So I took in my second baseball game of the season on June 17th at Rogers Centre. It was a first for me and my father. It was the first ever AL vs. NL game we'd ever seen live in person. The New York Mets apposed the Toronto Blue Jays.
Starting pitchers
Toronto: Drew Hutchison (5-1, 5.75 ERA)
New York: Jon Niese (3-6, 4.24 ERA)
So I figured Hutch had his work cut out for him in this important start for the Jays (34-32). The Mets had the better record (36-30) for good measure. BTW, if you want some delicious food before the game, go to Wahlburgers. Great beer there!
So the game started with the first pitch at 7:07 pm. It was drilled by the Mets' leadoff hitter, Curtis Granderson. Fourtunatly, it ended up caught by Kevin Pillar at the warning track near the power alley in right. Hutch gave up a single to the next batter, but managed to escape. The Jays didn't seem to have it against Niese, as they failed to get the ball out of the infield in the bottom of the first. Jon fanned Josh Donaldson for his first K.
Hutch seemed to settle down in the top of the second, as he did what Niese did to Toronto in the bottom of the first. He made sure New York didn't get the ball out of the infield, and collected his first K. The game was patiently waiting it's first run as I patiently waited for the Jays' first hit!
The bottom of the frame brought with it an interesting pendulum to it. Out, walk. Out, walk. Pillar was at the dish, and delivered a single to score the first run of the ballgame.With Ryan Goins up, the inning came to a bizzare end. Pillar (On first) and Danny Valencia (On third) tried to get another run all by themselves on the second pitch to Goins. Via a double steal. But the Mets were on to that and Valencia was caught in a rundown between home and third. When Danny was tagged out to retire the side, I turned to my father and said, "That was the worst delayed double steals I've ever seen!"
Hutchison looked like he was poised for another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third, as he even got his second K of the game. But Granderson connected solidly again, only this time he was rewarded. Pillar couldn't flag it down on the fly, and Curtis ended up with a two-bagger. A walk then put the go-ahead runner on first, but a strikeout put an end to that.
The Jays got a leadoff single by Goins in the bottom of the frame, but then went down meekly after that. A groundout was the best result and Niese fanned the last two batters.
Hutch and Niese then got 'em 1-2-3 in the fourth inning, but Niese actually looked better as he got still another strikeout. That was his fourth of the night.
Hutch himself fanned two the next inning, but had a scare as the Mets got another double, this time by Ruben Tejada. Drew managed to escape when he got Granderson popped to short.
After Valencia fanned to start the bottom of the fifth, it was Pillar with a single, and Goins following suite. However, with Pillar on his way to third, Goins tried for second. He was gunned out, and I began to think about the opportunities that the Jays were squandering with some poor baserunning. That feeling was accentuated when Jose Reyes popped out to end the inning. One run was not going to do it against the Mets.
The sixth inning was a lot like the fifth inning for Hutchison. He gave up yet another double, as the Mets now had three. This one was hit with two out by Michael Cuddyer. And it ended Hutchison's night. Drew had thrown 105 pitches over 5 2/3 innings. Steve Delabar came into the get the final out of the inning. Steve did just that. The bottom of the frame saw Toronto pick up their first double by Josh Donaldson (He'd fanned on both his previous trips to the dish). Jose Bautista drew a walk. Edwin Encanacion fanned as Niese now had six strikeouts. But he still trailed 1-0. A single by Chris Colabello made it 2-0. There was still only one out, but Russell Martin hit into an inning-ending double play.
Delabar made Josh Gibbons look like a genius as he fanned two in a 1-2-3 seventh. Toronto was up to seven strikeouts in an many innings. Pillar put Toronto up by three in the bottom of the frame by stroking a solo home run. A walk to Goins meant more perhaps? Not to be as another inning-ending double play followed.
Two subsititions were made by the Blue Jays to start the eighth. First, Liam Hendricks came in to pitch. Ezequiel Carrera replace Colabello in left. The Mets got this inning off on the right foot as Dilson Herrera singled. Granderson fanned but on the first pitch to Juan Lagares, Herrera swiped second. Lagares sent Pillar far enough back that Herrera took third after the putout. Another pitching change as Aaron Loup came in to pitch to Lucas Duda. A lefty-lefty matchup. On 2-0 pitch, Duda hit a towering fly to Bautista in right. For Jose, it would be his only putout of the game. The inning was over.
Akeel Morris made his major league debut for the Mets to start the bottom of the seventh. His control let him down. Donaldson and Bautista started things with back-to-back walks. One out later, it was Carrera with a single to make it 4-0. Another single by Martin and it was 5-0. Dad and I got up to leave, as I was walking in the hallway I heard a roar. Valencia had hit a three-run home run to make it 8-0 Toronto. That proved to be the final score. I'm 2-0 at Rogers' this year!
References
“The Official Site Of Major League Baseball.” MLB.com. Major League Baseball. <www.mlb.com/>. Web. 5 Jul. 2015.
