Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

This game was over two batters in as the Jays crushed the Angels 13-1 Wednesday night in Anaheim to improve to 20-10 on the season. There was really no need for the rally monkey to show up for this one after being let go from a previous gig.

Marco Scutaro set the tone with an eight pitch at-bat against Anaheim starter Anthony Ortega in which he drew his league leading 27th walk. Three pitches later, Aaron Hill blasted a two-run shot to the rockpile in center field to put the good guys ahead to stay. The dynamic duo of "Scooter & Hilly" drove in the next two runs in the second with RBI singles and they came home when Vernon Wells greeted Rich Rodriguez by sending one over the wall in left to make it 7-0.

Toronto added another run against Rodriguez in the fifth on a Lyle Overbay RBI double and then beat up on former Jay Justin Speier by scoring five times in the eighth with two out. Scott Rolen drove in two with a single and Overbay went over the wall with a three-run shot to make it 13-COB! Rod Barajas paid for Overbay's poke by getting plunked three pitches later. That led to a warning for both teams by home plate ump Bill Hohn. Speier took immediate objection to the warning and Halos manager Mike Scioscia was eventually ejected.

The Angels were so inspired by Speier's passion for the game (take note, Adam Dunn! Passion!) that they spoiled Roy Halladay's shutout. The USA Today Sports Weekly cover jinx clearly did "Doc" in as he allowed a Jeff Mathis RBI base knock to pull the Angels to within a dozen.

Speier came back out for the ninth and overcame a leadoff walk to Hill to retire the next three hitters. Hill almost took a shot to the noggin when he was flattened by Howie Kendrick, who let up after tagging him for the forceout. However, the big story of the ninth was Speier's inability to let go what happened the previous inning as he resumed his argument with the home plate umpire and then got into a heated argument with hitting coach Mickey Hatcher in the dugout afterwards. And to think, I was upset for the Jays not re-signing him when he became a free agent!

Shawn Camp entered the game in a high-leverage situation as he was asked to protect a 12-run lead in the ninth. It looked a little dicey when he allowed a Kendry Morales leadoff single but in a performance as gutsy as Curt Schilling's bloody sock game, Camp got the next three hitters to end the ball game. In all seriousness though, I must agree with previous comments in yesterday''s TDIB thread that Mr. Gaston should've gone to the bullpen after seven innings. Even though Halladay will have five days rest before his next scheduled start against the Yankees, Camp and/or Bill Murphy should be trusted enough to hold a 12-run lead, dontcha think? Maybe Cito had a nasty flashback of this game in Anaheim from long ago.

Every Jays starter had a hit and scored a run with Hill leading the way with three hits and a walk. Hill, Wells and Overbay all knocked in three runs apiece. They scored six runs with two outs, went 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position and had five extra base hits that saw three go over the fence. Not bad, eh?

Pitching-wise, Halladay had a tidy WHIP of one by allowing just one run on six hits and two walks over eight innings while striking out six to improve to 6-1 on the year.

Tonight, the Jays and Angels wrap up this two game series in Anaheim as Robert Ray goes against Jered Weaver. First pitch is at 10:05 p.m. EDT.

==========

In other TDIB Notes.......

* The Dodgers are a major league record 13-0 to start a season at home but that may be overshadowed by this. Meantime, the Nats Ryan Zimmerman's hit streak is up to Jack Bauer's favourite number.

* The A.L. Central leading Royals smoke the Mariners for their fifth win in a row.

* Johan Santana and the Mets shut down the Phillies.

* Texas is your new A.L. West leader as they held off the A's in Oakland.

* Cleveland rolls to a big win over Boston. Meantime, Jason Bay lets bygones be bygones with Joba Chamberlain.

* Red Sox color analyst Jerry Remy is stepping away from the mic to recover from his battle with cancer. Thoughts and prayers to one of the finest broadcasters in the game today!!

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 12:22 PM EDT.

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

Mylegacy - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 01:30 PM EDT (#199566) #

If the Jays win tonight they go 21 - 10. That will tie their best ever start after 31 games - the ONLY year they've opened that well...1992. Now, what was it that happened back then?

whiterasta80 - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 01:58 PM EDT (#199569) #

I remember what happened back then...Fans showed restraint right up until Alomar's HR in October. We had already had our hearts broken a few times and new better. I'm excited too, but there is no use comparing us to those teams until at least the trade deadline.

