Rangers 4, Cardinals 2: La Russa Manages Worst Game Anyone Can Remember, Millions LOL

"oh shit that one was like a foot outside bro also hold on I am throwing out yr dude  for a sec" -- Mike Napoli

Something that keeps getting said today is that we really shouldn't let the truly unbelievably historically bad managerial performance turned in by widely celebrated baseball genius/arrogant aggravating mushmouth Tony La Russa completely obscure the fact that Ron Washington made some awfully odd moves last night, too. But my position is that we should totally let that happen, absolutely. Should Wash have put the potential winning run on with an intentional walk? Did he really need to IBB Pujols three times? Should he be batting Mike Napoli eighth? The answer to all of those questions is almost certainly no, but none of those tactical mistakes -- if that's what they are (note: yes, that is what they are) -- come anywhere close to the Bryan Clutterbuck crafted by TLR's expert hand. It was, in short, a masterpiece.


Forget sac bunting in the third inning ahead of Albert Pujols, thereby taking the bat out of the hands of the finest hitter in baseball since the gone-too-soon retirement of the gloriously enhanced Barry Bonds; that's nothing compared to what would follow. Nothing. Nuh.Thing. 


The eighth inning is where it really started to go downhill. Somehow, the game was tied at two at this point, despite C. J. Wilson walking pretty much everybody, and Chris Carpenter having pitched as well as one could have reasonably expected, really. La Russa shut Carpenter down, and brought in Octavio "Don't Ask" Dotel, a move that, in the frenzy of disapproval that has swept through the baseball internet in the last twenty-four hours (even more than usual amount!), has itself come under scrutiny, but I have absolutely no problem with bringing Dotel in at that point, none at all. Just because Michael Young doubled to open the inning, that doesn't make Dotel the wrong pitcher to have gone to in that moment, you know? I would like to know how many people thought it was nuts to bring in Dotel at the moment he was brought in; it could not have been many. La Russa did enough wrong last night -- more, in fact, than any other manager in a high profile game in living memory -- that there's no reason to make up extra stuff, in my view. Let us be content with what we have.


Anyway: a leadoff double to Young, and Dotel answers back with a big strikeout of Adrian Beltre. Then, madness. La Russa orders an intentional walk of Nelson Cruz. Really, Tony, you don't want Dotel, who has been money as hell, to go after this right-handed batter? Seems kind of crazy to put another runner on in a game this tight in this situation with Dotel on the hill, but OK! La Russa had determined that it was Rzeppin' time (he gets on extra grind when it's when it's Rzeppin' time), and it almost worked out: David Murphy hit one right back to the mound, and an excellent play by Scrabble could have turned that grounder into two outs, but instead it ricocheted away and all hands were safe. 


So. Bases loaded, tie game, eighth inning, reliable lefty -- that's reliable lefty -- Mark Rzepcyznski on the mound, and slugging catcher Mike Napoli comes to the plate as one of the best lefty-mashers in baseball this season (as measured by both conventional and advanced lefty-mashing metrics). And La Russa is apparently fine with this. Fine with it! Inexplicably, right-handed fireballer Jason Motte is nowhere to be seen. I can't imagine what Rzepcyznski is thinking at this moment beyond "fuck." A lined double to centre later, the Rangers are ahead 4-2. Scrabble, who is a mensch, strikes out Mitch Moreland, and is at last pulled in favour of a right hander out of the bullpen, but it's not Motte; it's Lance Lynn, who everybody thought was unavailable for Game 5. He comes into the game, issues an intentional walk to Ian Kinsler (hell of a player), and is replaced, finally, by Motte. That's right: Tony La Russa brought in a reliever to issue an intentional walk, and then leave. The manager most responsible for the senseless shape of the modern bullpen, loathed by all who are -- quite tragically, really -- capable of loathing anyone over, you know, the shape of the modern bullpen, had finally taken things not just too far, not just beyond too far, but beyond beyond too far: he'd brought in a righty reliever to issue an IBB while another righty finished his warmup. The broadcasters were baffled. The internet was bubbling like the sea itself when Poseidon, its master, rides atop it in his golden chariot drawn by golden horses and bridled in their golden reins and whatnot (look it up). "Fuck's sake," I may have uttered aloud. 


