For only the second time this year does a Jays series at home not end up in a sweep, be it for or against the Jays. A sweep certainly would have been nice over the Nationals, especially with the Yankees capitalising on Mets defensive blunders to pull even with the Jays in the standings. Although it’s a bit disappointing to not win with Josh Towers facing a struggling Tomo Okha, there are very few teams in the majors against whom a series victory is not good news.

Josh Towers pitched well for the first four innings but imploded in the fifth inning as the Nationals had four solid hits, a sac fly, a walk and then a bases-clearing double to chase him from the game. Ohka pitched well save for a mistake to Shea Hillenbrand and the game was never in doubt from that point onward. Former Reds prospect Tony Blanco hit his first major league home run, which won him diamond earrings from team-mate Jose Guillen, as he accomplished it in his first 50 at-bats in the majors. The ball bounced back onto the field but Vernon Wells, unaware of the significance of the ball, tossed it back into the crowd. Here’s hoping that Blanco got the ball from the fan and the kid got an autographed bat or something in a win-win trade.

As a lot of the current buzz around the Blue Jays deservedly concerns Aaron Hill, I figured I would pay close attention to the hot new rookie in today’s game. However, I was only able to watch the first six innings of today’s game, so I’ll only be able to report on those. However, my close attention was also mitigated by the busyness of our basement and the fact I didn’t tape the game, like my more-intelligent fellow Rosterite Rob.

To begin with his hitting, in his first at-bat Hill took the first pitch, which looked to be a fastball away and hit a fly ball that landed about three rows back, in shallow right field. Hill looked to just be a little late on that pitch. The second pitch looked to be a fastball on the inner third of the plate that had a bit of movement on it. Hill read the ball and connected with a solid single to left field, several steps in front of Jeffrey Hammonds.

In his second at-bat, the last that I caught, Hill took ball one on a pitch that was up and/or away. He then looked at strike that was right at the top of the strike zone; a borderline pitch. Aaron was able to lay off fastballs away and well high to work the count to three and one. Ohka then threw a fastball away that would have caught some of the plate, but Hill fouled it straight back. He then lashed out at another pitch that was probably strike three, and lined it foul to the right. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat Hill laced a looping fly to shallow left-centre that a charging Hammonds caught comfortably to end the fourth inning.

Although it was a very small sample size and I am by no means a professional scout, Hill looks to have a good eye at the plate. According to Rob’s game report he swung at one pitch out of the strike zone of five in yesterday’s game. In his first two at-bats tonight he didn’t seem to swing at anything that wasn’t borderline, at least. He took three balls and also a strike, which wouldn’t have caused a reaction if it was called a ball.

Hill also got his first start in the field today, at the hot corner. He didn’t look out of place, at all and even cracked a couple of smiles as a result of his plays. His first fielded ball in the big leagues came with two outs in the first. Jose Guillen smacked a hard grounder straight at Hill. Hill took a step back and backhanded the ball. He then steadied himself and took a step forward to gather some momentum on the throw, which beat Guillen by about a step. TSN’s broadcast showed a nice shot of Hill smiling as he ran in from the field after making that play, which was a difficult one to make as your baptism to MLB fielding.

In the second inning Hammonds hit a bouncer close to the line. Hill needed to take about three steps to his right before he could backhand that ball. After planting his back foot Hill made a strong throw across the diamond to beat Hammonds by a couple of steps.

Gary Bennett came to bat to lead off the third and he hit a grounder a couple of steps to Adams’ right. As Adams ran to field the ball Hill cut in front of him and scooped the grounder and threw out Bennett easily. Now, it probably wouldn’t have made a difference on that play, as Bennett isn’t a fast runner and I think Adams could have backhanded the ball and made a strong throw to retire him. However, on some plays with a rapid runner at the plate, whether or not Hill is able to reach that ball could mean the difference between a base hit and an out, as Hill’s momentum takes him towards first and Adams’ takes him away from the bag.

It may seem routine, but it was good to see Hill realise that fact and not be afraid to field the ball, even if it probably meant nothing in this incident. This isn’t something that all fielders possess either, as one would have witnessed if they caught Sunday Night Baseball tonight. I only saw a couple of innings, but in the fourth inning, Chavez came up to bat with Kendall on first. Chavez hit a grounder up the middle, on the second base side of the bag, but not by much. Deivi Cruz took a couple of steps towards the ball, but appeared to give up on it as it was on Brian Dallimore’s side of the base. Dallimore was set up for a double-play, but was probably cheating a step or two to his left, because the left-handed batter was up. Dallimore ran for the ball, but couldn’t reach it. Cruz could have fielded it and got Chavez at first, but gave up on the ball, and the A’s had runners on first and third with none out, instead of on second with one out. There’s an example of a fielder restricting himself to balls that are in his territory and nothing else, and it costing the Giants an out.

Cristian Guzman was the next batter and he hit a pop-out into foul territory, just behind third. Hill tracked the ball, but was holding his glove up over his fact, to shield his eyes from the sun, the entire time. He looked like he had the ball in his sights, but it also looked like it was an adventure. Adams did the right thing and ran for the ball. Apparently, Huckaby shouted that it was Hill’s ball pretty quickly, but Adams ran over to help, as he is supposed to. As the ball tailed back towards the field it looked to be an easier play for Adams than Hill, and he called Hill off at the end. Hill either didn’t hear him; figured he still had the best shot at the ball and didn’t want to get out of the way or he still thought of himself as the infield captain, and figured his shouts took priority over Adams’. Whatever the case, Hill caught the ball, but collided with Adams as he did so and both crashed to the ground. Neither was hurt, but it was a scary moment for a second. Luckily the next pop fly was a lot more routine, as in the fourth Johnson lifted one into shallow right that Hill tracked and caught relatively easily.

All in all, it was a fairly successful day for the newest Jay at the plate and in the field. He was retired in the seventh and singled to right in the ninth. He continues to use the whole field at the plate, and so far has been very impressive with the bat. As long as he keeps hitting .500, nobody can complain. Judging by the play-by-play Hill doesn’t seem to have made any more plays in the field, but he was involved with five plays early on, and aside from a mistake on the pop fly, seemed to handle them all quite well.