Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - 25 May 2008: Sole Possession of Third Place

25 May 2008: Sole Possession of Third Place

... and on the 55th day, they passed Baltimore. Maybe for good. Maybe not.

Jays 6, Royals 0, behind a Brad Wilkerson grand slam and the first complete game and shutout of Jesse Litsch's career. Makes you wonder: Which will the Jays get more of the rest of the way: grand slams, or complete games from pitchers not named Roy?

The Jays' bats had 8 walks and 5 strikeouts in the game, led by Relative WPA Superhero Lyle Overbay, who was 1-1 with three walks, and Shannon Stewart, who continued his recent hot streak by going 1-2 with 2 walks. Stewart is 11-31 with 3 walks and 2 doubles in his last 9 games. It's enough to make you ignore Adam Lind's latest hot streak. Stewart's line is up to .258/.340/.320. And Overbay, for his part, has reached base in each of his last 11 plate appearances.

The A's shut out Boston behind eight one-hit innings from Justin Duchscherer last night. Oakland is currently allowing 3.62 runs per game, best in the AL. I mean, I know there are park and defense factors involved, but where did that come from? Harden, Blanton, Eveland, Duchscherer, Smith. Bizarre.

In Los Angeles, ultra-hyped 20-year-old lefty Clayton Kershaw makes his big-league debut against Todd Wellemeyer and the Cardinals at 4:10.

And in Toronto, the Royals send Gil Meche to the hill to stop their losing streak. Meche's leitmotiv in KC is apparently Sammy Hagar's iconic protest song "I Can't Drive 55." Sammy Hagar?! Voicing his distaste for speed limits through Mother Goose couplets?? Seriously?? Incredibly ballsy choice that seriously challenges the established boundaries of acceptable irony. I love it. Peaches McGowan looks to keep the Jays' complete-game streak going. Light 'em up, blow 'em out. First pitch is at 1:07.

Posted by Alex Obal on Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 10:08 AM EDT.

25 May 2008: Sole Possession of Third Place | 18 comments | Create New Account

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ayjackson - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 12:28 PM EDT (#185887) #

Litsch set a franchise record for innings without a walk. Overbay can set the franchise record in his first at bat today by reaching base in his twelfth consecutive plate appearance.

What's our record for sweeps in a season - we've had four so far this year, despite the overall hitting malaise. Boston, Texas, Chicago and Minnesota.

I put our chances of sweeping KC at about 36%.

ramone - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 12:34 PM EDT (#185888) #

We'll know early depending on which Mcgowan shows up.

CeeBee - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 03:40 PM EDT (#185893) #

McGowan looked pretty good so if the Jays hang on we'll have to wait till Monday and Marcum for the sweep I'm afraid.

BulletJayFan - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 03:59 PM EDT (#185894) #

Having been stuck in rural Pennsylvania with naught but basic cable until about a week ago, I've only been able to catch two Jays games on TV. I have a question, though: Does Marco Scutaro have approximately zero range, at least to his left? There have been about six balls hit not particularly hard to the left side of second base for which my first thought was "Ok, that's an out" before seeing the ball go through to left field and not seeing a shortstop anywhere near the picture. Now, is the product of positioning, either of the camera or of Scutaro? Or is he really just not that great at defense at all?

budgell - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 04:11 PM EDT (#185895) #

While it's true that Scutaro's range is limited he's been a large part of the Jays' recent success. He's made all the routine plays at what quite possibly, is his third best positon. He's also done it with the bat. I was questioning the wisdom of his signing even before Eckstein signed (Am I remebering this correctly, Macdonald's deal, Scutaro then Eckstein?) but he has been a godsend because of the injuries and his versatility makes him extremely valuable off the bench.

Geoff - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 04:50 PM EDT (#185898) #

Has it been made official yet that the Jays are hanging their heads in shame over bidding big Frank adieu?

After 16 games with Toronto "producing" an ugly line of just .167 / .306 / .333,
he has spent 26 games with Oakland to the robust tune of .306 / .412 / .506

However, his numbers for RBI, runs, BB, K are pretty much in line between the two, given the small sample sizes, and averaging over plate appearances.

The only major difference is that he's getting the occasional single (almost 1 / game difference) that he wasn't getting before.

Starting next Tuesday, the big guy will get his first chance to hurt the Jays with direct hits.

I expect he'll relish the opportunity.

Mike Green - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 05:16 PM EDT (#185900) #

Sammy Hagar- more cheese than a "Kraft single" slice, which aint sayin' much....
When Kraft unveils its "fair trade" line of products, that will be when we know the limits of acceptable irony have been definitely breached.

Nice win for the home nine. If they're going to get 7 innings plus out of the starters almost every game, the 7 man bullpen is going to get rusty. Evan Longoria played hero again today (how many times has that happened already?), and the Rays are now playing .600 ball. That is not likely to last, but with David Price making an impressive first rehab start, one never knows.

ayjackson - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 05:32 PM EDT (#185901) #

The Jays are 16 - 8 in May. Whether they've turned a corner or are still just a win-some-then-lose-some team will possibly be revealed by another dreaded trip to the Pacific coast.

topherkris - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 06:49 PM EDT (#185902) #

A few got by him all weekend, but i'm not sure if its range. He always appears to be far enough away for me to justify it as a hit, and he's generally about the same distance away as Hill. I think it might just be reaction time, he's not getting the quickest jump on these grounders. They all just seem so lazy for them to be hits.

