Wednesday, July 4 - Oakland, California
Game time temperature: 71 F (23 C)
4:05 PM (EDT)
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Toronto Blue Jays Vernon Wells cf Alexis Rios rf Troy Glaus 3b Frank Thomas dh Aaron Hill 2b Matt Stairs lf Greg Zaun c Curtis Thigpen 1b Royce Clayton ss Pitching: Dustin McGowan, RHP |
Oakland Athletics Shannon Stewart lf Mark Kotsay cf Nick Swisher rf Jack Cust dh Eric Chavez 3b Dan Johnson 1b Mark Ellis 2b Bobby Crosby ss Jason Kendall c Pitching: Joe Kennedy, LHP |
Man, how crappy was yesterday's loss? Jesse Litsch came in and did a courageous job, only to be treated like crap by his offense and his defense. Cupcakes showed in the 1st inning that he didn't have anything special, yet the Jays just kept bailing him out.
The good news is, the Jays still have a chance to win the road series. Dustin McGowan faces off against Joe Kennedy, another portly, unspectacular lefty. There is no reason at all that Kennedy should have an ERA under 4, considering his horrid, Ohka-like 38/39 K/BB ratio over 90 innings and 1.47 WHIP. Time to take him and the A's down.
In other news, Lyle Overbay is targeting a return to action next Thursday when the Jays return from the All Star Break for a series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Matt Stairs and, to a lesser extent, Curtis Thigpen, have filled in admirably, but it will be great to have Lyle back. By the way, Thigpen will need to show more power if he's going to be successful at Catcher, let alone 1st base, as a major leaguer. He also hasn't showed the discipline he had in the minors. Of course, it is a miniscule sample size, so I'm not too worried. Happy Fourth of July to all you statesiders.
Update 5:50 pm EDT: Troy Glaus fouled a ball off his foot in the 2nd inning and left the game. Glaus was taken to the hospital for precautionary x-rays. Hope all is well, Troy!