The Jays played the Angels tough yesterday and managed to salvage the third game, which was good, as getting swept at home really stings. The Jays packed the bases and jumped out to a 3-run lead on RBI hits by Inglett, Wilkerson, and Barajas, and A.J. Burnett was downright nasty until he wasn't anymore, and then the lead was gone. But Lyle Overbay hit a 6th inning solo blast to give the Jays a 4-3 lead that they never relinquished, thanks to steller pitching out of the bullpen by Jesse Carlson, Scott Downs, and B.J. Ryan. Carlson and Downs were especially impressive, as Carlson struck out the side in the 7th and Snakeface retired the middle of the order in the 8th. Ryan pitched a nice easy 1-2-3 9th, and the game was won.
Roy Halladay pitches tonight for the Jays against the 21-26 Royals. Zack Greinke pitches for the Royals and is having a tremendous year. Greinke (who I always want to spell "Grienke")is 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA that an almost 3-1 K/BB ratio and solid 3.80 FIP suggests is more skill than luck, though some of both. That said, you can't expect a 90% LOB rate to continue for any pitcher. For his part, Doc is actually getting unlucky as he's got a stellar 2.81 FIP (apparently he's not getting the benefit of the Jays' defense) and an LOB% of 68.6%. Let's see if the Jays can bring Greinke back to earth a bit!