Can Richmond keep it up?

As many Canadian baseball fans might know, B.C.'s Scott Richmond is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA for the Blue Jays.

Well, will that good success last?

Probably not.

There are scores of pitchers who do well in their first sniff of the big leagues, but then once the hitters figure them out, it's pretty much downhill from there.

Besides, before last season, Richmond was just a journeyman pitcher in the independent leagues.

Every time I see a pitcher with a good record early on in his career, I think about Chris Michalak, a lefty who pitched for the Blue Jays in 2001.

Remember Michalak?

He made his ML debut with Arizona in 1998. He was then bounced around to other teams. Finally, he was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2000.

(When you get released by those awful D-Rays from those years, you must be really bad!)

Michalak started the 2001 season with the Blue Jays.

He beat the Yankees TWICE in his first three starts with Toronto (and the first three starts of his big league career). He was 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA in those first three outings.

Then 3-7 with a 5.13 the rest of the way before being claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers.

We'll see how Scott Richmond fares in the month of May and onwards.

Griffey not hitting his weight

Has anyone checked out Junior's stats lately?

So, Ken Griffey Jr. is hitting only .196, and he's batting third in the Mariners' lineup.

How come there's no scrutiny against Griffey?

Yes, the M's are in first place by 2 1/2 games, but you just have to wonder if Griffey is really done.

And he has a job while Barry Bonds (who attended Monday's Dodgers-Giants game in 'Frisco) doesn't?

Richmond helps Jays win; Toronto back in first place

So, it was another Canadian who came up big in the AL East race.

On Monday, Jason Bay (from Trail, B.C.) of the Red Sox hit a game-winning three-run homer in the ninth inning, giving Boston a 3-1 victory and a share of first place in the East. It was Boston's 11th straight win. (Bay could have been a hero again on Tuesday night, but more on that later...)

On Tuesday, it was Scott Richmond (from North Vancouver, B.C.) of the Blue Jays' turn. The right-handed starting pitcher improved to 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA this season, and the Jays won in Kansas City, 8-1.

Couple with Boston's 9-8 loss in Cleveland on Tuesday, the Blue Jays (15-7) regain sole possession of top spot in the division. The Red Sox (13-7) are a game back.

Blue Jays fans must have been wondering if Boston would ever lose again, as the Red Sox looked unbeatable in their 11-0 run. The Sox were finding new ways to win, including hitting game-tying homers in the ninth inning (which Bay did last Friday off the Yankees' Mariano Rivera) and overcoming 6-0 deficits (which they did on Saturday against New York). They were getting great pitching and clutch hitting. It seemed they just knew how to win.

Well, one thing to note: The last time the Red Sox won 11 straight was back in 2006, when Boston went 12-0 that June. Ironically, the Sox didn't even make the postseason that year, finishing in third place in the East, a game behind Toronto.

Hey, it's still April, and 11-game winning streaks don't necessarily mean the teams involved would be crowned champions at the end.

As for Tuesday's game, in addition to Richmond's pitching, the offense came through again. Vernon Wells went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs, while Aaron Hill was 3-for-4 with 2 ribbies.

Toronto jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a four-run fourth inning against Royals starter Gil Meche, who gave up seven hits and five walks. Meche was KO'ed that same inning due to lower back stiffness.

Richmond gave up five hits over seven innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the Red Sox blew 5-1 and 7-3 leads, before losing in the last of the ninth. The winning run came home on an error.

Bay went 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored and 2 walks for the Red Sox. The only time he made out was in the first inning, when he fanned with runners on first and third. After that, Bay got on base every time he stepped up to the plate.

In fact, with the score tied 8-8, Bay led off the Red Sox's half of the ninth with a single and made it all the way to third with one out. He, however, was left stranded there.

Monday's Baseball Action

The Yankees dropped their fourth straight, 4-2 in Detroit, as CC Sabathia couldn't stop New York from losing.

Sabathia pitched his first complete-game for the Yankees (albeit an eight-inning CG because the home-town Tigers didn't need to bat in the ninth), allowing six hits and striking out seven. He also gave up a home run, a two-run shot to Magglio Ordonez.

According to the Associated Press, Sabathia said his outing was “definitely” his best of the year and manager Joe Girardi agreed.

Interesting.. that even when their so-called ace pitches his best, they still lose. Hmm.

Wonder what the Daily News and the Post think about that?

Sabathia's ERA is now 4.73.

I guess at least that's way better than Chien-Ming Wang's.


The Florida Marlins lost again, this time 7-1 to the Mets in New York. The Marlins, who started 11-1 this season, have now lost seven straight.

They blew a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia on Friday by allowing seven ninth-inning runs to lose 7-3, and lost another ninth-inning lead on Saturday to the Phillies before losing 6-4 in extras.

On Sunday, it was a 13-2 defeat to the Phillies, with nine runs coming in the seventh and eighth innings.

Then in the loss to the Mets, Florida gave up six big runs in the very first inning, and that was pretty much the ballgame.

The one consolation? I suppose giving up just one run from the second inning onwards must be a positive sign.


Speaking of the Phillies, they rallied past the Washington Nationals 13-11 with six runs in the bottom of the eighth, capped off by Raul Ibanez's grand slam. Ryan Howard had hit a grand slam earlier in the contest.

