This Seventh Soda Pop's Making Me Brave: Pale Hose 7, Jays 3

by hugo on May 8, 2010 9:58 PM EDT in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps

Tough one for the Jays tonight. You can't win them all.

On the Mound:

Coming off an incredible performance, Brett Cecil didn't have the stuff he had last time, but he fought well. Cecil served up a 2-run home run to Paul Konerko in the 1st inning and got into trouble again in the 2nd, walking in a run. He kept the Pale Hose off the board for the rest of his start, but because he had thrown so many pitches in the first two innings (60), he didn't make it out of the 6th. It wasn't a great start, but it wasn't an awful one.

At the Plate

The Jays' hitting tonight was about as good as the idea of cheerleaders at baseball games. That is, awful. John Buck and Alex Gonzalez hit solo home runs (Gonzalez after the game was virtually over) and Fred Lewis had a couple of hits (one in the 9th). Vernon Wells doubled Lewis in in the 9th, and that was it. And I mean it. No other hits, and no one drew a walk. Credit to Chicago starter Jake Peavy, but it was an awful performance.

From the Pen

Other than an Andruw Jones triple, Josh Roenicke, who relieved Cecil, was okay but ran into some trouble in the 7th. Casey Janssen came in with runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 7th after two runs had already scored. He hadn't pitched in a while, and, boy, did it show. He couldn't find the plate and walked three straight batters before retiring Alexei Ramirez on a lineout. Ouch. Interestingly enough, he was fantastic the following inning, getting ahead of everyone and setting them down in order with 2 weak groundouts and a strikeout. Maybe he just needs a bit more regular work.

In the Field

Today was not a game that supported the notion that some have set forward that Jose Bautista is a good third baseman. Bautista had a very poor play in the 7th that ultimately led to three runs being scored (one on the play and two on subsequent aforementioned Janssen walks). It was scored a double (for Alex Rios, no less) and it was hit hard but it was a very makeable play and Bautista totally misplayed it, giving ground and letting the ball get right by him. Bautista had another miscue earlier for which I gave him a pass due to a bad hop off the base, but this was another matter. He had to at least knock it down. Gonzalez played great defense as usual.

Cecil takes the Towers award home, though somewhat undeserved. Most of the lineup deserves a collective Hinske, but they did such a bad job of getting on base that there weren't enough high leverage situations to allow anyone to amass enough negative WPA at the plate to count (in fact, they only left two men on base all game). No one had Jay of the Day numbers or deserved the award, though you could give honourable mention to Buck and perhaps Gonzalez.

Tomorrow's game, which will decide the series, features Ricky Romero for the Jays and Gavin Floyd for the ChiSox. 2 pm.

Title from the great song "Skateland South" by Cory Brannan. Hawk reminds me a bit of a character from a Cory Brannan song.

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Ricky will Avenge Us

by IanJ on May 8, 2010 10:21 PM EDT reply actions

Couple things that concern me

The bats disgustingly bad tonight for this pull happy bunch. They made Jake Peavy look much better than he should have been, he left a lot of stuff up in the strike zone, and the Jays were back into their ways of swinging from the heels. Oddly enough the Jays scored a run in the 9th with 2 opposite field hits, one from Lewis, the other from Wells.

The other ugly was Casey Janssen. Each and every walk hurt more than the last one. That was painful to watch. Even at 4-1 I thought the Jays could rally a comeback, but at 7-1, it was lights out.

Cecil battled, he had command issues. He couldn’t throw anything other than a fastball for a strike, constantly throwing ball one, and falling behind hitters. Konerko’s HR seemed to rattle Cecil a bit, but it was a good thought and a good challenge pitch, but it caught too much plate and Konerko won the battle, stuff goes like that sometimes. I’m not too worried about Cecil, even though he could only throw a fastball for a strike, he seemed to get stronger as the game went on. High pitch count did him in ultimately.

by The Playa on May 8, 2010 11:44 PM EDT reply actions

You have to give a lot of credit to Peavy

He is a former Cy Young winner and did have a great start his last time too. Seems we just caught him at the wrong time.

Onions Baby Onions

by ohmybosh on May 8, 2010 11:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Peavy did pitch some hitters tough, but there were times in the game where they swung at really bad pitches (Vernon swinging at a 3-2 slider a foot and a half outside) or just couldn’t pick up the ball(Bautista whiffing on a couple of hanging curveballs). I didn’t think he was pitching good enough to be carrying a perfect game into the 6th inning.

Don’t get me wrong, Peavy has a lot of movement on his pitches, I just think the Jays let him off the hook, when they had a chance to make a play.

by The Playa on May 9, 2010 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions

Aaron Hill

Mr. Hill, you are stuck in a bad spot. The pitchers know you are pull hapy right now. They are pitching you away, and you are trying to pull everything. You need a couple of opposite field bloops to get you back in the groove. You are swinging out of your shoes.

by The Playa on May 8, 2010 11:48 PM EDT reply actions