It's not to say that the Royals just rolled over and let the Jays rub their belly today in today's 5-2 getaway day win. But it didn't hurt to watch them play a little Alphonse and Gaston out in center field in the 9th, allowing the Jays to get their only "hit" with runners in scoring position today (in seven at bats.)Jesse's got himself a win: After being placed on the jet train back to Syracuse by various and sundry psuedo-prescient pontificators, Jesse Litsch finally put together a pink/round/efficient outing by going seven innings, striking out four and giving up the two earned runs on five hits. And the bill on his cap was flat enough that he looked about 36% goofier today , if that is even possible.
Lineup Madness!! We came at John Gibbons with knives out last year for his constant lineup shenanigans. But today's rejigging of the batting order (necessitated by the day off given the Scrappy-Doo the Short Stop) worked out mostly for the better. We would prefer to see Alex Rios hitting third as opposed to leading off, but it's a bit hard to argue with the results. Also, dropping Vernon Wells down in the lineup is a good start, especially considering that he has a grand total of one extra base hit since April 12.
Scott Rolen is the Greatest Blue Jay of All Time: Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves, but we find something appealing about Rolen's homer, two doubles and four RsBI in three games.
A lefty is a lefty is a lefty: We were a little surprised to hear Mike Wilner stressing on JaysTalk about the decision to bring B.J. Ryan into the game in the eighth. We figured Wilner wouldn't have been as strident about using the closer only for the ninth, and given the amount of rest that the Beej has had (due mostly to the Jays' stupendously sucktastic week), it made sense to get him in the game at that point. If the Jays wait an inning and the Royals suddenly start cracking on the bullpen like George Brett and Frank White, B.J.'s first action might have been pushed back to Tuesday against the Red Sox. As an added bonus, Jesse Carlson, our new favorite Jay, got his first career save.
Next up: The BoSox, who just got swept by the Tampa Rays. Just so you know that we're in good company.
love the Tom Cheek "Alphonse & Gaston" reference....first thing Ithough of when the play happened.
ReplyDeletealso, love the batting order today.....wonder what happens when Eckstein's back in the lineup?
also also, what happens now when Wolfe comes off the DL? How can you send out Carlson at this point?
All I know is I feel so much more relaxed with Mac at short. I'm not holding my breath everytime the balls hit in the infield.
ReplyDeleteWhile Rolen has been the saviour we've been looking for, not so much for Adam Lind yet. Hopefully he can prove he's not a just a destroyer of AAA pitching this year. I think we'll really need him for 09 as Snider may not be up as quick as most of us thought last year, have you seen Snider's numbers to start the year, not pretty.
You have to play 16 games before you can be fully evaluated and released, so I think it's a bit early to be worried about Lind.
ReplyDeleteAnd wait, has no one said that Jesse Litsch's stellar outing came against a weak lineup that has two good young hitters (Butler and Gordon)and a whole bunch of roster filler? That would be dickish, saying that. Who would even dare?
JW
Dude! Gift win! Stop with the looking it in the mouth!
ReplyDeleteEvidently we're working toward some kind of consensus about Rolen being the greatest Jay of all time.
ReplyDeleteBlair claims that Eckstein is now the #2 hitter. Ugh.
eck as the 2 hitter is enough for me to see gibby fired.
ReplyDeleteThe best part about the game was Rolen's trick shot off the top of the outfield wall, then off the top of the fountain wall.
ReplyDeleteThe best part of the game was David Eckstein viewing from the bench.
ReplyDeleteHard to argue with Lloyd's point...although we were a bit concerned about the lack of scrappy grit.
ReplyDelete