Rays 7, Blue Jays 6 (F/12): Jon Rauch Blows

Curse you, Robinson Chirinos.

So, OK, Brett Cecil couldn't quite hold onto the early 2-0 to which he was staked yesterday, and that is hard to get upset about, because who among us has not, will not, or would not allow a three-run home run to Evan Longoria? Few, I would argue. Jose Bautista tied it up in the eighth with his MLB-leading 33rd home run of the year, and had me thinking good thoughts as we headed into extras, but the tenth was kind of appalling: J. P. Arencibia walked, bless him, and Rajai Davis was brought on as a pinch runner, only to be picked off after he had safely made his way back to the bag on a pick-off attempt. How is that possible? He went back too far.  This wasn't Kent Hrbek wrestling a dude off the bag; this was a guy who just kind of stumbled off the base. Play-by-play man Alan Ashby's earthly body was transmuted into a living sigh as he recounted this incredible, saddening feat. That the Blue Jays still managed to push the go-ahead run across on an Escobar walk and a Rasmus double gave me hope, but, as is so often the case, hope proved to be both wrong and dumb.


Jon Rauch wasted absolutely no time blowing it in the bottom half of the inning. His second pitch to Desmond Jennings landed in the seats in left, and I should have just turned the game off. But instead I was there for Jose Molina's stand-up triple in the eleventh that plated both E5 and Travis Snider (if you're wondering how Travis Snider could have possibly reached base, it was on a fielder's choice). How improbable is that? A two-RBI triple -- a stand-up two-RBI triple -- from not just a catcher, not just a fat catcher, but a notoriously fat catcher. But that still wasn't enough, because there's Jon Rauch running back out there in the twelfth, getting ready to blow the whole damn thing again. Ashby, still audibly shaken from what had happened an inning before, was like, "Jon Rauch . . . Jon Rauch might blow this thing twice." And then he totally did. I know Shawn Camp got tagged with the second blown save of the day, and also the loss, but morally, if not statistically, Jon Rauch blew that game twice. That is absolutely what happened. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise, least of all Jon Rauch. 


NEWS AND NOTES OTHER THAN THAT I DON'T WANT JON RAUCH TO EVER PITCH AGAIN FOR THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMPT ATTENTION TO THIS MOST PRESSING MATTERS YOURS KS:


Brett Lawrie has finally been called up, which means Jose Bautista is back to right field, which means there too many outfielders up, except no it doesn't, because Travis Snider got himself demoted. Alex Anthopolous was on the radio after the game yesterday, and he explained that this isn't the kind of demotion where they're like, Travis Snider needs to go down and get his head straight, or Travis Snider needs to go down and work on the following things in regards to his swing or his approach; this is instead the kind of demotion where he's just not playing well enough to stick, and in fact has been outplayed by Eric Thames, who is quite rightly staying up. Snider is still young enough that it would be misguided to abandon all hope, or to decide, as the loathsome Gregg Zaun already has, that Snider is a AAAA player, but is sure not a guy I want to see playing in Toronto right now, and that is saying something, because my standards are honestly not that high in that regard.


ALSO: Alex Rios is totally at it again. Read all about it at Fangraphs/Notgraphs: "Awful Alex Rios is Awful in So Many Ways" . On yesterday's Baseball Today Podcast, Eric Karabell said he was stunned that Alex Rios didn't hustle after a ball he misplayed in the most egregious possible way, and Keith Law, without elaborating at all and with no venom in his voice, said, "I'm not." And it was devastating. Fun fact: J. P. Ricciardi signed this guy to an incredibly lucrative long-term deal and the White Sox were literally the only team dumb enough to take it on. After this season, the White Sox are on the hook for another $38 million to a player who this year has been worth -1.8 Wins Above Replacement. That is wild stuff. 


KS