---

---

 

Hey all. Today's title comes courtesy of one of the first bands I ever dug, Chicago's Smoking Popes, and their song "Megan." Those guys were awesome. Today's post is in honour of my sister (of the same name as the song) who is graduating from college in two days. Congrats, Megatron!

Anyway, the Jays won a great game yesterday behind some masterful pitching by Shaun Marcum. Marcum was just unbelievable, taking a 1-hit shutout into the 9th and striking out 9 to move himself up to 4th in the league in K/9. He's not been walking them either, and that's a recipe for success, especially given that he's been keeping the ball down much more (8 groundouts yesterday) and not yielding the long ball.

Scott Rolen added a HR and Lyle Overbay hit another double to hopefully continue his march toward a .400 SLG and walked as well. He also hit another long opposite way flyball that almost made it out. Marco Scutaro wasn't much with the glove in his first game as the regular SS, but he had 3 hits, which was great. The Jays called up journeyman Jorge Velandia for added infield depth (Torgen was right, I was wrong (I said Inglett, who continues to tear up AAA)) and sent down Adam Lind, a move that has been inevitable since Gibbons started playing Stewart against righties. I, for one, hope Lind is back soon, but he needs to have better at-bats when he returns.

In injury news, there is reason to be optimistic regarding both David Eckstein and John MacDonald. Eckstein's MRI came back negative and Mac reportedly felt "great" yesterday, which is surprising. It's not clear whether either will be placed on the disabled list, but the Jays should decide by tomorrow at the latest.

Tonight, Jesse Litsch faces the team for which he once served as batboy. Edwin Jackson opposes him for the Rays.

I have rehearsal but hope to make it back in time for the second half of the game. Of course, I also thought I'd do so yesterday, but it didn't work out. Although it was great to find out that I've still got the baseball skills as I had a great game! Let's go Jays!

I'm hoping this is the last They Might Be Giants title for the season and that the Jays can get back to .500 soon. Yesterday, they came up just short, with A.J. Burnett having ths stuff for a dominant start but just not being able to get it done, and the Jays offense coming up just short. It was a frustrating game, and the worst part wasn't the Scutaro dp, or Wells getting picked off, or the numerous first-pitch outs, but the fact that both David Eckstein and John MacDonald hurt themselves and had to leave the game. Eckstein appeared to strain his groin, while Mac's injury looked like it could be more serious. On the plus side, Tallet was good, Camp was great, and Lyle looked locked in at the plate, walking, sharply singling, hitting a long sacrifice fly, and just missing a HR when his RBI double bounced off the top of the dead centerfield wall and back into play.

The Jays look to strike back tonight as two fine young pitchers face off. Matt Garza goes for Tampa while Shaun Marcum looks to keep his excellent season going for the Jays. Marcum's Whip is under 1 and he's struck out an impressive 35 in 40 innings, while only walking 15.

I won't be around for lineups today, as I'm playing softball after work. But I'll be back for most of the game. Let's go Jays!

Wow. An exciting game last night, wasn't it? It looked exactly like one of the Jays' frustrating games of late April until Matty Stairs strode to the plate in the 7th and took a Javier Vasquez pitch deep to give the Jays a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish, though not for lack of trying. B.J. Ryan, only annointed that day as capable of going two consecutive games, walked the bases loaded with 1 out in the 9th, only to end the game in dramatic fashion on a comebacker he turned into the old 1-2-3 double play (hence the Jackson 5 reference in today's title). It was a little worrisome to see Ryan with such poor control of his slider, but hopefully it was just a one-time thing. Ironically, Ryan's walk to Konerko was the first walk issued by Jays' pitching since Friday. His walk to Dye was the second, and his walk to Swisher the 3rd.

Dustin McGowan was magnificent, going 7 1/3 innings and walking no one, surrendering just 4 hits and striking out 6. He extended the Jays incredible streak of effective pitching performances to 9. In other notable news, Shannon Stewart looked decent at the plate, and Sir John MacDonald was used as a defensive replacement.

Today, Little Rock's finest, A.J. Burnett, will face off against the Rays' Andy Sonanstine and looks to keep the Jays fabulous streak going. Burnett has been up and down and has showed little of his improvement in control from the second half of last season, striking out 26 and walking 20 over his 37 1/3 innings, en route to an ugly 1.61 Whip. He was great last time out (though he did add to that walk total by 5) so perhaps he can continue his effectiveness. Andy Sonanstine has been quite good for Tampa Bay, with a 21/8 K/BB ratio over 38 2/3 innings and a 1.16 Whip. He's certainly taken advantage of the Rays improved defense, surrendering only 37 hits in his 38 2/3 innings despite not having many strikeouts.

