Marc Rzepczynski must be part magician, he only had 1 inning of his 6 that he didn't allow base runners but with guys on, he was terrific. He gave up just 1 run on 4 hits and 4 walks with 4 strikeouts. He really looks like a keeper. Changes speeds, seems to have confidence in all his pitches and doesn't get rattled with runners on. Of course baseball history is littered with pitchers that had a few good starts, but he looks good.
The bullpen did great too, except for Jesse Carlson's first pitch which Jed Lowrie hit out. Carlson was also helped by two amazing plays, one by Aaron Hill and one by Scott Rolen. Jeremy Accardo, Jason Frasor and Scott Downs pitched last 2.1 innings shutout innings.
And, for a change, we got the hits when we needed them. Adam Lind and Jose Bautista drove in 2 runs each. We had 8 hits, Rolen and Lyle Overbay had two each. O fors for Hill, Raul Chavez and Kevin Millar, who hit into a double play with the bases loads and struck out looking 3 times. I'm not sure why the team isn't ready to release him, but I sure am.
Jays of the Day are Rzepczynski (.183 WPA), Alex Rios (.152 and looking smooth in center field), Overbay (.134) and Bautista (.118). Honorable mention to Rolen for 2 hits and a great catch and Lind. Suckage? Millar. Yeah, pretty hard not to get the suckage award if you hit into a DP with the bases loaded and your team down by a run. Watching strike three three times helps too.
Tomorrow Doc throws for us, while Jon Lester (8-6, 3.87) goes for the Sox. I guess if Millar and Bautista have to play we might as well face a lefty. Come on JP, let's bring up Snider and Ruiz or Dopirak. Hugo and I were saying in the game thread that one thing we'd like JP to learn is patience with young players, while maybe showing a little less patience with old guys. Miilar and Dellucci, well you know what they are likely to give you and we've been seeing it. Young guys might (hopefully) progress and surprise you.
Anyway, if we win behind Doc we win the series. Pretty comforting words. Hope we can say for years to come.