First off, a confession.
I didn’t watch last night’s game. I didn’t even see one pitch. Five consecutive days of packing, moving, unpacking, and setting things up left me exhausted. Though I gave it my all, I couldn’t keep my eyes open past 9:30 last night.
So when I awoke to find that the Jays had lost 8-7 I was disappointed. When I read the game summary to see HOW the Jays lost 8-7, I was shocked.
Make no mistake – last night was a complete collapse. Those are the kind of debacles that can leave scars on a team, especially a young team like Toronto. But what doesn’t help heal those scars is focusing on the negative.
Yes – the bullpen imploded.
Yes – Travis Snider isn’t hitting.
Yes – Rajai Davis was placed on the DL.
But let’s ignore that. Here a bunch of positives to offset the disaster of Monday night.
1. Edwin Encarnacion is alive! A three hit night pulled him over the Mendoza line, though he still has a long way to go to hit the 30 HR mark.
2. Corey Patterson made his regular season Blue Jays debut and was productive – 2 for 5 with a HR.
3. Yunel Escobar continues to hit well, going 1 for 3 to see his average sit at .458.
4. Though Bautista is still stuck on 2 HR, he is hitting an even .400 – a far cry of his average from last season.
5. Who is Jayson Nix? A hiting machine apparently!
6. Jessie Litsch didn’t have is “A” stuff – as shown by four walks – but he battled through 5 shutout innings.
7. Jason Frasor came into pitch and DIDN’T ALLOW A RUN!!!!
8. Ricky Romero is on the hill tonight. On top of being the ace of the staff and getting off to a blistering start to the season, he has pitched very well against the Mariners in his career: 3 starts, 1 – 0, 3.79 ERA, 13 K in 19 IP.
9. The bad run ends tonight. Book it.
I disagree with Encarnacion ever being put in a sentence with the word Positive, unless the sentence is ‘I am positive Encarnacion is a certified buffoon.’ Otherwise, great post.