ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays couldn’t extend their season-high winning streak to four, but they still have a chance to win a road series against the Rays for the first time in more than six years. Thursday night’s game features only the second non-interleague matchup of reigning Cy Young winners in baseball history as R.A. Dickey faces off with David Price.
Here are three things that stood out to me about the Blue Jays’ first loss of the week:
HAPP-Y TO SEE YOU
After watching J.A. Happ crumple to the ground as a result of taking a line drive off the head Tuesday night, we never expected to get a chance to talk to him on Wednesday, but there Happ was, walking into the Rays’ news conference room under his own power, crutch- and bandage-free, having miraculously escaped major injury.
Happ said he remembered letting go of the pitch that Desmond Jennings drilled right back at him, an immediate buzzing in his ears, and nothing in between. It’s kind of funny, I remember the same thing happening to me when I was hit in the face by a hard slapshot playing hockey way back when (I was wearing a mask, of course, but I have always remembered that buzzing starting even before I got hit, which couldn’t really have happened).
Happ was more concerned about his right knee, which he sprained on his way down, than he was about his fractured skull (the knee won’t require surgery, as it turns out). The lefty maintained his sense of humour, too. When he mentioned that he’d seen a replay of the play that sent him to the hospital for the night, he was asked what he thought as he watched it. Happ answered: “I thought I made a good pitch.”
It’s still too early to know how much time he’ll miss, and even Happ himself said he’s not sure he’s out of the woods yet — he’s likely not going to be allowed to fly on to Boston with the rest of the team after Thursday’s game — but it appears as though he dodged a major bullet, and we’re all thankful for that.
OH, RICKY
After Happ got knocked out of Tuesday night’s game in the second inning, the Blue Jays could have used a strong outing from Ricky Romero. Instead, they got the spring training version. Romero didn’t make it out of the first, retiring only one of the seven hitters he faced, allowing four singles and walking a pair.
Romero didn’t get hit hard — not at all. Only one of the four singles was hit well. But the walks cost him, and he’d thrown 29 pitches (only 16 strikes) and had the bases loaded with only one out, the Blue Jays’ two-run advantage having flipped to a one-run deficit. He had to be removed at that point, and he was.
Romero was sent down to Dunedin at the end of spring training because the Blue Jays felt that his mechanics needed to be changed, so that he could be the pitcher he was the first three years of his career as opposed to the guy who had the worst ERA among qualified pitchers and led the major leagues in walks and runs allowed in 2012.
Romero worked hard for a month, to the point where he was able to carry his new mechanics through bullpens and live batting practices and into simulated games, and when he finally got an opportunity to start a real minor-league game, he was brilliant. So good, in fact, that when the door opened to bring Romero back to the big club — after only that one start — that he got that call, and started last Friday night against Seattle.
That night went brilliantly for three innings, and Romero fell apart in the fourth. This time, Romero had a rough time from the very first pitch.
With the Blue Jays down two starters in Happ and Josh Johnson, they may have no choice but to keep Romero with them and let him try to work things out at the major-league level. A couple of off-days coming up mean that they don’t have to start him again for almost two weeks, until May 21.
BASEBALL FOLLIES
As the game got away from them, it appeared as though the Blue Jays’ focus did as well, with a couple of huge errors on the basepaths in the seventh inning.
With Tampa Bay up 10-2 going into the inning, Melky Cabrera led off with a walk and Jose Bautista was hit by a pitch. The runners moved up on a passed ball, putting Blue Jays at second and third with nobody out.
Edwin Encarnacion followed with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Cabrera, with Bautista holding at second, and that’s when the fun began.
J.P. Arencibia was next, and he hit a ground ball to Yunel Escobar’s right — in front of Bautista — and Bautista took off for third, likely thinking that Escobar would just throw to first for the sure out with the game so far out of hand, but Escobar took a shot at third and Bautista was a dead duck.
After a Rajai Davis single moved Arencibia to second, Mark DeRosa grounded a base hit up the middle. Arencibia was off like a shot, but surprisingly was held at third by coach Luis Rivera. Davis was surprised by this as well — he’d just assumed Arencibia was going to score and kept on trucking right into third base, which turned out to be a bit of a problem.
As the throw came in, Arencibia was trapped halfway between third and home with Davis standing on third base, but luckily for the Blue Jays, Rays catcher Jose Lobaton wasn’t able to corral the short-hop and the ball bounced away from him, towards the mound, allowing Arencibia to score.