That Thing I Said...

... about the offense coming alive?  Yeah, heh.  It looked like this one was going to be a big old marathon full of homers and constant runs, but then Toronto was like "nah, we're not in the mood, you guys go ahead", which sounds a lot like my idea of what sex is.

I mean, to further my rapey sex analogy, it wasn't really as bad as it sounded, because for 8 innings, the game was reasonably within reach, and probably could have been closer had Morrow been yanked earlier the way he should have.  The Jays had 2 men on in the 8th inning and certainly could have made a game of it, but Tampa got out of that inning and then scored like 6 runs in the 9th just to kind of finally say "listen, I'm tired and going to bed, but I'm getting laid first.  You can either enjoy it, or we're just going to rape you" and Farrell, not in the mood for a rape, said "Why don't you have Carlos Villanueva?"  Villanueva, having not pitched since like the 2nd game of the season, was all dry and cobwebbed down there, and needed some foreplay, which explains the walks, and then immediately took one to the asshole when he wasn't watching.

So yeah, that small sample narrative about the Rays having scored like 26 runs in their last 7 games can be put to rest, and so can the one about the Jays having some outrageous run differential through their first ten.

Having said that, the Jays put up 12 hits last night (plus two walks), so I'd hesitate to say that offense is the problem, even if they did only score two runs.  Sometimes that kind of thing just happens and double plays get in the way, and sometimes you just get a guy or two on base every inning, only to get Joe Morgan mad by not hitting well with runners in scoring position.  If we can let cooler heads prevail on that piece of silliness, I think we can all agree that if you get 12 hits and 2 walks, especially against a pitcher like David Price, the runs are going to come at a higher rate than 2 per game.

Don't look now, but Yunel Escobar had 4 hits last night (ZH), and Colby Rasmus hit the ball hard twice.  Escobar, after starting like 2-for-23 or something, has the batting average up to .263.  Rasmus, meanwhile, is up to .231, which is higher than Kelly Johnson, by the way.  Bautista got on base three times, and Luis Perez threw two perfect innings, striking out four.  It's not all bad, kids.  And I may as well remind you now that even the best team in the league this year will lose 60-ish games, so one loss, in the grand scheme of things, blowout or not, doesn't really amount to a whole lot.

Stuff
Alex Anthopoulos spoke with Jim Bowden of the MLB Network (MLBTR thread here), and said that he'd like to add another impact bat, more so than adding an impact arm to his rotation.  Interesting.  Obviously, these things can change with performances and injuries, but reading between the lines, and I'm not entirely sure where he's looking to add, the obvious points of focus can be 1B/DH and left field.  I would be shocked if Edwin were going anywhere, but I can certainly see AA getting tired of Adam Lind, if he doesn't regain his 2009 form quickly.  If Lind is the guy getting dumped in this hypothetical scenario, there are alternatives to bringing in a strict 1B.  Edwin could be moved to 1B to make room for another DH-type, or Bautista could go to 1B to make room for another outfielder, assuming that's the eventual plan with him (which, if it isn't, it should be, based on absolutely everything but his arm).  Of course, if they don't think Snider is ready to come up, and Thames keeps being his mediocre self, they could throw another LF in to the mix.  I'm not sure who would be available at the moment, but after a month or so, we should be able to at least get an idea about which teams are going to quit on us and make some guys available.

Doug Walton is a Jays Producer for sportsnet, perhaps?  I say that just judging from his twitter handle, but he drops a little blast of interesting on us:

Travis Snider leads PCL in OPS...has more walks than strikeouts #Jays
— Doug Walton (@JaysProducer) April 19, 2012

Now, this OPS business doesn't tell us a whole helluva lot, seeing as Snider has seen AAA in parts of four separate seasons, piling up 605 PA's according to his baseball-reference page, and they play in the Arlington of the AAA leagues in Las Vegas, but it's certainly a little encouraging.  That walks>K's thing is always nice to hear as well, but again, probably isn't a whole lot more than white noise.  It's something though, I suppose.

If you missed it, Matt Cain and Cliff Lee had some duelling shutouts last night. Lee actually threw 10 innings and 102 pitches, only to come out of the game and immediately see his team lose.  Cain answered with 9 innings of 2 hit ball (that makes 3 hits and 1 walk over his last 18 IP/two starts).  This 11 inning game lasted an hour less than the 9 inning Jays game.

Here's your official 2012 draft order.  We kind of knew what to expect, thanks to the internet, but we can rehash.  The Jays will pick 17th overall, thanks to their record last season, and will then pick 22nd overall due to their inability to sign Tyler Beede last year.  They'll get three more picks in the compensation round; 50th overall for losing Frank Francisco, 58th overall for losing Jon Rauch (getting compensation for "losing" Jon Rauch doesn't sound right), and 60th for losing Jose Molina.

Apparently hitting a baseball is "Clearly impossible", according to a professor at Yale.

Finally, here's a gif of Bautista's padded high-five with Lawrie the other night.