Steal of 3rd on foul pop - play of the game as Jays win series over Royals

Kansas City at Blue Jays
Sunday, August 2, 2015
1pm - Rogers Centre

Kansas City

Hitters        AB R H RBI BB SO #P  AVG  OBP  SLG
Escobar SS     3  1 1 0   0  1  13  .279 .318 .348
Zobrist LF     3  1 1 2   1  0  22  .272 .355 .480
Cain CF        4  0 1 0   0  3  21  .314 .371 .503
Hosmer 1B      4  0 0 0   0  0  16  .315 .372 .477
K. Morales DH  3  0 1 0   1  0  17  .284 .341 .451
Pérez C        4  0 0 0   0  2  11  .243 .257 .412
Rios RF        3  0 0 0   0  0  10  .241 .275 .309
Cuthbert 3B    3  0 0 0   0  1  12  .240 .269 .360
Infante 2B     3  0 0 0   0  0  9   .228 .241 .315

Pitcher        IP   H   R   ER  BB K ERA
E. Volquez P   6.0  4   2   2   3  4 3.20
F. Morales P   0.1  1   1   1   0  0 2.45
R. Madson P    0.2  1   0   0   0  2 2.28
K. Herrera P   0.2  1   2   2   3  0 2.14
L. Hochevar P  0.1  0   0   0   0  1 4.0

Toronto

Hitters        AB R H RBI BB SO #P  AVG   OBP    SLG
Tulowitzki SS  3  0 1 1   1  0  25  .353  .476  .647
Donaldson 3B   3  0 0 0   1  3  25  .291  .357  .549
Bautista RF    4  0 1 1   0  0  13  .237  .364  .503
Encarnación DH 4  1 2 0   0  1  12  .244  .341  .455
Colabello 1B   3  1 1 2   0  2  17  .315  .358  .496
Smoak 1B       0  1 0 0   1  0  7   .228  .313  .451
Martin C       3  1 1 0   1  1  17  .264  .347  .482
Pillar CF      4  0 0 0   0  0  10  .267  .301  .383
Goins 2B       2  1 1 0   2  0  23  .223  .277  .313
Revere LF      2  0 0 1   0  0  8   .000  .000  .000

Pitcher        IP  H R ER BB K ERA
R. Dickey P    7.0 2 0 0  2  6 4.06
A. Sanchez P   0.2 0 0 0  0  0 3.31
R. Osuna P     1.0 0 0 0  0  0 2.14

This is the first time the Jays have fielded the A-Team as starters, since the non-wiaver trade deadline deals.

Bottom of the 8th, Pillar fouled out to second, Smoak at 2nd, steals third. Smoak steal of 3B is on a foul catch by the 2nd Baseman Cuthbert, who failed to check the infield after his running catch; play gets the Insurance run to 3rd, 90 feet away.

Sac fly by Revere scores Smoak.

Tulowitzki bloop BH to right scores another.

Smoak's steal turns out to be the play of the game.

Final: Kansas 2 - Jays 5

Jays win series 3 games to 1.


Next: At home with Minnesota in town for 4 - with David Price pitching Monday August 3rd.

Stats via ESPN Boxscore | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350802114




mh

The down-side of a great deadline trade experience - some players have to go

KC at Jays - Saturday, August 1, 2015

Game Notes.

Kawasaki is in the order to show case him for a waiver trade - and everyone in the dugout today knows it; not one person is even acknowledging that he's in the dugout - like the pitcher with the no-hitter going, no one's talking to him - no one wants to go near the guy who's going down in a clubhouse that is in the midst of a huge shakup.

Reveres grimaces when he tosses the ball back to the infield on a shallow out in LF.

With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out Buehrle hits the batter on the first pitch. Was that a pitch saving intentional BB? I think it looked like it was.

Jays lose 6-7 in 9 with the winning run 90 feet away.



mh

Are Jays, MLB in cahoots with Canada's Conservative Government?

Are Jays, MLB in cahoots with Canada's Conservative Government to produce a winner during the 2015 Federal Election?

The connections between Rogers Inc and this Federal Government are document-able. The MLB and the military have worked hand in hand to glorify the soldiers of our Imperial wars of conquest since 9/11 with parade marches and the playing of the nationalistic anthem "God Bless America" - which replaced the more baseball iconic tune "Take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch.

The tradition at Blue Jays games since the neo-conservative Harper Government attained a majority government in 2011 has been a march of a Canadian Military Honour guard marching to the Canadian National Anthem. This is not in keeping with Canadian tradition since the end of WWII.

This second majority term of this extreme right neo-conservative government would, as Harper stated in public two years ago, 'change this country to such an extent that you won't recognize it'.

This is for all the marbles - the end of the welfare state - in order to finance a global corporate expansion of the US empire over a 100 years in order to rule the globe.

Don't put it past them. This is an idea worth considering.


Jays beat KC in extra innings 7 to 6 after the umpire began to squeeze KC pitching in extra innings - and then a balk call that none of the umpires could have seen (it was a good call but un-see-able) that sent the winning run into scoring position on a day when the Jays finished off - at the non-waiver trade deadline - some excellent deals.



mh

Bad Pitching in the era of the Nuclear Ball

Another double digit shellacking of an opponent by the Jays.

