Orioles 2, Blue Jays 1: Best of Times, Blurst of Times for Eric Thames

best

So in the third inning, Eric Thames drew the Blue Jays even with the Orioles at one with a solo home run that made it into, like, the warehouse part of Camden Yards. You know, the like, warehouse part? He crushed it. 


In the fourth, however, a Matt Weiters opposite-field fly to the track totally bounced off Eric Thames and into the crowd for what would prove to be the winning run. Oops:

blurst

Kind of a drag, too, because Henderson Alvarez was really rolling last night, at least after that bases-loaded situation in the first that led to a run scoring on a double play. Two runs on five hits in seven innings? Even against the Orioles that is a solid.


Ah well.


KS


EDIT: the unstoppable DJF has it all covered in animated .gif form!

Snider to Triple A, Thames to Left Field: OK Then I Guess

That is the look Eric Thames gets when he is thinking about Beowulf

I have no problem with this, despite everybody else who cares thinking it is wrong and dumb. Travis Snider hasn't done anything with his time in Toronto, to hell with the projections and protestations of your precious Keith Law (who is also my precious Keith Law, so it's complicated). It's not like exactly like Eric Thames is a world beater, but whatever, man. 


In stranger news, the Blue Jays have extended Dustin McGowan, he of the barely existent right arm, so I guess they think everything is all better and we're good? Good. 


Also, I would be remiss if I did not direct your attention to like a five minute thing Chad Harbach, author of the brilliant Art of Fielding, did with The Economist, a fine publication to which I subscribe because I am almost unbelievably wealthy and powerful. 


Finally, BASEBALL TOTALLY STARTS TOMORROW MORNING LIVE FROM JAPAN ISN'T THAT AWESOME I LOVE BASEBALL LET'S PLAY TWO


KS

Blue Jays 7, Pirates 2: A BASEBALL GAME

Yusssssssssss

I had known for some time that Grapefruit League action, such as it is, was scheduled to begin for these Toronto Blue Jays on this the third day of the third month in the year of our lord 2012, but somehow this managed to sneak up on me all the same. Fortunately, the thoughtful folks at MLB.com went ahead and signed me up for another year of GameDay Audio without me even having to ask! Can you believe it? So I am all set! As is my favourite douchebag in all the world Brett Lawrie, who hit two two-run doubles today, so he remains on pace to be literally the greatest hitter in the history of professional baseball (I will overlook today's error). Nine pitchers took the hill for the Blue Jays, which only ever happens in the first week of spring training games or I guess in the All-Star Game, too, sometimes, and the not-as-fat-as-previously Brett Cecil got the start but not the all-important win, which instead went to Kyle Drabek, who pitched a scoreless inning and struck a guy out so it's like :) SMOKE but also he walked a guy so it is also like :( and so on the whole is like :/ which is the probably the best case scenario for Kyle Drabek this season.


I would also like to call your attention to Eric Thames, who homered today, and who I fully support in the battle for the everyday spot in left field because he not only reads but totally gets Beowulf and also sketches out plans for his facial hair but most importantly he is not Travis Snider. If one is a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays one is supposed to be of the opinion that Snider has been jerked around between the majors and triple-A to such an extent that his confidence lies in ruins and he is a broken man and probably this is mostly Cito's fault, or something, but on the whole he is a dude who has looked less like a dude than a butt, if I may be frank, and I am sure we all agree that the proper place for butts is on the bench. Anyway, go Eric Thames: you are skilled, maybe, and I exhort you. 

moustaches for all imo

I'm listening to the replay of the radio broadcast right now man and Alan Ashby and Jerry Howarth are cold killin' it on day one like I mean killin' it and I just heard a couple of little girls singsong something about raffle tickets and I don't care that it is the grossest day ever outside as the wind howls around my creaky old house because baseball is here and not in the abstract way where there are dudes who sometimes play baseball jogging in uniforms and stretching somewhere but in the very real sense that games are being played and I am listening to them which at the end of the day is what this is all about is it not my friends? 


KS

Blue Jays 3, Yankees 0: Brandon Morrow and Adam Lind Are Kind of Awful . . . But Not Today

J.P.: hey Swish, that's three, bro
Swish: lol I know right

This was an excellent baseball game.


Brandon Morrow, who has been wretched for ages now, struck out eight and allowed only four hits in eight innings against a Yankees B-squad today (no Jeter, Cano, Granderson, or Teixeira), and three of those four hits were the merest of infield singles. The fourth hit was a Nunez ground ball through the right side that Jose Bautista scooped up all casual, and, without looking like anything was up in the least, fired a strike to E5 at first to force Nunez, who had made a big, lazy turn around the bag. Nunez proceeded to curse his lot, surely, and then attempted to advance a base, which he did not, as E5 put for an uncharacteristically accurate throw to McCoy, who applied the tag. It owned. It owned.  


Add to Morrow's fine start Adam Lind's two home runs -- or dingers -- and you've got yourself an extremely content guy over here enjoying an afternoon of Blue Jays baseball. Also Eric Thames fouled a ball off his own head. Seriously, look:

 That rarely happens! 


KS

Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 4: Toronto Takes Three of Four from Boston; No Big Deal

Jays Win, I hear.

Last night, behind American League Pitcher of the Month Ricky Romero, it was kind of like, the future, maybe, a little? David Cooper, fresh off a Pacific Coast League batting title, had three hits and two doubles; Brett Lawrie doubled and continued to own; J. P. Arencibia hit yet another dinger; and Eric Thames put one out, too. These are young men barely out of boyhood, friends, and there they were, ripping it up against the mighty Boston Red Sox (let us not discuss who started for them last night, lest all of this seem way less impressive). And we're back to .500. Does that matter? Not really. But it feels good, man. Feels good.


KS

Blue Jays 2, Pirates 1: Squeak.

10 K is a pretty good amount of K

Brandon Morrow's ratio of Having Awesome Stuff : Being Good has been frustratingly, horrifyingly off so far this season, so it was just really great to see him fan ten and allow but a lone run in seven innings of four-hit (and three-walk, let us not hide from the truth) baseball. Eric Thames, who could totally be a player, hit his first career home run in the seventh, and Rajai who has been awful and Escobar hit back-to-back doubles and inning later, and we're good!  


Looking ahead, but only, like, six hours ahead, Brett Cecil makes his first start since being recalled from Triple A Las Vegas. You will recall that the reason for his demotion was that he was pitching badly. Perhaps he will be better now? 


KS