Blue Jays 2, Rays 0; Blue Jays 2, Rays 1; Rays 5, Blue Jays 4; Rays 9, Blue Jays 4: You Know What This Was Actually Pretty Neat

slid right into his butt, like right into it

Great starts from Carlos Villanueva and Brandon Morrow, back-to-back games ending with dudes thrown out at the plate, and tight, low-scoring affairs that could totally have gone either way, I mean, shoot, that sounds pretty awesome, does it not? And indeed it was! Were it not for Ricky Romero getting absolutely pasted beyond all recognition in the series finale on Sunday afternoon -- 1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR -- this would have been nothing but good times, man, nothing at all. But yeah, the Romero start, his worst ever, and pretty much the worst you could ever possibly see, took a little bit of the shine off an otherwise excellent weekend of baseball, the Blue Jays series I have enjoyed most in a long time (because I kind of whiffed on the Yankees series, to be honest). 

I would like to point out, in case you had not noticed which is entirely possible, that E5 is now up to 37 HR, which is utterly ridiculous. Not that it would have made that much difference to the shape of the season or anything, but wouldn't it have been cool if Jose Bautista's wrist hadn't exploded and both these awesome dudes hit forty-plus dingers? Boy. Boy.

KS

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4: A Waddle-Off Win

Jose Molina: plump.

What a weird one! The Blue Jays put thirteen hits on the board against the Yankees' five, but ended up edging them by but a single run in the bottom of the ninth. The story of this one was base runners left stranded, and that is especially true if the particular story you are telling is the story of Edwin Encarnacion, who left ten aboard last night, ten. E5 has actually had a spectacularly unclutch season: despite his sixteen home runs, thirty-five doubles, and an OPS right around the .800 mark, he's only knocked in fifty-two, despite generally hitting not too far behind Jose Bautista, who gets on at an MLB-best rate of .449 (last night: 1 for 1 with 4 BB). What I am wondering here is, how is that even possible? 


Dustin McGowan got the start last night, and three runs on three hits over five against the Yankees is pretty acceptable, especially when you take into consideration that this was a spot start for the injured Brett Cecil, who missed his turn in the rotation because he sliced the index finger of his right hand whilst cleaning a blender. "It had two blades that stick straight up and two out to the side, and I hit one of the ones that were sticking straight up,” Cecil told John Lott of the National Post in "Cecil Scratched After Losing Blender Battle." 


C. C. Sabathia was pretty bad last night, which we're not used to seeing. I'm not saying Justin Verlander shouldn't obviously win the Cy Young this year -- because he totally, totally should -- but it's interesting that so few have been talking about what an awesome year Sabathia has been having. Last night, though, he was surprisingly hittable, despite striking out eight in less than six innings. I think I like C.C., despite the obvious stain on his character of pitching for the Yankees. I can't really say why.


Anyway, after some truly futile attempts at small ball -- such horrendous bunting you have never seen -- Jose Molina ended all the silliness in the bottom of the ninth with a line drive to the wall off of Cory Wade, plating Brett Lawrie and making everyone feel a little better about, again, the worst bunting you have ever seen. 


KS  

Blue Jays 5, Orioles: 4: Another Blow Stuck Against the Loathsome Kevin Gregg

OH NOES KEVIN GREGG I THINK HE IS IN THERE

In the early going, there was much to cheer: Jose Bautista's 41st home run of the season; Brett Lawrie's 9th; Dewayne Wise's throw to the plate to end the third inning; and Lawrie's ridiculous bare-handed play on a chopper to third to end the fourth. Add to this another solid outing by young Henderson Alvarez, and it was easy to not get all that bent out of shape when Jesse Litsch couldn't quite keep it together in the eighth, allowing Vladimir Guerrero (bless him) to double in the go-ahead run. It had been a pretty good one! It would have been OK had the Blue Jays come up just a little short. It seriously would have been. I was at peace.


However! After Clay Rapada -- sleeper pick for best name in the majors, in my view -- got David Cooper swinging to open the ninth, Buck Showalter went to Kevin Gregg to close things out, because he is, as you know, A Closer, and that's vitally important. To his goonish, loathsome credit, Gregg managed to put Lawrie away swinging and totally get two strikes on Kelly Johnson before falling apart completely and ruining everything. Johnson worked a walk, which brought Jose Molina to the plate, and I had every expectation that J. P. Arencibia would be brought out to  pinch hit at that point, playing for the longball, you know? But as Alan Ashby rightly noted, that's a tough call for manager John Farrell: Arencibia has the power, but the lovably plump Molina hits for the much better average. Sure enough, Molina singled (oh, there was a pinch runner alright: it was Chris Woodward), and Adam Lowen -- a former Orioles pitcher on whom the Blue Jays took a flyer as an outfielder, sent to A-ball, and here we are three years later -- came to the plate for Dewayne Wise, and was awarded first after being ever so faintly brushed by a pitch. 


