12/21/24
July 02, 2016
SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Part 2
Top of the 7th: The Indians loaded the bases at this point, and Stroman was pulled for Brett Cecil. Cecil had come off the disabled list two days ago, and had pitched the previous night (and quite well). But earlier in the season he was one of the reasons the Jays bullpen was depicted as a dumpster fire. The Jays bullpen had allowed (at one point in May) almost half of all inherited runners to score. Twice they had given up grand slam home runs after the previous pitcher had been pulled. So, everyone was nervous. He came through as he induced a deep fly to Kevin Pillar.
So begins the battle of the bullpens (as Indians starter Tomlin was pulled to start the 7th)...and more.
Top of the 10th: The Indians get a man on first and second, with two out. Jose Ramirez his a slicing fly ball that drops into the outfield and scores the runner from second...which is what would have happened in every other game being played today, except Kevin Pillar did another Kevin Pillar thing, to end the inning. There were still about 80% of the fans in the stadium, and everyone felt that THIS meant the Jays were going to win it now.
This is a feeling that would be repeated a lot today.
Bottom of the 12th: I only mention this inning because the Jays got a man on third (but with two outs). Smoak was up to bat, and he had a history of tying games up in regulation with a home run, and then winning it in extras. That did not happen here, as he popped up.
Bottom of the 13th: Russell Martin got tossed from the game for arguing pitches after striking out. He was very calm before the ejection, and probably didn't say anything that deserved being ejected. After getting tossed? Malice! It took the current manager (big Demarco Hale), the third base coach, and the first base coach to hold him back. The video doesn't show it, but he was FURIOUS at the ump for getting tossed, and the three men were straining to keep him from getting too close to the ump.
At this point, the worst hitter on the Jays team, Josh Thole came in to fill in for the catcher position.
posted by grum@work at 11:16 AM on July 02, 2016
Part 3
Bottom of the 14th:
The Jays best chance to score in about...2 hours? After a single, a force out at second and then Pillar hustling like a mofo to beat out a double play turn, Darwin Barney (today's second baseman...for now) hit a ball down the left field line. Pillar was hustling to third and MAYBE thinking about going home, but was given the stop light (and rightly so...the left fielder played it perfectly and made a perfect throw to the cut-off man...Pillar would have been dead at home if he had tried). Barney took second on the play. Carrera drew a walk, and up came Josh Donaldson. He hit a LOT of walk-off home runs last year, and he hit a grand slam in the home opener (which was the last home game I attended before this one). Sadly, with the crowd (about 60% capacity still) bellowing MVP, he checked his swing on a 2-2 count and hit a dribbler right to the first baseman.
Everyone sat down. Again.
At this point, everyone's voices were getting a bit raw, their hands hurt from clapping. Beer had stopped being served after the 7th inning stretch, which is probably a good thing at this point. The concession stands were still serving food, until they simply ran out of it later in the game.
Top of the 15th:
Toronto's worst reliever, Drew Storen, had already thrown a shutout inning, when he finally got in trouble. First and third, one out. In comes a reliever from the previous night, Bo Schultz. He was the last available reliever in the pen, as the other ones had simply been used today, or used to much yesterday. He induced a double play and the crowd went bananas.
Bottom of the 15th:
Remember that terrible hitter, Josh Thole. On the first pitch he sees, he smashes the ball all the way to the wall, where the OF catches it. We honestly thought that would have been the craziest thing of the night if he won it with a walk-off.
There was still more to come....
Top of the 16th:
Tired Bo Schultz allowed two singles to open the inning. First and third, nobody out. Everyone started to accept that this is how it was going to end. The next batter popped out. The next batter struck out. The next batter lined out to Donaldson at third. The place goes bananas, albeit a bit softer because of exhaustion.
Top of the 17th:
Uh, oh. Bo Schultz is injured. He's noticeably holding his leg. They come out to talk to him, and he agrees to try and finish the inning. The Jays have sent backup infielder Ryan Goins to the bullpen to warm up. The crowd around the bullpen is going nuts. Schultz proves to be a warrior and gets the last two outs of the inning. He limps off the field to a standing ovation.
Top of the 18th:
Ryan Goins runs in from the bullpen.
The crowd goes crazy.
They announce him as the new pitcher.
The crowd goes crazy.
He throws his first warm up pitch over the catcher and to the back stop.
The crowd goes..uh..silent.
He gets a strike to the first batter.
The crowd goes crazy, again.
The first two batters get singles, so it's first and third, nobody out. (We've seen this before a few times!)
Among my group, we discuss that if Cleveland scores 3 runs this inning before ending the inning, we'll leave so we can get on the subway and go. Then, even MORE craziness happens.
The next batter hits a ball to the second baseman (pulled in tight) and he does a quick fake to throw to first, and the runner breaks for home. Barney throws home, and they've got the runner in a run down. They get him out, and the place erupts! They walk the next batter to load the bases. The last batter Goins faces, he induces a double play and he walks off the mound a hero for life. He pitched a scoreless inning.
Now, for SURE, the Jays could create history and get the win for a position player pitching.
