Its the rubber match and the last game for our traveling bloggers so its the perfect time for a Jays win to close our their trip. Actually any time is a good time for a Jays win but I digress. Meanwhile back in Toronto the violent protests seem to have died down from yesterday although many are expecting it to start again today check that, things have hit the fan again today. With over 400 arrests yesterday it seems that the protestors are marching on the detention centre at the moment chanting "Solidarity" .... Yeah thats going to end well. Reports are at least another 100 so far have been arrested today. Rubber bullets or tear gas was fired on the people that marched on the detention centre. Raid on U of T to arrest a group of Montreal anti-Capitalism students that were staying at the U of T campus. All kinds of fun. Best reality TV ever.
On the mound today we have soon to pension eligible Jamie Moyer taking on the young whippersnapper that just won't get off his lawn Brett Cecil. Moyer recently begin the all-time leader in home runs allowed. Of course you have to be pretty decent to be allowed to pitch that long to hit that many home runs allowed so its a bit of a double edged sword. Cecil is coming off two pretty bad outings so he looks to get his season back on track. These past two games have caused a few people to start saying that Cecil should be shipped back down to AAA. And these people are the exact definition of "What have you done for me lately fans", because before these two bad starts Cecil had a string of 5 starts that were all either good to great starts. I doubt he is going anywhere unless it is later in the season and they just shut him down due to an innings cap.
Just how bad were Cecil's last two starts? While in the span of those two games his ERA has risen from 3.22 to where it currently sits at 4.06. Lastly one last little fact from John Lott:
On Sunday, Brett Cecil, 23, starts for Jays against Jamie Moyer, 47. In 1986, when Cecil was born, Moyer was 7-4 as a Cubs rookie.
FUN!
For the bullpen I think Downs may be unavailable due to pitching two innings, but on the other hand he only threw 23 pitches so he might be available for a batter or two if need be. Camp only thew 12 pitches to close out the 9th so he should be good to go as well.
Bastian just tweeted the lineups for today and I have to say... umm what? Lewis is taking a seat on the bench after his good game yesterday and replacing him in LF is John McDonald. McDonald also takes over his spot in the lineup... and leads off. Molina is behind the plate and takes over Buck's 8 spot in the lineup. Hoffpauir again plays 3rd and takes the 9 spot. Cito pulled this type of thing a lot last year, the lineup didn't change when players were rested and I couldn't stand it. There is no reason to have McDonald lead off the game, he should be batting 9th. In his career John McDonald has batted first in the lineup in 29 games. In those 29 games he has accumulated 29AB his slash line is .138/.138/.172 He has no walks, 4Hits with 1 double from this spot in the order.
When asked why McDonald was leading off, Cito quoted an even smaller sample size in saying the following. Tweeted from Bastian.
Why Johnny Mac in the leadoff spot? Cito said it's because he's hit .375 (6-16) with 1 HR, 3 RBIs in his career against the lefty.
Tune in after the jump for lineups and Series info.
Current Series
3 game series vs Phillies @ Citizens Bank Park
| Fri 06/25 | WP: Roy Halladay (9 - 6) LP: Jesse Litsch (0 - 2) | 0 - 9 loss |
| Sat 06/26 | WP: Shaun Marcum (7 - 3) LP: Cole Hamels (6 - 6) | 5 - 1 win |
Philadelphia Phillies Sunday, Jun 27, 2010, 1:35 PM EDT Jamie Moyer vs Brett Cecil Partly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 90. Complete Coverage > | ||
Keep it Civil and Go Jays Go
Today's title comes from Men In Black 2.