I had three thoughts throughout the game:

1. I don't understand how anybody can think of Wells as anything less than an above-average fielder. Ok, he's not Devo, but he's still graceful, like an antelope.
2. Alex Rios is going to be OK. I think next year's going to be his breakout year, in terms of power at least. Aaron Hill's going to be OK, too.
3. Imagine next season: Doc in his prime, McGowan coming into his own, Hill and Rios and Adams.. this team is going to be good.

I agree Joe. Not to mention that Chachin will have another few starts under his belt. This team could be exciting for many years. I know you guys on this board aren't to blame but TO has to start supporting their young, exciting team when teams other than the Yankees and Red Sox are in town. 20,000 - 25, 000 doesn't make the opposition at Rogers Centre squeeze the bat any tighter during the game if you know what I mean.

I'm not sure anyone has said that Wells isn't an above average fielder. I'm one of the ones who says he didn't deserve his Gold Glove but that's a far cry from saying he's not good.

McGowan pitched better than his line not just because of the inherited runners scoring but also because of two infield hits to Koskie back-to-back that were both possible outs. They were tough plays but makeable. Not getting an error on the first one is reasonable, but not on the second IMO.

I now have a new favorite ump. Yeah his plate coverage might have been a little inconsistent, but I love the fact he refused to give Wilson a base after he dived into a HBP. It's the first time I've seen an ump enforce the "get out of the way rule (although what Wilson did was rediculous, he actually moved towards the pitch)", but wish I saw it more often.

Great game to watch, even though I was on edge a bit in the ninth, nonetheless good win for the Fightin Jays. And am definetely agreeing Joe and Jaysfan that with the way Dustin has pitched his last three games next year will be interesting. Just to note some of those curveballs that Mcgowan threw out there looked Halladayesque. Absolute filth. In fact his general demeanour and stuff remind of me of a cross between Clemens and Halladay.

The Jays outfield defense is and probably with more maturity should become one of the best in all of baseball and that has not been more evident than the last two games. I still havent given up hope on this season but am definetely excited bout next year.

If my memory serves me correctly "some" people were wishing for the Jays to trade Rios and put Gross in the of. :/

Update: Texas has come back to tie Boston going into the bottom of 9. Man those two teams sure put up some crooked numbers in a hurry! Go TEXAS!

No matter what happens in the OAK/LAA game we'll be 7 games out of the Wild Card. I still have hope for this year, especially after Magpie's recounting of the Phillies' '64 collapse (which broke my Dad's heart, at that time being a huge Phillies fan).

But for next year I agree with Joe, that there's even more reason for hope. Not only on the field, but also the Jays' financial situation has improved dramatically with the improvement of the Canadian dollar and IMHO smart financial as well as baseball moves by J.P.

Also, we are seeing more and more that the Yankee Wizard of Oz is just an old man behind a curtain.

Not too mention players X Y and Z, who will be earning about 30 mill between them.

Great game, I was in the 200 level just below and to the left of the FAN 590 booth. Perfect seats to see the zone.

I was disappointed I didn't see the Hawaiian Punch Out. But between McGowan, Hill and Rios, I got my fix of young guns.

But I gotta tell ya... I coulda used more cowbell.

Also, for the record, I had a wondrous weekend in Toronto. I came determined to improve upon my 0-4 record at SkyDome.

Friday my brother and I sat in the 1st row of 102, where we got to prominently display my "Hop on the Gus Bus" sign and lead our section in some quality heckling of Bernie Williams. (I'm convinced that had something to do with his 4-strikeout night.)

Saturday we were all the way up in 540, aka the Jose Canseco seats (or, if you'd like, the Manny Ramirez seats) and my 6-year wait for a Jays win came to an end.

Just to give an outsider's perspective, I love the renovations at Rogers Centre. The new scoreboard is quite cool and there definitely seemed to be a buzz in the Stadium that wasn't there in the "library" days of the late '90s/early aughts. Also, I patronized the largest bathroom I have ever seen, near section 130. The 50+ urinals made it seem like an indoor "Flushing Meadows" of Homer Simpson's fantasies.

I also remembered the allure of Toronto from before. The nightlife in the city is buzzing. I didn't get to Yonge St. this year and have another session with the drummer (hope he's still there), but got to Chinatown for the first time (with Bauxite Grimlock and his friend). I forgot how many attractive females there are as well. I'm hoping my return will be sooner rather than later.

