Make it 5-0 Royals after one. For some reason Walker unable to find the strikezone, unable to beat a runner to the bag in time, and alternates between missing by a mile and serving it up fat. Are there any pitchers in this pen that are capable of going 5 or 6 innings now?

7-0. Looks like my Sunday afternoon has suddenly freed up.

This is going to get ugly. I almost walked over to catch this game (I can see the 'Dome out my window) - good instincts to not bother. That and the fact I can't believe those wimps won't open the lid - it's gorgeous out there, people ...

I predict 13R, 11ER, 6IP out of Mr. BP before Tosca goes out and puts a mercy bullet in his head.

Ok, as I wrote that, he just walked into the clubhouse. Nah, he's going to stay in and take it like a ... man.

I'd just like to thank the Jays for disposing of this game in the first 31 minutes. Now I can get on with the rest of my day without feeling like I'm missing anything important.

After the back-to-back blasts by Beltran and Sweeney, John Cerutti called it "batting practice".

The best option for the Jays bullpen right now is Walker. Call up Josh Towers and give him a chance to start. The only lefty in the system pitching well enough to help is Dave Gassner.

Delgado just went very deep, and it's 7-1. Why would you set off fireworks in that situation? What are they celebrating?

Delgado gives the Jays some measure of respect with a blast into the second deck.

Yuck - what was that throw by Stewart on the Sweeney single? It looked like he was lobbing it at the Jays dugout ...

For those of you who have (wisely) stopped watching. Godfrey was just one with Faulds and Cerrutti announcing that all tickets for Tuesday's game are a loonie. Ted Rogers has bought all the unsold tickets and is letting Rogers customers have them for a loonie, as battersbox is hosted on a Rogers server I think we are all covered.

Walker leaves after 86 pitches, most of them poor, for 10 hits, 4 walks, a hit batsman and 8 earned runs in 3.1 IP, so far -- Doug Creek inherits the bases loaded with just one out.

Godfrey also admitted they weren't exactly going to be discerning as to customers and non-customers. This is an effort to get some people to the Dome.

I received 4 free tickets in the mail as a season pass holder.

Well at least we know Creek can go multiple innings in a pinch. Though I doubt you'd want to do it very often. He's dealing today though, 4 strikeouts so far.

Down on the farm yesterday, Mike Smith took the loss as Syracuse fell 7-3 to Pawtucket; Dan Reichert had his worst relief appearance yet, but Reed Johnson (382/450/676 in AAA) was 2-for-3 including a triple and a HBP. I still think Reed deserved a longer look before they brought Werth up.

David Bush, named FSL Pitcher of the Week for April 14-20, struck out his first batter before rain ended Dunedin's Friday night game; he did not return yesterday as the baby Jays, still 13-11 for the season, lost both ends of a doubleheader to Lakeland. Catcher Tim Whittaker was 3-for-5 and now has a .341 average.

Brandon League went five scoreless innings for Charleston, scattering six hits and a walk while striking out five, but the Alley Cats' bullpen squandered a 6-0 lead to lose in extra innings. AA New Haven had the day off.

The much-maligned Creek has done a decent job today -- he got out of Walker's mess unscathed, and in 2.2 innings, struck out four RH batters, allowing three harmless singles and not walking any of his first 11 men. Great catch by Wells to save his bacon and get out of the inning; Doug's all done.

If anyone is around, Millwood has a no-hitter going against the Giants(!) through seven.

And no, I don't believe in jinxes.

Jason Kershner, in a pressure-free two innings, has allowed just one baserunner (a Harvey double) and struck out two. In the seventh, a hustling Berg scored from first on a Stewart double, and in the eighth, consecutive doubles by Delgado and Phelps made it 8-3, then a pinch single by Myers cashed in another run, but Tom Wilson ran them out of the inning.

Kevin Millwood has no-hit the Giants through seven. Johnny Estrada is hitting .267 for the Braves; we should have mentioned that one among the "worst trades ever".

What's wrong with Wilson? What is he thinking there? I'm just going to give them the last out for free?

Kershner's not a three-inning guy, but he's taking one for the team. It's now 9-4.

Millwood has walked two and fanned 10; he's three outs away.

In defense of Estrada, he has only played in four games and has delivered many key hits. He also called a couple of great games, and was leading the International league in RBI's before his call-up. No-hitter through eight.

Sportsnet is going to Philly for the ninth, unless the Jays (2 on, none out) stage a miracle rally.

Millwood is one out away...

Phelps doubles; it's 9-7 and MacDougal is coming in. Millwood has done it!

And the Jays have pulled to within two runs.

NO HITTER!

Werth running for Phelps, and like Cerutti, I don't know why. Hinske just misses the tying HR but rips a double off the wall. Here's Wilson, needing a single to knot this thing.

That's gotta hurt. Wilson is hit by a pitch and the bases are loaded with one away. Berg can be the hero...

http://economics.about.com
Times like these shows that the Jays really could use another LHB from the bench.

MP

Two inside pitches, though the first one was called a strike. Berg chops one to third, and Randa just gets the force. It's 9-8, but a tough two-out situation for Bordick against the flamethrower.

Woo-hoo!

I hear Pete Walker had a no-hitter going during his warmup. It lasted all of one pitch to real batters though.

