The affiliates evidently could not stomach the loss of compadre Brett Wallace, as no one without a "League" in their name could muster a W. Apologies for brevity, but some of us have to get away for the Simcoe Long Weekend. Woooo!
Whew, it was not pretty. Despite the farm clubs only scoring 7 runs in 6 games, New Hampshire, Dunedin and GCL Blue Jays managed to put wins on the board.
Two players involved one way or the other in the Roy Halladay deal had nice nights to highlight a 2-4 night on the farm.
Stud Tampa hurler Matt Garza has tossed the 2010 season's fifth no-hitter. Better yet, it was almost the stunning season's fifth AND sixth no-hitters as Detroit starter Max Scherzer carried his own half of a potential double no-no into the seventh inning as well.
The Jays bullpen did not have a fantastic Sunday, and defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory in the second half of a twin bill. It would have given the Jays a 3-game winning streak and put them at 7-3 to finish their road jaunt. With the Orioles coming to town the Jays could have run their streak to six games before getting the Indians, who have been playing better as of late (and have given the Jays trouble to boot all season) but still aren't very good. So maybe the Jays would have been 12-4 coming out of the All-Star break before a difficult stretch that includes 12 straight against the Beasts of the East, an Oakland/Anaheim west coast swing, and then the Sox and Yanks again. And if they could hold their own there, then have a good September, then maybe they had an outside shot at the playoffs...
Ok, so none of that seems particularly likely, and let's face it, the Jays are going to miss the playoffs for the umpteenth straight time. Despite all this though it still seems, well, like an exciting time to be a Jays fan. There's a lot happening right now.
Overall the farm was not bad on Saturday. 2 losses and 5 wins with an outstanding day by third baseman Mark Sobolewski – 5 for 7, 2 doubles, two home runs and 7 RBIs. The long ball blessed the 51s with Arencibia and Wallace each belting one, and producing 6 RBIs.
The Toronto Blue Jays were rained out in Detroit Friday night so that game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday with game times of 1:05 and 6:05 in the post meridian. We look west for our topic of the night where emotions ran a little high in the Mariners dugout during their 2-1 loss to Boston at Safeco Field.
Pitching was the name of the game Friday, the Jays pitchers had a one hitter, a two hitter and a three hitter as the affiliates recorded four wins in five games. Four Lansing pitchers combined on a one hitter. Lansing themselves had only four hits but two of them were round trippers. The GCL Jays had three pitchers combine on a two hitter. The Jays had only five hits but one of them was a three run home run by Michael Crouse. Three Fisher Cat hurlers combined on a three hitter and the hitters took it from there. Auburn won a slug fest while Las Vegas lost despite a big night from Brett Wallace.
Dunedin and the DSL Jays were rained out.
