Melky’s found his hitting shoes, just in time to face his old mates with the Giants. Melky’s not the only one, though. Since our last recap the Jays have started to make some noise offensively, helping them to take two out of three from the suddenly-reeling Red Sox.

It’s not just the number of hits that’s impressive, it’s the at bats and the obvious plan at the plate. They’re seeing more pitches, hitting the ball to all fields, and they’ve modified the all-or-nothing approach that plagued them for the first few weeks of the season. Make no mistake, though: as well as the Jays are playing lately—and they are, indeed, playing well—they have their work cut out for them. Their 4-3 road trip which, in itself, is impressive (.571 ball works out to about a 92 or 93 win season), would give them about 85 wins if they were to play that well for the rest of the season. They’ve dug themselves into a deep hole with very few players playing either well or consistently.

Okay, let’s not belabour the early season difficulties. RA Dickey pitched very well tonight, complementing the barrage of hits. Part of me wonders, though, at the timing of this good effort: it’s the first time that he’s faced a National League opponent. His line for the night was more than solid: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. Maybe the Jays just need to tell him that every opponent is a National league team, or a National League wannabe. At any rate, we’ll take it.

In the second inning he ran into a little trouble. A full count ground out followed by two walks led to a trip to the mound by Henry Blanco. I don’t know what they talked about (pizza after the game? the Leafs? good investment strategies?), but White Hank began positioning himself in the middle of the plate, and Dickey benefited greatly. His knuckler was sharper and caught more of the plate more often. There were other changes in strategy (first-pitch fastballs to patient hitters like Marco Scutaro), but the catcher’s positioning was pivotal.

Dickey was relieved by Brett Cecil, who continues to impress. He, of course, is one of the few players who has played both well and consistently early in Mission ’13. The heavy ball program he used in the off-season has paid handsome dividends already with increased velocity, a sharper curve ball, and the pleasing intangible: greater confidence. This is the first time in several years that Brett Cecil looks as if he thinks he’s capable of getting big league hitters out regularly. He’s a different pitcher; he’s a better pitcher.

The Jays played well again, the only exception being Brad Lincoln, and have now won six of their last nine games against good quality teams. This is a little stretch upon which they can build.

**Note: Munenori Kawasaki entered the game as a pinch runner in thee sixth after Adam Lind singled. One of the first things he did was bow to 1B umpire Tom Hallion. Whether we agree or disagree with Kawasaki’s religious beliefs, the respect he has is something the Jays need to emulate.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 39: Jays win 12-4

Published May 14, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps Leave a Comment
Tags: , , ,

This one was very satisfying. Chad Jenkins pitched in place of injured Brandon Morrow and pitched very well. His stuff isn’t electric like Morrow’s but he was around the strike zone all game. The Jays also turned the tables on Boston, blowing out the the team that had blown out the Jays twice earlier in the season.

The offensive star in this game was none other than Emilio Bonifacio, who fell a triple shy of the cycle.

This win gave the Jays a winning road trip (4-3) against two teams ahead of them in the division.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 38: Jays win 3-2

Published May 14, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps Leave a Comment
Tags: , , ,

This one was pretty for the Jays. Mark Buehrle pitched seven shutout innings before getting into a little trouble in th eighth. By the time the inning was over, the Red Sox knotted the score at 2-2. Adam Lind wasn’t satisfied with that, so he homered against Junichi Tazawa to break the tie and give the Jays a one-run margin.

Buehrle said that he believed all game that no one for the Red Sox would be able to hit him either hard or consistently. He typically begins to bring it together at this point of the season.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 37: Boston wins 5-0

Published May 14, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps Leave a Comment
Tags: , , ,

Like the Jays, I have to play some catch-up so we’ll make some quick additions to the recap line-up for future reference.

Coming off a split with the Rays, the Jays lost the first of a 3-game set against division rival Boston. There was good reason, though, as Jon Lester has rediscovered the magic this season. His last few games were less-than-stellar, but he brought it all together in this one. Lester gave up one hit—a double to Maicer Izturis—in a CG SO. If you want to be surprised, you need to check Jon Lester’s career SO numbers.

