Ricky Romero Close To Perfection

If you missed tonight’s game you should look at as many highlights as possible. Ricky Romero threw the best game of his career, without a doubt. He only needed 79 pitches to finish the first 6 innings of the game, and had already struck out 12 batters by that point. The only things that kept him from being perfect were 2 measly walks. By the time the 7th inning was done he had thrown 90 pitches and was still rolling along with great velocity. It was truly an impressive performance that should go a long way to providing the entire rotation with confidence, not just Romero. Shaun Marcum can sit there now and think to himself that at least he doesn’t have to do it all by himself, and the same holds true for all of the others. Meanwhile, guys like Brandon Morrow can try to emulate some of the things Ricky’s doing in his outings. The entire staff has really great momentum going right now and things are looking good for the Jays in the rotation.

Now for the bad part. The shut out was killed by none other than Alex Rios, who hit a 2-run homer off of Ricky in the 8th inning. Ricky took it very hard and was obviously extremely annoyed afterward, pumping his fists in frustration. Who could blame him after looking at what he’d done to that point.

Ricky finished the inning and ended up allowing only that 1 hit (HR to Rios), striking out 12, walking 2, and allowing 2 ER. Gregg closed the door thereafter for his 3rd save of the season. I’m still very happy for Ricky and do believe that he should be able to build off of this and reach 15 wins or more this season based on his first 2 starts.

Jays hitters were able to inch a lead for Romero by scratching out some hits and walks because Gavin Floyd also had decent stuff in the game. Every Jays hitter got on base by way of walk or hit except Mike McCoy. Adam Lind led the way with 2 hits, while Vernon Wells, Edwin Encarnacion, and John Buck chipped in with 1 double each. Lyle Overbay shaved off the biker handled mustache and got some success out of it with 1 hit and an RBI. He told one of the announcers that he wanted to change something after starting the game with a .077 average. Hopefully he can build off the one hit and give the Jays some punch.

The Jays are back on track, no losing streak here. They’re still atop the AL East with a 6-2 record. Brandon Morrow takes the hill tomorrow against John Danks.