Blue Jays blow it in New York

Is the nightmare over yet?

With the Jays having some success against the Yankees this season, there was a little bit of hope going into this long road trip on a positive note. With the Escobar incident and the rainout on Tuesday night, things looked bleak indeed.

Wednesday afternoon: Jays 2 vs Yankees 4

Wednesday afternoon's first of the day-night double-header featured Henderson Alvarez against the returning Andy Pettitte. In the bottom of the first, the Yankees quickly opened the game with singles from Ichiro and Swisher. With none out, Robinson Cano hit a very catchablefly ball over the head of Colby Rasmus, who was apparently just waking up. Seriously, a harder sprint and Colby should have easily caught that ball. That double scored the first run. The next two players scored Swisher and Ichiro through a ground ball out and a sacrifice fly. It was 3-0 after one. On the ground ball out, Adam Lind easily could have gone home but elected not to, costing the Jays a run. Alvarez should have gotten out of the inning with no runs, but his defence let him down.

After that, Henderson was great, retiring all Yankees save for Ichiro's single in the bottom of the 3rd over the next six frames.

The Jays offence however was ineffective against Pettitte. The Jays had runners in scoring position in the 2nd and 3rd inning but were unable to cash. Gose hit into the 3rd out in the 2nd; Lind hit into a double play in the 3rd, stranding Rajai on 3rd. Gose again hit into the 3rd out in the 4th with runners on 1st and 3rd. In the top of the 7th, with none out and a lead off double by Hechavarria, Gose attempted a bunt single but hit into a bunt fly ball caught by Chavez deep into foul territory - a great catch.

Finally, the Jays' offense sputtered in the top of the 8th against David Robertson. Lawrie doubled and Lind singled. Kelly Johnston, in to pinch hit for Jeff Mathis, singed home Lawrie. Omar Visquel, who had tied Babe Ruth in hits earlier in the game, then doubled home Mike Mccoy (who was pinch run for Lind), and with one out, there were runners on 2nd and 3rd. Hechavarria struck out, Gose walked, and Rajai Davis hit a line shot pretty much right to Ichiro who made an instinctive great basket catch to end the inning. 3-2 Yankees into the bottom of the eighth.

Darren Oliver came on in the 8th, but with two out, an Ichiro ground rule double and a Swisher single scored an insurance run for the Yankees. That was Swisher's first hit against Oliver in 19 plate appearances.

Soriano wrapped the game for the Yankees with his 41th save.

For the game, every Jay except for Mathis managed to get on base, but the game was about not able to cash in runs, going 3-13 with RISP and leaving 11 on base. Ichiro went 3-4 and scored the 1st and 4th run of the game and made key defensive plays. Rasmus let a ball get over his head, and Lind could have saved a run and elected not too. Gose was up three times and failed to cash in runners, and that is the short story of this game.

Wednesday night: Jays 1 at Yankees 2

This evening's game featured a struggling Ricky Romero against rookie reliever-turned starter David Phelps in his 11th start of his career.

Ricky looked shaky in the 1st, and the Jays looked like they would be in for a long night (turns out that would be the next game). Jeter singled and Swisher walked, but Cano flied out and A-Rod hit into a double play.

The Jays managed to score their only run in the second as Arencibia and Johnston walked. Hechavarria singled home Arencibia.

The bottom of the second was no better for Romero, as he walked Nix and McGehee. Ichiro singled, but Rasmus pegged Jason Nix coming home on a gorgeous and perfect throw straight to Arencibia, who applied the tag just before Nix' hand touched the plate to save a run and record an out. Chris Stewart, however, hit a ground rule double deep into the corner in left to tie.

Romero struggled through the next four frames, but the Yankees were never able to cash in anyone. Even though Romero allowed seven hits and walked five over 6 innings (WHIP = 2), he left the game in a 1-1 tie going into the 7th.

The Jays offense did nothing to help as the rookie pitched a 3 hit gem through 2 outs in the 7th. The Jays managed to load the bases in the top of the 7th against him through a single, walk, and an error, but Boone Logan came on to strike out Sierra to end the inning. Why Farrell didn't elect to pinch hit for a struggling Sierra I'm not sure.

