Start the friggin' parade down Yonge Street! The Blue Jays rallied from a four-run deficit by scoring three times in both the eighth and ninth innings to give them a 7-5 win over Atlanta Thursday afternoon in the hotly contested "Larry Jones-Toronto" grudge match.
David Cooper (pictured above with Dunedin last season) and Aaron Matthews (to your right) had two hits and an RBI apiece as part of the Jays 11 hit attack. Sean Shoffit also had a two-run single to spark the rally. Before the eighth, the Jays did pretty much next to nothing against Atlanta starter Derek Lowe. All they could muster was an RBI base knock by John McDonald in the fifth. Lowe did get some help from center fielder Jordan Schaefer, who threw out Jason Lane at home. Life in the J-Lane - baby, you could lose your mind!
The wind was also blowing in at Disney and that cut down a few potential home runs or extra bases for both sides. Among those robbed by that windbag Mother Nature were Kevin Millar in the second and Russ Adams in the ninth. However, Adams did get a sac fly to plate Joe Inglett with the winning run. Brian "BB" Jeroloman started the ninth inning rally with a walk and came around to score. I look forward to starting up the walk meter again for 2009!
Pitching wise, here's what rotoworld.com had to say about the four-run, six inning outing by Brad Mills.
"Mills allowed 10 hits in the contest and saw his spring ERA rise to 5.23. He'd be opening the year in Double-A if he pitched for practically any other team in baseball. Since he's a Blue Jay, he's still clearly in the mix for a rotation spot."
Don't you love how they word that? Since he's a Blue Jay? Good Lord, he's not a Pirate!! Of course, a WHIP of nearly two (10 hits and one walk) is less than stellar and the Braves were hitting some balls hard. However, there were some positives. Mills induced 10 groundball outs and two infield popups among his 15 outs in play and he started a 1-6-3 double play. He had three K's and made Jeff Francoeur look silly by freezing him with a bender to end the third inning. I was impressed by how quickly he worked and he didn't seem to be rattled at all. The young lefty also finished up strong by giving up just one hit in his last two innings, including a 1-2-3 fifth. I don't think Mills really helped his case to make the rotation but I don't think he hurt it either. However, I think the door is still open for Scott Richmond if he can put together a good outing against Detroit Saturday. Lefty Ricky Romero could also nail down a spot with a good effort against Houston Sunday.
As for the relief effort, the Braves got to Dirk Hayhurst for a run in the seventh but Jeremy Accardo and Robert Ray put up goose eggs in their one inning of work. They each gave up a hit but Accardo got a strikeout and the win while Ray got the save.
Tonight, the Jays are in Bradenton where Doc Halladay makes a house call to the Pirates at 7:05 p.m. EDT. B.J. Ryan is also scheduled to pitch and he's hoping to get his velocity back in time for the start of the season.
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In other news.......
* Oakland RHP Justin Duchscherer will miss the start of the season because of elbow troubles.
* Boston RHP John Smoltz (that's weird typing that!) finally threw off a mound but it didn't go as expected.
* Thoughts and prayers to Houston 3B Aaron Boone, who is undergoing heart surgery.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=2009032700434935