Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
Jays lose despite another gem from Romero.

It was another great night for Ricky, unfortunately old friend Chris Carpenter was every bit as good. The two starters basically pitched each other to a standstill and whilst there were a few hits and walks scattered around only Yadier Molina made it to third while the starters were in the game. Cito sent out Gregg for the ninth with Romero on 107 pitches and the Cards were able to scratch out the game winning score on three singles. Wells and Bautista mounted some resistance against Ryan Frnklin in the ninth, but it was all to no avail as Franklin ended the game with an Overbay grounder to first.

Elsewhere in the East, the Yankees are just getting going, as I write, in Arizona and have an early 1-0 lead against Dontrelle Willis (who walked three in the first), whilst the Red Sox and John Lackey are down to the Rockies early, but have scored two runs against Ubaldo Jiminez. The Rays lost a close one 5-4 to the Padres and the Orioles also came up short, going down 6-4 to the manager-less Marlins. Talking of managers, the Orioles were interviewing Buck Showalter, who would seem to be an excellent fit for an organisation that is in need of a thorough shake-up.

Game Day: The Jays try to avoid a sweep tonight, but will be up against it with Morrow going against the excellent Adam Wainright.
TDIB June 24th. Cards 1 Jays 0 | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
John Northey - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 09:13 AM EDT (#217494) #
Ricky is now 7th in the AL for ERA at 2.85 and is #1 in WAR for pitchers (3.1 vs Pettitte at 2.9). He is also 5th in K/9, #1 in innings pitched, #3 in K's & CG's, #1 in shutouts & games started, #6 in HR/9. His negatives are 7th in most walks allowed and #1 with a bullet in wild pitches (15 vs #2 at 8).

Basically Romero is now our ace, taking up Halladay's role quite nicely. Get those walks/wild pitches down and he'll be killer. Btw, for WAR there are 3 NL'ers ahead of Romero including Halladay (by 0.1). His wild pitches still lead by a good margin (10 is next highest in the majors).

His 15 wild pitches is already #3 for a single season in Jays history. #2 is 20 by Dave Lemanczyk in 1977 and #1 is Juan Guzman with 26 in 1993.
James W - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 09:22 AM EDT (#217496) #
If it's worth anything, Felipe Lopez reached third base with none out in the first inning, and then Holliday took third on the fielder's choice put out at the plate. (Yes, errors got him on, and to second, so it wasn't really anything of his doing that got him there...)
zeppelinkm - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 09:44 AM EDT (#217499) #
I'd be willing to bet a disproportionate number of those WP were the result of John Buck's patented "backhand short hop" catching technique.
Lylemcr - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 10:36 AM EDT (#217505) #
I have a coworker that thinks that Romero is a thug.  I have heard rumours that he is a really good guy.  Does anybody have any evidence of this?
westcoast dude - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 12:45 PM EDT (#217518) #
Maybe to some people, anybody from East LA is a thug.  To some people, evil billboards in Toronto are a curse.
Marc Hulet - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 03:38 PM EDT (#217524) #
Romero has a reputation for being a great teammate and a hard worker... He's also quite good friends with Jesse Litsch, who is a really good person, so I think it's safe to assume that your co-worker is commenting with little to base it on.
Original Ryan - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 04:23 PM EDT (#217526) #
Some significant changes at The Fan 590 were announced today.  Landry and Stellick are gone, as is Mike Hogan.  I didn't get to listen to Hogan very much, but I always enjoyed listening to him when he talked baseball.

For Jays-related stuff, Prime Time Sports is being moved to 3-6 ET, meaning that Blue Jays fans will get a pre-game show again for 7:00 starts.  That's one thing I've missed since the Jays moved back to The Fan.

Bruce Dowbiggin's article on the changes is here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/sweeping-changes-at-fan-590/article1616342/

Matthew E - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 04:28 PM EDT (#217527) #

That's too bad. I can't listen to the FAN anymore, now that I'm here in Ottawa, but I had a lot of time for all three of those guys. Huh.

China fan - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 06:46 PM EDT (#217533) #
As noted in another thread, there's a fascinating shift in the Jays lineup tonight.  Hill and Lind are finally being bumped down.  Lind is in the 5 hole, and Hill is batting 6th.  They're replaced by Gonzalez (batting 2nd) and Bautista (batting 3rd).   It's a long-overdue move, and let's hope that it begins to solve the Hill-Lind problem by reducing the pressure on them.   (It might be coincidence, but Overbay seemed to perk up when he was moved down the lineup too.)   My only concern is that they're still batting in consecutive positions in the lineup, which can be a deadly rally-killer.
Thomas - Thursday, June 24 2010 @ 10:53 PM EDT (#217535) #
I wouldn't be surprised if the lineup switch had been in the works for a week or two, but was put on hold because of Bautista's recent slump. (The theory being that you don't want to move Bautista into a higher pressure lineup position while he is pressing at the plate.)

I can't see anything wrong with the move. It isn't the most optimal lineup, but it's clear that Lind and Hill's struggles are not going away quickly and it can't hurt to move them down in the lineup. It worked for one night, at least.
92-93 - Friday, June 25 2010 @ 03:06 AM EDT (#217539) #
Not a fan of Gonzalez-Bautista 2-3 but anything that gets Hill away from 2 and Lind away from 3 at this point has to be considered a positive move. Hill clearly isn't a 2 hitter and Lind might benefit from a lower pressure spot where he can watch the starter throw a bit more and not be in the on deck circle a minute after the Jays come to bat. If this helps him get that first-good-pitch-aggressiveness back good things might be on his way.
scottt - Friday, June 25 2010 @ 05:48 AM EDT (#217541) #
My concern is more about the pressure on Bautista now hitting 3rd. He needs to keep walking at a good clip and so far so good.

If not for Lewis and Wells, it feels like the bottom of the lineup has moved to the top.

Another good game from Morrow.  Now would be a good time for somebody in the pen to have a good stretch other and I'm not thinking about Camp.

TDIB June 24th. Cards 1 Jays 0 | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.