Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Jays Win One with Some Flair 5-4 Over the Rays

Jays Win One with Some Flair 5-4 Over the Rays

Edwin Encarnacion drills a two-run shot over the fence and Jonathan Diaz plates the winning two runs with a walk-off single in the ninth.

The Blue Jays made us proud Wednesday with a thrill a minute, well, at least a thrill in each of two minutes in the first win of spring training in front of 4,270 sun drenched fans in Dunedin. This was the second day this week for a Florida sunburn for yours truly, but it was certainly worth it.

Encarnacion’s right field blast came off of Ray’s ace starter David Price in the second inning, scoring Juan Rivera who led off with a double. The third run of the inning came after JP Arencibia walked, advanced to second on a Price error and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a ground out.

Another classic home crowd pleaser came in the ninth with the Jays down 4-3. Darin Mastroianni lead off with a single. Ryan Budde showed some real plate discipline and walked. Then young Jake Marisnick laid down a perfect sac bunt to move the runners to second and third. Diaz then drilled a 2-1 fast ball, lining it into left to score Mastroianni and Budde for the win.

All in all, a good day for the home team.

BTW, The Fan 590 has some good post-game audio from the locker room at http://blog.rogersbroadcasting.com/mikewilner/2011/03/02/the-first-win-comes-with-drama/. Included are spots from Aaron Hill, Jose Bautista, Brandon Morrow, and John Farrell who called Diaz a “Clone of Johnny Mac” and highlighted the great jobs turned in by Brett Lawrie and Casey Janssen. A spot from Diaz describing the walk-off hit is included as well.

Posted by mamboon on Wednesday, March 02 2011 @ 09:24 PM EST.

Jays Win One with Some Flair 5-4 Over the Rays | 30 comments | Create New Account

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

Kelekin - Wednesday, March 02 2011 @ 09:50 PM EST (#230990) #

I've been saying that about Diaz for two years now. I see no reason why Diaz can't fill J-Mac's role after this season, if not already.

Exciting last half inning to listen to.

whiterasta80 - Wednesday, March 02 2011 @ 11:07 PM EST (#230991) #

Seconded Kelekin,

My memory from last year is that Diaz also made strides in plate discipline last year, which was big.

85bluejay - Wednesday, March 02 2011 @ 11:18 PM EST (#230992) #

Is Scott Richmond not a younger,cheaper Octavio Dotel? - very effective against RH,gets lit up by LHB - The Dotel signing is looking like an unwise investment.

Kelekin - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 12:37 AM EST (#230993) #

I'd be curious to see how Richmond were to do as a reliever. I understand the Jays like to make everyone a starter, but if we would convert a lot of these starters into relievers, we could have an effective, affordable bullpen for years past this.

stevieboy22 - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 02:16 AM EST (#230994) #

I see no reason why Diaz can't fill J-Mac's role after this season, if not already.

I guess that depends on how much you like having a defensive shortstop on the bench that has a career OPS of .604.

I would rather fill my utility spots with guys who can hit a little more. Like a Joe Inglett, Ryan Roberts, Brad Emaus type; trying to keep it Jays relevant.

Obviously you have to have guys who can fill in at short, so if you're carrying McCoy, then I would rather have a guy who can fill in at second or third and give me at least some sort of OBP or slugg...

TamRa - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 04:53 AM EST (#230995) #

Can Diaz do, between the lines, what J-Mac does?Absent years of veteran savvy, sure, probably. But a lot of what J-Mac is getting paid for is precisely those years of veteran savvy.

Gerry - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 09:04 AM EST (#230996) #

Johnny Mc showed a little pop last season and he has hit for more power in the last two seasons than he ever did previously. If he can continue that level of performance at age 36, he is more than a field only guy.

John Northey - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 09:10 AM EST (#230997) #

I think it depends on team needs. Ideally you'd have a defensive specialist, two offensive specialists (LH and RH), and a pinch runner. However, with only 13 hitters it is hard to have that much (just 4 backup slots with one a catcher).

Johnny Mac is decent for running and defense and can cover any position well (outside of catcher - although I think they have used him in bullpen sessions now and then) for a few innings. Thus why he is here. Doesn't hurt that he has the right attitude, wanting to play everyday but accepting of the role he has (ie: not a clubhouse cancer when not playing).

Ryan Day - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 12:43 PM EST (#230998) #

"Is Scott Richmond not a younger,cheaper Octavio Dotel? ... The Dotel signing is looking like an unwise investment."