Bottom of the 18th:
They didn't.
Top of the 19th:
Darwin Barney (2B) replaces Goins as the pitcher. Devon Travis (DH after Encarnacion got tossed 5 hours earlier) moves to 2B, and Toronto gives up the DH role. Barney gets a standing ovation. He then gives up a home run to the first batter. Sadness washes over the crowd. But then he gets the next two batters to pop up. And then it happens.
Darwin Barney strikes out Mike Napoli swinging.
Here comes another standing ovation.
Bottom of the 19th:
Toronto doesn't score, but Donaldson hits a fly ball to right that looks like it might go out, but the OF catches at the base of the wall.
Post game:
Exhaustion, and not really sadness at losing because we had witness so many amazing things. The bullpen is praised beyond belief, the defense is lauded, and the offense is shamed.
posted by grum@work at 11:39 AM on July 02, 2016
The last batter Goins faces, he induces a double play and he walks off the mound a hero for life. He pitched a scoreless inning.
posted by tommybiden at 12:50 PM on July 02, 2016
tommy: Your link isn't working, but I'm going to assume it's news that Goins went on the DL.
posted by grum@work at 01:23 PM on July 02, 2016
Also:
posted by grum@work at 01:26 PM on July 02, 2016
tommy: Your link isn't working, but I'm going to assume it's news that Goins went on the DL.
Indeed, that's what it was (supposed to be).
posted by tommybiden at 02:44 PM on July 02, 2016
There is some speculation that he might not be as injured as expected, but that he's doing it for the team (so they can call up more pitchers) and get a nice paycheque while resting. Either way, for a guy the Jays fans were hoping would get sent down (since TULO, Travis, and Barney are better choices), he's immediately vaulted up into fan favourite status again.
posted by grum@work at 03:24 PM on July 02, 2016
Oh gawd, the Jays have defeated the Indians and altered the trajectory of the Juneic LeBronian Cleveland protocosmos. What will follow?
posted by beaverboard at 06:17 PM on July 02, 2016
Nice write-up, grum. My wife, myself, and our (then) 11-year-old son sat through 19 innings in Seattle vs Boston in 2000. After about the 11th inning or so, we decided that we were going to stay no matter how long it went. I won't say it was fun (Boston lost) but it was memorable.
He throws his first warm up pitch over the catcher and to the back stop.
Yankees many years ago had a reliever named Ryne Duren who wore rather thick glasses. He had an excellent fast ball (this in the days before the Juggs gun, so nobody really knew how hard he threw) and a reputation for being a bit wild. Often upon being summoned from the bullpen, he would start his warmups from the mound by throwing a heater over the catcher's mitt to the backstop. More than a few hitters were looking to the dugout to see who could pinch hit. He did it on purpose, and few batters would dig in after he threw one a bit inside.
posted by Howard_T at 09:01 PM on July 02, 2016
"Aim for the mascot".
posted by owlhouse at 12:01 AM on July 03, 2016
My report from the Canada Day Marathon game:
Part 1
I was in section 233, row 8, seat 1. I was there with my parents and my sister, while my wife stayed at my parents' place with our 3-year-old daughter. Before leaving for the game, my daughter asked us when we'd be back. "Oh, we'll be back long before dinner."
It was a giveaway day, so the first 20,000 to arrive got a free Toronto Blue Jays beach towel (sponsored by Honda). We arrived early (as the game was sold out) and we wandered about for a while to watch batting practice. The pregame festivities were very nice (with some Olympians being honoured, including at least 4 members of the fencing team, a few of the armed forces, and James Hinchcliffe throwing out the first pitch), including them trotting out the ginormous Canadian flag (behind held by about a hundred armed forces personnel). It takes up the entire outfield.
Bottom of the first: The first two batters (Carrera and Donaldson) are struck out looking. Both of them gave the stink eye to the umpire, but didn't say anything. Then, Edwin Encarnacion was struck out looking. He turned and looked at the umpire as well. Then he got tossed. A quick note: EE is one of the quietest guys you will ever hear in baseball. He rarely talks (as his English is still tough to understand) and he rarely demonstrates against umpires. After he got tossed, he flipped out. He MAY have bumped the umpire when he charged at him to start yelling, but I haven't heard anything about that yet. Neverthless, Jays manager John Gibbons came charging out of the dugout to try and save Eddie from more problems....and then got tossed as well. Gibby leads the league in getting tossed, and that's two games in a row I've seen it happen. (The last game I saw was last Friday in Chicago when I watched him get tossed from my seat in Celluar Field.)
Side note: Is there something about this umpire, strike zones, and the Toronto Blue Jays? Well, there is a history...and it seems that it's not just the Blue Jays that have a problem with him.
The starting pitcher for the Jays is their young gun Marcus Stroman. He had been going through a very rough patch this season, so much so that worried fans were thinking that he should go down to the minors to try and work things out. Today, he was great. The only run scored against him was a lead-off double followed by a single in the third inning. Otherwise, he kept things under control, until he was finally removed.
The Jays tied it up in the 6th inning with a home run by Smoak.