Jays Swept By Sox After Pitching Dual

Brett Cecil continued to impress with his start Wednesday. He was not to blame for the loss after throwing 6 innings of 1-run ball, allowing only 3 hits and 1 walk, and has really earned a place in the rotation with his 2 strong starts. He, like other Jays starters, deserved this win and pitched at the level of a number 2 starter in this game, so Jays fans have a lot to look forward to in the rotation. The Jays also got a good look at what they brought on board from AAA Las Vegas by watching Josh Roenicke and Rommie Lewis throw a shutout inning a piece. It was great to watch Rommie get his first strike out in MLB after a long minors career and he looked very poised on the mound. Both looked a whole lot better than Jeremy Accardo, and at least they were used – unlike Merkin – and effective!

If it wasn’t for the dominant outing by Jon Lester, which was eerily similar to the Clay Buchholz outing on Tuesday in terms of sheer efficiency and utter dominance, the Jays could have pulled out tis win. They had chances to play small ball and move runners around a couple of times, but tried to slug their way through the game instead.

Only Mike McCoy was able to get on base twice, while the Jays scattered 2 doubles – one from Vernon Wells and one from Alex Gonzalez. It was really a frustrating display of hitting overall and was topped off with a Travis Snider strike out that had him looking to change the game with one swing. With the Jays hitters looking to get extra bases with most swings, it’s no wonder that pitchers like Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz can take advantage of their aggressiveness. Other than Mike McCoy, Aaron Hill, and Vernon Wells, Jays hitters seem to get behind the count very early and have a hard time getting into good hitters counts. This has to change if the Jays are going to have success this season, but it’s also a specialty of Brett Wallace who should make an appearance sometime in May. His presence in the lineup and patience at the plate will help the Jays get by starters more quickly – I hope.

The Jays welcome the Oakland A’s into Toronto with big wide open arms. In fact, so long as the team coming in isn’t from the AL East, I’m certain the Jays will be happy. Well, I should say Jays hitters are happy, because the pitchers did their parts – and might have went above and beyond what was expected of them overall against the Rays and Red Sox. That’s what I take from these 2 series – yes, it hurt to get swept by the sox and beat by the Rays, but once JP Arencibia and Brett Wallace enter the lineup, the Jays should have a much easier time scoring runs and they already have the hardest part accomplished, getting great pitching that is.

The attendance, just over 15 000, was still fairly small considering the visiting team is a major division rival. Hopefully that will get better as the weather warms up!