Even if swept the worst case is 1/2 a game behind. Best case is 5 1/2 ahead.

As an FYI for historic purposes: the 4 1/2 game lead was the same as the biggest lead the Jays had in 1993, 1992 saw a 5 game lead, 1991 saw an 8 game lead at one point, 1989 3 games ahead, 1987 (the blow Jays) 3 1/2, 1985 9 1/2 (the 99 win team).

So if the Jays could sweep the Yankees the Jays would have a bigger lead than they ever had in 92 or 93.

So if the Jays could sweep the Yankees the Jays would have a bigger lead than they ever had in 92 or 93.

What about 1987? Better to just not talk about that?

I think it's possible that we have our three best Starters going against the Yankees this Series. If everyone can keep their act together, it's possible to sweep this team. With a 2.5 games lead all they have to do is don't lose ground because they are running the Yankees out of games. All they have to remember is that their Opponents aren't that good or they would be in the lead.

Let's also hoist one in sad memory of the 1990 team, who were ahead by 1.5 games on September 25 with 7 games left.

The 1983 had a 3 game lead in late July, and hung around for much of August until that legendary road trip to Baltimore and Detroit. No one who lived through it will ever forget.

When are they going to try Barney at second. Three games now Pennington's had problems. Not like he's hitting much

The Jays really need to tighten up the D. No one knows it more than Pennington, whose error is opening the door a crack against Price (and running his pitch count up).

oh man that is bigtime stuff from our Ace. gamechanging moment.

Huge. I would like to see the Jays score a couple of more runs, though, so we don't have more late-inning drama (not the good kind) tonight.

I'd like to see them score a lotsa more runs, myself!

Something isn't right with Donaldson. Maybe his wrist is barking a bit (or a lot).

now that's an Ace.

do you send him out for one more? I do.

and who are your RP tonight? Sanchez-Osuna?

Depending on the matchups, I might use Price in the 7th, Cecil in the 8th (against LHB like Gregorius/Ackley/Ellsbury/Gardner), Osuna in the 9th. Other things being equal, I would prefer not to have Sanchez trying to hit the small strike zones of Ellsbury and Gardner with the power bats to follow.

Bird looks like a promising young hitter.

Terrible AB by Smoak. What happened to his patience?

Four LHB in a row in a patient lineup and Gibbons brings in Sanchez? Disagree with this move.

Oh, now Gibby goes to Cecil? Smooth move.

sanchez struggling now might be a good thing if it weans gibby from his mancrush on him. moving lowe/cecil up into the setup role might be best.

but osuna struggling wouldn't be good news in any way.

Come on ugly, this isn't the time for Gibbons to be learning about his pitching staff's strengths and weaknesses. This is a game of monumental importance for the Jays and Gibbons made the wrong call. It could cost him the game.

Looks like Cecil got a call there.

Cecil caught a break on the 3-2 pitch to Gardner.

Ah, should Cecil be pitching to Rodriguez here?

i don't really have any problem with him going right back to sanchez-osuna to close it out after the blowup last time. they've been great for the most part and handedness hasn't been an issue. against the yanks, too.

the quick hook for the top of the order was good, though. and now Sanchez' role as the setup man is in definite danger. hopefully osuna doesn't follow his example.

Stellar job by Cecil.

I just don't think Gibbons needs to be a slave to Sanchez/Osuna 8/9 in these critical games in September/October. You have to be aggressive and pragmatic about what is going to most help you win the ballgame. For me, this was a situation where it made sense to go with Cecil from the get-go in the 8th (as I wrote prior to the 7th inning).

wasn't even a save situation though.

Gibby doesn't feel confident with only a 4 runs leads, so it doesn't matter that it's not a save situation.

When you have relievers that are generous with the walks--never mind the HBP and the wild pitches--it doesn't take long to start a fire.

After the last two games against Boston, why mess around? This is the biggest game of the year to date.

Price vs Warren and it wasn't easy. If Price leaves with only a one run lead that would have  been a lost.

lotta homers for osuna lately. not good.

i don't have a problem with him going back to sanchez there, tho. he's done well in that slot and gibby wanted him back on the horse....and he had a 4 run lead with the 8 and 9 hitters coming up. as soon as it got hairy, he got the hook. 8 and 9 guys aren't really the guys you want to use your lefty killer for anyways - not with ellsbury gardner mccann bird Headley up top the lineup.

but i wouldn't mind seeing sanchez taken out of that role completely, and cecil and lowe used as the 2 and 3 out of the pen.

I dunno, having a near-unhittable lefty to run out there against a string of LHB in the 8th inning of a huge game the night after two late-inning debacles...pretty much screams Cecil to me.

well, hope you managed to enjoy the biggest jays win in 20yrs.

These Jays don't make it easy do they? Osuna & Sanchez each give up a run, Cecil does nicely, Price was showing why he is getting $200 mil this winter from someone.

I like that Gibbons is using Hague as a pinch hitter. With that horrid bottom of the lineup (Pillar/Goins/Pennington) you need a pinch hitter available. IF the Jays make it to the WS might it be a good idea to put Hague on the roster as a PH?

Worst case was hit to the head in the first inning there. Glad Price was quick on that. Sanchez yeah does need to be moved down a bit, or take a bit off his fastball there to get more control over it. Osuna I think will be okay. As for Donaldson I would not be against giving him Friday off to give him two days in a row if they think it will help whatever he's nursing. Or at the least I hope we can clinch 2-3 days early so we can give him a good 4-5 days off to end the season.

This game turned on a couple of inches here and a couple of inches there. Price gave up a foul ball that missed being a two-run double by an inch or two. Cecil got a strike call on ball four to Gardner. Either of these don't go Toronto's way and they probably don't win

Not sure that Mayans they don't win. I agree more on the foul ball, but even with a walk Cecil likely still would have owned ARod and McCann.

Huge win, biggest in my adult life. Biggest in the history of this website.

Awesome work by Cecil in the 8th; he maybe got a little help but it wasn't a bad call on Gardner, right on the edge.

I think Sanchez has been a victim of bad luck lately more than anything. A lot of seeing-eye singles and little bleeders. He's only given up one extra-base hit in September, a double, but has a .430 BABIP.

I'm a bit more worried about Osuna ... now 4 HR's allowed in September after only allowing 3 all year. I recognize the situation and love that he seemed completely unfazed by the meaningless solo blast tonight, but I hope hitters haven't figured something out.

Anyway, huge win obviously. One more and I think the division is ours.

the homer osuna gave up to bradley was a complete meatball, imo....but this pitch to bird was a pretty good pitch down in the zone imo. good piece of hitting from bird. kid has easy power.

That's a top notch autocorrect there Kasi.

Gibbons used his pen exactly as he should have tonight. Cecil has been the team's best reliever as of late and a 4 run lead in the top of the eighth is the very definition of low leverage. Having already pitched in the last 2 Boston games, bringing Cecil in to start the eighth would have burned him for (likely) the rest of the series, all to face the bottom of the Yankees order. The result winds up being the same, but it was necessitated by the leverage of the moment. I don't blame Gibbons at all for trying to save his only reliable LRP for meaningful moments against the lefty heavy Yankees.

