Now I know why Ichiro hates Cleveland. I, too, want to punch myself in the face after yesterday's game. Doc was left in for at least one batter too long, a fact made obvious by his walking Asrubal Cabrera, who wished only to sacrifice himself for the good of the team, to load the bases. You can't really blame Doc - I expect he was trying to get Cabrera to pop up the bunt because he felt like the Jays couldn't even afford to give up the one run the way they were playing. I know C.C. Sabathia is a good pitcher, but he hasn't exactly been lights-out this season and the Jays certainly had their chances, they just did nothing with them. Newcomer Kevin Mench got in on the act, grounding into a double-play on the first pitch of a key at-bat with runners on 1st and 2nd and no out.To make matters worse, Vernon Wells injured his wrist making a great diving catch and also had some hamstring tightness. The Jays are saying that Wells' wrist is just jammed, but I don't know that he's had any tests yet, so how they could know that, I'm not sure. But if it is a fracture, it certainly didn't look very gruesome (though quite painful) so perhaps it is just jammed. I hate to say it, but it's not like losing Vernon is a real loss at this point - although he hasn't been hitting badly, it's hard to imagine the Jays as a team hitting any worse. I'd be shocked to see Wells reappear any earlier than next series, and I think that's being optimistic. But we will know more later today.
Instead of reaching .500, and freeing us of our obligation to find appropriate They Might Be Giants lyrics, the Jays are moving in the other direction. (Although I considered titling my post about the Wilkerson and Mench acquisitions "Minimum Wage...Heyah!")
Dustin McGowan tries to turn things around today, while Aaron Laffey, yet another left-hander, pitches for Cleveland. With lefthanders neutralizing Overbay, one of the few Jays who has been hitting well over the past little-bit, we could be in for a long night. I have a gig at 5 pm today so won't be around for lineups, though I'll be making my way home at some point during the game. Whether I can bear to watch it is another story.