After the game, La Russa would mumble an explanation about the wrong message being received in the bullpen: he'd asked for Motte to be warmed up alongside Rzepczynski, and it hadn't happened, etc. He'd asked for Motte twice, he claimed, and hadn't gotten him either time. This was not his fault, he made clear to us. Apparently Joe Sheehan, in his subscriber-only email newsletter that I totally meant to sign up for a couple weeks ago but didn't, strenuously made the case this morning that La Russa's story does not add up, and that he is not to be believed on any of this, and that may very well be. But I would argue that even if things unfolded exactly as La Russa claims they did, this situation is still utterly his fault. It's not the fault of his bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist, nor the fault of the bullpen phone (only days after the New York Times' piece on bullpen phones, last bastion of the land line!). It's La Russa's. And part of being the guy in charge is just going out and saying, "We didn't get the right guy out there. It's on me. We're going to get it right next time." Don't bring anybody else into it; don't even mention Lilliquist's name. Take responsibility for the situation that is obviously the manager's responsibility: which pitcher is on the mound. To do otherwise looks, just, so shitty. 


Nearly as shitty: sending Allen Craig with Albert Pujols at the plate, and running into ridiculously costly outs in the late innings of a tight game. Word is that Pujols put the hit-and-run on with a sign in the seventh, and that's a horrible call, but OK, you can't exactly pin that one on La Russa (although you can question how wise it is to allow players, even all-time great players, to be making tactical decisions like that at crucial moments -- is it true that Tim McCarver said Dick Groat had that privilege with the old Cardinals? I have read that he said it but I am not a man of FOX so I have to take it on faith). But sending Craig again in the ninth, when you're down by two, could not possibly make less sense. The word "literally" has of course taken on a figurative meaning in recent years, particularly on these very internets, but I mean it in its original and true sense when I say that there is literally no justification for sending Craig three-times in a row on that 3-2 count with Pujols batting, down by two with nobody out in the ninth. La Russa offered something about wanting to blow that inning open by starting the runner and reduce somewhat the chance of the double play, but this is absurd. It is simply absurd. Craig wasn't helped by Pujols reaching for a pitch probably a whole foot off the plate, but there is nothing about this play that allows you to say "interesting idea, poor execution." That's not what happened. This was poor execution of an idea so terrible that no one who watched it live will ever forget how awful it was. Whether you subscribe to the old school of baseball strategy or the new, whether you are pre- or post- Bill James, you instantly knew how crazy this was. There is no approach to the glorious game of baseball that allows anyone to rationalize any of these decisions. Because they are all awful.


It was the worst managerial performance in a World Series game in my lifetime. And it made me so happy.

WHO COULD HAVE KNOWN???

KS

Angels 10, Blue Jays 6: Neither Brett Cecil Nor Kyle Drabek Fooled Anyone Last Night

zoinks

The Blue Jays' four late, meaningless runs should not obscure the fact that this one got out of hand early, and stayed very much out of hand throughout. Brett Cecil didn't get past the third, and Kyle Drabek managed to be even worse in his two innings of work. That is fitting and just, I guess: an enormous part of the problem with the Blue Jays' awful rotation this year has been that Cecil and Drabek were not just worse than expected, but in fact totally worse than anyone could have possibly expected. Ever. They were brutal. And the worst. Both last night, and all year. So there you go.


Particularly grievous: Erik Aybar stole home. I hated that.


KS 

Blue Jays 6, Mariners 5 (F/14): Well I'll be.

Walkin' off.

It is perhaps worth noting that the two players I explicitly slandered last night out of sheer frustration with this endless game -- Rajai Davis, who pinch ran for Escobar in the ninth, and John McDonald, who then came in to play short for extras -- are the two who figured in the winning run. A couple innings into extras, I was very much of the opinion that there was no way the Blue Jays were ever going to score, unless Bautista or Lind did it entirely on their own, because of the deadbeats in front of them in the order. How wrong I was! Davis singled, stole a couple, and Johnny Mac (as he is known to all but me) lifted a sac fly to win it. 


Lots of ups and downs and near misses in this one, but I would like to extend a special "lol" in the direction of Mike Carp (possible nickname: "Hiroshima") who got picked off at second after a leadoff double in the eleventh as Chone Figgins tried to bunt him over to third. I would also like to salute the Blue Jays bullpen. After Brett Cecil allowed five runs through his seven innings, Camp, Rauch, Frasor, "Don't Ask" Dotel, Rzepcynski, and Janssen who took it the rest of the actually-kind-of-long way. The Blue Jays have used more relief pitching than any other team in the American League this year, which is obviously horrible.  


