The Jays are 2-for-2 on bobblehead days this season with the featured players contributing to victories. Alex Rios jump started the offence as the Jays quadrupled the White Sox 8-2 Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre.
Last month, Lyle Overbay drove in the only run of the game in Toronto's 1-0 win over Oakland on his bobblehead day last month. Yesterday, Rios launched a laser beam to left to hang your laundry on in the second inning to get the Toronto offence on the board.
That came following a less than stellar first inning for Roy Halladay when he gave up a couple of runs. Scott Podsednik drilled a double to left on the first pitch of the game. Halladay then bobbled (get it? Midseason form, kids!) a Chris Getz dribbler up the first base line to put runners on the corners. Jermaine Dye then took a 1-2 fastball and lined it into right to score Podsednik. Paul Konerko knocked home Getz with another single on the next pitch to put the Pale Hose ahead 2-0. Then your TSN turning point. Dye tried to steal third but Rod "B.A." Barajas was having none of that as he fired a peg to Scott Rolen to annihilate Dye. You could say he "Dyed" trying! That helped "Doc" settle down and get out of the inning.
Halladay wound up striking out three White Sox in a row and overcame a leadoff double by Jim Thome in the fourth. Gavin Floyd also kept the Jays off the board in the second and third innings but he wasn't as lucky in the fourth. Aaron Hill singled and eventually got to third on a Vernon Wells fielder's choice. That set the stage for Adam Lind and he came through with a three-run poke over the wall in right to put the good guys ahead 4-2. Toronto added two more in the fifth as Barajas singled and rumbled home all the way from first on a Marco Scutaro double. "Scooter" stole third base but paid for it when Corky Miller's throw corked him in the chest. He remained in the game to score on an Rios fielder's choice. Scutaro would eventually be replaced by John McDonald to start the seventh.
Halladay managed to complete seven innings as he stranded a Konerko leadoff double in the sixth and punched out Corky Miller for a third time in the seventh. That was huge as the missus and I got a free slice of 'za! Unfortunately, Travis Snider matched the hat trick by Corky Phillip Abraham Miller with his third whiff of the day in the home half of the seventh. Jason Frasor relieved Halladay and exited after a one-out double by Konerko but "The Big Guy" Jesse Carlson got the next two batters to end the eighth. Bobby Jenks came on in the eighth to get some work and he was greeted by Hill's team leading 11th homer of the year off the Pizza Pizza sign in the Jays bullpen in left to make it 7-2. Overbay drove in another run with an RBI single to cash home Lind.
Brandon League was called in the work the ninth inning and he faced three straight pinch-hitters, walking Wilson Betemit and Jayson Nix while getting A.J. Pierzynski to fly out in between. Then League finally induced a groundball from Podsednik for the game-ending 4-6-3 double play that was nicely turned and completed by Hill, Johnny Mac, and Overbay. The defence was air tight once again in this one as Hill showed some nice range to his right on one groundball and made a nice shovel flip on another. Scott Rolen made a couple of nice plays with the leather as well.
Pitching wise, Halladay improved his record to 8-1 and became the first hurler to reach eight wins on the season. He gave up two runs (one unearned thanks to his own error! Good ERA planning, really!) in seven innings by scattering seven hits and a walk and punched out eight batters.
The Jays outhit the Sox 10-7 and were 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position as compared to the White Sox going 2-for-17. Today, Scott Richmond is on the hill against Clayton Richard in a 1:07 p.m. start at the Dome.
Yesterday was also Photo Day and once work stop interfering with my baseball schedule, I'll try to get around to posting some photos of your 2009 Jays.
In other TDIB notes.....
* The Damn Yankees burn the Twins again with another walk off job. (To quote Magpie - "Bite me, Mick!").
* The Mariners beat the BoSox with (wait for it!)....a walk-off victory.
* The Rays beat the Indians despite a line-up screw-up.
* When the Jays beat the Dodgers in the World Series this season, you don't have to stay up as late.
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