Join us, won't you, as we liveblog the McGowan's first start. (Oh, and we might mention if the Jays hitters do something fantastic. We're good like that.)
An efficient three-up-three down inning. A few wonky pitches to the backstop, but he generally looks far more assured, and less likely to pick and nibble around the edges.
By the way, was he always that big? I seem to remember him being shorter and skinnier...
Jays 0 - Indians 0
Top 2nd
Double! Error! Goggles! Ground out! Error! Double play!
All this, and Gibby's got a new jacket!
Jays 2 - Indians 0
Bottom 2nd
V-Mart hits a good pitch the other way for what should be a double, but Adam "Gold Glove" Lind cuts it off. Lind then runs halfway to Akron to track down a fly ball.
4-6-3, call it two! Another efficient inning.
Jays 2 - Indians 0
Top 3rd
KRRrrrr-UNCH! Glaus launches one with Thomas on. (Hey, who would win a footrace between Glaus and Thomas? Or an armwrestling match?)
Hey man, where's Vernon? We were in the can in the top of the 1st.
Jays 4 - Indians 0
Bottom 3rd
Back to our man Dusty: He's missing his spots, walking Johnny Peralta, then Josh Rouse. Jesse Barfield's kid hits and RBI single, and then...yikes, a close call, but Rios catches a screamer off the bat of Sizemore.
I'll give McGowan this: he certainly looks a lot better than Towers or Chacin out there. No funky deliveries, or trickery. Dellucci looks silly striking out on a nice changeup.
Uh-oh. Wild pitch, McGowan doesn't catch the throw from Phillips covering home, and then does the splits going to fetch the ball. Oh, lord. No...
Picking and nibbling around Pronk...who could blame him? And then another V-Mart single drives one in, and we're gettin' nervous. (And if this were Towers coughing up a lead, we'd be going apeshit, but we're clearly biased. We're allowed.) Now he's picking and nibbling around Trotman Nixon, to load the bases. 34 pitches thrown in the inning, after 22 got him through two.
Arnsberg comes out to speak with McGowan, while Phillips adjusts his cup. Neither of those guys know nothin', I swear.
More pitching around Garko, but a ground ball to Glaus, and Dusty's out of the inning.
Jays 4 - Indians 3
Top 4th
Jays go quickly and silently.
Jays 4 - Indians 3
Bottom 4th
McGowan strikes out a couple, and looks like he's got his brains back about him. Then, he walks Jesse Barfield...who eventually comes around and throws a forearm shiver into Jason Phillips.
He's out! Benches clear! Hellzapoppin'!
Jays 4 - Indians 3
Bottom 5th
We were busy yakking on the phone with Shortwaveboy in the top of the fifth. But there was nothing worth noting anyhow.
Dellucci doubles. Hafner smokes it, but flies out to Lind. Victor Martinez is a one-man wrecking crew. With an RBI single, he's now 3-3, with two RBIs. Now Garko triples (why is Matt Stairs in RF?), and there goes the lead. A ground out, and McGowan is out of another tough inning.
Again, the Tribe is a team that rakes, and they're going to give any pitcher a hard time. McGowan just needs to keep his pitches down a bit. (But if this were Zambrano getting hit like this, we'd be calling for his head on a pike.)
Five walks tonight, though, versus four strikeouts. And it looks like we're about to getting into the zaniness that is the Jays 'pen.
Indians 5 - Jays 4
Top 6th
Overbay, double! Phillips, double! (And Phillips kisses and makes up with Barfield. Awww, cute!)
You know, I think that I would feel better about the Matt Stairs homecoming if this were 2001.
Jays 5 - Indians 5
Bottom 6th
Well, that's it for McGowan. The line: 5.0 innings, 6 hits, 4 Ks, 5 BBs, 5 ERs...
Look, it wasn't spectacular, but it at least offers some hope that there is someone else in the Jays system who can pitch. He'll get a couple of more cracks at it. If everything lines up right, it looks like his next start will be Wednesday at home against Dice-K. Yikes.
Marcum looks good, and gets through his inning quickly.
Jays 5 - Indians 5
Bottom 7th
We just flipped over to ESPN Classic, and they were showing a Jays-Yanks game from 2000. We had completely blocked out the horrid memory of watching Alex Gonzalez strike out until tonight.
Victor Martinez is 4-4. Matt Stairs still looks like a softball player in the field.
Hey, Marcum looks like a pitcher tonight!
Jays 5 - Indians 5
Bottom 8th
The Jays go quickly, and now...Frasor. Gargh!
A liner to the gap, and Stairs tracks it down! It's like watching your uncle dunk! Weird, but awesome!
Back to back singles after a couple of quick outs, and we need a cigarette. Arnsberg is back out...enough with the jibber-jabber!
Sizemore hits a ground rule double. Frasor chews his gum like a cow. Did you know that we're revolted by gum? We can't stand it. And Frasor revolts us too. Season ERA? 6.39. That's your closer, Toronto.
Back to the ESPN Classic game: it strikes us that the Yanks team that is playing the Jays is the last of the Yankees dynasty. Has it really been seven years since they won a World Series? And check out the Jays' lineup: Mickey Morandini! Dave Martinez! Brad Fullmer! Check out the boxscore from the game, in which David Wells won his 20th game of the year for Toronto.
Downs gets a pop-up, and the Jays have three outs to work with.
Indians 6 - Jays 5
Top 9th
Two quick outs, and they're playing Europe's "The Final Countdown" at the Jake. Seriously.
Strike three on a weak check swing from Lind, and the Jays are swept, and gone. Two games under .500. Make the final, Tribe 6, Jays 5.
Sigh. We had such high hopes the night.
4 comments:
Vernon's got the flu tonight.
Why do I have the feeling this season is going to be a lost cause?
I guess it should've been expected: Chacin, Ohka, McGowan, Towers and Zambrano getting starts would worry the Royals.
And why was Stairs signed? Ugh.
Post a Comment