In the first game of the Blue Jays and White Sox series, the two teams battled it out in foggy weather. The fog delayed the game for a bit, but the White Sox ultimately won the game 10-6 despite the fog. RA Dickey had one of his worst games of the season in the losing effort lasting only 5.0 innings with 10 hits, 7 runs against and no strikeouts. It would be his 8th loss of the season. It was not any better for Dylan Axelrod, who only pitched 4.0 innings with 8 hits, 6 runs, and walk 4 in his start. Personally, with the hour-long delay from the fog I would not have let Dickey continue after having the three runs scored against him in the second, and the delay probably added to his woes.
The Jays were in the game until the eighth inning only trailing by one run, before the Sox pulled away from the Jays with three runs scored. Delabar had the runs against him, but none of them were earned, due to an Emilion Bonifacio error. Another game where errors really screwed up the team, and honestly at this point it’s apparent they need to hire a coach that can help this team with their fielding – it is awful.
Jose Bautista and Adam Dunn did not seem to be that affected by the fog when they went up to bat. Bautista would go 2-5 with two homers and drove in 5 runs, while Adam Dunn went 4-4 hitting 2 homers as well with 5 RBI’s and 3 runs scored. Blame the fog if you want, but this team seemed a little lost and had a lot of issues with fielding the ball.
The second game for the Blue Jays was much better, winning it 7-5 in extra innings. The Jays lead the game 2-1 until the bottom of the fourth when the White would score 4 runs including a 3-run homerun by Conor Gillaspie making it 5-2 in favor of the Sox. Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homerun, his 18th of the season, to make it a 1-run game.
With two outs in the bottom of ninth inning it looked like Addison Reed was going to get his 20th save of the season. Jose Bautista made sure he would not as he tied the game with a solo homerun. The Jays scored two more runs in the top of the 10th inning and went on to win the game 7-5.
Chien-Ming Wang got his first start of the season with the Jays, he is the twelfth starter of the season for the Blue Jays. Wang went 7.1 innings with 10 hits and 5 runs against with 3 strikeouts to earn the no decision. Brett Cecil earned his second win of the season and Casey Janssen saved his 13th game of the season as well.
The final game of this series had been rained out and will be scheduled for a later date in the season. The Jays aren’t sure if they will have Esmil Rogers or Mark Buehrle pitch in the first game against the Rangers in Texas.
Nicks Notes:
Jose Reyes was sent down to Dunedin Minor League Complex so he could start his running program and play some simulated games while he continues his rehab. He could be back in Toronto soon, provided everything has healed 100%. I hope he practices his sliding in Dunedin so he does not have the same accident like he did early in the season.
Adam Dunn is probably wishing that the series had not ended as he went 5-8 with 5 runs, 3 homeruns and 6 RBI’s. His last ten games he has had an average over .300, which is not bad for a guy who has a season average under .200.
Jose Bautista is probably in the same boat as Dunn, although his numbers are not quite the same. He went 3-9, but all his hits were homeruns, and had 3 runs scored and drove in 6 RBI’s.
Brendan Morrow is scheduled to appear in Dunedin on the 13th of June to start his rehab, if he can get back in the rotation soon, Rogers can go back to the bullpen and the Jays will have starters that can go longer than 4 innings. No news on Drabek or Hutchison for the time being.
Andy Laroche was sent for assignment and Henry Blanco has now been officially released which means for the time being, Thole will be Dickey’s catcher.
Scott MacArthur made a good point that the Jays are running out of time to make any kind of push for a post-season run, even John Gibbons knows this. Ever since those games against the Red Sox and Giants the Jays have not been able to go on a huge tear, losing more than they are winning still. We can make all the excuses we want, but the bad start has had a long-term effect on this team. The Jays sit 9 games out of a wildcard spot and is still a possibility, but that window of opportunity is closing fast.
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