Royals 11, Blue Jays 3; Blue Jays 6, Royals 3; Blue Jays 4, Royals 1; Royals 9, Blue Jays 6: Can This Really Be All We Are?

where have you gone, ricky ro?

While far from the worst butt, a four-game split with the Kansas City Royals at home is still firmly on the butt spectrum. I am genuinely pleased that this reborn Brett Cecil had another pretty good start (that's three of four, right?), and I always enjoy the work of Carlos Villanueva, but the sad tale of Ricky Romero renders all that moot, kind of, in that it is so bad it makes you want to forget about all Blue Jays starting pitching except for Brandon Morrow oh wait he is out for weeks. I believe it was Stoeten who said on the DJF podcast the other day that for all the awfulness of watching this once and future boss (my words not his) struggle so mightily out there, Ricky Romero is sort of doing the lord's work, in that he (along with the until-recently-winless Cliff Lee) is helping show yet again how dumb and pointless pitcher wins are as a stat. Ricky Romero is 8-3! What a great first half! Except he is awful! And he knows it! And it is clearly killing him! Note however that it can never kill us, because I am still firmly in this man's corner in the style of a NJPW Young Lion or possibly a squire of some kind, bringing him cool drinks between innings (in my heart). 


In other news, Jose Bautista continues to be utterly ripshit. I fucking love this guy. Hey did you know who he credits with turning his career around? Blue Jays hitting coach Dwayne Murphy, and motherfucking Clarence "Cito" Gaston motherfuckers.

yeah that's right

Is that Jerry Howarth behind him? If it isn't, it should be, because he owns too. 


In closing I would like to salute once more the fine people at DJF, who have started posting annotated win probability graphics after every game, which is probably the best idea in basbeall coverage in ever. Here are my two favourites from this Royals series, first this:

And then from last night:

An excellent idea excellently executed imo.


KS

Braves 4, Blue Jays 3 (F/10): Be Fair to Francisco Cordero

is that big fat Eric Hinske on the left? Orlando Hudson and Eric Hinske in back-to-back posts like this was 2003

Look. There can be no doubt that J. P. Arencibia blew it by double clutching and then skipping the ball in the dirt and by Brett Lawrie as Jason Heyward stole third and then came into score. And Heyward only reached in the first place by legging out an infield single. But stop running Francisco Cordero out there guys just stop it. Just a total shit-show aside from Bautista's home run, this one, what with Atlanta runs coming in on a balk and a bases-loaded walk. Miserable, miserable stuff.


KS

White Sox 4, Blue Jays 3: Not Even Mad

long may you run

This is kind of like when it got so bad with E5 at third base that you couldn't even get upset when he'd sail one over Lind's head and into the crowd, or whatever, because absolutely everyone knew what E5 was, and yet he was still being misused. At that point the player is blameless in my view, and all ire is redirected towards the manager who insists on using a player in a particular way that all but ensures failure. This is what the Francisco Cordero situation has turned into. When he came into pitch the bottom of the ninth in a 3-3 tie, it was like, oh OK, a 4-3 walkoff loss, here it comes. It was totally worry free!


Also mitigating any potential minding on my part is the fact that Orlando Hudson -- yes, the O-Dog -- knocked in the winning run. I like that guy and always have. If you cannot find it within yourself to like a scrappy good-natured chatterbox of a second baseman, then you and I are very, very different people.  Hudson came up with the Blue Jays as a decent defensive second basemen and became quite a good one, actually, under the tutelage of the much-loved Brian "Butters" Butterfield, who, like Moneyball-era Ron Washington, has seen some shit. It's surprising the extent to which he's bounced around in his career, and here he is towards the end of it, playing third base, and a pretty awful third base last night, the kind of awful third base that doesn't turn up in the box score but that is juuuust awful both to the advanced metrics and to the naked eye, the kind that clearly costs runs. So good for him with the big hit and everything! 


I am unable to find any video of his lovably awkward in-stadium promo thing they used to run in Toronto for the O-Dog Combo, which featured Hudson on the big screen saying (way too quickly), "Checkoutconcession . . . fortheODogcombo . . . consistingof . . . ."  Alas, the rest is lost to history. Here however is a video of him talking nonstop, though, and again, if you do not like this, then I just don't know man, I just don't know.


KS

Athletics 7, Blue Jays 3: I Am Glad I Went to Bed

Perfect Strangersesque

Instead of staying up for this one, I watched the Game of Thrones where Ned Stark gets played to the death and then I went to bed furious and saddened at that injustice and it really is better that I did not tune in for Francisco Cordero's complete collapse that made a hash out of Ricky Romero's imperfect but credible quality start and delighted the nine people in attendance in Oakland but that would have caused me to consider a life of complete emotional detachment from all things had I been witness to it as it unfolded.


KS