So I was stuck out of the house for much of tonight. I'm doing tomorrow's game report, so I recorded the game. I arrived home in the ninth inning...

And now I have a whole nine innings of ballgame still to watch.

Well, the fans get two games for the price of one. Texas is going to be awfully tough for the Jays now that the bullpen is decimated. I suspect League will finally make an appearance in the next couple of days.

I kind of felt sorry for the home plate umpire. He took the pitch off his elbow early in the game and was probably waiting to have it examined after the game.

Regardless, the sweep sure feels good after the disappointing series against Kansas City.

So after failing to win a series vs. the Royals and Tampa Bay , the Jays sweep the AL west leaders. I love baseball.

The Jays held the Angels to three runs over 37 innings in this series. Amazing.

Happy to be in the Central time zone tonight. Can't say enough about the bullpen. And, yes, no doubt we'll have to see League at some point this weekend. The last two nights were the sort of games the Jays having been winning this year. Nice to see that trend reverse.

That was simply terrific. Hats off to the pen, who pitched brilliantly in the clutch all night long, especially Walker. Chulk was terrific as well.

And hats off to Rios, who took the game by the scruff of the neck in the 18th and won it. A solid inside-out swing to pick up a hard single, a terrific stolen base, and then wonderfully aggressive baserunning to make it into third on the passed ball by Molina. That drew in the infield - without which Hudson's single would have been a simple groundout.

I was watching the game from my college's library (on the wonder that is MLB TV), which closed at 10pm (Central), and sprinted over to a Residence Hall computer lab (where I can no longer get into because I'm no longer a student, but luckily someone let me in) because I didn't want to miss the winning run.

Little did I know I'd be in the computer lab for over an hour before Rios touched home. But in that time I managed to book a hotel room for the SABR convention. I'll be up there in a week!

A sweep of the Angels. In Mel Allen's words, "How 'bout that?"

Watching this game was like pulling teeth.
Winning this game made my week.
That is why I love baseball so much.

It might be possible to not use League for more than one inning. If Downs has a good game tomorrow and pitches five or six innings, schoewenweis, who faced one batter tonite, can pitch a few innings, Speier and Frasor could face a batter or two each and Batista can finish it off.

Well, what can I say...maybe crow is tasty weith the right BBQ sauce on it...

Anyway, the odd thing that struck me is that over the break I sort of projected the Jays record at the end of July - figuring on a romp...even a sweep...vs TB and rough sleding vs the Angels. Anyway, the upshot is that if we swept the Rangers we'd be exactly where i had expected us to be - albeit arriving by a totally different road.

Still, it drive me nuts that the Toronto Jeckel-Hydes have lost so many games against teams they should have beaten. The team we've seen the last few days is a team that can beat anyone. Where did it go when we needed it two weeks ago?

Or is Corey Koskie THAT much of a difference maker in ways that don't show up in the box scores?

Great to see the Jays finally get some one run wins here. It was always said that loosing all the one run games was the sign of a young team. Perhaps this is a coming of age of sorts.

Also, especially great to see (what should be) our bottom three starters come up with huge starts.

Looking forward to McGowan on Saturday. ZachJack went 5 plus with 3 er and 6 k in his first AAA start. Two September call-ups?

To be fair, Tampa Bay have been rolling over opponents for the last week or so -- they're practically red-hot!

I'm the first one back from 518, reporting in. Wow! I'm speechless. Mainly because my throat is ripped to threads. Best game I've ever seen. This team has so much character, and we're in a position to do some damage now. The 518 crew was singing and dancing out of the Rogers Centre! Wonderful night, wonderful game. I hope the TV broadcast didn't make it seem too tedious.

12 comments and no praise for Bush? It's not his fault the team didn't score any runs. 8.1 innings of 1 run ball is Halladay-esque. Huge effort by the pen too. Chulk had an odd line going 3 innings without giving up a hit or walk or striking anyone out.