This game dropped the Jays to 2-3 on their AL East road trip.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 36: Rays win 5-4 in extras

Published May 9, 2013 Jays Talk , Regular Season Game Recaps 2 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Melky’s May Meter

13 Hits

RA Dickey vs. David Price seems to offer us one extreme or the other: it’ll be a well-pitched game or it will be a high-scoring affair. This is only the third time since the Cy Young Award was given to pitchers in each league that reigning CYA winners have faced one another during the next season. One hopes for better results from these guys..

David Price did his part. He set down the Jays 1-2-3 with 2 Ks in the top of the first inning. Perhaps this will be the former scenario: well-pitched and low-scoring.

Back-to-back doubles by Kelly Johnson and Evan Longoria, followed by a walk to James Loney and a run-scoring single by Matt Joyce staked the Rays to a 2-run lead in the bottom of the first inning.

The Jays answered with a run in the top of the second and two in the the top of the third inning to take th4 lead, 3-2. Then again, maybe one of the end-of-the-rainbow scenarios won’t happen at all. Buck and Tabby have mentioned Price’s velocity regularly in the game, and it seems to be down. He averaged 95 mph with his fastball last season and it’s topped out at something like 94 mph tonight. Price tried to muscle one of those fastballs past Jose Bautista on an 0-2 count but was disappointed: Jose ripped it past Kelly Johnson to the wall in left. Two of the Jays’ runs were unearned as Longoria made a throwing error on a sharply hit ground ball by Rajai Davis. It’s nice to see him give back a couple of runs. He and KJ have been outstanding in the series.

Speaking of Longoria, he strode to the plate immediately after a one-out hit by Ben Zobrist. There was no error on the play but Colby Rasmus clearly misread the ball. Zobrist hustled all the way and ended up on 3B. Longoria swung at the first pitch and scalded it to 3B, where Lawrie made a very good play to record the out. It’s a big out, as Longoria didn’t do any damage for the Rays. The big out is lost, however, as a Henry Blanco passed ball has plated the run, tying the game at 3. You can have an intellectual grasp of how difficult it is to catch a knuckleball, but it’s obvious when there is a runner on 3B. Three IP, three unearned runs in this game.

A walk by Rasmus and a single by Maicer Izturis preceded a foul ball hitting Rays’ catcher Jose Molina on an unprotected part of the knee. Molina went down hard and was clearly in agony. The tools of ignorance, indeed. A hit-and-run by the Jays with two strikes on Blanco resulted in a strike-him-out, throw-him-out DP. Izturis was out by 15 feet, and Molina has been fairly easy to run on for the last few years.

Rajai Davis is going to make up for Izturis. He followed a humpback liner to right-centre with a steal of second and third base, to put a runner on 3B with no one out. Melky struck out—apparently he doesn’t know about Melky’s May Meter. A long fly ball to CF by Jose Bautista has brought Rajai home, making the score 4-3 Jays. Price only needed 8 pitches to retire the side, but Rajai’s single and two stolen bases have put Toronto in the lead.

RA Dickey is clearly exasperated, and he has reason to be. Last June he shut down these very same Rays, throwing 106 pitches (101 knucklers) and striking out 12 in a CG. He followed that outing with a one-hitter against BAL. This year has been a different story. With the new catcher(s) to break in, the new team, and the new league, he’s frustrated. This game is no different. Even as I write this, Buck and Tabby were speculating that Desmond Jennings was going to run, but he didn’t need to: Dickey balked him to 2B. His facial expressions, mannerisms, and demeanor demonstrate clearly that he’s very frustrated. Following the balk, he walked Zobrist to bring Longoria to the plate with runners on the corners. He moved toward the dugout after throwing an excellent 2-2 pitch to Longoria, only to have it called a ball. Longoria popped up to Lawrie to end the inning, and RA’s first move was to walk to the home plate umpire to discuss the strike zone. The umpire didn’t look impressed. Despite his struggles, the Jays still lead 4-3.

Mark DeRosa sees his pitcher struggling so he’s all business, singling to Cf to open the 6th inning. Brett Lawrie didn’t seem to notice as he swung at and flied out on the first pitch to him. He seems to want Dickey back out there ASAP. The Jays went down in order after DeRosa’s single to start the inning.

Despite a BB to begin the inning, RA Dickey induced three straight pop-ups, one of which was dropped (in foul ground) by Henry Blanco, and then struck out Jose Molina to end the inning. Dickey has bounced back a little in the game. Here’s hoping that he’s left in for at least another inning.

