If someone had told me to this point in the month we would be 9-7 I probably would have taken it. Granted it would be nice to have taken one or two more to get under that 10GB mark... but it could be worse. People kept talking on how if we could just make it to 4 or 5 back by the start of September we would be in the race. As much as I love the thought of playing meaningful games in September I didn't really think it was possible and unfortunately so far in the month it has only driven that point home more. While we were playing all of the teams that we were chasing, we also had the unfortunate quirk of the schedule that saw all of those same teams playing each other too. Dah well, let's beat the Sox and put to rest their longshot dreams of making the playoffs.
Tonight we are going to be in tough. We don't hit well against Lefties at the best of times let alone with one as good as Lester can be. We counter with our own young lefty in Brett Cecil who has had his troubles against the Red Sox in the past (namely last season). This is actually a rematch of a game earlier this season, On April 28th the Jays were defeated by the Red Sox 2-0. Cecil was good, 6IPs, 3Ks, 5Hs, 1BB and 1ER, he unfortunately just wasn't as good as Lester who threw 7 innings of 1 hit ball while striking out 11.
Since that start Lester has been great this year. Look at those sparkling ERA and WHIP numbers. Let's hope our "softball lineup" can run into a few and knock them over the Monster.
Snider is in the lineup today playing LF in front of the monster and batting 9th. Lind will get the day off against the tough lefty while Lewis steps in as the DH. Today marks the first day that Buck is back in the lineup since his injury. He will bat 5th behind Vernon in the lineup bumping everyone else down 1 spot.
Tune in after the jump for Lineups and Series info.
Keep it Civil and Go Jays Go
Today's title is from the Boondock Saints.