Jays Beat Nationals to Avoid the Sweep

by hugo on Jun 21, 2009 7:02 PM EDT in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps

Well, some of us rolled into Capitol City with sweeps in our eyes, but the Jays dropped the first two in extra innings and avoided the sweep today with a fairly convincing victory.

On the Mound:

Ricky Romero started and he was fine. He struck out 6 and walked three over his 7 innings, giving up two runs to which some shaky fielding by Aaron Hill made a contribution. That said, Romero got himself into trouble at times and was helped out by some timely pitches and some great defense, so he can hardly complain. It wasn't his best start of the season, but it was certainly adequate.

At the Plate:

Marco Scutaro had another great day from the leadoff spot with three hits. Lyle Overbay crushed a home run into the second deck of rightfield. Vernon Wells had another encouraging day at the plate with an RBI double and a walk on which he later scored. The Jays bounced out to a quick lead in the first with singles by Scoot, Scott Rolen, Alex Rios, and Lyle Overbay and walks by Vernon Wells and Adam Lind. Lind walked thrice in the game, actually. The Jays added some insurance runs that seemed unnecessary at the time but turned out to be quite timely (more on that later). Russ Adams made his first major-league appearance of 2009 (since 2007, I believe) and singled sharply to centre.

From the Pen:

Jeremy Accardo entered in relief of Romero in the 8th but had to exit after just one batter with what Jordan Bastian called a dehydration-caused cramp. Weird he should be dehydrated after a day of sitting in the pen, it wasn't particularly hot or sunny (at least, by DC standards) today. Anyway, it was just a cramp in his calf and that doesn't sound too bad at all. Maybe the flight from Vegas and instant action has tired him out. Brandon League finished the 8th and looked sharp, but Cito wasn't about to send him out there in the 9th after what's happened to him in successive inning outings (and because the Jays tacked on some insurance runs). Instead, Jesse Carlson entered with a 7-run lead and 3 outs to get and immediately ran into trouble, yielding 4 very sharp hits and 2 runs. Jason Frasor had to be summoned from the pen to get the final out, but he got it.

Jays 9, Nats 4

All in all, a rough series, in which the Jays easily could have swept. The flipside of that is that they were very much in all three games. A 4-2 road trip is certainly nothing to sneeze at, is it? Bring on Cincy!

Jays of the Day: Overbay, Rios, Romero.

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Comments

Dehydration?

Bizarre. This shouldn’t really happen at this level.

by WD on Jun 21, 2009 7:32 PM EDT reply actions

Apparently he had diarrhea.

They're not just hitting home runs. They're doing the little things, like hitting doubles.

by Torgen on Jun 22, 2009 12:24 AM EDT up reply actions

4-2 road trip

ill gladly take 4-2 on a 6 game road trip… but its disappointing when we could have came back to Toronto going 6-0… this offense is so up and down at times

by Aquamelli on Jun 21, 2009 7:59 PM EDT reply actions

anyone know what happened to barajas

jerry mentioned a few times how he was limping to first

by epoxypatch on Jun 21, 2009 10:14 PM EDT reply actions

sore hamstring

"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

by hugo on Jun 22, 2009 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Come on, Hugo...

“Ricky Romero started and he was fine. He struck out 6 and walked three over his 7 innings, giving up two runs”

“Fine”? I’d say 2 runs over 7 innings is great, give Ricky a break, lol.

by Andy Mc on Jun 21, 2009 11:15 PM EDT reply actions

I got the impression he was trying to play on the infamous

“Oh Ricky, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind… hey Ricky! hey! hey!”

I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby

by wroth91 on Jun 21, 2009 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Then again, he did put himself into the fire MULTIPLE times.

Bases loaded or runners in scoring position that he had to get himself out of.

I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby

by wroth91 on Jun 21, 2009 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, he did get himself out of it, didn’t he? Certainly we can’t always look at the results and said he pitched great, but 2 runs in 7 Innings and if I remember correctly, he did threw 101 pitches after 6th, that’s a very good outing for a rookie pitcher.

by Outz on Jun 21, 2009 11:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Well ya

So I’m on the fence – I like that he got OUT of the situations, but I don’t like that he got himself INTO the situations to begin with.

I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby

by wroth91 on Jun 22, 2009 12:24 AM EDT up reply actions

i would say the defence bailed him out more than he did

just watched the condensed game and the 7th inning was definitely his best inning, the rest could have been a lot more trouble than they were if not for the double plays…

anyone else think lindy was a bit slow out in left field this game?

by epoxypatch on Jun 22, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions

there was one play

where I thought he got a poor jump (the ball ended up going over his head, I think it was in the 9th inning), but he made a really nice catch against the wall earlier in the game, so I didn’t think he was too bad overall. FWIW, UZR thinks he is doing an above-average job in the outfield (4.2 UZR/150) though of course with limited data.

