Downs Blows Lead in 8th, Jays Lose

by jessef on Sep 16, 2009 11:32 PM EDT in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps

Well, the Yankees took an early lead off Brian Tallet when they scored two runs in the first inning, off an RBI double by Mark Teixeira and an RBI single by Hideki Matsui. Vernon Wells doubled to lead off the second, but the Jays were unable to cash him. In the bottom of the second, Tallet took a grounder off his foot. He stayed with the ball, got the out at first and got a strikeout to end the inning. In the top of the third, the Jays came back to tie it up, thanks to a solo homerun from Jose Bautista and successive singles from Travis Snider and Marco Scutaro (an infield single off Yankees starter Chad Gaudin) and an Adam Lind RBI groundout. Shawn Camp came on to relieve Tallet due to injury concerns related to the grounder he took off the foot in the third and pitched three scoreless (indeed excellent) innings.

The Jays plated a run in the sixth off a Vernon Wells single, Lyle Overbay double and Rod Barajas RBI groundout, but were unable to add to the lead thanks to an intentional walk to Jose Bautista (I'm not making that up), which led to a Moonraker strikeout against Damaso Marte. Casey Janssen pitched an excellent sixth inning and the Jays added another run in the top of the seventh when Scoot doubled and Lind got him in with a sacrifice fly. Tek came back out for the seventh and ran into a bit of trouble when he gave up a single and Edwin Encarnacion made an error (albeit on a pretty tough play). However, Jeremy Accardo came in and got a quick strikeout, walked Derek Jeter and then induced a fly ball to left to escape the inning with the two-run lead still in tact. Tom requested that I do the recap and that's when things -- naturally -- fell apart. Cito went to Scott Downs for the eighth and before being removed with -- I think -- elbow tightness, he yielded a single to Alex Rodriguez and a game-tying dinger to Hideki Matsui. Jason Frasor closed out the eighth, but the Jays were unable to capitalize on a Moonraker bunt single in the top of the ninth and the score was tied at four going into the bottom of the ninth. Leading off the inning, Brett Gardner singled off Frasor on a full count and predictably stole second base. Derek Jeter grounded out to put Gardner on third and he scored when Francisco Cervelli (playing only because of Jorge Posada's suspension) drove him home with the game-winning single.

Jays of the Day: Camp (.185), Accardo (.159) and Overbay (.159). Honorable mentions to Scoot and Vernon, who had a single and double each, as well as Tek, who would have fared better, were it not for E5's error.

Towers goes to Tallet (-.110), though he may have fared better if he'd been able to stay in.

Batistas go to Snakeface (-.380) and Frasor (-.306).

Hinskes go to Lind (-.161, in spite of the two RBI) and E5 (-.138, plus the error) and Rod Barajas comes close (-.095).

Well, at least we don't have to watch anymore Yankees walk-off wins this year.

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I left for a bit with the Jays leading, and then I came back expecting to see a victory only to find out that Downs went and blew the game for the Jays. This is one the Jays should have won, plain and simple. It didn’t help that they stranded a few leadoff doubles, plus in that one inning having runners on 2nd and 3rd and only managing 1 run…that could have been a big inning for them. I’m not sure what is more frustrating though, seeing Downs blow the game or having Frasor let two of the weaker hitters in the Yankees lineup win the game for them. I wonder, if you took out all the walk offs the Yankees have had this year, how many fewer wins would they have? Not that it matters of course since a win is a win and I’m sure nobody on their side is complaining.

by Icedragon on Sep 17, 2009 10:28 AM EDT reply actions

how many times have we said “this is one they should have won this year”?

by aagoodfella on Sep 17, 2009 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

A pet peeve of mine

I hate the term “walk off single”. I know it’s pedantic, but “walk off” really only should apply in the following situations:

A home run, which allows the winning run to walk around the base
A walk with the bases loaded to score the winning run
A balk with the runner on third

Baseball’s got enough quirks that there are probably other walk-off situations like the above.

by siggian on Sep 17, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

the walk off refers to the players walking off the field

by Tom Dakers on Sep 17, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, but I can’t help feeling that when the term first came into use, it was just for a game winning home run. It’s now morphed into referring to the winning play, no matter what occurred in the play.

Yet another sign I’m getting old, I guess.

by siggian on Sep 17, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Well

We chatted in one of my classes about a teacher whose students coined the term “walk-off fire drill” since it happened right at the end of the day…

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 Sep 17, 2009 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions

PS

Anybody else notice how now Wells has started to hit well? Too little too late though unfortunately.

by Icedragon on Sep 17, 2009 10:29 AM EDT reply actions

Better late than never.

If it was “in his head” hopefully he can take some of the confidence he’s getting from this year into next.

RIP Bodhi - Not tragic to die doing what you love. You want the ultimate thrill, you gotta be willing to pay the ultimate price.

by craig in calgary on Sep 17, 2009 10:40 AM EDT up reply actions

also true for Bautista

by aagoodfella on Sep 17, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions

batting order is messed up

How can you expect to win games when you put three latino guys in adjacent orders? The power of Baraja and Encarnacion needs to be balanced by the accuracy of Lind and Wells. In the 8th inning, Bautista, Baraja and Encarnacion were all swinging for home-runs and ended up having three fly-outs for Phil Hughes.

by Jason Z on Sep 17, 2009 1:49 PM EDT reply actions

Ummm What? Three Latino guys? What the hell does that have to do with anything?

Life as a Toronto Sports Fan?... *sigh*... It is what it is...

by JohnnyG on Sep 17, 2009 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Wasn't it Jason who said we need more black players?

…and black managers > white managers?

I dunno Mr Z, the race card doesn’t fly around here.

RIP Bodhi - Not tragic to die doing what you love. You want the ultimate thrill, you gotta be willing to pay the ultimate price.

by craig in calgary on Sep 17, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe he thinks Latinos go for more ‘macho’ homerun swings, because of the culture? I don’t know, I’m at a loss here. Also, ‘Baraja’ is apparently the singular of ‘Barajas’.

But, to make this productive, Encarnacion seems to be looking better at the plate and in the hot corner. I know it’s way too soon, but he’s been making some nice plays, and really seems to be settling in at the plate.

by dexfarkin on Sep 17, 2009 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Definitely worth a longer look, and if he pans out we won the trade for sure although I already think we did.

Life as a Toronto Sports Fan?... *sigh*... It is what it is...

by JohnnyG on Sep 17, 2009 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions

At one time they use to say Latino players wouldn't walk

the line was you can’t walk off the island, but players from those countries are getting better coaching these days and like American players, you can get all types from there now.

by Tom Dakers on Sep 17, 2009 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions