The Blue Jays are now in territory that was familiar to them at the beginning of the 2009 season, if only for a short period. Last year the Jays got used to seeing themselves at the top of the toughest division in baseball, the American League East, after starting the season 27-14 – a winning percentage of .659. Their 42nd game of the season marked the beginning of the end when the Jays went on a 9-game losing streak.
Chances are that the Jays’ time in the sun will not be as long-lived as it was last year. And hopefully… we won’t have to see our beloved Blue Jays endure another 9-game losing streak. (That wasn’t fun)
The Blue Jays are in first place currently because of a total team effort with some less-than-likely suspects, Travis Snider and Jose Molina, stepping up on Friday and Saturday respectively to put their team over the edge. Most fans would have considered Vernon Wells an unlikely suspect to carry the team on his shoulders, but that’s exactly what he did during the season-opening series against Texas hitting 4 home runs. The Jays have also had some of the best starting pitching in the American League so far, which leads me to my next point…
DANA EVELAND. He looked a little shaky in the first couple innings, but really settled in after that. Other than a 13-pitch at bat against Nick Markakis in 4th inning, Eveland worked very efficiently throwing just 94 pitches over 7 1/3 innings. Eveland relied heavily on his changeup, which served him well throughout the game. He is not overpowering, throwing a 4-seam, and 2-seam fastball between about 86-90mph, and also mixes a curveball into his repertoire. He pitches to contact, and as such, if I were Cito, I would have been a little more inclined to start defensive specialist John McDonald at second base on Saturday in order to solidify the defense behind Eveland who induced 12 ground ball outs against the Orioles. With power pitcher Brandon Morrow on the mound on Friday, there is less of a need for superior defense when he is striking out more than 1 batter per inning on average, so Mike McCoy could have started that game instead of McDonald with Aaron Hill still listed as day-to-day with hamstring tightness.
Offensively, Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion, Alex Gonzalez and Jose Molina stepped it up with two base hits each. Jose Molina really made his plate appearances count with 2 RBIs. His first came after he was plunked in the left shoulder by David Hernandez in the 4th inning with the bases loaded, and he drove in Edwin Encarnacion in the 6th inning with a base hit.
I’m officially starting my Randy Ruiz count. How many games before he gets an at bat? We’re at 5 games now.
The Jays have officially won their first two series of the season, but will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:35pm at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
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