Jays 2 Twins 3 in 11 innings
Ricky Romero pitched a great game, 8 innings, 2 earned runs, no walks, only 2 strikeouts, but just a really good for his second major league start. Snakeface pitched a great 9th. Jesse Carlson pitched a great 10th but tired in the 11th and got a few pitches up. Really in an ideal world Cito would have noticed and pulled him, especially since with a runner on 1st Cy a lefty was facing a right-hander and Shawn Camp was warming in the pen.
Offensively we didn't do much, Scott Rolen and Rod Barajas each had two hits. Rios, Wells and Lind each had a hit. Ofers went to Scutaro, Hill, Millar and Bautista. Millar though smoked a couple of fly balls that would have been homers in other parks. Bautista on the other hand didn't look very good, and Cito left him in to face righty Jesse Crain in the 10th inning. One of Cito's little idiosyncrasies is that he won't pinch hit no matter how obvious a moment it is. Travis Snider yesterday hit 2 home runs and yet couldn't get into the game today. Really Cito, it is time to Snider play against left-handers.
Cito seems to have moves he does every game no matter what. He's been pinch running John McDonald for Barajas every game of late. He won't pinch hit. Period. The bunts lately, he just has these things he is doing like clock work, without thought to the different situations. I don't really mean to rag on Cito, all managers have things they do well and thing they don't. Cito's forte isn't in game management. He is great at getting the most of a player's batting potential. And heck the team is wining with him.
Jays of the Day? Romero (.212 WPA), Downs (.143), Wells (.130) and Barajas (.121). Suckage Jays....well half the team, Carlson (-.214, tho if Cito had pulled when he should have.....), Bautista (-.194, again if Cito had pinch hit for him), Kevin Millar (-.149, totally not fair, hit two deep down the line, just too big a park there), Hill (-.139) and Lind (-.122).
Anyway at 6-3 we've dropped back to second, a half game behind the Orioles. Life is still good. Tomorrow Scott Richmond gets his second start of the year and Scott Baker makes his first start of the year for the Twins.
If you haven't heard yet, the Jays have decided to have Brian Tallet start in Jesse Litsch's spot on Saturday. I was hoping to see Brent Cecil, but can't have everything. I'm sure Tallet will do great.