Okay, let’s have the bad news first. We lost the first game, 8-1. Hey, at least it wasn’t a shutout. But we were expecting this; we knew Toronto would be one of the teams to beat this time of year. They love to pull the playoffs out from under you. So, yes, we lost, and by a wide margin, but it’s nothing we didn’t account for when we looked at our schedule for September. AJ Burnett was their pitcher, and considering he might be pitching for us next year I’d say it’s possible that in a weird way that game could be good news. I mean if he can beat us, a team so offensively productive and so good at adjusting to pitchers and being patient at the plate, who can’t he beat?
Byrd pitched five and gave up five runs on ten hits with three strikeouts. Three of those runs came courtesy of Vernon Wells’s three-run homer in the fifth. This type of outing is not unusual for Byrd, though. It was Aardsma who allowed the Jays to run away with it. In one inning, he allowed three runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout. I’m telling you, he really hasn’t been the same since he got off that first stint on the DL. And that’s a shame, because he was gold. Who knows? Maybe he’ll still pick it up. Devern Hansack pitched the last three innings. And Devern Hansack was perfect. Nothing allowed with three strikes. Our only run was batted in by Cash. He hit a sac fly for Pedroia in the seventh. So at least it wasn’t a shutout. Ellsbury stole two bases and went two for four, the only member of the lineup to have a multi-hit game. Aside from him, only three other batters had hits at all. Bay and Crisp each racked up an assist, and George Kottaras made his catching debut and scored our run.
Now on to bigger and better things: the nightcap. What a game that was. We scored twice in the first, but Bartolo Colon gave up five runs in the second, two of which were earned. He made his exit after the sixth inning, at which point Lopez and Masterson took over. The Jays carried their lead through part of the eighth inning until we tied it. Then, enter Jacoby Ellsbury, who sort of chopped it down the right field line. The ball rolled maybe a quarter or a third of the way to first base in the infield. Scott Downs, lunging after it to make the catch, just fell down without touching the ball. No play was made, the runner from third scored, and Ellsbury was safe at first. That play gave us the lead. What a good come-from-behind win. And I am pleased to report that Pap’s ninth inning was one-two-three. No hits allowed. Before his last outing, that blown save against Tampa Bay, his most recent blown save took place on June 22 against the Cardinals.
Last night’s offense went like this: two RBIs for Lowrie and one each for Youk, Ellsbury (on that one-of-a-kind play), and Big Papi. Ellsbury went two for four with three runs, Pedroia went three for five with a run, and Bay went three for four with a run. Lowrie and Youk both made fielding errors (what are the chances? And in the same game, too.), and it was very strange to see Kotsay move from right field to first base. We won it, 7-5. Tampa Bay split their bill too so we’re still two games out. Two very small games out.
In other news, the club picked up Okajima’s option for 2009. His record in Japan was 34-32 with a 3.36 ERA, but after joining the team in November 2006 as an amateur free agent he posted a 3-2 record with a 2.22 ERA for the 2007 season, during which he was an All-Star and finished sixth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. This season, he’s working with a 2.88 ERA, and in total he’s pitched 123 1/3 innings for us. So not bad at all, especially when you consider how hard it is to find relievers, let alone good relievers, let alone good lefty relievers.
Lester will start against Halladay this afternoon. Sounds like a duel.