Well, perhaps. But Richmond was hurt for most of last year, so counting on him for 2011 probably wasn't wise. And Dotel's only making $3.75 million, which is hardly financially crippling - he's easy to move if he's effective, and it's not an awful sunk cost if he sucks. And having too many good relievers isn't really a problem, particularly if some of them still have options.

And, of course, it's March 3rd. None of this matters.

Mick Doherty - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 02:05 PM EST (#231002) #

None of this matters.

Ooh, I want to see Bautista show up to Sprring Training with that on his tee-shirt.

#2JBrumfield - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 02:17 PM EST (#231003) #

Bi-winning in Dunedin so far! Brett Cecil struck out six and gave up just a double in his three innings of work. Jon Rauch gave up only a hit in his one inning of work and Carlos "Charlie" Villanueva gave up just one hit and struck out one over one frame as the Jays lead 1-0 after 4 1/2. Rajai Davis led off the game with a double and was cashed on a Jose Bautista single. The radio feed is on MLB.com if you have a subscription.

dan gordon - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 03:45 PM EST (#231012) #

They lost it 4-1. Richmond got blitzed for 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk in his 2 innings. Ray gave up 1 in his 2. The Jays managed to pound out a total of 4 hits in the game. Gose pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th and grounded a single to RF after Mastroianni had singled with one out. Gose promptly was picked off 1st base. They were all talking about the huge lead the guy takes the other day - it would seem he has some adjusting to make in that department. Great game by Cecil.

Ryan Day - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 05:01 PM EST (#231014) #

Gose clearly has wheels, but he still got thrown out 32 times in A-ball. Either he has terrible instincts, or he's convinced no one can catch him no matter how obviously he signals his intentions. (I picture him miming at the catcher every time he makes it to first base.)

subculture - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 05:34 PM EST (#231015) #

Hahahahaha! Just imagined him pretending to grab a plate of food from the 1st-basemen and running-in-place towards 2nd :)

christaylor - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 08:40 PM EST (#231019) #

This reminds me -- Ashby mentioned how large of a lead Gose takes on the broadcast the other day. He also wondered how many of those CS were actually pick-offs. Good question. Anyone know where this data is?

Nick Holmes - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 09:18 PM EST (#231020) #

Wilner has a bit on Gose's CS towards the end of his blog today. The guess was 8-10 of his 27.

http://blog.rogersbroadcasting.com/mikewilner/2011/03/03/the-great-brett-zky/

ComebyDeanChance - Thursday, March 03 2011 @ 10:21 PM EST (#231021) #

I took away much the same as Wilner from today's game. Rajai Davis played 6 and was the hilite reel. His speed made the first run, otherwise it's a single, a force-out, a single and a double play.

Lind doesn't look convincing at the plate.

The call at second that Wilner refers to was another good play by Davis, who turned and threw from right centre to get a guy stretching.

Cecil retired the first 8 batters, but there were a lot of 3-2 counts against a weak road squad for the Pirates.

bpoz - Friday, March 04 2011 @ 09:30 AM EST (#231022) #

I looked at the Box Score for the Jays/ Pirates game and noticed that Jake Marisnick played some Short Stop.
Does anyone know how he handled it?

MatO - Friday, March 04 2011 @ 09:42 AM EST (#231023) #

I looked at the Box Score for the Jays/ Pirates game and noticed that Jake Marisnick played some Short Stop.
Does anyone know how he handled it? The other day Thames tripled wiithout actually showing up with an AB in the box score. I think the boxscore perparers are also in "spring training". To be fair, there are so many changes during the game in spring training that it's hard for them to keep up so I'd assume that Marasnick at SS is an error.

Gerry - Friday, March 04 2011 @ 11:29 AM EST (#231026) #

I believe it was Jon Diaz at short, not Marisnick.

mendocino - Friday, March 04 2011 @ 01:07 PM EST (#231029) #

live video of Jays vs Canada's national junior team. Game just started

dan gordon - Friday, March 04 2011 @ 04:33 PM EST (#231032) #

Another very good game for Jesse Litsch today. 3 IP with only 1 hit allowed, no walks and 4 K's. I've thought all along that he was very likeky to be in the rotation to start the season and he's doing nothing in the early going to change that view. Mark Rzepczynski, on the other hand was terrible. Only lasted 2/3 on an inning, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk. Farina bailed him out and was great, giving up nothing and fanning 2 out of 4 batters. J.P. got his first hit, but struck out 3 times.

bpoz - Friday, March 04 2011 @ 05:11 PM EST (#231033) #

I am curious about pitch counts in ST building up to the 1st start of the regular season.
Cecil @ 60 pitches for his 2nd start over 3 innings may be a bit high. He should throw under 100 pitches in his 1st regular season start IMO. If he has issues in his next 2 starts I am going to wonder about yesterdays 60 pitches.

