1:08AM Eastern
It was the perfect way to open up a homestand after getting swept in Baltimore, until it wasn’t.
Eric Thames laser-beam home run broke a tie and gave the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning, and Brett Lawrie followed with a single, went to third as Tom Wilhelmsen’s pick-off attempt went wildly into right field, then scored on a J.P. Arencibia sacrifice fly.
Edwin Encarnacion had gone deep earlier, Colby Rasmus had doubled and tripled and Ricky Romero took a no-hitter into the 6th inning. It was a good night to be a Blue Jays fan at Rogers Centre.
Most importantly, I caught a foul ball. I couldn’t tell you who hit it, or even when it happened (though I believe it was in the top of the 7th), but it’s the first time I have ever caught a foul ball at a baseball game in which I wasn’t playing, after having attended probably more than 2,000 games. It was pretty awesome. I reacted sort of like Don Cherry’s intro to Coach’s Corner for some reason, not sure why, but there was a ton of applause coming from the seats below me which might have had something to do with it, and then I looked for a kid to whom to toss the ball. I found one, who happened to be sitting five seats away from my cousin, who I didn’t notice. Sorry again, Ashley.
Anyway, the insurance run the Jays got in the 8th meant that things were still pretty cool even after Francisco Cordero gave up a solo homer to Michael Saunders with one out in the 9th. He got a pop-up from the next hitter for the second out, and then a routine ground ball to third from pinch-hitter Kyle Seager, and that’s when everything fell apart.
Lawrie handled the grounder cleanly and had time to make a good, strong throw as he does pretty much every time he gets a play to make, but the throw didn’t make it all the way to first base, Adam Lind couldn’t pick it – as he does pretty much every time he gets a chance to do so – and the Mariners had a pulse.
With pinch-runner Munenori Kawasaki aboard, Arencibia thought he had a shot to pick him off, but his throw sailed way over Lind’s head and got all the way into the right-field corner as Kawasaki went to third. The Jays then intentionally walked Dustin Ackley to get to the light-hitting Brendan Ryan, but the M’s went to the bench for ex-Ray John Jaso (Jingleheimer Schmidt), who hit a line drive to centre. Rasmus laid out trying to make the game-saving catch, but the ball hit the turf in front of him and bounced back towards the infield. Kawasaki scored to tie it and register the Blue Jays’ fifth blown save of the season, but Ackley got greedy and tried to score all the way from first – Kelly Johnson picked up the ball and threw him out at the plate to keep things tied.
It was a brutal way to let a lead slip away late, but the Blue Jays still had a life. They went down in order in the bottom of the 9th, though, and Luis Perez – previously unscored upon this season – came on to work the 10th. John Farrell had been singing his praises, and rightly so, in meeting with the media before the game. Perez came in having allowed nine baserunners in 12 2/3 innings, with right-handed hitters 3-for-19 against him this season and lefties just 2-for-22. So naturally, after getting Ichiro Suzuki to ground out, Perez gave up three straight singles to load the bases for Saunders, who took a 1-2 pitch out to right field for his first career Grand Slam, and that was that.
There were a couple of points at which the game could have turned more in the Blue Jays’ favour earlier:
-Arencibia tried to score from second on a Lind single to right with two out in the 7th, and though replays showed he got his hand in ahead of Miguel Olivo’s tag, he was called out. Arencibia had led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch and been bunted to second. With the score tied at three, it seemed like a great time to use Rajai Davis as the designated pinch-runner, but he stayed on the bench – I’m assuming the thought was there might be a better time to use him later on.
