Two Homers for Adam Lind, Jays Win
by Tom Dakers on Jun 9, 2009 12:42 AM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps
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I know I'm over tired and likely punchy and all but I'm pretty sure I saw Casey Janssen miss several bats. I'm almost sure he struck out 6 in 5.1 innings. He gave up 6 hits, a couple of the seeing eye infield type, 2 walks, 3 runs, 2 earned. His line would have looked a lot better if it wasn't for a very freaky 6th inning. A 5 pitch walk started things. Then a line single. But then Casey got an easy ground ball to Aaron Hill, it might have been a double play ball but for sure it would have been an out, but Aaron booted it. Bases loaded, none out. Marlon Byrd hit a slow grounder just to the right spot that scored a run.
Then there was an interesting play. Janssen struck out Chris Davis but third strike got away and all the runners moved up. Now with bases loaded and less than two out the batter can't go to first on that play. Why? Well, if the runner could go to first then every third strike the catcher would drop the ball, pick it up and step on the plate for the force, then a quick throw to 3rd and you'd have an easy double play.
4-2, runners on 2nd and 3rd, one out. Frasor in for Janssen. Hard hit ground single right through Hill scores the runner at 3rd. Was hit too hard to hope that Aaron would make the play. 4-3 and runners on the corners, still one out. Here we got a break, Elvis Andrus tried to get down a suicide squeeze bunt. He missed. Rod Barras chased the runner all the way back to 3rd (I don't know why he didn't throw to Rolen) and made a diving attempt at a tag and the umpire gave him it. Did he get the tag on him? I don't know but we'll take the out. Andrus flied out to end the inning. That squeeze was the play of the game. But not a bad call, it just didn't work. From there Frasor pitched another good inning, League got 2 outs and Downs got a 4 out save.
Offensively it was the Adam Lind show. In each of the 3nd and 4th inning Vernon Wells led off with a walk and Lind pounded out a homer. They were all the runs we needed but we got 2 more in the top of the ninth when the Jays loaded the bases with a Rolen double, Overbay walk and Kevin Millar single (very clutch, after I was ragging on him all game). A Marco Scutaro single scored one and a Hill sac fly scored another. Rios walked to load the bases. Vernon hit a 2 strike line drive but at the right fielder.
A good offensive effort, as well as Lind's 2 homers, Scoot and Rolen had 3 hits each. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit except Wells, who walked twice and reached on an error and Barajas. Jays of the Day are Lind (.215 WPA), Frasor (.200) and Downs (.115). Honorable mention to League, Scutaro and Wells, who made a couple of nice catches, one to end the game, thank goodness. No Suckage Jays, Barajas came closest at -.084 but he did make that important tag.
Tomorrow we have Brian Tallet (3-3, 4.54) going against Doug Mathis, a right hander, making his first start of the season for the Rangers. He was 1-2, 6.85 last season with the Rangers but was 4-2. 2.89 in the PCL so far this year. Should be interesting.
In other news, Lyle Overbay was awarded the AL Player of the Week. Nice to see, since he hit .533 with 2 homers during the week. He isn't hitting .302, leads the Jays in slugging at .583 and on-base at .404. Maybe we could move him up some in the lineup.
We had a lively if somewhat grumpy game thread today. I'm not sure why folks were in a bad mood. Well I know why I was in a bad mood, family member needing a organ transplant in a hurry does that to me. But for some reason the thread was a little nastier than I'd like it. So I'll remind folks a few things. Mostly, remember it is a community, we are trying to get along. Act like you are in our living room, if you wouldn't say it there don't say it here. Also let's watch the language a little more, most of it we'll generally let slide but keep it to a minimum.
Great win, best showing by Janssen this season, that's the pitcher I hoped he'd be. And good job by the offense. Would like it to be the start of a road winning streak. Tomorrow is the start of the MLB Draft so we'll likely look at the Jays picked and we'll have a debate up that Hugo and I had as much as my mom told me never argue with a lawyer....or for that matter anyone smarter than me. Of course, it is rough to find people that aren't smarter than me.
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I know you gave credit to Adam Lind, but I have to say that a lot of the credit goes to Vernon. He made himself extremely annoying at first base. So much so that Feldman forgot to pitch to Lind and was so focused on Vernon that he served up a couple gopher balls. Of course credit to Adam for smoking them, but I must say that Vernon is putting on a baserunning display this year. Now if only he could get on base more. His OBP is only around .300.