Zep lasted .2 of an inning, while his pitch limit might have been 50 pitches, there is no way he would be allowed to go over something like 30 pitches without a rest IMO. I believe he is a favorite for the rotation so I would not be surprised if he got/will get or did extra work after this outing.

Drabek could now be behind the other candidates AND behind the hitters. Today is only March 4th so he has time and will be prepared intelligently by the pitching coaches. I am curious about the process because if it was Romero who was in Drabek's situation, IMO his position is secure with the team with a slight possibility that he is held back in Florida until he is 100%. J Beckett of the Red Sox has had a ST setback, a 100% recovery would be wise before a long season IMO, especially with Wakefield as the insurance.

ayjackson - Saturday, March 05 2011 @ 02:43 PM EST (#231038) #

The other day Thames tripled wiithout actually showing up with an AB in the box score.

I think it would have been a triple were it not for fan or bullpen interference, if I recall. Runner that scored went back to third and Thames back to second.

christaylor - Saturday, March 05 2011 @ 04:19 PM EST (#231039) #

I think sticking to hard and fast pitch limits a mug's game. Some pitchers are probably ready to throw a 100 pitches others might be out of gas after 40. The pitchers have been in camp for a few weeks, throwing regularly, I trust the coaching staff to have a good idea how far they can go and that the pitchers will speak up if they are being pushed too hard.

Work on pitch counts has shown that it isn't the absolute number of pitches thrown that matters, but the number of pitches thrown when tired. Roy Halladay could probably throw a hundred pitches on three days rest in February. Every pitcher is different and spring training (depending on the player) isn't really training anymore with off-season workout regimens.

Gerry - Sunday, March 06 2011 @ 10:33 AM EST (#231040) #

The Jays made their first cuts yesterday. Deck McGuire; Chad Jenkins; AJ Jimenez; and Mike McDade were sent down.

China fan - Sunday, March 06 2011 @ 12:44 PM EST (#231042) #

Nice to see Eric Thames getting lots of playing time in spring training -- and avoiding the first cuts. He's in the starting lineup again today. And he's having himself a pretty good spring, for what it's worth. In 7 games so far, he's sporting a nifty OPS of 1.313. Despite that, he's still only the third-flashiest hitting prospect in camp, behind Lawrie and Gose.... There's a nice Griffin article about Thames on the Star website.

Gerry - Sunday, March 06 2011 @ 12:57 PM EST (#231045) #

In case you didn't know......today's game is on Sportsnet.

sam - Sunday, March 06 2011 @ 04:02 PM EST (#231049) #

I hope somebody tells EE that you RUN off the field after recording the final out of an inning when playing first base.

MatO - Monday, March 07 2011 @ 12:55 PM EST (#231062) #

Some comments on the prospects I saw in yesterday's game with caveat of of a very small sample size.

Lawrie - Excellent bat speed. No sign of the inside-out swing that Farrell said he has. Good throwing arm though he slipped fielding a tough grounder so his footwork may need some work.

Thames - Buck pronounced his name as spelled with a long "a" and "th" like the word three not like Marcus or the river. Powerful swing. Had trouble with fastballs up and away in the strike zone,

Gose - Struck out swinging. Replaced former top prospect Patterson in the game. Patterson is probably a very good comparable at the same age as Gose but I think Patterson was considered a better prospect then than Gose is now.

Mastro - Struck out swinging. Had trouble catching up to fastballs.

Hechevarria - Walked on 4 pitches. Big, athletic and wiry guy. Final out of the game was a grounder hit to him that took a bad hop over his head but he jumped up and nabbed it and made a strong throw to 1st. Made it look easy. Stieb would have liked him rather than the height challenged Manny Lee fielding that grounder in Cleveland way back when.

Stewart - There was no gun so we don't know hard he was throwing but his stuff was moving all over the place.

Jays Win One with Some Flair 5-4 Over the Rays | 30 comments | Create New Account

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