-Romero, who had pitched so well for the first six innings, ran into trouble in the 7th. He gave up a one-out solo homer to Jesus Montero, but then got a second out, still with a 3-2 lead. One could make the case that after Miguel Olivo’s two-out single, Romero should have been yanked, but he had only thrown 105 pitches and the next hitter was Casper Wells, who had struck out looking in both his previous trips to the plate. For me, I don’t think that’s a time when you pull your ace. John Farrell didn’t think so either, and Wells tied the game with a double down the right-field line. Sometimes the right decision yields the wrong result.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Farrell’s decisions, the fact remains that if Brett Lawrie makes a solid throw on a routine grounder with two out in the ninth and nobody on, the game is over and the Blue Jays win. It’s rare that one can point to one mistake that ultimately costs a team a game, but that was it. Even though after the error the Blue Jays still had the lead with a man on first and two out in the ninth, if that routine play is made, the game is over.
Physical errors are going to happen, and Lawrie has played a fantastic third base so far this season. He’s made five errors already this season, and he’ll likely have a high error total, but part of that is because he has such great range that he gets to balls that most other third baseman can’t. That’s not why that error happened, though, and it was just a really crappy time for it.
The loss means that the Blue Jays have followed their four-game win streak with a four-game losing streak, just as they followed each of their three two-game winning streaks to start the season with a two-game losing streak. What that means is that they’ll likely begin a four-game win streak on Saturday afternoon, which will include a win over Yu Darvish and the Rangers on Monday night.
Here’s tonight’s extraordinarily brief edition of The BlueJaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:
The series continues with ex-Mariner Brandon Morrow, still with an axe to grind against the team that jerked him around for years, taking on veteran righty Kevin Millwood. We’ll be on the air at 3:30PM Eastern for the pre-game show ahead of a 4:07 first pitch, the last Saturday home game of the season with that start time – join us, won’t you?
Please give me a follow on The Twitter, you can find me @wilnerness590.
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19 Responses to “Just A Mess”
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Good post Mike, couldn’t really agree more.
Although why Farrell didn’t use Davis to punch run for JP, and let Mathis catch the last two innings is beyond me.
I hope Lawrie learns from this mistake, but ol’ Johnny F better take note of this outcome too.
MW: I spoke to Farrell about that, and he told me that the 7th inning is too early to take a bat out of the line-up for a pinch-runner. Had it been the 8th, he would have done it, but in the 7th, there’s too much of a chance that the bat comes up again and the change bites you.
- Mike GossMike,
Will we ever see instant replay on plays at the plate? Not that it should have mattered tonight.
MW: I think we should see instant replay on everything. You’re safe or you’re out, it shouldn’t depend on what an umpire thinks he saw.
- ScottWhat do I say to lawrie?
When longoria can make three errors in a game, so can lawrie. He is human, just a bad throw but the team was also to blame. The solo home run by Cordero, the wild throw by jp, you cannot give a team five outs without paying for it
Going to the game tomorrow mike, I just purchase a new jay shirt….. Yes, i am still excited
- FrancisHi Mike.
An observation about the offence. Most of the hitters are quite badly scuffling. We hear again & again about Dwayne Murphy’s “work the count/we refuse to offer at the 1st pitch” philosophy, while Zaun, Stieb & various assorted articles break down how the diminished plate aggression of Lind, Thames, Lawrie, etc. sees each right now floundering to hit. I suggest the hitting philosophy has messed with the heads of what should be a very solid offensive lineup. While the Tommy Hunters, Blake Beavans & Jason Hammels pump early fastballs & befuddled hitters don’t find any meatballs, it’s all spaghetti.
So I say a fix for this, although Jays ain’t likely to change – turn me loose.
I should know, look at the year I had in 1987.
MW: What’s going on in your life that’s so wrong that you feel you have to pretend to be George Bell? Also, that’s not Dwayne Murphy’s hitting philosophy.
- GeorgeBell1987Please explain why was there not a pinch runner for JP in the 7th?!?
Sadly, I think it’s time to explore (and quickly) alternatives for Lind at 1st base. It’s a power position we need hitting production from. Buck Martinez gave some pretty compelling stats showing his lack of productivity dating back to last season.
- KSI came on here to post that I thought it was a mistake not to use Davis for J.P., but I thought you would likely disagree with me. (You like to do that) I see we were on the same page with this one though and so I will add one more comment or question. It appears that the Mariners don’t walk very often and after watching the game, I figured out why. It’s because the have a Suzuki, and, a Kawasaki! You can use that if you like. You know you want to!