Yea, about that. Due to extenuating circumstances, there won't be any cowbell tomorrow nor Thursday. Apparantly saving money for tuition is more important. Sheesh. And the fact that the welding has come apart and it is not nearly as loud as it once was. Sometimes I wonder how the Cowbell guy in New York does it.

The bell, or George Bell as it is affectionately called will be back next homestand for Alumni Weekend.

Just got back from the game, which I took in with a motley crew of CC'ers. Good times.

I thought Vance had been ejected instead of Trammel and was wondering what in grand tarnation Detroit was going to do.

And Guillen's mugshot on the big screen looked like a Polident commercial.

I might hit up 518 for Tomorrow's game. Is anyone going to be there?

I peeked, too. And laughed.

I won't be at tomorrow's game. There's an outside chance I'll be at the one on Thursday at lunchtime, but it's slim.

wow. Felix Hernandez did not disappoint in his home debut. 8.0 IP, 0 runs, 5 hits, 6 K's.

looks like he might just be as advertised...

Now, now, boys. Let's not ruin this Game Report.

Let me ruin it automatically when it posts itself tomorrow morning at 9:19.

That's 9:19 AM Eastern, 8:19 AM Central. Brought to you by Batter's Box Interactive Magazine. Batter's Box -- Be There!

You know that Wilson diving into the pitch, if I'm not mistaken, didn't he do the exact same thing last night? That's encouraging, if it means the umpires are looking at recordings of the games and focusing on how to improve.

It's never easy with Batista, is it? It sure looks like Speier has the prototypical closer material this summer. I think you need a guy in that role who is going to strike a lot of men out. Relying on defence to field balls works for a starter who is permitted to scatter a few runs across several innings, but it's dicey when it's a closer and one run can mean the game.

Batista has been valiant. I wonder if with the shoratages in the starting rotation whether that would be a nice excuse to get him starting again and handing the closer's role to Speier.

Wilson being called for diving into the pitch was very nice to see. The announcers on tv said something about an umpire warning him about it. I suspect Monday night the first base umpire told him that he'd not put up with it on Tuesday, then proved it. A funny side note: I suspect Sportsnet will be a bit more careful in the future with the field level microphones after picking up what got Trammell kicked out namely - 'this is f*g b*s*'. Trammell swore a bit before that, but that was the magic statement that got him tossed. Btw, my wife has nicknamed Trammel 'crazy eyes' after the last two games.

I would imagine the word 'you' was also attached to the magic statement before or after.

A satisfying game (enjoyed courtesy of the double wonders of Extra Innings and the DVR). I can't think of a better outcome than a strong, deep outing by McGowan and homers by Hill and Rios.

Pete Walker was surprisingly ineffective, though; he really struggled. And the Jays definitely had an ally in Tim Timmons -- believe me, I thought the Wilson call was both courageous and correct (though I'd like to hear Craig B's take)...but there were some questionable strike calls for sure. The pitch that rung up Chris Shelton in the seventh was getting close to Eric Gregg '97 territory.

Sometimes I wonder how the Cowbell guy in New York does it.

He does it by using a frying pan rather than a cowbell.

That game was a nail biter last night. The Jays really threw some leather at them. I had a few asterisks on my scorecard last night for some great defensive plays. That Rios-Adams-Koskie relay to nail Guillen at 3rd was huge. I also thought Frasor made a nice play to snare that sharp grounder up the middle to end the 8th, Rios made a nice catch against the wall, and Wells' catch on that liner from Ordonez to start the 9th was unbelievable. That was a rocket off his bat. Wells caught that one like a wide receiver so I yelled "Touchdown!" after the catch. I almost thought it was Damon Allen going deep. I thought Nook Logan made a couple of nice plays too. He can go get 'em with the best of them.

McGowan did well to pitch into the 7th. It was nice to see him get his 1st ML win, especially after he should've had it in his first start. With Felix Hernandez getting his 1st "W" as well, it could be the birth of two great pitching careers. Maybe they'll hook up when Seattle comes to town next month.

The only bad part of last night was losing the RBI pool especially when I wanted to take Hill first but I think it was Useless Tyler who beat me to it (damn you!:) so I took Rios. Mrs. Brumfield went with Going Going Zaun, who of course, drove in the 3rd run. We should've changed it to game winning RBI pool. :)

The pitch that rung up Chris Shelton in the seventh was getting close to Eric Gregg '97 territory.

Yeah, Shelton had a good reason to be pissed. Catching the recap on the Score, Walker's pitch was clearly outside. Speaking of Shelton, his picture on the Jumbo Tron isn't all that flattering. Neither is Guillen's.

Frying pan? Wow, never woulda thought that would work.