Dave Rutt - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 02:03 PM EDT (#199571) #

I must agree with previous comments in yesterday''s TDIB thread that Mr. Gaston should've gone to the bullpen after seven innings.

With a 7-0 lead, why not pull him after 2 and pitch him today against Weaver?! I'm sure Doc would be up for it.

Jdog - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 02:42 PM EDT (#199578) #

With a well rested bullpen and a reliable long man you could have probably gone to the bullpen really early, but even at 7-0 I'm not too confident if Bill Murphy has to pitch 3-4 innings. Doc gave the bullpen a much needed rest so we can avoid what happened in the first game against Cleveland in the near future.

92-93 - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 02:55 PM EDT (#199580) #

"And to think, I was upset for the Jays not re-signing him when he became a free agent!"

I prefer Brett Cecil and Eric Eiland.

pooks137 - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 03:41 PM EDT (#199584) #

Off topic, but while I was wasting away time on BBref last night looking at the 2009 Jays lineup, it struck me how many of our regulars are on the wrong side of 30. Only Lind, Snider, Hill and Rios (and Bautista on the bench) are under 30, and Hill and Rios are ""old" young players at 27 and 28 respectively.

I'm ecstatic that the Jays are contending at the moment, as the "wait until 2010" doesn't make as much sense when I consider that a lot of the 33 yr, 34 yr old players like Barajas, Scutaro and Rolen may start regressing to the point where they need to be replaced as early as next year. Who steps in if needed at 3B (Emaus? Inglett? Campbell?) and at SS (?). Catcher seems to be covered by Arencibia, despite his awful start or Jeroloman in AA.

Ryan Day - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 03:53 PM EDT (#199586) #

Short-term, I imagine Bautista would become the third baseman if anything happened to Rolen. Long-term, probably Campbell or Emaus, with a chance of Ahrens, though I don't know how optimistic I am at this point.

Mike Green - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 04:00 PM EDT (#199587) #

It may sound very strange, but the player that the team could not adequately replace would be Marco Scutaro. I've named the good luck symbol that a client gave me "Marco". Everybody does what they can.

92-93 - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 04:09 PM EDT (#199589) #

A shout-out to former Jays prospect Robinzon Diaz for his first MLB HR.

Sano - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 04:29 PM EDT (#199593) #

Wasn't it only last year that people were talking about the 'curse of the super Marco'? Where everyday shortstops suddenly get major injuries when he's on the team? Now that curse is looking like a great thing!

Honestly it would be nice to have a power hitting 3B, but I don't think any of Emaus, Ahrens or Campbell project as much. You have to look at the way down to Lansing to see Sobolewski (sp?) who might be a legit power 3B. Might be a problem position once Rolen starts to regress.

Mike Green - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 04:33 PM EDT (#199594) #

Rolen's not a "power 3B" anymore. He is still a very good player.

92-93 - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 04:38 PM EDT (#199595) #

I take it by the lack of responses yesterday that nobody had a problem with me labeling Marco Scutaro as the best SS in the AL right now.

"Might be a problem position once Rolen starts to regress."

Rolen regressed a long time ago when his injuries became a problem. He isn't likely to change much between now and when his contract expires, by the end of 2010. It's possible if he has 2 solid seasons that JP offers him another contract that recognizes the type of offensive player he's become but still pays decently for his defense. Why? The only 3B FAs on the market that offseason that are legitimate multi-year options are Garret Atkins and Jorge Cantu, and neither figure to be very exciting options. Rolen might be the best stopgap solution for a couple years until the Jays have a prospect really banging down the door for an MLB job (as opposed to just handing one to a prospect in 2011 and hoping he succeeds).

Ducey - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 04:51 PM EDT (#199596) #

I take it by the lack of responses yesterday that nobody had a problem with me labeling Marco Scutaro as the best SS in the AL right now.

Blasphemy! Jeter is a champion, a character guy, a perrenial all star, a certain hall of famer! No way that Scutaro can compete with him.

*Ducks*

Feel better now?