So Downs tomorrow and McGowan Saturday? I'm betting on 2 losses. Hopefully Chacin is ready to rock on Sunday. Who gets sent down for McGowan to start? League? It would be about bloody time.

BEST. GAME. EVER.

I can't add much to what TorontoDan said - but I finally managed to nail the Will Ferrell style of cowbell playing. The Cheer Club were joined by many other enthusiastic fans in the frozen tundra of 518, and the noise could be heard from miles around.

The absolute jubilation at both run-scoring plays was so massive that "in play, run-scoring play" could never do justice to it.

And I scored the whole bloody thing.


Forgive the penmanship, but it's hard writing on one's knee for 18 innings, and then later on moving subways and buses.

On a final note - my father informed me on my return that gv27 mentioned the "We Love Cuzzi" sign of Alex Obal and I around the 11th inning. Can anyone who watched the game confirm such a fact?

And on an actual final note - massive props to the A/V guys at the Dome. For the 15th inning cleanup, they showed the "5th inning cleanup" logo and artificially added a 1 in front of it a la John Madden. They also did the same thing for the "17th inning stretch". Absolutely wonderful.

And also forgive the massive inaccuracies. Much was missed on account of cheering and huge fatigue.

Checking the box score - forgive the massive, MASSIVE inaccuracies.

So Downs tomorrow and McGowan Saturday? I'm betting on 2 losses.

You're some kind of killjoy, huh? What are you betting? I'll take you up on it. Since you're guaranteeing two losses, I would win the bet if the Jays win either or both games.

I think people aren't mentioning Bush's killer performance because it was like six hours ago.

"You're some kind of killjoy, huh? What are you betting? I'll take you up on it. Since you're guaranteeing two losses, I would win the bet if the Jays win either or both games."

You gotta know when to hold 'em, Aaron!
Though in this case you're right.

Honestly - we're against CHAN HO PARK.

He of the .13 higher ERA than SCOTT DOWNS. He of the .38 higher WHIP than SCOTT DOWNS. He, against whom batters are hitting .299, .051 more than against SCOTT DOWNS! He, who averages nearly five walks per nine innings.

Good gamble.

I think the Jays' bats will feast on Texas pitching now that they can get away from that deadly Angels' pitching staff.

There's gonna be a solid helping or two of revenge this wekened, IMO.


We've all got to praise Bush....that's two in a row now.

And hey....for everyone who loves to say that the Jays are an awful team without Halladay.....well, we're 8-7 since Halladay went down.

Sorry NFH, if I have anything non-100% positive to say I'll just keep my mouth shut then. I'm guessing you think Jays have very good chances to win then? BTW, "betting" is NOT guarenteeing a loss. If it was I'd be a millionaire betting on sure things all the time. It's saying the odds aren't in our favour. If you disagree, by all means state why. A 6+ ERA guy who was just shelled by Texas starts tomorrow and a rookie 2 months off TJ and in AA starts Saturday. By all means both could go out there and shut down Texas and make me look like a retard. That doesn't make it a smart thing to count on happening. Albeit I guess the bats could go off again this weekend. Here's hoping.

And Doc is due back on Tuesday.

Commence drooling.

"A 6+ ERA guy who was just shelled by Texas starts tomorrow and a rookie 2 months off TJ and in AA starts Saturday. By all means both could go out there and shut down Texas and make me look like a retard."

Get your facts straight. Downs' ERA is below 6, and lower than that of the pitcher he's paired off with.

Does the opposing pitcher mean nothing in these games?

In the most scientific way of saying this...

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Again, props to the media guys who put together an excellent display of stuff to keep fans entertained. How many times did we hear the chorus to 'Rock and roll'? About 50 ;) The 'We are Toronto' thingy really got this crowd going, and IMO, gave the Jays that little boost.

Have we ever seen a team bring in the extra infielder twice in a game, moreless twice in a game with a one hour interval between each one?

Wow.