I'll be running after work today and won't be around to post the lineups, but I will be back for the game. If we win, we're back to .500, as quickly as we plunged from it. Let's go Jays!

---

---

Dustin McGowan ("No Run-DMC" to some, thanks SuckaMD!, a nickname I as a born-and-bred New Yorker am quick to adopt) faces off against fellow hard-thrower Javier Vasquez tonight as the Jays attempt to seal the 4-game sweep that would bring them all the way back to a game below .500.

Yesterday's game featured Doc Halladay finally getting a little run support. Doc pitched great - he had one bad inning which was helped along by an Eckstein throwing error - and gave up only 3 hits and no walks (one HBP) over 7 1/3 innings, while striking out 7. Doc was using his pitches to fine effect and, though he failed to record his 5th straight complete game, it was much more satisfying seeing him finally pick up a well-deserved win.

Offensively, Adam Lind continues to struggle - he had a couple of terrible at-bats yesterday, and finds himself on the bench today against the hard-throwing righty. I find this to be a bit annoying since it's not as if Stewart has done anything to earn the start (in the 2-hole, no less) but perhaps a day off will give the youngster a moment to recollect himself and find his stroke. The slumping Eckstein has been moved to 9th in the lineup.

Today's post comes from a question posed by rincewindw yesterday - What's your favourite Ontario-bred band? My answer was The Band (so far as that counts), but also mentioned Metric, the Constantines, and Kathleen Edwards. I already hit up the Constantines the other day with "I Will Not Sing a Hateful Song" and Kathleen Edwards only writes about Hockey, so that leaves Metric, a fantastic band. The title comes from their lovely song "Soft Rock Star" and certainly seems to fit today's game.

I'll be running and then back to watch the game, which I'm looking forward to. Let's go Jays!

---

---

Don't look now, but our azure-coloured heroes have won 3 in a row and are looking to inch closer to .500 today against the White Sox. The Jays took yesterday's game behind an extremely strong performance by Jesse Litsch, a good day at the plate by Vernon Wells, and Marco Scutaro's first homerun of the season. Litsch was wonderful, yielding only 5 hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out 3 while walking no one, and surrendering just 2 runs, both on solo shots.

After Litsch, who is now 4-1, left the game, Downs and Ryan kept things close, finishing out the game with 3 Ks, no walks, and just one single off Ryan. It's good to see Downs pitching effectively, and Ryan still has yet to yield a run.

Today, Doc Halladay faces off against Jose Contreras. Halladay has tossed 4 consecutive complete games but, due to horrid run support (8 runs over those 4 games), has lost the last 3 of them. The Jays really need to score some runs in support of Doc today.

I did end up going to the Nats game yesterday afternoon (hence my not being around), and it was pretty great - beautiful warm weather and an exciting game. There was a sizable contingent of Jays fans in my section, visiting DC from Canada, so that was fun. The only thing was that the game dragged a bit with all the offense. Let's go Jays!

The Jays won again last night, behind some fantastic pitching by Shaun Marcum, who pitched great despite suffering quite a bit from the flu bug that's been going around. Not only was Marcum able to take the mound, but he struck out 9 over his 6 2/3 innings and didn't surrender any runs. Jesse Carlson, Jeremy Accardo, Shaun Camp, and Scott Downs closed out the game quite well and that was that. Marcum was aided by the defensive presence of his infield, including some great plays by John McDonald. Rolen, Overbay, and Hill all contributed stellar plays as well.

On the other hand, the Jays' inability to score even one run with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs was discouraging and would've been even moreso had the Jays won.

Basically, the last 2 games have been exactly like the awful road trip, the only difference being that the Jays have been coming out on top. But I'll take it for now.

Today, Jesse Litsch faces off against John Danks. Both men's peripherals tell a similar story, but Danks has been the more effective pitcher this season so far, though Litsch looked great his last time out. The game will be blacked out, but I look forward to listening to it while firing up the barbacue. If the weather really holds up, though, I may check out the Nationals game.

Saturday afternoon digression: What is the worst job you've ever had. I don't mind sharing that my worst job, by far, was working in a warehouse. It wasn't ventilated and the diesel fumes from the forklift and other machinery made everyone sick. That job was only a half-step above my second-worst job, which was lawyering at one of poshest law firms in the U.S.