- Dan From ElmvaleI think this game was blown before, Lawrie’s and Arencibia’s error, it was blown by the home plate umpire’s error calling Arencibia out at home plate, that run wasn the difference and this game would never have gone to extra innings. I guess everyone makes mistakes not just the players. It looks like the Blue Jays luck is going south, though because they’re hitting better, but still losing.
MW: Except that had the errors not been made in the 9th, the Blue Jays would have won anyway.
- AnonymousHey, Mike.
I had a great chuckle last night watching you bow after you caught the foul ball. Congratulations! Your reaction was quite hilarious.
There’s not much great to say about the game. Perez had his poor outing. It happens. And as much as you can blame questionable defense for the 9th, you can blame the pitcher too who gave up the home run to start the inning. It sucks that the Jays found a way to lose another in a row. This time, it was questionable defense, which is going to happen when you have a 21 year old playing on 3rd base — much better than EE — much better than Bautista too. And Arencibia should not have made that throw to 1st. That’s the tying run on first. Cordero was not struggling. The last thing you want is a runner in scoring position in that situation, and the percentages are such that a pickoff throw 2 – 3 are about as likely as an error. So, JP, keep your ego in check, and listen to your manager. The situation didn’t call for the throw.
But my comments are towards the LF debate — Thames vs Snider.
It’s difficult to send down Eric Thames. He earned the spot from last year and matched Snider in spring training. He’s 2nd on the team in OPS and 1st in BA. His defence is not terrible, probably average — certainly he’s no JoeyBats in terms of defence, but he’s no Adam Lind (LF) or Paterson either. And Thames is learning and improving. Snider is out of options, so let’s let him percolate in Vegas and then come up. He’s hurt anyway, so we can stop pontificating for a while.
- Tim in Niagara FallsCorrect me if I’m wrong but were we not led to believe that this year’s bullpen was going to be a dramatic improvement over last year’s version? If so, someone forgot to send the memo to the bullpen as five (5) blown saves in twenty (20) games does not seem to support the alleged improvement! I realize that not all of the “blame” lies with the bullpen but they must shoulder the lion’s share of it.
One of the problems with professional sports is that the “athletes” get paid the same regardless of whether they win or lose and in most cases, the fans seem to take losses much harder than the players. Maybe if the players cared as much as the fans, they would perform to a higher standard.
MW: I know many fans believe they care about wins and losses more than players do, but I can assure you, without any question at all, that they don’t.
- WASAGA WILLYJays-10-10 record .. same as Tigers .. 1/2 up on Boston .. Look at Angels – 6-14 and Phillies 9-11.
It should be an interesting season . Bautista may heat up soon .
Plus Snider is almost ready ..Should Jays bring him up?
MW: Snider hurt his wrist on Thursday night and will miss at least a week.
- BertJays Talk is starting to sound like open lines at Coast to Coast AM.
- irrational fansDon’t let them get to you Mike. Facts matter.
When Arencibia overthrew first base, a fan in RF made a vague attempt to grab the ball while it was in play. I’ve been watching the Jays since mid 1980′s and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fan interference call on a thrown ball. Have you?
MW: Vain, and no, I don’t think I have.
- Doug DTwo comments I heard yesterday:
“You’re not a fan if you only love a team when they win.” (comment on this blog).
“There’s no evidence anybody wants to talk about the Raptors” – Bob McCown (or words very close to that effect).
I think what that means is, a) A lot of fans need to learn how to enjoy every game, not just the 10-1 blowouts in our favour. There was 8 and 2/3rds of good entertainment yesterday for a minor amount of suckage. The Baltimore games were all close – I got my money’s worth.
b) When the fans stop calling into moan and complain, that’s probably when the Blue Jays organisation needs to start worrying.