It's only April, but it must be a good sign for the defending champs that they could come back in the late innings to win ballgames.

When Washington took a 6-2 lead in the fifth, the Phils immediately tied it in the bottom of the inning on Howard's grand slam. The Nats regained the lead 7-6, only to see the Phillies tie it in the bottom half of their inning.

Then when Nick Johnson and Adam Dunn slammed two-run bombs in the eighth, the Nats looked to be in control, up 11-7. But the Phils just refused to die.

Speaking of Dunn, wonder if he regrets signing with the Nationals, who at 4-14, are the worst team in the majors.


Now on to the best team in the AL. No, it's no longer the Toronto Blue Jays, who lost 7-1 in Kansas City.

It's now the Boston Red Sox, who have won 11 straight to move into a first-place tie in the East. Boston (13-6) is percentage points ahead of Toronto (14-7) atop the division.

And what can you say about Jason Bay? Yet another ninth-inning blast, this time a three-run homer, as the Red Sox won 3-1 in Cleveland. (Bay had homered off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning on Friday night to tie the Yankees before the Red Sox evenutally won it.)

The contest featured quite a pitching duel, with the BoSox's Tim Wakefield and the Tribe's Cliff Lee both pitching scoreless ball. Wakefield gave up only one hit in seven innings, while Lee gave up five hits in eight innings to go with five strikeouts.

The Indians could at least take solace in the fact it was Lee's best start of the season.

Blue Jays win sixth straight series

The Toronto Blue Jays, expectedly, lost on Saturday night to the White Sox in Chicago, getting blown out 10-2.

Brian Burres kept the Blue Jays in it until the fifth, when he loaded the bases and gave up an RBI single to Paul Konerko, breaking a 2-2 tie.

Shawn Camp then relieved Burres and gave up another RBI hit before Alexei Ramirez clubbed a grand slam to put the Jays behind 8-2. (Amazingly, that was Ramirez's fifth grand slam already, and he's only in his second season. He became the second-fastest ever in MLB history to reach five bases-loaded jacks.)

That Saturday loss was a write-off, especially since Burres' stats at Triple-A Las Vegas weren't that great (see my post from Friday), and the lefty's ERA in Baltimore the last two seasons were 5.95 and 6.04. Yikes.

That, coupled with the fact the White Sox had Mark Buehrle going, made the result somewhat predictable. Buehrle went six innings and gave up only two runs, and is now 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

On Sunday, however, the Blue Jays had a great shot at winning their sixth straight series, especially with Roy Halladay going to the hill against Jose Contreras (1-6 in his last 11 appearances dating back to 2008).

Contreras struggled in the first inning on Sunday, giving up a two-out, two-run double to Adam Lind.

The White Sox got a run off Doc in their half of the first, cutting the score to 2-1, but the Jays were at it again in the second inning. Contreras, however, escaped a two-on, two-out threat when Aaron Hill flied out to end the frame.

Konerko then doubled home two runs in the third, to give the White Sox a 3-2 lead, before the Jays tied it on an RBI groundout in the fourth.

Contreras then remarkably settled down, retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced before Chicago skipper Ozzie Guillen sent in reliever Scott Linebrink to start the eighth, with the score still 3-3.

Vernon Wells promptly greeted Linebrink with a double. Lind walked. Scott Rolen then delivered what turned out to be the game-winning hit with an RBI single to send home Wells.

With Halladay having thrown seven solid innings and now with the lead, manager Cito Gaston decided to go to the bullpen. Jason Fraser and Jesse Carlson pitched the eighth, before Scott Downs nailed down his second save of the season to give Halladay his fourth win and the Blue Jays their sixth straight series victory.

Halladay allowed eight hits and fanned six in his seven innings of work.

With the win, the Jays are now 14-6, and are 1 1/2 games up on the Red Sox, who have won nine straight and play New York on Sunday night.

The Blue Jays now head to Kansas City for a four-game series starting on Monday, where they'll run into former manager John Gibbons (now a bench coach for the Royals) and the early AL Cy Young candidate in Zack Greinke (4-0, 0.00 ERA).

Greinke, who saw his 38-inning scoreless streak end--dating back to 2008--in his last start (on an unearned run), will face the Jays in the Wednesday game (against Brian Tallet).

Will the Jays make it seven series in a row in KC? (Or at least manage a tie?)

Ex-Jay A.J. Still Unbeaten

The Red Sox did manage to win 16-11 over the Yankees on Saturday afternoon, but A.J. Burnett escaped with a no-decision.

Burnett gave up eight runs in five innings, after being staked to an early 6-0 lead.

When the fifth inning was done, Burnett and the Bombers were down 8-6. New York, however, rallied to tie the game and actually took a 10-9 lead before its bullpen collapsed in the late innings.

Anyway, A.J. is still unbeaten.

A.J. Getting Lit Up in Boston

Going into Saturday afternoon's game at Fenway Park, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett had been pretty good in a New York uniform.

The $82.5-million man was 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA in his first three starts.

There was some concern though, when ex-Yankee (and current Indian) Carl Pavano actually outpitched A.J. last weekend at new Yankee Stadium.

On Saturday afternoon in the FOX Game of the Week, Burnett looked good early.

For the first three innings, A.J. held the Red Sox scoreless, while his teammates battered Josh Beckett for a 6-0 lead.

