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Message #: 30330
Two teams with .500 records who should be doing better met in Seattle. The Jays, having already displayed our non-existent luck in home games yet again this week, hoped to continue to at least tread water on the road. And we did -- but just barely.... Game 1: TOA starter Pat Hentgen had a 4-0 lead and was amazingly mowing down the tough Seattle batters heading into the middle innings. The Toronto lead should have been far more than 4-0, as 2 TOA batters missed 4 runs worth of homers by the combined width of 2 split cards. After those typical Blue Jay failures Hentgen, also typically, blew 100% of the 4-run lead and then some. A clutch hit with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th gave the M's a 5-4 lead. But then they brought Dennis Eckersley into the game, and this wasn't the Eck of old. Paul Molitor greeted the sidearmer with a double, Devon White singled Molitor to third (given the option, NOBODY tries to score from second on the SEA OF) and John Olerud plated both runners with a 2-base (automatic) single. Having averted one choke attempt, the Toronto bullpen quickly assembled another. Toby Borland allowed a single and then resumed his usual wildness, loading the bases for the Mariners with just one out and certain defeat imminent. However, lefty reliever Tony Castillo fanned Griffey Junior and then took his chances with scary RHB Jay Buhner, who he somehow induced to ground out to end the game. Final score: 6-5. Seattle only registered 9 hits for the day, but 3 were gophers, 1 was a double, and 1 a triple. Toronto couldn't keep up in the home run department but did manage 5 doubles. ============================================================================= Game 2: We kept up today though, turning the gopher count around from 1-3 against us to 3-1 in our favor. All of the damage came early, after which the Jays politely shut down the offense as we so often do. At least this time it wasn't a fatal mistake. The Ed Sprague Show raised the curtain in the first inning when he batted with the bases loaded and 2 outs, got a split card chance at a Grand Slam -- and didn't miss!!! Two frames later, back-to-back jacks by Sprague and slugging SS Dick Schofield made the score 7-0 and the visitors would make it 8-0 in the 4th before resuming hibernation. That level of run support enabled Todd Stottlemyre to cruise to a complete game and his second win in just 5 short weeks. Final score: 8-2. The contest got a bit chippy when Stott drilled Buhner with a fastball just after Griffey's gopher in the 4th. Eckersley, summoned early today when Jack McDowell failed to survive the early assault, knocked down Sprague (he rolled right next to a HBP), and Stottlemyre answered 2 batters later by nailing Kenny Lofton. Things calmed down after that and rookie scrub reliever Armando Benitez closed things out with a fabulous performance featuring 3 scoreless innings, 2 hits, no walks and he blew away 5 TOA batters. ============================================================================= Game 3: Jim Abbott, the unluckiest pitcher on the unluckiest team in the league, faced the thankless task of opposing Randy Johnson and unfortunately the outcome was exactly as expected. Johnson pitched a 4-hit shutout, but the visitors surely did not lack for scoring chances. No worries for the home side though: we cooperatively LOBbed 9 and hit into 2 timely rally-killing DPs when we weren't simply striking out with runners on base. RJ loaded the bases for us with free passes right away in the 1st, then blew away Sprague and Sabo on 6 pitches to extinguish that threat and show us how the day was going to be. A 2-out triple followed by a 2-out gopher made it 2-0 seconds later, and another triple-gopher combo chased the luckless Abbott from the mound in the 3rd inning. Three TOA relievers mostly maintained control after that (5.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 run) but there was no chance of any comeback today, what with the LOB-GIDP-K machine going full blast. Final score: 6-0. Alan |
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