Jays Finally Get Runs From Other Bat Than Bautista or Lind

We can go over the game notes, talk about Kyle Drabek and his learning curve, the pen and their debacles vs dominance, and even the power shown by Jose Bautista as he hit his 11th HR of the season – a shot that was never very far off the ground. Or, we can go over how FINALLY, the Jays got some clutch run production from other players than Jose Bautista or Adam Lind. I decided to go with the latter.

David Cooper

Plenty of people, myself included, wondered if Cooper could be at the end of his leash and close to returning to AAA as he seemed to be having a hard time making good contact in The Show. Most admit that he does give the Jays good ABs the majority of the time, but he is also popping out often and sometimes jumps on first pitch balls, allowing for quick outs. So, his performance last night, against a very good division rival, comes at the perfect time. His HR was a no-doubter that must have stunned Cooper himself as it no doubt frustrated Red Sox nation. But to follow it up with the game winning sacrifice fly makes that HR just throwing dust in the eyes of the Sox because slugging them with a right hook!

Cooper basically won the game outright for the Jays after others kept the Jays ahead or gave away those leads. It could be the beginning of his turning the corner in the majors, and it seems that his timing couldn’t be better with Adam Lind possibly headed to the 15-day DL. In any case, he certainly earned himself a lot more MLB time with his big game vs the Sox.

Rajai Davis

After being left out of the lineup during previous games, Davis came in and made himself heard. Sure, there was a mix up between he and Escobar in terms of signs (not sure who made the errror) that cost Davis and the Jays the opportunity to get another run in. But, he was 2 for 5 with 2 SBs and allowed the lineup to turn over very well as a result. With Escobar (everyone’s holding their breath) possibly having to sit out a few games after being nailed on the left ankle by a hard thrown Lester pitch, Davis could once again find himself at the top of the lineup.

Even more important, however, was the defensive play of Davis in CF. He made one catch in particular, after getting a great jump, that got Kyle Drabek out of a tough inning. It was a ball hit in a very similar area that Corey Patterson had missed while manning CF vs the Tigers. So, he did it with the bat, and he did it with the glove, and that’s nice to see from Davis.

J. P. Arencibia

He looks very mature at the plate. He rarely looks foolish, always seems to have a plan at the plate – unlike the wild swinging Aaron Hill – and he clobbered the pitch he was looking for over the fence vs Lester. It cam one pitch later than he had anticipated, as he looked puzzled after missing that offering, but he didn’t give up and got the pitch he was looking for. If the Jays are going to go on any sort of winning streak, they need JPA’s bat to make this kind of noise. Fittingly, his 5th bomb of the season came on “#beastmode” Twitter night!

Other Game Notes

Jason Frasor was ridiculously hot, throwing unhittable stuff. Nice to see!

Marc Rzepczynski and Frank Francisco, not so much. Each has done well enough to not allow one off night to be worrisome, however.

Endwin Encarnacion hit his Jays leading 12th double of the season. Corey Patterson is next in line with 8! Surprisingly, Jose Bautista and Adam Lind together (5 + 6) only come to 11 doubles on the year, so Edwin’s total is impressive and does mitigate some of the fears surrounding his lack of HRs.

Up next is Jesse Litsch! Go get’em Red Beard!

-MG

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