We are one
So much time wasted, playing games with love
So many tears I've cried
So much pain inside
Did anything go wrong in baseball land last night?
- Roy Halladay brings it. Jays 5, Yankees 0, behind a two-hitter from Doc. The Jays pull within three games of New York for third place. Meanwhile, Cliff Lee dumps Tampa and Brian Burres subdues Boston, so the Jays gain a game on everyone above them in the division, though they remain tied for last with the Orioles.
- Unsung hero: Rod Barajas, for his sixth inning alone. With two out in the top and the Jays up 2-0, he catches Bobby Abreu stupidly trying to steal second with the tying run at bat in the person of A-Rod. Then in the bottom, he blasts a solo homer off Joba to extend the lead to 3-0 and basically put the game out of reach. If it wasn't already.
- Cheers to Alex Rios.
- How 'bout Cito plugging Lyle Overbay into the 3-hole in Rios' absence? Overbay responded by going 3-4 with a double.
I think there's a hot streak in Overbay's near future. It looks like he exorcised some kind of clutch gorilla in the ninth inning Thursday, when he came up in a classic Overbay double play situation and tagged a first-pitch curveball from lefty killer George Sherrill for a loud game-tying sac fly instead. It looked to my untrained eye like he'd been pressing for a while as his 1-2-3 double play total ballooned, but I didn't see any signs of Overbay trying too hard last night.
- Kevin Mench was brought in for Adam Lind as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning last night. Any Texas fans or fielding gurus want to weigh in on whether that's something Cito should do regularly when Rios is out?
- A.J. Burnett gets the start tomorrow instead of Charlie Wholestaff. Showcase, maybe? I don't think that's the only reason for doing it, but I do think the Jays are very aware that that's a clear benefit of bringing AJ back so soon. Sure, any team that would change its opinion of Burnett based on seven strong innings and a W is stupid, but GMs have been impulsive before.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how the bullpens are handled. Two-inning save, anyone? I'm hoping to see a quick hook and lots of platoon matchery, and maybe a two-inning appearance from Scott Downs if he doesn't show up today, but since AJ's trade value is in play, I'm not holding my breath.
- And today, it's Jesse Litsch against Darrell Rasner at 1:07. The Doodlebops will be there.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20080712003019589