I can see Earl Weaver smiling, and saying, "that is why I like the 3-run homer so much". The Jays did a masterful job of controlling the strike zone, and outplayed the Sox in most phases of the game, but some days that just isn't enough. Two Sox longballs and missed Jay opportunities were the story of this game.
It's bullpen time again. John Gibbons' bullpen management was perfect yesterday. Dustin McGowan had thrown 96 pitches through 5 innings. After a tough first inning and 4 runs allowed, he held the Sox at bay. He is however only 15 months post-TJ surgery, and Gibbons's decision to remove him was wise. He rightly chose Jason Frasor, who hadn't thrown since July 30, to take the middle innings, and Frasor responded with 2 shutout innings. With the Jays having tied the game 4-4 in the top of the eighth, Gibbons rightly went to Speier. Speier had thrown an inning and a third 2 days ago and has been lights out since a horrid April, so was the right man for the situation. A homer by Tadahito Iguchi spoiled the day, but take nothing away from Gibbons. He made all the right calls, but was not rewarded with the W.
Before we move to the bullpen chart for the last 2 weeks, here's a refresher. GPA or Gross Production Average is simply (Slugging Percentage + 1.8 times On-Base Percentage) divided by 4. It is a simple measure of effectiveness, with a good performance (by a pitcher) being .200 or less, a poor one being .350 or more. Here is the chart:
(entrance inning/batters faced/opp. GPA/score/runners on)
date Batista Speier Frasor Downs Schoen Chulk Gaudin League
Jl 22 6.1/4 3.1/11
.175 .151
-2/2 -2/2
Jl 23 8.0/4 7.0/5
.113 .280
+5/0 +6/0
Jl 24 5.2/5 7.0/3 4.0/9
.090 .000 .479
-2/2 -2/0 0/0
Jl 25 -------------------day-off-----------------------------------------------
Jl 26 8.0/5
.280
+8/0
Jl 27 8.0/9 7.0/4 6.2/2
.244 .175 .350
0/0 0/1 0/2
Walker
Jl 28 14.0/4 8.2/4 13.0/4 8.1/1 10.0/9 15.0/13
.175 .000 .113 .000 .000 .222
0/0 -1/2 0/0 0/3 0/0 0/0
Jl 29 7.1/5 6.2/5 5.0/7
.000 .470 .164
-3/2 -2/1 -1/0
Jl 30 8.0/4 5.0/7 6.0/7
.175 .543 .129
-1/0 +1/0 -1/0
Jl 31 7.0/6 6.1/3
.000 .233
+4/0 +3/0
Au 01--------------------day-off---------------------------------------------
Au 02 7.2/6
.116
+4/1
Au 03 7.2/4 6.2/5 5.0/7
.000 .280 .129
+1/2 +1/2 +1/0
Au 04 7.0/5 5.0/7
.430 .200
0/0 -1/0
The bullpen pitched exceptionally well over this period, with everyone contributing. It would be nice to see Brandon League get a little more work in a blowout or two, but otherwise the bullpen management was inspired over this period.
On the offensive side of the ledger, Russ Adams continued his hot hitting yesterday with 2 doubles and a triple. He is now hitting .274/.342/.452 for the season, after posting similar numbers in September last year. His walk to strikeout ratio over his career to date is almost 1:1. He turns 25 later this month. Two of yesterday's extra-base hits were against lefties; Adams seems to be serving notice that he is an everyday player.
So, John Gibbons' current dilemma involves player usage at 1B/DH. Shea Hillenbrand is struggling right now, but has been a better hitter over the season than Eric Hinske, who is hot. Since Koskie returned, Gibbons has chosen to mostly play both at the expense of time for Aaron Hill. Should he ride the hot hand, split the work among the veterans or squeeze the rook? I am not sure exactly what I would choose, but I know that it wouldn't be door number 3.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050804105434956