Not to over-egg the pudding here, but last night's walkoff 8-7 win over the Rangers was one of the most exciting, frustrating, demoralizing, reenergizing games we've seen the Blue Jays play in a long time. So much happened in the space of last night's game that you know they couldn't fit that shit all into nine innings.Here's our quick breakdown, broken into its component parts:
The Dopeness
-The Jays winning their third walkoff of the year before they even open the lid on the Dome.
-Rod Barajas cranking out two homers, and having one of the best freakouts on the umpire after taking a called strike three that was three inches below his knees.
-Alex Rios going four for six with two RsBI and looking infinitely better (and as Alan Ashby pointed out, much more quiet) at the plate.
-José Bautista getting four hits and scoring twice. Jo-Bau!
-Jason Frasor, continuing to be awesome with his new changeup. Chalk up two more scoreless innings for the guy who was once the forgotten man in the pen.
-Cito working his seemingly dubious magic and leaving Kevin Millar in against
The Wackness
-The Beej. Oh, the Beej. Four appearances, two saves, two blown. Maybe it's not time to relax about him.
-Aaron Hill's error to extend the ninth, allowing the Rangers to come back.
-Seeing Travis Snider bunt. Every time Snider squares around to bunt, a little part of us dies inside.
-The empty park, apparently abandoned by fans who had better things to do on a Wednesday night than stick around for a walkoff win.
Don't look know, but it's time to start scoreboard watching
The Jays are still on top of the AL East, but the Red Sox (seven straight wins) and the Yankees (three straight) now sit a game and a half back.
Under "The Wackness" you missed out the total crap that wrecked Downs' perfect ERA. If the batters after the double could have hit the ball a little better no run scores.
ReplyDeleteI kind of liked the Snider bunt. The kid knows what he's doing.
My mom always told me "if you can't say something nice don't say anything". So regarding the Beej:
Cowboy Up! The idiot comes to the rescue!
ReplyDeleteLove watching Travis Snider in the walkoff dogpiles, because he always seems bound and determined to beat the living crap out of whoever got the winning hit.
ReplyDeleteMillar was running away from him last night.
Postseason!
Tao, I love "The Dopeness." There was a lot of dopeness last night.
ReplyDeleteClearly, there's no point in wondering/discussing the lineup anymore. The Cito knows all.
Snider's batting .125 against lefties. The bunt had to be done, and it was a beauty. I love that he's getting the job done, regardless of what said job is. What a boss. And you're right, he's a beast in the walkoff aftermath. Loving it.
And, honestly, I want no part of this B.J.
POSTSEASON!!!!!!1
Yeah, Snidey's senses aren't tingling when he's up against lefties...at least so far.
ReplyDeleteWe guess this is the eternal question with LH hitters when they reach the Majors: do you keep them away from lefties, or do you throw them into the pond and make them swim their way through.
It's worth remembering that Cito sat both Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado against lefties a lot early on.
As much as we are loathe to admit it, that bunt was actually the right call. There's a time and place for small ball, and that was it. So props to Snider for putting a good bunt down.
Comments on the "Your Gay Uncle Rance Show" (aka Jays on Sportsnet) last night.
ReplyDeleteI thought the stupidest thing said was by Sam Cosentino (sp?). After a bang-bang play at first, where a Jay was called safe and the Texas manager (who, by the way, looks like a blues singer and not a manager) went out to argue. Sam said the reason he went out to argue is because Omar Visquel was only doing what the manager told him to do by bouncing the ball off the turf when he's throwing from deep in the hole at short. Do you really think anyone is giving tips to Omar Freakin' Visquel on how to play shortstop?
Ron Washington has been pretty mouthy all series. He yipped at the homeplate ump about the third pitch Doc threw after Blalock took out Danley.
ReplyDeleteAnd the ump took off his mask, and basically told him where to go and how to get there. So I think Mr. Washington is just chatty. So yeah, shut up Sam.
The Sox got hot...so we need to keep winning.
I liked how Kevin Millar totally avoided the scrum at home plate. I guess he wanted to savour the moment to himself, or was just running back to the dugout for a snuff refill.
ReplyDeleteWe were listening to the radiocast of the Halladay game, and you could hear the ump (was it Dana Demuth?) clear as day yelling at the Texas bench to shut up.
ReplyDeleteThe radio mics pick up so much of the ambient noise around the plate...it's awesome.
BTW, there's an awesome interview with Millar on the MLB Network site, where he's talking about the walkoff hit and his slide into first.
ReplyDelete*Sigh* Five minutes of the MLB Network...a little salve for our baseball soul.
Romero on DL. Cecil time?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Ricky just hit the DL. Blood clots..........
ReplyDeleteWe might have just had an aneurysm.
ReplyDeleteFor a moment, when we saw that something was up with Romero on Twitter, we were hoping he got arrested.
That's how messed up our mind is right now when it comes to the Jays' pitching.
I noticed Boston's win streak this morning too. When will they LOSE?
ReplyDelete