Blue Jays Journal

The Blue Jays continued their winning streak on Thursday and completed the sweep against the Minnesota Twins with a 3-2 victory. The win puts them just 1 win away from getting to the .500 mark and it puts them ahead of the Yankees in the AL East. Toronto’s record is now 21-22 and they now sit in 4th place.

Both team offenses were quiet for pretty much the entire game which led to the clubs going into extra innings when the Jays took the game in the 11th. Scott Rolen had a good game for the Jays going 2-for-5 including a double with 1 RBI and a run scored. His batting average is now at an even .300 and his RBI total is at 9.  Alex Rios also contributed in the win with his 16th RBI of the season going 1-for-5. The game winning RBI came off the bat of pinch hitting Joe Inglett who hit a single, driving in a run, and finishing the game in the 11th inning.

Dustin McGowan got the start for the Jays and pitched a solid game. He threw 5 innings allowing just 2 hits, 2 runs, 5 walks and 3 Ks. He didn’t earn the win because the game was still tied when he left but his ERA is now at 4.38.  Shawn Camp did get the win though pitching just 1/3rd inning walking 1 batter in the process. His record is now 1-1 this season and his ERA is at 5.00. B.J. came in to close out the game and did just that getting his 7th save of the season while keeping his ERA at 0.00.

Good win for the good guys especially since the loss of Vernon Wells, which some expected the team to become even worse. It actually seems that they have come together and are looking to make a run towards the top of the AL East, which isn’t very far from away.

Toronto won their 3rd straight game Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins 6-5. The win gives the Blue Jays the series against the Twins winning the 1st and 2nd game of the 3 game set. Toronto now has their record at 20-22 but are still looking up at everyone else in the AL East.

If you just looked at the box score you would think that Minnesota won this game because they collected 11 hits to the Jays 6. Toronto owes the victory to the 1st inning where they managed 4 runs off the bat of DH Matt Stairs who hit a 1 out grand slam giving the Jays a 4-0 lead. Unfortunately the big lead didn’t last long because they gave up 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of the 1st. The rest of the game was close throughout with Toronto adding 1 run in the 4th and another in the 8th to give them the final score of 6-5. Matt Stair is my player of the game going 1-for-4 with 4 RBI and a run scored. He now has his batting average up to .304 and his homer total at 6. RF Brad Wilkerson also had a good game going 2-for-4 with 1 RBI and a run scored. He led the game off with his poor batting average at .224. Scott Rolen pitched in scoring 2 runs, hitting 1-of-3 and stealing his 2nd base of the year.

Toronto ace Roy Halladay took the mound for the Jays and pitched a tremendous game going 6 2/3rds innings allowing 9 hits, 4 runs and 8 Ks. He earned the win for his team bringing his record to 4-5 and his ERA to 3.49. Scott Downs came in to close the game up and did just that earing his 5th save of the season keeping his ERA at 2.60. Boof Bonser got the start for the Twins and didn’t have as much luck as Toronto pitchers. Bonser pitched 6 innings giving up 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks and the 1st inning grand slam to Matt Stairs. He was given the loss for his team bringing his record to 2-5 and his ERA up to 5.37.

It seems the Jays have hit a nice grove and got exactly what they needed from their Ace. They will need to keep up this improved play because they are running into teams that have above .500 records and will need to bring their A game.

Toronto won their 1st meeting of a 4 game series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday in a 2-0 victory. Blue Jay pitchers nearly shut down the Sox completely only giving up 2 hits in the game, both hits came from the same player. The win is the Jays 2nd in a row and now brings their record to 13-17 keeping them in last place in the AL East.

Not many offensive highlights in this one as the Jays only collected 5 hits themselves. Shannon Stewart, taking on the DH role, went 2-for-3 with the only 2 RBI in the game. The RBI give him 6 for the season and he no has his batting average at .226. Vernon Wells also had a nice game hiting 2-of-3 with a run scored. His batting average has begun to sink a little but he has it at .257. The only other run scored in the game came from Scott Rolen who went 1-for-3. Since returning from injury Rolen has his batting average up to .308.

Shawn Marcum had a fantastic game for the Toronto ball club. He pitched 6 and 2/3rds innings giving up just 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks and 9 K’s. He earned the win for the Jays bringing his record to 3-2 and his ERA down to 2.70. Jeremy Accardo, Shawn Camp, and Jesse Carlson all record holds in the game working a combined 1 and 2/3rds innings without giving up 1 hits. Scott Downs came in to close out the game and did just getting his 2nd save of the season bringing his ERA to 3.65.

A great game for the pitching staff, picking up the slack for the hitters who had a hard time getting their game together. These are exactly the types of games the Jays are going to need if they want to claw their way back into the AL East race.