Jays cruise past Rangers.
A strange Jays line-up was too much for Texas last night. With Hinske back at third and missing two of their best hitters the Jays were still able to put some hurt on Texas and John Koronka. Koronka started well and it looked like he was going to dominate the Jays as he did the last time the teams played, but the bats got to him in the fourth for a nine run special which was something of a comedy of errors for the poor Rangers. That was all the jays needed with Ted Lilly keeping the Rangers bats in check.
Star of the Game: Despite all the yummy runs, this is going to Lilly for an eight Inning outing in which he gave up just one run. With the bullpen needing a rest after two extra Inning games this was just what the doctor ordered for the jays. If he continues like this, we're going to have to drop that teasing label.
Unsung Hero: Sparky continues to be used for target practice by the Rangers, who have now hit him 1267 times over the last three years (not sure if that's the exact number, but it's close). Johnson normally bears these assaults stoically, but even he was starting to look a little peeved after his second HBP of the night had nailed him in the ribs. Lilly came to his teammates defence throwing one behind Tex a little later.
Defensive play of the Game: I kind of zoned out on this game after the big Inning and switched to watching Boston-KC so I probably missed some amazing play, but the best I saw was Hill hustling in on a bunt past Lilly and making a diving flip to first to get the exceedingly speedy Mr Guzman.
Elsewhere in the East: Everyone else won, except Tampa Bay who lost to Minnesota, but everybody loses to Minnesota at the moment. The Yankees beat the M's and Jarrod 'boy, was I ever wrong about him' Washburn, Baltimore beat the A's with Adam Loewen going five Innings and giving up a couple of runs in the start, the O's are going along quite nicely at the moment. The Red Sox got everything they could handle from the Royals, but finally came through, they were behind most of the night but the big scary bats eventually got to Luke Hudson and Joel Peralta in the seventh.
mlbtraderumors.com: Has some Jays gossip from "a source". Some of this makes some sense: Hillenbrand or Hinske most likely to be moved. Some is intriguing: League came in ahead of Speier on Doc's last start because he's being showcased for a trade, and some downright scary: Gibbons will be replaced this winter, possibly by Ernie Whitt - say it ain't so Joe!
Today: Marcum takes on Padilla.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=2006071809242324