Blue Jays 7, Mariners 5: Sweeeeeeeeeeeep

Mike McCoy: lovin' it.

A day after I extended my sympathies to the Mariners and lamented Ichiro Suzuki's slide into submediocraty, Seattle dang near won it late and Ichiro went 3-4. And so I have learned that pity is weak and wrong. Ricky Romero left with a five-run lead but the bases loaded in the eighth, and when Casey Janssen came in, it was like, OK, maybe a couple of these runs will come across, but we're fine, right? Wrong: grand slam, Miguel Olivo. Happily, doubles from Mike McCoy and Rajai Davis, who has not been nearly as awful of late but who is still fundamentally awful, put the Blue Jays ahead for good. Eight of the last ten! One whole game above .500! A mere eight-and-a-half games out of the wild card! Let's do this, whatever this might be.  


Oh yeah also, it was so hot in Toronto yesterday (37C!) they actually played with the roof closed just due to the heat! I don't know that that has ever happened before in TO.


KS

Blue Jays 11, Indians 7: Travis Snider and Rajai Davis FTW

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

I don't know, man, with all due respect to both Zaun and Ashby, maybe Travis Snider really has straightened out his swing? Three hits last night, including a double and a home run, knocking in five. Add Rajai Davis' 4-RBI, 3-4 night, and not even Shawn Camp's hideous eighth inning could deprive Jo-Jo Reyes of his fourth win. It's particularly good to see Rajai do something, because he has been one of the worst regular players in baseball this year. And I don't say that idly: he's 414th out of 425 batters in WAR. His OBP is .268, if you can believe it. I will understand if you cannot.


KS 

Phillies 7, Blue Jays 6: This Will Lack Structure

Compared to the rest of these bums J. P. Arencibia is a defensive stalwart

There are all kinds of ways for a team to be bad, and most of them are roughly equally frustrating, except for a staggering inability to catch and throw the ball, which is the most galling thing that can afflict a team that you, in your foolishness, have chosen to attend to. Yesterday it became too much to bear. Aaron Hill has completely lost it, and it's baffling. John McDonald, who only exists to put his glove on balls and then swiftly transfer that ball to his throwing hand and then deliver it to a base at which a force play is in effect -- literally that is the only reason he is there -- is having a terrible time doing that. Rajai Davis refuses to charge hard at anything, which removes the possibility of not just potential fly outs but also plays at bases on balls that drop. Oh, and balls are dropping: it's gotten to the point that Ashby and Howarth were speculating on the radio that maybe Corey Patteron's mild speaking voice is the reason there's so much confusion in the outfield on catchable balls dropping in between outfielders. And Juan Rivera, motherfucking Juan Rivera completely misplayed an entirely catchable, routine fly ball in the ninth inning yesterday, which is exactly the kind of thing that can't happen when Frank "The Closer" Francisco is out there walking the leadoff man in the ninth with a one-run lead. 

A disaster, yesterday, a disaster. Romero was good enough to win, had he any defense behind him, and even without it, he almost did: Jose Bautista launched a two-run shot to put the Blue Jays ahead in the seventh and that should totally have been enough to send 45,512 people home happy on Canada Day.

But no, that wasn't nearly enough, because nobody here can catch the damn ball. If my life wasn't perfect in literally every other respect I couldn't do this anymore. But it is, so I will. But I will register my displeasure on the internet.

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