Howie Clark leads off for the Jays, Crespo replaces Reese at SS tonight for the Bosox.

this game on the radio?

Schilling is prone to the long ball. I expect tonight to be the big breakout game for the Jays (that I thought Detroit was last week).

http://www.cjcsradio.com/index2.shtml

Clark starting in RF
Woodward has a migraine, I think I would too if the team was playing the way they were

The Jays once again fall behind. Only three times this year have they had the lead first.

The Jays can't hit the road soon enough...

Unlike last night, I can't call this one a win because yet again we are down multiple runs in the first or second inning. Losing is one thing but this is just a killer.

thanks for the website!

I should be not lazy and look up the stats again, but I do believe that the Jays have yet to respond with a run in the next inning following the opposing team scoring first. Perhaps that's at least one trend they can buck tonight.

Howie Clark does what he does so well, and that's get on base. I'd like to see him up as a permanent reserve.

Jack I think you're right although I missed two games on the weekend against Baltimore. At least Delgado had a decent AB. That's more than can be said for either of F-Cat or Wells, both of whom have looked as lost at the plate in the last few games as I can ever remember seeing them.

The offensive struggles continue. Jays go down on 5 pitches in the 2nd.

A six pitch second for Schilling. What can you say?

So far, the best part about watching the Blue Jays play at home has been the nice-looking brunette who works in the luxury boxes behind home plate. A U.S. dollar for the Bauxite to score her name/phone number/e-mail address.

Wow. That DP was a thing of beauty.

Another bad break as a wild pitch sends Varitek to 3rd from 1st. That's pretty rare.

The way Faulds says the count while the pitch is on its way to home plate is really starting to bug me: "the 1-1..2 balls and 1 strike..... the 2-1....3 balls and 1 strike". It bugs me the whole game once I notice him saying it. It's probably just the losing making me irritable.

Argh-Gomez smashes one to third that's caught, almost doubling off Hudson, who had an infield single to start this 3rd inning.

Nice agressive baseball at the right time

Hey! A stolen base leads directly to a run! How 'bout that?

... and then there's an example of aggressive running at the wrong time (not from Clark, from Cat).

Mayhaps a touch too agressive. Delgado, once again, leads off an inning.

And then V-Dub swings at the first pitch again. Other than the defense, how is Wells not basically Garet Anderson with a bit more sock? And besides, there are worse things to be than Garret Anderson.

That's a bad call-Cat was safe. It costs a run too, as Wells hits the first pitch (shocker) into moderately deep CF that would have been a SF.

First pitch hacking again by Wells. Enough said.

Can't really blame the ump for costing the run, Doc. You don't want to run yourself out of a big inning with Wells and Delgado coming up. The steal was fine; trying to grab the extra base, while good hustle, was not so smart.

I agree that it wasn't the brightest of moves, but I still think his right leg was in there as the tag come on the left knee/thigh.

How does a catcher go from 1st to 3rd on a wild pitch?

If my math is correct, and it rarely is, when Anderson was 24 and 25 he had OPS of .719 and .743 respectively, whereas Wells was .762 and .909. Their career percentages are awfully similar, though. But Garrett has never cracked the 40 mark in BB's and Vernon did that last year, hitting in front of Delgado none the less.

I wasn't a wild pitch; it was a WILD PITCH!

Jack, ostensibly I agree with you; Wells is the superior player. But it seems that Wells goes after that first pitch as much as Anderson.

Yeah, it's pretty tough to disagree with that, Gitz. 39 pitches for Schill so far.

2 pitches, 2 outs in the 4th.

Is it just me, or have the Jays had an unusual number of line-drive outs so far tonight? Could this be a portent of the end of the slump?

I've noticed that too Matthew. Cash made nice contact earlier, but not everything is falling in for them. 2 pitches 2 outs doesn't help either.

Other than the defense, how is Wells not basically Garet Anderson with a bit more sock?

