Rangers 7, Blue Jays 6: Do Not Blame Jo-Jo For This

What it do, Yorvit Torrealba. What it do.

At first glance, you'd think there were just the two ways to go on this one: either that disastrous, six-run third inning is Jo-Jo's fault, or it's E5's. In an utterly unshocking turn of events, E5 committed yet another egregious Edwin Encarnacion (yes, I am still on that), allowing Yorvit Torrealba to reach, and opening the door to, well, a six-run inning, like I say. So you could totally pin this on E5 were you so inclined, and I would get that. On the other hand, you could suggest that sure, those are technically unearned runs, but eventually Jo-Jo has got to shut the door, right? It's not awesome to have to get four outs in an inning, but it happens all the time without getting pounded for six runs, right?


But I am here to argue that any ill feelings you have towards either E5 or Jo-Jo coming out of last night's game are misplaced and, ultimately, cowardly. They say more about you than they do about either of these deeply troubling athletes. We know, we know that E5 can't reliably make the throw to first. Let's not ask him to. Further, we know that Jo-Jo Reyes needs all the support he can possibly be given to have even the slightest hope out there. So let's especially not put E5 out there on Jo-Jo nights. It's not fair to E5; it's not fair to Jo-Jo; and it's not fair to me.


Let's hear it, though, for the Blue Jays' bats that pounded out fourteen hits and made a game of it, and for the bullpen that allowed only a single run the rest of the way. Juan Rivera went three for four with a home run, which in and of itself is hard to hate, except that I hate him. Also on the subject of haters, and specifically Jose Bautista's on-going struggle against them: knocked in a pair with a double. Eat it. 

KS