David Bush was absolutely awesome, Lackey pitched a great game, and if the score had have been 11-11, we'd stil be at the game right now.

Wow.

A 2-1 game is ALWAYS better than a 12-11 game. I'm framing the front page of the sports section tomorrow with my ticket next to it.

This was one for the Ages. Just Wow.

P.S. During BP for the Angels, they took a mock infield with Alfredo Griffin playing third and Bartolo Colon at short. I heckled him (Ham) mercilessly and he pointed and laughed.

Sorry NFH, if I have anything non-100% positive to say I'll just keep my mouth shut then. I'm guessing you think Jays have very good chances to win then? BTW, "betting" is NOT guarenteeing a loss

What? You said you're betting on two losses, so I'm just taking you up on it! I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't say anything non-positive. I do think they have a good chance to win at least one of those two games: the Jays are on a roll, and Texas are in the midst of a slide and are not sending their best to the hill either of those days.

It doesn't have to be money -- I could, for instance, put up some ridiculous piece of Blue Jays paraphernalia I have up against something you have kicking around your basement. In fact, I'd rather that it not be money.

Ah I see, well I'm actually not much of a betting man-I mostly use it an expression in terms of odds, etc. I'm not sure I have much that would be of interest to you in terms of baseball or sports paraphernalia. Perhaps some other kind of wager? I certainly wouldn't mind losing such a bet too much.

I'm going to bed now, but seriously, Waveburner, let's put together some kind of silly bet. I'll bet you a ham sandwich that I'll FedEx to you against a mismatched sock or something like that. It'll be the world's least valuable NFH Challenge.

Quick! Grab your cameras....the Jays are on the front page of http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/

Props to the maybe 5 or 6 thousand fans who stayed around to seem the game end, as well as the aforementioned Jumbotron/sound effects personel.

It was a great time in 518, and that game felt excellent to win.

What a fantastic start by Bush, a great job by the pen and some clutch aggressive baserunning by Rios.

God, I nearly had a heart attack when I clicked on that article and thought it said "Yankees acquire Chacin..." Of course, it was talking Chacon, not our Gustavo.

I've been a skeptic all season long, but I have to say I'm starting to believe...

By all means if you can think of something silly, I'm in. I guess I don't have much of an imagination :)

Credit to Zaun is due. There were so many excellent, warrior like things he did, I don't have nearly enough hands to count them.

"I can definitely say one thing: Ernie Banks and that 'Let's play two' thing -- he ain't never strapped on the catching gear before. That's for sure."

-- Gregg Zaun

I love Gregg Zaun. But this surely means Huck will start tomorrow. I bet Huck busts out and gets two singles vs. Park and his former team. But Zaunie, you deserve the rest!

Great night all-around for Toronto sports, as I see that the Argonauts won over the Als, pushing them into 1st place.

I also don't think it would be that out of line for Toronto to win one of the next 2 games. It isn't like they are playing in Arlington or anything..

Zaun probably will get a day off after this game, but he most certainly will argue agaisnt taking one.

Gentlemen, let us not forget... WE'RE NOW IN THIRD PLACE AHEAD OF BALTIMORE!

Just keep movin on up Jays. 4 back of the division and 3 of the wildcard at this point? Ain't baseball great?