PeteMoss - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 06:35 PM EDT (#199598) #

Speaking of Scutaro... check out this blurb on him from The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/stat_minded_player

No wonder he's taken things to the next level this year.

pooks137 - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 06:44 PM EDT (#199599) #

You are absolutely right 92-93, I should have chose my words more carefully in terms of Rolen "starting to regress". I think all of us including JP were under the understanding at the time of the Troy Glaus challenge trade that the perennial all-star version of Rolen was no more.

In my mind, I was wondering when any of Scutaro, Barajas, Rolen et al would suddenly have to face the day when they are no longer everyday players ala Frank Thomas circa 2008. Obviously all three are considerably younger than Thomas was though when he hit the wall.

92-93 - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 08:41 PM EDT (#199603) #

Casey Janssen's 3 starts at A, including tonight :

5ip 4h 1r 0bb 5k 8:1 GB:FB
4ip 0h 0r 1bb 3k 6:3 GB:FB
3ip 1h 0r 1bb 1k 7:1 GB:FB

That ability to keep the ball on the ground is really going to work wonders in front of the Jays infield D. Seeing as he's on the same schedule as Robert Ray, it works out well for the team. If Ray isn't any good tonight they can always bring back Casey - if Ray can hold the fort down again (and show a little better command) that might allow Janssen to come closer to home and pick up a start or 2 in New Hampshire. I really hope they don't bother sending him to Vegas - that isn't the place for our rehabbing pitchers.

Ricky Romero gets the start tomorrow for Dunedin, and BJ Ryan put up donuts across the board in his first inning of work at A.

JohnL - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 08:51 PM EDT (#199604) #

Utterly off-topic... but this has been a minor irritation to me ever since the current BB design was created.

The heading to the comments section: The following comments are owned by whomever posted them should read "by whoever posted them"

A couple of years ago in the midst of some grammatical nitpicking in some post, I sent an offline message to one of the roster about who suggested it would be changed, but it still sits there.

So, I'll just suggest here that whomever is responsible for such things might want to think about a correction.

Back to baseball...

christaylor - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 09:14 PM EDT (#199605) #

JohnL - meh. Happens all the time, but I understand the annoyance. There's a good rule though, he/him:whoever/whomever. I'm not one of the many from Da Box who were English majors though and I'm sure others may have better ways of keeping that straight.

All - can we get together and start a letter writing campaign to one of the sport stations to stop this poker madness and get some more baseball on the television? I have TSN, the Score and Sportsnet (I suppose it is Ontario) and there's been at least two hours of poker and a repeat of Canada-Latvia hockey game. Why? Can't sports stations make money showing live sports instead of repeat card games?

I recall the Score had a show called "Diamond Surfing" where they'd flip around the majors showing an inning of each game for an hour or two... this was when I first moved to Hamilton, so it had to have been the fall of 01 or the spring of 02. Surely such a show would covered by the highlight licenses the stations have if they delayed it and wouldn't take much in terms of production values to do the re-broadcast.

Sigh. :45 minutes until game time.

JohnL - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 09:32 PM EDT (#199607) #

MondesiRules - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 09:53 PM EDT (#199609) #

OT: Best 1 year closer for the Jays. Who would you choose and why?

1978 Victor Cruz

1994 Darren Hall

1996 Mike Timlin

2003 Aquilino Lopez

2007 Jeremy Accardo

chris_jays - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 09:53 PM EDT (#199610) #

Sportsnet west had the yankees game on tonight and Sportsnet east had the Red Sox game.

I am shocked with how much baseball sportsnet is showing this year.

Seems like there is 3 or 4 games on every night.

Flex - Thursday, May 07 2009 @ 10:41 PM EDT (#199611) #

MondesiRules, my answer is "None of the above."

Best one year closer by far was Duane Ward, 1993. 45 saves.

His career ended 4 games into 1994.

92-93 - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 12:42 AM EDT (#199612) #

Jose Molina to the DL, so the Jays face the Yankees with Kevin Cash and Francisco Cervelli as their catchers.

TamRa - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 12:42 AM EDT (#199613) #

My suggestion - Janssen is ready, thus:

5/12 - NYY - Doc
5/13 - NYY - Richmond
5/14 - NYY - Tallet
5/15 - CWS - Janssen
5/16 - CWS - Cecil

I don't think he needs another rehab start.

chris_jays - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 01:01 AM EDT (#199615) #

I highly doubt you'll see them switch up the order of the rotation.

