Jays flex their muscles against defending champs
JAYS 8 – WHITE SOX 2
The Jays came out swinging in their first of 3 games against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. Toronto, fresh off of the demotions of some of the cancerous players that plauged them in their losses this season, made a definitive statement to the defending World Series champions – "We can hit the ball too"
Led by the power threesome of Glaus, Wells and Rios, the Jays belted out 4 HR’s against the near perfect Freddy Garcia(7-2, 4.31). Alex Rios started the bash-fest in the 1st inning with a solo shot on the second pitch of the game. Wells hit a 2-run HR in the 3rd and Glaus hit a monsterous shot to center field in the 5th inning. Ted Lilly(5-4, 4.00) pitched well, striking out 7 and only allowing 2 ER on his way to his 5 victory of the season.
In a surprising move, manager John Gibbons decided to play Glaus at SS so he could get more power in the lineup. Gibbons said that it wouldn’t be a permanent thing, but that he wanted as much power in the lineup as he could to face the defending World Series champions. Glaus will likely move back to third this afternoon and John McDonald will play short.
The Jays will look to make it 2 straight, as they send rookie Cassey Janssen(3.3, 3.46) to the mound against another very good White Sox pitcher in Jose Contreras(5-0, 1.90) who is sporting a sparkling ERA thus far.
JAYS PLAYER OF THE GAME
3 for 5, HR, RBI
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Rios’ Solo HR
Wells 2-run HR
Glaus Monster Shot
Johnson’s HR
Lilly’s impressive performance
NEXT GAME
5/27/06 vs. White Sox
Jays Sign Edgardo Alfonzo
The Toronto Blue Jay’s signed veteran infielder Edgardo Alfonzo to a minor league contract today. Alfonzo who most recently played with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, was signed after being released on May 20, 2006 by the Angels. Alfonzo will report to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats(AA) on Friday, May 26.
Burnett to start throwing off the mound
A.J. Burnett will start throw off a mound on Monday the first time since re-injuring his elbow in a start against the Red Sox on April 21. Burnett has been participating in some long-toss for the last couple weeks has been throwing from 120 feet. Although no timetable has been mentioned for his return, this news will come as a relief to Jays fans as Toronto’s pitching staff has been struggling lately.
Towers and Adams sent to Syracuse
Josh Towers and Russ Adams were both sent to the minors on Wednesday night after struggling early in the season. Towers demotion may come as no surprise to fans who have been asking for this move to be made for the last month or so. After having a career year last season going 13-12 with a 3.71 ERA, Towers was given a two-year $5.2m contract in the offseason and was expected to put up similar numbers this year. Towers has not been very effective this year and the result is a trip to triple-A Syracuse.
The Russ Adams demotion on the other hand may come as a surprise to some fans. While everyone knows that Adams has been struggling defensively, he has been fairly consistent at the plate and has come up with some big hits in timely
situations. Ultimately though, the Jays felt that Adams’ 10 errors in 36 games was reason enough to have the youngster go down to Syracuse to clear his head. The rumour floating around is that Adams will spend some time in AAA and when he returns will play second base and Toronto will move Aaron Hill back to his natural position of SS, where he played last year.
As for their replacements?? Well nothing has been said about the Towers situation just yet, but John Gibbons said that 32 year-old infielder Luis Figueroa will join the team and will split playing time with John McDonald. Figueroa has a steady glove and has hit .245 in 26 games this year in AAA.
Jays can’t get it done
JAYS 8 – DEVIL RAYS 10
Josh Towers(1-8, 9.00) continued his struggling ways with a poor performance in the rubber match of the Toronto’s 3-game series with the Devil Rays. Towers’ pitched 1.2 innings, giving up 4 ER on 6 hits. With the Red Sox losing to the Yankees the Jays remain 2 games back of the Sox for first place in the AL East. Aaron Hill has continued his improved play of late going 3 for 3 with 1 HR and 1 RBI. The Jays will now take on the defending World Series champions the Chicago White Sox in a 3 game series that starts on Friday. Following the series against Chicago, Toronto will have a very important series against Boston.
JAYS PLAYER OF THE GAME
3 for 3, HR, RBI
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Hillenbrand Solo HR
Hill Solo HR
Jays DP
NEXT GAME
05/26/06 vs. White Sox
Puzzling Situation
Now normally, I am not one to criticize John Gibbons and how he runs his team. Lets be honest, I’m not a MLB manager so I don’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes, but I saw something last night that really made me wonder. With 2 outs in the 9th inning and just 1 out away
from his 3rd complete game in 4 starts, Roy Halladay gave up a base hit, that could have easily been the 3rd out had John McDonald been positioned in a different place. After giving up the hit, to mine and apparently the 34,000 in attendance at the Roger’s Center surprise, John Gibbons opted to bring in B.J. Ryan for the save. Now, I understand this move had it been a Josh Towers on the mound or maybe a Gustavo Chacin, but come on…… this is Roy Halladay were talking about here. I don’t really care how many millions of dollars that B.J. Ryan gets paid to save games, Halladay is and has been the ace of this staff long before Mr. Ted Rogers decided to reach into his pocket book for some more talent. Halladay was a 20 game winner and Cy-Young Award winner when this team was frozen at a $45.0m payroll and I think THAT deserves some thought before quickly going to our bullpen an out before a complete game to scratch the back of an overpaid closer.
Halladay puts it in cruise control
JAYS 4 – DEVIL RAYS 1
Roy Halladay(6-1, 2.77) notched his sixth victory of the season with ease Tuesday night with a 4-1 victory over the Devil Rays. Halladay pitched 8.2 innings, giving up 7 hits, 1 ER and striking out 7 in another masterful outing for the Jays ace. With the win, the Blue Jays are only 2 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East and .5 game back of the Yankees for second. The Jays have a chance tonight to do something they have yet to do in this young season. With a win against the Devil Rays tonight the Jays will sweep their first series of the year, and it couldn’t come at a better time, as the Jays next 6 games are against very tough teams in the White Sox and Red Sox.
JAYS PLAYER OF THE GAME
8.2 IP/7H/1ER/0BB/7SO
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Hillenbrand’s Solo HR
NEXT GAME
05/24/06 vs. Devil Rays
Jays Power thier way to victory
JAYS 6 – DEVIL RAYS 4
Cassey Janssen(3-3, 3.46) and the Toronto Blue Jays snapped a 3-game losing skid on Monday afternoon with a victory over the red-hot Devil Rays. Coming into Monday’s game, Toronto had only managed to score a combined 7 runs in their last three games, all of them losses, while the Devil Rays were winners of their last 4 in a row. It took the Jays half an inning to get that high powered offense back on track as Troy Glaus hit a 2-run bomb to right-center field. The homerun not only allowed Toronto to jump out to an early lead but also hit a promotional sign in the outfield that allowed someone to win a brand new car.
Eric Hinske quite possibly won the game for Toronto with two crucial plays. The first play came in the first inning with nobody out and runners on the corner, the Devil Ray’s Jonny Gomes hit a ball that was quickly headed for the gap. Hinske on his horse, made a great diving catch to limit the damage to just one run. Had Hinske not made the catch at least 1 or 2 more runs would have scored. The second play came in the second inning, when he hit a ball the bounced off the bullpen in left field for a solo homerun. The homerun was particularly important as Toronto was clinging to a 1-run lead until the 8th inning. A great job by Hinske in this game!(oh and this all coming from a player that has seen his playing time reduced to just about none in the wake of Alex Rios great play this season)
JAYS PLAYER OF THE GAME
1 for 3, HR
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Hinske’s Diving Grab
Hinske’s Solo HR
Catalanotto Sliding Grab
NEXT GAME
05/23/06 vs. Devil Rays
Blue Jays Player of the Week; May 15 – 21
Second Baseman Aaron Hill earns are inaugural Player of the Week award. After starting the season flirting with the Mendoza line, Hill has batted .429 in the last 7 days with 2 doubles and a
couple RBI’s. His biggest hit may have come against the Anaheim Angels, where he drove a double into left-center field to give the Jays a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th and start a rally in which the Jay’s scored 3 more runs to win the game in extra innings. Despite his early troubles at the plate, Hill has played very good defense at second base and now with his offense starting to come around, he is showing flashes of the potential the Jay’s believe he has.
HILL’S SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Dive and Scoop
Double to start a rally
Making the Tag on a tough throw
Hill stays with a deflected ball
RUNNERS-UP: Russ Adams, Greg Zaun
Jays are swept
JAYS 3 – ROCKIES 3
For the first time this year the Toronto Blue Jays have been swept in a series. For the second straight start Ted Lilly(4-4, 4.15) struggled with his command early and it cost him. Lilly gave up 5 runs on 1.2 innings of work. Toronto’s high powered offense was held in check the first two games of this series and the third game was no different. Toronto only managed 3 runs in this ballgame and they all came off the bat of Alex Rios as he hit his 9th HR of the season in the top of the 5th. Toronto heads back to the Rogers Center today for an afternoon matinee with the Tampa Bay Devil Ray’s. The Jays will be happy to be home as they are 13-8 this season at home, while posting a dissapointing 10-12 record on the road.
JAYS PLAYER OF THE GAME
3 for 4, 2B
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Rios’ 3-run HR
Atkins’ 3-run Double
NEXT GAME
5/22/06 vs. Tamba Bay
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