Baseball is like this. We are on a five game losing streak. We get swept by the Indians. We can't see to buy a break. Rarely do we hit the ball hard and, when we do, it finds a glove. I was starting to hate baseball.
Then today. Nothing works offensively until Aaron Hill singles in the tying run in the 8th. Then nothing until the 11th. Overbay singles. Buck singles. Hoffpauir bunts (with Overbay on second it has to be a perfect bunt and it was). Yankees intentionally walk Fred Lewis. Alex Gonzalez singles to bring in the go ahead run. (When was the last time we had a hit with the bases loaded? Sometime in 2005?). Jose Bautista strikes out on two terrible calls by the home plate umpire. Vernon walks to bring in another run. Then Dewayne Wise triples, putting us up by 5.
I love baseball again.
This game had so many unusual moments for the Jays. We stole two bases(a season high), one for Lewis and one for Wise. We had a successful sac bunt. Cito got ejected! I'm really amazed he made it to the 11th inning. Bautista was up, with the bases loaded, strike one was high and inside, Jose wasn't please. strike three was low and Bautista went off on the umpire. Cito came out, had his say, went back to the dugout and had a few other choice words for the umpire. And he was gone.
I thought he should have got himself thrown out earlier when Alex Gonzalez seemed to be hit on the arm by a pitch, before it hit the knob of his bat. I'd have screamed at the umpire for 10 minutes. Cito talked to him far more gently. Maybe he was right to, because then he was still around to get thrown out in the 11th.
Anyway, Brett Cecil battled today. He walked 6, gave up 4 hits, struck out 5 but only gave up the one run. With runners on he was great. In the first he walked the first two batters but only allowed one run. In the 3rd he gave up a single and two walks to load the bases, then struck out Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano, then got Jorge Posada on a ground out to end the inning. So while he didn't pitch great, he fought through 6 innings only allowing 1 run against a good Yankee team.
Our bullpen was amazing. Shawn Camp pitched 1.1 innings, giving up just a run. Downs went 1.2, Frasor 1 and Gregg 1, all perfect. Camp gave a one out single in the 7th and that was the last baserunner against us. We might not have been going great lately but it isn't our bullpen's fault.
The Yankees made some nice plays against us. I was sure Gonzalez had a home run in the 8th but Brett Gardner came out of no where to make a great catch at the wall and Lyle Overbay hit one hard to center that Curtis Granderson made a terrific catch on.
Jays of the Day are Downs (.216 WPA), Cecil (.204), Wise (.159), Frasor (.150) and Camp (.097). I think Gregg deserves honorable mention, even if we were up by 5. He went 1, 2, 3 in the 9th and never gave us a moment of worry. Vernon Wells had Suckage numbers (-.157) but then he took a big walk to drive in a run in the 11th which also kept the inning going to allow Wise to triple.
Jordan Bastian Thwip:
Man I love beating the Yankees.