I've said this for what seems like forever. Wells walked 42 times in '03, sure, and he needed 648 atbats to do so. I can't believe you see that to be impressive.

It's not particularly impressive to me, but other than similar walk rates, I'm still not sure how Wells compares more accurately to Anderson than, say, a Beltran or Hidalgo.

Batista has fought hard tonight and I give him credit for that. 96 pitches through 5 innings isn't really a good way to be successful though. His control in his 4 starts other than the last few innings of his Fenway start has been pretty poor.

For those of us not watching on TV, does anyone know how Batista looks tonight? CBS Sportsline can only tell me so much.

Thanks, Nigel, you answered a question before it was asked. Let's see how good you are...what am I thinking now? :)

I don't know but I'm guessing its something like "this isn't what I had in mind when I heard him go on and on in the offseason about how he wanted the ball in the key games against the Red Sox and Yankees" or maybe not.

Frasor for Werth-less is looking better by the day.

Well, both Richard Hidalgo and Carlos Beltran walk plenty more than Wells does. Both average more than a walk per ten AB's, and Vernon could only dream of being so patient. Vernon Wells is the wizard beind the Garret Anderson curtain.

Frasor for Werth-less is looking better by the day.

So far the only advantage the Dodgers have in that trade is the extra "y".

Very gutsy move to bring in Frasor against two tough left-handers. I can't say that it speaks volumnes for Tosca's confidence in Kershner right now but Fransor came through.

JKCL I disagree that this will be the end of the Reed Johnson era. Johnson can play a valuable role on the club as a 4th outfielder and lefty masher. I agree that its a stretch to run him out there as an every day outfielder but I definitely want to see him stay around in the role he's suited to.

jkcl - fair enough.

jkcl - Frasor threw an inning and a third last night and was up several times if I remember correctly. I think its actually a pretty good use of Frasor without totally burning him out. You bring him in when the games on the line and then get him out. I don't have a problem with that choice.

Shane, the same site tells me that Vernon compares more accurately through his age with Beltran and Hidalgo. If you're merely saying that Wells and Anderson have similiar walk rates, then I (still) agree. But to suggest that Wells and Anderson are more similar than Wells and Beltran doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. Also, do you believe that Vernon will never develop patience? Isn't that something that can come, generally speaking, with ML experience?

I was just gonna say that, when the day comes that Tosca doesn't automatically pencil in Reed Johnson's name, i'll be both impressed and happy, as i've always seen Johnson too be one of his pet favorites. But really, until Ricciardi gives Tosca someone else to have as a better option, I guess the blame should be passed to JP. Sadly, it may take until some guy named GROSS or RIOS to show up, before Johnson gets shuttled to where he belongs - the bench.

HAHAHA, "fair ball!" Thanks, Rob.

I recall the Tejada mention in Moneyball, JKCL, and to your earlier post I'm not sure I would disagree with taking Werth over Reed, either. But I would still take Frasor over Werth.

This is more like it. Much, much more like it.

A two out rally! Might that be one of the few (only?) of the year?

Awesome! Great 2-out rally. I love watching Clark hit, I hope he sticks.

Hudson-Gomez-Clark-Cat-TIED! I echo Jack's comments.

And Wells swings at the first pitch...

There wasn't any classic curling on tonight, so I decided to sleep through innings 2 through 5. Looks like I picked a good time to wake up.

There's some current curling on somewhere..didn't that weather reporter from CBC lose yesterday?

Not that Antonio Perez will ever be an exceptional player, but he still might become a useful one and now that Cincy has claimed Jason Romano on waivers, Tampa has managed to give him away for free.

Also, do you believe that Vernon will never develop patience?

Oh, I have no idea -- crystal ball anyone? But, when you watch his approach at the plate regardless of situation, inning, pitcher, whatever, he does not want to take pitches. Will he ever have a philosophic change in his approach? To this point, he's in one of the OBP preaching organizations, with a GM who routinely says publicly that Wells' lack of selectivity is all that keeps him from emerging as a HUGE talent, and yet three years into it, he's still a hacker. A very good hacker.

