That game was cool and all, but I've got a couple of things to say about it that will probably get a bunch of people upset with me.
First, I'm glad this game was against the Mariners and not some team with a good offense, because Alvarez, despite allowing 6 hits and 1 earned run, definitely didn't have his best stuff, and he really wasn't all that close with his command (three walks?!?!). Fortunately, he knew it, and, moreover, it didn't matter a whole lot against the Mariner offense. If this was a game against another AL East team, he'd have probably allowed about 80 runs. This is my biggest problem with fip/xfip, because missing the glove as often as he did last night should lead to a bunch of hits and runs, but it didn't, though Alvarez wouldn't be a good barometer for that, since his fip is almost 6, mostly due to not striking anybody out ever. All's well that ends well though, I suppose.
Second, the Jays have won 2 in a row, and really should have won the first of this series, and they did so by scoring 7 runs in yesterday's game, so maybe it's kind of starting to come around, right? Yeah, well. Welcome to town, Texas. I have literally 0 hope for this series. Texas is just way, way too good, top to bottom. I've written all kinds of nonsense about how good this team, so I'm not going to do it again, but whatever. I'd really love to see Drew Hutchison not start against Texas, because it can't be good for the development of a pitcher to get shelled in front of his home crowd in his third career start, but I doubt that's going to happen. Either way, I have little faith in that one being very pretty.
Edwin Encarnacion gets the Zaunhead for his game last night. He was 1 for 1 with a homer and 2 walks and probably some kind of sac fly or something like that, but I dunno. Since Jason Vargas is a lefty-shitballer, I predicted to my girlfriend that Edwin would homer if Vargas didn't get yanked after 5 innings due to pitch count considerations. He did not disappoint me.
Naturally, Edwin batted behind Adam Lind, who, versus a lefty, went 0-for-4, to the surprise of nobody. I really hope it's becoming more evident to Farrell, or at least somebody who has an influence on him, that both Adam Lind and Francisco Cordero really aren't good fits for the roles that they're currently filling. We're obviously dealing with some pretty small samples for this season, but it's not exactly a big surprise that either of these guys are struggling, and they shouldn't be given miles of rope in high leverage innings and the cleanup slot respectively. Lind is a full-on platoon player and should never be given AB's vs a lefty, and Cordero just simply shouldn't be in the game in any high-leverage spot when Janssen, Frasor, Oliver and Perez are available.
Stuff
Rajai Davis is probably out for tonight, but the XRays came back negative. He was hit with a ball sliding back in to third base avoiding a pickoff.
Apparently Travis Snider's MRI came back negative after he jammed his wrist the other day. He'll still probably be out for another few days, up to a week. Note that there's no source attached to that, so it's not a sure thing.
Jason Frasor approves of the CBA changes.
A highschool kid Randy Johnson'ed a bird the other day.
Driveline Baseball looks at Michael Pineda's injury from a biomechanic standpoint.
The internet's favorite pitching prospect posted a youtube video about his baseball mindset.
No Josh Hamilton tonight for the Rangers. He tweaked his back last night against the Rays, but it's not like that fucking matters a whole lot now, does it?
Lineups
Jays
Escobar SS
Johnson 2B
Bautista RF
Lind 1B
Encarnacion DH
Thames LF
Lawrie 3B
Rasmus CF
Arencibia C
Drabek P
Rangers
Kinsler 2B
Andrus SS
Young 3B
Beltre DH
Murphy LF
Cruz RF
Napoli C
Moreland 1B
Gentry CF
DARVISH P
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