More on last night’s Jays win

That was the first game we’ve had in a bit that I want to look back at.

Maybe part of what improved my mood is the reports that George Springer was running and looking good yesterday. Perhaps he can be back next week?

And Nate Pearson has had three good outings for the Bisons. He did give up a home run in Sunday’s game, but I’d like to think he’s ready to join the team. Today wouldn’t be too soon.

There were a few nice signs in yesterday’s game. We didn’t get a lot of hits, but we had a lot of hard-hit balls. There were 13 balls with 100+ exit velocity. Three of them were off Andrew Vaughn’s bat. The other ten were Blue Jays:

Hit the ball that hard, and sooner or later, some of them will fall in. And the expected batting averages on them were good (for the most part). We just had the bad luck of hitting them at people. But let's take it as a small victory and a hopeful sign for the future.

I think this is worth talking about. I agree it should be a red card:

I guess that Kimbrel decided to block the plate with his leg. No intent to injure, but an injury could have occurred. Likely, if he had more time to think about it, he wouldn’t have gone in that way, but split-second decisions are what they are. Intent or not, dangerous plays should have some consequence.

Valera looked like it hurt at the time.

Giving Charlie his due, pinch-running for Reese was an excellent move. I didn't expect it. Reese isn’t that bad a runner, and I thought they would like to keep his defense out there in a close game. You know that if Breyvic didn’t score and a pitch made it through Kirk costing a run, people would be calling for Charlie’s head even louder than usual.

The 108 pitches last night is Alek Manoah’s third-highest total of the season. He went 114 on August 11th.

I don’t know if it is a good idea for Manoah, in the long run, to be pushed that hard, but it sure worked out well for the bullpen. I do appreciate pitchers who can throw 100+ pitches. Of course, it has something to do with my age or something.

And it was good to see Adam Cimber have a good outing. He’s had a rough couple of weeks. To me, that’s the most challenging part of being a manager, knowing how long to stick with a guy when he has a rough spell.

Tyler Chatwood was great, then had a bit spell at the end of May, got back to very good, and then lost it again. It is tough to give up on someone who was that good.

I would have preferred to keep Otto Lopez up and give him a chance in CF, but I hope Palacios has a good day.

Tony La Russa seems to have become a parody of himself. That bit of him yelling at his catcher was over the top. And him yelling at Manoah because of a pitch that was up and in? I don’t appreciate managers who yell at players in front of fans and cameras. I can’t imagine it helps anyone, least of all the players he yelled at. If you have something to say, say it calmly or do it in the clubhouse. But bullies are going to bully.

I don’t understand why he was hired, other than friendship with the owner. I wish I had a friend like that. If one of you buys an MLB team, remember me.

It wasn’t a terrible day for the plate umpire.

This was supposed to be posted this morning, but someone didn’t hit publish (I guess). So let's add tonight’s lineup: