MVN - Most Valuable Network

Who will be the next .250 hitter to come through?

Which .250 hitter will be next to undo the Toronto Blue Jays?

Utilityman Miguel Cairo turned the trick on Wednesday night against Toronto, smashing two doubles and driving in three to give the Seattle Mariners a 4-2 win as the Jays dropped two of three to the AL’s worst team.

Cairo was hitting just .206 with two extra-base hits (both doubles) heading into Wednesday’s action.  

Meanwhile, the Jays, who received a two-run dinger from Adam Lind, couldn’t do anything else despite having a couple of opportunities to take the lead. Toronto loaded the bases in the fourth and had a runner on third in the fifth; both times the Jays couldn’t cash in.

Of course, on Canada Day a night earlier, the Jays blew a 6-2 lead and fell 7-6 to the M’s, with Willie Bloomquist (.250 going in) singling home the game-winner in the ninth.

Bloomquist’s heroics came after Adrian Beltre (.247) and Richie Sexson (.226) hit rare home runs to tie it.

Pre-2005, Beltre and Sexson hitting home runs or getting big hits, period, wouldn’t have been surprising. But those two, much like the rest of the Mariners, aren’t supposed to get clutch hits.

After all, Seattle is dead last in the entire AL in runs scored (though Toronto isn’t much better) and ranks in the bottom five in home runs.

The Blue Jays now face the Angels in a weekend series in Los Angeles.

The Angels (51-34 with a five-game lead over Oakland) may be in first place in the West, but are surprising not much of an offensive juggernaut themselves.

Los Angeles has a team batting average of .255, third-worst in the league, and is ahead of only Seattle in runs scored (353). As well, the Angels are only ninth in home runs, despite having stars like Vladimir Guerrero, Torii Hunter, and Garret Anderson.

In fact, the Angels were expected to be a major contender this season because of the signing of Hunter, who was supposed to bolster Los Angeles’ lineup.

And, the Angels made headlines last weekend when they had an unofficial no-hitter (for eight innings) and lost 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in the Freeway Series. In fact, the Angels scored just one run the entire weekend series against the Dodgers, but somehow managed to win one game.

Jered Weaver, who threw the first six innings of that no-no last Saturday, will start against the Blue Jays Friday night.

Despite it being Independence Day, it’d be hard to imagine the Jays and Angels putting much of any fireworks.

Weaver (7-8, 4.30) will face A.J. Burnett (8-7, 4.74), who is coming off two straight wins and has allowed just one run in his last 15 innings.

It’s unlikely Weaver will no-hit the Jays, given that feat has only been accomplished once in major league history, but with both clubs having trouble scoring runs for much of this season, it looks to be another low-scoring, one-run, nail-biter.

If the Jays lose, who will it be who gets the big hit?

Will Gary Matthews Jr. (.239, 7 homers) play Richie Sexson? Or will it be Anderson (.259, 7 homers) having a big night a la Miguel Cairo or Adrian Beltre?

At any rate, don’t be surprised if a slumping hitter busts through. That’s how it usually happens.

Jays let one get away, lose 7-6 to M’s

The Toronto Blue Jays couldn’t hold on to the lead on Canada Day in Seattle.

The Jays, who led 6-2 and looked in control, let one get away, falling 7-6 to the Mariners.

Starter Jesse Litsch looked tentative for the first two innings but hung in there, but still seemed headed for his 9th win of the season.

Instead, the Jays wasted youngster Adam Lind’s 3-for-4, 3-RBI game and Vernon Well’s three hits, and saw their mini three-game winning streak snapped.

Seattle, down by four in the sixth, was led by a pair of veterans: Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson.

No, folks. That’s not a typo.

Yes, the Jays were done in by two of the worst free-agent signings in recent memory. Both were signed by the M’s after the ‘04 season, and well, quite frankly have sucked.

Instead, there was Beltre slugging a two-run shot and Sexson hitting a tying blast in the eighth.

What were the odds that both would hit home runs in the same game? In fact, Sexson hadn’t hit one out since May 24th, and had only nine heading into the contest.

Lefty Scott Downs, who served up the dinger to Sexson, was allowed to return for the last of the ninth, and allowed two walks–one intentional–before giving way to Shawn Camp.

One pitch later, Willie Bloomquist hit a game-ending single, and the Jays fell, 7-6.

A tough loss for sure, but the Jays will have to bounce back on Wednesday to take the series.

Dustin McGowan (6-6, 4.26) opposed Jarrod Washburn (3-7, 5.23) on Wednesday night.

Improving Jays Will Be The Team To Watch In 2nd Half

This post comes with a double helping of optimism as the Jays currently sit in last place in the division, a full 2.5 games back of anyone. However, those who continue to sing the swan song, claiming the season is over, may have to hold their breath for a few weeks.

While we have not the mid-season classic, the traditional starting point for 2nd half predictions, the Jays have played 83 games, just over half a season, and things are definitely looking up. While a seat in last place is not at all what the Toronto faithful expected out of this bunch at the halfway point, they are improving, and to be semi-bold: this team will be over .500 by the All-Star break.

