In four short years
I've gone from rags to riches
That's my boy! Scott "Big and" Richmond went seven solid innings as the Jays trumped the Royals 8-1 Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. Mad props and big ups to the former Edmonton Cracker-Cat as he improves to 3-0 on the season!
Richmond benefitted from some stellar defence to get out of the first when Aaron Hill made a diving stop on a grounder to second to throw out Mark Teahen. Lyle Overbay then fired a seed to Scott Rolen at third to get David DeJesus trying to go from first to third for an unconventional, inning-ending 4-3-5 double play. The Jays got on the board in the top of the second when Overbay lifted a sac fly to foul territory in left field to score Vernon Wells' leadoff double. They would load up the bases against Gil Meche but the Royals righty got Marco Scutaro to ground out on a full count offering. Still, they made Meche work as he needed 34 pitches to get out of the inning.
Richmond had some work to do to get out of the third inning unscathed. He allowed the first two men to get aboard on singles but he pounced on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Coco Crisp and fired to third to force Mike Aviles. It was a bang-bang play that drew the ire of Royals skipper Trey Hillman, who came out to argue but it was to no avail. Richmond went on to escape a bases-loaded jam by getting Jose Guillen to pop up to Rod Barajas in foul territory.
B.A. helped his batterymate by driving in the Jays second run of the game by doubling home an Overbay double. The Jays continued to mash against Meche when Hill plated Barajas with a single and Wells singled up the gut to score Hill and Scutaro. That chased Meche from the game and it was later revealed he left with a sore back (and probably a sore ass too!).
Richmond was nicked for a run in the fifth when DeJesus doubled home Crisp with two outs but only allowed one more hit after that to get through seven innings. He allowed the one run on five hits and three walks while striking out five and got nine outs on the ground. The Jays put the game away with three runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Scutaro, Hill and Wells. Jesse "Arthur, aka the Big Guy" Carlson overcame a double and a Hill error in the eighth and Brandon League set down the Royals in order in the ninth.
At the dish, Hill and Wells led the hit parade with three safeties with V-Dub driving in three while Hill drove in two and added a walk to get aboard four times. Barajas had two hits and a walk, Sctuaro had a hit and two free passes and Rolen had a two-hit night. In total, the Jays got on board 20 times with 14 hits and six walks and went 8-for-17 with runners in scoring position but they did leave 10 men on - totally unacceptable! :D
Tonight, Brian Tallet will face the 0.00 ERA of 4-0 Zach Greinke in an 8:10 p.m. EDT first pitch at Kauffman Stadium. The man Tallet replaced in the rotation, Ricky Romero, will play some catch today as he recovers from a strained oblique.
In other TDIB notes........
* The Red Sox throw one away against the Tribe and throw away top spot in the A.L. East to your fighting Blue Jays. Meantime, the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka will see how his shoulder is doing in a bullpen session today.
* The Yankees destroy Detroit at Comerica while A-Rod takes another step in his rehab.
* O's manager Dave Trembley gets the heave-ho for arguing a balk call as they fall to the Angels at Camden Yards.
* The Brewers beat the Pirates for the 14th straight time and made it 17 in a row against the Bucs at Miller Park as the "Hoff" gets his first save of the year.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090429102123359
