Climb the Wall To Make the Sun Rise: Game 33, White Sox at Blue Jays
by hugo on May 5, 2008 6:16 PM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Threads
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PrintChicago White Sox at Toronto Blue Jays, May 5, 2008 7:07 PM EDT
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!
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I have a weekly meeting at 4 PST
for an hour, and I might cut out before the end depending how long the game runs, but I should be here for roughly the middle half.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Hate seeing Stewart bat second...
I am afraid that Gibby’s going to bury Lind on the bench…Stewart isn’t hitting either, but he’s an ‘eastablished major leaguer’, in Gibby’s mind
got back from my run
just in time to see Dusty strikeout Swisher. How’d the first inning go?
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
it's kind of weird that
Vasquez has never gotten that good. His peripherals are always great, but he never seems to pitch up to them.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I'm no hitting expert
but does anyone else see Lyle pulling off the outside pitch, almost like he’s conscious of his lack of power and is intent on trying to pull everything for power?
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
haha, enjoy
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
exhibit a
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
If the Jays win today and tomorrow
no team in the AL East will be under .500. That’s a strong division.
Visiting Mariners fan here. I can’t take the Mariners right now, so I’m checking out the Jays.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
hey hey
I often check out the Mariners as my west coast team to follow
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
y'all have by far my favourite sports blog over at LL
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
wow
Uribe misses two chances to score, first on a grounder where he definitely would’ve made it, and then Rios was lucky that his reputation forced Uribe back, since his throw was way down the line
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Based on his number of bunt single attempts
you’d think he’d be running.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
was that Uribe as well?
I saw Ozuna and it looked like he was trying to bunt his way on every time
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Oh, you're right
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
nice Dustin!
gets out of the 2nd and 3rd, no out jam. Isn’t that supposed to be us failing to score in that situation?
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
hitting into a weird double play
is still a double play, X
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Still not sure why the ump looked at first
because if Zaun was out on the tag, he should have been able to call it without needing to know if the force would have been in play.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I was thinking the same thing
when Jamie and Rance were trying to explain it. It would’ve made sense if Nerk didn’t touch the bag, but not otherwise
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
that wasn't a good explanation
what I meant was that it would’ve made sense if Zaun had beaten the tag and the ump was checking to make sure that Konerko had not stepped on 1st before calling the out
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
7.7 K/9IP is not better than a strikeout per inning of work, Rance
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
more excellent pitching by McGowan
though he had to work a little magic with the Sox failing, in Jay-like fashion, to score with 2nd and 3rd and no outs. not much on the Jays side, but our hobbit friend hit into a double play
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
whoa
Stewart hit a line drive
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
He has exactly one hit in most of those games
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
he's had some hard-hit outs
anecdotally
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
he sure hit that one well
and then…oh well
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
that was a bit of a waste
of a good run-scoring opportunity
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Well that probably would have been a double play ball anyways
because we can commit the fallacy of the preordained outcome with the best of them.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
yeah but Stairs would have been in a different ummmm mind space....
isn’t likely he’d have done the same thing….
That was a spectacular broken bat
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
it died in vain
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
not to mention
the way these two teams have been hitting with runners on
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
whenever you're willing to
violate a blowup doll with a baseball bat, that seems pretty serious
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
That was a surprising foul out
I expected it to make the crowd.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Vernon crushed that
opposite field no less
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
VW leadoff double
RISP time!
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Hmmm Rance says Wells is trying to do too much with the bases empty....
Has he not watched him with runners on?
cmon Lyle
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
wonder why
Lyle is hearing it so much from fans, but not Hill
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
bad at-bat from Zaun
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
0 for 4
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
he hasn't disappointed
81 pitches through 6, so he should be good for at least 1 or 2 more. Now if we could only score some runs. Grit your way back into the leadoff spot, X!
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
or do that, either way
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
it's like they're trying to get out
on as few pitches as possible
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
all except Stewart, haha
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Man on third, 2 out
for the third time?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
0 for 5
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
weird
that a Sox reliever is warming.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
wow
the stadium gun had that 3-2 fastball at 97, Rance said 95, but still
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
now Rance said that one to Dye was 99 mph, that has to be wrong
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Had that one at 99
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
nice play
i did not think he would get to that one so easily. was he shading towards RF?
"The NY Mets are my favorite squadron" --Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
good inning
though a couple hard hit balls
"The NY Mets are my favorite squadron" --Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
wonder if Dusty
has another one in him. at 98 pitches, I figure if the Jays score, he’s out, but if they don’t, Gibbons might send him out again to start the inning, with the bottom of the lineup coming up for the Pale Hose
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Stairsway to Heaven!
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
not sure what Wells
was going for with that at-bat
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Seems like Vazquez has been hitting the outside corner well
which sets up that slider.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
that's true
Vazquez is also benefitting from the wide zone, which makes hitters chase more
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
nice by Hill
can Zaun drive him in?
