It's Allright, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding - Game 18, Detroit at Toronto

Now I'm not saying I expected the Jays to win yesterday - not with newcomer David Purcey facing the suddenly exploding Detroit Tigers lineup and the way that junk-balling lefties have made the Jays look lousy at the plate this season. But when the team was up 4-1, I thought for sure they'd be able to make it a close game, at least. I certainly didn't expect our bullpen to immediately give back the 3 run lead and then some more runs for good measure, while our offense simultaneously shut it down for the night.

No one in the Jays' bullpen pitched well yesterday, though at least Downs only made one mistake and then pitched quite well for his 1 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, his mistake was a big one, a first-pitch, two-run HR to Edgar Renteria. The other Jays pitchers were just getting hit, and hard. After Purcey issued 7 free passes in 4 1/3 innings, the other Jays managed not to walk anyone, but Frasor, Tallet, and Accardo were all getting hit quite hard. It was an ugly game, and anytime Mac makes an error on a routine play, you know things are not going your way.

I don't know how much I'll be around today, as I'm taking the little one to the park and then I have rehearsal in the afternoon. So this game thread is going up early, and maybe someone can post the lineups later on. Of course, the game is blocked out anyway. The Jays are really starting to look bad, and for bad measure, they drew the Tigers at what looks like the worst possible time. Today they will turn to Dustin McGowan to stop the rot. Hard thrower Jeremy Bonderman will oppose McGowan. My hope is that Lyle Overbay will not be hitting 6th or 7th, in front of the likes of Scutaro and MacDonald. Other than Rios, Lyle has the highest OBP on the team vs right-handed pitching (.429) and is hitting for no power, so the best spot for him would seem to be 2nd or 3rd. Meanwhile, Frank Thomas is looking terrible these days at the plate and should probably not be batting 5th at the moment.

Saturday Digression:
What's the greatest baseball movie of all time? My answer is John Sayles' Eight Men Out, though you can't go wrong with the Sandlot. Post your opinion in the comments below!