The front-running Walrus endured our worst week of the season by far, yet somehow managed to escape with a 6-6 draw and maintained a nine-game lead in the standings. It helped that none of the closest contenders had great weeks, either. Mebion Glyndwr held on to second by rallying from an 8-3 deficit on Sunday for a 5-5 tie with the rebuilt SABR Magicians. AGF was defeated 7-4 by the improving defending champion Austin Senators, missing a chance to gain some ground. Baird Brain closed the gap on Billie’s Bashers with an 8-4 decision; they're now tied for fifth. The big move of the week was made by the Eastern Shore Birds, who trounced cellar-dwelling Jick’s Rays 10-2 to vault from seventh all the way to third. The Moscow Rats beat the Horse Field Hammers 9-3, moving to the fringes of playoff contention. Thirteen teams are now bunched within a dozen games of second place, so anything can happen. I'm fortunate to have a little cushion, as my team is awful right now.
An almost perfect day in the minor leagues. The starting pitching was excellent, the hitting even better. After three innings the Jays four teams had outscored their opponents 25-4.
All illustrated with cartoons
So when they come with that opinion poll
They better not use words like
Ideology
Or try to tell me 'bout the issues
Ideology
Whose side are you on?
And now here comes the tough part of the schedule.... The Blue Jays, fresh off getting swept in Boston, come home to water-logged southern Ontario to face the team with the best record in the major leagues, the Anaheim Angels. Mike D's excellent Scouting Report tells you how the Angels are doing so well with so many key injuries, but the Jays have to hope that Anaheim's good fortune starts to waver a little tonight. Toronto sends its -- gulp -- best starter so far this season, Justin Miller, to the mound against the largely hittable John Lackey. The Jays have been losing painfully this year, close so often but falling short in the end; they could and perhaps should have taken 2 of 3 in Fenway. Can they rally to make a statement against the high-flying Angels?
The Jays had a tough weekend against the beasts of the East in Boston. But their homestand might be even tougher, as the Jays tangle with two of the best in the ultra-tough West.
How are the Angels, featuring (a) five key players out with long-term injuries, (b) not much of a batting eye and (c) a mediocre starting rotation, sitting pretty with baseball's best record? By applying the same formula that they followed en route to their 2002 world championship: fine defence, a rock-solid bullpen and a very, very high collective batting average to accompany their speed and power. You could look it up: The Angels are 27th in walks as a club -- but first in runs scored. In large part, the Angels owe their offensive success to timely hitting, as they lead both leagues by far in RISP hitting. Some say they're "clutch"; others, no doubt, view their performance thus far as lucky and unsustainable. We'll see.
Even allowing for very high hopes when the Angels dipped into the free-agent pool, Jose Guillen and the amazing Vladimir Guerrero have nevertheless surpassed expectations. The Jays would be wise to tread carefully with these two free-swinging outfielders, because there are holes in the Anaheim lineup. The problem is, the Halos don't strike out -- and a ball-in-play offence may well give the Jays defence fits, especially on turf. If the Jays can get to the Anaheim starters early, though, they just might make this homestand a successful one.
On to the Advance Scout!
Even though I have confidence in Miguel Batista, I'm half hoping for a rain out so the Jays can take stock and make some mental adjustments. Their confidence must be at a low ebb, and facing a Boston team with a tremendous pitching staff can't be a pleasant thing.
Another
tough loss for the Jays, this time 5-2 to the Sox.
Only a bullpen hiccup in New Hampshire prevented an organizational sweep on Saturday.
Syracuse 5, Louisville 3The Sky Chiefs came back from an early 3-0 deficit to defeat the Bats 5-3. Sean Douglass pitched six solid innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts. Talley Haines and Bob File, with 2 innings of solid relief for the save, closed out the game. Glenn Williams homered and doubled to spark the Sky Chief offence, and Howie Clark and Jeff Guiel made key defensive plays to help Douglass. Russ Adams and Alex Rios went 1-4. Gabe Gross was 1-3 with a walk.
Boxscoregame story
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday our Blue Jays face the Angels at SkyDome. Who's coming with me to make some noise and cheer 'em on?
About a month ago, Batter’s Box visited Jerry Uht Park in Erie to watch the Blue Jays’ Double-A affiliate take on the Tigers’ farm club. We’ve already published interviews from that trip with pitching coach
Rick Adair, first-round draft choice
Aaron Hill and second baseman
Dominic Rich, and we also spoke to two young Canadians who aspire to represent their country at the Olympics this year.
Two wins last night that could easily have been 4, if not for some terrible defence by the Fisher Cats and a set of silent bats in Dunedin.
Another 8th inning
bullpen implosion turned a tie game into an 11-5 loss to the Red Sox.
There was much gnashing of teeth among the faithful and not-so-faithful after a second consecutive bullpen blowup. Can Lilly tame the Sox and the Monster? How deep into the game will he go?
Zaun and Menechino (SS) start tonight. Ortiz sits, Kapler is playing right and Mirabelli is the DH for the Sox.
I decided to split off a separate thread for RSVPs and ticket questions for
the Insurrection on Monday, July 26th. I've already reserved a large-ish block of tickets, and the sections behind that are being held for us. You can buy your own tickets in 518 if you like, but we'll save a large amount on the tickets if we buy them as a group. The more we buy, the better the price.
Either way, please RSVP in this thread if you need tickets (and please also write how many you'll need) or if you'll be coming but already have tickets. If you've already RSVPed in the other thread, please do it again here, to help with my disorganization.
Three wins in four games is excellent compared to how things have gone over the past few weeks. And the wins were good wins with lots of hitting and strong pitching.
