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Message #: 29793
Life support is all but completely disconnected now; the patient is 99% dead.... Though the task was large, the schedule appeared to be favorable to the Blue Jays this week. Milwaukee has played us tough all year, but we finally got the better of them, thanks to Joe Carter (a holy terror at home, a pussycat on the road, but half a loaf is better than none). So we headed to Boston with just the faintest glimmer of hope. Boston's Roger Clemens isn't having his best year to say the least, but he's doing as good or better than his card warrants. Massively Underachieving Jim Abbott took the mound for Toronto, in his final start of the season. The Jays had good reason to be concerned, even though Abbott was 2-1 vs. Boston while Clemens was only 1-2 vs. Toronto this season. Stacking the lineup with lefties, the Jays as usual started Greg '4' Myers behind the plate. Surely his defense wouldn't be a factor, and his bat would be a welcome addition to the lineup; with Devon White a bit usage-challenged, Rob '4' Butler gave White his final day off of the season. Surely his defense wouldn't be a factor. *Of course* their defense was a factor. Old eagle-eyed HAL doesn't miss a 4 when the Jays are in the field. And when we don't have any, he treats everyone else as if they were a 4. Butler paid off right away, opening the game with a double, and Robby Alomar followed with a walk. But Clutch Carter hit into our first of two timely rally-killing DPs, this one turned on an x-play by a '4' at SS. So 4's CAN make critical plays -- apparently it just depends on whose uniform they wear. Seconds later, Boston's leadoff batter tripled and the next batter flew out to Carter. Carter made a fantastic throw to the plate, but '4' Myers was unable to come up with a successful block and the run scored. Not only did that failure cost a run, but the out that wasn't recorded kept the inning alive for Boston and then with -- what else? -- 2 outs, Mo Vaughn launched a surgical split-card gopher and the Jays were in an instant 2-0 hole. Batting with 2 on and 2 out in the TOA 3rd, Clutch Carter watched 3 pitches -- all strikes -- go by, and the deficit remained 2-0. Two frames later, Carter did come up with a 2-out single which made the score 2-1. In the TOA 6th, Myers redeemed himself by doubling home Joe Orsulak to tie the game while Abbott amazingly continued to roll along, putting zeroes on the board and overcoming his rotten luck from the first inning. Temporarily. John Olerud doubled with 2 outs and the bases empty in the 7th, becoming the 6th player in 49 years to hit 60 doubles in a season. Paul Molitor was pitched around, drawing a walk, and then Orsulak singled. Olerud tried to score.... you can probably guess the result. Hint: it wasn't quite the same as Boston's fortuitous split card result from 6 innings earlier. Inning over, Boston's turn at bat now. Even so, the game was still tied. For about 5 seconds. Of course the next batter homered. And then the next batter homered. Goodbye, Abbott. Gene Harris retired the subsequent two batters, the second on a successful x-play by Butler in center field (!). After hits by lightweights Ozzie Smith Diaz and Damon Berryhill, HAL zeroed in on Butler again and this time got the desired result: 2 runs scored. Game over. With a touch of irony (and so as to rub salt in the wound), HAL used ex-Blue Jay arsonist Tom Henke to close it out for Boston, so he naturally tossed two scoreless innings. Final score: 6-2. Some rather routine Toronto stats that sum it up nicely: LOB: TOA - 11 (plus 2 timely GIDPs and a runner gunned at the plate), BOA - 3. RLISP 2-out: TOA - 10, BOA - 2. Alan |
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