Michael Holloway's Baseball Blogs: Invincible @BlueJays win 11th straight - execute textbook inside-game - Encarnacion: 3-5 4RBI 2R, Bautista heating up

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Invincible @BlueJays win 11th straight - execute textbook inside-game - Encarnacion: 3-5 4RBI 2R, Bautista heating up

Scorecard for this game, Orioles at Jays - Game 3: http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2013/06/23-orioles-at-jays-game-3.html

The Invincible Jays won their 11th straight game this afternoon, sweeping the Baltimore Orioles for 3, their third such series sweep on this unholy run. The Jays powered through the innings this afternoon piling on crooked numbers like destiny was calling them by name.

Edwin Encarnacion continues to bat with a pretty stroke, going 3 for 5 with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Amazimgly Jose Bautista has been scuffling overe the last week, but is showing signs of heating up as he (lately uncharacteristically) worked two Baltimore pitchers for walks (plating both times). Later, in the 7th, @JoeyBats19 hit the ball deep in the clutch - plating 3 and snuffing out any hopes the Baltimore's had of rallying late.

Josh Johnson finally gets a 'W' - with an average outing. He totally deserves it after giving the Jays 4 very good Quality Starts since his return to the roster in early June.

Inside Baseball

One of the most beautiful things in baseball - in my opinion - is the manufacture of a run.

Today the Jays created a run out of thin air - 'textbook-style' (see an image of the beautiful thing below). In the bottom of the 2nd inning Emilo Bonifacio, batting 8th - squares to bunt, then pulls the bat back on the pitcher's wind-up, then with a swing that stops short, a 'swinging bunt' - he loops a dying quail over pitcher Freddy Garcia's head into short CF.

Next pitch he steals second.

On the NEXT pitch Kawasaki sacrifice bunts to first base - moving Bonifacio to third. Melky Cabrera sees one pitch and then hits a sacrifice fly out to medium-deep, right-centre field - plating Bonifacio.

I scored the game as usual... and I knew I was going to write about this play. In my opinion this play is a symbol of how different this team is to any other we've seen here in Toronto - it's a Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees kind of team - they can play all the different fashions of the game ... so as I was scoring the game, I made sure to add the pitch notations in this 1/2 inning - so you can better appreciate the pace of events. I'd say the whole cycle - from swinging bunt single - to the run plated - took about 2 minutes.