I can't believe the way the Blue Jays ended up losing tonight's game. Scott Rolen leads off the top of the 8th inning of a 0-0 game with a double, just Toronto's third hit of the game. Lyle Overbay comes to the plate with a simple task, to move Rolen over to third ANYWAY HE CAN. Forget putting down a bunt (WHY??), but let's allow Overbay to swing away in hopes that he can pull a ball to the right side of the infield to advance the runner, or perhaps even find a hole for a base hit. However, Overbay pulls a grounder to the 1st base side of the mound, only to be snagged by Kenshin Kawakami who looked Rolen back to the bag before throwing Overbay out at first. Rod Barajas is forced to swing away with the pitcher Roy Halladay waiting in the on-deck circle. Barajas proceeds to fly out to right, certainly deep enough that it would have scored Rolen from third. Instead the 3B was pinned again at second, leaving Cito Gaston with a decision. Roy Halladay had completed 7 innings, throwing 95 pitches, 63 for strikes, but was lifted from the game for pinch-hitter Joe Inglett. In his first at-bat of the season after being recalled from AAA-Las Vegas earlier in the day, Inglett promptly strikes out looking.
Not only did the Jays fail to score the leadoff runner from second base in a scoreless ballgame, but they also lost their starter to an ice cold pinch hitter in a two-out situation and would consequently give up the only run in the bottom of the 8th, and again fail to drive in a runner from 2nd (this time with 1-out) in the 9th.
The irony lays in the way the Atlanta Braves scored their lone run of the game, in the bottom half of the 8th. Jesse Carlson came out of the pen for the Jays, and the Braves replied by pinch-hitting Matt Diaz for Kawakami. Diaz hits a ground rule double, and is successfully pushed over to third on Yunel Escobar's grounder to first. Casey Kotchman, like Barajas, lifted a fly ball (this time to left), deep enough to score Diaz from 3rd with the would-be winning run.
Is Lyle Overbay physically unable to put down a bunt?? Perhaps Kevin Millar, Jose Bautista, or even good old Johnny Mac could lay one down. Now perhaps you're thinking, then who do the Jays send out to play 1B? Either Millar or Bautista are capable of playing the position, albeit are no gold glove candidates. However, the importance of moving Scott Rolen over to 3rd base with less than 2 outs definitely warranted a pinch-hitter if Cito felt Overbay was unable to put down a bunt.
The Jays' offence has been sputtering as of late, ever since sweeping a 4 game set from the White Sox at the Rogers Centre. Roy Halladay pitched a gem tonight, and a 1-run lead likely would have been more than enough for the Doc. Provided he avoided major trouble, he could have pitched the rest of the game and finished somewhere in the neighbourhood of 120-125 pitches, certainly high but definitely capable for a workhorse like Halladay.
Instead, Overbay and consequently Barajas' futility forced Gaston to lift Halladay from the game for a pinch-hitter in hopes of cashing in the first run of the game against Kawakami, who turned in a strong performance for the Braves. The "rookie" tossed 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 3 hits while striking out 7. Mike Gonzalez gave up a 1-out double to Aaron Hill in the 9th but managed to strand him at second after consecutive groundouts by Alex Rios and Vernon Wells.
Adam Lind is due, but hell so are Rios and Wells.
I really hope Derek Lowe feels the wrath tomorrow night, or this might turn into a real funk for the Jays. Here's also hoping that Casey Janssen can be effective early and give his offense a chance to get out in front.
'Till next time.
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