IMO I don't think it's that hitters have figured Osuna out, it's that in the last two outings his fastball command has been off. I felt like he was relying on the FB a little too much against Boston and he missed badly with the Bradley HR. Not a lot of big league hitters are going to miss that pitch.

Even though he retired the first two guys before Bird he gave them each a big fat FB right down the middle of the plate. I believe both of them were high FBs that Martin called to be out of the strike zone as well, he got lucky with those two, not so much on Bird's.

He's gotta get a little better command of the FB and use the slider and change a little more, IMO.

RE: Sanchez, he doesn't miss bats so if he's going to be successful he has to get a lot of groundballs and hope they don't find holes. He can absolute not afford to walk guys (not that many RPs can).

Cecil was huge. Bats will be missed when he's on the mound. It was awesome watching how pumped up Cecil, the crowd, and the bench was after that last K.

Not sure if someone mentioned it earlier, but Keith Law had an interesting comment on his latest chat regarding Tulowitzki. I'm paraphrasing here, but he mentioned that although it's a small sample size, Tulo might be missing fastballs because he's not used to them moving so much. Judging by that, I can only guess he means the Denver air might have been straightening fastballs that might otherwise have more tail, and thus be harder to hit.

Haven't looked at the numbers, but struck me as very intriguing.

Last night is what scares me about Sanchez. A history of poor control, an over-reliance on putting the ball in play, and no swing & miss pitch to initiate strike outs. He has upside, but he's not ready for this role yet.

It would serve the Jays well to use Cecil and Lowe as the primary set-up men for Osuna from this point on.

That strikeout pitch on Gardner was NOT ball four.

It was strike three.

It was close but you could clearly see on the pitch tracker that it was a high strike.

A lot of those high top of zone strikes don't get called. There was one in same spot a bit later ... ball called.
I didn't see any Mayans either...

The data per BrooksBaseball.net agrees with rprikse.



Interestingly, it was the called strike 1 that was more questionable. But looking at the entire game for LHH, we see the Yankees got 2 calls even further outside, while the Jays didn't get the call on a very similar pitch.

Agreed with rpriske. We all know he has a massive chrome dome, but I was surprised at how much Gardner was haranguing the ump. Perhaps it was in combination with some of Cecil's earlier pitches that were more clearly out of the strike zone, but I haven't seen the entire at bat in review.

Osuna's pitch to Bird doesn't trouble me at all.  In that game situation (two outs in the bottom of the ninth, nobody on, up 3), I'm not worried about the home run.  It's the walk that will kill you.  Osuna threw strike one and it wasn't in a terrible spot. Just fine.

Girardi sure has a lot of confidence in his young pitchers.  It was a good relief plan that he had, given the structure of the Jay lineup- RHPs for the core and LHPs for the rest.  You can only do it in September, but it does take guts to send up a young kid with an ERA of 6 to face Donaldson/Bautista/Encarnacion in a key game that is not yet out of hand.

After watching the line drive that Price caught in the first inning, I am beginning to think that this might actually be the Jays' year.

In an alternate universe (call it the Ash-Ricciardi Dystopia), the ball crashes off Price's head and he becomes the next Herb Score. Baseball really is a game of inches.

The Jays avoid Tanaka who has a slight injury, which might be good as they don't have a lot of success against him, lately. Of course, if they keeping trying to hit the Pitcher's pitches rather than the ones they usually feast on, anyone can beat them.

There are so many ways to score a run/drive in a run successfully, accidentally and unproductively that to not do so (popup) should be discussed with the hitters that fail. They need to figure out what the hitter was thinking - it's possible the hitter's gotten into bad hitting habits (which can happen). That game shouldn't be that close.

The Jays have a Magic Number of 4 for clinching a Playoff spot; a Magic Number of 6 for clinching WC #1 spot; a Magic Number of 10 for clinching the A.L. East title; and, a Magic Number of 12 for clinching the A.L. title. There are 12 games (5 Home, 7 Away) left so anything is still possible.

Well put on the bullpen usage last night, Hodgie. It's hilarious that some people in here think Sanchez is trusted too much, whereas another complains when he's the one used in a 4-0 game (which we're told has minimal leverage) and not Cecil, who had pitched the two consecutive games prior. I'm sure Gibbons was hoping to get through last night's game without going back to that well, but with the game's importance he made the right call to burn him as he did in the 8th. Sitting at the game I thought it was fairly obvious that Gibbons would use the 4-0 lead to try and get Sanchez right back on track after that Boston series in a lower leverage situation, and I was hoping the Jays could then tack on another run so Osuna could be saved for another night.

The Dome has never been louder mid-game since 1993 than it was when Price struck out ARod in the 3rd, at least not when I've been around. I was at Kawasaki, JMac, and Goins' walk-off HRs to name a recent few, and even that crowd noise didn't surpass yesterday's atmosphere. Just incredible, and I can only imagine playoffs would be even better. Cecil sure seemed to feed off of it.

With respect to Girardi - the feeling I get from the NY media/friends in NY area/Yankees fans at the game yesterday is that while he certainly hasn't given up on the division, he isn't necessarily managing to win it. Betances has been pretty mediocre over the last month and Wilson's been used frequently in high leverage situations, so last night wasn't the type of game where he was going to use the big guns earlier just to keep the game tight. He did have Betances warming in case things got closer than they did while Cecil was cleaning up Sanchez's mess. Girardi likely figured it's better to have Wilson/Betances/Miller protect leads, should they materialize, vs. the Jays, and to back off them otherwise to make sure they are as fresh as possible for October.

Good Job Cecil. He really buckled down after that hit.

I love beating the Yankees.

Personally, I have plenty of confidence in Aaron Loup facing two or three lefties in a row, notwithstanding the epidemic of HBP that struck him earlier this year.  I imagine that we might see him tonight. 

And yet Cecil was apparently already warming while Sanchez was out there, as he was ready to step in immediately after Sanchez failed to get the first two batters out. I guess Gibbons wasn't so concerned about keeping Cecil pristine for today's game after all. Which makes sense, given the outsize importance of yesterday's game and the fact that the Jays are in their first serious pennant race in two decades.

In the end, the manager when to Cecil when it really counted - why not just cut to the chase and do it with the bases empty, against a run of four LHB?

So yeah, colour me unpersuaded.

Actually, Cecil was warming in the 7th behind Price first. Gibbons wanted him to be ready in case of emergency, but also wanted not to use him. Those positions are complementary, given the circumstances.

And by using Cecil with runners on, Gibbons ensured that Cecil had a more stressful inning than he likely would have had had he been brought in to start the inning. So: he ends up using two relievers instead of one, and the one he didn't want to use (Cecil) is worked harder than he would have been had he been summoned to start the inning.

Gibbons "ensured" no such thing. How often has Sanchez been brought in to start an inning and allowed the 1st 2 batters to reach base? If rarely, Gibbons process was correct. If often, incorrect.

I think the answer is rarely.

The game pitch tracker and Brooks Baseball have different locations for the 3rd strike to Gardner. Anyone know why?

I think there are other factors a manager needs to consider, apart from the one broad criterion hypobole mentions. In last night's game, some of these might be:

- Cecil's 0.00 ERA over the last three months
- The favourable L-L matchups (four consecutive batters to start the inning)
- Sanchez's poor outing on Sept 19 against Boston
- The pressure situation, four-run lead notwithstanding (packed house against the Yankees in a huge game, preserving Price's lead, a Yankees team coming off a big series against the Mets, etc)
- Cecil's veteran experience versus Sanchez's relative inexperience and history of control issues

A point in favour of using Sanchez was the fact that this would be Cecil's third straight outing, but that is one factor only. And while normally I wonder about Gibbons's tendency at times to want to lock down big leads with hus best relievers, in my view this was a different situation altogether.

Just go back to 3-0 lead, Bases Loaded, no one out, and barely getting just one run in. They hit better and put up another 3-spot, I think Cecil, Sanchez and Osuna don't pitch. I think most anyone else does, just to see what he's got.

Someone has to talk to Sanchez about how much effort to put behind his pitches. Some of the stuff he throws gets ugly flat and eminently hittable.

92-93, do you really think bringing Sanchez into his 3rd game in 4 days against a slew of lefties was really to Sanchez's benefit? That seems like setting him up to fail more than anything else, especially if you suspect his confidence may have dipped. He was warming up when the game was 3-0 so clearly this was not intended to be a "low leverage" situation for him to bounce back from. If the score remained 3-0, then Sanchez would have still come in.

Cecil saved the day and all ended well, so no big deal. I just want Sanchez to be bumped down the pecking order.

man i hope tulo comes back.

now that goins has cooled off, the bottom of the order is scary bad. it's really starting to throw a wrench into our offense. they're starting to go through long lulls now instead of the relentless onslaught they've been most of the year.

i kinda wish pompey would get a chance to see if he can get hot. anything to try and goose the 7/8/9 slots.

"I just want Sanchez to be bumped down the pecking order."

I both agree with this and agree with Gibbons' decision to try and get sanchez right back on that horse, especialky given the lead and part of the lineup due up. i am ready to take Sanchez out of the setup role, but if gibbons isn't quite ready to do that yet, then i do like the way he treated him there. i'm not a big fan of using rp willy nilly all over the place , so i don't mind him not yanking a guy out of a role in theory, even if i'm more ready to make that change.

but if i know gibbons at all, i think sanchez may have crossed a line last night and gibbons has likely moved him down the pecking order in his mind.

Sitting at the game I thought it was fairly obvious that Gibbons would use the 4-0 lead to try and get Sanchez right back on track after that Boston series in a lower leverage situation, and I was hoping the Jays could then tack on another run so Osuna could be saved for another night.

That was my read as well and I agreed with Gibbons' usage and short hook.

The Jays are going to need Sanchez in the playoffs, so opportunities should be taken for him to get his head screwed on right. I disagree with the notion that he's been unlucky - you tend to create this kind of 'luck' when you can't locate your pitches and eventually groove one to a batter who has inevitably settled into waiting for something that looks perfect.

I also agree that the time to handle Sanchez with kid gloves is now and going forward, especially with a veteran stud like Cecil waiting in the wings.

Has any team with World Series aspirations gone into the playoffs with a sophomore setup man (who pitched only 33 innings in his rookie year) and a rookie closer (in his year 20 season)? I'm not sure how to find that out without manually rifling through baseball-reference.com, but my impression is not very many, if any.

Perhaps through learning at the feet of his uncle Antonio, Roberto is more comfortable with the high-pressured occupation of an MLB relief pitcher. But I'd say Sanchez looked pretty shell-shocked on the bench last night after he was pulled.

Kawasaki gets the start at second base tonight against Severino. So far, Severino has been murder on RHBs and human against LHBs. 

While I like Sanchez getting back on the horse fairly quickly, putting him up against 4 lefties was strange. He and Lowe should now flip roles since he is basically a right handed loogy at present.

I want Tulo back too, but even more for defence. I've counted five cruddy throws by Pennington in the last three games..,from frigging second base. Yesterday's was brutal...looked like a little leaguer rushing a simple play. Is he becoming the ghost of Chuck Knobloch?

Barney is an ex gold glove second baseman so would rather have him in, but no playoff eligibility is an issue. Even Munie looks better then Pennington right now. Hope it's just a rapidly passing phase.

Rampant Saxism is definitely to be avoided.

I didn't see anything in Gibbons' bullpen usage last night to warrant criticism. In the end i think it worked out better having Cecil face the top of the order in the 8th than it might have against Osuna in the 9th. And, although I didn't comment at the time, I also didn't expect Gibbons to pinch hit for Goins in a game they were leading on the weekend. No major league manager would have in that situation.

I do see a big question mark around the failure to give Josh Donaldson any time off, and I suspect that may be reflected in his hitting of late. Obviously it's harder to do after the Valencia/Loup adventure. Others could be getting some rest as well, particularly in the late innings of blowouts when the starters are being left in the game.

It also seems that Aaron Sanchez is struggling somewhat against left-handed hitters. From here on out, I don't know that he should be used to face several left-handers in a row.

Sanchez no longer the setup man

https://twitter.com/gregorMLB/status/646420102716477440

I've been a little more worried about Osuna than Sanchez. Partially a question of role - if something goes wrong in the ninth inning, you tend to lose the game. If Sanchez messes up earlier in the game, there can still be a chance to escape (like last night.) Osuna has worked more innings this season than he did in the last two seasons combined; he's pitched in twice as many games this year as he has in his entire pro career. It wouldn't be at all surprising if he started to lose something as the season nears its end.

In not entirely unrelated news, Ned Yost has pulled Greg Holland from the closer's role in Kansas City. Which takes a bit of guts, you know, although it sure seems like the right move to me.

Is the defensive gap between Pillar & Pompey so significant that Pompey couldn't get a start against a pitcher tough on RHB?

I hope the Sanchez demotion results in increased usage of Lowe - I think given his experience & the season he's had, he deserves a shot at the setup role.

I think Pompey will only start this season once the team has first place mathematically locked up. I would guess that Carerra, as we saw once, is Pillar's backup in CF for games that matter. Pompey, it would appear, is a leg man for the time being.

Looking at a few things I wonder how many of us would've been positive if we knew by September Travis & Saunders would've missed most of the season, that Reyes would hit for a sub 100 OPS+ and his replacement Tulowitski also would be sub 100 and HIS replacement would be Goins. Not to mention Stroman not pitching until September, Hutchison demoted to the bullpen, Sanchez also pushed to the pen, Osuna would be the closer most of the season and have fewer saves than his age. I know I sure wouldn't have thought the Jays could overcome all that to be in 1st place this late.

What a year.

It's kinda weird to be announcing that Cecil is the man just when he could use a  day of rest.

magpie i worry about Osuna too but not really about fatigue. he's played baseball his whole life and between extended ST, winterball, rehab, and the vagaries of mexican league stats i'm pretty sure 65ip isn't the most innings he's ever thrown in a year.

Ned Yost has pulled Greg Holland from the closer's role in Kansas City.

Not sure about that one. Why not do that earlier? Does it mean that Holland will pitch more and Wade Davis less?
It's currently 61.2 vs 41.2, with the non-closer pitching more.

Davis has 13 saves for the year. Osuna has 17.

I worry less about Osuna, the stuff looks fine to me, just having an issue with fastball command, he'll work it out.

just having an issue with fastball command

That's exactly what often happens when pitchers get tired. They maintain the velocity but they lose the command. And the kid has never pitched in 62 games before.

gotta give it to estrada - the guy has battled this year.

everytime it looks like he might blow up he seems to be able to fight through it and use their aggression against them.

big test coming up going 3rd time thru the top of the order, though.

good job marco.

*Great* job Marco. Pillar is having a night, too.

That's one thing Tulo can learn feom Goins- put your hand up when you're calling the ball so there's no confusion with the incoming outfielder who you can't see.

So how does that conversation go? Troy, you've been a fulltime shortstop for nine years and have won two gold gloves. Let me tell you how to play your position.

oh that is a beautiful thing to see again, Joey!

perfect timing.

Come on Loupy. Do this.

I wouldn't have put Ellsbury on there. I agree that he's hotter than Gardner, but all the same I'd rather not have another runner on base.

So how does that conversation go? Troy, you've been a fulltime shortstop for nine years and have won two gold gloves. Let me tell you how to play your position.

Is there some part of "one thing" you didn't understand?

I would have preferred Lowe against A-Rod - just a hunch.

I wouldn't have put Ellsbury on there

Gibbons was playing the batter-pitcher matchup (Loup has done much better against Gardner.) I believe in them too, so I can't complain.

loup is the unluckiest ever this year.

now show us you're a high lev guy, hendriks.

oh man this is so much fun.

what a year.

Beautiful, Liam. Superb pitching.

That's only the guy who's hit more grand slams than anyone who ever lived. Well done, Liam!

Now that was some good managing. Let the starter go as long as you can, have him do the IBB, then bring in a LH specialist, then your power RHP who is rested. Sweet. We all blast Gibbons a lot but that was very very well done. Using each guy for what they are built for.

dammit that was a meatball.

Hutch gets both batters to 0-2, no out pitch. Shakes off catcher twice and gives up a double. *sigh*

joey GUNs

OH BABY

Dioner. Served.

Nice.

I guess I can stop cursing Gibbons for not pinch hitting for Navarro.

Oh baby, that was sweet.

"I guess I can stop cursing Gibbons for not pinch hitting for Navarro."

and AA for not trading him.

It all depends on what you get back.

Miller kept trying that high outside fastball for strike 3, but I think he fools even the ump with that.

That was mostly all sliders and the 2 hits were fastballs that caught too much of the plate.

That was disappointing.

A bunt against the shift, a catcher's interference, and a blast.

so cliché.

Gibbons made all the right moves tonight, just didn't work out.

That Donaldson K in the 9th was a brutal at bat. Miller couldn't find the strike zone and JD let him off the hook early instead of working into a favorable count. Very winnable game that looks like a bad loss.

Aye, and I still can't believe EE swung at that pitch he swung at. The middle of the order just didn't come through tonight, as they have so many times in the past.

1st 2hr miller's given up all year.

This game would have ended a lot earlier if not for Marco's sleight-of-hand along with Pillar's bat and Bautista's arm (the latter two pretty rare occurences of late).

Why does it seem like Lowe's meltdowns (alright, so he's only had two as a Jay) non-recoverable meltdowns? I guess the bigger they are, the harder they throw....

Not going to win many games when the middle of our lineup is so poor. Bautista and EE have been passable as of late, but Donaldson looks all sorts of tired right now. Makes me wish we could have given him some rest earlier in this run.

Aye, and I still can't believe EE swung at that pitch he swung at.

You couldn't? I saw that pitch coming a mile away. He couldn't throw a strike to save his life so EE had to see a strike. He saw one down the pipe, next pitch he sees another and jumps out of his shoes at it. Now EE can't guess and has to look FB and fight off the slider. The slider was absolutely filthy and looked like a FB out of the hand which got EE swinging and by the time he realized it was the slider, it was too late.

Betances' stuff is nasty.

Just win tomorrow and it's a great series. Gain a game and knock three of the sched. A 3.5 game lead with 10 to play is solid. A loss tomorrow and things get kinda tight.

Bo Schultz hasn't been seen since the double-header back on Sept 12. Is he hurting?

I wonder what the Jay's record is with the bases loaded? Everytime I notice one they tend to suck. Anyone think they really need Tulowitzki back? The Jays are barely average since he's been gone.

Goins has replaced Tulowitzki ably at shortstop, but now we don't have him at second. Tulo is a smart player, an all-star and seems to have the ability to grind out at bats and get key hits at important times. Yeah, I think the Jays miss him in the lineup and I hope he's back for the playoffs.

The 2015 Jays are hitting .328/.350/.519 with the bases loaded, about 32% better than league average by OPS+.

I wonder what the Jay's record is with the bases loaded? Everytime I notice one they tend to suck.

The Jays have 157 PA this season with the bases loaded, during which their slash line is 328/350/519. Their overall slash line is 266/337/451.

The AL as a whole, in bases loaded situations, is 290/320/450.

Not as fast as James W!

Yeah, yesterday was an exception to the rule. Very frustrating as one hit in either situation and it was a win but that is how the ball bounces. So a 2 1/2 game lead with one more vs the Yankees to go, either a 1 1/2 or 3 1/2 lead with 11 games to go. I think we'd all have taken that at any point pre-mid-August.

Only 2 days ended with the Jays having a bigger than 3 1/2 game lead (4 1/2 on Sept 18, Sept 12) and 10 others with more than 1 1/2.

Now up to 39 days with the Jays in first place.
2014: 61 days in first (!) wow, didn't know it was that high.

2014: 61 days in first (!) wow, didn't know it was that high.

Yup. The fabled 1987 team, of bitter memory, didn't spend that many days at the top of the standings.

And man - that was one great baseball game last night. It's why we watch, why we care.

It's not supposed to be easy.

I don't think I saw this posted; some may be interested. Most surprising is that there was an article on Estrada on the main MLB page!

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/150905866/marco-estrada-wins-with-movement-over-velocity

"....Donaldson looks all sorts of tired right now. Makes me wish we could have given him some rest earlier in this run....."

In his relentless search for the negative, Kasi now focuses his laser gun on Josh Donaldson (the best player in the league) -- and on Gibbons for playing his best player too often.  How did Kasi diagnose JD's alleged case of fatigue?  His inside sources in the Jays dugout, or some vague impression from his TV screen?  The truth is that Donaldson is going through a hitting slump -- the kind of slump that every player endures, even the very best.  To suggest that he would never slump if only he had been benched for a few games in July and August is absurd.  Why would you bench him when he was on an incredible tear, hitting home runs and leading the team to victory?   The logic eludes me, and it certainly would have made the Jays a laughing-stock if they had benched their best hitter in July or August with the notion that it would immunize him from future hitting slumps.

Donaldson himself is not in search of a nap, or showing any signs of fatigue.  Yesterday, according to reporters in the stadium, he came out early to take extra batting practice. That's what hitters do when they're in a slump, not when they are exhausted.

These kinds of myths, based on casual guesswork and simplistic ideas, often circulate in fan chatter until they are destroyed by reality.  We've recently heard fans saying that Bautista is finished as an outfielder because his arm is damaged.  We've recently heard fans saying that Mark Lowe is the obvious choice for the role of set-up man because he's clearly superior to Sanchez.  Both notions were heavily damaged by reality in last night's game, and I'm sure the "Donaldson is exhausted" meme will soon be similarly damaged.

