Well, that was an exciting day, and night!
If people weren’t feeling much of a buzz about the pennant race so far this summer, the tectonic plates of Blue Jay fandom started to shift today, and a subterranean rumble can be felt.
In mid-morning the announcement was made that the Jays had indeed acquired Melvin Upton Jr. from the San Diego Padres, as the reports had had it, and that he would be switching dugouts for the evening game at the TV Dome. Before going any further, just to be clear, this new Blue Jay Upton is indeed the very same player formerly known as B.J. Upton, whom we knew well from the beginning of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays, and the brother of Justin Upton, who just passed through town with the Tigers. The story of how B.J. became Melvin Jr. is now well documented in the press coverage of the trade, so I won’t linger over it here.
I was initially puzzled at the talk that Upton was coming here, because I didn’t see much of a role for him, especially since I assumed the cost would be pretty high, given the interest his availability had generated. As it turns out, though, this is really a sweetheart deal for the Jays. The Padres are eating most of his large salary through next year, and the player cost was a pitching prospect, Hansel Rodriguez, currently at rookie-level A-ball, who was not on most people’s radar yet. As for Upton’s role, more astute observers than I have pointed out that he is in some ways an acquisition for 2016, since he will still be under contract when both Michael Saunders and Jose Bautista could walk as free agents. So, insurance for the future in a good ballplayer with a proven track record, but what are the implications for the current 25-man roster? Ryan “Yo-yo” Tepera was shuffled off to Buffalo again to make immediate room for Upton. Poor guy, this time he didn’t even throw a pitch in anger.
But how long can the Jays go with a seven-man bullpen and five outfielders? It seems that the real sticking point is what is to become of Zeke Carrera, currently the fourth outfielder, who has endeared himself to his team-mates and fans alike by stepping up at some important moments when given the chance. The other consideration here is that Ryan Goins is getting closer to coming back from his arm injury, and some thought has to be given as to how he fits into the mix, especially since he has been developing his skills at first and in the outfield.
So, lots to talk about, roster-wise, for the Jays, without even considering that they announced a further acquisition after the game, actually getting something in return for Drew Storen, which was a surprise, which means that the Ben Revere legacy still lives, for the time being. Coming our way from the Mariners is thirty-nine-year-old Joaquin Benoit, another senior citizen to join Jason Grilli in the bullpen. The Blue Jays will have to go back to LazyBoy to get another rocker so that Benoit and Grilli can be comfy when they sit out there chatting about back in the day and so on. Benoit had some great years as the Tigers’ closer, but of course that was then. I guess the thinking is that Grilli worked out so well it’s worth taking a chance on another veteran arm.
There’s nothing that stirs up the fans and the commentators in this city quite so much as player transaction activity, and today was no exception. But I’ll leave the chatterers to chatter, and go on to the most exciting part of the day’s news, the improbable, mercurial, come-from-behind twelve-inning 7-6 Jays’ win over the Padres.
Sometimes at the end of a game all you can do is sit back and echo the familiar old Mel Allen line, “Well, how ’bout that?”
Through five innings, Marcus Stroman looked like the last Marcus Stroman we saw, which was a good thing. Other than a single in the third to Wil Myers, Stroman only had a spot of trouble in the second, when Ryan Schimpf’s double to left scored Yangervis Solarte, all the way from first, after the latter had led off with a single. This cut the lead the Jays had taken in the bottom of the first to 2-1. Andrew Cashner, auditioning for a major role with a contender (isn’t this a strange time of year?) started off the first by walking Jose Bautista, and then giving up a booming home run to centre by Josh Donaldson. Then Edwin Encarnacion hit one so hard off the left field wall that he was held to a single. At this point all the scouts in attendance except the rep from the Mickey Mouse Club started to close their notebooks and get out their sun screen, but their attention was quickly brought back to focus on Cashner as he caught Michael Saunders looking and got Troy Tulowitzki to ground into a double play.
Despite walking, then stranding, leadoff batters in the second and fourth innings, Cashner basically cruised until the fifth, holding the score at 2-1 until Justin Smoak, leading off the fifth, took him out to centre, extending Stroman’s lead to 3-1.
