Fred Lewis Hits 3 Run Homer in the 9th, Jays Beat White Sox
by Tom Dakers on May 9, 2010 6:24 PM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps
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PrintThis team is just so much fun to watch.
Come back wins are getting old hat around here. This time, down by 2 going in the 9th, against White Sox closer Bobby Jenks (who is challenging Mitch Williams for my favorite non-Jay closer) is when we decide this game is ours. Travis Snider started us off with ground rule double to left center. John Buck fought off a pitch and blooped it into right field for a single. Then Fred Lewis. Fred Lewis, the guy that wasn't good enough to get a job in the Giants outfield, hits a three run homer to give us the lead. I'm starting to think that Alex Anthopoulos should buy lottery tickets. It seems like every move he makes works out.
We had 11 hits on the day. Three for Vernon Wells, who had his 9th homer, a two run shot and a double. Aaron Hill was 2 for 4 with a walk, nice to see him hit the ball hard. Adam Lind had a hit and a walk. Lewis only had the one hit but it was enough. Only ones not to hit were Randy Ruiz (0 for 4 with 2 K) who looked just terrible at the plate and Jose Molina, but he walked and was hit by pitch.
Our pitching wasn't good today, until Kevin Gregg came in for the save. Ricky Romero battled through 5.1 innings, giving up 8 hits, 5 walks, 4 earned runs with 7 strikeouts. He wasn't good, but he did limit the damage enough to have a shot at a win. Shawn Camp gave that away by serving up a home run to Alex Rios. Rios is killing us, 4 for 4 with a homer, a double and a walk. Camp left the game with runners on first and second. Scott Downs came in, walked one and 'hit' Juan Pierre with a pitch to bring home a run. Or at least the umpire thought Pierre was hit. The ball might have brushed his uniform. The second time we've been ripped off on 'hit batters' against the White Sox Jason Frasor gave up a run in the 8th to make our comeback a little more dramatic.
Let's put in the Fangraph:
Jays of the Day are Fred Lewis (.410 WPA), Wells (.237), Buck (.140, just the one at bat but it was important), Hill (.136), Lind (.131) and Gregg (.096). Suckage number were earned by Romero (-.188), Ruiz (-.163), Camp (-.124) and Downs (-.097).
Randy Ruiz made a nice play on defense but he's not hitting at all. I'm starting to think that it is time to pull the plug on the 32 year old rookie. He hasn't had much playing time but he hasn't earned any either. Also, talking about older players. Jose Molina can't seem to block any pitches. There were two 'wild pitches' today and a passed ball. A catcher with his defensive reputation should be doing better.
Anyway, we win another series. Off to Boston.
In other news Dallas Braden just threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Amazing to get the perfect game against a very good Rays lineup. He had a hug from his mom grandmother right after. His mother died when he was in high school. That's what I get for watching without the sound on. 19th perfect game in Major League history.
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About Dallas Braden, I thought I heard someone on the tv mention that his mother passed away and he was raised by his grandmother. So it was probably his grandmother you saw hugging him, not his mom.
A lot walks from the starters of late
I hope Cecil and Romero can get back on track in their next starts. They are young and they will get roughed up from time to time but I really hate to see them walking batters at the rate they have in their last starts. I am concerned that they are trying to be too fine with their control and always paint the corners.
Cecil and Romero both hate walking batters
so I don’t think it’s a case of them being afraid of hitters or not being agressive. Some days you just don’t have the fine control, some days you do. Cecil’s walk rate is actually very low this season, and Romero’s isn’t bad either, considering the number of strikeouts he’s managed. It’s something to keep an eye on but I wouldn’t be too worried.
"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
White Sox hit 2-17 with RISP… and left 25 on base… Game could have ended worse ;)
Lewis….What a pickup! Guess we´ll get him for money in the end…
I´ve heard Roger´s famiy wants to spend if we contend this year… What do we need? Third Base and another starter? Just in cases… i know it´s to early…
"Without a catcher we´ll have a lot of passed balls!" Casey Stengel
by jaysfanfromeurope on May 9, 2010 7:01 PM EDT reply actions
That's interesting. Where did u hear that? I think the Jays could contend this year.
I don’t know what exactly they need. Depends on who performs well down the stretch, and who stays healthy. There aren’t many good 3B available. We had a very good one, but traded him for some good prospects.
I think one more really good hitter would be helpful. Overbay will never be that big bat. Best case scenario is that he hits like last year – good, but not all-star type good. If the White Sox are out of the race (not too likely though, since you’re always in the race in the AL Central it seems), and they don’t think they can or want to resign Paul Konerko next season, perhaps the Jays can pry him away, though they’d probably have to give up some prospects/pitchers (i.e. one of Listch, Zep, etc.).
I dont see how anyone expects the Jays to be able to do better than the Yankees or Rays
Lets be realistic here, playoffs are not an option this year. I’d love to be proven wrong, but still, seems pretty unlikely.
Also, why would the Jays trade for an old slugging 1B when they have Bret Wallace in the minors ready for the show right now?
Onions Baby Onions
It is indeed unlikely, but it's not impossible. Lots of things have to go right.
As for the Rays, lots of things have to right for them too. Their pitching is young. They had hitters overachieve last year…
Why rush Wallace? It’s a stretch to say that a rookie would outperform someone like Konerko in his first taste in the majors.
Well, keep in mind that if it wasn’t for the bullpen deciding to take the night off in game 2 against the Rays, the Jays could have won that series. I’d have to wait until after the Jays play the Yankees first to reserve my judgement. And before we even start thinking about that, we still need to see if the Jays are capable of beating the BoSox.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves...
