So here we are at the quarter pole with the Jays sitting a surprising seven games clear of sea level.
It was at this point a year ago that the wheels fell off. The '09 Jays were in almost the same boat at 27-14 and taking most everyone by surprise. Alas, 27-14 was the high water mark. Coming off a 7-2 stretch that started with the memorable Halladay vs. Burnett duel and concluded with a four game sweep of the White Sox, the Jays departed for Beantown where they were swept rather convincingly. Wakefield's knuckler dazzled, Cecil provided a launching pad for, among many, David Ortiz's first homer of the year, and Jon Lester provided the knockout blow.
A trip to Atlanta followed where Halladay was brilliant but the Jays lost 1-0 on the Friday. The next night saw the Jays trailing by one with the bases loaded and one out in the 9th. Alas, as these things go, they couldn't push across the equalizer and the streak reached five. Three more losses followed before the lowest of the low. On a Wednesday afternoon in Baltimore, Halladay took the mound to stop the streak at eight. He pitched well enough for seven and departed with an 8-3 lead. You know what happened next.
And that, folks, was pretty much that. The Jays actually went 7-4 in the 11 games that followed and remained above .500 until July 8th but the wheels came right off pretty quickly.
So, is 2010 different? I think it's already more surprising. I don't know anyone who would've pegged the Jays with the 7th best record in baseball a quarter of the way through this thing. But when we dissect the 2010 season, where will we point to as the moment things went wrong? Or will we at all?
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20100519104113817