In the fourth, however, the tables turned, when the Red Sox loaded the bases off A.J.

Jason Bay singled to drive in Boston's first run, and Jason Varitek delivered a two-out grand slam to cut the Red Sox's deficit to 6-5.

In the fifth, A.J. got rocked again. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a homer to tie the game, and Burnett proceeded to load the bases with none out.

After A.J. got a 3-2-3 double play ball, he started celebrating by pumping his fist.

He needn't have done that, however, as Bay promptly doubled to drive home two more runs, and give Boston an 8-6 lead (and probably putting a big smile on Sully's face).

Surprisingly, manager Joe Girardi allowed A.J. to stay in the game to get the last out of the inning.

But wouldn't you know it, the Yankee offense have just rallied to let A.J. off the hook. With Beckett still in the game for Boston, ex-Sox Johnny Damon has just homered with Derek Jeter aboard, to tie the game, 8-8.

This is the second straight game the Yankees have had to bail Burnett out.

Had the Yankees not rallied last weekend against the Indians' bullpen, Carl Pavano would have bested Burnett--which would have been a shocker... Pavano (who was a major bust in New York from 2005-08) getting a win at the new Yankees ballpark before one of the current Yankees starter???

And in this one, had the Yanks not given A.J. all that run support, he would be staring at an embarrassing loss. Eight runs in the first five innings. Yikes. Not exactly a stopper-like performance (after the Yankees had lost to the Red Sox in extra innings one night earlier).

Hopefully for Sully's sake, the Red Sox will go on and win this game.

Isn't it amazing how the two teams' fortunes have reversed since 2004? On Friday night, the Yankees led 4-2 in the ninth and loaded the bases with none out. They couldn't score. (One inning earlier, they had a runner on third with two outs but couldn't score.)

Then Mariano Rivera served up a two-out, two-run homer to Bay to tie the score, before Kevin Youkilis homered in the 11th to end the game.

According to Yahoo! Sports, this was the first time in the New York-Boston rivarly that the Sox had rallied with a ninth-inning game-tying homer and an extra-inning walkoff shot against the Bombers in the same game.

And on Saturday afternoon, the Yankees let the Red Sox take a (temporary) 8-6 lead after going up 6-0.

The Yankees in the past just didn't do that... in back-to-back games, no less.

If the Red Sox do win on Saturday, what will the papers in New York say?

I'm sure Sully is enjoying this rivarly right now...

(Yes, I know the Red Sox have won eight straight going in and are the closest team to Toronto in the standings, but how can you not like the Red Sox?)

Jays-White Sox: Toronto keeps winning!

Blue Jays fans received bad news on Thursday when Toronto placed rookie starter Ricky Romero (right oblique) and closer B.J. Ryan (left trapezius) on the 15-day disabled list.

Romero has looked great so far this season, going 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in three starts. The struggling Ryan has a pair of saves, but has also blown two other save opportunities, and owns an 11.12 ERA.

In case you haven't been keeping track, the Jays have been thin in the pitching department, having already lost three starters: Jesse Litsch, Dustin McGowan, and Shaun Marcum. Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Litsch could return by June, McGowan by mid-June to late July, and Marcum by August.

Despite all that, the Jays just keep winning.

On Thursday, the Jays knocked off the Texas Rangers 5-2 to win their fifth straight series to start the season. Canadian Scott Richmond (2-0) scattered six hits--including two home runs--in six innings for the victory, while Scott Downs picked up his first save of the season.

Alex Rios finally hit his first homer of the season, a two-run blast, while Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay added solo shots.

On Friday night, the Blue Jays were at it again, as they began a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

Brian Tallet, who pitched well in place of Litsch last Saturday (but didn't pick up the win), made his second start since 2006--and the eighth of his ML career--and this time, did he ever get the run support.

It turned out to be a laugher.

The Blue Jays battered White Sox starter Gavin Floyd for six runs and nine hits in only 4 1/3 innings, as Toronto won, 14-0.

The Jays outhit the White Sox 21-6.

Seemed more like a football game than a baseball contest.

The 14 runs and 21 hits were both season highs.

Meanwhile, Tallet allowed four hits and three walks, striking out five in his 5 2/3 innings of work. By the time he was relieved, the Jays were already up by four field goals.

Tallet had a 3-0 lead even before he even needed to take the mound. Wells doubled home two runs before Adam Lind doubled Wells home to give the lefty the three-run cushion.

Scott Rolen singled home Rios in the third inning to give Toronto a 4-0 lead.

In the fifth, Gavin threw two wild pitches and gave up two singles with a walk, before he was finally lifted by White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen. Aaron Hill later added an RBI single in the same inning as the Jays were up 6-zip.

Six hits by the Jays in the sixth--including four in a row--upped the lead to 12-0.

Seemingly every Blue Jays batter contributed in the blowout win. Everyone in the starting lineup--except Overbay, who went 0-for-4--had at least one hit.

Lind finished the game with three doubles, while Hill drove in three runs. Rod Barajas went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and Jose Bautista added a solo homer in the ninth to close out the scoring. Marco Scutaro (3-for-4), Wells (3-for-5, 2 RBIs), and Travis Snider (3-for-5) also each collected three hits.

