The Jays’ first week has come and gone and it has been a unique one at that. It’s certainly not the way the Blue Jay fans and the organization had expected to start the season. Here is the story: The opening series for the Blue Jays was against the Cleveland Indians and the Tribe won that series 2-1, the first two games could have easily been won by the Blue Jays, especially on the 3rd of April when they lost 3-2. The Jays were down 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th when Jose Bautista hit his first homerun of the season to tie it. Unfortunately for Sergio Santos and the Jays they ended up losing the game in the 11th inning courtesy a Mark Reynolds homer. It was too bad that the Jays offense was still a bit cold that day because Brendan Morrow had pitched a gem with 8 strikeouts in the span of 6 innings.
The Jays would win 10-8 the next and it was clearly not a pitcher’s duel. Mark Buehrle had 6 runs scored on him in 5.1 innings, and Myers was no better with 7 runs over 5 innings scored against him. The highlight (or highlights) of that game was the fact the Jays hit 5 homeruns that game, (Bautista, Encarnacion, Rasmus and two for Arencibia). At least the Jays did not get swept by the Indians, or the Jays fans would be really losing it. It was not a bad series all in all however any of the three games could have been won by the Jays, or the Indians.
It is a good sign that the Jays bats finally woke up in the third game because by the series end the Tribe had dominated the Blue Jays in the category of hitting. The Indians hit off the Jays pitchers 31 times, while the Jays only had 18 hits in that series. Luckily it’s only the beginning of the season and the team is still very new – give it a few weeks and they will be scary.
Next time the Jays meet the Indians they should watch out for Michael Brantley, Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana, those were just to name a few, most of their roster played well against the Jays. Next time the Jays meet the Indians will be July 9th to the 11th in a three game series and by that point the Blue Jays will be warmed up and probably much stronger. Stayed tuned for that series.
John Farrel made his return to Toronto and got booed every time he showed his face – and why not? It makes the game livelier. It was really funny in the first game when he raised his hat acknowledging the fans and in return they booed until their throats were sore.
It was another game with a new pitcher throwing for the first time; Josh Johnson went 6 innings with 3 earned runs and 6 strikeouts. Unfortunately, the Jays lost the game 6-4 no thanks to Mike Napoli who hit a home run and had 3 RBI’s that night and Will Middlebrooks scored the 6th run in the top of the 9th to make it 6-4. Funny enough, the score could have been much worse; the Jays pitched out of many jams and the Red Sox had 15 guys left on base. Bullpen once again could not stop the opponents from scoring and newcomer Esmil Rogers earned the loss. This was another game that the Jays could have won. They had nine players left on base and had 12 hits without Jose Bautista in the line-up. The Jays bright spots were Jose Reyes who went 4-5 and just missed a triple to complete the cycle, which he almost got during one of his at bats. Speed is a nice benefit, and this team has plenty. Once they really start to heat up they will take full advantage. My final point about this game is a disappointing one; why did Adam Lind pinch-hit and take first base over Mark DeRosa? I know, I know, he was playing the percentages, but DeRosa had a sacrifice fly and a homerun, his first since 2010. That accounts for 2 RBI’s, and 2 out of the 4 runs that the Jays scored. It made no sense, especially since Adam did not get any hits in the two at bats he had.
The second game of the series was much better, despite another outing without Jose Bautista in the line-up. The Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 5-0 and JA Happ was solid through five 5.1 innings with 6 strikeouts. The Sox were only held to two hits all game! The Jays continued to swing with power with another four-bagger from JP Arencibia and a 3-run dinger from Colby Rasmus. This was the second game of the series that had a crowd of 45 000+ fans and they got to go home happy. The Jays also played the kind of baseball that is expected for the season and if they stay healthy and play like this most of the time it will be a fantastic season. That was then, and this is now.
The final game of the Sox series did not start off the way the Jays wanted; 5 runs were scored against RA Dickey before their first out in the first inning. Dickey would only pitch 4.2 innings and the Jays would lose 13-0 to the Red Sox. Frankly I am not worried about Dickey (yet), as he is a pitcher who regularly gets better as the season progresses and he has to get used to the team and pitching in the AL again.
The Jays missed Jose Bautista again in the lineup and are having problems with bringing in the runs, they had 8 players left on base again. This is only the first week and only 6 games out of 162, but the Jays need to try and get 4 wins (or higher) on the road against the Tigers and Royals. Once again we just have to wait and see, but the Jays cannot afford to lose too many games because the AL East is still tough, and for a team with so many expectations this year, every win counts.
Unfortunate note: In every game except the 5-0 win on Saturday the Jays were scored on first by their opponents and had to play catch up every time.
Bright Stars: Brett Cecil, Jose Reyes, Brendan Morrow, J.P. Arencibia and before he was hurt Jose Bautista., I hope that Jose and Brett Lawrie can return soon, because they are needed.
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photo credit: james_in_to via photopin cc