There’s a lot of ‘passion’ out there this year. Unfortunately ‘passion’ in a sporting context sounds a lot like a load of whingeing cry-babies most of the time.
- BenThe media, of course, focussed on the obvious – Lawrie’s throw, Arencibia’s throw, and the hits given up by the relief pitchers. You have touched on something not mentioned on TV or in the newspapers, namely John Farrell’s decisions. Managers are often second guessed with reference to pitching changes, and I have disagreed with some of Farrell’s decisions in this area, but no one can predict when a good pitcher will have an “off night” (and make the manager look bad), or when a mediocre pitcher will impersonate Cy Young (and make the manager look like a genius), so I will reserve my comments for something that is far more predictable (and that you have hinted at, but not explicitly stated). I watched every regular season Blue Jay game last year (either in person or on TV), and I watched every spring training game in Dunedin this March and early April. I think I can give a very accurate evaluation of Rajai Davis. He is a mediocre hitter and a mediocre fielder, but is one of the best base runners the Blue Jays have every had. (The only one who definitely would be considered a better base runner was Rickey Henderson, but he is just barely an ex-Blue Jay since he only played 44 games with us during a 25 year major league career. Besides, while Henderson was better at stealing bases, as far as scoring from second on a single with two out is concerned, Davis would beat Henderson every time.) I don’t understand why John Farrell has so badly misused Davis. Last night, when Arencibia was on second and the score was tied 3-3 late in the game, I said to my wife “For sure, Farrell will put Davis in as a pinch runner because this type of situation is the reason Davis is on the team”. Having mapped out my managerial strategy for the rest of the game, I added “And Mathis will catch in the 9th inning, which is perfect because he’s a better defensive catcher than Arencibia anyway”. As you know, I was wrong (as usual). Arencibia stayed in, and was thrown out in a very close play at the plate. (He might have beaten the tag by a finger or two, but Davis would have been high-fiving in the dugout before Ichiro’s throw reached the plate.) Not only would the Arencibia/Davis run have given us a three run lead, but the inning would have continued with runners on first and third. Also, while we can’t be 100% certain, it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the more experienced Mathis (if he were catching in the 9th inning) would even have made a pickoff attempt at first, let alone thrown the ball into deep right field. Farrell’s misuse of Davis didn’t stop in the top of the 9th inning. In the bottom of the inning, with two out, nobody on, and Encarnacion at the plate, Farrell had Davis in the on-deck circle, presumably to bat for Thames because a left-hander was pitching. Now, Thames was relatively hot on Thursday night, and had been red hot so far in the game (3 hits in 4 at bats including a home run), so I would not have pinch hit for him anyway (even against a left-hander), but using Davis in this role (for which he is poorly suited) would have eliminated him from a pinch running role later in the game (for which he is superbly suited). Since Encarnacion didn’t get on base, Davis didn’t pinch hit, and thus Davis was still available to pinch run in extra innings, or so I foolishly thought! To my utter disbelief, Farrell (in what could only have been a moment of madness) sent Davis into left field as a defensive replacement in the top of the tenth. First of all, Davis is no better defensively than Thames is. Secondly, Davis was now not available as a pinch runner should a pinch running situation arise. Thirdly, Thames, our best offensive player in the game, was now no longer in the game. Since the Mariners scored four runs in the top of the 10th, it no longer mattered, but suppose they had only scored one run (a much more likely scenario), and we had a chance for a comeback in the bottom of the 10th. Who did Farrell think would be pitching for the Mariners? It would, of course, be their closer Brandon League who is right-handed (and actually pitched in the bottom of the 10th anyway, even though it wasn’t a save situation). The only even remote possible excuse I can think of for what appears to be gross stupidity on the part of John Farrell is that Thames somehow got injured at the end of the top of the 9th inning (and this mysterious injury was not noticed or reported by anyone). If this remote possibility was the case, then Farrell should have replaced Thames with Ben Francisco who is right handed like Davis, but is a slightly better hitter than Davis, and a considerably better left fielder than Davis. This, of course, would have left Davis still available for pinch-running should another opportunity have arisen. Do you have any explanation for Farrell’s misuse of Davis? Other than possibly premature senility, I am at a loss to explain it.