As my own little annecdote for today's game, I'm a very superstitious baseball fan. I believe that whenever I watch or listen to a game, the Jays do poorly. Gameday is okay, but thats about it. So after I looked up from my studying to see the score in the 7th I was quite intrigued. I tuned back in for a quick peak in the 9th and saw 1-0 Angles with K-Rod on the mound. I cursed myself for taking a peak and ruining the Jays chances and quickly changed the channel. I got in my car and drove to my girlfriend's house and after some tense commercial breaks discovered the game was still on. Naturally I quickly tuned away to wgr550 so as to give the Jays a chance. An hour or so later I quickly checked the TV and see they're in the 15th. Amazing I thought. There's no way I can watch this magnificent happening without cursing them so I forced myself to turn the channel. A while later my girlfriend asked why I was so tense and I explained the situation. To which she promptly made fun of me and called me an idiot and put the game on the TV. "There. Now you've cursed the Jays. Just shut up and watch, it's not connected to you dummy". So after I take the time to heal form my emotional beating, I see that the Jays are in the friggen 18th. Rios breaks for second and I instinctivley jump up and grab my head. He's SAFE! I couldn't move. Blocked ball... HE'S OFF... HE'S SAFE!! AHHHH!! I SHOULDNT BE WATCHING THIS I shout, CHANGE THE FRIGGEN CHANNEL!! The mighty o-dog whacks a ball into the OF and with that wonderful moment: the Jays win their longest game, the orioles fall to 4th, my girlfriend gives me the "i told you so" look, i begin to do a mysterious Irish gig I invented, and one very old baseball supersition is laid to rest.

I love baseball.

I believe that whenever I watch or listen to a game, the Jays do poorly.

I usually don't jinx the Jays, but I turned the game off after the 17th, to see if it would change their luck. 'Nuff said.

Tyler: I can confirm that Jamie mentioned the Cuzzi sign, somewhere in the extra innings. We noted it in the game chat, around the time we were discussing our love of mushrooms.

"There. Now you've cursed the Jays. Just shut up and watch, it's not connected to you dummy"

She's a keeper.

"There. Now you've cursed the Jays. Just shut up and watch, it's not connected to you dummy".

That's funny. I tried to go to bed after 16 innings, partially for the same reason as Jobu, partially because I was really tired. My wife asked who had won and I told her the game was still going and they were headed into the 17th. Knowing how rare that is, she pretty much made me go watch until it was over.

Didn't Scott Downs have a somewhat decent start against Texas during the last series?

Or is my memory bad

Speaking of Zaun.....my favorite play of the day is when he made that GREAT (and SLICK) catch of the bunt foul popup with the knee slide flourish at the end.....and then he reached over and high fived the Gibber before getting up again.

That was great.

Didn't Scott Downs have a somewhat decent start against Texas during the last series?

He was going along fine, then gave up the home run that was actually foul and fell apart after that.

Definate Kudos to Bush...I was in that crowd who believed in him even when he was sent down so I'm not completely shocked that he "announced his presence with athority" when he got back.

As for the Rays, beyond humiliating us, the beat up the collapsing Orioles at home....I'm not sure I'm impressed yet. Especially given they brought a 1-11 stretch into the break.

I'm very surprised that the return of Bedard and Javier Lopez has not helped the Orioles break their losing streak.

I was also at this game - I won the ticket in the limerick contest back in the spring. Let this be a lesson for Mike D.

(And I was in 518, but I'm not sure if I recognized anybody or if anybody recognized me.)

Never seen the groundskeepers come out three times before. Never seen a seventeenth-inning-stretch before.

The stadium guys were on the ball. In the fifteenth or sixteenth we were being serenaded with, "When the clock strikes twelve, we'll cool off, then / Start a-rockin' 'round the clock again..." And, a half inning later, "Daylight come, and I wanna go home."

Always nice seeing history.

Third row on the aisle. I was the guy in the yellow shirt who clapped but didn't yell much.

Damn, I've always wanted to meet Matthew E.

When are you coming to another game in 518?

Thanks Pistol,

My memory is now revived.

So I'm betting Downs goes about 7 and gives up 4 ER.

Have I really? Why don't I remember?

What do you look like?

Hey, wait, are you that guy who I always forget that I've met?

Hey, wait, are you that guy who I always forget that I've met?

Well, considering that we've had this basic conversation once before...

OK, now I know who you are.

Hopefully I won't forget before we have this conversation for a third time.

"Tyler: I can confirm that Jamie mentioned the Cuzzi sign, somewhere in the extra innings. We noted it in the game chat, around the time we were discussing our love of mushrooms."

My life has meaning again!