You gotta roll with the punches
To get to what is real
Knock down the bastards
And show them how it feels
The Bluebirds find themselves back in their home nest for at least two more games down 2-0 against the Clevelands. Certainly not a hole too deep to get out of, as long as they don't try to dig their way out (dig up, stupid!).
Game Three features a duel of young talented righthanders who finished up with very similar seasons: Marcus Stroman and Trevor Bauer. Marcus is noticeably better at limiting free passes, while Bauer is somewhat better at missing bats. Speaking of Bauer, much has been made of his unusual injury (what exactly is a "drone", anyhow? How is it different than a radio controlled model plane?), which prevented him from pitching Game Two as originally scheduled. Stroman meanwhile hasn't pitched in a game since the wild Wildcard affair against Baltimore nearly two weeks ago, so it will be interesting to see how his stuff plays out in this crucial game.
(For what it's worth -- in my humble experience as an extremely amateur pitcher, I've gone through similar periods of about two weeks without game action/throwing a meaningful pitch. I've noticed that my command isn't as sharp because my fastball is moving more than usual, my shoulder feeling just a bit too rested and strong but not quite loose enough. What does that mean for Stroman tonight? Probably nothing, though it might be something at least to watch for in the first inning).
The real key for Toronto though are the bats. You're not gonna win anything scoring one run in two games. To the naked eye it does seem like since Lindor's homer in Game One, the hitters have been pressing far too much. Tomlin was sharp in Game Two, but the Toronto bats seemed entirely allergic to the up-the-middle/opposite field approach that worked so well against Texas. No matter: a timely hit here, there (and everywhere), another solid pitching performance, avoiding Andrew Miller while trailing in the game, the loud crowd behind them, and you gotta hope it'll all be enough. Lets rock.
Be nice to win it.
To get to what is real
Knock down the bastards
And show them how it feels
The Bluebirds find themselves back in their home nest for at least two more games down 2-0 against the Clevelands. Certainly not a hole too deep to get out of, as long as they don't try to dig their way out (dig up, stupid!).
Game Three features a duel of young talented righthanders who finished up with very similar seasons: Marcus Stroman and Trevor Bauer. Marcus is noticeably better at limiting free passes, while Bauer is somewhat better at missing bats. Speaking of Bauer, much has been made of his unusual injury (what exactly is a "drone", anyhow? How is it different than a radio controlled model plane?), which prevented him from pitching Game Two as originally scheduled. Stroman meanwhile hasn't pitched in a game since the wild Wildcard affair against Baltimore nearly two weeks ago, so it will be interesting to see how his stuff plays out in this crucial game.
(For what it's worth -- in my humble experience as an extremely amateur pitcher, I've gone through similar periods of about two weeks without game action/throwing a meaningful pitch. I've noticed that my command isn't as sharp because my fastball is moving more than usual, my shoulder feeling just a bit too rested and strong but not quite loose enough. What does that mean for Stroman tonight? Probably nothing, though it might be something at least to watch for in the first inning).
The real key for Toronto though are the bats. You're not gonna win anything scoring one run in two games. To the naked eye it does seem like since Lindor's homer in Game One, the hitters have been pressing far too much. Tomlin was sharp in Game Two, but the Toronto bats seemed entirely allergic to the up-the-middle/opposite field approach that worked so well against Texas. No matter: a timely hit here, there (and everywhere), another solid pitching performance, avoiding Andrew Miller while trailing in the game, the loud crowd behind them, and you gotta hope it'll all be enough. Lets rock.
Be nice to win it.