A separate question might be:  is Donaldson nursing a minor lingering injury in his wrist, and is that a factor in his slump?  I don't think any of us knows the answer to that one, and we're free to speculate.  But the notion that an elite player is "tired" -- and that his manager is stupidly ignoring the symptoms -- doesn't make any sense to me.

Over the top much CF? That was clearly a subjective comment from Kasi. Probably not part of an ongoing campaign of negativity worthy of four paragraphs of hyperbolic rebuttal.

Kasi has been crapping on most of the Jays (and their manager and GM) for most of the year. So yeah, it's part of a campaign of negativity.

Also, before finally commenting, I had waited for most of the day for someone -- anyone -- to comment on the unexpected performances from Bautista and Lowe in last night's game.  Or for someone to respond to Kasi's allegation that Gibbons negligently over-played Donaldson and caused him to be exhausted in the crucial playoff drive.  Nobody commented on any of that.  Perhaps it disturbed too many narratives.

If you prefer silence, we can leave it that way.  But this is a forum where we're supposed to be stimulating debate, not politely sitting around waiting for something to happen.

Lay off Kasi, CF. He's just jealous that he lives in Texas and can't witness the Boys in Blue in the flesh, or take in the Manalyst's always-astute commentary afterwards.

BTW, Wednesday-morning quarterbacking only goes so far. For example, many of us have touted Lowe for the set-up role, mostly because in comparison to the wet-behind-the-ears Sanchez he'd been lights out since his awful initial appearance, except for one poor inning in a blowout; that's 3 times crapping the bed in total. So these were not just theories, these were evidence-based recommendations. On the other hand, Sanchez has made more lousy appearances (4) than Lowe -- over the past two weeks.

For the record, I prefer Cecil.

china, i was studiously ignoring Kasi's bait.

he hooked you good though.

keep calm. we're all chums of a sort.

can't be too hard on Lowe.

the bunt against the shift is not on him. the catcher's interference is not on him.

the HR is on him, but Bird is some kinda hot.

Kasi's bait.

Indeed.

The Jays need to blow this up and start again.

I had said before that on the first Stroman start of the season that JD when he missed the grounder in the fifth that he was clearly wincing and rubbing his wrist. The announcers also mentioned that it was wrapped up. Wouldn't surprise me if he's been playing hurt since then, just like how a month previously Trout hurt his wrist on the field and went into a month of poor production. Point of rest days is that these guys do play hurt or dinged up a lot and if they can get an extra day off early to manage something like this it could help. Or maybe nothing will help and he might as well just play. Tired, hurt, injured whatever. Something is clearly not right with him and I don't think I'm alone in thinking that a day or two off could help. If we could wrap up this division soon that would be good.

Ps I'm a pessimist. Yelling at me for being pessimistic isn't going to fix that or make it better.

Read sniders link to the MLB story on Estrada.

Both Estrada's fastball and change are #1 in all MLB in vertical movement. Really does help explain why his BABIP is so low.

I've said a bit about this before, but I'm deeply pessimistic on the matter of sports teams I support. Part of it is certainly just me, but I'm far more negative about my sports team than anything else in life. It bugs my wife to no end since I don't even like watching most games live. I feel like I jinx my teams. (Even though of course me watching has nothing to do with the results)

Now some of my comments are out of that. Like what I said about AA. I feared that the trades wouldn't work and he would be fired and we would lose a lot of our future. I'm glad to have been wrong so far. For others I feel are more balanced. I like having rest days for stars and I don't think I'm alone in thinking Gibbons isn't anything more than average.

But anyway my pessimism from sports comes form a long history of watching every team I root for since the last Jays team come up short. Whether it being the ducks offense shitting the bed even though we got four turnovers, or the Flames losing the cup even though the puck crossed the line in game 6 against Tampa. I am pessimistic and negative about my sports teams since they always fail in the end. I'd love to be surprised for once. Every time I get my hopes up they get dashed quicker than a Horry check into the scorers bench.

And like others have said being thousands of miles away from where my teams play there is no one around here for me to share in all the positivity that comes with a team, whether they're good or bad. I'm an Internet spectator for the most part and in the end it just comes down to did they win or not? Like Madden said you remember the winner, not that you were a surprise team or another average team. Flags fly forever after all and no one remembers the tea that didn't win it.

Anyways I enjoy this forum for the most part but if you're going to take every pessimistic thing I speak about as a reason to lay into me I'm just not going to come here anymore. If you can just accept that I'm a negative Nancy who likes advanced stats than that's cool too. Your choice.

My 2 cents, JD will get a day off tomorrow.

Seriously though, JD was definitely hurting weeks back when he was on absolute fire. I think he's just struggling, probably pressing a little, and he'll snap out of it eventually.

CF & Kasi, ya'll are both exhausting, but entertaining nevertheless.

Statcast has a breakdown of Bautista's two throws last night. Remarkable. The one to third base was 249.8 feet, velocity 92.9 mph. The throw home covered 267 feet. No velocity on the throw, but Chris Young got up to 19.6 mph. Which is fast, for a human.

Here it is in case anybody wants to check it out.

I am pessimistic and negative about my sports teams since they always fail in the end.

You may not live in Toronto Kasi, but you certainly share this we us Leafs fans ... and Raps fans ... and TFC fans ... and Jays fans ....

the good news is, karma owes us a WS!

Biggest game of the year tonight. Jays catch a break (though I wouldn't say the NYY are unlucky) in that Tanaka is not starting. But I expect Nova is looking for some Redemption.

Donaldson also kind of shook out his left wrist after he tagged out Ackley at 3rd last night. I'm not sure if they showed it on television, but he then turned around, walked back to the 3rd base coach and Ackley, got right in their faces and loudly told them that "I got you. You are out." 3 or 4 times after Gibby had come out to ask for a review, but before the replay was shown on the Jumbotron.

Also, I am really looking forward to A-Rod's 1st at bat, where he will get largely booed again, while Stroman will be cheered.

Stroman and the Jays will win, and our angst will subside until the next loss.

Greg Bird is one of those guys - he's 6-3, but he looks like he's about 6-9.

I expect him to be a pain in the ass for a long time, although the Yankees have nowhere to put him next year...

94mph with all sorts of movement. his velo is all the way back.

can't believe we're in first place despite losing our ace in spring training.

this kid, man.

That was kind of interesting, the anecdote about Ackley learning more from a couple of hours on the bench talking to Beltran and Rodriguez than in the rest of his career. Those are two smart veterans, who know a lot about hitting, but still - who the hell has been coaching Seattle's hitters?

5th round of the 2011 draft, Yankees selected Bird with pick 179. Boston selected Mookie Betts with pick 172.

Meanwhile the Jays picked 169 and took Andrew Chin.

I guess you can't win every round. Yeah, that must be it.

Their hitting coach knows a little about hitting.

True, but Edgar's only been on the job since June.

Cotham? Gotham? The Jays need to answer with someone named Koronto or Mogtown.

Whoa. Terrific start by Stroman. So: Cecil in the 8th and (hopefully) Osuna in the 9th. Sure would be nice to eke out another run or three.