Someone explain to me why Werth was brought in to pinch run for Phelps. Did they require his superior baserunning skills to go from second to third on a double? Heck if they needed that they could have pinchran Edgar Martinez to run backwards.

All is well though as the Jays have just tied it.

http://economics.about.com
Both Yahoo and ESPN are showing that Berg hit into a DP, game over at 9-7. Weird.

MP

Miracle complete -- first blown SV for MacDougal; clutch liner up the middle by the old man. Now the kid's afraid to throw a strike to Stewart, who never should have swung at the 2-0 up and in. Ball game!

There's the Royals we know and love! 10-9 Jays win.

http://economics.about.com
So this is what it feels like when the **other** team's bullpen blows the game. Neat. :)

MP

For those who missed it, Stewart hit a slow roller to short. A hustling Bordick got to second in time to disrupt the force; Berroa threw it away and it's a spectacular 6-run bottom of the ninth for the good guys.

Actually, it was more of a slow, high bouncer. Politte gets the win for striking out his only batter; Walker's off the hook for his nightmare outing.

Un-fricking believable!

I don't understand Tosca's using of Werth, but a win is a win. Hopefully they can start building off of this.

Bordick got down to second so fast that I don't think Berroa would have gotten the force even if he made a good throw.

After his clutch hit and hustle to second, I think it's safe to say this is a Bordick victory.

I don't understand what Werth was doing tagging up on Hinske's drive with one out. He should have been half-way and come back if the ball was caught and scored easily when it wasn't. Doesn't really matter I guess but just very bizarre that he came in as a pinch runner and then ran so oddly.

If anyone should have been pinch run for, it was Wilson when the bases were loaded with one out to try to avoid the doubleplay. Of course Werth hasn't really caught much lately so that wasn't really an option.

If Phelps had been the tying run, I understand the pinch-runner. But all Tosca accomplished was to remove Phelps's bat from extra innings, so it goes as a managerial brain cramp.

In addition to Bordick's heroics, you have to credit Creek and Kershner for pitching as long as they could, as well as they could. We're quick to trash the 'pen around here, but the lefties picked up the slack today. The 11 hits by Stew, Cat, Delgado and Phelps meant something, too. What a strange feeling to have the bounces go the other way for a change.

What a strange feeling to have the bounces go the other way for a change

That's one reason why baseball is such a great sport. The season is a marathon, and the bounces usually equal out over the course of the season.

http://economics.about.com
I guess the MLB guys handed in their stories before the game was over, because the stories suggest that the Jays lost 9-7:

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/wrapup.jsp?ymd=20030427&content_id=292616&vkey=wrapup2003&fext=.jsp

MLB has corrected its game stories now, but it's odd that so many sources thought it was over. Berg's chopper was one of those lucky bounces -- if it hadn't taken so long to come down, it was a cinch game-ending double play. Maybe the observers thought it was a pop fly so when Randa touched third, it was over. Stewart's was another -- any lower, there's extra innings. That's two great wins for team morale in three days. Will it have a positive effect? Hard to say -- check out how rare such a comeback is.

There's another wild one going on in Florida -- the Fish scored five in the bottom of the ninth to tie the Cards, then they played 10 scoreless extra innings! Vina was 0-for-9 before singling in the go-ahead run in the top of the 20th.

I think this game provides some evidence that it's a good idea to let your relievers go an inning or two if they are pitching well. This is especially important in the 6th or 7th because you don't know how long the game will go on and most of your bullpen will be rested for the next day.

Conversely, if they aren't, then get them out of there as fast as possible.

Maybe they used Werth in case of a sac-fly situation?

Jason,

If they used Werth in case of a sac fly situation, then it wasn't appropriate strategy. The score was 9-7; Phelps, on second base, was the sole runner. Improving your chance of scoring the eighth run does nothing to improve your chances of winning the game in that situation, because you're going to have to score the ninth run in the same inning anyway. Had there been a runner at first (and hence a force play at third), there would have been a tenuous justification for pinch-running; had it not been the ninth inning, there might have been a somewhat better justification -- try to score one run now and one later. The usual (and, in my opinion, correct) strategy would have been to wait to pinch-run for a runner representing the tying or winning run (depending, of course, on the speed of the runners involved).

Of course, it's possible that Phelps pulled a muscle or something and had to come out for health reasons.

John

Wow, what a pleasant surprise! I turned on the radio in the top of the first, discovered it was 5-0, and turned it right back off again, and went off to enjoy a Jay-free afternoon. Then, out of curiosity, I was following the last part of the game on ESPN's GameCast, and they listed Berg as having grounded into a game-ending double play. Then, I just discovered that the Jays had actually won! Woo hoo!

I like the idea of leaving a relief pitcher in for an inning or two. Any platoon advantage gained by switching pitchers is often more than offset by the disadvantage of switching from a pitcher having a good game to a pitcher having a bad game. I point to Saturday's box score and today's box score as data points that support this theory.

http://economics.about.com
I knew you guys would eventually come around to the long-reliever dark side. :)

MP

MLB has corrected its game stories now, but it's odd that so many sources thought it was over

I imagine they are all getting they're play-by-play data from the same source and giving it a different look-and-feel.