So it was with two out and the bases loaded that John Farrell at last brought J. P. Arencibia off the bench, at which point the irredeemable Gregg uncorked a wild pitch that brought home the tying run, and allowed a crisp single to left to bring in the game winner. Take that, Kevin Gregg: the universe is never going to forgive you for being the way you were with Cito, and I am but part of the universe.


To conclude on an unrelated topic, I would like to pass along that Jerry Howarth mentioned yesterday that he had served as master of ceremonies at Adam Lind's wedding last year (registry details here if you have yet to send a gift; pic of the happy couple here), which, I don't know, I found both nice and perhaps surprisingly amusing. "There she goes!" etc. 


Oh actually to conclude, here is rad shot of Jose Bautista rounding the bases. 

JOSE JOSE

KS

Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 10: This Game was Bananas

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

With the Red Sox up 8-4 through five innings, and Tim Wakefield in line for the two-hundredth win of his insanely long career, it looked to me like the story of the game was going to be the contrast between Brandon Morrow, a young guy with all the stuff in the world who has yet to truly figure it all out, and Wakefield, a guy with no arm and basically one pitch but who is, you know, the awesomest. But then everything got crazy, leaving the clear-cut narratives that seemed to have been developing in this contest obscure and, in the end, undiscernible. But that's probably OK.  


Actually, it was kind of weird from the first, really. Morrow scuffled from the outset, and it's not like Wakefield was exactly rolling, either: Thames came in on an E5 sac fly in the first; J. P. Arencibia set the Blue Jays mark for home runs by a catcher with his twenty-first in the second; and Bautista doubled in Thames in the third. But the first real sign of the madness that was to follow came when Brett Lawrie and Jose Bautista pulled off the double steal of second and home, with Bautista beating Marco Scuturo's pretty dang errant throw to the plate. The usual Red Sox bludgeoning followed, with home runs by Ortiz and Ellsbury, setting the stage for the Blue Jays' eighth, possibly my favourite inning all year. I mean, just look at it:

Bottom 8 (Daniel Bard pitching)

• 
  

  1.Brett Lawrie hit by pitch.




• 
  

  2.Adam Loewen singles on a ground ball to right fielder Josh Reddick. Brett Lawrie to 3rd.




• 
  

  3.J. P. Arencibia walks. Adam Loewen to 2nd.




• 
  

  4.Dewayne Wise strikes out swinging.




• 
  

  5.Yunel Escobar called out on strikes.




• 
  

  6.Eric Thames walks. Brett Lawrie scores. Adam Loewen to 3rd. J. P. Arencibia to 2nd.




• 
  

  Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Chris Woodward replaces J. Arencibia.




• 
  

  Coaching visit to mound.




• 
  

  7.Jose Bautista walks. Adam Loewen scores. Chris Woodward to 3rd. Eric Thames to 2nd.




• 
  

  Pitcher Change: Matt Albers replaces Daniel Bard.




• 
  

  Coaching visit to mound.




• 
  

  8.Edwin Encarnacion doubles (34) on a line drive to center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. Chris Woodward scores. Eric Thames scores. Jose Bautista scores.




• 
  

  9.Kelly Johnson strikes out swinging.

  
  

To the above I would add only that E5's double to the wall came on a 3-2 pitch, making it all the better (runners on the move!). Even Frank Francisco's insistence on allowing two runs in the ninth did not dampen my spirits, especially since the game ended on Jose Molina's throw to second, catching Mike Aviles stealing, an awesome way to end a baseball game, I trust you will agree.


I hope Tim Wakefield gets his 200th before the end of the year, because at forty-five years old, there's every reason to believe he won't be back. Like literally everyone else, I have a soft spot for knuckleballers. Maybe it would get old if he actually pitched for your team, and you had to listen to all the same old knuckleballer stories every five days instead of a couple of times a season, but in small doses it seems like the best of things. Alan Ashby, who caught Joe Niekro (presumably in the Niekro Leagues), had plenty to say on the radio last night. Jerry Howarth, totally enamoured with the knuckleball, eventually asked Ashby why so few players throw it. "I think it's because, for the time being, anyway, sanity prevails on the planet earth," was Ashby's reply. 


