12:35 AM Eastern
The Blue Jays, who so brutally lacked offense during their first two stops on this four-city road trip, managed to put away the St. Louis Cardinals for a second straight night, this time with a five-run third inning in which they only managed one hit.
It started the way an inning should never start, with a walk to the pitcher. Jaime Garcia gave Carlos Villanueva a free pass and I’m not sure which is more of a cardinal sin (if you’ll pardon the pun), walking the pitcher to lead off an inning or walking the pitcher with two out. Either way, the Blue Jays made him pay.
The Villanueva walk was followed by another one to Yunel Escobar, and Aaron Hill then hit a weak grounder to second to move the runners up – it was the only out Hill would make in four trips in his likely-brief return to the two-hole. With first base open, Tony LaRussa chose to intentionally walk Jose Bautista for the second time in the series, and for the second time, Adam Lind drove in a run immediately following, this time with a fly ball to deep centre that cashed Villanueva and tied the game.
J.P. Arencibia was next, and he hit a hard grounder that was headed for left field, but St. Louis third baseman Daniel Descalso made a sensational diving stab. Descalso got up and threw high to first, but Lance Berkman showed some serious hops in going up to get the wild throw, then came down on the first base bag just ahead of a hustling Arencibia. But first base umpire D.J. Reyburn didn’t see it that way, calling Arencibia safe, which allowed Yunel Escobar to score the go-ahead run and continued the inning for Juan Rivera, who smacked a 1-0 change-up into the bullpen in left field for the Blue Jays’ only hit of the inning, a three-run homer.
Villanueva took it from there, allowing only one more run in working six strong innings before handing it over to the bullpen. Jon Rauch worked a shutout seventh but struggled in the eighth, putting two on with one out before Marc Rzepczynski bailed him out with a one-pitch double play off the bat of Berkman. Frank Francisco made it interesting in the 9th, thanks mostly to his own throwing error on a weak grounder that should have ended the game, but he managed to get the job done.
What he was doing pitching at all is a major question. Francisco was in because Jays’ manager John Farrell failed to properly execute a double switch in the 8th. With the pitchers’ spot due up third in the 9th inning, Farrell had planned to bring Corey Patterson in with Rzepczynski, batting Patterson in the pitcher’s spot and Zep in Juan Rivera’s sixth spot in the order, but he pointed to the bullpen before going over to the home plate umpire to make the switch, and so was denied the change.
I don’t know if LaRussa being out arguing Matt Holliday’s ejection distracted Farrell, but it’s the second National League misstep he’s made in as many games in St. Louis. Friday night he wasted a bench spot by pinch-hitting Rivera in the 8th inning after he’d already pinch-run for Jose Molina. J.P. Arencibia was going to be coming into what was a tie game at that point anyway, so had he been put in to hit, Rivera could have been saved to hit for the pitcher had the game gone into extras.
The positives to note about these mistakes are that the Jays won both games, and that they’ll only be playing with National League rules once more all season unless they manage to get to the World Series, which doesn’t seem terribly likely. The negative is that Francisco had to be put in to the game in a non-save situation and as a result is more than likely unavailable for Sunday’s series finale (and why not use Shawn Camp or Luis Perez instead, with a four-run lead in the 9th?).
Here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The entire Travis Snider interview can be found in the audio on demand section of this very website.
The series wraps up with Ricky Romero taking to the hill against Kyle McClellan, who has done a fine job since being yanked out of the bullpen in the spring to replace the injured Adam Wainwright. It’s Romero’s first start since his “controversial” comments about the Blue Jays’ offense in the wake of his 2-0 loss in Atlanta on Tuesday. The Jays have scored 11 runs in the first two games in St. Louis after scoring a total of 10 in the first six games of the road trip. We’ll be on across the country at 1:30 PM Eastern for a 2:15 first pitch, and those listening on Sportsnet Radio The Fan590 and on this website get an extra bonus half-hour pre-pre-game. Join us, won’t you?
Please follow me on The Twitter, you can find me @wilnerness590.
Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!
14 Responses to “Taking Advantage”
SN 590
Get The Latest Update
Click here to subscribe to Wilner's blogGet Wilner’s blog by Email
Archives
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
Not just the road trip: OBP for June
Escobar .253
Reyes .250
Patterson .233
Nix .203
Villanueva .200
Davis .167
Arencibia .161
Pitchers are comparable lol, yes i know the sample size but still.