I also found that Cito extended Janssen too long. The pen was well rested and there was no excuse. First sign of trouble in the 6th was enough for me. Yank him early, keep his confidence high and get the pen in there. We have a solid pen.
by BigTimeBlueJayFan on Jun 9, 2009 1:12 AM EDT reply actions
Yeah Vernon had a great day and you might be right that him being at first bothered Feldman
I’m not sure that Casey stayed in too long….Hill should have made that play. The next single was a soft hit infield single that found the right spot. The wild pitch strike out should have ended the inning for him.
But I wouldn’t have argued if Cito got him a bit earlier, but really it wasn’t like it was getting pounded that inning.
have to agree there
he wasn’t giving up smoked balls to the gap – it was really just a wild inning where things didn’t go our way. and he pitched very well, let’s give him the credit he deserves, that could have easily been a 6 inning shutout.
Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog
It doesn’t matter to me if he was getting pounded. He had put in his time and things were starting to unravel whether it was his fault or not. I felt it was time for a change to upset the momentum. Cito doesn’t make those kind of moves so I wasn’t surprised. I would just like to see it happen once in a while.
by BigTimeBlueJayFan on Jun 9, 2009 1:40 AM EDT up reply actions
as we've said before
we know he’s not going to. hopefully he’s realized that if casey gave up 5 homers, take him out, but he didn’t. he gave him the chance to work out of the jam, and he executed pretty damn well. balls just had some sort of magnetism away from Blue Jay gloves, and hopefully Janssen’s confidence will be made all the better because of it
Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog
BELIEVE IN VERNON WELLS!!!1
A Toronto sports blog, where unabashed homerism is alive and well...
PLAYOFFS!!!!1
well I'm not sure I believe at the moment....
I keep thinking he will pull out of this but it doesn’t seem to happen. But today was good. And maybe it’s my imagination but he is looking better in the field to me me the last week or so.
I still think there is a mental block. You could see by his Dad’s reaction that people are frustrated. His Dad’s GF was rolling her eyes as if they’ve discussed this situation several times.
by BigTimeBlueJayFan on Jun 9, 2009 1:41 AM EDT up reply actions
I thought that the father's reaction was because he thought the pitch was off the plate....
Vernon thought it was inside. Why wouldn’t his dad?
I'm as frustrated with Vernon as anyone...
…but at least he was getting on base last night, though the one time was due to one of the most spectacularly ugly errors I’ve ever seen by Scott “From Across the Hall” Feldman…though I don’t think he should be hitting cleanup, I actually agree with Cito that he’s just too good to not be able to turn it around at some point.
what?
Vernon Wells made himself so annoying that Feldman forgot to pitch to Lind? Are you delusional? That’s right all the credit to Wells. We should give all four RBI’s to Wells not Lind, for distracting a Major League pitcher, who has never had a fast runner on first base before. He didn’t know what to do, so he threw right to Lind sweet spot and golfed it out. Thanks Vernon!
ummm can we please refrain from deciding people are 'delusional' if we don't agree with them?
maybe act like intelligent people can have a different opinion than you do and people will tend to read your opinions with a bit more of an open mind. Is baseball not math…people are allowed to have other opinions without it being that they are mentally deranged.
Wow you really like insulting people don’t you.
Do you need a hug or something?
Or is it just John Gabriel’s Internet Theory hard at work?
I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it. - Dogbert
I clearly don’t think he understands baseball based on those comments. If you ever watched Ricky Henderson you would know how much a threat to steal on first affects the pitcher. If Vernon isn’t on first, Feldman is pitching from the windup, he’s only concentrating on the plate and likely Lind doesn’t get that high fastball to jack out of the park.
by BigTimeBlueJayFan on Jun 9, 2009 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions
what part 2
Vernon Wells ain’t Rickey Henderson on the bases. Never was, never will be. Comparing the two as equal distractions is …. very silly.
Oh Penny Arcade...LOL
I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby
vernon
i missed the last half of the game and just watched highlights now——wells made great running catch to end the game.