For sure, but a couple months of Edgar vs. a couple of hours of those two. Sounds like a Buck kind of story to me.

oh man bailey was actually looking good for the first time I've seen him this year and then throws an absolute meatball and martin punishes it. #CanadianRakin'

Touch em all Russ

a couple months of Edgar

It was just over one month (Edgar was hired late in the month), but it really may have helped. Ackley hit .298/.333/.532 after Edgar was hired. He had been at .184/.245/.305, which makes one think Howard Johnson wasn't helping too much.

Sure would be nice to eke out another run or three.

I'll take the three.

Ha. I thought I would give the Jays a couple of scoring options.

Martin is a warrior.

Well, for the division...that should about do 'er.

Thought Osuna's command was much better. Would've preferred he got less of the strikezone on a couple 2 strike pitches but he absolutely painted the corner on the K.

what an epic, epic series.

what a team.

and royals are down 2 in the 7th, and might only be half a game ahead to tonight.

It was great listening to the ESPN broadcast the last couple of nights. They called the Roger's Centre the "loudest place anywhere", and noted how much fun they have had the last two days.

Well, for the division...that should about do 'er.

Especially on today, let's not do this just yet. It ain't over...

"Especially on today, let's not do this just yet. It ain't over..."

Well said.

It ain't over till it's over.

Tampa-Baltimore-Tampa.

Stroman has had a storied year, and thats so much nicer than the letters moved around. His has been a once in a long lifetime thing.

As for the Yankees, $219,000,000 USD doesn't stretch as far as it used to.

10 regular season games, 3 1/2 game lead. 11 for the Yankees (no off days for them, back to NY to face the White Sox for 4, Red Sox for 4, Then to Baltimore for 3 to finish the year off).

The Orioles could still finish last, 3 games up on Boston as Boston/Baltimore/Tampa have a heck of a good fight for 3rd to 5th place.

Jays are 9 up on Minnesota, 9 1/2 on the Angels the top teams outside the playoffs. Up by 8 and 9 in the loss column respectively. That means that it is possible for the Jays to clinch a playoff spot while on their off day tomorrow.

Whoa. Robinson Cano has 2000 hits? That seems to have happened quickly.

I keep seeing magic number at 8 but isn't it 7 since we would have the tie breaker?

I keep seeing magic number at 8 but isn't it 7 since we would have the tie breaker?

Tie-breaker doesn't matter. If the Jays and Yankees were to tie for the AL East, they would still play a tie-breaker game, with the winner getting the AL East pennant, and the loser playing the Wild Card game. Winning the season series might mean the Jays would host the tie-breaker game, but that might be determined by coin-flip.

Tie breakers were to divide up wild card from division title when there was just one wild card. Now I think they'd play a game to determine who got the wild card and had to play one and done. Not sure though.

It seems excessive but you guys are right.

Here's the quote from mlb

If one game is needed to break a tie for a playoff berth between two teams, it will be played on the Monday after the scheduled end to the regular season, hosted by the team that won the season series against the other. That applies to determining a division championship whether or not the losing team would still qualify as a Wild Card.

fyi, for the record, TSN2 did not carry the ESPN TV broadcast of the Jays game tonight (unlike the listing I mentioned a few days earlier on the tsn.ca website and Rogers Digital Interactive Programming Guide; both schedules were changed by tonight).  TSN2 still picked up the 10pm ESPN game, as originally listed.

The Sportsnet broadcast did briefly show the ESPN Radio announcers, which included Dan Shulman.

Yay Stroman is awesome. No negativity for me tonight. :)

#CanadianRakin'

I take back all the negative things I said about this hashtag/meme/thing. It really seems to have caught on.

Hubris-free statement of fact regarding the AL East crown:

If the Jays split their remaining 10 games, the Yankees must go 10-1 in their 11 games.

Oh, Mike. How dare you!?!

So what are the chances that Jays postseason roster will have both RA and Buehrle on it?

I think it will. One in the rotation; one long man in the pen. I'm not sold on who's the fourth starter yet, though. Matchups could play a role. That would leave a pen of:

Osuna
Cecil
Lowe
Sanchez
Hawkins
Hendriks/Loup
Dickey/Buehrle

Can you reset your playoff roster after each series?

Revere has settled in to his career norms.

2012: 89 OPS+
2013: 93
2014: 92
2015: 94 (Phil: 94, Tor: 95 -- punted some ISO for OBP)

Maybe the objective measurements in Stroman's rehab are accurate- he seems stronger than I remember.  It's funny to be using BSOHL in September rather than March, but in this case, I buy it.  Stroman's recovery puts me in mind of Joe Morgan's recovery after his nasty leg fracture (at age 24).  Morgan used the time off well to improve his ability to read pitcher's moves.  It seems that Stroman has done the same.  I wonder if he would take offence at the nickname "Little Stro"...

According to MLB.com, the Jays are pushing Buehrle back at least one day.  Price gets the start on Saturday against Archer.  That should be fun. 

Anyways I enjoy this forum for the most part but if you're going to take every pessimistic thing I speak about as a reason to lay into me I'm just not going to come here anymore. If you can just accept that I'm a negative Nancy who likes advanced stats than that's cool too. Your choice.

You're not alone, Kasi - we're birds of a feather. I for one hope you stick around a while longer.

Revere may have reverted (ouch!) to his career norms, but OPS+ doesn't do a great job of capturing his value.  He has only 4 GIDP this year and he runs very well.  It doesn't appear to me that the club has a better lead-off option.  His line-drive rate is also at a career high 26%, which does bode well.

Whoa. Robinson Cano has 2000 hits? That seems to have happened quickly.

I know, right? The broadcast last night mentioned he was three hits away and I couldn't believe it, like he's only 32 or something - what has he done, 200 hits every season so far?

Turns out, pretty darn close. Cano really has had an outstanding career so far, and I think (at least for me) the fact that he came up onto a team that already HAD a bunch of HoF-calibre players carving out a dynasty allowed him to fly under the radar for a number of years.

Stroman coming back strong has changed the entire outlook for this team. They now have two front of the rotation arms to use in a best of 5 or (cross fingers) best of seven series. Dickey's June-September has been very good (138.1 IP, 3.25 ERA) so I'd be comfortable with him as the 3rd starter. The tougher decision is who to go to for a 4th starter, with Estrada having current year performance on his side while Buehrle has performance and track record (only the injury makes him questionable). My gut tells me they should go with Buehrle. I think he's a better starter and has the body of work to earn that spot, but it depends on his health.

I also like that Cecil appears to be the 8th inning guy now. No sign of Sanchez last night, and when asked about the pen post-game, Gibbons mentioned that he couldn't use Lowe. No mention of Sanchez at all. I know Gibby likes Sanchez but he has to worry about winning this year. Sanchez is still young and can bounce back. Cecil and Lowe are better now. Good move if he's decided to flip the roles. I like Lowe -> Cecil -> Osuna in the late innings.

I think the nickname "Little Stro" should definitely be employed, Mike Green, because that would add to Stro Show's "big chip on his shoulder" that he never fails to mention in every interview, which should result in many more shut out innings.

