I was looking for a song quote, because I like how Hugo puts song lyrics into his story titles, and I wanted a Neil Diamond song because Norm had to leave the game thread in the middle to go to a Neil Diamond Concert (people still do that? Kidding). Anyway I didn't know how to work Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show into it the title. Sweet Caroline? Nah. I Am, I Said....no no. Then I remembered this song on Neil's 12 Song CD (really nice music) (no honest it is good) called Hell Yeah. Thought it fit on a night Doc showed, yet again, that he deserves to be considered for the Cy Young. Hell Yeah...

Doc throws a complete game (number 8 on the season, how many does Cliff Lee have? 3), 7 hitter. Only 4 strike outs and he was helped by some nice defense behind him. Not many hard hit balls; Pedroia's home run in the ninth, that had me wondering if Cito had anyone ready in case things went south in a hurry, a line out to Wells in the first inning and a Ortiz fly out to the opposite field that Wilk went back on to make a really nice catch. I'm sure Lind wouldn't have caught it.  Other than the homer, the other six hits were singles. He got helped out by a couple of nicely turned double plays both started by nice pickups by Scoot at third and turned nicely by Inglett. And a line out double play to Lyle.

Offensively we got everything Doc needed in the first inning, after Inglett singled and was picked off, (not a bad pickoff move by Bird but Joe was too far off the bag) Scoot singles and Rios hit a Fenway homerun over the monster. As Torgen pointed out, in Toronto that was a fly out to the track, at best.

In the 6th Lind hit one to almost the exact same spot as Rios had, opposite field hitting, though again not crushed. In the 8th with one out, Rios did crush one, over center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury's head, off the wall. Rios, showing the hustle that we'd like to see from him all the time, got the stand up triple. And, surprisingly enough, Vernon drove a single thru the drawn in infield. I bet we lead the league in triples that don't turn into runs scored.

Maybe it was getting to see him for two starts in a row, but Byrd wasn't anything like the pitcher he was last Saturday, when he was an Indian and had the complete game against us. Maybe he wasn't as sharp because of the week between starts or, you know, maybe he's not that good.

The fangraph is here for those that are interested. Jays of the Day: Doc (.460 WPA) and Rios (.147) (no duh, eh, needed a fancy chart to figure that out). Honorable mention to Lind. Suckage Jay? Well Wilk had the worst number (-.053) for a 0 for 4 day but he made that nice catch off Ortiz, so no Suckage Jay today.

In other news, Cito doesn't think AJ will be back next year, though AJ said Cito is just speculating. The Yankees, White Sox and Twins all won today to so we only picked up a game on the Rays and Red Sox. We are 8 back in the Wild Card with three teams to jump but the Yankees are only two in front of us and, knock on wood, look like they are falling off. There is still hope or maybe I'm kidding myself.

Tomorrow Marcum (7-5, 3.42) faces Josh Beckett (11-8), hope he has a game like his last start. And I'm off on holiday for a week, with luck when I'm back we'll be ahead of the Yankees and some closer to the Wild Card spot. Can we do it, Hell Yeah.

I'm sure I ran out of ways to say we suck long ago, but man that was a terrible series. 3 games and we got four runs. Cliff Lee is a good pitcher but we made each of the three starters for the Indians look like they deserve the Cy Young. In the three games the Indians bullpen pitched 3.2 innings.

We did manage 8 hits off Cliff Lee but strangely we got 2 hits each from 4 guys. Our other 5 batters had 0 fers. Lee only got one strike out and we did have 4 fly outs to the track but we have too many automatic outs in our lineup. I really didn't think Lee pitched that well, just felt we were just that lousy with the bats. Vernon in particular looked like he could have used a few more rehab games.

Scoot, Rios, Overbay and Mac each had two hits. If Johny Mac can get two hits in a game, we really ought to win. I mean, any pitcher he can hit everybody ought to hit.

I thought for a moment the game might turn in the 5th inning. Mac lead off with a single and Scoot beat out a bunt single. Great hustle on his part, though I was worried that he could have been called out for being off the base line. So runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out. Eck bunts. I truly hate bunts with runners on 1st and 2nd. First of all, the bunt has to be perfect because it is a force at third and when the defensive team knows the bunt is coming there is no room for error. And runners on 2nd and 3rd one out isn't really a better situation than runner on 1st and 2nd with none out.