I'm guessing the pitchers for the yankees series will be Halladay, Ray, and Richmond

brent - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 05:09 AM EDT (#199617) #

Cut Hill some slack on the play. I think the ball hit the edge of the mound, but the replay cuts the video. I think Hill was tricked by this as he looked surprised and perhaps overshot the ball a little.

scottt - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 06:26 AM EDT (#199619) #

There's no way they're shuffling the rotation.

The Yankees are facing Baltimore for the last place in the east. Orioles already won 2 of 3 in the Bronx.

Tampa Bay is already 5-2 against Boston.

This will be an interesting weekend all around.

MondesiRules - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 09:33 AM EDT (#199620) #

He doesn't count. He was a closer for more than "one" year. If that was the case I would go with 87 Henke or even 2000 Koch

Parker - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 09:38 AM EDT (#199621) #

I have already written a letter to Rogers detailing my frustration over the fact that they think that those of us in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta would rather watch the Orioles or the Yankees play even though viewers in BC get the Jays game in its entirety. This makes no sense to me, and I am curious as to the exact strategy behind this particular choice in scheduling.

Mike Green - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 10:10 AM EDT (#199624) #

The cup is half-full. Sure the Jays lost last night to Jered Weaver, who was in good form. The upside though is that with Wednesday's Halladay-Camp outing and last night's Ray-Murphy one, the Jays emerge from Anaheim with a split and their bullpen in good shape for three in Oakland with a day off at the end.

The A's as a club have a severe platoon split- .260/.332/.373 against RHP and .203/.284/.285 against LHP. Carlson might go two innings tonight.

AWeb - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 11:03 AM EDT (#199626) #

The A's might have a severe platoon split, but both of those lines are terrible. Based on that, pretty much anyone should go two innings.
Of course, they had a similar split last year. Oakland is at .238/.314/.339 as a team. So far, that's much worse than even Washington or noted offensively-challenged San Fransisco. A team OPS+ of 76? That's a whole team hitting like 2009 Alex Rios (OPS+ 79 sad, but true). A few guys figure to break out yet, but let's hope it can wait a few days, even against the unproven part of the rotation (Richmond, Tallet, Cecil). Two lefties are good to have starting there.

Oakland is also a fly ball hitting team, albeit one without much power this year. Oakland seems to see a fair number of pitches (3.85/AB, more than Toronto), but isn't doing much for them. They might have the disease the Jays had last year - waiting for a pitch, but never swinging hard enough to do anything with it. Or they've just been unlucky and hit a lot of warning track outs...

Mike Green - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 11:39 AM EDT (#199627) #

Incidentally, the platoon split for the A's was pretty severe last year too. The A's against lefties are like John McDonald. Their line against righties isn't terrible, just below average bearing in mind their home park. You'd want to take advantage of that.

Leigh - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 11:59 AM EDT (#199629) #

Richard S.S. - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 01:08 PM EDT (#199630) #

People are asking why Roy Halladay pitched the 8th inning in a blowout. When you consider the OOPS! that was Friday it gets clearer. League hasn't pitched since his disaster on Monday (3 games). Downs, Carlson, Frasor and Wolfe have had 2 days off. Camp has had 1 day off having pitched an inning in the blowout. A fresh and top quality bullpen is a handy thing. Richmond, Tallet and Cecil pitch this weekend at Oakland - I like our chances.

brent - Friday, May 08 2009 @ 07:33 PM EDT (#199639) #

With all of the pitchers coming and going this season, I think this season we are going to see a no-hitter.

greenfrog - Saturday, May 09 2009 @ 08:31 AM EDT (#199656) #

A disappointing loss, but credit Richmond for rebounding from his poor 2nd inning. He actually pitched pretty well after that.

Rios is really frustrating to watch right now. It's amazing to me that after a month-plus he's still pulling off the ball, and is more or less unable to hit off-speed pitches. I suppose he'll come around, but he'll be harder for the team to carry when the offense cools to a more normal level (which may already be happening).

Mike Green - Saturday, May 09 2009 @ 11:43 AM EDT (#199660) #

Rios has always been a streaky hitter. When his timing is off, he has spells like this. You know that things are bad when he is popping up more balls than Vernon Wells. And then, as if by magic, the timing returns and he hits everything hard and far.

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