GAME ELEVEN, APRIL NINTH:
BLUE JAYS 7, ORIOLES 1:
I WAS WATCHING A PITCHERS’ DUEL
AND A LAUGHER BROKE OUT!
So it was quite the matchup last night in Baltimore between the surprising Toronto Blue Jays and the exhausted Baltimore Orioles. Toronto swept into town on the fresh breeze of a 2-1 series win over the Rangers in Texas, their first road series of the year. The Orioles, on the other hand, limped back into…
GAME TEN, APRIL EIGHTH:
BLUE JAYS 7, RANGERS 4:
FIRST-INNING BLASTS BACK GARCIA,
JAYS GO 6-4 IN FIRST TEN GAMES
For a starting pitcher in the visitor's dugout, there's only one thing that could be better than seeing your leadoff hitter belt the first pitch of the game into the left-field seats. That's when the numbers three and four hitters get base hits ahead of your DH, who blasts a three-run dinger to the opposite…
GAME NINE, APRIL SEVENTH:
RANGERS 5, JAYS 1:
UMP-SHOW, NOT STRO-SHOW IN TEXAS
If MLB doesn't want fans to second-guess umpires on balls and strikes it should remove the graphic charting of pitches from the TV screen. In last night's 5-1 Blue Jay loss to the Texas Rangers, the FanGraph consistently showed home plate umpire Mark Wegner squeezing the strike zone on Marcus Stroman, but not on Rangers'…
GAME EIGHT, APRIL SIXTH:
BLUE JAYS 8, RANGERS 5:
ESTRADA SPARKLES BEHIND POTENT BATS
It's funny how easy it is to forget just how good Marco Estrada can be. Last night he returned to Arlington, Texas, the scene of the most important great game he's ever pitched, when he brought Toronto back from the brink of elimination in Game 3 of the 2015 ALDS. Now, two full seasons later,…
GAME SEVEN, APRIL FOURTH:
WHITE SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 3:
ABREU TAKES TEPERA DEEP;
UMPS HELP END JAYS’ STREAK
Well, if you're a glass half-full kinda person, you wake up today thinking, “Wow, 4 and 3, what a great start to the season! Maybe we're on to something after all!” But if you're a glass half-empty type, you're all about, “No-o-o, we lost a one-run game when we went 3 for 10 with runners…
GAME SIX, APRIL THIRD:
BLUE JAYS 14, WHITE SOX 9
IT’S ONLY A HOT, STINKING MESS
IF YOU LOSE
Normally I like my baseball nice and tidy. 3-1, 5-2, 2-0, like that. Occasionally, just like changing up my ice cream flavour, I'll take, say, a 9-6. As long as the good guys have the 9. But 14-5? Normally, yecchh! Normally, maybe I shoulda watched TFC beat Mexico Club America in the miserable rain at…
GAME FIVE: APRIL SECOND:
JAYS 4, WHITE SOX 2
LATE-INNING THUNDER ROCKS SOX
GARCIA, BULLPEN STIFLE CHI SLUGGERS
After the Chicago White Sox scored 18 runs in their first two games in the spacious surroundings of Kansas City's home grounds, blasting 7 home runs in the process, who would have thought that you could have a game score the likes of: TORONTO 4, WELLINGTON CASTILLO 2, CHICAGO WHITE SOX 0? And after the…
GAMES THREE AND FOUR: EASTER WEEKEND
BLUE JAYS 5,7, YANKEES 4,3
JUDGE, STANTON GO POOF;
PILLAR, SMOAK POWER JAYS’ SPLIT
Editorial note from yer humble scribe: much as I'd like to write reams and reams on these two great games, we had the grand-kids for Easter-egging on Saturday, so, though we all watched a fair bit of the game, I had to organize the big hunt, so was unable to do a game log. Hence,…
GAME TWO: MARCH THIRTIETH:
YANKEES 4, JAYS 2
AARON SANCHEZ HEALTHY, BATS SICKLY
7 HITS IN FIRST 2 GAMES IS FRANCHISE LOW
It was a good thing for the Jays' hitters that all eyes were on Aaron Sanchez' blister-prone fingers tonight, diverting attention from a pathetic offensive output for the second straight game of the season. If tonight's performance is anything to go by, it looks like Sanchez is all right, even if he did run out…
OPENING DAY, MARCH TWENTY-NINTH:
YANKEES 6, JAYS 1
LATE PILLAR HOMER SMALL CONSOLATION
BUT STANTON EARNS HIS PAY
it was one of those “Oh no!” moments. On an 0-1 pitch, with one easy swing and a crisp crack, Giancarlo Stanton announced his arrival in the American League East this afternoon. From his extreme closed stance, he stabbed his front foot awkwardly to reach the outside pitch, flicked his bat, and hit a rocket…