Eck's bunt wasn't perfect and Mac was forced at 3rd. So we have 2 on for Rios. Rios hit into a double play. And that was that. Rios, our number 3 hitter hasn't driven home a run since August 2nd and has a grand total of 49 on the season. Rios is hitting .143 against left-handers with RISP this year, not that he's been great against righties .266. He has also looked lost in the outfield lately too. He made the wrong break on several flies today, only one cost us a hit, when he couldn't made up for the wrong break, but it also cost us a run. Add in that he hasn't always run out balls he's hit into outs the last few days, a couple of days off might not be a bad thing for him.

Richmond again gave up 3 runs, like he has each start. He went 5 innings so now he's gone 5, 5.1 and 5.2 innings in his three starts. He gave up 9 hits, after giving up 7 the first two starts and struck out 5, a new high. No walks, so he has a total of 1 walk in three starts, but he did hit two today. Not a great start but if he was pitching for a team that could score it wouldn't be a bad start. John Parrish pitched a very good three innings and Camp pitched the ninth striking out 2 in a 1,2,3 inning.

People were very quick to credit Cito with turning the team's offense around when we had a couple of good games but now, our last homer was Aug 6 and the last one before that was August 1. Obviously he hasn't been the magic pill we were hoping he would be.

Jay of the Day? We didn't have one, but honorable mention should go to Parrish for 3 good innings of relief and Mac for a 2 for 3 day. Suckage Jay? Eck (-.131) and Vernon (-.108). But really it was a team loss. The fangraph is here for those that want it. I guess if there is any good news it is that the Yankees and Red Sox each lost today.

Tomorrow we start a four game series against the Tigers with Shaun Marcum facing Justin Verlander.

We've made a couple of changes to the main page....moving the "Walking Wounded" to the right side where there is room for more information. And we added the division standings and information about the current series the Jays are playing. Might make more changes as I learn how things work. I notice there are 3 no votes on the "Should JP be Fired" poll. It's nice to see that Mr. Riccardi has found our page....but only vote once JP.

The Halladay for Holliday question got some comments going. I noticed, in the poll, that some people from the Rockies area came in to vote, which is fine, but skews the vote some. I'm sure Colorado would love that trade.

Of course, they aren't the only ones that want him, on Pinstripe Alley....Oh Lord, hear my prayers: Deliver Roy Halladay

Have you all seen video from this story?

Pitcher charged after minor league

brawl in Ohio

By JAMES HANNAH – 29 minutes ago

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A minor league pitcher accused of throwing a ball that hit a fan during a bench-clearing brawl was charged with felonious assault.

Peoria Chiefs pitcher Julio Castillo was arrested Thursday following the fight with the Single-A Dayton Dragons, authorities said Friday. Umpires ejected 15 players and the team's managers following the 10-minute brawl.

Very scary stuff. Castillo threw the ball as hard as he could at the other team's dugout. Missed and got a fan. How can you miss a dugout? The Orioles should sign him. I'm sure he won't be pitching for a long time. Full story

In the 'Rumors' section in SI.com there was a story about the Tigers interest in AJ.

it's not believed the Tigers are actively pursuing him. Burnett is making $12 million this year, and the Tigers are reluctant to add to what was a $138-million payroll Opening Day.

I would figure if your payroll was $138 you'd want a pitcher that could pull you up to the playoff.

On MLB.com they note that John Parrish is pitching to keep is spot in the rotation.  You think?

Also on MLB.com Cito and JP explains why Litsch was sent down.

"We've been telling him about adjustments, and he's going to have to make those adjustments," Ricciardi said. "He's going to have to be able to get his two-seamer in control and come up with a changeup that's more effective. The way he's pitching right now, it's not working."

And finally in Fake Teams they have a little piece on who should be AL Rookie of the Year, CY Young and MVP award winnings Of note for Jays fans:

AL CY Young:
1. Justin Duchscherer, Oakland A's
2. Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians
3. Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays

There is no way I see Duchscherer having a second half to match his first, but, until then, he deserves the 1st place vote.  My personal favorite to win it at season's end is Roy Halladay.  To do so he will have to continue winning and lapping the field in innings pitched and complete games.

Now I think Doc should be the winner but we'll look at the stats:

Cliff Lee gets the start for the AL over Doc. I was hoping Doc would get the call but can't really argue that Cliff is a bad choice. Here's his starts:

Compare to Doc:

I guess the best argument for Doc is his 7 complete games, compared to 1 for Lee. He has a few more strike outs too. But their Whips are close and Lee has 1 more win and 4 less losses.  Is pretty much a toss up, I'd pick Doc because of his innings and complete games but...I'm biased. I think he's the best starter in baseball.