Round 1 to Detroit.
Tigers 7, Jays 1. Max Scherzer plows through the Jays' lineup. The Tigers give him a 6-spot in the fourth and he never looks back.
Much of the offense last night revolved around Edwin Encarnacion. Unfortunately, he only batted three times, and the bases were empty each time. Detroit won 7-1. I was all proud throughout Encarnacion's defensive hot streak in July, but I think it's over.
With runners on first and third and 1 out in the fourth, Encarnacion fielded a ground ball from Ryan Raburn and fired to second to start a double play that would end the inning. Unfortunately, he rushed the throw and airmailed it, both high and way off to the right. Instead of being out of the inning, Romero found himself down 1-0 with runners on the corners and one out. The way Max Scherzer was dealing for Detroit, Romero had to sell out to avoid the sac fly. Sadly, Jhonny Peralta turned on a 1-0 fastball and homered to put the Tigers up 4-0. Two batters later, Gerald Laird added a two-run shot.
I thought it was more a mental error than a mechanical one, and I still think Encarnacion looks a bit more consistent throwing the ball than he did this time last year. Hopefully this game doesn't stick with him.
Encarnacion had a strong night at the plate, going 3-3 with 3 singles, one of which was erased when Ryan Raburn threw him out trying to stretch it into a double. This happened with the score tied 0-0; the other two singles came with the Jays down big. As a result, EE finished with an ultra-rare perfect OBP, negative WPA game (-.002 WPA). That doesn't count his defensive contribution, of course. The error was worth -.110 WPA, charged to Romero.
The Jays' lone run came on Jose Bautista's 100th career homer, an absolute bomb to left off Scherzer. Way to go, Jose. It was his 41st homer of the year - he's now 18 away from matching his career total in 2010 alone.
It wasn't a thrilling game. On the way home from the Dome, I was thinking about David Wells' infamous comments* about Toronto fans.
Honest to God, the Toronto fans suck. If a batter makes an out, he gets booed. If a pitcher walks a batter, he gets booed. If the team loses a game, we all get booed... loudly. Even though this underpaid, understaffed, underloved little team is right in the thick of the hunt, right into the last week of 2000, these mouth-breathers in the stands have no idea what we've accomplished. The wool-hat wankers just boo... relentlessly.
Aside from some grumbling after Encarnacion's ghastly error and the subsequent homers, and maybe Romero's fifth walk (which chased him from the game), I didn't hear much negativity. There was a healthy "f[explicit] the Yankees" chant in the 8th inning -John, I think the big crowd theory is right on, as it lasted about 5 seconds before an usher ran over and broke it up. Small crowds have their perks. Anyway, none of the hitters caught any crap, and there was no outright booing, not even when the game ended. It seems like the atmosphere inside the stadium has become livelier, more positive, more baseball-savvy, and just generally more worthy of David Wells over the past few years. The music is still too loud, the ads are still overbearing, you still get the wiseass who points out how exciting he finds baseball two minutes into the top of the first... but broadly speaking the people seem more attuned to what's going on.
Of course, I could be dead wrong here. I am not the most observant person... Thoughts?
*I lifted this quote from Dave Till's enormous Minor League Register, from way back in 2004. Thanks, Dave!
Tonight, the Jays will go with The Stopper and order him to stop their losing streak at 1. Marcum and Verlander, Jays -115, first pich 7:07.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20100827033719383