Great Start For Carlos Villanueva: Jays Beat Rays

Rays 0 Blue Jays 2

That was just a terrific start by Carlos Villanueva. 6 shutout innings, 5 hits (all singles), 1 walk and 7 strikeouts, including a run of 6 in a row. 94 pitches, 63 strikes. Maybe, if he is in the starting rotation to start things off next year, he can go a little deeper into games. Assuming he stays with the team. He's got a pretty nice 3.10 ERA right now.

The bullpen kept the Rays off the board, for the last 3 innings. Darren Oliver (2 k), Brad Lincoln (1 k) and Casey Janssen (1 k) pitched an inning each and didn't allow a hit.

We didn't do much on offense, but the 2 runs we scored in the first was enough. Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind and Yunel Escobar loaded the bases, then Kelly Johnson drove in 2 with a double. Very nice to see Kelly get a big hit.

We only had 7 hits, and Kelly's was the only extra base hit. Kelly and Yunel had 2 hits each, Rajai Davis, Moises Sierra and Lind had our other singles.

Jays of the Day are Carlos (.346 WPA) and Kelly (.162). Lets give honorable mention to the 3 relievers for doing a great job. No Suckage awards. Sierra had the low mark at -.065, even with a single and a walk.

So 2 wins in a row and 3 wins in the last 4 games, nice to have a good run again. Tomorrow Brandon Morrow (7-5, 3.06) gets his second start after coming back from the DL. Jeremy Hellickson (8-9, 3.42) starts for the Rays.

Keep it going guys.