Jays Roundup - Itchy Trigger Finger but a Stable Turntable

Wednesday, August 18 2004 @ 10:05 AM EDT

Contributed by: Pepper Moffatt

I do what I do best because I'm illing and able
Ain't no faking - your money I'm taking

  1. Short recap: Another heartbreaker! Boy am I getting tired of saying that. Jays go into the 9th inning tied 4-4 and wind up losing 5-4 to the Red Sox. Both Hinske and Wells homered off of Pedro and went 2 for 4. Hudson also went 2 for 4. Lilly didn't have a spectacular night going 7 innings, alowing 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 of them homers, 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. For a lefty in Fenway against these mashers, that's not too bad.

    Longer recaps:


  2. Fordin Notes on a tough game on Monday for Gabe Gross and the comeback of Jason Arnold. I really like how Gross handled media questions:

      A few frames later, he tried to make a sliding stop along the left-field foul line. He didn't come up with either, and to make matters worse, he made a perfect relay throw to third base that got dropped.

      "I felt like I definitely should've made the one down the line. The other one, I didn't think I was going to get to, but right at the last second, I was almost able to make that play," he said. "That's baseball. I'll go out, lay out for another one tomorrow, maybe come up with it."


    Although the season may be lost Gross and Rios give two reasons to go to the ballpark.

  3. Rutsey Notes on pitchers Ted Lilly, Justin Miller, and Jason Arnold. Ted Lilly hasn't been happy with his performances lately:

      "I'm really frustrated at the inconsistency of my command right now," said Lilly, who has one win, four losses and four no-decisions in his past nine starts.

      "That's what's been on my mind the last few starts. If I can eliminate the walks and deep counts, especially walking the guys I don't want to (weaker hitters) and it's putting me in a jam and making it tough on me."


    Lilly may not have been Cy Young material last night, but I don't think it'd be fair to blame last night's loss on him.

  4. Rutsey and Fordin are not the only ones writing about Jason Arnold. Larry Millson's "Good news brewing for Jays down on the farm" discusses Arnold's return from rehabbing a torn labrum. It took a few games for Arnold and the Jays to figure out what was wrong:

      Back on July 31, Arnold and Miller both pitched simulated games at Knology Park in Dunedin as they prepared to return to pitching in games. Arnold made seven starts with the Syracuse SkyChiefs of the Triple-A International League when his problems developed.

      "My last three starts, my arm would get tired in the fifth or sixth inning and then it started hurting between starts," Arnold said. "And by the end I'd be in the third inning I would feel like I was in the eighth inning.

      "My velocity just started going way down. I was actually pitching okay. . . . It was just that my arm was dead after three or four innings That's not normal."

    I'm rooting pretty hard for Jason Arnold. He's by all accounts a nice guy, and a healthy Arnold would bolster the Jays pitching staff.

  5. Can the Jays avoid being swept? Tonight's 7:05PM EST battle of righties certainly looks winnable for the Jays. The Red Sox are sending the 8-7 Tim Wakefield to the hill while the Jays counter with the 9-8 Miguel Batista. Once again Spencer Fordin has a game preview

  6. In "Jays hurlers hit August dry spell Richard Griffin discusses the recent struggles of relievers Chulk and Frasor and the possibility that the Jays could lose 100 games this year.


Sorry for the lateness of this roundup. Whoever said that Canada has two seasons: Winter and Road Construction was right on the mark.

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