Delabar ended up taking the loss for the Jays with an opening walk to Granderson, a sac bunt, and a single by Ichiro (who went 7-8 in the double header) to take a 2-1 lead. Soriano came on again to close it out for his 42nd save.

Defensively, Lawrie was very much focused as was the rest of the team, but offensively, they just couldn't get it off the ground, only getting three games the entire game versus a pitcher who just isn't that good.

Thursday: Jays 7, Yankees 10

This game was not nearly as dramatic as it was over early for the Jays thanks to Aaron Laffey and Brad Lincoln.

The Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd with a double-double combination from Lind and Johnson. They added to the scoring with a bases loaded hit-by-pitch as Hughes plunked Sierra in the back. It was 2-0 Jays by the middle of the 3rd. 

But Ichiro opened the scoring in the bottom of the third with a fast ball left over the plate for Ichiro to hit out of the park. 

By the bottom of the fourth, Laffey hit his mental wall. The inning opened with a 10 pitch Russell Martin walk. Martin stole second, and a routine ground ball to Johnson by Granderson was bobbled, allowing him to reach. McGehee then walked to load the bases, and Ichiro did it again, doubling home two. That ended the day for Laffey. On came Brad Lincoln, who walked Nix to load the bases. Jeter singled to keep the bases loaded and score another run. Nick Swisher then belted a grand slam to right field to finish a seven run 4th inning and end much hope for the Jays.

Sierra hit a two run homer in the top of the 5th to score a walked Adam Lind to bring the Jays within 4. However, Brett Cecil let in two more runs in the bottom of the 5th, thanks to a Granderson double, Nix double, and Jeter single. It was 10-4 after 5.

The Jays tried to come back in the 8th, with a Johnson home run, an Arencibia single, a Gose double, an infield single by Lawrie (scoring Arencibia), and a Mike McCoy fielder's choice (to score Gose). David Robertson struck out the side in the 9th to end the game.

Stick a fork in it, the Jays are done

Truly, it's difficult to watch the Jays close out the season. The players with nothing left to prove are doing just that -- proving nothing. They are out of it. Colby Rasmus continues to struggle badly, batting just above .200 for September, but he will be the starting CF next year. Brett Lawrie has hit .200 since his return, but he will be the starting 3B. JP Arencibia is 2 for 29 since his return. Moises is hitting .162 in September -- he knows there's no room for him. Yunel is hitting .233 and Rajai is hitting .207 for September. Kelly Johnston is batting sub .200 for September. The only 3 bright stars on the team are Hechavarria, Encarnacion, and Gose. Encarnacion just continues to go out day after day and do his job. And Adam Lind continues to be a shade above mediocre.

And there are really no excuses this time. Back in August, the media claimed that with players missing, you could just pitch around everyone. But the weaklings in the lineups are still the regulars, who seemed to have checked out for the year. It's mental mistakes everywhere that are costing the Jays games -- from Moises' miscues on sunny days to Rajai and Colby's mental errors in not reading fly balls to Escobar's antics to not making plays to the correct bases, this team seems to have just fallen apart.

And why not? The season was as much a letdown for the players as it was for the fans. Freak injuries to the starters, then the relievers, then the starting lineup guaranteed the end of any hope for making the playoffs. Add to that the tradeaway of Lunchbox and the failure for Alex to pick up any piece that would help the Jays in their efforts, and what you have is a broken down team with no leadership and no hope. Farrell is not a veteran manager, and Alex Anthopoulos is not a veteran General Manager.

Ricky Romero was supposed to be the leader of the pitching rotation but all he has done is struggle. Morrow's return added some stability to the rotation. The loss of Bautista for the season certainly added a major  blow to the team. Brett Lawrie's loss made people realize that he is not the godsend to this team, and that he has a great deal of growing up to do. Rogers trotted him out at the beginning of the year as the team's brash, young, spokesperson, but as the year wore down, that role was taken away. Brett Lawrie is gifted, but he is far too aggressive, whether it's stealing bases unneccessarily, throwing helmets at umpires, or diving into camera bays. Restraint is required, young Jedi.

And the clubhouse antics of Yunel revealed the ugly and homophobic side to baseball and to the general unrest in the clubhouse. The clubhouse isn't nearly as cohesive as advertised. People in the dugout knew exactly what Yunel painted, and they did and said nothing except let him go out there and be the fool. A cohesive dugout would not have let that happen.