Interesting with Price going Saturday -- and all the maneuverings to get Buehrle his 14.9 innings to make an even 200 (good luck with that) -- means that Price very likely only has 1 more regular season start (Thursday, October 1?) ... and then a nice full week of rest before ALDS Game 1 on Thursday, October 8

The Yankees are pretty deceptive when it comes to hyping prospects.  Cano didn't get much hype, and neither has Greg Bird.  These are often the ones you have to watch.  With the arrival of Severino and Bird and the acquisition of Ackley, the Yankees have put themselves in a very good position for 2017 and especially 2018- they have a lower committed payroll and plenty of talent associated with that payroll. 

I think the nickname "Little Stro" should definitely be employed

If motivated by nothing more than PR, Houston could make a FA push for Marcus in 4/5 years. Who better than Astroman to head their rotation?

and neither has Greg Bird.

It might be tempting for the Yanks to moan about the loss of Teixeira (255/357/548), but with Bird (256/333/552) they haven't missed a beat. Of course with both healthy, you've got Bird available as a pinch-hitter.

It will be interesting to see how the Yankees elect to restaff once their really old players have gone (2 yrs left: Rodriguez , 1 yr left: Beltran, Teixeira, Sabathia).

They are no longer the league's biggest spenders nor the default destination for the big free agents. If they can spend their money more judiciously (not $5M here for Drew, $5M there for Capuano, $20M for guys in their mid-30s, etc.), and continue spicing the roster with homegrown players, they might be well-positioned to forge a new nucleus that is younger, and cheaper, than what they are used to.

I have been one of those pronouncing every year that this will be the year that the old, bloated king dies. No more. I think the Yankees are going to be a force to be reckoned with indefinitely, even once the big name players have moved on.

Marcus Stroman's 2015 would make a great movie script.

Ben Revere reminds me a lot of Shannon Stewart, except hitting from the other side. (This is a compliment.)

The Jays are in good shape if there's actually a decision to be made on who is to start Game 3 or Game 4. (The Jays are in good shape if they are actually going to be playing any post-season game, come to think of it.) I don't know who I'd pick between Dickey, Buehrle, and Estrada, but it might not matter: pitching changes happen more frequently in post-season games, so Gibbons will probably use all of them.

I was a big supporter of the yanks coming into the season and thought it was pretty clear that they were being heavily underrated as a team, with their apparent old age being heavily overrated. I couldn't fathom how, for example, the red sox, who were exactly as old and very comparable talent wise, were seen as a favorite while the yanks were afterthoughts.

and i'mn pretty sure this has a lot to do with boston media starting to dominate the national conversation over the last 5yrs or so.

either way, i'm especially happy to see the yanks' system start producing top talents again. not to mentiok seeing their three apparent anchor contracts give them plenty of value this year.

if you're gonna be an annoying big market team, then at least be the yanks and try and land the big fish with all your money. Don't be the red sox not appreciating their elite players and overpaying for mid market mediocrity.

... well, Hanley was all elite for a time, uglyone. Ok, sure, for a time in the late aughts.

Anyway, here's a little something to bring a smile to the faces of all Bauxites (headphones required if at the office):

https://soundcloud.com/bluejays-voices/martin-home-run-calls-sept-23

French Canadian broadcasters are da best. Bonne soir à la but.  I kept waiting for one of them to go GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL....

That was awesome jjdynomite, French wins by a mile!

Thought I'd try for a playoff ticket online this morning for kicks, not expecting to get in.

Was shocked to get one for game one of the ALDS (section 104).  It's unlikely I'll make the trip from Halifax so I was wondering what the best way to sell it might be?  kijiji?

Off topic, sorry, just looking to tap Bauxite experience.

Really? Are you asking for advice about how to make money off playoff tickets? If so,  I think that you may have to come to the wrong place. 

If you are asking how you can unload a playoff ticket at face value, I'm sure that you can find a gazillion people to take it off your hands through kijiji or probably through simple word of mouth.

Sorry Mike (et al), no offense intended, just never done anything like this before, google search it is.

Last night was the 3rd time in 19 games the Jays have shut out the Yankees. The rest of the league has also shut out the Yankees 3 times - in 132 games.

Devin Travis had his exploratory surgery yesterday. General cleanup and had a cyst drained, but no other issues. Should be ready for spring training.

I think that anyone who has a ticket to game one of the playoffs.... First time in 22 years... and wants to sell it, should be kicked out of the batter's box automatically.

I really question your love for the game....

a Cyst? what kind and where?

I wonder what the season would be like if we had stroman all year?

Does Estrada emerge?
Do we trade for Price?

Oh well, we will never know. He looked great yesterday. The good news is that we have 2 aces (maybe 3) for the playoffs.

I really question your love for the game....

well, we all could have bought tickets ... and certainly coming from halifax seems like a pretty massive effort ...

At this point I wonder if it is safe to say that Hutch has played himself off the playoff roster?

Yup, I expect the playoff rotation is Price, Stroman, Dickey, and Buehrle / Estrada (depending on who seems hotter at the time, with the other going to work in long relief).

Hutchison I doubt will make it at this point.

I tried to buy playoff tickets, but made the tactical error of switching from "Search for 500 Level Outfield" to "Search for Best Available". So I lost my place in line, and no go. Will try again for the ALCS if possible.

The fun part was that Ticketmaster's "I am not a robot" schema involved viewing a bunch of images and selecting which ones were images of pizza.

Yeah jerjapan, felt like I had to to thank the internet gods and complete the transaction.
But in the sober light of...mid morning...was/am questioning the logic of a $600 plus playoff game.

I meant whether he would be left off the entire roster eudaimon.

"a Cyst? what kind and where?"

Doesn't say what kind, but in his left shoulder. Here's the link:

http://m.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article/151255978/blue-jays-devon-travis-has-surgery-for-injury

well that's good news. no actual damage. did they know it was in there?

Not to turn this into a scalping site but if anybody has tickets for G2 (Friday) that they want to get rid of...

I'm in Vancouver but want to potentially go to that game.

JJ, like Dave Till (and I'm sure many other Bauxites), while I could have bought tickets, I certainly spent about an hour attempting to this morning without success.

Many diehard Jays fans will be watching any playoff home games on television not out choice (or only choice in so far as being unable or unwilling to pay an exorbitant amount above face on the secondary market).

Chris Sale's second half swoon continues at the Blue Jays' expense. Carlos Beltran -- who else? -- has taken him deep for a 3-run shot.

The Beltran HR was a belt high meatball. I was surprised recently when I noticed Estrada had a lower ERA than Sale. Not surprised any more.

Both had given up 21 HR's prior to tonight. The past 3 games Sale has yielded 2 3 run HR's and a grand slam. Estrada has yielded 1 3 run HR and zero grand slams the entire season.

budgell, tried sending you an e-mail through bb but don't know if it worked. I'm interested in the G1 ticket.

Thx!

With the Yankee win tonight, the Jays lead is now 3.0 Games. To make that simple. With 10 games left for both teams, the Jays go 5-5, then the Yankees must go 9-1 to win. With the Magic Number being 8 and 10 games to play, I really like the Jays chances. To win the Division, even winning all 10 might not be enough.

The lead is essentially 4 games. It's 3 to tie, which does nothing for the bad guys.

Well, a tie would force an extra game with the loser then playing the wild card game.

As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, there would be a tiebreaker game if they ended up tied for the division. The head-to-head only gives the Jays home field for that game.