A good sign for the Blue Jays--they were able to capitalize on the opportunities given to them on Friday night. After a leadoff walk to Scutaro, Hill reached base when White Sox shortstop Ramirez muffed his grounder. Rios struck out, but Wells delivered with the two-run double.

Good to see the Jays not wasting the extra out given to them.

Toronto is now 13-5, and sends lefty Brian Burres (0-2, 6.97 in Triple-A Las Vegas) to the hill on Saturday night. The White Sox counter with Mark Buehrle (2-0, 3.00).

Roy Halladay (3-1, 3.72) starts Sunday against Jose Contreras (0-3, 8.04).

Even if the Jays don't win Saturday, they should be able to win their sixth straight series--after all, Doc will be starting on Sunday.

Fun times for the Blue Jays!

Game 16: Blue Jays 8, Rangers 7

On Wednesday night, Rod Barajas more than atoned for his missed opportunity with the bases loaded a night earlier... but it almost wasn't enough.

Barajas hit two two-run bombs in his first two at-bats of the night against Texas, and the Blue Jays looked great, leading the Rangers 7-3 going into the eighth.

Texas scored a run on a groundout in the eighth, before rallying against Jays closer B.J. Ryan in the ninth inning.

Chris Davis (HBP) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (walk) reached base to lead off, before Ian Kinsler grounded to short. Second baseman Aaron Hill's throwing error, however, prevented the Jays from turning the DP, allowing Davis to score.

Kinsler, who moved to second on the play, promptly stole third and scored on a groundout.

Down to their last out, the Rangers were hoping Michael Young could come through again with some ninth-inning heroics--his ninth-inning bomb on Sunday against Kansas City won it for Texas--and Young didn't disappoint.

Young homered off Ryan, his fourth of the year, tying the game 7-7.

It was B.J.'s second blown save of the year.

In the 11th, Kevin Millar came through with a single over a drawn-in outfield, scoring Vernon Wells from second to give the Blue Jays the 8-7 win.

It was Millar's third hit of the game, and all his safeties actually counted for something.

Millar, batting 7th ahead of Barajas, had kept the second inning alive and triggered a three-run outburst in the fourth.

With two outs in the second, Millar singled and came around to score on Barajas' home run.

With one out in the fourth, Millar doubled before Barajas' second dinger.

Both of Barajas's homers broke ties.

Still, Millar and Barajas weren't the only heroes.

Alex Rios' batting average raised 40 points (up to .246) as he finally broke out with four hits, collecting two RBI singles. Jose Bautista, the No. 9 hitter, went 4-for-5 and scored a pair of runs. Adam Lind remained hot, getting an RBI single in the sixth. Lind is now on an eight-game hitting streak.

Not to be outdone, Jason Frasor also contributed to the win.

Despite this being a slugfest--and the Jays outhit the Rangers 17-10 on the night--Toronto still got some clutch pitching after Ryan's meltdown.

Fraser (3-0) entered to start the 10th, and promptly retired all six batters he faced, pitching two perfect innings with two strikeouts.

So, a total team effort, with Barajas, Millar, Bautista, Rios, and Frasor coming up huge.

Jays are now 11-5.

Can they win their fifth straight series by taking the finale on Thursday?

Ryder haunts his own team...again!

So many times we'd seen this before. It was like an old script.

Tony Pena. Adam Oates. Adam Vinatieri . Joe Juneau. Tom Brunansky. Bob Sweeney.

Players who used to don a Boston uniform and then resurfacing later as ex-Bostonians to defeat their former teams in the playoffs or crucial games down the stretch.

It never failed.

Or, you had players like Tom Barrasso and Kevin Stevens--who were from the Boston area--torching the hometown team in a big way.

On Wednesday night, however, the exact opposite happened. Something I don't think I've ever seen before. And if I have, it's been a while.

Remarkable.

An ex-Habs player now playing for Boston haunting his old team.

Think about that for a moment. A former Montreal Canadien helping the Boston Bruins? Has it even happened before?

And it actually happened twice, no less.

Michael Ryder had given the Bruins a commanding 3-0 series lead by potting the game-winner late in the second period on Monday, stunning the Bell Centre crowd.

What did he do for an encore?

Incredibly, Ryder, who spent four seasons with les Habitants before joining the B's in the off-season, did it again.

Ryder scored two goals and added an assist to lead Boston to a 4-1 triumph, as the Bruins finished off the Habs in a four-game sweep on Wednesday.

Montreal actually took the lead 39 seconds into the game and had many scoring opportunities in the first period--the Canadiens outshot the Bruins 16-7--to add to the lead. Ryder, however, beat goaltender Carey Price with a one-timer--thanks to a horrible giveaway by Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik in the slot--with two and a half minutes left in the period.

But the former Hab wasn't done.

With time winding down in the first, Ryder worked a give-and-go with David Krejci, with the latter beating Price with only 34 seconds remaining. Credit Ryder for drawing Price out of the net to allow Krejci to score into the open cage. No chance for the Canadiens goalie, and a great goal for the Bruins.

After Boston took a 3-1 lead on Phil Kessel's fourth goal of the series midway through the second period, Ryder was at it again.

Ryder took Krejci's perfect cross-ice pass and re-directed it past Carey, giving the Bruins a commanding three-goal lead at 12:43. It was his fourth goal of the series, and the outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way.