White Hank dropped the pop up, but hit a sharp single into CF to start the Blue Jays off in the seventh. Rajai’s hard-hit liner was gloved by Longoria at 3B: each third baseman has ‘stolen’ a base hit from a player tonight. Melky’s fielders’ choice grounder means he’s unlikely to get a hit tonight. Bautista’s high chopper to Longoria turned into another fielders’ choice, as they head into the bottom of the inning.

Ugh. RA Dickey has been relieved after six complete innings. I like Steve Delabar but I don’t like seeing a pitch count applied woodenly to a knuckle ball pitcher. Yunel Escobar homered against Delabar to tie the game at four. Is every former Blue Jay going to enjoy success against this team? Incredible. Yunel’s HR boosted his slash line to .182/.236/.303 for the season. For the record, the 3 batters due up this inning were 2-7, R, BB against Dickey tonight. (Ex-Blue Jays have combined to hit 8 HR against TOR this season.)

The Jays went quickly and quietly in the top of the eighth inning. Edwin flied out to deep LCF, DeRosa struck out and Lawrie hit a lazy fly ball to RCF. I don’t have a good feeling about this game. David Price, despite his struggles, has now pitched eight complete, giving up 7 hits and a walk. The Jays haven’t capitalized since the early innings and Price is getting stronger.

Evan Longoria singled to open the bottom of the eighth, making him 8-16 in the series. Darren Oliver came in to pitch with 3 straight lefties due to hit. Delabar faced 5 batters, giving up a home run and a single. James Loney, the AL’s leading hitter, bunted Longoria into scoring position. Pinch hitter and ex-Jay Ryan Roberts flied out but Luke Scott singled to RF. A good throw by Bautista to the plate kept the game tied at 4.

Fernando Rodney is on to pitch the ninth for the Rays; Rodney was ineffective in game one, throwing 37 pitches and giving up JP Arencibia’s 2-run HR. Rasmus struck out on 3 pitches. I pegged him for a 0-4, 3 K night; he’s 1-4, 3 Ks. Izturis grounded to 2B on the second pitch he saw and JPA, pinch hitting for Blanco, was hit on the right hand (he needs to catch in the bottom of the ninth). Rajai followed the HBP with a single, but Melky K’ed on a 100 mph fastball.

A couple of strike outs and a lazy fly ball to CF by Darren Oliver have done the trick. The Jays and Rays are headed to extra innings. Both teams sport 1-2 records in extras. In the top of the 10th Jose Bautista grounded out on the first pitch from Kyle Farnsworth. Bautista’s been a top slugger over the last few years but he’s not a particularly intelligent hitter. Edwin popped up to short and Munenori Kawasaki was thrown out on a bunt attempt.

Staying away from Evan Longoria means pitching on the black. A double by the Rays’ 3B put a runner in scoring position; Loup walked Loney intentionally. Brad Lincoln came in to face Ryan Roberts with two outs and runners on first and second. Roberts walked to load the bases. Luke Scott walked to win the game. A series that began with such promise ends the way this season has gone: disappointingly.

Wes Kepstro

Mission ’13, Game 35: Rays win 10-4

Published May 8, 2013 Jays Rumours , Regular Season Game Recaps 3 Comments
Tags: , , , , , ,

Melky’s May Meter

13 hits

Last year, Melky Cabrera set a Giants’ record with 51 hits in the month of May. Sure, we all know that the record is tainted but, tainted or not, he leapfrogged some pretty impressive company. He passed Ott, Mays, Chili, Stanky, Mize, McCovey, Frisch, Hornsby, Bancroft, Bonds the Older, Clark, Mitchell, Bonds the Younger, Kent, and, well, everyone else. Melky’s heating up again. I don’t expect 51 hits but I mentioned a few games ago that 35 would be nice, so we’re going to keep track.

Back to the game. Edwin Encarnacion launched a two-run HR to dead centre field against Mike Moore to give the Jays an early 2-0 lead. Ricky Romero, in his second MLB start of the season, had nothing. Recording only one out, he gave up three earned runs and was relieved by Edgar Gonzalez with the bases loaded. Gonzalez quickly set down the two batters he faced. The Rays capitalized on Ricky’s wildness to take a one-run lead.