That’s how it stood in the top of the sixth when Stroman wavered for the second time, gave up the lead, and pretty well lost his chance for the win. The Padres sandwiched singles by Travis Jankowski and Matt Kemp around Stroman catching Wil Myers looking. Yangervis Solarte made the second out, but it was a loud one, as he drove Kevin Pillar right back to the wall in centre. This allowed Jankowski to advance to third, which didn’t much matter when the next hitter, Alex Dickerson, who is obviously ready to take over for Upton in left field, hit another homer to right, but this time only to the second deck. The lad must not have finished his power steak before the game. That’ll teach him. A chastened Stroman managed to freeze Shimpf to end the inning, and headed for the dugout hoping the Jays might tie it up for him in their half of the frame.
Didn’t happen, though. Cashner cruised through his last inning on 15 pitches, giving the army of scouts enough to think about, with a line of 6 innings, 3 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, and 108 pitches. Working on a fairly low pitch count of 81 for 6 innings, Stroman was sent back out by Manager John Gibbons to try to get one more inning, and another chance at salvaging the win with a Jays’ rally in the seventh, but he didn’t quite make it, getting two outs but unable to finish off the side. Alexei Ramirez flied out to centre and Brett Wallace fanned. But then Stroman walked the number nine hitter Derek Norris, and gave up a double to Travis Jankowski, with Norris stopping at third. That was it for Stroman: no chance to benefit from a comeback. His line: 6.2 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, on 99 pitches. This brought Joe Biagini in with runners on second and third and two outs.
It took Biagini exactly one pitch, and Troy Tulowitzki exactly one play, to strand the baserunners and keep the score at 4-3. But oh, what a play it was. Wil Myers hit a
slo-o-o-o-w bouncer past Biagini towards short and Tulo, charging in, and still charging in, barehanded the ball and threw in one motion to nip Myers at first.
As of the bottom of the seventh, then, the game was in the hands of the two bullpens. Though much happened in the four and a half innings before the game would be decided, the essential fact is this: the Jays relievers threw strikes, and the San Diego relievers, in crucial situations, did not. Starting with the bottom of the seventh, when Padres’ wildness gave the Jays the tying run, through to the bottom of the twelfth, wild pitches by San Diego would determine the outcome. And even though Jesse Chavez grooved one to Matt Kemp with one aboard in the twelfth to give the Padres a short-lived 6-4 lead, the inability of their bullpen to hold two different leads stemmed from wild pitches.
With Cashner out of the way, the Jays capitalized on the wildness of left-handed reliever Brad Hand, and the seeming reluctance of Padres’ Manager Andy Green to do anything about it. He started the inning by throwing eight straight balls to Russell Martin and Kevin Pillar. This brought Melvin Upton to the plate for his first appearance as a Blue Jay, an at-bat that offered a glimpse into the thinking of John Gibbons in regard to the use of Upton. He was hitting for the switch-hitting Justin Smoak, which seems odd on the face of it, except that the perception is growing that Smoak is struggling somewhat against left-handers, and Upton would provide a better option.
Though he didn’t break the game open, Upton had the opportunity to show off the one tool that he has which is badly needed by the Jays, his speed. He hit a grounder to first on which first baseman Wil Myers tried to turn the double play, but Upton beat the relay, while Martin moved to third. He moved up immediately on a short wild pitch. With runners at second and third and one out, it looked good for the home team to tie it up, but it didn’t come easily. Devon Travis topped one up the third base line that Solarte could not make a play on, but the runners had to hold, so the bases were loaded for Bautista, who struck out swinging, but not before he had a ring-side seat to see Martin finally score the tying run on a wild pitch. Hand had in fact bounced a couple of pitches to Bautista, but playing it cautiously, coach Luis Rivera had kept Martin close to home, until he decided to take the chance on the strikeout pitch. Things still looked good, with Donaldson coming up and Upton and Travis in scoring position, but Hand got Donaldson to pop up to short to end the inning. What’s not clear is why Hand was left in the game. He was the first in after Cashner, and Green had only used two relievers for an inning each the night before, so it’s hard to imagine why he didn’t go to a right-hander to face Upton. Oh well, not my problem.
