Well game one turned into a nailbiter. I was on the edge of my seat during the 9th inning and when Longoria hit that triple it was one of those cover your eyes because you can't watch moments. For a game on May 31st it certainly gave us a lot of stress and tension. It would have been nice if more people in and around Toronto could make it to the games. Only have 11k at the game for two teams with over 30 wins was a little sad and disheartening. For reference Tampa and Toronto are the 1st and 4th best teams in the AL currently. Now before people start going all doom and gloom and thinking the Jays are going the way of the Expos and the DoDos just keep in mind the size of the market we are in. Toronto is one of the 5 biggest markets in all of North America. I doubt Baseball wants to give up on it just yet. Especially given the history before the lockout and the sellouts we had before. Toss in stable ownership and things don't look so bad. Teams that are rebuilding typically don't have great numbers, and before this year we were never last in the league.
This evening we move onto game two of the Rays series, and we may be in for a tougher night then last night. Tallet makes his first start after being activated. He had one rehab start in the minors and got shelled for 8 runs in 1.1 innings, doesn't exactly inspire confidence. However that being said we have seen him go out and give us a serviceable start in the past so lets hope he could put it back together for us. It seems with some of the comments made by Cito it looks like this may be Tallet's last start for awhile. Litsch is almost eligible to come off the DL and it looks like Tallet may be moved back to the role of long guy out of the pen and occasionally spot start. Personally I think that is the role he is ideally suited for. He will be taking on Jeff Niemann of the Rays. Frankly there is not much to say. Niemann like the rest of the Rays rotation has been brilliant. He is a big intimidating guy on the mound.
In the fun fact column. Jordan Bastian tweeted this a little while ago:
The Blue Jays 31-22 record to open the season is the best mark through 53 games since 1993 (31-22). Best through 5/31 since '92 (31-19).
Only one change for the Jays and that is behind the plate. Buck is back to catch Tallet and bumps EE down to the 9th spot in the order again. Buck with bat 8th. Everything else remains the same.
With Buck in we may have a problem on the basepaths. I doubt Buck will be able to hold back the running game as well as Molina has done against the Rays this year and if Crawford and Upton get on they aren't going to wait long to test Buck.
Tune in after the jump for Lineups and Series Info.
Keep it civil and Go Jays Go
Today's title comes from Pixar's first hit, Toy Story.