When was the last time you saw an ex-Montreal player sticking it to the Habs while playing for the B's?

Prior to the series, I was expecting the Canadiens to become the '71 Habs or even the '02 or '04 Canadiens, to find a way to upset the Bruins. After all, it was Montreal's 100th NHL season, and despite the regular-season dominance by the Bruins, I had some doubts.

Could this be a magical season for the Habs, in their 100th season, facing a team they've had so much success in the playoffs?

Not this time.

Michael Ryder made sure of it.

Game 15: Halladay & Jays fall to Rangers, 5-4

The Blue Jays were supposed to beat the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

After all, their ace, Roy Halladay, was on the mound to pitch the opener of the three-game set against the reeling Rangers, who had gone 2-7 in their past nine games.

In fact, the Rangers needed to rally from an eighth-inning, 5-3 deficit just to beat the Royals on Sunday and avoid an embarrassing sweep.

Also, Halladay was trying to become the first four-game winner in the majors this season, and set the tone for the series.

Sure, there are some concerns on the Jays, particularly Alex Rios' slow start to the season--he is hitting below his weight (.207 batting average going into Tuesday's action, vs. his listed weight of 215) and the pitching injuries with Jesse Litsch joining Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan on the sidelines.

Regardless, Doc was the one sure thing. With Halladay going on Tuesday, surely the Jays would go 11-4 on the young season.

The Jays offense has been leading the way so far, and surely another double-digit effort in runs was possible, right? Especially against a guy like Brandon McCarthy, who was just 14-20 lifetime with a 4.56 ERA. Not an ace or anything, obviously.

The Rangers' own ace, Kevin Millwood (1.17 ERA), isn't even scheduled to pitch in this series, having thrown on Saturday.

Another interesting tidbit was the Rangers have a habit this year of giving up a ton of runs in the opening games of a new series, as they'd already lost 15-2 (Detroit), 10-9 (Baltimore), and 12-3 (Kansas City) in such contests. Ouch.

The one tidbit that came to play on Tuesday night though, was actually Doc's mediocre lifetime record against Texas. Halladay was a pedestrian 7-6 with a 5.34 ERA versus the Rangers, and that ERA was Doc's highest against any team he's faced more than four times.

Well, as it turned out, Doc would be 7-7 against them by the end of the night, with that ERA climbing slightly.

The Rangers touched Halladay up for five runs in eight innings, with Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler tagging him for two-run home runs. Halladay gave up five extra-base hits in total. Ouch.

Toronto had a chance to rally in the eighth, down 5-3, to bail out Halladay, as he's done so often for his team. The Jays scored a run on Adam Lind's RBI single and loaded the bases with one out.

The 2008 Blue Jays would have choked in that bases-loaded scenario. No way would the 2009 edition let that happen.

Right?

Now, after Lind's hit off mediocre reliever C.J. Wilson (aren't all Rangers pitchers other than Millwood horrible?), Rangers manager Ron Washington gambled and brought in closer Frank Francisco, who gave up a single to Scott Rolen and a walk to the batting hero from the last couple games, Lyle Overbay.

Bases loaded, one out!

However, Francisco came back and retired both Rod Barajas and Travis Snider to keep the score 5-4 for the visitors.

Interestingly, the Rangers elected to bring in their closer an inning early, which sometimes backfires and the manager gets scrutinized. Unfortunately for Blue Jays fans, however, this time it worked out for Texas. Barely.

(The Brewers using one of their relievers--Todd Coffey--to get an eight-out save last week--because Trevor Hoffman is on the DL--sure reminds old-time baseball fans of a totally different era, doesn't it?)

By the way, Wilson, the Rangers' left-handed specialist, doesn't even have good stats. 6.02 ERA last season, and 5.68 in 2009 going into Tuesday's action. (Yes, his high ERA this year was due to two poor outings, but he was due for another one anyway, if you looked at his pitching log.) Yikes. It would have been interesting to see how he would have fared had he stayed in the game for more than the one batter he ended up facing.

And oh, that eighth-inning drama wasn't all.

Aaron Hill's double off Francisco with one out in the ninth put the Blue Jays back in business. Rios, however, could only ground to short, moving Hill 90 feet away from plating the tying run.

But Vernon Wells popped out to end the contest.

Yes, Rios got a big RBI double to help the Jays rally in the third inning, but he was only 1-for-5, and his batting average, guess what, dropped. And advancing a runner to third is okay only if there was none out, not when there was already one out as was the case in the ninth.

Overall, a disappointing game. A game the Jays could have won.

Look at the bases-loaded situation in the eighth.

Look at the blown opportunity with Rios and Wells coming up in the ninth.

******
Weird stuff happening in the game:

-Who says an umpire's job is easy? The game was delayed for 10 minutes in the sixth when HP ump Kerwin Danley was hit on the head by Hank Blalock's broken bat. He had to leave the field on a stretcher. Yikes.

Last April 26th--almost one year to the day--Danley was taken off the field on a stretcher too after he was hit in the head by a Brad Penny pitch. He also left a 2006 contest after being hit on the collarbone by a pitch. Wow.

-Oh yeah, alcohol was banned at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday, which was the final Jays game affected by the ban resulting from infractions at the stadium dating to Nov. '07.