MW: Using words like “stupidity” and “senility” don’t help your cause at all. You can make a very rational and reasoned argument without resorting to those kinds of insults, and you almost did. Your other mistake is in assuming that Davis and Thames are equals defensively, which isn’t the case at all, and that Francisco is a better left fielder than Davis, which is also false. As well, Davis wasn’t sent into left field as a defensive replacement in the top of the 10th, nor was he on-deck in the 9th to pinch-hit. He had been inserted in the game in the 9th for defense, with the Blue Jays up 5-3, after Thames had homered, which was the correct move.
- Jeff S.Thank goodness there are still 142 games left. So if the Jays go 86-56 over the next 142 games, they are very likely to make the post-season. This is only possible if JoeyBats’ and AL26′s lumber to wake up from their slumber.
- I EllynIt is often said of good teams that they “find a way to win.” I’ll suggest to you that some of the negativity you’re getting from callers is because they see a team that seems to find ways to lose.
It’s early in the season, and could still turn around. It’s also true that getting very good starting pitching is a hopeful sign for the future. But the fans are going to remain unhappy until they see a team that seems to find ways to win.
We aren’t there yet. It’s OK to acknowledge that.
Even as you also stay that knowing what needs to be fixed, or whether the team can find a way to fix it themselves, is going to take until at least the All-Star break. So, both you and they are right – and all we can do at this point is grab some popcorn, pull up a chair, and see…
MW: I think “finding a way to win” is a myth, created by media types over the years as part of the old-time effort to build athletes into super-human and heroes, neither of which things they are, much like the myth of the “clutch hitter”. If good teams could actually find ways to win, they would win a LOT more often than they do. Remember, a 90-win team loses four out of every nine games it plays.
- JoeMike, I don’t think “ways to win” is much of a myth. Mostly, it involves a dangerous offense with consistent contributions, and a reliable bullpen. The latter keeps you in games, and throws fewer of them away. The former takes advantage of some of those chances and converts them into wins.
Right now, the Jays’ bullpen is not reliable, and our offense is anything but consistent. Indeed, it has only been tolerable because of a higher than normal rate for runners in scoring position. Which tends to revert to the mean.
It will still take until the All-Star break or so to figure out where we may need to cut bait on the offensive side (Lind is definitely in focus there as one possibility, as AA has acknowledged), and also to get a better sense of which parts of the bullpen are OK/ not. Of course, bullpens are notoriously chancy things at the best of times, which makes it a difficult evaluation. But that’s why they pay AA the money they do.
MW: I don’t want to debate semantics, but that’s not what “finding a way to win” means. What you describe is “building a winning team”.
- JoeI did use the adjective “vague” intentionally, meaning he didn’t make much of an effort. Vain would work too, since he was not successful in catching the ball.
MW: I have never seen the word “vague” used in that context.
- Doug DMW: I think “finding a way to win” is a myth, created by media types over the years as part of the old-time effort to build athletes into super-human and heroes, neither of which things they are, much like the myth of the “clutch hitter”. If good teams could actually find ways to win, they would win a LOT more often than they do. Remember, a 90-win team loses four out of every nine games it plays.
Mike the concept of a team that consistantly finds ways to win is absoultely non fictional. This concept often speaks to a Well managed team of extrodinary, unthinkable coaching and playing talent like Phil Jackson, Micheal Jordan and the Bulls , Or Glen Sather Wayne Grexsky and the oilers, Pat Riley Magic and the lakers etc. The Object of greatness does not only exsits within the atomspere of the basketbal court, ice rink or field but also on paper in the board room and in classroms. These such humans beings have been blessed with the ability to always perform the unthinkable and the unimaginable in whatever it is they do.
MW: You’re talking about the greatest of the greatest in their respective sports.
- Thomas