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

Blue Jays 4, White Sox 2: . . . And You Shall Know Him by The Trail of Smoke

Juan Pierre: still little after all these years.

I opted for the "Trail of Smoke" headline because the National Post had already taken "Blue Jays Bail Out Drabek's Walkathon." Both are true, in that yes, Kyle Drabek continues to walk a ton of dudes -- five more last night in six-and-two-thirds, including a bases-loaded walk in a forty-two-pitch fifth that could have been way worse than just one run in were it not for the smoke he threw to get out of it. See? 


This game was pretty rad for a couple of other reasons, too, including not one but two triples (Juan Pierre, Rajai Davis) and two pretty snazzy grabs by Corey Patterson in the second, one at the wall and one coming in. The Rajai Davis/Jose Molina (yeah, Jose Molina) double steal was pretty choice, coming as it did only a day after my recent freakout  re: baserunning heroics. Also let it be said for the millionth time that Mark Buerhle works superfast out there, and it is a pleasure, Mark Buerhle, a pleasure. Good game, White Sox, good game! It is really too bad Gordon Beckham got hit in the face with a one-hop throw from the outfield. 


Finally, it has come to my attention that the Boston Red Sox are now in first place in the AL East, and the Yankees are currently atop the AL Wild Card standings. This goes without saying, but I wish nothing but horrible misfortune and the most shameful losses on both.


KS   

White Sox 3, Blue Jays 1: Ugh.

I will post pictures of Juan Rivera provided they are unflattering.

The easy and probably correct way to bemoan last night's 3-1 Blue Jays loss to the White Sox is to talk about John McDonald's throwing error that put Alex(is) Rios on base to start the ninth. It would be an understatement to suggest that McDonald is usually sure handed or something like that. He's usually awesome out there. And he absolutely needs to be: it's the only reason he's in the major leagues. All of his value (as a player; probably not as a man but I do not know him) is in his glove as he is a negative WAAB (Wins Above an Awful Butt) contributor with the bat. When he messes up in the field, everyone seems pretty quick to be like but he's usually so good with the glove out there which is true but not a defense, as being so good with the glove out there is all he brings to the table. All. Every bit. There is nothing else. I like him, but let us be real. 


Less galling, but still really pretty galling, was Juan Rivera's remarkably bad toss to Mark Rzepcynski covering the bag at first as speedy little Juan Pierre booked it down the line. It's not like a good toss would have gotten him, but it would have kept the ball from dribbling away and allowing Rios to score. Two errors in the ninth inning of a tie game at home: yikes.


But what I am actually superminding about last night's game isn't any of that. It's that with Cory Patterson on first and Jose Bautista at the plate in a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the eighth, John Farrell sent the runner. Patterson slid in safely, which is great, except it's awful, because that just meant the Sox quite rightly walked Bautista intentionally with a base open, which is exactly what literally everyone would do in that situation. I know I promised I would stop with the baserunning talk, but this one was nuts. John Farrell is a menace. He was asked about this obviously horrible decision after the game, and said, "The fact that he stole second is not the difference in this game." Well no, because everything fell to shit in pretty spectacular fashion the next inning, but come on John Farrell.  What I am left wondering the most about John Farrell is what does he even think this is.


Anyway. Back at it tonight. 


KS 

Rays 6, Blue Jays 5: An Uncommonly Well-Earned Loss

Hill evades the tag, but the Blue Jays on the whole could not evade a massive self bag-tagging.

I am not going to front as though I suffered through all five Blue Jays errors last night in real time. I joined the proceedings with the score already 6-4 Rays, and figured, well, what can you do? No shame losing a close one to the best team in the American League, thought I. But when the crowd mock-cheered E5 as he scooped up a routine grounder for an easy out, it called my attention to the fact that yeah, woah, there were five errors on the board, and two of them had been committed by E5, who, with Jayson Nix manning third, spent the night at first. That's two E3s for E5, breaking new ground! 


His first of the night was particularly egregious, a bad toss to Hill covering first on a would-be sacrifice bunt. We all know Edwin has a devil of a time with the throw from third, but this was like ten feet, and underhand. Also he booted one in the eighth. Add to that a bad Jesse Litsch pickoff attempt in the third and a pretty spectacular sequence in the second where both Litsch and Jose Bautista committed throwing errors, and you've got yourself a five-error game, mister. Or missus. It's worth noting that the Bautista error was really just bad luck, a ball that hit the base itself and ricocheted, which I don't think I've ever seen happen before quite like that (also I have never before now spelled "ricocheted" correctly on the first try so huzzah for me, basically). Litsch scooped up the ball and hurriedly winged it to second, where he really had no play, and the ball rolled into centre. Not awesome! 