A few years back Bill Lee was quoted as saying that the explosion of home runs during the Barry Bonds Mark McGwire era was the result of bad pitching. His take I think, was a function of a great pitchers' attitude (or understanding) that good pitchers have many, many more tools to get outs against any batter; that with discipline and right thinking, any era of baseball can be dominated by good pitching. He was talking about the steroid era coupled with MLB's latest Juiced Ball (or Nuclear Ball era - still ongoing).

He may have been wrong.

The Jays have scored double digits in 11 games this year when they win; and the opponents only 3 times against the Jays when they win. (Those are analog stats by the way - scrolled through the schedule and counted.  :) 

Jays pitching doesn't have to be as good as Buehrle's performance tonight - but there is the added pressure that effects the other bats when they're down by 5 runs or more, a situation that makes even good starting pitching better that it might be in a close game otherwise.

It's been all about the Jay's line up so far this year - with surprise replacements coming up all over the place - getting, and keeping, their spots in the line up with timely batting - s o while I hate to admit it John Gibbons has done a great job creating team - but what about the pitching (which he abuses mentally - regularly)?

More on that next time.


References:
ESPN Box Score (the accessible box score*) | Rangers at Jays - June 26 2015 | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350626114

* (Boxscore at MLB is up quick tonight - but I can't copy and paste names and stats from it ... off to espn's box score once again).

Bill Lee quote: can't find it - Google Search Engine is fouled up with real time results and branded marketing by Big Media. (but I think you can find the quote here: http://www.chriscomerradio.com/bill_lee/bill_lee_archives.htm - will check it later when I can listen, and I'll point you to it.)



mh

The process of writing baseball - Jays at Rays game 1, June 22, 2015

What's the game about?

Jays score 1 in the 8th to counter the Ray's 2 in the 7th.

In the 8th, it's the Bull pen.

In the 9th the Rays mow down top of the order with authority.

The nut at this point in the season is: Do the Jays have a closer?

Osuna does it with a two inning Save, and a 1, 2, 3 against the Rays' 8, 9 and 1 hitters in the 9th.

Jays win 8-5

But it doesn't mean anything, yet. In fact, understanding their latest performance, this is an anomaly.

(I'd  link the with the MLB Box Score - but 10 minutes after I published - the box score at espn was the first to publish; another lose for MLB advanced media.)

Jays at Rays game 1 Box Score, June 22, 2015 | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350622130



mh

Boston Red Sox Outfield

It has come to be my understanding through the years of watching MLB, that winning Boston Red Sox teams need to have 2 centre fielders on the field in order to cover Fenway's centre and right field with it's massive depth and vicious jog in right-centre.

Fenway Park Ballpark Diagram & Dimensions - via Baseball Almanac | http://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/fenway_park.shtml

This is especially true in this era of the 'super-juiced' ball (the nuclear ball) where balls come off the bat at a much higher rate of speed compared with the pre-super-juiced era (pre-1994).

The idea is that in the nuclear ball era, fast outfielders are essential because they can limit runs by reducing their opponents Total Bases totals - the fast and quick outfielder can cut off hot-shot ground balls to the gaps and hot-shot line-drives to the walls better.

In Fenway speed a quick reaction to balls off the bat was necessary in centre and right during the regular juiced ball era (1921-1993); now in the nuclear ball era this is even more important.

From my watching of three games against the hard hitting Jays this weekend, this year's Boston team doesn't have that outfield.

Jays at Red Sox Game 3 - June 14, 2015
(Jays win 13-5 and extend their winning streak to 11 games; sitting 1 game back of the Yankees and the Rays for the division lead at the end of the day.)

Boston Outfield:
Hanley Ramirez LF
Rusney Castillo CF
Alejandro De Aza RF

Boston 25-man Roster (Outfielders) - June 14, 2015

#  NAME             POS BAT THW AGE HT  WT 
50 Mookie Betts     CF  R   R   22  5-9 155
38 Rusney Castillo  RF  R   R   27  5-8 186
31 Alejandro De Aza LF  L   L   31  6-0 195
26 Brock Holt       RF  L   R   27  5-10 185
13 Hanley Ramirez   LF  R   R   31  6-2 225

To contrast, the 2007 World Series Champion Red Sox Outfield

#   Name               Height Weight Throws Bats   Date Of Birth
10  Coco Crisp         5-10   185    Right  Both   1979-11-01
7   J.D. Drew          6-01   195    Right  Left   1975-11-20
46  Jacoby Ellsbury    6-01   195    Left   Left   1983-09-11
32  Bobby Kielty       6-01   215    Right  Both   1976-08-05
44  Brandon Moss       6-00   210    Right  Left   1983-09-16
44  David Murphy       6-04   210    Left   Left   1981-10-18
22  Wily Mo Pena       6-03   215    Right  Right  1982-01-23
24  Manny Ramirez      6-00   225    Right  Right  1972-05-30

Coco Crisp CF

Yr Age Tm   G   SB CS TB  Pos
07 27  BOS  145 28 6  201 8

J.D. Drew RF

Yr Age Tm   G   SB CS TB  Pos
07 31  BOS  140 4  2  197 9/8D

mh

#number9

blue jays come-back with 9R 7th takes them to 9 wins in last 10 in tumultuous game 1 in boston

Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox Game 1: Friday, June 12 | http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=350612102

MLB Advanced Media | Blue Jays plate nine in 7th - 06/12/15 | 00:02:38

mh