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The Jays are 5-18 in Arlington over the last four years.



Damn these soft tossing lefties! The Jays lose a game that's best forgotten 6-1 to the Rangers.

Star of the Game:
Mark DeRosa was really rather good, wasn't he? He was three for four with three ribbies and a homer to lead off the sixth. I wish the Rangers had stuck with Hank Blalock. DeRosa has a .339/.393/.511 line on the season now, in 221 At-Bats, not too shabby.

Unsung Hero: John Rheinecker pitched seven Innings giving up just one run and pitched himself out of a bases loaded no-out jam in the sixth. That was obviously the key Inning of the game after opening the frame with three singles Rheinecker first got Glaus to foul out on the first pitch, then gave up a run when Hillenbrand grounded to second for the fielders choice and ended the Inning on Molina's grounder to short. Rheinecker had allowed 37 hits in his previous four starts, but working on slowing down his delivery and not over-throwing worked wonders against the Jays who again struggled against a pitcher who didn't give them a steady stream of fastballs.

For The Jays: Erm....Teasing Ted had a pretty good outing again, against a strong lineup. Aaron Hill looked good batting up in the order, not much else to write home about really.

Boxscore

Elsewhere in the East: The Yankees lost to Cleveland and seven strong Innings from Jeremy Sowers. The Ryas beat Boston as Scott Kazmir dominated the Sox lineup, getting a complete game shutout. Kazmir must have been lights out last night, I wish I'd watched, he picked up his tenth win and improved his ERA to 3.29, he needed 120 pitches to see off the Sox and had 10 strikeouts with just two walks for a game score of 91. In Chicago Erik Bedard was almost that good as Baltimore beat the White Sox. Bedard went eight Innings giving up just one run and striking out seven. The Jays remain five back of Boston, one behind the Yankess and eight in front of Baltimore.

Today: HLH takes to the mound against Koronka at 8:05.
TDIB: Texas beats Toronto | 15 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Maldoff - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 09:25 AM EDT (#150167) #
I was away all weekend, but noticed that Russ Adams hasn't really played much lately between Glaus playing SS and Johnny Mac playing 2B.  Is he hurt, or just getting time off?
Mike Green - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 09:35 AM EDT (#150168) #
Some experiments work.  Some don't.  The Hinske to RF gambit has worked, to my surprise.  When Rios took the full-time job by force, Hinske obviously redoubled his efforts to be ready when needed.  He has filled in admirably during Rios' illness.  While he's not artful out there, he gets the job done, and he has always been a competent hitter against right-handed pitching.  Hinske is a perfectly viable OF/1B/DH, and a player who I find myself rooting for more now as he deals with a difficult situation with grace.

The Glaus to SS, Hillenbrand to 3B experiment, on the other hand, has been an unmitigated disaster.  Glaus and Hillenbrand have both slumped at the plate, and the infield defence has taken a large hit. The sooner this one ends, the better.
Jordan - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 10:24 AM EDT (#150172) #
Futher to Mike's point:

Hillenbrand as DH: .336/.376/.579 (152 AB)
Hillenbrand as 1B: .316/.375/.491 (57 AB)
Hillenbrand as 3B: .222/.250/.241 (54 AB)

Glaus has only 28 AB as a shortstop, and while he's hitting .250/.323/.714 there, most of that power came early in this experiment. Add in the fact that the defence nosedives when these guys are in these positions, and it becomes pretty clear that it's time to call this one off. The Jays may not love Russ Adams at second base, but unless they feel like giving Edgardo Alfonzo another try, he's the best option available -- and he will get better, if they give him the job outright and let him play through it. This team needs to think of the future as well as the present, and I'd really rather not see Adams get the Dave Bush treatment.

Chuck - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 10:26 AM EDT (#150174) #
Either I need a break from watching Glaus, or he needs a break from playing. Or perhaps both.  Unless it's my imagination, his uppercut swing has gotten positively Kingmanesque.  Lately, it's like you can count on at least one 500 foot infield popup per game.