Despite all of those shenanigans, the Blue Jays kept it close, and after Rajai Davis doubled, stole third, and scooted home on a Yunel Escobar groundout in the ninth, the Blue Jays brought the tying run to the plate, only for Corey Patterson to be caught looking with Jose Bautista on deck. But so it goes. Patterson had a great night before that, with a double, triple, and two runs scored, so far be it from me to even consider the doing of a thing.


Also, remember how I got all worked up a little while ago about too much reckless baserunning, and it poisoned my enjoyment of a two-game sweep of the Red Sox, and then the universe punished me for that nonsense by causing a massive Blogger outage that permanently deleted those two posts? It was quite an amazing turn of events. Well it turns out I was being even dumber than I'd since realized , in that David Schoenfield points out that the Blue Jays are among the best baserunning teams in baseball according to Baseball Prospectus, a place where math is both employed and enjoyed, so I will totally get off that point for good.  In the same piece, Schoenfield notes that offense is down yet again this year, which makes something like Cliff Lee's totally-respectable-at-first-glance 3.83 ERA completely league average, and makes the performance of Jose Bautista -- who went 1-2 with two walks last night, so that's .372 with a .522 OBP now -- almost unbelievably epic, which is an argument I can get behind.


KS

I think what I'll miss most is the smugness.

I am a cat enthusiast but there is something about that mouse that speaks to me.

I am abandoning all hope that Blogger will restore what were probably the greatest posts ever by anyone about anything, my recaps of the Blue Jays' recent minisweep of the Boston Red Sox by scores of 7-6 (F/10) and 9-3. It's not the personal loss that bothers me so much as the loss to the culture, to the language. All we have now are the memories. The 7-6 game was bananas, and ended when Rajai Davis stole second and third on consecutive pitches and came home on a David Cooper sacrifice fly in the tenth. Most of what I wanted to talk about, though, was how John Farrell has the team running too much, and into unnecessary outs, because I felt personally aggrieved by a missed sign on a squeeze play in the fourth. A sense of proportion is what I brought to the table. Drabek threw not smoke, but tolerably well. The game had it all: home runs, pickoffs, dudes no less awesome than Carl Crawford getting thrown out at the plate, stolen bases, caught stealingseseses, you name it. The 9-3 game, on the other hand, was a shellacking, and you will note that you almost can't spell "shellacking" without "John Lackey." 


Where the real smugness came in, though, was when I linked to an SI.com piece in which Jon Heyman put for the (correct) argument that the best move in all of baseball over the winter was the Toronto side of the Vernon Wells deal (Vernon I love you but it is true), and Alex Anthopolous' decision to pull the trigger on a moderately priced Jose Bautista extension. On Bautista:


2. Blue Jays sign Jose Bautista to a $65-million, five-year contract extension. Toronto saved themselves tens of millions with this master stroke, building on the brilliance of the Wells deal. Anthopoulos was annihilated at the time, as some figured he was wasting the money saved from the Wells miracle. But by giving big bucks to Bautista, who some figured was a one-year wonder after he hit 54 home runs in 2010, it turns out Anthopoulos kept the player who has turned into a superstar in Toronto. Bautista has not only improved from his alleged career year, he has been the best player in baseball this season. And it's not really close. He has an otherworldly 1.301 OPS overall (and a crazy 1.772 OPS at home). As Rays manager Joe Maddon said, Bautista is like Barry Bonds, circa 2001. Anthopoulos said, "I'm done saying he can't do something. I'm just going to watch and enjoy.'' Bautista really can't be blamed for quickly capitalizing on his out-of-nowhere season. How could anyone have known even better was yet to come? But it looks now like if Bautista had waited, he would have joined Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols in the superstar free-agent market this winter and probably beaten $150 million. And the Jays would have been out of luck.

This is ground that we had covered previously together, Baseball Feelers, but I wanted to share that with you because I am a small man in some ways.


Also the Podzilla era came to a premature end when Scott Podsednik asked for and was granted his release. 


I think that pretty much covers it, although, again, curse you, Blogger. And may you find peace, "Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 3: A Two Game Sweep is Still A Sweep" and "Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 6 (F/10): What Have I Become?" You were too beautiful for this world.


