No Sweep, Jays Lose to Reds
by Tom Dakers on Jun 19, 2011 4:19 PM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps
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PrintBlue Jays 1 Reds 2
One play changed the game. In the 5th, Aaron Hill lead off with a homer. Juan Rivera and J.P. Arencibia both singled to put runners on the corners and John McDonald is up. Now we are finally hitting Arroyo. I figured this was going to be our inning. And they try a safety squeeze. I hate it. No one out, we are finally getting to Bronson. Rivera has some pluses as a baseball player, speed isn't one of them. The odds against getting a squeeze down to work are so low, I'm not sure they could be measured. Mac pops up the bunt, Juan is too far off the bag, double play. I just think it is over managing. If Mac swings, even if he hits into a double play, the run should score. Swinging couldn't have worked out worse, I'm sure.
Carlos Villanueva did a great job today. A Miguel Cairo 2 run homer in the 6th scored all the runs the Reds needed. But 7 innings, and 2 runs is very good. He did give up a few flies to the warning track and we did figure that sooner or later one would clear the wall but it didn't have to be today. 7 hits, no walks and 3 strikeouts finished his line.
Bronson Arroyo pitched a great game for the Reds. Changed speeds, changed arm angles and moved the ball around the strike zone. We only had 5 hits and 1 walk against him in 8 innings.
No Jays of the Day today, by the numbers Octavio Dotel had the high number, .083 and he did do a great job picking up for Marc Rzepczynski. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, he got Cairo to strikeout, intentionally walked Fred Lewis and then Edgar Ranteria lined one hard but right at Jose in RF. I am really not a fan of that intentional walk but it worked out.
John McDonald played 3rd today and made a highlight reel play in the 2nd, diving for a grounder, spinning around and making a great throw to first for the out. If the choice is Mac or Nix at third, I guess I'd go with Mac, as long as we don't have him bunting a lot. Nix is hitting .178, Mac can't do much worse than that.
A sweep would have been nice, but a series win is ok. Tomorrow we start three at Atlanta, Ricky Romero (6-6,3.01) going up against the Braves and Tim Hudson (5-6, 4.08).
I'm going to go out and enjoy Father's Day. Call your dad.
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its games like these when i really dislike farrell
but then we win, and i forget all about it
Choose me, Ash!
Yea JMac shouldn't have been asked to bunt there
Even if he hits a double play ball on the ground Rivera would’ve scored. After Mac was a pitcher, so why not sacrifice then?
by Minor Leaguer on Jun 19, 2011 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions
It's rarely discussed but the implications of missed calls extend far beyond the inning they occur
I suppose I’m making excuses here, we had our chance to tack on at least 1 more and blew it. However if Meals calls Bruce out on the stolen base attempt in the fourth which everybody but him saw, how does the game play out? That one extra out in a one run game can be costly. It’s one more person through the lineup. That can be the game changer. In today’s game it was.
It’s easy to blame the umps I know, I just thought it might be mentioned that if that call goes the right way I wonder how this game goes.
Also why wasn’t Davis pinch running for Rivera in the 7th after his one out walk? Speed on the bases can change the pitcher’s approach.
Yeah you're right
The whole complexion of an at bat changes on missed calls too. I guess all the bad/missed calls average out over the season. Just hate to have them make me wonder in 1 run games. Ah well, with Escobar’s deal announced, almost feels like we won 3 of 4 this weekend in my opinion.
Sucks we lost but how great is it that our team walked only 2 batters in the entire series? 1 of them being intentional.
+1
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Jun 19, 2011 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions
This is not a criticism of you, Tom. Virtually all the game recaps concentrate on what happened, instead of what didn’t happen. And what didn’t happen here? The Jays didn’t score runs. I’m not talking about the “squeeze” inning — I’m talking about the entire game. Even if the Jays had scored another run in the 5th, that would only have made 2, and you’re not going to win too many games if you only score 2 runs. Yes, the Jays won the series, 2-1. However, they only scored 8 runs during those 3 games. Long-term, that’s not going to cut it. I’m less worried about Farrell’s predilection for small ball than I am about the Jays’ offense (especially now that Bautista has come down to earth).
Im more concerned that Farrell’s predilection for small ball is causing the Jays lack of offense.
I think you'll find I'm universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult.
Twitter is the thing with all the tweets...
wait wait wait... you're less worried about Farrell's predilection for small ball?
O_o
Choose me, Ash!
I’m not sure if this is a real question, but… The Jays have a good hitter at RF and 1B. They have a decent hitter at SS and C. Apart from that, it’s mostly drek. Below-average hitters, or black holes. So who cares if there are occasional bunts?
because bunts are less effective than actually taking a hack
you’re making a bad offence even worse
Choose me, Ash!
he's 20-78 lifetime in bunts
most of that was when he was younger. Over the last four years, its 3-21. I’d rather he just swing, maybe he’ll hit a double.
Choose me, Ash!
20-78 and 3-21
are pretty much irrelevant though aren’t they? its a play for a sac, not a hit.. Good call/Bad call it can debated, i didn’t like it but can’t say its wrong. If you let him swing even if he grounds into a DP it’ll score a run. Yeah he could hit a double but he’s more likely to strike out, which in retrospect would have been better.
I think Farrell thought 2 runs would win the game today and thats what he played for.
yeah, which is my point
bunting will almost always result in an out. at the best case it works, its a single. Mac’s ZIPs at least shows him to hit in the low .200 with mid .300 SLG, a lot better than an automatic out.
Choose me, Ash!
Absolutely. If it were only a question of bunting for a single vs. swinging away, clearly swinging away is better. But that wasn’t the situation. The idea was that the Jays would be trading an out for a run. And given that the pitcher was on deck, the idea is defensible. It clearly didn’t work out, but that happens. Now, if the Jays had only scored in the other 8 innings…
Pessimism
Off-topic Pessimism: Las Vegas Tonight…
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Drabek 4.0 8 5 4 7 3 0 9.00
doesnt matter where he is pitching
5 walks?
this kid has serious problems right now.
Onions Baby Onions
he needs to do some serious work on mechanics or something
its not a winning season, but the pressure is higher in the majors, and it really discourages the fanbase to see a supposed “top prospect” get rocked in every game he starts. you still have to win some games to keep most fans around.
Onions Baby Onions
beyond the boxscore has a pretty nice article about him
he’s throwing pitches that would get called strikes in a “wide” zone, a zone some umps call from time to time. It probably worked in the minors since the minor leaguers probably just swung for them anyways.
Choose me, Ash!
Really?
To me it looks like he has no clue when his pitches are going.
He may have a bit of control, but no command.
Onions Baby Onions
I believe red is the perceived strikezone while the blue box is the wild zone where it varies from ump to ump whether you get the call.
I think you'll find I'm universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult.
Twitter is the thing with all the tweets...
I think ts better than what most seem to think about drabek
He’s not completely erratic, and he’s not leaving pitches over the zone. With slightly better control he should be able to hit the corners more consistently
Choose me, Ash!
by Pikachu on Jun 20, 2011 12:14 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
what do the
non 3 ball counts to LHB look like? and is this significantly different than any other pitcher?
I'm more worried about the walks
I’m not bothered how many runs score because until he gets his walks down he’s going to be walking a tightrope every night. Can’t blame that one on the field.
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