The game rolled from the bottom of the seventh into extra innings with a sense of inevitability, the only real challenge on either side the pickle that Roberto Osuna put himself into in the top of the ninth. Perhaps feeling the effects of his third outing in a row, Osuna hit two batters and allowed a stolen base before narrowly escaping with his skin when Wil Myers hit a screamer with two outs, but right at Donaldson. Jose Dominguez came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth to the Jays, and immediately plunked Martin to return the favour to Osuna but then retired Kevin Pillar on a soft flare to Schimpf at second, and got Tulowitzki to hit into a double play, squelching any hope of a regulation walk-off for the Jays.
The extra frames were marked by solid pitching on both sides, and no threats to end it before the twelfth. Jesse Chavez and Brandon Maurer went pitch for pitch through the tenth and eleventh, Chavez retiring six in a row, and Maurer only facing six, as he erased an Encarnacion leadoff single in the eleventh by getting an inning-ending double play.
Chavez continued his domination of the Padres through the first two hitters in the twelfth, extending his streat to eight consecutive outs, before teeing one up to Wil Myers, who hit a liner to right that went for a double, but to me was a catchable ball. I had the sense that Jose Bautista maybe thought it was out, and didn’t go hard enough for it, with the result that it went over his head. Regardless, this was the wedge that San Diego needed against Chavez, and brought the tough Matt Kemp to the plate. Kemp lined a one-one pitch over the wall in left to give the Padres a two-run lead. Fortunately, as it turned out for Chavez, Gibbons left him in the game to get Solarte on an easy grounder to first to end the inning. This out would eventually give him the win. You can hardly fault Chavez, who’d been perfect through eight hitters, and maybe should have had the ninth out as well, for giving up the homer to Kemp.
The bottom of the twelfth brought former Jay Carlos Villanueva to the mound for the save, but like Hand in the bottom of the seventh, things just got away from him. Russell Martin led off with a line single to centre. Kevin Pillar hit a potential double-play ball, but beat out the relay to first, a good result for the Jays, replacing the slower Martin with the swift Pillar at first. This brought Darwin Barney to the plate for his one and only at-bat of the game, a result of Gibbie’s having hit Upton for Smoak in the seventh. With Smoak out of the game, Encarnacion had taken over at first, and when your DH takes a fielding position, you lose your DH. So Smoak’s eighth place in the batting order became the pitcher’s slot, and Barney came in to hit for Chavez. Not for the first time showing a flare for the clutch at-bat, Barney turned on Villanueva’s sixth pitch and drove it hard up the alley into left centre. He hit it so hard that Pillar had to stop at third.
This brought Devon Travis to the plate, for a battle with Villanueva that contained the whole game, and all of baseball in the drama that played out between them. Fourteen pitches. The first five pitches took the count to three and two. Then Travis fouled one off. And another. And another. Villanueva threw three fast balls, two sliders, and three more fast balls. Travis spoiled them all. All but one. On the twelfth pitch of the at bat, Travis turned on an inside fast ball and caught it square. He danced sideways down the first-base line, watching it all the way, until it just hooked out at the left field foul pole. The whole stadium, the whole watching city, deflated like a big dead balloon. Finally, though, on pitch fourteen, Villanueva tried a changeup, it missed low, and the bases were loaded for Bautista.
That was enough for Andy Green, who called in another right-hander, Paul Clemens, to face Bautista. It wasn’t pretty, but thanks to another bout of wildness from the new Padres reliever, all three runners scored to give the Jays the walk-off win without benefit of a hit. Bautista walked on a three and one pitch to score Pillar. Josh Donaldson went to a full count, then hit a ground ball to second. Schimpf turned it over to Ramirez for the force on Bautista, but Bautista’s hard legal slide disrupted Ramirez, Donaldson was safe at first, and Barney had scored the tying run. Finally, with Edwin Encarnacion at the plate, Clemens bounced the first pitch to him, and though it didn’t go too far off to the right of catcher Derek Norris, coach Rivera took one last chance and unleashed Travis, who slid across the plate ahead of the tag, and the game was over.
In two minutes short of four hours, the Jays had led, trailed, tied, lost, and finally won the game, in a rush of excitement that might just carry us into the lead in the AL East, and sooner, rather than later. In a few short hours, R.A. Dickey will face Rule 5 rookie Luis Perdomo tomorrow afternoon as the Blue Jays go for the sweep.
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