At the end of the year, there will be more questions than answers. Fans had hoped that Adam Lind and Kelly Johnston would have good years, but both are up for replacement. I really can't see Adam Lind staying on the Jays, as he is prone to health problems and has definite hitting issues. Yunel's existence on the team is questionable especially with an well-auditioning Hechavarria. A gaping hole is in leftfield with no one really stepping up to fill it, forcing Anthopoulos to deal in the off-season. 

It just seems like there are many more holes than there was at the beginning of the season to be resolved. At the beginning of the year, people would have been quite happy to say that 2013 would look like Escobar - Lawrie - Bautista - Edwin - Lind - Johnston - Rasmus - Lawrie - Arencibia -  Snider, and that indeed would be a formidable lineup if everyone was hitting as good as advertised. But for next year, we might see Hechavarria at short, a new 1B or DH in town, and definitely a new 2B and LF. Rajai and Jeff Mathis will be on the bench. Mike McCoy probably right now is slated to be the utility infielder, and the Jays will probably go out and acquire an inexpensive veteran bench player as they did in Omar Visquel. AA has a lot of shopping to do in the off-season, and the Jays' management knows that the fans are expecting a contender next year.

Yunel ¡majadero! Escobar

So what, Yunel is an idiot! That's news? You bet it is.

NCAA banned eye black writing in 2011
Cliff Welch / Icon SMI

On Saturday, an alert fan took the offending photo of Yunel's face which had the offensive and charged slur, which (loosely translated) meant, "You are a faggot", and then published it to the world.

Those of us who know baseball know that Yunel's a bit of a blockhead. He was born and raised in Cuba, went to high school at Matires de Barbado in Havana, and didn't complete any college. He is about pure baseball, and that's it. 

Defensively, as an infielder, there is no doubt that he is excellent, in the top 5 in the majors in all major defensive categories for his positions. On the other hand, at the plate, he has been absolutely unremarkable, recording his worst year in the majors at .251 / .295 / .346 for a .642 OPS. Statistically this year he's a little worse (both defensively and offensively) as JJ Hardy of the Orioles. Offensively, we know that he's probably a .750 OPS player, which is just above average.

This year, we can attack Yunel's batting, but really, he has put the same number of balls in play as he has as last year. His BABIP is 45 points lower this year over last year, while his BA is 49 points lower this year over last. He has 32 less plate appearances this year over last, and he has 31 less walks (50%) than last. Therefore, you can say that he is lacking plate discipline and is swinging at bad pitches. But he has the same number of strikeouts. His ground ball / fly ball ratio is exactly the same as last year. So, what you can conclude is that he is electing to put balls in play instead of taking the walks, and that the pitches that he is swinging at are resulting in more outs. In short, Yunel is a superior shortstop defensively and a lifetime average hitter for that position. There is NO reason to get rid of him due to his quality of play.

Which brings me to Saturday's incident. Yunel's 30 years old now, and he's no kid. He's been in the major league system now for seven years with two organizations. He had displayed some issues on the field, mostly, his tendency to catch every single popup that he can get to. He might call this "de mando" or "el liderazgo" but most infield players have given him the glare when he catches something that clearly is a better play for another infielder. As a baserunner, he's made some boneheaded moves, and at the plate, he's missed signs. He is, simply, unwise, and not very intelligent, except when he is FIELDING.

Apparently, according to other team members and photos, Escobar writes stuff on his eye black at all times. And eye black messages have been written in other sports. The NFL blocks eye black writing. NCAA college football banned the messages last year -- Tim Tebow was famous for his bible verses on his eye black (which became the most popular search terms on the Google for a day after he wrote John 3:16 during the BCS game), and Reggie Bush had 619 on his eye-black, to denote his home town area code. And I am sure other players had some pretty indecent messages on their eye-black as well. Keep in mind too that football television broadcasts have much more tight focuses on player's faces, increasingly the likelihood that these messages would be seen.

Perhaps it is high time for MLB to invoke the same ban.