A relatively quiet inning by the Jays in the second was followed by a minor uprising by the Rays. A hustle-double by ex-Jay Kelly Johnson was cashed in by a Ben Zobrist single, making the score 4-2 Rays.

The Jays continue to hit the ball hard against Matt Moore but, for the most part, they’re coming up empty. In the 1st Mark DeRosa hit a ball sharply to CF but was out and in the 3rd JP Arencibia slugged a ball foul, then just got under another pitch to fly out to Brandon Jennings. It would be a shame if they let Moore off the hook.

April 6-8, 2007. 30-12. 17. In order, those numbers refer to: (1) the last time the Jays won a series in Tampa; (2) the Rays’ record against TOR at the Trop since then; and (3) the number of consecutive series won by Tampa Bay against Toronto. Even though Evan Longoria homered to extend their lead to 6-2, the Jays are guaranteed NOT to lose this series. And, since time is on their side, they can still win this series. Heady stuff.

Melky doubled to lead off the visitor’s side of the 5th inning; Matt Moore is struggling. He hasn’t commanded the strike zone very well all night, especially with his curve ball. That high octane fastball will help him make a lot of outs, though. Jose Bautista was Moore’s first strikeout victim of the game which, in itself, is surprising. If they’re unable to mount a rally against Moore, perhaps they can get into the Rays’ ‘pen early for the third straight game. Walks to Encarnacion and Rajai (sandwiched around a fly out by JPA) have loaded the bases for DeRosa. DeRosa struck out, leaving the bases loaded. Through 5, the Jays are 0-7 with RISP and stranded 8 base runners through five innings.

As a result of a terrible call by the home plate umpire, Joe Maddon has been ejected again. It’s his eighth ejection of the season. You’ll recall that he was thrown out of game two for arguing that Sean Rodriguez was called out on a play at the plate. I don’t remember Maddon being this fiery or disagreeable. Perhaps the frustration of a 14-16 record and two straight tough losses is getting to him.

This should help Joe: Kelly Johnson homered in the bottom of the sixth to stretch the Rays’ lead to 8-2. John Gibbons seems more intent on managing the ‘pen and pitching situation than worrying about getting a “W”. I don’t blame Gibbons if this is his thinking, nor do I disagree with it. The Jays have guaranteed at least a series split, but they’ve also had pitching issues the last two nights. JA Happ was injured after 1.1 IP and Ricky Romero was lifted after 0.1 IP tonight: bullpen management is high on the list of priorities right now.

Esmil Rogers relieved Gonzalez and struck out Evan Longoria before giving up a long, run-scoring double to James Loney. James Loney is the quintessential Tampa signing. He struggled in LA, was involved in the franchise-altering trade between LA and BOS last August, then struggled in BOS after the deal. Now he’s tearing the cover off the ball for the Rays while playing solid defense. Yunel continued the hit parade with a sharp single into left to advance Loney to 3B with one out. A sac fly by Luke Scott has made it a four run inning, extending the lead to 10-2.

It’s interesting to speculate what this game would look like if the Jays mustered some hits with RISP. A hit batter and a walk to begin the seventh led to a sac fly and another base running blunder by Jose Bautista getting thrown out at 3B. Arencibia was safe on a fielder’s choice at 1B, then Rajai and DeRosa singled. Rajai rounded second assuming JPA would be sent home but Luis Rivera put up the stop sign with JPA 20 feet around third and Rajai nearly on the bag. Jose Lobaton inexplicably ran toward the pitcher’s mound and JPA took the opportunity to ‘race’ home, making it 10-4 Rays.

A quiet 8th inning for the Jays left them one more inning to complete a highly-improbable comeback in th 9th inning, assuming that Brett Cecil can pitch around the double he gave up to Evan Longoria. Longoria and Kelly Johnson have both had very good games offensively, with a single, double, and home run each.

Cecil pitched around the double with no further harm. A single by JP Arencibia was the lone base runner in the ninth and the Blue Jays 3-game win streak is over.

I appreciate how John Gibbons managed this game, particularly the ‘pen. Ricky Romero’s ineffectiveness put the Jays in a bind early, and Gibbons managed it well. How many times does a manager make a good impression when the other team scores double digits in runs?

Wes Kepstro

AL Eastbound On Twitter!

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 636 other followers