Random Thoughts about D'Backs-Giants series

In case you missed it, the Oakland-Toronto series on the weekend wasn't the only one that featured great pitching. (Well, two-thirds of it anyway...)

The Arizona-San Francisco series was awesome.

Every game ended 2-0, with the Giants winning the first and third contests while the D-Backs taking the middle game.

Poor Dan Haren. The D-Backs right-hander lost the first game, and is now 0-3 despite a 1.89 ERA. Arizona was shut out in his first start of the year (3-0), and he's also lost a 3-1 decision.

Haren couldn't have pitched any better, walking none and allowing just five hits with six strikeouts in six innings against the Giants. Jonathan Sanchez, however, was that much better, allowing just two hits to Arizona and pitching into the seventh.

In the second game, both Tim Lincecum and Doug Davis pitched shutout ball for eight innings, before the D-Backs broke through against the Giants' bullpen in the ninth.

Then Sunday.... Randy Johnson time.

The Big Unit took a no-hitter into the seventh, and picked up his 296th career win. Johnson ended up allowing just one hit in his seven innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks, and lowered his ERA from an unsightly 11.42 to 6.32.

And what was with all these no-hit bids in the Bay Area of late?

Apparently the Big Unit's performance was the third time in eight days that a pitcher took a no-no into the seventh. The others were the A's Trevor Cahill (who lost 1-0 to the Mariners and Erik Bedard the previous Sunday) and the Red Sox's Tim Wakefield (who defeated the A's).

Anyway, this Arizona-San Fran series kind of reminded me about the Boston-Toronto series at what was formerly called "SkyDome", oh, 19 years ago.

Toronto had just beated the Red Sox 4-3 to gain ground and was just a single game behind Boston for first in the East.

Then the Boston pitching took over, as the BoSox won 2-0, 1-0, and 1-0 in the final three games, capping off the series with a remarkable run of stellar pitching.

Of course, the D-Backs and Giants were nothing like those Sox and Jays. After all, it's still early in the year, it's not a pennant race, and those two teams are struggling (5-8 and 4-8, respectively).

Still, a weekend of great pitching!

Flames finally win one; Now trail Hawks 2-1 in series

No Jays talk tonight; the Blue Birds (10-4), the best team in the American League so far, were off on Monday and will start a three-game series at the Rogers Centre Tuesday against the reeling Texas Rangers (5-7).

Meanwhile, the focus in Canada was on a pair of hockey clubs: the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens, both down 0-2 in their best-of-seven Conference Quarter-Final series.

Montreal lost 4-2 to Boston, with ex-Hab Michael Ryder potting the game-winner late in the second period. Ouch. The Bruins added an empty-netter to seal the victory, and are now up 3-0 in the series.

But the series I want to talk about is the Calgary series.

One of the Flames' biggest problems against the Chicago Blackhawks going into Game Three had been their inability to protect leads. Another was giving up crucial goals in the first and last minutes of periods.

Case in point? In Game One, Calgary blew two one-goal leads, allowing Martin Havlat to score the game-tying goal with only 5:33 remaining in regulation. Havlat then beat Miikka Kiprusoff just 12 seconds into overtime.

In Game Two, the Flames actually took a 2-0 lead in the first period and things were looking good... until the second period came. Jonathan Toews beat Kiprusoff just 46 seconds into the period, and with the score tied 2-2, Toews got the eventual game-winner with only 24 ticks left heading into the intermission.

Most hockey experts would expect the Flames to come back strong in the third game; after all, Calgary has been a completely different team at the Saddledome.

But in Game Three, another "early" goal seemed to doom the Flames. Patrick Sharp scored just 2:03 into the game, giving Chicago a 1-0 advantage. Of course, as we've learned this series, the team that scores first doesn't end up having the lead at the end of the game. This time, the same "rule" applied. Calgary came back less than four minutes after the Sharp goal, before ex-Hawk Rene Bourque gave the home team the lead late in the second.

With yet another lead, the Flames this time didn't collapse. David Moss scored two goals four minutes apart early in the third to give Calgary a commanding 4-1 lead.

This time, Kiprusoff--the game's first star--made the lead stand up, stopping 16 of 17 shots in the final stanza, and 36 on the night, as Calgary finally beat the Blackhawks, staying alive in the series.

The Flames now trail 2-1, though the series could easily have been 3-0 Calgary.

We'll see if the Flames can tie the series on Wednesday night.

Really? Pavano outpitches A.J.?

Saturday's 22-4 Cleveland win at new Yankee Stadium was a stunner.

But, as most baseball fans know, momentum depends on the next game's starting pitcher, so you'd probably expect the Yankees to kind of return the favour to the Indians on Sunday afternoon.

After all, it would be the Yankees' new ace, A.J. Burnett, going up against former Bomber bust Carl Pavano.

A.J. had gone 2-0 with a 2.70 in his first two starts with the Yanks after getting his huge contract following his breakout year in Toronto (when he went 18-10 and led the league in strikeouts) in 2008.

Meanwhile, Pavano was 0-2 with an unsightly 16.71 ERA for the Tribe. (Hey, at least it was better than Chien-Ming Wang's 34.50 ERA!!) This was coming off that disastrous 9-win stint (over four years) with the Yankees, who had foolishly given him a $39.95 million contract.