KS 

Blue Jays 7, Tigers 4: What's up Neil. What. Is up.

Home plate umpire Dale Scott actually just stood there like that for about  a minute, just to be a dickhole (note that he actually did not, and likely is not).

There were early signs that this game had the potential to own. In the top of the first, Juan Rivera, who hit .333 on the last road trip but whom I nevertheless despise, gunned the ball home to J. P. Arencibia, whose diving tag cut down Brennan Boesch to end the inning. Nice.


This trend towards ownership continued in the home half of the first, as the Blue Jays put together a nickel-and-dime inning of banana base hits, humpback line drives and seeing-eye ground balls to put three on the board and baffle onlookers with archaic metaphors. That was all that Jesse Litsch, who is fatter than I remembered, would need, as he allowed only one run on four hits in six and a third innings. Sure, the Tigers would score a handful of unearned and genuinely annoying runs after an Escobar flub (I call them like I see them, mister, and that's a flub) in a near-bat-around ninth, but in the end it was all Fine and the Gang, as every man in this still tragically Bautistaless lineup had at least a hit, putting seven runs on the board, all told. Adam Lind, in particular, continues to just kill it: 2-5 with a home run tonight, bringing his season numbers to .317/.350/.528/.878 with 7 HR and 25 RBI (could those "R's" batted "I" arguably be a byproduct of hitting behind Jose Bautista, whose OBP is I believe 12121.8 thus far? This is something I would posit based on my advanced statistical knowledge of advanced statistics). Is Adam Lind drawing enough walks? Of course he is not. But he is not just whiffing at everything anymore either, nor rolling it to gently to first, nor yet popping it up ineffectually. And so I salute him. 


May I note in closing that it is all well and good for Corey Patterson to go 3-5 -- it is marvelous, in fact! -- but if he is going to get both caught stealing and picked off, he might as well just not bother? Because that is something I feel pretty strongly about.


KS

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 3: Ricky Romero, Yankee Killer

On the whole, the night went way better than you would think from this picture. 

I am not about to look this up, but it seems to me Ricky Romero has pitched some pretty great games against the New York Yankees, and if we assume that that impression is accurate, then we can add last night's solid outing to that list of things that might have happened. Two runs over six innings with seven strikeouts? I will take that literally every time. And the way he worked out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the fifth, forcing a weak Teixeira pop-up to short and getting Alex Rodriguez to ground into a 6-4-3 double, that was roughly as tremendous as it was improbable. He was also nearly murdered (well, man-slaughtered, I guess) by a Teixeira liner but made the grab. Casey Janssen got into trouble with walks to Gardner and Teixeira in the seventh, but struck out A-Rod to end the inning, so all was immediately forgiven. Did I love it when Octavio "Don't Ask" Dotel walked two more in the eighth? Of course not, no, but he did strike out Jeter in a key at-bat before Jon Rauch came in and got the final four outs on eight pitches. That I loved.  


And perhaps you noticed that Jose Bautista belted his league-leading ninth home run last night, curling it around the pole in left in such a way that it afforded the haters just enough time to will it foul before their hateful hopes were dashed against the shores of the extent to which Baustista rakes? That's something I noticed. I also noticed that, for the second game in a row, Bautista made a baserunning error that produced a run. That is when you know everything is clicking. Here's what happened this time: with Rajai Davis on third (he'd stolen it like it wasn't even a thing that was hard to do), and Rivera batting, Bautista took off from first early, just basically screwing up the old ohshitthrowittosecond--nowaitshitthrowithome play that the Blue Jays are apparently sticking with.  But Yankee reliever David Robertson botched the throw, Bautista was safe, and Davis scored easily. When Rivera singled to left, Bautista pushed his luck further by trying to score. The throw totally beat him, but he managed to evade the tag with either the best or worst slide I have ever seen (I am still trying to come to terms with it). May I add that Bautista is currently rocking a .372/.542/.795/1.337 with 9 home runs, 28 walks, and 25 runs scored, and may I further add that every one of those numbers is league-leading? May I, haters? Oh, thank you for allowing me to point that out. It is most gracious of you. 


Also, let's hear it for J. P. Arencibia, who hit his fourth home run of the season last night, and who is totally going to be the starting catcher for years. He is going to be at least fine. Good for him, good for us. Everybody wins.


Finally, Robinson Cano scares the hell out of me. It is indecent that he hits the ball that hard and plays second base. Indecent.


KS