Mariners 9, Blue Jays 5 (F/10): I Renounce the Blue Jays Bullpen

guess which of these two guys just gave up a game-winning grand slam. seriously, guess.

Gosh, man. I don't even know. This was a pretty excellent game, in a way, but not a way that I am completely into right now. I could kind of appreciate Ichiro throwing J. P. Arencibia out at the plate in the late going, even though it was a play that obviously did not serve my overall interest here, because Ichiro is neat and good for him, I guess. But this Michael Saunders business, this home run in the ninth inning (and all the horseshit that followed for the tie) and then a grand slam to win it in the tenth, I am not doing as well with that. Romero pitched pretty OK-ly and would have left with the lead were it not for an early unearned run (in an inning he would have gotten out of anyway had he been quicker on a double play ball, so whatever). But the bullpen, man. The bullpen.


KS 

Cardinals 4, Brewers 3: I Do Not Want These St. Louis Cardinals To Win However I Fear They Will

Time to get paid / Blow up like the World Trade

A four-run first -- everybody loves doubles! -- was all the Cardinals needed last night, even though Chris Carpenter was not quite in three-hit-the-Phillies form. The St. Louis bullpen pitched four no-hit innings and didn't even so much as allow at dang walk the rest of the way, and the whole game kind of had this aspect about it:

Why does this series feel like it's over even though the Cards are only up 2-1? I hate that it feels that way.

KS

Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5 (F/10): Try Not to Blow Another Save On The Way to the Team Bus, Bullpen

Kevin Gregg: still loathsome.

First, the good (don't worry, this won't take long): Brett Lawrie continues to absolutely rake his first time around the league, last night adding a three-run homer to his completely awesome line so far (.329/.380/.682, 6 HR, 4 2B, 4 3B) in the second inning. And then much, much later -- in the ninth, in fact, when the utterly loathsome Kevin Gregg took the hill for the O's -- Dewayne Wise went into crafty veteran mode and stole third when the base was left undefended after a bunt attempt. Yeah, a bunt attempt: there was no bunt, but everybody charged, and nobody covered third, and Dewayne Wise dared to be great. Have I mentioned Kevin Gregg threw five straight balls to dudes clearly trying to bunt? Totally happened. Anyway, the Blue Jays, trailing by one at the time, only managed to plate the tying run before E5, who looked totally lost up there, grounded out to end the inning. 


After Casey Janssen pitched a solid bottom of the ninth, Kelly Johnson led off the tenth with a triple, and came home on a wild pitch, you would think everything would be cool, right? Run Janssen back out there, and seal the deal, n'est-ce pas? But no. Instead, we were treated to one of these:

The only difference here is that rather than Cito, the man we must blame is acting manager Dan Wakamatsu, subbing for the pneumoniac John Farrell. But yeah, Brian Tallet. So that was that, Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5, walk-off win. "I know they had to take Brian Tallet, but to use him," my wife trailed off from the other room as she overheard this nonsense. 


This is easily the worst Toronto bullpen I have ever seen, and I hate it. Everybody but Casey Janssen should be catapulted. I miss Jason Frasor and Scott Downs. That is what I have been reduced to, my friends: missing Jason Frasor and Scott Downs.


KS 

Athletics 5, Blue Jays 1: More Humiliating Than The Score Would Suggest

Add a little zest to your home-run trot with a vibrant yellow!

The A's took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when guy who exists only to field the ball John MacDonald booted a sure-fire double play ball. Young Henderson Alvarez totally kept them in it through his six innings of work, only to see the bullpen (Jessie Litsch and the improbably named Rommie Lewis) give up three runs in the bottom of the eighth, just in time to make the ninth inning pretty much meaningless. I hated this game.


Other reasons for hate: Adam Lind left the game after being hit on the wrist by a pitch, and Jose Bautista was a late scratch with neck stiffness (from watching his major-league-best 35 home runs leave the yard? arguably, yes). 


Anyway. One more game in Oakland and then it is off to Kansas City. Everything will be cool in Kansas City.


KS

Mariners 6, Blue Jays 5: Great Job, Bullpen

Jon Rauch, ladies and gentlemen.

Home runs by Thames, Lind, and Lawrie were not enough to overcome a middling start by rookie Henderson Alvarez and, after two solid innings of Jesse Litsch, the horror show that is the back end of this bullpen. Back-to-back home runs by Mike Carp and Caspar Wells off of Trevor Miller and Jon Rauch in the bottom of the eighth have vaulted the Blue Jays into a first-place tie for the most blown saves in the league, twenty. Blown saves. Twenty of them.


In other news, MLB.TV is really awesome. I watched a little of the free game of the day, and man, if they ever figure out the blackout situation, I am in. Don't tell MLB, but I would pay twice what they are currently asking to make that blackout free. The way you can flip around to highlights from other games, all picture-in-picture stylee? It is almost too much. On the topic of highlights for a moment, good for Jim Thome, who hit his 600th home run last night, which you can see here, and good for the Brewers infield, who turned a triple play that is awesome even by the standards of triple plays, which you can see here. When you see the super slow motion, you see that Matt Kemp definitely got his hand up and over that tag, but you can hardly fault the umpire for missing it in real time.


To recap the most important news of the day, though, this bullpen is killing me. 


KS