Toronto took the final 2 games of the 3 game set in their first outing of interleague play against the Philadelphia Phillies. The wins bring the Jays record to an even .500 at 23-23 and puts them in 4th place of the AL East.
Saturday’s victory was because of 2 homers that catcher Rod Barajas blasted in the 2nd and 9th innings. The homers helped push Toronto to the 6-3 win. Barajas went 2-for-4 with 5 RBI and 2 runs scored. One of his homers was a grand slam that took place in the 2nd inning giving the Jays an early 4-0 lead. The jacks bring his total to 3 for the season and his batting average now stands at .254. Scott Rolen also had a nice game going 2-for-4 including a double and a walk. His batting average has now climbed to a strong .312. A.J. Burnett took the mound in game 2 and pitched a very strong game. He worked 6 1/3rd innings allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, all earned, 3 walks and 8 Ks. He earned the win for the ball club bringing his record to 4-4 this season. B.J. Ryan came in to close out the game and did just that getting his 8th save of the season striking out 1 in the process.
The final game of the series was won by the Blue Jays because of back-to-back 3 run innings in the 5th and 6th. The win gives the Jays the series against the Phil’s as they win the set 2 games to 1. Shannon Stewart had a strong game for Toronto and he was a big part of the 3 run innings. Stewart went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and a run scored. He brought his RBI total to 10 on the season and now had his batting average at .248. Rod Barajas had another good game going 2-for-3 with 1 RBI and a runs scored. His RBI total now stands at 10 and his batting average climbed to .273. Lyle Overbay came into pinch hit for one of the pitchers and hit 1-of-3 including a 2 run homer in the 5th inning. The homer is his 2nd of the season and his batting average is at .272. Due to a 2 and a half hour delay that was caused by rain, both teams had to go through 13 different pitchers to get though the game. Shawn Marcum was scheduled to get the start and he did but he only got the opportunity to pitch for 1 inning. In that time he allowed 2 hits, 2 runs and 3 Ks. The win was given to Jason Frasor who pitched 1 1/3rd innings giving up no hits, 1 runs and he struck out 1 as well. He was given the win for the ball club bringing his record to 1-0 and his ERA to 4.11. B.J. Ryan came in and got his 9th save of the season bringing his ERA to a stellar 0.64.
A strong weekend for the Jays that brings their record to .500 and are now places them back into the AL East race just 1.5 games back from 3rd place. They will now open up a 3 game series against the LA Angels on Tuesday looking to continue on their 2 game winning streak.
