Canada might have a shot of beating the United States in the World Baseball Classic if the game is close in the late innings. As John Northey pointed out in an earlier thread, the American bullpen will be without Jays closer B.J. Ryan and Twins relief ace Joe Nathan as they have pulled out of the World Baseball Classic. Ryan says he needs to work on his mechanics while Nathan has a sore shoulder.
As a result, that means there will be no Blue Jay representatives on the U.S. roster as center fielder Vernon Wells is sidelined with a hamstring injury and there are no more Joes as Twin teammates Nathan and catcher Joe Mauer (kidney surgery) will be out as well (hence the headline - pretty nifty, eh?). Ryan will be replaced by goaltender Joel "Tommy" Hanranhan of the Washington Nationals and Nathan's spot will be taken by Houston Astros reliever LaTroy Hawkins.
I'm sure you had this one circled on the calendar back in the dead of winter but Canada and the U.S. will square off at the Rogers Centre this Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. That'll be the last time we can say Standard Time for the next few months because this is the weekend our clocks go ahead one hour for Daylight Savings Time. Remember to change your clocks after the Italy-Venezuela game Saturday night (and hopefully after Canada cleans the Amercian's clocks!) and also change the batteries in your smoke detectors. This safety reminder brought to you by the caring folks here at Batter's Box.
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On Sunday afternoon, the Jays came behind to beat the defending A.L. champion Tampa Bay Rays (still doesn't sound right, does it?) 6-3 in Grapefruit League action. The Jays had 11 different players collect hits as they scored twice in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to erase a 3-0 deficit. Jesse Litsch worked two scoreless innings but Bryan Bullington got the win in relief and Dirk Hayhurst picked up the save.
The 3-2 Jays take on the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies in Dunedin at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Monday. Lefty Ricky Romero gets the start against fellow southpaw (and former Ottawa Lynk) J.A. Happ.
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Jeff Blair from the Globe and Mail has a piece on M.F. Bush as well as tidbits on Orlando Cabrera and the World Baseball Classic.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090302111840541