- AnonymousHi Mike, I thought I would mention I posted my question and your response from the Jays Talk June 21, (with an image of you interviewing Lind) on my own blog and linked it back to Miked UP.
http://1977redux.mlblogs.com/2011/06/22/out-of-the-wilnerness/
I wanted to make sure that’s okay with you. Keep up the great work.
MW: Fine with me. Thanks!
- "Chris from Indiana"Hi Mike:
This road trip into the heart of National League America could be a 5-4 record with success today. Quite a turnaround.
Couple comments: Aaron Hill looks more comfortable and productive in the 2 hole (recognize the minuscule sample size) but with Bautista protecting him, he is likely to get some better pitches to hit.
Why did Farrell use Frankie in the ninth?
And while Frankie’s throw to 1B was an error, on the replay it looked catchable. Lind’s D has impressed but he came up short on this one … So did Frankie.
And, Farrell’s oops move re the double switch proves he’s learning his craft as a manager. Likely not to make that same mistake again, he’s a smart guy.
Hoping the offense can continue to deliver for Romero today.
MW: That’s the thing – you know John Farrell is going to make mistakes as he grows into his position, the key thing to see is whether he makes the same mistake twice. He is a smart guy, indeed, so I believe he’ll learn from the mistakes. Whether Francisco’s ball was catchable or not, he’s got to make a better throw. As I mentioned in the post on which you’re commenting, I don’t know why Francisco was used in the 9th. And as for Hill, the sample size is indeed minuscule. He just doesn’t get on enough to be hitting up there on a regular basis.
- Grant CarterMike,
The Jays have won 7 of its last 9 series. Sure doesn’t feel that way.
- RMHi Mike
What do you know, after 8 games on the road, the Jays are 4 and 4. Not bad at all.
Mike, two questions
1. what would you do if you are Farrel with the starting pitching when Litch gets healthy and Cecil is back, like you say, a nice problem to have? I like Carlos V in the mix, he surely has earned a consideration
2. Who was the player from the Marlins you mentioned who could be a possibility for a trade?
MW: 1 – Villanueva surely has. Zach Stewart will go down, probably to Vegas, when one of those starters comes back. When the other does, I don’t know. Let’s see if everyone else is still healthy by then. 2 – Hanley Ramirez.
- francisDo not understand this top of the rotation/bottom of the rotation stuff, since given health all starters pitch virtually the same amount of games in the regular season. We will need 4 or 5 ‘top of the rotation’ guys along with a much better bullpen to compete with Yanks/Sox, and I don’t see Reyes, Villanueva, Cecil or Litsch cutting it.
MW: No one has four or five “top of the rotation” guys, except for Philadelphia. It just doesn’t work that way.
- WillI know you’re a big Brian Butterfield fan and this morning I found out why. I was on a tour of Busch Stadium and we got to go down below near the clubhouses. Brian must have been one of the first people there as it was around 10am. I said hi to him and we had a conversation for a couple of minutes. He seems like a very genuine and down to earth person. I was quite impressed.
MW: He’s awesome!
- JeffMike in the decisive inning in the game the official scorer gave an error on the close play at first base where Arencibia was actually out, isn’t that more than a tad harsh to give the 3rd baseman an error on that play, he made a sensational dive to catch the ball and then rushed his throw a tad as he had a wee bit more time than he thought he did, however I just can’t see how you can give him an error on that play as probably 90% of the time the groundball isn’t even caught, and the throw didn’t lead to any extra bases, just the safe call at first base….your thoughts?
MW: Once Descalso made the awesome diving grab, he had lots of time to make a good throw and he didn’t.
- Chris BMike,
I watched the replays of the Berkman jump and plant and couldn’t tell who touched first. In such a situation I’d give the call to the runner . Not because the tie goes to the runner but because the defense did not execute the play cleanly.
As for Farrell, I feel like he won’t make the same mistake twice.
- JwThanks for your insight on the Jaystalk last night, never miss it and always learning from it.
Would Jose Bautista ever be considered as an option in centerfield? Great arm, he’s got reasonable speed? Just a thought
MW: Bautista would be an option in centre, but you prefer that arm in right field.
- ukjayHi Mike, why is Eric Thames not in the starting line-up today vs a righty?
MW: Got me.
- jayMike,
The phillies do not play tomorrow, so Doc’s normal day will be Saturday.
MW: No, Doc’s normal day is five days after he pitches. That’s Friday.
- SteveI thought it was 5 games, not 5 days.
- SteveTo RM (Post #4)– better check your math. In the Jays’ last nine series, they are 5 and 3, with one split.
- Norm