Jays Lose Again, This Time to the Rays

Blue Jays 1 Rays 12

Let's face it, no one but us suckers for punishment watched that game, and no one will be reading the recap.

I could type all loses and no wins makes Tom a dull boy 150 times and not one would know the difference. This game was particularly painful and Tom has long since become a dull boy.

I do sort of feel sorry for Carlos Villanueva. Alex suggested that Carlos needs to show he can stand up to the number of innings a starter usually get, if he wants to get a contract that befits a full time starter. I think his last few starts of the season will make it or break it as far as getting a big money offer from the Jays. This start won't help him. If he can handle the workload, he sure didn't show it tonight.

He got thumped, 2.1 innings, 8 hits, 7 earned, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts and 2 home runs. He had a 5.03 ERA in his 3 September starts before this one. Now his September ERA is 7.36. It is unfair to judge him on such a small sample. But if then if the worry about him is endurance, he's going to have finish strong.

Chad Beck also pitched tonight, I forgot he was with the team. He did ok, he gave up 1 run in 2.2 innings. Good job Chad. Another pitcher I forgot about, David Carpenter got into the game too. He didn't do so well, 4 earned in his inning. I'd be ok with the Jays forgetting about him over the off-season.

Offensively we did little against James Shields. He is a really good pitcher. We had 6 hits in 7 innings against him. We did finally get a run in the 8th against Brandon Gomes. Fittingly our Gomes (of the Yan variety) drove in the run, with a double. Yunel Escobar even had a part in our run, getting into his first action after the end of his suspension. Farrell was very smart to put him out as a pinch-hitter and he came through with a single.

No JoD again. Carlos gets the Suckage Award for his -.377 WPA.

Tomorrow night Brandon Morrow (8-6, 2.98) gets the start for the Jays. Matt Moore (10-11, 3.88) gets to throw to Blue Jay batters that have either given up or are really lousy. Likely a mix of the two.

Also tomorrow, at 1:00 Eastern, team Canada plays Germany in the WBC Qualifier tournament. That will likely be the more enjoyable game to watch.

We dropped to 66-83 in our season of the damned.