Now, I cannot believe for one second that no other single team mate did not recognize the message. I am pretty positive that even the non-latinos in the clubhouse recognized the word and its meaning. If Escobar is writing things on his eye black, it's for others to read. I am absolutely 100% certain, as are other baseball commentators that have played the game, that many in the clubhouse (if not everybody) knew exactly what was written.

Now, Escobar sat out the game on Sunday purportedly because of the flu, but perhaps this was already discipline from the management for what he did. It would make sense for Rogers to downplay the incident and put all of this on Yunel because if leadership admitted to knowing about and condoned the message, there would be a shitstorm from both Rogers' management and from their customers.

And Yunel is responsible. For him, truly, it was a joke, a clubhouse prank amongst the Latinos in the clubhouse, or perhaps a message written to an opposing player. I believe whole-heartedly that the use of the word "maricon" is used among clubhouses as a form of joking around. Of course it is insensitive to the gay community, but the joke was meant (to him) to be private. He displayed incredibly poor judgement by bringing it on the field. In my household, we make slurs of all kinds (including against ourselves) as jokes, intending it not to go outside of the walls of my home. On TV, jokes are made all of the time against minorities (think South Park or Family Guy) and they are viewed by millions.

Escobar truly did not understand the gravity of what he was writing, that it would be read and interpreted by english speaking fans, and would become a huge news story. He is sorry for the incident, but he doesn't really (still) understand why it's an issue. He's written stupid things on his eye black before that haven't been noticed, and got away with it. A big part of why he doesn't get it is his lack of education, machismo Latino upbringing, baseball's ingrained intolerance towards homosexuality, and insenstivity.

And surely, for the gay people in MLB (both on the bench and off), it's an insult to them as well, and just demonstrates the macho attitude that this particular sport has. Baseball has always been that way. Of all of the players in MLB in all the years, only two (Glenn Burke and Billy Bean) have been confirmed to be gay, but there are probably hundreds of players over the years that were and are gay. 

So, absolutely, it's a learning lesson for MLB and for the Blue Jays. It's absolutely correct for the gay community to jump all over this because it's high time for change within MLB. And Escobar, like it or not, is the scapegoat for this.

But let's not run the man out of town.

September 4: Orioles 12, Jays 0

Blue Jays continue extreme suckage, rains in dome, Villanueva taken down a notch

Tonight's clash between the O's and Jays featured Carlos Villanueva and Zach Britton. Villanueva came off a very good start against Tampa, pitching 6 innings, striking out 7 and not allowing any runs on 5 hits. Meanwhile, Zach Britton has come off three great starts in a row. In his last start, Britton pitched 8 innings of ball against Chicago, allowing 1 run, 7 hits and striking out 10. The game should be a pitching duel.

Back with the Jays is Anthony Gose and Chad Beck. Arencibia is probably a week away from rejoining the club.

In the bottom of the first, Rajai reached on an infield hit off the plate, but Colby bunted straight to the pitcher and the force at 2nd was an easy shot -- Nothing else doing that inning. In the bottom of the second, Escobar singled, but once again -- nothing doing. In the bottom of the third, Hechavarria singled to open the inning, Rajai bunted him over, but nothing doing. Sierra then doubled with two out in the bottom of the fourth, but nothing doing. 4 innings, four stranded runners.

Villanueva, meanwhile, did nothing short of face the minimum through 12 batters, continuing to strengthen through the season.

In the top of the 5th, Adam Jones then hit a ground rule double as it started to rain inside Rogers Centre. An out later, Villanueva walked Davis. Mark Reynolds then his a three run home run just over the fence to the bullpen in left.

The Jays offense continued to do nothing as the rain continued to fall at Rogers Centre. In the top of the sixth, a single and a double followed by a sac fly to score Markasis to make it 4-0 after six. Jays did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as the roof continued to remain stuck open in the rain, and a fire alarm disrupted Escobar's at bat.

In the 7th, the Orioles managed to single and double and score another run through the sacrifice to make it 5-0. Aaron Loup came on to pitch with two outs. He balked home Machado, and Markasis doubled. JJ Hardy then singled home Markasis as the throw skipped off the wet turf over the catcher's glove. 7-0 into the stretch.