That wasn't to blame Tampa so much for losing Romano as it was to blame them for trading Perez for him, and then apparently releasing his lack of value.

I'm not looking for crystal ball stuff as such, just making conversation/asking your opinion, which I got. Cheers.

Somebody at the Dome needs to realize that the crappy bagpipe/dance music song really doesn't get anybody pumped, in fact it probably leads itself to lowering morale at this point. Please stop playing it.

Perfect.

I think that's fantastic, Rob. What do YOU think?

Wow.

Sweet Googly Moogly!

Heroes come in strange places. Woody will ride the pine for a while now.

Another "what do ya think about that" from faulds, but I'll take it.
YEAH - Jays will get first win - and about freakin time

Chris Gomez is the greatest hero of all time.

You mean Rob Faulds, but I think that's fantastic as well.

Other than the usual comments about how Howie has never been a "prospect" and he's nearly 30 years old, etc., is there a good reason that he HASN'T been a bench player at the major league level?

Following up the disappointing 1st guessing I had last night at the pitching changes, after Hudson's triple last inning I fully expected Myers to pinch hit for Gomez. Darn good thing I'm wrong yet again. Nice to bust out with 14 hits tonight.

Clark's had a heck of a game too, eh?

I take back everything bad I ever said about Chris Gomez!! (He still has no range though).

All I can say is it's about damn time. I couldn't BELIEVE how many balls the Jays were hitting hard only to see them become outs. Thank goodness Francona left Schilling in for that last hitter.

I won't relax until I see those three outs in the 9th though. Leave Adams in and have Speier on hand juuuuuuust in case.

So, what woke the giant here? What was the point where the Jays' bats said, "That's enough, we're taking over!"?

Nifty. Schilling should take whatever blame comes out of this from the Boston papers, as i'm sure his competitive hissy fit on the mound last start is quite likely the reason he was still pitching at 120 pitches, and what with the results being what they were prior to Gomez's AB.

Now, leave Adams in.

He sure has. I've always wondered the same thing as Jack. He hit .300something last year and was up over .400 for awhile too. I'd love to see him stick as a good guy to bring off the bench and get the occasional start.

With Howie and Gomez' beating of Schilling tonight, do you think JP should call Big George and offer their services? I mean with A-Rod bunting for base hits these days, I'm sure the Yankees could use a power bat.

A 3-2 slider with a 4 run lead? I don't care who you're facing at the plate, that's plain stupid. Strikes! Come on!

Wow Adams looks good (knocks on wood)

Nice to see what indoor fireworks look like again.

Jays win, Jays win! Now if we could do something about the Leafs ...

I actually think Adams is the most talented reliever the Jays got in the offseason. He's got the best pure stuff anyway, Speier's better velocity aside.

Well, it's too bad it took so long, but what a great way to win your first home game.

I feel excited again. Maybe it's the start of the real Jays season...

WE WIN WE WIN - Yeah this is a good night

4-11 baby!!! 4-11!!! Look out Boston!!!

I'm going back to sleep now.

Chris Gomez, you are the wind beneath my wings.

Just 90 more wins for second place and maybe the Wild Card!!!!

As the little kid said in Angels in the Outfield (one of my kids' favourite movies: "It Could Happen"!!

Ah yes, very nice, very nice. Especially since this one looked so drab for much of the game. Did anyone notice Tosca after the game? He had a huge smile on his face as he was hugging his coaches. Nice to see they all feel the way we do about getting off the schnide(sp?).

Tosca's use of the bullpen was excellent tonight. Someone must have had a talk with him as he's really reduced his infactuation with reliever roulette.

ah, the joy of winning...

now, time to climb back towards .500.

Was the bullpen usage the only real issue with Tosca's management? If so, I'm starting to like him a lot more lately.

