Hi everyone. Always happy to do a guest game thread for Johnny, and this one gives me the chance to plug the new Japandroids record, which I selected in honour of the British Columbians who make the trip down to Seattle when the Jays come to town. Of course the song title itself is an homage to Bruce Springsteen (underrated record, actually)
Back from Iowa, a state rich in baseball lore. I didn't get to see the Field of Dreams stadium, but I did walk around the Iowa Cubs (AAA) stadium, which was just a short walk from my hotel (unfortunately the Cubs were not in town). And they like their baseball there in general - all the bars and restaurants showed multiple baseball games, and baseball only, on tv, despite playoff events in other sports.
Ricky Romero takes on the M's today and looks to follow up a fantastic start last time out, while the so-far surprisingly good Jason Vargas pitches for Seattle. Romero is having a great start to the season and with each turn through the rotation, he and Shaun Marcum are very quietly staking their claim as a premier 1-2 pitching duo.
Vernon Wells gets a sort-of day off - he's DHing, with Fred Lewis taking centre field duties. And Jose Molina gets the day game start. The suposedly awful Jays are just one game back of the greatest team ever assembled Yankees - I know it's early in the season, but wouldn't it be fun to catch them? Lineups and matchups after the jump, and see you in the thread!