It was Pavano's first outing against the Yankees since New York cut ties with him. Coming off two straight subpar appearances for Cleveland this season and with the Yankee Stadium crowd booing his every move, surely you'd expect Pavano to get absolutely slaughtered.

So, who knew Pavano would actually outpitch A.J.?

Indeed, Pavano set down the first 10 batters while the Indians hit two homers off Burnett, giving Carl a 3-0 lead.

With the score 3-1 for Cleveland, the Tribe failed to tack on even more runs off Burnett. A.J. threw two wild pitches in the seventh and loaded the bases, but reliever Jonathan Albaladejo got out of the jam.

Cleveland manager Eric Wedge removed Pavano from the game with the score still 3-1, and the Yankees immediately exploded, scoring six runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take a 7-3 advantage.

Amazingly, in that hostile environment, Pavano was able to pitch well, giving up just four hits in his six innings of work.

A.J., on the other hand, didn't pitch well, giving up seven walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Still, none of that mattered in the end.

The Yankees still won.

If the Bombers hadn't rallied, who knows what the papers in New York would be saying on Monday? (For the record, after the 22-4 debacle, the headlines in the Post included "Stinkees" and the Daily News had "Wang is garbage" and "YOU STINK" on its cover. Classic!)

But for the first six innings on Sunday afternoon, the New York writers must have been ready for more derogatory headlines. For the first six innings, Yankees fans must have been worried. And wondering why this Pavano didn't show up during those four miserable years when he got that $39.95 million contract.

For one game, Carl Pavano actually showed up.

An absolute stunner indeed.

The Rangers are up next!

In the opening week of the season, I mocked the Texas Rangers because (some of) their fans were acting so arrogant after their 3-0 start.

Marlon Byrd was talking about "go(ing) out there and... expecting to win now" and Brandon McCarthy about the Rangers' "team chemistry (being) second to none" and the club being "special."

One blog was proclaiming the Rangers were "proving they (could) win the West." Oh, really, eh?

Well, guess what, after that 3-0 start, the Rangers did fall back to earth. They went 0-5 right after that, and before Sunday's 6-5 win against Kansas City, were 1-7.

The Rangers have already been blown out twice (15-2 in Detroit, 12-3 vs. the Royals), gave up ten runs in another (10-9 vs. the Orioles), and been shut out once (2-0 to the Royals on Saturday).

So much for their vaunted offense, eh?

Whatever the Blue Jays do, they CANNOT afford to lose to these guys when the two teams meet for a three-game series starting Tuesday at the Rogers Centre.

Roy Halladay goes up against the aforementioned McCarthy in the opener on Tuesday, followed by David Pucey against Kris Benson (Wednesday) and Scott Richmond versus Matt Harrison (Thursday).

Harrison is 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA, and Benson 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA. Yikes!

Hard-lucked Cahill

One pitcher to pay attention to this year: A's pitcher Trevor Cahill.

The 21-year-old rookie right-hander has been solid this season, pitching to a 2.60 ERA in three starts.

However, Cahill has nothing to show for his efforts thus far, as he is only 0-1 in those three outings. The A's lost two of those, including Saturday's game against the Blue Jays, 4-2 in 12 innings.

Prior to that, Cahill took a no-hitter into the seventh inning--in just his second major-league start--before Adrian Beltre broke it up with a single.

Not only that, Cahill ended up with the loss when Beltre scored on Mike Sweeney's double later in the inning. The M's Erik Bedard didn't allow a run in his 8 1/3 innings, giving Cahill the hard-luck defeat.

On Saturday against the Blue Jays, the A's rookie finally had some runs to work with, but it wasn't meant to be. Oakland gave Cahill two one-run leads, but he was chased in the sixth inning after surrendering a double to Lyle Overbay and Travis Snider's game-tying RBI single.

Unfortunately for Cahill, the A's used up all their runs the night before (Oakland defeated the Blue Jays 8-5 on Friday night).

It was the same story prior to the 1-0, near no-hit game as well. The A's had plated three runs in the second inning--and five overall--against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez the night before, which was the same game where Jason Giambi asked to be lifted because of tired legs.

Will Cahill get some run support this season? I mean, he's been pitching well, so we'll see...

How about that Ricky Romero?

The Blue Jays actually took two out of three against the Athletics this weekend!

And this time, it wasn't all about their offense, which was a big part of their success especially in the Minnesota series (when they scored 31 runs in the four games at the Metrodome).

On Saturday, Brian Tallet did the job filling in for the injured Jesse Litsch. Tallet allowed just four hits and one earned run in his 5 1/3 innings in his first start since 2006, and helped the Blue Jays win 4-2.

Then on Sunday, it was Ricky Romero's turn. The rookie turned in his third straight great outing, beating the A's 1-0. The lefty struck out six in seven innings, and now has a 1.71 ERA.

Forget Travis Snider. If Romero keeps this up, he might be in contention for the Rookie of the Year! Okay, yes, it's still early, but who knows, it could be a battle between Snider and Romero for the RoY. That could only help push each other to do better, right?

After the game, Oakland right-fielder Jack Cust compared Romero to Mets ace Johan Santana: "his body, his mannerisms, the way he throws.... He's similar (to Santana), he's got a similar arm slot, similar delivery. He's going to be good" (The Associated Press).