At 7:02 pm, Pistol said:
Schilling is prone to the long ball. I expect tonight to be the big breakout game for the Jays (that I thought Detroit was last week).
Hey, Pistol, got any Super 7 lottery number picks? :)

Why would you not expect that from Chris Gomez? He was leading the team in EqA going into tonight's game. ;)

Jays have a great comeback win, and the Flames beat the Murder City Dead Things in OT. Needless to say I'm in a fantastic mood.

Yeah, Mike, I thought you'd be pleased. Gelinas deserved two assists on that goal, superb.

For the Jays, this was a really great win enjoyed in small snatches during Leafs commercial breaks. (We have to watch playoff hockey to preserve domestic tranquility - the price one pays for a wife who loves sports.) I'm really not sure how Chris Gomez decided today was the day he'd drive in five runs, but that was a trip.

Spencer Fordin has a nice wrap-up on the official site.

Also, The Sports Network has a Jays minor league update.

1-8 at home feels so much better than 0-9, doesn't it?

Schilling should take whatever blame comes out of this from the Boston papers

Shane, I completely agree that Curt's tantrum the last time he got the hook was a big factor in him staying in tonight. If I was looking for a story angle, I might compare Francona to Grady Little.

Tosca's use of the bullpen was excellent tonight.

There hasn't been anything wrong with his pitching moves all year. As I've been saying all along, the bullpen has gone from a liability to an asset -- it's just harder to appreciate when the team doesn't score any runs. A little timely hitting makes any manager look smarter.

Gomez and Clark were the unlikely heroes, but a couple of the slump-ridden regulars (Hinske and Hudson) might also have turned a corner tonight, and Delgado is ready to explode. They should be a much happier club on the flight to Baltimore.

Never thought I'd be so happy to see a 4-11 record.

As for Vernon: last year, as I recall, he didn't walk much because
he'd always find a pitch he'd hit hard first. He seemed to have
tremendous plate coverage.

If Vernon resumes hitting like he did last year, the walks will
come, as pitchers will start nibbling when he's at the plate.
Shawn Green didn't walk much in the minors, but once he started
cranking 40 home runs a season, his walk total went up.

This is a great bandwagon. Da Box has been on it the entire time but now it's like everyone's fighting for the front seat ;-)

...I had to do a quadruple take when I saw the update on Yahoo's stat-tracker then corroberate that with ESPN. GOMEZ FOR MVP!

Its funny, a lot of Bauxites were crapping on JP on bringing up Clark, looks all right now, eh?

Nice game from O Dog as well. He was a big part of both rallies.

http://basicallynonsense.blogspot.com
I think Hinske proved to us last year that he can bat under .180 for a long time.....

I thought bringing up Clark was a good idea personally. You need contact hitters when the team is going this bad.

Thank you very much Mr. Francona. I imagine Grady would have shown that he had learned his lesson given the opportunity tonight. :)

If Vernon resumes hitting like he did last year, the walks will
come, as pitchers will start nibbling when he's at the plate.
Shawn Green didn't walk much in the minors, but once he started
cranking 40 home runs a season, his walk total went up.


Vernon's bat looked _slow_ tonight at the dome. Admittedly, that can happen against someone like Curt Schilling. Then again, his teammates managed to hit a lot of line drives off Schilling.

Either his timing is off, or something is slowing his swing down. Is it possible he's hiding an injury?

It may have looked slow tonight but it didn't look that bad on TV. I think he's just missing the ball, getting under it or hitting off the end of the bat instead of squaring it up. It took a while for Vernon to get it going last year and I think once he finds his groove it'll be difficult to stop him.

He got a very hittable fastball down the pipe from Schilling early in his 8th inning at bat which he was just a tad late on. That's a ball he normally powders. If he was striking out I'd be a lot more concerned about a slowing bat or injury but he hasn't been striking out that much.

To this point, he's in one of the OBP preaching organizations, with a GM who routinely says publicly that Wells' lack of selectivity is all that keeps him from emerging as a HUGE talent, and yet three years into it, he's still a hacker.