The Jays continued to do nothing offensively in the bottom of the 7th. In the eighth, Aaron Loup continued to be awful with a single-single-double to end Aaron Loup's crappy outing (1 out, 5 hits, 4 earned runs). On came Chad Beck to completely suck with a single-single-double-single to score four more runs. With the bases loaded and behind 12-0, an inning ending double play ended the misery.

Jays did nothing in the 8th against Kevin Gregg or in the 9th against Zach Phillips.

Well, I'm completely flabbergasted.

The Orioles are just not that great a team. Their record is what it is because of their closer and their setup. Their hitting is average. Their starting pitching is average, yet not only can the Blue Jays not hit, they can't manage to score a freaking run in the two games, and this is with an okay line up that features two-thirds of a lineup. Seven hits in two games. That's absolutely ridiculous.

The second thing is the dome. Presumably, the dome staff have access to weather radar and a meteorologist. There is absolutely no reason to open the dome. Rogers couldn't close the dome and it ended up pouring in the dome which absolutely affected the Jays performance on the field. Ridiculous, terrible, and it should not have happened.

Villanueva had 6 earned runs over 6 2/3rds inning. He looked great through the first three, but started to wear down in the middle innings. He struck out six and walked one. Loup got one out, got 5 hits, and earned 4 runs. Beck pitched an inning, got 4 hits, and 2 runs earned. For Villanueva, this might take away a little bit of his marketability as a starting pitcher in another market.

Hits for the Jays by Rajai, Yunel, Moises and Hechavarria. Sierra got a double. Edwin got walked intentionally and Kelly Johnson walked. Rasmus, Lind, and Mathis did nothing.

It's just an awful outing by the Jays with absolutely no bright spots at all.

September 3: Orioles 4, Jays 0

Blue Jays bats silent. Happ Ks 9 over 5 innings, but not even close

JA Happ looked pretty impressive in his outing against the Orioles today, for the first four innings. 

Unfortunately, a miss by Moises Sierra in right field led to the Oriole's first run. Moises lost a fly ball hit down the line to right. It was a great and long run to try to catch it, but he attempted to dive for the ball that he didn't need to and just missed it. His defense now I would rank in the questionable category, with a dive at a fly ball a few days back, a miss yesterday, and a miss today.

Happ threw 56 pitches through four innings, walking 2 and striking out 6, to keep is strikeout rate well above one per inning. 

The fifth inning was not good for Happ at all, as the Orioles pummeled Happ with a solid single by Andino, a RBI double by Nick Markakis, another RBI double by J J Hardy pass a diving Hechavarria, and an Adam Jones single, all with none out. Then, Happ struck out the side but threw 36 pitches in the inning. 3-0 Orioles half-way through the game.

Meanwhile, Joe Saunders powered his way through the Jays lineup, retiring the first 17 batters in a row, beating his best start of the season when he pitched against the Marlins in April (while pitching for the Diamondbacks) when he retired 13 in a row.

Happ got pulled in the top of the sixth when McLouth hit a double to the wall in right-centre with none out. Lincoln saved the inning with a walk, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, and double play to preserve the three run deficit.

Hechavarria opened the hitting for the Jays in the bottom of the sixth with two out with a solid single up the middle. Davis then walked, but Rasmus struck out to end the sixth.

Delabar pitched a good 7th, only walking one. 

Encarnacion opened the 7th inning with a walk and Adam Lind followed with a base hit. Escobar hit a fielder's choice (Encarnacion tagged out on the way to third), and Kelly Johnson hit a single to load the bases. That ended Saunders' afternoon. On came Luis Ayala to pitch to Moises Sierra, who went 3-0 before striking out on three pitches. Jeff Mathis then hit a high popper to Jones to end the inning.

The Orioles are 58-0 when leading after 7 and explains why they are in the wild-card spot.

Brett Cecil, joining the Jays as part of the September expansion, came on in the eighth, hit a batter, got a popup, and walked the next batter, got another out, then Hardy hit a single to center to score McLouth from 2nd. 4-0 Orioles mid-eighth.

Pedro Strop (1.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP), setup man for the Orioles, then had a clean 1-2-3 in the 8th for his 24th hold.

Cecil got himself in trouble again in the 9th, loading the bases before getting a deep fly ball to Rasmus to end the inning.