From what I remember, AA has said that he won’t be adding players this year to aid in a stretch run, regardless of how well the team is doing. The Jays will be definitely sellers at the trading deadline.
What happens when EE gets back?
Haven’t heard that his return is close, but just wondering what happens when Encarnacion returns from the DL. With Fred Lewis playing every day and playing well, does Bautista go to the bench?
It will be a tricky situation
My only hope is that it doesn’t cost Snider at bats.
by torontocoltsfan on May 9, 2010 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions
What to do about Ruiz
I’m also having my doubts about Ruiz, but on the other hand he really hasn’t been given a great opportunity to play. I figure it’s worth giving him more of a chance, as I don’t think he’s really taking up a roster position that we badly need anyone else to fill. Cito has just said that he wants to give Ruiz more of an opportunity, which sounds to me like a backhanded way of slowly easing out of their commitment to Overbay.
This team is a lot of fun to watch
This team just doesn’t quit which is a very good sign. They just keep battling even if the “A” stuff isn’t there. Cito seems to have a good feel for the team, and the team is all pulling together. Everyone has a role, and everyone is trying to execute. This team really is a feel good story.
An interesting scenerio.
Wallace is showing Jays fans why he deserves to take over first base in June. If the Mets can promote Ike Davis, the Rangers – Justin Smoak, the Cubs – Starlin Castro, etc, the Jays can promote Wallace. He can’t do any worse than Overbay is doing and if he hits .300, the Jays have another lethal weapon in their arsenal. The Jays would then be free to trade Litsch, Encarnacion, Richmond, Tallet, Eveland, etc for another starting pitcher or prospects in the outfield and 3rd base. I believe that if something isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The starting rotation right now has the Jays 19 – 14. They deserve to remain intact for as long as they are winning. Depth on a team is important and it wouldn’t hurt to have McGowan, Litsch, Richmond, Scrabble, in the minors in case of injury. Unfortunately, Gaston will probably put them back in the rotation, they will get blown out game after game, and its another wasted year in Toronto. Instead of his starters going 6 – 7 innings a game, the B squad will go 4 – 5 innings a game and that destroys the bullpen. No one can fault Ruiz for going hitless. He went 2 – 3 yesterday, but Gaston has left him on the bench for five weeks. It is through game action that a player develops his timing, not inactivity on the bench. If Gaston is going to let the guy play, he is capable of doing great things this year and it solidifies the bottom of the order.
When people ask “what happens when EE gets back?” and point to Lewis or Snider, I think they need to be pointing to Bautista. His last couple of weeks have been AWFUL
Meh, EE isn’t helping this team steal bases or go opposite field. He’s just a long ball bat, something this team has a lot of already. I’d still rather keep Bautista over EE.
I can't see why you'd want Bautista over EE..
A long ball thread is better than nothing. And really, there isn’t a problem of having too many guys that can hit home runs. As fun as he is Bautista is hitting .211/.313/.447, not exactly numbers a guy that plays the corners should want.
I agree with you, Will
the nice thing about having Bautista coming off the bench is you can still get him into a good number of games because of his versatility, and you can move him around and use him to give other players off.
Bautista has had the chance to play everyday so far this season, and I don’t think he’s done anything to suggest that he’s an everyday player other than in a Break Glass in Case of Emergency sense. He’s hit a few home runs and that’s about it.
"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
I think you gotta cut Bautista a little slack.
Sure he’s getting the oppurtunity to play everyday but its been a mix of Right field and 3rd base, leadoff and 6-7thish, he’s done a lot better than I would have expected or I think you could have asked of him. That said when EE comes back he should takeover 3rd, and Bautista’s utilityness will have him making quite a few appearances.
I think that's what hugo's suggesting
Not that Bautista hasn’t done all we’ve asked or expected of him, but that what some folks are asking or expecting of him isn’t something he can really deliver
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
When the season started here most of us were saying that we didn’t want Bautista to play everyday.
But we also said that we still wanted him on the team. He is a very useful player to have because of what he can do all over the field. But he is exposed as an everyday player. Same as Tallet.
Life as a Toronto Sports Fan?... *sigh*... It is what it is...
I agree
"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
Yeah I think a lot of confusion lies in people reading into something too much.
Just because we don’t want someone to be in the rotation or an everday starter doesn’t mean we still don’t want them.
Life as a Toronto Sports Fan?... *sigh*... It is what it is...
Bautista’s offense this year has been walks and timely HRs and doubles. However bad his offense has been generally, he’s been making pitchers pay. If they try to be fiddly and pitch to the corners, JBau takes the walk. If they try to groove one down the middle to avoid the walk, JBau’s taken them deep.
Despite this, I’d rather not see him play regularly for the rest of the season. Been there. Done that.
If they try to groove one down the middle to avoid the walk, JBau’s taken them deep.
Missed the essential bit: If there’s someone in scoring position and they try to groove one down the middle to avoid the walk, JBau’s taken them deep.
If there’s no one on base, JBau’s almost an automatic out if he doesn’t coax a walk.
Yeah… but the problem with coming of the bench is…. Cito!
He doesn´t like to pinch hit, pinch run oder whatever during a game…
"Without a catcher we´ll have a lot of passed balls!" Casey Stengel
by jaysfanfromeurope on May 10, 2010 8:49 AM EDT reply actions
I don't mean pinch-hitting or pinch-running
just inserting Bautista in the lineup for Overbay or Lewis when the Jays are facing a lefty or giving EE, Wells, Snider, or Lind the occasional day off.
"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
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