"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

by hugo on Jun 22, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions

haha

I’m one of Romero’s biggest fans. But did you watch the game? While the results were definitely what I’d call great, he made some unforced errors for which a better team might well have made him pay. It was a good start, not a great one. Pitching the 7th was a nice bonus, though, as it helped give the bullpen a breather, especially important after Accardo couldn’t pitch and Carlson got beaten 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

by hugo on Jun 22, 2009 8:51 AM EDT up reply actions

When will Lyle play every day?

I know he is hitting about 100 pts. better against right handers, but for him to be 3rd on the team in RBI’s with about 100 fewer at bats than the other guys is remarkable.

I can accept putting Lind at first and playing Bautista in left field, but as someone posted, Millar is currently brutal at the plate right now, and should not be playing ahead of Overbay in any situations.

Finally, I will not stop asking to move him up in the lineup. #2 would be perfect because of his OBP, and move Wells down. Even though Wells homered last night, he has been trying to hit another ever since, and looks bad at the plate because of it.

by Chesapeake Ron on Jun 21, 2009 11:36 PM EDT reply actions

I didn't see the game...

but Wells did get a double and take a big walk today, did he really look bad at the plate?

by Tom Dakers on Jun 22, 2009 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions

didn't see either

but recently he’s looked really really good i thought. anyway, about Overbay – it’s probably true that he’d be better than Millar – hell, i probably would be too right now – but his numbers against LHP are really really bad… and Cito is not going to change the platoon despite Overbay’s awesomeness

Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog

by boo15749 on Jun 22, 2009 1:17 AM EDT up reply actions

well

we’ve been arguing to move Overbay up in the lineup against righties since about the 1st day of the season, so I definitely agree with you there. But Wells didn’t look bad at the plate yesterday. He drew a 9-pitch walk with two outs in the first inning, and 4 runs scored after that walk. Then he had an RBI double in the second to score Scoot from first, it was very well hit. He didn’t have a great rest of the day at the plate, true, but a .900 OPS for the day isn’t too bad at all.

"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

by hugo on Jun 22, 2009 8:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Those two losses ruined the weekend, no question

At least one of those two could have been avoided with a bit more attention and clutch hitting. Luckily, we paid a small price for going only 1-2 in Washington as we didn’t lose any ground to the damn yankees. Too bad Boston won Sunday (I saw the game on espn america as they broadcast the tbs feed) but the Braves squandered it. In any case, next weekend Boston goes to Atlanta so let’s hope for better help. In my next post, in just a few minutes, I’ll try to crunch some numbers from the weekend and take a look at the series with the Reds. The Jays are going home so they must take advantage of it! They are still just a game behind NYY with 2 more games played. Overbay had a big Sunday!!!!

by Marco1978 on Jun 22, 2009 4:42 AM EDT reply actions

I'd like to ask a favour to all of you, folks, about the Jays' game on Saturday......

ESPN America has put on its website a poll to let its viewers choose which game they can see over here in Europe on Saturday 27 June at 7 pm (meaning 1 pm EDT) and the two choices are Philly at Toronto or Twins at Cardinals.

I would like to ask all of you to vote for the Jays’ game at www.espnamerica.com since it is only of my few chances to watch the game and if I can know in advance that the Jays’ game will be on, I’m thinking of staying in town instead of going to the beach Saturday to Monday June 29 (that Monday is a holiday in Rome). Thank you for your attention…………

by Marco1978 on Jun 22, 2009 4:45 AM EDT reply actions

so far...

jays are winning

Phils/Jays 58.39%
Twins/Cards 41.61%

by Aquamelli on Jun 22, 2009 7:12 AM EDT up reply actions

I'll do what I can...

Lots of computers at work I can use to vote on.

I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby

by wroth91 on Jun 22, 2009 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions

I meant "only one of my few chances to watch the game"

I am voting in that poll right now, let’s hope for the best……..

by Marco1978 on Jun 22, 2009 4:46 AM EDT reply actions

Lyle Overbay is enjoying a very good period, luckily

I wouldn’t be against moving Lyle into the 2 spot. Wells needs to stop trying too much for power, he can contribute in so many other ways and infact he has 10 hits in his last 26 at bats including his latest long ball. I believe it’s a mental issue, a question of his own approach to the game. There isn’t a need to hit a homer each time up, dear Vernon……….

by Marco1978 on Jun 22, 2009 6:55 AM EDT reply actions

interestingly,

Wells is 10 for his last 26 over the past week, hitting .384/.429/.577. Before yesterday’s game, Lyle was 2 for his last 23. Lyle did have a great day yesterday and hopefully that pulled him out of his mini-slump. And, of course, Lyle’s ability to draw a walk really took the sting out it. He drew 9 walks during that mini-slump, so he was all over the bases even though he wasn’t getting hits.

"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

by hugo on Jun 22, 2009 9:00 AM EDT up reply actions