Orioles 7, Jays 5

by hugo on Aug 8, 2009 11:38 AM EDT in Game Recaps Comment 13 comments

The Blue Jays finished in second place in yesterday's contest with the Orioles, not exactly reminding fans of the team's glorious past.

On the Mound: Ricky Romero ran into trouble in the 6th inning, giving up 4 runs and spoiling a start that had been solid to that point. Of course the inning started with a walk to Matt Wieters.

At the Plate: Vernon Wells and Alex Rios hit solo home runs in the first inning to stake Romero to a lead. Aaron Hill doubled in Joe Inglett (who has been hitting well recently) in the 5th but the Jays then had another golden opportunity with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 1 out. Adam Lind and Lyle Overbay failed to bring any of them in. Wells and Rios accounted for another 2 runs in the 8th with an RBI single and sacrifice fly, respectively.

From the Pen: Brandon League had problems in the 8th. He got the first batter on a groundout but then gave up a single through the middle. A wild pitch sent that runner to second. League then got three straight ground balls. Unfortunately, two of them went through the infield and the inning unraveled from there. League did bail out the Jays in the 7th by coming in to retire the final out after Jesse Carlson had left two runners on, so it was another situation where he ran into problems after the inning break. He's been very good recently, and other than the double he served up to Matt Wieters, didn't look all that bad yesterday, but it was an ugly result.

Vernon Wells earns Jay of the Day honours. Romero and League take home the Towers and Bautista, and Barajas earns himself a golden Hinske (or should the Jays of the Day awards be made from porcelein with cobalt glaze?)

AAA Watch: Travis Snider was 3-5 with a double. Brian Dopirak and J.P. Arencibia didn't do much, but Casey Janssen pitched another perfect relief inning, striking out 2. He seems rather sharp recently so I wonder how long it'll be before he replaces someone like Accardo, who looked pretty shaky yesterday.

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League just seems to be really really unlucky

Whats his BABIP?

Onions Baby Onions

by ohmybosh on Aug 8, 2009 12:58 PM EDT reply actions

.311 despite only 14% line drives

That’s pretty unlucky, although maybe HitFX will tell us if his are the kind of ground balls that often go for singles.

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

by Torgen on Aug 8, 2009 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions

at least Snider had a good night

by Aquamelli on Aug 8, 2009 12:59 PM EDT reply actions

The Overbay error in the 6th was pretty costly

and Encarnacion flubbed a double play that Rolen would have turned that allowed the go-ahead run to score.

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

by Torgen on Aug 8, 2009 1:00 PM EDT reply actions

great points

we really do need to add an “in the field” section

"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 Aug 8, 2009 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I was at the game last night. It was absolutely fantastic to see the players from 1992-93 teams. Goodness, “what great lineups of talent” the Jays had back then, I was thinking. No dang wonder they went back-to-back.

The batting power of the 1992-93 teams was just amazing. Throughout the game they played video sequences from both world series. Some of the comebacks in each series were really amazing. If they Jays were smart, they would have been selling DVD’s of the 1992 & 93 teams at the event, bolstered by a couple of giveaways during the game to spur demand.

The two guys who were the most completely unrecognizable in appearance from the old were, IMHO, Jack Morris and John Olerud. Never, would have picked them out.

Rios looked good in the outfield last night. Both Rios and Wells hit well – even some of their outs were well-connected.

Watching the game last night, I wondered if Scutaro was shading towards third a bit more, perhaps to lend support to Encarnacion whose defense is reputedly wanting.

For a while, it looked like Romero was going for a no-hitter (4.2 innings – no hits). He was pitching well, fielding well and making plays at 1st and home. Interestingly, Romero was throwing lots of fastballs (from the very first pitch last night), despite earlier commentary (linked to on this site I believe) that said – to paraphrase – Romero is “the best MLB pitcher without a fastball”. It made me wonder if Romero’s emphasis on fastballs last night, versus his usual heavy mix of offspeed stuff may have contributed to him getting worn out by the 5th inning where he was hit badly. It was good to see Romero throwing fast stuff, but maybe he needs to work his way up before offering a heavy mix of heat during his next outing.

I was sitting near a bunch of rowdies who were really giving Wells and Rios a hard time. It was pretty rough. Clearly the dynamic duo have some work to do to win fan loyalty back.

by aagoodfella on Aug 8, 2009 1:00 PM EDT reply actions

Overbay and Encarnacion both flubbed plays in the 6th

That’s what undid him.

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

by Torgen on Aug 8, 2009 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn’t of recognized Morris, but Olerud I might have been able to pick him out.

As for Rios and Wells winning hte fans back. I am not sure they can this year unless they start hitting at a Pujols pace, which kinda sucks but that is what you get when you have such a slow start.

'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.

by JohnnyG on Aug 8, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions