Helluva game. Nice to see Doc beat his personal bete noire.

I would also like to point out that while Rance Mulliniks has now seemingly made it his mission to compare Aaron Hill's swing to Paul Molitor's, I was the one who first declared it publicly.

I was pleased at the way the Jays strung together hits, particularly in the sixth. Aaron Hill's catch to end the sixth was a great play, I can't remember a non-Hudson Jays play to better it, though there's the usual logjam of great plays that could equal it.

I'd like to join the Rance bangwagon, if I could. He avoids the usual colour man pitfall-saying so much that he says something idiotic-by saying as little as he can. The "bad news bears" non-exchange with Jamie Campbell last night was the example that leaps to mind. Mulliniks for colour man!

Not a great game, but a very satisfying win. Could have been 13-2...so many baserunners left and burned by line drives. Baltimore without Matos (what in heaven's name is Newhan doing in centre?} and Mora, and Lopez long-term, and with Tejada kind of on his own--Sosa took the sombrero--they don't seem so scary. Doc had something to do with that of course.

Some great plays: Hill's full extension going back on that looper. Wells's peg and Zaun's tag on the non-sliding Newhan, Rios's two sprints: to the wall and home on Hudson's double...fun to watch. And the crowd, at least in the 120s was very into it. Very happy with Adams in the leadoff spot.

A few more good starts and Halladay will be in great position to be named the starter for the All-Star game. At this point, it looks like it's between Halladay, Rogers and Buehrle, with 12 game winner John Garland way, way behind. If he ends up starting because he leads the league in wins, I'm going to bash my head against the wall a few hundred times.

The catches on the line drives were sick. Good game though. We certainly could have scored more runs, but it was mostly good (and/or lucky) defense from baltimore that stopped them, not screw ups from the jays.

I had a good time anyway ;)

I don't think you could go that far wrong with any of the four. Rogers has been lucky a lot, but has still pitched awfully well, and the other three have been great. I wouldn't put Garland very far behind the other three - he hasn't been particularly "run lucky" so he suffers a bit by ERA comparisons. I'd throw in Johan Santana for comparisons as well... we shouldn't forget how great he was in the second half last year and I think that ought to be considered.

What's interesting to note is the quality of opposition each pitcher has faced - of the 113 pitchers with 300 batters faced so far, Halladay has faced the 3rd toughest group of hitters, measured by OPS (Gil Meche and Jason Johnson are marginally ahead of him). Garland is in the middle of the pack, and Rogers and Buehrle are right near the bottom, having faced easier lineups.

Put it all together, I think Halladay's been head and shoulders above the rest of the league this year. I honestly don't think he'll get the nod to start the All-Star Game... the White Sox are a Big Story and therefore their guys will have that extra momentum, which is fair enough.

Even after the one run inning in the first, you knew Doc was on. The Roberts single was a weak grounder with eyes, and some baserunning later, it was translated into a run. You know Roy is going when its weak groundball after weak groundball. That combined with exceptional defense (Aaron Hill, I'm talking to you), and some timely hits, and you have yourself a win. Although Roy doesn't get the same credit he deserves as if he was in, say New York, I have little doubt that it will affect his All-Star starting chances. Pitching wise, Halladay has it all.

Striking out Sosa three times was the highlight.

Wells and Zaun getting Newhan at the plate in the second was pretty huge too. A fraction of a second later on the throw and that whole inning might have been a different story.

Is it too late to start an Aaron Hill All-Star push?

I missed today's game, so I can't comment on that, but I just wanted to say:

I also like listening to Rance Muliniks. He provides analysis on both sides (What Toronto is trying to do and what Baltimore is trying to do,) he doesn't spew a bunch of cliches, he doesn't constantly talk for the sake of talking, and he has such a soothing voice. Someone in the chat said he sounded like Willie Nelson, which is awesome.

I think Rance should be made the "normal" colour guy, with a dash of Candiotti and a sprinkle of Fletcher. Tabler can do the TSN games.

Also, why not do a three-man booth sometimes? A three-man booth can get a bit chatty but I always enjoy it on playoff telecasts when they've done it. It's nice to get two perspectives and a Mulliniks + Candiotti booth, or Tabler with anyone, would be an interesting combination.

One of the great pleasures of summer for me is listening to the BBC Radio's _Test Match Special_ cricket commentators, who broadcast the day-long and five-day cricket matches. Because the hours for cricket are so long (frequently going seven-plus hours) no one group can cover the action, so the team rotates in and out. (Perhaps not conicidentally, they are the funniest and weirdest commentary team anywhere - totally irreverent, and with weird obsessions with pigeons and buses and a bizarre hunger for cake. Listeners send them in mass quantities of homemade cake from all around the world.) If it sounds surreal, it is.

