Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Frasor Saves B.J. From The B.S. & The Win For Cy Roy

Frasor Saves B.J. From The B.S. & The Win For Cy Roy

Okay, who had Jason Frasor getting the Jays first save of the season? The reliever with one foot always seemingly out the door got the final out in the nervous ninth to preserve a 5-4 victory over Cleveland Saturday afternoon in the state of Ohio.

In a perfect world, we should be focusing on how the 2-0 Roy Halladay kicked the gluteus maximus of Mr. Cy Young 2008, aka Cliff Lee, in his own backyard. However, to borrow a line from the Pauly Shore flick "Jury Duty", it's society's nature to "suckle at the teat of human tragedy" as yesterday's thread focused on B.J. Ryan's continuing struggles to regain his form. A 5-1 lead in the ninth seemed pretty safe after Halladay went seven innings and Scott Downs got through the eighth. I don't know about you but when Rod Barajas' fly ball died at the warning track in center to end the top of the ninth, I had a feeling the Jays were going to wish they had that extra run to play with. Despite hitting some balls hard, Barajas had a tough day at the dish by going 0-for-4, dropping his average to .071. His day behind the dish would get rougher in the ninth when Ryan reached the mound.

The Beej started by walking Ryan Garko on a 3-2 pitch. Ryan found himself in another 3-2 count to Kelly Shoppach but the Indians catcher rapped into a 6-4-3 double play. Is it just me or does Shoppach look like Jack Parkman from the movie "Major League 2"? You decide by clicking here and here.

Just when it looked like Ryan was out of the woods (which is a hell of a David Wilcox album, by the way!), trouble started brewing again as he loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Mark DeRosa, batting 48 cents prior to his at-bat, wound up at .091 thanks to a bases-clearing double. That was it for Ryan and in came Jason Frasor, who struck out Victor Martinez on a foul tip to end the game.

All of this nonsense nearly overshadowed a sterling effort by the Doc, who gave up only one run on five hits and two walks over seven frames. His only blemish was an RBI double by Grady Sizemore in the fifth. In all, Halladay struck out seven and got a whopping 12 groundball outs while Downs struck out another in working a one-hit eighth.

Halladay got an early lead to work with when Marco Scutaro drew a leadoff walk off Lee and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Rios in the first. Aaron Hill sprayed a groundball the other way to right field to score two more runs in the third. The Jays got a break on the second run when Shin-Soo Choo delivered a strong throw to the dish, only to have Shoppach drop the ball at the plate when Kevin Millar arrived. It looked like Millar did the hokey-pokey by sticking his left foot out to touch the plate after he was stopped cold in his tracks by the Indians backstop. Toronto added to their lead on an RBI single from Adam Lind in the fourth to go up 4-0. The Jays restored their four run lead in the eighth when Scutaro's sac fly scored a pinch-running John McDonald. Lind, Hill, Millar and Jose Bautista all had two hit afternoons while Scutaro had a hit and three walks in a perfect day at the dish. In total, the Jays had 11 hits and drew seven walks but left a dozen men on base.

This afternoon, the Jays send lefty David Purcey to the mound against Anthony Reyes. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m. EDT from the former Jacobs Field.

--------------------------------------

In other TDIB notes....

* It looks like the real C.C. Sabathia showed up as the Yankees beat the Royals 6-1

* The Red Sox escape with a 5-4 win over the Angels as Jason Bay's homer was the difference. Where was that at the Rogers Centre last month?

* The O's beat up on the Rays 6-0 at Camden Yards behind Jeremy Guthrie and three relievers.

* The Tigers get by the Rangers 4-3 at Comerica Park.

* The M's rally for five runs in the eighth and ninth to beat the A's 8-5.

* Paul Maholm and the Bucs smoke Johnny Cueto and the Reds 10-2 in Ohio.

* Bartolo "Chacin" Colon and the White Sox blank the Twins 8-0 at the Cell.

* Albert Pujols' grand salami and three run dinger lifted St. Louis in a 11-2 slaughter of the Astros at Busch Stadium.

* The Padres get 10 K's from Jake Peavy and two HR's by Henry Blanco in a 6-3 win over the Giants at Petco.

* Livan Hernandez gets the win as the Metropolitans hand the Marlins their first loss of the season, 8-4 in Miami.

* Cubs pull out a 6-5 win over the Brewers in Beer Town thanks to Alfonso Soriano.

* Dodgers destroy the D-Backs 11-2 on the road.

* Brett Myers hands out three more balls over the outfield fence but the Phils still win in Denver, 8-4.

* Today's Probables for your viewing pleasure.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 10:32 AM EDT.

Frasor Saves B.J. From The B.S. & The Win For Cy Roy | 23 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Mike Green - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 10:56 AM EDT (#198214) #

Marco Scutaro's 2009 line of .435/.517/.826 bears an uncanny resemblance to Babe Ruth's 1921 (.378/.512/.846). The usual sample size warnings apply!

C Snoy - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 12:39 PM EDT (#198217) #

Hope you guys are taking some time away from egg hunts to catch the game this afternoon! Maybe it will be a close one and we will get to see where Cito stands on the BJ situation

pooks137 - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 12:45 PM EDT (#198218) #

I'm pretty sure we won't find out much about BJ today either way since Cito explicitly stated earlier this week that he would not use him on back-to-back days. We would have most likely seen another reliever get a potential save opportunity today regardless of yesterday's fiasco.

C Snoy - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 12:49 PM EDT (#198220) #

True, good point.

ANationalAcrobat - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 01:00 PM EDT (#198221) #

Cito mentioned during the pre-game interview with Wilner that he probably won't use BJ today but will consider it if the Jays have a big lead, in order to give BJ the chance to boost his confidence.

Richard S.S. - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 01:58 PM EDT (#198222) #

Happy Easter.