coupled to his two walks etc and good game for him
i just wish cito could try leading him off—-he has good approach leading an inning off this year and is stealing bases etc…
i think he may
if only we didn’t have some dude named Marco Scutaro who has an OBP of 402 and an OPS+ of 125 (just checked, that’s pretty ridiculous)… i think it would be insane to take him out of the leadoff spot. i cry small sample size – but i suppose it does keep growing… (and also, he could have pretty well had a bases-clearing double in the top of the 9th, just hit a little to close to the LF)
Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog
Thankfully we got a precious and difficult win on the road
We couldn’t avoid complicating the night…..but great play by Rod Barajas, who could have thrown to Scott Rolen, honestly. I couldn’t watch the game but waking up and seeing on my PDA, first thing in the morning while sipping my cappuccino, that the Blue Jays got a precious and difficult road win is always a beautiful piece of news! I do not think Marco Scutaro should be moved at all from the leadoff spot. I’m very pleased to see that Vernon Wells had a good game, we need more of these efforts from him. Great game by Scott Rolen, I felt sure he would gave the team a lot upon returning to the lineup. Of course, Adam Lind was above them all last night. I just hope we can avoid complicating things, especially on the road. That error in the field by Aaron Hill in the sixth is a very unwelcome sight, clearly. I’m pleased by Janssen’s effort, we need such night from the other three starters but I feel the first sign of trouble in the 6th may have been enough to make a mound change. Luckily, it all worked out fine. I would imagine some of us would be quite happy if Doc pitched on short rest the last game of this series. Maybe we should open a debate on whether such a choice may be worthwhile….
The Rangers half of the 6th was one of the craziest innings I had ever witnessed
Still scratching my head about it. But it could have been worse. Much worse.
At this point, I’m glad the Jays won on the road and in Texas where strange things have happened.
In honor of the Jays 2nd Baseman who played with fire in more ways than one.
by Damaso's Burnt Shirt on Jun 9, 2009 7:53 AM EDT reply actions
Good entertainment value
well, if folks are going to go to a baseball game and their home team is gonna lose, a good way to extract some entertainment value is to see lots of bobbled or unusual plays … by that measure, folks in Arlington got their money’s worth last night
Looks like I missed some fun in the game thread eh?
I did get to catch most of the game at the bar but I missed the first Lind HR (Started watching during Rolen’s at bat right afterwards). A couple thoughts
1) I’m not sure Barajas made the tag. Although it was close and they didn’t have the greatest camera angles.
2) Wells is looking a lot better in the field this year (minus on play in Boston, at least I think it was Boston… maybe Atlanta)
3) I noticed Inglett came in for defensive purposes in the 9th for Lind in left. I hope this trend continues as we saw Overbay sub in for Millar the other day as well late in the game.
4) I love Scoot but that was a really boneheaded play getting too far off of first and basically being forced to charge for 2nd.
5) I was awesome to actually see Janssen start to miss some bats. 6K’s He really had that curveball dropping off the table.
I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it. - Dogbert
I agree strongly with all these points
I watched most of the game after returning from the show. If Casey can show that kind of curveball and continue to work on getting his fastball and other pitches down, he should be fine. It makes sense that his breaking pitches are coming back a little more slowly after so much time on the shelf. His command will hopefully be next – not that it has been awful but he’s still missing his spots from time to 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
1) i think Barajas hit the right knee … the commentator discussion was all on missed foot … true … but i think he swiped the knee
2) yep, but i still wonder if he should be playing a little deeper
3) if Texas hit a 3-run tater and it went to extra innings, is the incremental defensive benefit of having Inglett on the bench, worth the loss of your most potent offensive weapon in 10th and later innings … i wonder
4) the whole team – heck even Texas – was suffering from a case of base running bungles … next coaching session, it might be worthwhile to review some base running 101
5) Janssen had a nice game, aided by some overexhuberant swinging on the part of the Rangers … still he gets his props
EXTRA) Purcey wielded a double-edged sword last night. On the plus side, he threw 71 strikes of 104 pitches … just a great ratio from him or any pitcher. As a result, only 1 BB. Again, very good for Purcey (or any pitcher for that matter). On the downside, Purcey did give up 11 hits and 6 ER over 6.1 innings. However, it was against Tacoma, one of the strongest hitting teams in the PCL. That said, if this is a development process for Purcey, I would prefer to see him continue to throw 70% strikes even if getting whacked, while focusing on gradually bringing down hits and ERA. If Purcey can accomplish this, then, IMHO, he will be MLB-ready.
I gotta disagree on #1
My dad and I re-watched all the angles they showed frame by frame and I’d be comfortable putting money down that he missed the tag. I know he missed the ankle/lower leg and I don’t think he was really high enough to get the knee, but that last part is from memory as I deleted the game from the PVR already.
And I guess #3 too – I’m glad Inglett was there. Even if Texas does hit a 3-run HR, I like the fact that it’s showing a different side to Cito. Although, had Texas hit the tying HR and Lind was on the bench, I can see Cito thinking “YOU SEE! THAT’S WHY I DON’T MAKE LATE GAME REPLACEMENTS!”
With #4 – very weird last night and in a few previous games it seems like they’ve been giving up bad outs on the basepaths. I can’t bring any to the fore-front of my mind, but I do remember a few where I was swearing at the TV for.
