When I play a dope melody - Anything less than the best is a felony........
If there was a problem - Yo, I'll solve it
Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it - Ice Ice Baby!
Like the tune he once used for striding to the plate with the Orioles, Kevin Millar came through under pressure by rapping one to the left-center field gap to drive in the winning run. That helped the Jays break a come from ahead 7-7 tie for an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers in 11 innings at Rogers Centre Wednesday night. Word to your Texas mothers! (but in a nice way for our Texas readers!).
Before Millar's heroics, the man swinging Big Bertha big time was Rodrigo "B.A." Barajas, who belted not one but two homers against his former club. Millar was on base for both of Barajas' homers in the second and fourth off Rangers lefty Matt Harrison. Alex Rios added an RBI base knock in the fifth to give David Purcey a 5-2 lead to work with. The big lefty struck out two men in the first and had another 1-2-3 inning in the second but he gave up a two-run single to Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the third.
Purcey got through the fourth by getting around a single and a walk but in the fifth, former Jay farmhand Michael Young got to him with an RBI double to cut the Toronto lead to 5-3. Purcey got one more out in the sixth but left a walk for Shawn Camp and Jesse Carlson to deal with. There was no need to sweat as the C & C Reliever Factory got the job done as they each retired the only man they faced to end the inning. In the home half of the sixth, Rios drove in his second run of the night off Rangers reliever Scott Feldman and Adam Lind delivered against lefty Derek Holland to give Toronto a 7-3 cushion.
Carlson pitched a clean 1-2-3 seventh and Scott Downs proved to be human after all by giving up his first run of the year in the eighth. Still, it was 7-4 good guys heading into the ninth but that's when the fecal matter hit the freakin' fan! B.J. Ryan was hoping to pick up where he left off after saving Sunday's game against Oakland. He got off on the wrong foot by plunking Chris Davis and walking Mr. Alphabet (initials J.S. - I ain't typing his damn name again!). Ryan got one groundball out when Marco Scutaro started what appeared to a be a 6-4-3 double play but only the 6-4 part was completed as Aaron Hill fired one wide of the first bag. That allowed Davis to score and Ian Kinsler to get to second on the two-base error. Ryan bounced back by getting Josh Hamilton to ground out but he hung an 0-1 slider to Young who deposited it over the wall in centre to tie the game at 7-7.
The Jays offence wasted three singles in the ninth and tenth but Jason Frasor kept the Rangers off the basepaths with two perfect innings. Vernon Wells led off the home half of the eleventh with a walk against C.J. Wilson and was pushed up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Travis Snider. After an intentional pass to Scott Rolen, Millar plated Wells with the winning run on a poke into the left-center field gap off Kason Gabbard impersonator, Darren O'Day.
The newly-acquired O'Day arrived at the ballpark in the late stages of the game after he was claimed from the Mets earlier in the day. However, the sidearmer had to wear Gabbard's jersey because the team didn't have time to prepare a jersey for him. I wonder if it's against the rules to wear another player's jersey. Oh well, at least he didn't have to dress like this guy. O'Day replaces Kris Benson, who went on the disabled list with right elbow tendonitis.
The Jays totalled 17 hits on the night with Alex Rios and Jose Bautista getting four each. Millar had three safeties while Barajas, Aaron Hill and Adam Lind had two each. The Jays also drew a half-dozen walks and everybody, save for Travis Snider's sac bunt in his lone plate appearance, got on base at least once. Marco Scutaro, Vernon Wells, and Scott Rolen were a combined 0-for-13 with four walks. David Purcey was in line for the win but had to settle instead for a decent enough start in which he allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.
The Batter's Box Jays of the Game are Rod Barajas and Kevin Millar with an honourable mention to Jason Frasor, who improves to 3-0 on the year.
Tonight, the Jays send 1-0 Scott Richmond to the dirt hill against 1-1 Kevin Millwood in the series finale. A first pitch out will hopefully take place at 7:07 p.m. EDT under the Big Top at 1 Blue Jays Way.
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In other TDIB notes.....
* The Yankees also get a walk-off win against the A's.
* The Red Sox win their seventh straight as they knock off the Twins in both ends of a doubleheader.
* Some fan with the initials R.C. went to see the Astros game Wednesday night. A new book on said person is due out next month.
* Umpire Kerwin Danley is recovering after Tuesday night's bat mishap.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090422230152943