Jim Johnson then came on with the 4-0 lead to do some work in a non-save situation and preserve the shutout.

So, overall, a terrible outing for the Jays offense, who managed only three hits all afternoon. It's the 8th game since July 29 that the Jays have got 4 hits or less but the first time since July 25 that they've been shut out.

September 2: Rays 9, Jays 4

Romero pitches pathetically; game finished early

After a very nice outing in New York against the Yankees where Romero gave up only 2 earned runs over seven innings, the fans were looking forward to Romero building off that game and hopefully finish up the season on a positive note. With David Price on the mound (2nd in the AL in ERA), it would be a tall order.

Unfortunately, the game was over very early for Ricky. In the bottom of the 1st with two out, Rajai pretty much missed a Longoria fly ball to left field that resulted in a run against Ricky. Rajai just didn't pick up the ball in time. Then in the 2nd, Ricky threw a 1-2 cutter for a home run against Ben Francisco. Carlos Pena then walked (plunking the ump in the process). Davis then hesitated on what should have been a single to Roberts (which turned into a double). That put runners on 2nd and 3rd with none out. Molina then singled, scoring another run. Jennings singled on the next pitch to score another run. Sierra then lost a ball in the sun and the ball bounced away from him, loading the bases, still with none out. Ben Zobrist then singled in two runs poast a diving Escobar to end Romero's afternoon. Romero's line: 7 runs on 8 hits, 1+ innings, 1 BB, 0K, and 43 pitches.

Chad Jenkins came in and gave up a run to Upton on a sacrfiice fly. After the top of two, it was 7-0 Rays. The Jays did threaten in the bottom of the 2nd, as Price gave up 3 walks to load the bases, but the Jays could not hit anyone home. Carlos Pena opened the 3rd with a deep home run against Jenkins (8-0 Rays). Tampa scored another another run from a Francisco ground rule double that knocked in Longoria (double). Chad Jenkins was acceptable in the 5th and 6th inning. And by the end of 6 it was 9-0 Rays.

The Jays did score 2 in the 7th off David Price, as Hechavarria singled, Rajai walked, and Colby singled to load the bases with 1 out. Edwin then hit a sacrific fly and Adam Lind singled on a high bouncing ball off the plate to score the two runs. Smart baserunning by Colby on Lind's single as third was left completely open on Lind's ground ball. Price then left the game (6.2 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, 5Ks). Badenhop then came on to get Escobar to ground into a fielder's choice.

Laffey threw three innings of 3 hit ball, striking out three and walking 2. The Jays had a sputter of 9th inning offence as Colby singled and Edwin hit his 37th home run into the bullpen in left.

Final score: 9-4.

Offensively, Davis walked once in an 0-4 outing. Moises bat 0-4 again. Rasmus had a 2-4 afternoon, with all the others hit once. The Jays allowed 18 hits.

What is wrong with Ricky Romero? I still think it's definitely his head. In a game against David Price, he knew that he would have to be on top of his game to have a shot at winning. Rajai Davis' play to allow Roberts to reach 2nd took away the double play in the top of the 2nd. Sierra's loss of the ball in the sun did not help the cause. The ground ball singles were close to players. But mostly, Ricky just was not sharp and not mentally prepared to pitch this game. No excuses. If Ricky is going to succeed he has to get his mental game in order. Until that happens, you are going to see some very inconsistent starts. In the post game comments, Ricky had alot to say:

 Is any of it psychological? Do you go out there and feel like, ‘Here we go again?’
“No. Felt pretty good today. Just left some fastballs up. Other [hits] fell for them that inning. That’s just the way the game is. Everything went their way today.”

There’s probably no easy answer, but do you have any guesses about what may be wrong with you this year?
“No idea.”

Did the two days’ extra rest in New York help?
“No. I’m a starter in the big leagues and you’ve got to be ready to go every fifth day....  These performances have been rough. It’s tough to hear boos from your own fans. It’s tough to see your teammates going out there to battle every day. It’s been tough, it’s been stressful. But at the same time, you’ve just got to come back ready to work.”

Are you out of answers?
“Yeah. What more else can I say? It’s worn on me. I was born a winner. Going through something like this I’d never wish upon anyone.”

The thing is, Ricky, is that it is psychological.