Kind of, but not really, because last night was crazy, man, it was crazy.


KS

Blue Jays 13, Orioles 0: Thoughts for Jo-Jo, But No Prayers This Time

Dinger aftermath.

With Brian Tallet safely DFA'd, the Blue Jays took the field with a spring in their step last night and absolutely punished poor, sweet Jo-Jo Reyes, who didn't make it out of the third. Blue Jays bats were relentless, except I guess for the bat of Mike McCoy, which relented quite a lot, actually. But everybody else pounded the ball. Escobar? 4-6. Thames? 4-5 with a double. Bautista? A three-run home run, his league-leading thirty-ninth. E5 went 4-5, Kelly Johnson homered, as did big fat Jose Molina. It was awesome.


All the while, Henderson Alvarez kept right on throwing strikes, and forcing ground outs with a great sinker. Three hits, no walks, and five strikeouts over eight innings of work earned him the first win of his career, and maybe this is a dude who should be in the back end of the rotation next year, right? I know it was just the O's, but still. I know that all experts agree that the Blue Jays have a ton of pitching coming, and so I should be patient, but pretty much everybody but Ricky Romero and Casey Janssen has me down these days so I am flailing a little. I can't shake the Drabek thing, basically, and I really wanted Brett Cecil to prove craftier. Oh hey that totally reminds me: over at Frangraphs, Jesse Wolfersberger (possibly a real name) dares to ask the question, "Why Are Lefties Crafty?" in an article that is completely worth your while. "It turns out, this is one historical saying that holds up under statistical analysis," he contends, and then shows you math in a persuasive way.  



Unrelatedly, I would also like to draw your attention to how Milwaukee Brewers' slugger Ryan Braun was totally on his way to an inside-the-park home run last night before he stumbled between third and home and got caught in a rundown to the delight and straight-up merriment of all. A photo essay on this subject follows.

KS

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

Braves 5, Blue Jays 1: Nobody Is Any Good

Note Jose Molina, a fat man.

Zach Stewart got pounded, basically, and nobody is hitting right now with the exception of Adam Lind, so that's your ball game. And how are things on the farm, you might ask? Well, Kyle Drabek is walking everybody and getting hit hard, whilst Travis Snider was hit in the head by a pitch and has to go see a neurologist. Things are really shaping up. Shaping up like the least shapely butt.  


KS

Blue Jays 4, Reds 0 and Reds 2, Blue Jays 1: And Yet . . .

I'm with you, Carlos Villanueva.

Saturday's 4-0 Blue Jays win over the Reds was perfectly excellent. Jose Molina, who is fatter than ever, hit a massive home run and a double, which, surprisingly, is only like the fifth time in his entire career that he has had two extra base hits in the same game. Isn't that crazy? Not that he is noted for his unstoppable power or anything, but that's kind of remarkable all the same. Also, in case I have not  mentioned this mere sentences ago, you would not believe how fat he is right now. It's awesome. Three things, and only three things, are way more awesome when they are fat: cats, babies, and baseball players. I am aware that it would be best for members of all three groups that they never grow fat, and I do not wish fatness on anyone or anything because there is obviously huge downside, but with cats, babies, and baseball players, the upside of being fat is that they are hilarious. Also Brandon Morrow pitched a hell of a game, which he kind of hasn't been doing this year, so add in some solid work from the pen and the fact that (have I mentioned?) Jose Molina is really fat, and I thoroughly enjoyed Saturday's contest.


Sunday, though, was the worst, and here's why: Carlos Villanueva, who has been way better than anyone could have reasonably expected this year, pitched a heck yes a heck of a game, allowing only two runs through his seven innings. Bronson Arroyo was totally getting it done for the Reds, too, until the fifth, when Aaron Hill led off the inning with a home run. Rivera and Arencibia followed with a pair of singles, so we are talking runners on first and third with nobody out, the makings of a big inning, right? Except John Farrell continues to get in his own (and everybody's, although chiefly my) way with his insistence on making things happen out there and so it was time for yet another god damn squeeze play. John McDonald lined the bunt foul to Joey Votto, who fired it over to Miguel Cairo to double Juan Rivera off third. Unbelievable nonsense.  Unbelievable. Nonsense. 


KS