The main story has been the offense, for which there cannot be enough negative things said. They’ve been lackluster with runners in scoring position and their power numbers have been laughable. Do not even bother trying to extrapolate the Jays’ hitters mid season numbers to predict how they will finish, it will just depress you.

The offense has been steadily improving under Cito Gaston, however. While the return of Vernon Wells from a wrist injury has been nice, some of the guys the Jays have been depending on are really beginning to turn a corner. Alex Rios, for example, is hitting .395 over the last ten games and has benefited greatly from Gene Tenace’s aggressive hitting philosophy. Rios has also seen his homerun total SKYROCKET under Gaston, hitting his fourth of the year since the new skipper came aboard.

Another example of how infinitely more competent Cito Gaston & Co. have been than John Gibbons’ group of rag tag curmudgeons: Scott Rolen. The whiz had been hitting cleanup for no good reason under John Gibbons and has found his niche hitting either 5th or 6th under Cito. Rolen had a great first week with the Jays and was somehow deemed an offensive savior by Gibbons who placed him in the cleanup spot, creating far too high expectations that Rolen struggled to meet. Since dropping down in the order, Rolen has hit 3 homers in his last ten games, while his batting average shot up 6 points. Rolen’s season has been salvaged under Cito, as he has become a reliable hitter in the bottom half of the lineup and it will be a crime if he does not pick up his first AL Gold Glove this season.

The new management has gotten the best out of every player on the roster and the offense has improved substantially. They even gave another chance to Adam Lind, who was cast aside by Gibbons in favor of Kevin Mench and his painful mediocrity.

Since being brought back up, Lind notched 5 hits in his first three games, even knocking a homer in his first game back and it looks like he is with the big club to stay. Congrats to Cito and the gang for realizing that a young player with tons of potential is better to have in the lineup than an aging career underachiever who showed no signs that he was able to contribute whatsoever.

Marco Scutaro has been such a great sub that he has found an every day role, filling in for the injured Aaron Hill and even taking time away from David Eckstein. Joe Inglett has been making me miss Reed Johnson a little less, giving enough effort for the entire team and providing a decent bat off the bench.

Something has also clicked for AJ Burnett and whether its a desire to actually win or just score a huge payday this offseason, I don’t care. In his last two starts, the big righty has notched two wins and only one earned run.

The rest of the starting rotation has been great, as usual. The team even found a reliable spot starter in John Parrish who filled in for Shaun Marcum against the Braves this week and pitched solidly, earning the win. We knew that at some point or another, the Jays’ starting rotation would not remain in tact and whether or not David Purcey is awful or just not ready is a decision to be made next season.

With a bullpen that is dependable all of a sudden, the Jays are getting better in every facet of the game. Scott Downs has been sensational, and BJ Ryan has recovered from his nightmarish June to become a sure thing again. They have a 3 game series against Seattle starting tonight and a sweep is not out of the question.

The Jays’ new management has brought a completely new philosophy to the offense that has helped every player from Vernon Wells right on down to Marco Scutaro. With Gibbons out of town, its no longer an atmosphere for a rogue egotistical player like AJ Burnett to do whatever he wants. When many have thought their outstanding pitching was a fluke, they have not faltered in the least. They have an outside chance of having anywhere from 1 to 3 pitchers notching 10 wins before the All Star Break and they are not slowing down at all. This team is talented and disciplined and all signs lead to them being poised to make a serious run in the second half.

The jays will certainly be under-represented in the All Star Game, and rightfully so. No position player deserves a spot in the game and only Scott Rolen is remotely close, while Doc Halladay is as deserving as anyone to be selected. Whether or not a handful of Blue Jays play on All Star Weekend is irrelevant. The real issue is that if the Jays continue to improve, they could be playing in some much more meaningful games this fall. (I told you optimism would be oozing through this post)

Why is it that closers can’t focus in non-save situations?

On Saturday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves 9-5 had to hang on–barely.

Starter John Parrish, making his season debut thanks to Shaun Marcum’s injury, did the job with six innings of four-hit ball, turning a 6-1 lead over to the bullpen.

Jays reliever Brian Tallet, however, imploded and gave up four runs in the eighth, including Mark Teixeira’s 16th home run, trimming Toronto’s lead to just 6-5.

The Jays added three runs, capped off by Vernon Wells’ two-run double, in the eighth, and seemingly were in control.

And B.J. Ryan came on in the ninth to close things out, but not before incident.

With a comfortable four-run lead (which is not a save situation), Ryan gave up two hits, and almost another one, which would have made things more interesting than necessary.

With two men on, the Braves’ Ruben Gotay drove a Ryan offering down the right-field line, which if fair, would have scored two runs to bring the tying run to the plate.

And the potential tying run would have been pinch-hitter Chipper Jones, who leads the majors with a .394 mark and is tied with Teixeira for the team lead with 16 dingers.

And then, Teixeira, who had six homers in his last six games, including two in this series already, would have been up.

But luckily for Ryan and the Jays, Gotay’s drive to right landed just foul, by inches, and Gotay then grounded out to short to end the game.

It was, however, that close to being a much more uncomfortable finish for the Blue Jays.

So why is it that closers can’t nail down the last three outs with ease in these non-save situations?

Does anyone out there care to share their thoughts on this?