---

---

Marcum v. Buerhle

 

Well, we won yesterday behind an incredible start from A.J., but we've got a long long way to go.

 

I won't be around for the game today, as my band, has a gig. A.J. Burnett will face off against Tim Wakefield, who the Jays have historically stunk against but who they hit well earlier this season. The Jays are trying to avoid the sweep, and even if they do manage to avoid the sweep like they did against K.C., does it really matter?

Wednesday, April 30- Boston, Massachusetts
7:05 PM (EDT)

Toronto Blue Jays rf Alexis Rios ss David Eckstein 3b Scott Rolen dh Matt Stairs cf Vernon Wells 1b Lyle Overbay 2b Aaron Hill lf Adam Lind c Gregg Zaun Pitching: Dustin McGowan, rhp

Boston Red Sox 2b Dustin Pedroia 1b Kevin Youkilis dh David Ortiz lf Manny Ramirez 3b Mike Lowell rf Brandon Moss c Jason Varitek cf Coco Crisp ss Julio Lugo Pitching: Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP

I'm off for a run, as the weather is beautiful and the Jays are ugly right now, but I'll be back and watch the game. Dustin McGowan looks to bounce back from a lousy start last time out, and Daisuke Matsuzaka looks to shake off the flu (supposedly Shaun Marcum is the Jays' latest victim, btw) and keep his excellent and undefeated season going.

We haven't been able to hit anybody, so maybe we can tee off against one of the league's best pitchers? Why not?

By the way, John Brattain, who called Gibbons out last year for not making enough use of small ball, is now defending him . He's got an in-depth look at how the Jays have faired in "gimme" situations (runner on third, less than 2 outs), and it's not pretty at all. Brattain was as persuasive last season as I've ever seen anyone arguing for the sac bunt and hit-and-run to be used more, and always has an interesting point of view. If you care to chat on this issue, Bebo's got a great take over in the diaries/fanposts, so let's chat about it there!

On another note, if you haven't watched the last episode of Costas Now, don't, unless you want to see true stupidity in action.

Tuesday, April 29- Boston, Massachusetts
7:05 PM (EDT)

Toronto Blue Jays rf Alexis Rios ss David Eckstein 3b Scott Rolen cf Vernon Wells 2b Aaron Hill 1b Lyle Overbay dh Shannon Stewart lf Adam Lind c Gregg Zaun Pitching: Doc Halladay, rhp

Boston Red Sox cf Coco Crisp 2b Dustin Pedroia dh David Ortiz lf Manny Ramirez 1b Kevin Youkilis 3b Mike Lowell rf J.D. Drew c Jason Varitek ss Julio Lugo Pitching: Jon Lester, LHP

We were trying to decide in the comments of yesterday's off-day thread who would DH tonight against the southpaw Lester. Well, we have our answer, Shannon Stewart. Stewart is going to have to show something soon or I think the Jays will lose patience with him. He's batting an abhorent .212/.323/.269 and has scored only 5 runs despite batting mostly at the top of the order. He has drawn a decent amount of walks, but that can't be expected to last if he keeps slugging .269. In fairness to him, he hasn't even had 70 plate appearances, but something tells me the Jays aren't going to wait around very long for him.

I'm not crazy about starting Eckstein today, I would've liked to see Mac behind Doc, just given his groundball tendencies and the way the Red Sox have played Doc (hack hack hack, which goes against their normal strategy but seems to work fairly well against him).

By the way, Lester has been terrible for Boston this season. Really, he's having the same problems he's had in the major leagues in past seasons -- 19 walks to only 16 strikeouts is certainly not going to get the job done. He's given up lots of hits as well (37 in only 31 1/3 innings) and coupled with the walks, he's rather lucky to be sporting a 5.40 ERA, really. He did have one terrific start against Oakland, but other than that, his best start has been one in which he gave up 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings. So, the Jays should be trying to take the exact opposite approach the Sox are taking with Doc - they should force Lester to throw strikes and then pound them. Of course, this game is seldom what you expect.

I'll be listening to rather than watching the game, as Mrs. Hugo hosts the Silver Spring Women Writers' Group on Tuesday. Sounds like something out of a Bronte novel, doesn't it? Let's go Jays!

By the way, today's title comes from the rabble-rousing voice of the workingman, Billy Bragg. Not sure about his politics, but I sure do love his music.