Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Swept Away At Fenway

The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It's ok I know nothing's wrong . . nothing.

No sense trying to be a wordsmith here. This series sucked turd from the get-go for the Jays as they lost 5-1 to the Red Sox Thursday evening.

This game was pretty much over after the first as the pitcher formerly known as Robert Ray was burned for three runs. A Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double and came around to score on a David Ortiz grounder. Kevin Youkilis extended the inning with a two-out walk and he came home on a historic Jason Bay blast to make it 3-zip Boston. What made it worse was Alex Rios appeared to have a shot at catching the ball before it went over the short fence in right but he didn't get back to the wall in time. Another episode of right field follies starring the pride and joy of Coffee, Alabama. A cynic would suggest maybe he should take some java with him out to the field to stay awake out there. The Sox got another two-out run in the third when Youkilis singled home Dustin Pedroia and added their final run in the fifth on a Pedroia RBI single. Brandon League, Jesse Carlson and Jason Frasor combined to pitch 3 2/3 shutout innings out of the pen with League giving up just a single. Ray got nine groundouts and struck out four in his 4 1/3 innings but he gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk. Maybe Bobby should switch to Roberto next game. That'd be the opposite of former Yankee outfielder Roberto/Bobby Kelly.

At the plate, the Jays got at least one runner aboard in every inning save the sixth but could only muster an Aaron Hill RBI single in the seventh against "Razor" Ramon Ramirez. Toronto would leave the bases loaded later that inning to get back into the game. They collected eight of their 11 hits and two of their three walks against Sox starter Jon Lester but they couldn't get the big hit when they needed it. Adam Lind was the poster boy for the team's unclutchness as he left six men on base in an 0-for-4. Lind was the only starter not to get a hit in this one. In all, the Jays were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left a dozen on base.

Time for some interleague ball. The Jays head to Atlanta where they hope Roy Halladay can get things right on track. He'll face Kenshin Kawakami in a 7:30 start at Turner Field.

In other TDIB notes......

* The White Sox get drilled by the Twins 20-1 (thank God for the rouge! Wrong sport? Who cares!?!) and find out Jake Peavy will not be a Pale Hoe. Isn't hoe singular for hose? That's hose, not hoes. Speaking of which..........

* You know what rhymes with hoes? O's! Yes, they bowed down to the Yankees again 7-4 but Joba Chamberlain had to take one for the team.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Friday, May 22 2009 @ 02:02 AM EDT.

Swept Away At Fenway | 14 comments | Create New Account

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

Magpie - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 02:33 AM EDT (#200361) #

Home is where we want to be?

Richard S.S. - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 05:09 AM EDT (#200365) #

The decision to send down a pitcher, or transfer to the pen, should concern itself with opponent's runs scored with two out. If your starters are pitching well, but are giving up too many 2-out runs, can you keep them with you? David Purcey is throwing much better (look to his last two starts in a hitter's league). Casey Janssen is about as ready as he can be. Ricky Romero is pitching well, with no luck at all. Brett Cecil and Robert Ray can be sent down as controlling innings pitched and Service Time. They can be called up as needed. Brian Tallet can move into bullpen to manage his innings pitched as well. He can return to the rotation at need. Toronto cannot finish May 1-9 vs Boston and New York. Toronto's kids are pitching well, but are they good enough when the offense sputters?

FisherCat - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 09:38 AM EDT (#200372) #

Here is a link to an interview with J.P. from one of my local Massachusetts papers. Decent read.

stripeymonkey - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 11:05 AM EDT (#200379) #

I think what's important now is that the Jays avoid one of their perennial losing streaks that drops them right out of contention. They've rebounded well from their 2 game loss streaks this season so let's hope for the same from this one. 1-5 against the AL East big boys is not a good start though.

Richard S.S. - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 11:44 AM EDT (#200383) #

The basic rules of Baseball.

1) Playing against teams with sub-.500 records, you must utterly dominate them.

2) Playing against .500 or better teams that are struggling, you must beat them.

3) Playing against non-AL East teams, not 1) & 2), you should beat them.

4) Playing against AL East teams, not 1) & 2), you need to beat them.

Dewey - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 11:55 AM EDT (#200385) #

The basic rules of Baseball.

Fantastic! I've been waiting 60+ years for these; and now we have them. Woo Hoo!

By the way, is it time to fire JP yet? And Cito? Maybe Beeston and a couple of ticket-takers, too? In fact, there's a couple of guys in the ticket-office I wouldn't miss. Let's have some action here!

Matthew E - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 12:04 PM EDT (#200386) #

So, according to the basic rules of baseball, you have to win every game. Got it.

What are the penalties for breaking the basic rules of baseball? George Will beats you to death with Bob Costas?

Mike Green - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 12:20 PM EDT (#200388) #

The alternate basic rules of baseball:

1. The regular season lasts 162 games, give or take a game or two,
2. Good teams usually lose 60-70 games a year, and often times lose 3 in a row on the road to other good teams, and
3. Don't look back, something might be gaining on you.

Pistol - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 01:25 PM EDT (#200396) #

I'm not sure I fully believe these rules... they aren't in bold. Bolding, on average, increases credibility by 18%.

When you call up a couple of emergency starters, acknowledging they aren't ready, and they show they aren't necessarily ready it might be a time to pull the plug when reinforcements are at hand.

Magpie - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 01:28 PM EDT (#200398) #

The alternate basic rules of baseball

Judge slowly

No, even more slowly than that

Matthew E - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 01:33 PM EDT (#200399) #

Magpie: That's Tom Boswell, right?

stripeymonkey - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#200401) #

Baseball is pretty unique in that you are guaranteed to lose a whole bunch of games even if you are far and away the best team. I'm from the UK originally and am more used to the soccer [football!] system whereby defeats are pretty devastating. That said, we have been talking about the big tests for the competitiveness of the Jays and they went 1-5 against the Red Sox and Yankees. While you can't win every game, surely this mini stretch does provide some basis for comparison?

I'll leave you with the standard soccer fan reaction to defeat:

Sack the Board!

Magpie - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 01:43 PM EDT (#200402) #

It is indeed Tom Boswell - Rule Number One! His others include:

Assume everyone is trying reasonably hard.
Physical errors, even the most grotesque, should be forgiven.
Mental errors are judged as harshly as physical errors are ignored.
Pay more attention to the mundane than the spectacular.
Pay more attention to the theory of the game than the outcome of the game.
Players always know best how they're playing. (Doesn't mean they'll tell you the truth about it, though!)

By the way, the 2008 AL East champs went 17-19 against the second and third place teams in the division. So did the 2007 AL East champs.

Alex Obal - Friday, May 22 2009 @ 02:22 PM EDT (#200409) #

In fact, there's a couple of guys in the ticket-office I wouldn't miss. Let's have some action here!

Let's start a petition.

I think we should fire the fans who aren't making enough noise about firing JP. They're not helping.

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