Jays win another. Frank has left the house.

Sunday April 20, 2008. Jays v Detroit in Toronto.

Jays win 5-3

The day started with news re Frank’s release. Not unexpected after his negative outburst yesterday to news of benching. JP had no choice really, he could not afford to have such influence in the clubhouse. If Frank had taken it differently and acknowledged that he was awful to date with .167 average but was going to work his butt off to get his timing ready, might have been different.
They are still paying his salary whether or not he in team or not. But from day one in Dunedin Frank had said he had one goal to get his 600hrs. Nothing about helping the team etc etc…
Now where will he end ? JP said that Frank told him “he still wants to play every day”. He is no good in field anymore. Has to be an American League team. Yankees DH ?

Overall a good but essential move by JP. It also sends strong message to clubhouse about commitment to win something this season.

The good: Burnett win although struggled all day after early great start. He only has one pitch right now until that finger heals. Eckstein’s three run home run. Johnny Mac’s single that set this up for Eckstein with two outs. The bullpen today of Carlson, Camp and Accardo. Fielding as ever including super save by Johnny Mac playing at 3B today and Eckstein's double play in 8th.
News from Dunedin that Rolen is starting game as DH and will play series. Great news Scott, hurry home. Toronto playing with one short on bench today still have to name replacement for Thomas. Lind ??? to cover LF as well and give Wells and Rios the day off occasionally. Stewart also still day to day with that groin injury, would be good insurance.
The bad: Aftertaste of Frank’s departure. Vernon still not in a consistent groove.

The lineups: Tigers: Thomas, Rodriguez, Guillen, Ordonez, Cabrera, Jones, Renteria, Raburn and Inge with Nate Robertson pitching.
Toronto: Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Scutaro, Overbay, Zaun and Macdonald with Burnett pitching. Interesting but not unexpected to see Overbay moving lower in order. Lyle is still not in synch with his own bat.

The game: Top 1st: Burnett showing great fastball at 97-8mph throughout strikes out the side. Thomas, Rodriguez and Guillen. Great start A. J.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein roller down 3B line into LF, double to start, Hill is he going to bunt ? yes. But misses it. Now swinging away. Flare into CF, drops, two on no outs for Alex. Rios first pitch swinging… grounds to SS. Eckstein at least scores. 1-0. Hill holds. Wells at bat with Hill stealing 3B, successful. Not sure whether that is lack of faith in Vernon ? Wells strikes out. Hmmm. Barajas hit on leg. Scutaro fly ball to CF.

Top 2nd: Ordonez fly ball to RF, Cabrera fly ball to CF, Jones walks and with Jones running on pitch Renteria grounds to Overbay. Burnet still pitching well but heavy reliance on fastball only.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay strikes out, Zaun grounds out to 2B, Johnny Mac lines to SS. Not a great inning.

Top 3rd: Raburn grounds to Eckstein, Inge walks, Thoma s fly ball to Scutaro in LF today, Burnett wild itch moves Inge to 2B, Rodriguez walks, Guillen walks, bases loaded. Burnett almost total reliance on fastball is hurting him, his curve ball is nowhere near. Ordonez grounds to 2B. AJ is off the hook for a time at least, his pitch count is around 60 already.
Bottom 3rd: Eckstein grounds to 3B, Hill singles to CF, Rios flies to RF, Wells strikes out for the second time today. Big bats are still missing even without Frank.

Top 4th: Cabrera fly ball to CF, Jones singles to RF, Renteria singles to RF, Jones moves to 3B, AJ in trouble again. Raburn walks, bases loaded again… Inge pops out to CF too shallow for run to score, Thomas singles to RF, that will do it, two runs score. Thomas to 2B, Rodriguez strikes out. 2-1 Detroit.
Bottom 4th: Barajas strikes out, Scutaro singles to LF, Overbay singles to RF, Scutaro to 2B, Zaun grounds to 3B, Johnny Mac with two outs and two on, singles to LF, Scutaro scores, this game is tied 2-2. Good at bat by Johnny Mac . Eckstein HR !!! to LF, scores Overbay and Macdonald. 5-2. Eckstein pats Johnny Mac at dugout, he knows it was his single that kept things alive. Eckstein is an enigma… how can this little guy hit a home run ? and yet he did it also in Dunedin for a grand slam… Whereas Vernon can’t buy a hit. Hill lines to SS to end inning but Jays retake lead at 5-2.

Top 5th: Guillen grounds to 2B, Ordonez walks, Cabrera doubles CF, run scores 5-3. Come on AJ. Jones grounds to 2B, Renteria fly ball to RF.
Bottom 5th: Rios singles to LF, Wells strikes out for third time, Vernon is not having a good day or series. Barajas lines to CF, Scutaro walks, Alex moves to 2B, Overbay pops to SS.

Top 6th: Carlson pitching, I like this guy, he is all business and looks as if he has ice in his veins. Raburn grounds to 3B, Inge pops up to Zaun, Thomas singles to shallow CF, Rodriguez strikes out, Good inning for Jesse and continues a very good week so far.
Bottom 6th: New pitcher for Tigers. Zach Miner. Zaun singles to CF, Manager Leyland out of the dugout but no change, just telling him out his AAA assignment if he messes this one up. Johnny Mac bunts Zaun to 2B, Eckstein have another good day at the office with double and HR. Not this time, grounds to SS, Hill grounds out to 2B leaving Zaun out there. I guess Zach will continue.

Top 7th: Jesse Carlson still pitching. Guillen strikes out, Now here comes Captain Hook. Jesse is gone but very nice outing. Shawn Camp fresh in from Syracuse now in. Strikes out Ordonez, and strikes out Cabrera. Very nice.
Bottom 7th: Rios grounds to 3B, Wells with three strikeouts this afternoon already, determined not to make four… swings at first pitch, that will do it, do or die Vernon ? This time die with ground out to 3B. I wonder if Vernon will get a rest tomorrow ? Barajas grounds to 2B.

Top 8th: Camp still pitching. Jones grounds to Overbay, Campo completes play at 1B, Renteria strikes out but gets to 1B on passed ball by Zaun. Raburn grounds back to Camp who throws a bullet to Eckstein running over 2B and throw to 1B gets Renteria easily and completes a great double play by Eckstein. This guy is doing it all this afternoon.
Bottom 8th: Bobby Seay pitching. Scutaro walks, Overbay grounds to 2B double play ball. Zaun singles to CF, Jonny Mac strikes out.

Top 9th: Accardo in for save. Management says that BJ will not be pitching two consecutive days for a while at least. Jeremy is still on probation with Captain Hook Gibbons and the fans after last outings. Inge grounds to 3B, Thomas singles to CF. Oh no…. Here comes Rodriguez… grounds to 2B double play ball.
Jays win this one 5-3.

Burnett win and Accardo save. One more tomorrow with Detroit daytime game with thousands of school age fans. Always great atmosphere. It will be a (very) noisy one to get Jays going.