We’ve played them enough now that I don’t have to make any 1992 references. And we’ve often been better than they are: from 2017 to 2020, we played 15 games against them, and we went 10-5. This year, though, we’ve been headed back towards .500 in a hurry, as we’re 0-4.
Snit tried to squeeze just a bit too much from his starter. Bryse Wilson is built like a bulldog, but he pitches like a hothouse flower. I’m being unfair to Bryse, who had a perfectly good day at the office, giving up just two runs in six innings. But his first five innings may have been his best of the year, as he got four strikeouts while giving up no walks and just four singles, facing just two batters over the minimum. If he could do this every time out, he’d be great.
But if his performance from the first through the fifth was a wonderfully welcome surprise, his performance in the sixth inning was sadly right up to his usual standard. It wasn’t a pitch count thing: he needed just 64 pitches to get through the fifth. But right out of the gate in the sixth, he just didn’t have the feel or the command he had had in the earlier innings, and he was not going to be able to carve up the heart of the order a third time.
After inducing a groundout from the pitcher, he threw two quick balls to leadoff hitter Marcus Semien, who singled. After groundout by Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero strode to the plate, and he thumped an opp0site-field homer, and the next batter, Teoscar Hernandez, hit a soft single, before the free-swinging Randal Grichuk finally bailed Wilson out of the inning.
Vladito’s thump cut a 3-0 lead into a 3-2 lead. But Tyler Matzek twirled a clean seventh, and the Braves would have a win if Minter and Smith could just get six outs. Nope.
I’ve been worried about Everyday A.J. for a while. He came out and immediately had trouble finding the zone, with the troublesome top of the order up once more.
Minter gave up a double to the leadoff man, then induced a tapper to the mound from Marcus Semien. But after looking the runner back to second, he double-clutched and decided to try to get the out at second rather than taking a sure out at first. Result: two men on, no outs. A sharp single followed, and the Jays moved station to station, with Vladito coming to the plate once more. He got a single, the Jays moved up a single base, and it was a tie game with the bases juiced and no outs.
Snitker, apparently feeling he had no better options, went to Jacob Webb.
Jacob Webb immediately induced the second soft infield tapper of the inning, but for the second time in a week, he failed to cover his base, and Freddie had nowhere to toss the ball for an out — once again, the Jays took a free base and a run, only this time the box score called it a single rather than a fielder’s choice.
Webb gave up one more Grybo after that, sandwiching a strikeout and two inning-ending flyouts around a bases-loaded walk to bring in the fifth run. It was 5-3 in the eighth, and Pablo Sandoval can’t hit a two-run pinch homer every game.
Ozuna and Acuna both homered, and Freddie went 1-3 with a walk. In the first four spots, Acuna, Freeman, Ozuna, and Albies all reached safely, suggesting that the offensive deep freeze of the latter three may finally be thawing. Three runs ain’t much, but if they’re all hitting, more will come.
This.
Is.
Going.
To.
Be.
A.
.500
Team.
All.
Year.
Unless they fix the bullpen with MONEY.
/give
That’s optimism coming from you — you had ’em in the 70s last week 🙂
@1
Adding Greene and Martin will be a big boost.
Too many lefties to succeed against the Jays. We got one good lefty inning from Matzek but asking for two is too much. Especially two in a row. Matzek got to pitch to the bottom of the order but it’s the top that crushes lefties. As much as Minter blew it with his throw to second, that would have been good for one less run and we still lose 4-3. The ideal choice for the 8th would have been Martin or Greene. I’ll just have to bet that we finish with the Jays before Martin or Greene get back on the roster.
Choosing Wilson over Smyly for this game was obviously a well-reasoned choice. And, hopefully, we skip Smyly the next two games. I have to wonder if the result would have been as bad if Webb came in before Minter.
But that is where this team is right now. Until the pitching staff is fully evolved, we are going to be that .500 team (i.e. Soroka, Martin, Greene).
Right now, Matzek/Minter/Smith is our O’Ventbrel, in that they’re the three best arms in the pen, and you’re right that three lefties in a row isn’t ideal no matter what lineup you’re facing. The trouble is that when Minter was missing, he was missing by a foot — so it doesn’t matter if he was trying to be too fine, he wasn’t in the same zip code as the dish. I really think he’s been overused.
And the thing about O’Ventbrel is that they still had effective relievers behind them. Moylan, Avilan, Linebrink, Durbin, Varvaro, etc. were either situationally effective or good middle relievers. We have our modern day Cristhian Martinez in Luke Jackson, and that’s about it right now.
Calling Chad Durbin “situationally effective or good” sounds like rose-colored glasses to me, Rob 🙂 But I agree that I’d probably still rather have him or Linestink over the clowns and stiffs in the gasoline brigade these days.
@7 It’s not a high bar to hurdle, those clowns and stiffs. Durbin would qualify as an effective middle reliever by the standards set by the gasoline brigade.
Martin, Greene, Smith, Matzek, Luke, and Newk should be at least a league average pen.
@9 I don’t hate the make up of the pen the way you list it. With Martin and Greene assuming the high leverage RH reliever roles and Smith and Matzek handling the high leverage LH roles, it allows so much more depth to push Minter, Luke and Newk into lower leverage, earlier inning situations. Not that those guys couldn’t push higher up the pecking order based on needed rest by the other 4, they won’t be counted on for late seventh, eighth or ninth inning outs on the regular.
He’s back! Wilson optioned.
Hopefully we don’t feel yellow after he pitches.
Oh my, the Twins are 0-7 in extra-inning games. The Braves have been mostly ass in extras, but it could be worse.