Jays Roundup - The Lightning Strikes Cracking The Night
Friday, September 10 2004 @ 09:38 AM EDT
Contributed by: Pepper Moffatt
I'm not the same anymore
Thunder and spark in the Heart of the Dark
Jays 5 - Angels 4
- Recaps:
- Elliot Teaford:
Left-hander Ted Lilly fooled the Anaheim Angels just often enough to help the Blue Jays defeat the American League West title contenders Thursday at Angel Stadium.
He said he pitched just good enough to win.
In the end, and for the second game in a row, the Blue Jays merely needed to be one run better than the Angels. A 5-4 victory in front of a crowd of 37,514 one night after a 1-0 victory enabled the Blue Jays to take two of three from Anaheim, which could have moved within one game of first-place Oakland with a victory.
- Doug Miller:
The Angels like to say that every game is big these days, but when you're in the heat of a pennant race, games against teams wallowing 20 games below the .500 mark are must-wins.
And for the second straight night, the Angels couldn't muster enough to get a must-win.
- Mike Ganter:
Gregg Zaun got the night jump-started in the bottom of the second but it wasn't with a bat in his hand.
With the game still tied 0-0 and Jose Guillen on second with a double, Bengie Molina hit a single to right that on most nights would have scored the first run.
But with Alex Rios charging the ball and getting a strong throw off he gave the Jays a chance to get Guillen at the plate.
Zaun did the rest planting himself just a little up the third base line so that when the throw and Guillen's shoulder arrived about the same time all he had to do was hang onto the ball.
- AP:
Carlos Delgado capped the big inning with a two-run homer, helping Ted Lilly win for just the third time in 13 starts. After Delgado's homer, the Blue Jays went hitless until Alex Rios led off the ninth with a single.
- Geoff Baker:
A front row seat to another Blue Jays triumph wasn't on the wish list of the man being touted in some circles as their future manager.
But there was little that Anaheim Angels bench coach Joe Maddon could do last night as the Jays held on again against the league's top offence.
Maddon is widely considered to be heading the A-list of baseball coaches being sought out as managers for next season and Toronto is strongly rumoured as his possible destination.
His future was looking a lot brighter than the present in this one as Jays lefty Ted Lilly handcuffed an Angels squad expecting to do a whole lot more against Toronto than they actually accomplished.
"I think they're an interesting group,'' Maddon said of the Jays before they beat the Angels, 5-4, to capture this series and slow Anaheim's charge towards the top of the AL West division. "They've got a lot of interesting young players.''
- Fordin Notes (by Elliot Teaford) on Carlos Delgado and Roy Halladay:
Roy Halladay moved a step closer to returning to the mound, throwing 25 pitches during early batting practice before the Blue Jays played the Anaheim Angels in the finale of their three-game series Thursday.
- Ganter Notes on Roy Halladay and Dave Berg:
Not surprisingly there were few volunteers when the Blue Jays coaches went around the clubhouse yesterday looking for some hitters to step in the cage against Halladay.
Dave Berg was an exception volunteering but only after telling manager John Gibbons that the last time he did something like this, a re-habbing Florida flamethrower named A.J. Burnett hit him right on the helmet.
- Tonight's 8:05PM EST start in Texas: RHP Miguel Batista (10-10, 4.39 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Drese (11-8, 3.84 ERA). Here's the game preview.
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