Jason Frasor was always thrown in over his head and did good but not great. He shows he's a smart pitcher by learning a new pitch, making those he uses more effective. As a result, he's more valuable, to keep or for trade. BJ Ryan's stuff is good, his confidence is falling, his control is nearly nonexistent. He needs to play a lot to work it out, but, he won't get the work here.

Toronto's on a hot start. They just have to avoid their normal tendency to let up in the "sweep" game. Purcey's a better pitcher than Reyes, only which team's luckier, because Cleveland not that good, yet. Good luck.

China fan - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 02:50 PM EDT (#198223) #

Some pretty impressive numbers by Purcey today: 10 strikeouts and only 4 hits allowed. Unfortunately he still needed 113 pitches to labor through less than 5 innings. Some day, I think, this guy is going to put it all together, and then he'll be brilliant, but we're going to live in frustration as we wait for that day.

NDG - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 04:26 PM EDT (#198224) #

Just realized today that I don't think I've ever seen Kerry Wood pitch before (career NL'er and all). I gotta say, wow, he has some vicious stuff. Fastball has great movement and he threw real good curves, the big one at about 83 and hard one around 90. Impressive.

sduguid - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 04:35 PM EDT (#198225) #

Despite the loss, it's been a pleasure to watch the jays this year - they fought back again today and got themselves back in it. The game could have gone either way with one well-timed hit.

Waveburner - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 04:39 PM EDT (#198226) #

None of the pitchers could throw a strike for the Jays today, except Carlson to a degree. That will happen sometimes, although it's happening a lot to League so far. His stuff still looks great, just all over the map. Purcey's final line was pretty crazy. 10 K's and 6 BB's.

brent - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 05:27 PM EDT (#198227) #

This is sure a different team than one year ago. They scored 4 runs on just 5 hits. The bullpen is going to have to better to keep the Jays competitive, but scores seem to be quite high this year so far. I am still happy that the Jays went in and won this series on the road. Now if the Jays can come away with a split at the Metrodome. At least Doc goes the last game if things start poorly.

Jimbag - Sunday, April 12 2009 @ 09:08 PM EDT (#198228) #

"This is sure a different team than one year ago." That's true, the only time I was reminded of last year's version was when they had runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out and couldn't push the tying run across. But that's just me looking for something to complain about, really.

Purcey had his struggles today, but he kept battling, and I admire that. I'm looking forward to the series in Minnesota, especially since I actually get to see almost the whole game instead of just from the 4th or 5th on.

brent - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 01:37 AM EDT (#198229) #

This is a really cold Twins team right now. I hope the Jays can take advantage of that. Minnesota already has been shutout twice and scored one run twice. You can't count on winning as a sure thing in the Metrodome. It is one of the most advantageous ballparks in history.

brent - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 01:40 AM EDT (#198230) #

Proof- http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2009/04/a_study_in_home.php

Richard S.S. - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 04:52 AM EDT (#198231) #

Minnesota is missing Baker, Mauer, Bonzer and Neshek to start with. The pitching matchup favors Litsch and Romero, maybe Richmond and definitely Doc. Even our under-performing bullpen is much better. A cold Spring and Indoor Baseball should be a bonus even with the bad ceiling. A sweep might not be out of the question, only time will tell.

tstaddon - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 05:47 AM EDT (#198232) #

Baker's expected to return Wednesday to face Richmond. Advantage, Twins.

Dave Till - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 06:55 AM EDT (#198233) #

Purcey pitched like someone who was given a rocket launcher for a birthday present but wasn't given the instruction manual: he gave up six walks and ten strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. He faced 24 batters, and only 8 of them actually hit the ball. Whoa.

If he keeps throwing 22+ pitches an inning, Cito will be faced with a horrible choice: who does he overwork? Does he leave Purcey out there to throw 100+ pitches a start, which will likely lead to an express trip to Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala.? Or does he pull him in the fourth and force the bullpen to throw 5+ innings?

Hopefully, the other Jays' pitchers can be more efficient out there, or the team could risk shredding its entire bullpen. (Litsch and Richmond, at least, are more efficient. Perhaps Cito planned this: Purcey and Romero, the two pitchers who are more likely to run up pitch counts, don't pitch back-to-back.)

westcoast dude - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 07:27 AM EDT (#198234) #

Purcey will never reach his potential until he cleans up his act, if you know what I mean. It's either that or shop him while he still has high potential value, which he still has. Right now, he's his own worst enemy.

On another note, as long as Cito has confidence in Ryan, that's good enough for me.

Ryan Day - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 08:48 AM EDT (#198235) #

Purcey's never going to be confused with Greg Maddux (for any number of reasons), but this was the most batters he's walked since his very first start last year; outside of his two spot starts, he's never walked more than 3 batters in a game. And while he's obviously got to prevent this sort of thing from happening on a regular basis, he's still got the strong k rate going on, which is encouraging.

92-93 - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 12:58 PM EDT (#198248) #

Purcey has a #2-type arm waiting to be unleashed. Get to work Arnsberg, harness that beast.

christaylor - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 02:26 PM EDT (#198253) #

Other than walks to which act(s) of the mighty young D. Purcey might you be reefering westcoast dude? Please do spell it out, if your are going use "act" as an accusation.

John Northey - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 03:19 PM EDT (#198260) #

So, after a full week (7 games) the Jays have an offense with a 132 OPS+ and a staff with a ERA+ of 95 - reverse of last year eh?

Mike Green - Monday, April 13 2009 @ 04:31 PM EDT (#198262) #

reefering westcoast dude

Inadvertent typo or clever allusion to the #1 industry of your foil, Mr. Taylor?

Frasor Saves B.J. From The B.S. & The Win For Cy Roy | 23 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.