I went to BP this morning, and as always, my girlfriend and i stopped to grab loads of candy from shoppers drugmart for the game. Anyways, Carlson sees my girl, she's a beaut, and tosses her a ball. About 2 nano seconds prior to that she had decided she wanted pringles. Needless to say, she caught the ball with the top of her head and it took a nice bounce into a child's hands.

Her Mascara ran. I laughed. I'm a terrible human being.

AWeb - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 07:06 PM EDT (#185903) #

Almost a third of the way home, the Jays are 2 games above .500 despite no one being on a pace for 20 HR, and putting together one of their best prolonged stretches in the last few years. If they can play .600 ball for the rest of the year (66-54), that gives them 93 wins, near where they'll need to be to make the playoffs.

The AL East is living up to its usually undeserved reputation of being the best division in the league this year, at 22 games over .500 (.542) so far. It'll be tough sledding, but amazingly without a productive outfielder in sight, and a third string shortstop, the Jays have surpassed what I figured they had in them a month ago, after the Thomas fiasco and the 11-17 record. Still, the outfield OPS left-to-right : .604 (14th, worst by almost 80 points), .696 (10th), .729 (8th). Lots of room to improve, says the optimist in me. It's not like any hitter on the team is overperforming at this point.

One fluke in Toronto's favour this year - they are 12-1 in Day games. Looking at the standings as a whole, most early season flukes are evening out. Only Atlanta and Seattle still have notably unbalanced 1-run game records (2-12, 3-10), and the Jays are right at their expected record based on RS/RA.

scottt - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 07:17 PM EDT (#185904) #

The A's just swept Boston and LA is no paradise. Both teams have strong pitching. Would be amazing just to go 3/3.

Looking ahead, I like the June schedule. Some weak teams, some interleague games. Could be interesting.

budgell - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 07:55 PM EDT (#185905) #

Has it been made official yet that the Jays are hanging their heads in shame over bidding big Frank adieu?

Frank's gone people, get over it! Regardless of how much we've needed offense this season, the man quit on his team. Argue all you want about how Riciardi/Gibbons could have handled it better, Frank's handling was worse. I'm not harbouring any illusions that his release was not at least in part, salary related, but even that part I agree with. Getting rid of Thomas when he did, and the Rolen-Glaus trade, buys Riciardi another year in my books, regardless of where the team finishes this year.

The Jays' recent sucess is because of. not in spite of, Frank's absence.

cascando - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 09:46 PM EDT (#185909) #

interesting happenings in San Diego.

They're in the top of the 18th. Josh Banks, who made his Padres debut yesterday (2IP, 3H, 3BB, 0R) has thrown 6 scoreless with 5H, 2BB and 4K. 77 pitches today after after throwing 39 yesterday.

Edison Volquez is in for the Reds--their 10th pitcher and the third member of the starting rotation to throw tonight for Cinci--Belisle started and went 4.1, Harang pitched the 13th through 16th.

Mike Green - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 10:10 PM EDT (#185911) #

Edison Volquez is in for the Reds--their 10th pitcher and the third member of the starting rotation to throw tonight for Cinci

Ouch. Can it be long before Don Gullett and Jack Armstrong are summoned?

groove - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 10:10 PM EDT (#185912) #

Congrats to Josh Banks as he gets the victory. Cincinatti played 24 of their players... they had used Arroyo as a pinch hitter and only Cueto was left on the bench.

cascando - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 10:28 PM EDT (#185913) #

this is a total non-sequitor, but I wonder if anyone has given any thought to-- or read anyone else's thoughts on-- the disparity in offence between the leagues this year.

A quick glance at the SLG% leaders--25 of the top 30 sluggers play in the NL. There are 8 players with a .600 or better slugging %. 8th is Josh Hamilton right at .600 and the other 7 are in the NL, ranging from the ridiculous (Berkman at .759 and Ryan Ludwick at .723) to the merely exceptional (Burrell at .602). Hamilton is tops in the AL in HR, he'd be tied for 9th in the NL.

If Hamilton brought the NL's secrets over to the other league, why isn't he sharing with anyone other than Milton Bradley?

But seriously, can this really be a coincidence? Do the leagues use the same ball?

Ryan Day - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 10:58 PM EDT (#185914) #

Giving up on Frank is looking like a bad move, but having patience with Stewart seems to be paying off: 350/438/425 over the last two weeks.

Geoff - Sunday, May 25 2008 @ 11:05 PM EDT (#185915) #

this is a total non-sequitor, but I wonder if anyone has given any thought to-- or read anyone else's thoughts on-- the disparity in offence between the leagues this year.

It has been a popular topic on the wires for weeks now. Have you noticed?

You can read some thoughts on it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and countless more places. The media is not lost on counting home runs and making any story out of guys flashing power.

So long as two leagues are playing, they will be contrasted. It is as sure a storyline every year as whether or not the DH has a place in the game.

25 May 2008: Sole Possession of Third Place | 18 comments | Create New Account

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