Sorry, are you still talking about Wells, or do you mean Eric Chavez?

Do you think we will be seeing a lot more Howy Clark, and a lot less REED JOHNSON? It's a shame, cause Reed Johnson is a fighter and plays with a lot of heart. But he's not producing, and it looks like Tosca's shuffle of the line-up finally paid off.

All we have to do now is sweep The Orioles, win 2 out of 3 the next series, and we're back at the Dome in early May around 0.500, and all is good again. Its that simple. I think this is the spark the Jays needed to turn things around. The monkey is off their back.

What a night for me to be at my friends house who doesn't have cable and being stuck watching the leafs when the Blue Jays come roaring back.

It's a shame, cause Reed Johnson is a fighter and plays with a lot of heart.
Amen to that snake. Sparky's my favourite player on the Jays right now. I can understand if he's placed on the bench while he's in this funk, but I hope he isnt booted off the team. Any competitive team can use a hustler like this (especialy the Blue Jays) He's like Tino Martinez or Paul O'neil (without the offence) in that what he brings to team is more valuable than fans can see sometimes.

Anyone know what the dome was like tonight? Cavernous and dead as usual? Were the home fans at least rockin after the shot heard round the batters box went over the fence?

On a COMPLETLY unrelated note, i didnt know the answer at all for one of the questions on my final exam I wrote today, so i just wrote "Yankees Suck". I hope my professor isnt a fan....

GO JAYS GO

The DOME was electrified when he hit the Grand Salami. It was like at that instant in time, the curse had been broken. It was the first home-run trot we'd seen in a long time, and for it to be a GRAND SLAM.....I could hardly believe my eyes.

I never seen Tosca more happier. He deserves better results for his efforts. I wish I was in that dug out to give him a nice big hug after they won.

I did so enjoy Faulds' witty comment about how when the dome was open during the day before the game, the bad karma had been let out... Classic... Gotta love that prophetic Rob Faulds guy... Furthermore, ya defintely have to love Chris Gomez or as I shall call him from now on... THOR!!!!!

Carry your magic hammer Chris Gomez.... Beware the dwarf.....

ha ha ha... "THOR"

Oh thats gold Matt, GOLD!! I sudgest that is his offical nickname now.

On a funnier note, over at the second rate Batter's Box (SoSH) they're freaking out comparing leaving Schil in tonight to leaving Pedro in vs the yanks last year. Man it feels good to be on the winning side again.

I going to make a banner for the dwarf on "offical noise day" May 3rd.

Hey, Pistol, got any Super 7 lottery number picks? :)

2, 9, 18, 23, 25, 27, 31

I think the key to the Jays winning is for me to not pay attention to the game. I fell asleep watching it last night and woke up after the game was over, and the other Red Sox win was when I thought it was a night game.

I think Hinske proved to us last year that he can bat under .180 for a long time.....

When he's hurt, maybe. Hinske's drawing walks and hitting with some power, and he will be fine.

By the way, is eight days "a long time"? Because that's how long Hinske was below .180 last year, another bad early April stretch.

After he came back from the DL last year EH hit pretty well. I expect that his .469 slugging after the DL trip to be indicative of his real level of ability (it was .481 in 2002) and he'll be back at that level soon.

http://bluejayscheerclub.com
Jobu, if you can find me a good image of a Thor-like hammer, I'll make you a big one out of cardboard for the next home game.

Or maybe we should find some old baseball bats and paint them gold?

Awesome.... just awesome. I'll get to work on finding a Thor-Hammer after my last exam.

Its amazing what one big win can do for you outlook on a team... it really is.

Sorry, are you still talking about Wells, or do you mean Eric Chavez?

Initially, I was going to just say: "Yip, same scenario, and your point?", but then I checked Chavez's numbers. The last two years Chavez has had 65 walks in 585 AB's ('02) and 62 BB's in 588 AB's ('03), so he's actually improving his walk rate beyond the one walk per ten AB's quota. Hopefully, Wells will get to that point too...