Snider Clutch as Jays Win vs O’s

You can point to the 1-2-3 inning Kevin Gregg threw, for his first save as a Jay, as the key point in the game, but there were many more where that came from. Here are my observations from the game:

• First, what in the world was Adam Jones doing blowing a bubble as he allowed a John Buck hit to bounce out of his glove? Nice to know his head was in the game.
• We now know what the limit is for Cito in terms of where to hit Snider. The only player he deems worthy of being behind Snider in the lineup is John McDonald. Can’t say I blame him, he looked horrible at the plate today. On the good side, he did successfully push Snider to 3B in a key play in the 9th, so Johnny earned his keep today.
• Speaking of Snider, he had THE clutch play for the Jays today, with his double in the 9th inning to drive in the tying run. He later scored the winning run on a Jose Bautista sacrifice. Maybe that, his single, and walk, will finally get his moved up a spot or two in the lineup.
• Brandon Morrow struggled out of the gates, no doubt, but I still liked what he showed us. When he throws strikes, he’s extremely hard to hit. You can always expect to have a hard time finding the strike zone during the first game and Brandon definitely fit that bill today as he walked 5. However, he also struck out 5 and had very good velocity, reaching 99 MPH a couple of times.
• Casey Janssen had his first bump in the road as he allowed a run in relief.
• Alex Gonzalez hit his 2nd HR of the year, while John Buck chipped in with 2 doubles for his best offensive performance this far in the young season.

Dana Eveland takes on David Hernandez tomorrow. Let’s hope he’s as strong as he was this spring!