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Hill with the 2 out double
Our eternal nemesis.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Predictions?
Zaun walk, x infield fly.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I'd like to see Lind get a chance
if Zaun walks
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
then we can bring Mac in as well
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Zaun loses the bat again
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
When I was playing house league baseball
I used to get called out for throwing the bat. Guess Zaun never got the memo
It’s what we called the lowest level of ball (like no tryouts, just pay your money and you get put on a team). Not sure where you are from, but that’s what everyone I knew in Toronto called it.
haha, we're from Brooklyn
we grew up playing on pavement, where you could catch the ball off a building and it’d be an out
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
That's the real way to play
Unfortunately, street baseball doesn’t really have much of a following in Toronto. Street hockey, definitely, but lots of kids don’t play baseball.
I was 8 in ‘92, and the Jays were huge back then. That was really the heyday of youth baseball in TO. I don’t hear anything about kids playing ball nowadays like they did when the Jays were winning and popular. Could partially be the influence of the Raptors (basketball, as I understand, has exploded in popularity in TO over the past 10 years or so, possibly at the expense of baseball).
baseball has declined in popularity in NYC as well
but it remains quite popular. The largest latino communities in NY have always been from baseball-loving places (lots of Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Dominicans), which is totally different from where I live now, in D.C. (mostly central americans who love their futbol).
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
we couldn't get the insurance run
of course.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
0 for 6
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
camp and carlson up
but Dusty is still in. I failed to guess Gibby again.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Out at first baserunner?
Makes sure he can’t get the loss.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I always thought
that when his starter is going well like DMC is today, Gibby likes to send his pitchers out to begin innings so that he can walk to he mound and relieve them, allowing them to enjoy a big ovation from the crowd. My sentimental side kind of likes this, but unfortunately it sometimes results in a couple of runners on base before a fresh reliever comes in. Much like we are seeing now.
I certainly can’t prove that this is Gibby’s motivation, but it was a thought I had once after wondering several times why Gibby kept sending out his starters after 7 or 8 innings.
Alternatively it keeps them from pitching out of the stretch.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
he definitely subscribes to the
“give them every chance to win” theory if the score is still tied, but I hadn’t even considered this as motivation for his moves in other cases. It makes some sense though
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
That's one out for Dusty
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
broken bat single to Uribe
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
and Gibby comes out to get Dusty
can’t really fault leaving him in, since it’s not like Uribe got good wood on it.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Cy is in
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
apparently
the Beej is now available on back to back days
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Carlson out, Camp in
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
hope Camp can get Cabrera, since Quentin is righty but pounds righties and can't hit lefties
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
And I don't expect Gibbons to know that
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
he did use Snakeface for him the other day
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
I wish Camp had held onto that
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Quentin with the easy fly ball
And now it’s up to the Beej plus any tack on runs we can manage
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Who did we send down
To make room on the roster for Camp?
We put Wolfe on the DL, I think
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
I think he's still a few weeks from returning
hasn’t started his rehab stint yet
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
incidentally
League has been not only pitching well at Cuse, but they’ve been sending him out for 3+ innings at a time. Wonder if they’re stretching him back out to be a starter?
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Was he ever a starter?
And isn’t he a 2-pitch guy?
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
he has a change, I think
that he doesn’t really use much as a reliever, so I don’t know how good a pitch it is. He started some in the minors, including 10 starts at Syracuse in 2005
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
looks like prior to that
he was a reliever for New Hampshire in AA, but before that was exclusively a starter in the low minors
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
weird inning
but it ended just fine. Camp got a bit lucky that he was able to knock that one down
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
nice hustle on Stew's part
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
memo to Gibbons
DO NOT pinch hit Barajas for Stairs, as Jamie is suggesting
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
That's Rance
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
sorry, meant Rance
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
not sure why Barajas is even an option
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Scutaro is the better hitter against lefties anyway
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Beej has his work cut out for him
with Thome, Konerko, and Dye coming up
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Defensive replacement!
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
hooray!
Mac in on defense!!!
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
there's one
no problem for Overbay
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Seems like the strike zone just got narrower
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
3-2 again on Konerko
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
C'mon double play
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Oh no!
Two walks? This is alarming
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
Another full count
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
swisher put that ball
“into the left field seats.”
"The NY Mets are my favorite squadron" --Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
uno - due - tre
just the way it should be
"The NY Mets are my favorite squadron" --Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
1-2-3 double play!
Wooo!
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
JotD
McGowan (.447), Camp (.213), Ryan (.168), and Stairs (.099).
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
well that sure wasn't pretty
but a 4-game sweep is a 4-game sweep. Jays of the Day: McGowan, Stairs, Camp, and I suppose Ryan, though I’m not sure about that one…
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
He made us nervous
but he got the job done.
"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"
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