Starting pitchers
Toronto: Drew Hutchison (5-1, 5.75 ERA)
New York: Jon Niese (3-6, 4.24 ERA)
So I figured Hutch had his work cut out for him in this important start for the Jays (34-32). The Mets had the better record (36-30) for good measure. BTW, if you want some delicious food before the game, go to Wahlburgers. Great beer there!
So the game started with the first pitch at 7:07 pm. It was drilled by the Mets' leadoff hitter, Curtis Granderson. Fourtunatly, it ended up caught by Kevin Pillar at the warning track near the power alley in right. Hutch gave up a single to the next batter, but managed to escape. The Jays didn't seem to have it against Niese, as they failed to get the ball out of the infield in the bottom of the first. Jon fanned Josh Donaldson for his first K.
Hutch seemed to settle down in the top of the second, as he did what Niese did to Toronto in the bottom of the first. He made sure New York didn't get the ball out of the infield, and collected his first K. The game was patiently waiting it's first run as I patiently waited for the Jays' first hit!
The bottom of the frame brought with it an interesting pendulum to it. Out, walk. Out, walk. Pillar was at the dish, and delivered a single to score the first run of the ballgame.With Ryan Goins up, the inning came to a bizzare end. Pillar (On first) and Danny Valencia (On third) tried to get another run all by themselves on the second pitch to Goins. Via a double steal. But the Mets were on to that and Valencia was caught in a rundown between home and third. When Danny was tagged out to retire the side, I turned to my father and said, "That was the worst delayed double steals I've ever seen!"
Hutchison looked like he was poised for another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third, as he even got his second K of the game. But Granderson connected solidly again, only this time he was rewarded. Pillar couldn't flag it down on the fly, and Curtis ended up with a two-bagger. A walk then put the go-ahead runner on first, but a strikeout put an end to that.
The Jays got a leadoff single by Goins in the bottom of the frame, but then went down meekly after that. A groundout was the best result and Niese fanned the last two batters.
Hutch and Niese then got 'em 1-2-3 in the fourth inning, but Niese actually looked better as he got still another strikeout. That was his fourth of the night.
Hutch himself fanned two the next inning, but had a scare as the Mets got another double, this time by Ruben Tejada. Drew managed to escape when he got Granderson popped to short.
After Valencia fanned to start the bottom of the fifth, it was Pillar with a single, and Goins following suite. However, with Pillar on his way to third, Goins tried for second. He was gunned out, and I began to think about the opportunities that the Jays were squandering with some poor baserunning. That feeling was accentuated when Jose Reyes popped out to end the inning. One run was not going to do it against the Mets.
The sixth inning was a lot like the fifth inning for Hutchison. He gave up yet another double, as the Mets now had three. This one was hit with two out by Michael Cuddyer. And it ended Hutchison's night. Drew had thrown 105 pitches over 5 2/3 innings. Steve Delabar came into the get the final out of the inning. Steve did just that. The bottom of the frame saw Toronto pick up their first double by Josh Donaldson (He'd fanned on both his previous trips to the dish). Jose Bautista drew a walk. Edwin Encanacion fanned as Niese now had six strikeouts. But he still trailed 1-0. A single by Chris Colabello made it 2-0. There was still only one out, but Russell Martin hit into an inning-ending double play.
Delabar made Josh Gibbons look like a genius as he fanned two in a 1-2-3 seventh. Toronto was up to seven strikeouts in an many innings. Pillar put Toronto up by three in the bottom of the frame by stroking a solo home run. A walk to Goins meant more perhaps? Not to be as another inning-ending double play followed.
Two subsititions were made by the Blue Jays to start the eighth. First, Liam Hendricks came in to pitch. Ezequiel Carrera replace Colabello in left. The Mets got this inning off on the right foot as Dilson Herrera singled. Granderson fanned but on the first pitch to Juan Lagares, Herrera swiped second. Lagares sent Pillar far enough back that Herrera took third after the putout. Another pitching change as Aaron Loup came in to pitch to Lucas Duda. A lefty-lefty matchup. On 2-0 pitch, Duda hit a towering fly to Bautista in right. For Jose, it would be his only putout of the game. The inning was over.
Akeel Morris made his major league debut for the Mets to start the bottom of the seventh. His control let him down. Donaldson and Bautista started things with back-to-back walks. One out later, it was Carrera with a single to make it 4-0. Another single by Martin and it was 5-0. Dad and I got up to leave, as I was walking in the hallway I heard a roar. Valencia had hit a three-run home run to make it 8-0 Toronto. That proved to be the final score. I'm 2-0 at Rogers' this year!
References
“The Official Site Of Major League Baseball.” MLB.com. Major League Baseball. <www.mlb.com/>. Web. 5 Jul. 2015.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 5 Jul. 2015.
Whiteford,
Mike, and Taylor Jones. How To Talk Baseball. Revised ed. New York:
Dembner, 1987. Print.
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