Carpet Bombs

All right! Done with fake grass for the season woohoo! Of course, you probably can't blame all of our recent problems on turf but it did seem to stymie us a bit. Just like having a bit of windy weather stymied the Jays today. HA!

The only sad thing about this game is that everyone hit except one guy. And that's not even sad because that guy, Carlos Santana, walked THREE times.

Ok, the only sad thing about this game is that Josh Tomlin gave up six runs in six innings. But, he had 7 strikeouts and he got the Win! Giving him SEVEN wins and tying him for the AL lead! And it doesn't really matter if you're giving up 6 runs when your team scores 12 runs by the third inning, right?

So, let's start at the top. Brantley still hitting leadoff even with Grady in full swing. He's led off the last 3 games with a hit! Tonight he got two hits, one of them a double and got 1 RBI. For some reason he's juuuust below .300 again but I am going to bet he goes into the break with .300 (don't worry - it's still a month and a half to the break!)

Asdrubal Goddamn Cabrera. THREE DOUBLES tonight, going 4 for 6 with 3 RBI. He's hitting .306. Leads AL shortstops in triples, homers and RBI. He's 250,000 votes behind Derek Jeter for All Star shortstop votes, who leads AL shortstops in absolutely nothing. He's got 39 RBI, dayum. Although I wonder how many of those runners were Michael Brantley Whom We Love? Anyway, click the banner above to go vote for Asdrubal, willya?

CHOOOOO! Got his one little hit today. He didn't get it until his last at-bat, I was scared! It's weird that everyone says he's in a slump...and he probably is in a slump in that he's not being all Choo-like...but he's gotten a hit in every game but two since May 7. A few times he's even had multiple hits. Still fighting!

Travis Buck, three hits! We love him every time he comes in, don't forget. Sometimes he seems to be a little rusty when he sits for a bit but he always looks fancy in the field and he gets us some hits when he can. This was his third 3-hit game in just 18 starts!

Already talked about Santana, who got his 3 walks which actually ended his hitting streak at 5 games. But, his average is 21 points higher than this time last week! There's been a lot of talk about one last lecture from Manny about Carlos's hitting, and easing off him by moving him out of the cleanup spot, and how these things are working. Three hits last night and three walks tonight? I'll take it!

GRADY! Two hits tonight - is he back?! Yeah, back. One of them was a double and he's got 13 doubles this season. He's had 99 at-bats this season with 13 doubles while Asdrubal - who, you'll remember, is amazing - has 14 doubles in 219 at-bats. That's pretty awesome, Mr. Grady Sizemore. Oh and not bad on the 3 RBI.

Speaking of 3 RBI, Matt LaPorta, who had a very very sad night two games ago, is still atoning by getting big hits. He got his 7th homer, a 3-run dinger, not to mention two more singles and scored two runs. His three hits tonight raised his average 12 points!

Super Jack Hannahan got just one hit tonight, but it was a double! Don't forget we love him for how he plays 3rd base, too.

Adam Everett was in for Orlando today and he got a hit AND an RBI. His first RBI for us this year! Wow he's only had 41 at-bats. Another important guy on the bench tho, for sure.

So that was it. Classic 2011 Indians game. Hitting, hitting, hitting. Actually I take that back - classic 2011 Indians would have prooooobbbably included better pitching. But we will just sweep that under the rug. Half classic. Good game. Fun baseball. FUN BASEBALL!

Another fun thing happened tonight. The Blue Jays got 3 triples in a row. That's pretty crazy don't you think? I think triples are really awesome. The AL record is 4 in a row by Boston in 1934. The last team to get 3 in a row was Montreal in 1981. Hmm...I just looked up that game (May 6, 1981 vs. San Diego) and it seems to have been played in Montreal. So, when was the last time this feat happened in the US?

I got nothin' for Radio Chatter tonight (well just one thing). I spent the entire evening fighting with my trimmer and mowing my lawn. It sucks too because Hammy was in good form, being really pissed with the umpire and in general good spirits due to the score. Don't forget to keep an eye on Tom Hamilton has the Best Home Run call in all of Baseball. You'll get to hear the LaPorta homer.

Tomorrow we face the Rangers for the first time this year. They are actually quite good - they lead the West, which means they have better records than the A's and Angels that beat up on us. It will be interesting to see how we fare. Our secret weapons will be healthy Grady and calmer Santana. Tomorrow will be Carrasco facing a spot starter, Matt Bush. So it could be really fun.

See you there - 7:05 PM now that we're back in America!

Radio Chatter:
"I'm sure everyone in Toronto looked to see who the umpire was before they bought tickets for tonight's game. They saw it was Tim McClelland and that's why we have the biggest crowd for a Blue Jays game this year. They wanted to see McClelland NOT call balls and strikes."
- Tom Hamilton on one of his many McClelland rants