Jays Robbed of Chance to Win Game vs Rox

The Ricky Romero and Ubaldo Jimenez match-up was supposed to be an event where they each lasted 7-8 innings and dueled to the finish. Not so. Mother nature took over and the Jays lost the game without the chance to win the game as the bullpen took the game over.

You have to love the fact that Aaron Hill hammered a HR (his 9th) off of the probable Cy young winner Jimenez, something that should go a long way to rebuilding the confidence in his swing. The Jays didn’t look bad against the ace, rain or not, and managed to get a decent amount of hits off of him in comparison to other teams this season. Still, one has to wonder if the Jays could have mounted a comeback as Ubaldo reached a high pitch count (106) in the 6th inning and the Jays could have won the game if they knocked the questionable Rox pen around.

It was the first game of a 3 game set, so why not finish the game before today’s game? That’s what I’m saying. I wouldn’t expect them to delay the game until the sun rose this morning, but there’s nothing wrong with a “slight double-header” to rightfully give both teams a chance to win or lose the game. Had it been the 3rd game of the series, I could see ending it there. But the Jays could have had a legitimate chance at winning this game and every single game counts when you’re in the AL Eeast.

Ricky Romero didn’t have his best stuff today as the Rockies really seemed to be able to read his pitches well and ended up with 7 hits as a result. I chalk this one up to the humidor and the fact that pitchers need to depend on different pitches in Colorado in order to get the job done. Visiting pitchers can sometimes make that change effectively, but often, as is the case with Ricky, they struggle. From what I’ve read, the depth and break on pitches changes enough to force some mechanical changes, so it isn’t an easy fix for a pitcher to adjust to. The curve ball in particular is a pitch that many at Coors Field have a problem locating effectively.

The hot Brandon Morrow (4-4, 5.48) takes on Jason Hammel (3-5, 5.23) today. Hopefully he has an easier time with the Colorado air than Ricky had and he can get the ball rolling again in the Jays favor and the game can go 9 innings this time around so that we get a look at that Rockies pen!

Minors note: The Jays demoted the slumping 3B Kevin Ahrens from HiA Dunedin to LoA Lansing while simultaneously promoting Marc Sobolewski to take his spot on the Dunedin roster.