You'll never get the same sort of feel from a baseball crew, unless teams went back to scheduling doubleheaders. Still, the camaraderie and good feeling and humour that you can get in a multiple-person booth adds a lot to the experience.

Is it too late to start an Aaron Hill All-Star push?

I gave him about 15 write in votes at 3B tonight. I voted biased homer for a few (Mueller) and refused to vote for the most deserving (A-Rod) and the rest were all Aaron. Is anyone else completely horrified by Vernon's approach? He struck out looking on a hanging curve for crying out loud. He seems to only hit mistakes at this point. Tonight, he missed a HUGE one.

Whats nice about Tabler is that he's been following the Jays for a long time, Fletcher and Rance often confess that they know nothing about a subject
Its an experience thing but it is pleasent to have a voice of knowledge

I'm not really sure what Vernon's approach is these days. He's just not seeing the ball much at all. Maybe he needs to stop taking batting practice and just start hitting the ball on instinct instead of trying to have a plan.

Magpie, Rogers' ERA is up to 2.46 after getting whacked by the Angels on Wednesday, so Halladay is now only 0.05 behind Rogers for the AL lead in ERA (with Buehrle between them and Garland a country mile behind at 3.40). Like Craig, I'm quite certain it SHOULD be Halladay, but not nearly as confident it WILL be Halladay.

Does it matter if Halladay starts or not?

Personally, I'd rather have him not start. The starters usually go 2 or 3 innings, while everyone else is limited to one. So if he doesn't start, he'll get more of a break.

Between one of the innings, I glanced over at the outfield scoreboards to see who was next up to bat for the Jays...

Hillenbrand
Hill
Hinske

I propose that we name our 4,5,6 hitters, "TRIPLE H"

It was mentioned earlier in the series that scouts were on hand to watch certain players, but yesterday I personally saw Pat Gillick at the game. I don't know if it's normal, I know he's here often since he's on the radio and such, but I just thought I'd pass this along.

Rance is great but I love Pat Tabler....he's such a nice guy and knows a lot about the Blue Jays. He's no John Cerutti though. Gosh I was just getting used to Faulds and Cerutti. But Jamie is good as well.

Seriously Bauxites, at this point in the season we have to be really really REALLY pleased with how the Jays are doing. I mean, we are beating teams with 3 or 4 big boppers in the lineup and we are coming up on top a good number of the time. We're 37-36 with a relatively weak lineup and only 1 ace, playing in the strongest division in baseball ( I don't care about the records but look at the talent we are facing). If Towers and Chacin can get it going again, I think we have as good of a chance as anyone especially if we add some help in less than a month from now and get Koskie back in a month.

I propose that we name our 4,5,6 hitters, "TRIPLE H"

Or maybe Hudson settles into the 7 hole and it's... The 4H Club!

Speaking of Hudson, how about we name the area of the field from the first base dugout to short and from the pitcher's mound to mid centre/right field the "Hudson Valley'. Either that or the "O Zone".

Speaking of Hudson, how about we name the area of the field from the first base dugout to short and from the pitcher's mound to mid centre/right field the "Hudson Valley'. Either that or the "O Zone".

Or how about "The Highlight Zone"?

I love The Highlight Zone. That's great. "Where bloop singles and Rios' Range Factor have no meaning."

Speaking of the O-Dog, last night he told Sportsnet Aaron Hill was allowed into Web Gem Row (read Verducci if you don't get it) as soon as he was called up. And, Russ Adams did not get in to WGR back in March. Keeping this in mind, it is clear that Thrillhouse is viewed as a lesser player than Hillhouse in the eyes of all slick-fieldin' second basemen associated with the Blue Jays. Expect a trade.

Let me add that I was quite impressed with Rance yesterday. I'd quite enjoy seeing more of him in the booth, be it in a three-person situation or just being granted a more substantial role in the Campbell-partner rotation.

Or maybe Hudson settles into the 7 hole and it's... The 4H Club!

That's exactly what one of the road broadcast teams was calling the Jays' infield when the four of them started together a little while ago...

Actually, Hudson said last night it was "Web Gem Row," not the full name you quoted. Confused me to no end.

I thought I heard Hudson say that the Jays gave Aaron Hill a locker that just happened to be on Web Gem Row. Perhaps it is He Who Assigns The Lockers who deems Thrillhouse to be less of a player than Hillhouse.

Twas I who christened him Willie.