The Terrible Twenty in April and the first ten games of the Dirty Dozen have exposed the young, improving Jays as a team that isn't ready -- yet -- to defeat the Beasts of the East. There are no more illusions of contending this year, which may be a good thing. The pressure's off; the Jays can stop trying too hard and just play ball.
Tonight, a pitcher I like a lot (Mark Hendrickson) faces one I loathe (Jeff Weaver, Chronic Underachiever). I was surprised and disappointed eight days ago, when Weaver pitched his best game in a long, long time to handcuff the Jays at the Dome. Tonight, it's possible he'll let the home crowd get into his head -- Lord knows, there's not much else in there -- or maybe, the more relaxed Toronto hitters will have a better approach. Lurch has to accept that he's not going to pitch a perfect game. Six innings of minimizing the damage would be a successful outing against an awesome lineup that's in a very good groove.
Carlos Tosca doesn't want Bobby Kielty to get too comfortable. The newest Jay is at first base tonight, with Delgado the DH. I really like the switch-hitter in the 5-hole betwen Carlos and Eric Hinske; it means Kielty might get to tee off again on a lefty reliever (see Fossum, Casey). Interesting that Tom Wilson is the catcher; with a lefty going tomorrow, I was sure it would be Myers again tonight. Crash was 2-for-4 yesterday, but he may be hurting.
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