The true horror is a three way tie in a division race. Hopefully, we'll never see that.

The way the rotation is currently set up, it looks like RA Dickey would start the Monday tiebreaker vs. NYY, and if they lose, D Price is lined up for the must-win game on the Tuesday.  (The Jays hope to bypass both of these games of course.)

Sell your tickets without feeling guilty. I have season tickets and can't go to 81 games so I sell on enough on stub hub. I have 4 seats for all playoff games. The Jays are really hot right now and everybody has a price. I sold a game for this weekend for 1275$ Canadian....does that not make me a fan if I'm using that money for next year's season tickets? I don't think so.

The reality is that tickets are expensive and it's a business handling these tickets, at least in my opinion. It's also about practicality...I used to always complain about the dome and wanted a new retro stadium. But now that I've gone to the Jays games in April and even May that I couldn't sell...yeah I'm pretty glad that it's indoor for those cold games. "Build an outdoor only baseball stadium" says the guy watching on TV.

I feel it is okay to sell your tickets. Pro Baseball is a big money business. Owners, players, concessions and parking lots seem to be thinking $.
Posting your baseball playing comments is one way to show your love of the game & your team. IMO.

Here's an excellent David Laurila interview with Chris Young (the pitcher) on fangraphs.  Young's name came up when I looked for pitchers like Marco Estrada.  I wonder how much Estrada's approach has in common with Young's.

You know what's nice? Talking about playoff tickets and how expensive they are. It is also nice to hear that people who had September tickets from before Stroman tore up his knee having something of value.

This is also nice -- I was at the Boston/Rays game yesterday. My buddy had 4 comp tickets from work, a ball flip away from Longoria, two she didn't even bother selling or making the effort to give away (acquired day of, no time to bother with a resell). Not nice, hearing that f'in song in the 8th. Did some loud mouth chant "last place, last place, last place" after the song ended. Yes, yes, I did, and it was met with chuckles.

Tonight, I'll watch the Jays play meaningful September ball... so good, so good, so good.

It is good to have meaningful baseball in late Sept. The media is talking a lot. One thing is...How and what to celebrate and when.

Clinching the 2nd WC, 1st WC, Division title and 1st overall? Anyone can do what they want, but for me 90 wins, the division and 1st overall will be my celebration events.

It's amusing to hear things about how to celebrate a playoff berth and perhaps subsequent successes like winning the division. Because it's been so long ago, that people don't know which one should have the champagne bottle experience.

What I found more amusing was watching sportsnet and how they classified Martin's HR. Saying it ranked as top 3 or 4 in all of Blue Jays history. I believe some might have recency basis and others might make historical events bigger as time goes on, but seriously top 3/4 when it wasn't a playoff game and the Blue Jays were already leading?! It might've been the nail that helped clinch the ALE title, but not worthy of one of the top rankings from an all time historical standpoint.

"Stroman has had a storied year, and thats so much nicer than the letters moved around. His has been a once in a long lifetime thing."

Funny post, considering Stroman was suspended for Performance Enhancing Drugs.

only big celebration for me will be the world series. All the others will be smallish celebrations with the division being the first of note. Beating the Yankees is always worth a celebration anyway!

I certainly spent about an hour attempting to this morning without success.

Ah shoot, I was hoping to score some tix for the second series but it sounds like this might prove challenging.  Anyone with some good ideas for scoring face value tickets when the ALCS tix go on sale?  (I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm not around for the first round).  or is everything pretty much a crapshoot when it comes to playoff tix? 

Cruzin, IMO, for me, it was one of the biggest. It has been 22 years since the Jays have made the playoffs. 22 years!! If the Jays lose that game we'd be sitting at 2 games up instead of 3. With Stroman starting and his story, with the crowd and city going absolutely bananas, with Russ, the Canadian boy who signed in the off season, hitting the homerun, and with it being against the Yankees, it was up there for me.

Again, for me, I won't truly celebrate until the AL East is ours. The WC isn't playoffs IMO, I want that AL East crown.

"If the Jays lose that game we'd be sitting at 2 games up instead of 3."

Well technically it would be only 1 game lead if we lost that one. But that aside, if things continued to unfold the way they did without the HR, the Blue Jays don't lose, they still win the game 1-0 instead of 4-0. That's why I have a real hard time putting any historical significance to it. Heck the Navarro HR off Miller would've been bigger if the they had won.

The ones that were bigger off the top of my head in the playoffs. Ones that they were trailing in
Alomar HR off Eckersley
Carter HR off Williams
Sprague HR off Reardon

enjoy every step of the way. you'll be surprised by how fleeting the enjoyment of a world series is. you'll be back letting gibby frustrate the hell of you next year either way.

you'll get at best a handful of championships in your lifetime. if that's the only time you can truly enjoy your team, you're in for a lifetime of frustration.

I agree those 3 were definitely bigger, but I still think Russ' was monstrous, given the circumstances. You can't predict that the score would've ended 1-0 as I'm sure Cecil & Osuna were able to pitch a little looser knowing the score was 4-0. The Yankees didn't ever have the tying run come to the plate, imagine if it were 1-0 and A-Rod lead off the 9th with a double?

Good point on the technicality, which makes it even bigger.

"You can't predict that the score would've ended 1-0"

Huh? Of course you can, that's the only real logical way to approach it.

Otherwise, you're talking about infinite possibilities and outcomes for every scenario in every game, which we don't have infinite time to explore.

yeah i don't think it was that big a HR. the game wasn't that crucial, and we had a late lead already.

in fact Russ hit a gamewinner (extra innings?) in fenway earlier this year that i thought was bigger.

It is true that a game won in April or June is the same as a game won in September, but given the circumstances I thought it was a homerun that we will remember for a long time. Although you may be right Ugly, I don't think most people remember will that HR in Fenway as well as this one.

It also didn't hurt that there were 48,056 in attendance going absolutely nuts.

The best part of the sequence (other than the French Canadian announce team; see link above) was that Buck & Pat went silent and the crowd noise sufficed to dictate the atmosphere.

P.S. Anytime Buck & Pat go silent is a good thing.

That last sentence should obviously read... I don't think most people will remember that HR in Fenway as well as this one.

the way i remember the fenway HR was that it was late may or june, we were under .500 but had just made a little run to get within striking distance of .500....but were faced with heading into fenway just when we were getting close. We ended up sweeping the series thanks to Martin's extra innings smash, and getting back to .500 and imo turning our entire season around.

Interesting lineup from Gibbons for tonight's game.  He is giving Donaldson a night off from the field, DHing him, putting Edwin Encarnacion at first base and Pennington, Goins and Barney occupying the rest of the infield.  It's an unusual compromise, to my mind. 

Ah, memories. In reality the Jays were over .500 and on a 9 game winning streak, 2 GB of first place in mid-June, and the season obviously turned around either long before then or when management put its best effort forward around the trade deadline. I haven't seen a legitimate argument made yet as to a bigger HR in the last 22 years than the one Martin hit on Wednesday.

There is one thing about it that I am not particularly crazy about.  Pennington has been struggling defensively, and having him play third base with Encarnacion at first base is a recipe for a problem.  I'd probably stick Hague at third base, leave Smoak at first and have Encarnacion DHing, while giving Donaldson the day off entirely.