At the outset of this past home stand, I was hoping for the
Jays to go 4-2, with two series wins. After the highly unsuccessful road trip
the week before, I (and many who follow the Jays, I think) felt that the six
games against the Orioles and Red Sox could be a great opportunity to put the
ugly behind them. Personally, I think that swing through Tampa then Texas was
the most condensed ugly we’ve seen from the Jays in a long time. I totally
accept that at occasionally throughout the season there will be games you
completely want to forget; I just don’t remember them ever being so close
together before.
But, moving back to the home stand. The Orioles were on a
bit of a downswing when they rolled in to Toronto, but they were still a team
the Jays needed to beat. The Red Sox, on the other hand, were in the midst of
playing better baseball then when they were here back in April. When you throw
that in with the bad taste of Tampa and Texas, it all rolled out as a heightened
desire to win for the moral and morale victory it would mean for Jays nation.
Obviously, we know the results of the home stand beyond the
4-2 record. It was great for the team to get the win on Sunday (and avoid being
swept). It was also nice to add Drew Hutchinson’s excellent outing to the growing
list of wonderful outings he’s had at the major league level. The only thing I
will comment on is the lack of call for Kelly Shoppach leaning into the pitch.
Even if you don’t consider that he stuck his elbow out, it’s hard to say he
actually made an effort to get out of the way of the pitch. To me, that’s the
bigger issue with the call. Anyone remember when Bautista wasn’t awarded a base
after being plunked in the ribs because he failed to attempt to get out of the way,
according to the ump? This instance with Shoppach was the opposite. In regards
to Youkilis, I understand being upset because the pitch was near his head. I
don’t, however, believe it was a retaliation pitch, even though Hutch had had
good control up to that point.
Long has the AL East been called the toughest division in
baseball, mainly because of the grass ceiling that used to be the Yankees and
Red Sox. Well, I think two months into this season we’re seeing the East live
up to its moniker in the truest sense. Who knows if it’ll look this way by the
end of June, but consider this: all first teams have winning records, only
three games separate first and last place, and the standings have been pretty
close from the get-go.
I do think the Jays have the chance to end up at the top, or
at least close enough to the top for a shot at the post-season. To this point,
we’ve seen what this team is able to do, but not as consistently as we the fans
or I’d imagine the team would like. Still, being above .500 and tied for fourth
when Bautista is still just a little off from regular form, Romero hasn’t found
his consistent fastball control yet, we have the youngest starting rotation and
two of our everyday players demoted to the minors, we’re doing pretty well. The
biggest things now I think are finding some of the desired consistency and the
ability to beat their own division, most importantly the Rays.
So now the team heads to Chicago, before heading down to
Atlanta to pick back up on the interleague portion of the schedule again. I’m
excited for when the team comes home to face the Nationals, for the chance to
see Harper and Strasburg (who might be pitching in the last game of the
series). I'm also looking forward to some redemption against the Phillies when
they come to town Father’s Day weekend. I’m sad that we won’t have the chance
to watch Doc pitch again, but I am wishing him a speedy recovery so he can get
back to being Doctastic as always.
Stay cool Jays' fans. I’m wishing you much baseball filled
days and nights!
JaysGirl5
P.S. Rock On to JBau for winning the Honda Player of the
Month award for May.
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