On the odd occasion this season, he has changed his approach with 2 strikes and men on base, shortening his swing and going the other way. With all the pitches away that he sees, and with his propensity to go deep into a count, it would be nice to see more of that. I'm not sure we need to see a homerun swing on every cut. Sometimes the piņata just needs to be punched into right field.

timpinder - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 10:42 AM EDT (#150176) #

I'm sure that the only reason Glaus was playing SS and Hillenbrand was playing 3B was to get Wells' bat in the lineup at DH.  I sincerely hope that once Wells is back in CF, and with no more games against the NL this year, we won't see Glaus at SS again.

Jordan - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 10:57 AM EDT (#150178) #
Glaus has also been a little unlucky lately.

April

85 AB, 7 2B, 15 BB, 23 K, .259/.366/.553
May
99 AB, 5 2B, 14 BB, 21 K, .263/.359/.646
June
98 AB, 5 2B, 14 BB, 28 K, .235/.330/.408

While Glaus has slumped in June, his secondary numbers (doubles, BB/K rate) have stayed consistent. That matches up with his .254 BABIP rate, lowest among Jay regulars. It doesn't help that he's batting .210 with RISP. Trying too hard to win games with one swing? That'd be consistent with Chuck's observation.

Reed Johnson's BABIP, by the way, is an astounding .423. Among AL batters with more than 100 PA, only Wily Mo Pena (.451) and Joe Mauer (.424) have higher rates.


Ron - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 02:54 PM EDT (#150194) #
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051101.wblai/BNStory/Sports/

According to Blair, the Jays and Cubs could make a deal after the all-star break. Todd Walker's name is mentioned.

Why do I have this feeling Russ Adams isn't in the Jays short or long-term plans?


Paul D - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 03:23 PM EDT (#150195) #
Much as I like Blair, there's never been a more appropriate shot than the one Perry takes at Plaschke.  At times it depresses me how much the media sticks together.  Blair must realize that hacks like Plaschke make him look bad.  Blair is so far ahead of Plaschke that I don't think there's a unit of measurement avaible to measure his superiority.  There's no need to defend him.
jjdynomite - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 04:15 PM EDT (#150197) #
Very interesting, re: Blair's post about acquiring Walker and Barrett.  I'm not one to post unfounded rumours, but a contact I know who is involved in charity events with the Blue Jays organization mentioned over the weekend that for the stretch run the Jays are looking to acquire Mr. Crafty himself, Greg Maddux; he's making $9 million in this, the last year of his contract.  This was before I read Blair's blog on Walker and Barrett just now.

Ergo, something is going down with the Cubs, it appears.  Barrett would be awesome to take over from Zaulina next year, and getting Walker would not really pose the end of Adams, because this is also the last year of Walker's contract; Adams can simply be sent down again to get his fielding, er, hitting, er, everything, act together.  It is likely given Glaus' continued play at short that Gibbons is viewing Adams is a liability, period.  Like the Jays' bullpen of 2006 sans BJ.  Geez, Pete Walker is horrible.
Original Ryan - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#150201) #
Considering that a few years ago Plaschke didn't even know how many teams make the playoffs, calling him "utterly hapless" is probably kind.  From December of 2000:

"Today, the Twins wake up with zero chance to make next year's playoffs. Like the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Like the Montreal Expos.  Like about all but five or six teams."

Pistol - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 06:26 PM EDT (#150206) #
Much as I like Blair, there's never been a more appropriate shot than the one Perry takes at Plaschke

I don't disagree with what Perry said, but it comes across as amateurish, especially on a 'national' site like Fox.

Right now Todd Walker would probably be an upgrade on Adams, but not much of one.  A .737 OPS in the NL isn't that great.  Of course Adams is looking like Alfonzo since being recalled.  But I'd rather see the Jays trade for a reliable reliever before a middle infielder.
iains - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 07:40 PM EDT (#150207) #
Anyone know Michael Barrett's contract status?
Magpie - Tuesday, July 04 2006 @ 08:38 PM EDT (#150211) #
Anyone know Michael Barrett's contract status?

Barrett is in the middle year of a three year $12 million deal, which means he'll be a free agent after the 2007 season.
Jim - Wednesday, July 05 2006 @ 09:15 AM EDT (#150221) #

Hillenbrand as 3B: .222/.250/.241 (54 AB)

Hillenbrand 2002:  (634 AB) 293/330/459 - 156 games all played at 3b.

You can make the case that this doesn't work defensively.  It's hard to say it doesn't work offensively based on 50+ at bats.

 

 

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