The Jays would sure hope Cust is right.

But we can't forget about the hitting hero in this one: Lyle Overbay.

Overbay, who won Saturday's marathon with a walk-off two-run shot in the 12th inning, won this one with a second-inning single.

Credit the defense too for keeping this a 1-0 game.

The A's tried to rally in the third, when Ryan Sweeney smoked a two-bagger to right-centre with a runner on first. But centerfielder Vernon Wells threw the ball back to the infield to second baseman Aaron Hill, who threw home to catcher Raul Chavez to get the runner trying to score.

Romero did run into trouble two innings later, when the A's put two more runners on. But the lefty this time got Sweeney to fly out to end the threat.

Great game by the rookie!

90 wins possible?

Now, it's way early in the baseball season, but holy smokes, the Toronto Blue Jays have now won all four series they've played so far.

If this keeps up, they'll be in the thick of things in the American League East and wild card race.

Bob McCown (FAN 590) predicted 90 wins for the Blue Jays, which was likely said in jest. But I guess Jays fans can only hope, right?

Of course, the Jays haven't faced anyone from the East yet this season, having faced the Tigers, Indians, Twins, and now A's thus far. But still, those same Indians, who started out 0-5, sure made headlines this weekend during their series against the Yankees in the opening of new Yankee Stadium.

(For those of you who missed it, Cleveland pounded New York 10-2 to open the new stadium on Thursday, before humiliating the Bombers 22-4 on Saturday night.)

And didn't the Twins just sweep the reeling L.A. Angels, the team picked to dominate the weak AL West, this weekend as well?

Even Detroit has come around somewhat, going 5-2 (pending its game Sunday in Seattle) since dropping three of four at Rogers Centre to start the season.

Anyways, who knows, if the Blue Jays can continue winning, they could be in the thick of things for a while this season.

And besides, they've got Cito Gaston back managing the team to start the season...

We'll have to see how they manage without Jesse Litsch, who is likely out 6-8 weeks. Brian Tallet did okay taking Litsch's spot in the rotation Saturday, but we'll see...

Welcome to this blog

I hated the Toronto Blue Jays during their heyday.

When they were winning championships in the early 1990s, I hated them.

I liked Roger Clemens and the Boston Red Sox. They were an underdog team that fell just short in 1991 to the Blue Jays in the AL East race. I was excited when the Blue Jays lost to the Twins in the ALCS that year.

In 1992, while the Jays were on their way to winning their first ever World Series, the Red Sox stumbled to a last-place finish. (Though I always told all the Blue Jays supporters around me, Boston had a better record than any of the last-place squads in the other three divisions.)

In 1993, the Red Sox teased me by winning 10 straight during the summer to actually gain a three-way tie for the AL East lead. On a night when they were gunning for their 11th win, the Blue Jays were idle, and the Red Sox had Clemens going in Milwaukee. Boston took the lead into the ninth inning, and were three outs away from another victory, when ex-Sox Tom Brunansky (batting under .200) hit a two-run, game-winning homer off closer Jeff Russell to knock the Red Sox out of first place. Boston never reached top spot again the rest of that season. How did that 1993 season end? The same way it did a year earlier, with Toronto winning the World Series.

Things changed shortly after.

While I was happy the Blue Jays fell on hard times, it was still excruciating to see the Red Sox lose in the 1995, 1998, and 1999 postseasons. (Actually, I couldn't see the 1995 postseason games because of The Baseball Network's insistence in having all Division Series games shown simultaneously; thus, I caught only the Yankees-Mariners series. Great series, one of the all-time classics, the New York-Seattle one, but I'd rather have seen the Red Sox instead.)

By the 2000s, my 'hatred' for the Blue Jays faded. After all, how could one hate a team that was going nowhere? I normally root for underdogs, so by 2000, I was actually pulling for both Boston and Toronto to unseat the Yankees from the top of the AL East standings. With Delgardo, Batista, Cruz, Fullmer, et al, crushing balls out of the park all year long, the Jays had a shot. The Blue Jays were in first place in mid-July (while the Yankees were having problems and injuries in their pitching rotation). However, Toronto had its own pitching issues, and faded soon after. David Wells and Frank Castillo did the job, but Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay didn't. I blamed Halladay and his 10.64 ERA. (Ironically, both Carpenter and Halladay would win Cy Youngs a few years later, though the former's came with the Cardinals.)

After seeing the Red Sox win their second World Series in 2007, I was no longer sure if I wanted to root for Boston anymore. They were no longer underdogs; they were spending lots of money too. Not like the Yankees, of course, but nonetheless, they were in the same class. I've often told people, "Well, they (Red Sox) have won two already, and after that first one, it isn't the same anymore. It's not special to see them win anymore." It was kind of like, whether or not Boston wins again, isn't important anymore. The Sox have already won--and broken that so-called curse!

Meanwhile, it was bad to see Toronto buried in the East behind the Yankees and Red Sox. Had the Blue Jays been in the NL West in 2008, they would have had a shot for the postseason.

The 2008 Jays did win me over, with their great pitching. (Sad to see though, that A.J. Burnett is now gone and Dustin McGowan is not going to pitch for a while. Ditto Shaun Marcum, who was awesome in the first half of 2008.) Too bad Litsch, Halladay, Marcum, and company often had to pitch with no run support.