And #5 – Gotta take ’em where they give ’em. I was very happy to see them swing through a couple fastballs in addition to the breaking pitches.
Oh, and in line with #1 – Wells was a dead duck on his steal last night. Between the two angles they show, you can see the tag is on him before his heel hits (by about 2 inches I’d guess) as well as his foot coming up off the bag while the tag is still on. Got lucky there.
I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby
Rolen is back!
Even though he was only out for few games, but so glad he is back. On top of that, he went 3 for 4. Before the season, i heard he was considering retiring (shoulder), but boy, do we need him at third base.
He sat two games...
one the usual rest on the day game after night game and one with a sore back. He isn’t retiring in a hurry.
Relieved to see growing support
to moving Wells down in the order. I prefer way down, as in 9th. I know he is currently at clean up, but where do you usually place a fast guy with the lowest batting average among the starters?
By the way Tom, I enjoyed being called pathetic. That means I’m under his skin. Your living room analysis is solid, but some of the participants might not understand if they are living in their parent’s basement.
if your goal
is to get “under the skin” of other participants, you’re not long for this site. And is there anything in the world more tired than the old “living in their parents’ basement” meme?
"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
2 things I'd like to see
1) Overbay playing every day. Kevin Millar started off nicely but Overbay has been awesome, play him agains righties and lefties and higher in the batting order.
2) VW moved up in the lineup. I wasn’t around on the gamethread but I sat at home watching the game just imagining what people would be saying. Jamie and Pat brought it up that while his production is down he has been doing the “litte things” like getting aboard, stealing bases and scoring runs. I’d like to see him in the 2 hole and slide the lineup down from there with Lind 4th followed by Rios and Overbay. I know there is alot of discussion around here about the batting lineup, but I just think there is too much pressure for Wells in the 4 hole and I think we can all agree that Lind seems to be the only consistant HR hitter this year. (Assuming Hill doesn’t knock out 35!)
Happiness is a long walk with a putter in your hand.
by craig in calgary on Jun 9, 2009 11:39 AM EDT reply actions
mostly agree
I think I agree with giving O the mostly-full time job, the way he’s been swinging he really can’t be much worse than Millar. His splits are bad – we know he can’t hit lefties for power (420 points higher OPS, no homers and only 3 2B compared to 13) but maybe just give him a start if only to give Millar an extra day off (it’s worked in the past…).
I don’t agree with moving up Vernon mostly because Scoot and Hill have been so good. Hopefully Vern keeps getting on base and Lind and O keep smoking the ball and we won’t have too many problems.
Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog
Well my recomendation would have Scoot in leadoff and Hill in the 3rd spot
Stick Vernon in the 2 hole and you have 3 guys at the top with good speed and then the “boppers” can drive them in. I don’t know, having a guy with a .159 average with RISP in the cleanup spot just doesn work. We are over 1/3 of the season and “slow start” or “small sample size” is no longer applicable
Happiness is a long walk with a putter in your hand.
by craig in calgary on Jun 9, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions
that's not necessarily true though
while certainly it’s very frustrating to have him sporting a microscopic RISP, it’s possible (PLEASE don’t let this happen) that he’ll have a whole season like this – but it’s still been repeatedly proven that there is no such thing as clutch hitting. hitting poorly with RISP doesn’t mean he’s a bad player… and HOPEFULLY he will eventually go on a RISP tear and bring his number up
Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog
I'm not saying he's a bad player
I’m saying he’s not a clean up hitter. To me its Lineup management 101. You put the guys at the top of the order with good OB% and good speed. In the cleanup roll, you put a guy with power and good a good average with RISP. I just think Vernon is better served near the top of the lineup.
Happiness is a long walk with a putter in your hand.
by craig in calgary on Jun 9, 2009 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
You want your guys with good speed at the bottom of the lineup in front of guys who don't hit for much power
because they need the extra help getting RBIs.
They're not just hitting home runs. They're doing the little things, like hitting doubles.
could be
maybe he would be best in the 2 slot, put Hill at 3 and Lind at 4?
(that said, it’s a lot more fun to talk about it than it is productive to actually tweak it)
Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog
Right there is the line
‘more fun to talk about it than it is productive to actually tweak it’. Us fans love to talk about batting orders, like changing them around will cause more runs to score. But the effect of batting order is very small. Likely with a team like the Jays the worst order to the best order, on any given group of 9 players, might yield a handle of runs a season. Since Cito’s line up gets Scoot with a great on base at the top and Hill at least one of the best bats second, we aren’t talking about the worst order the team could come up with.
All that said I wish Cito liked Overbay more……..
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