Aug. 11-13: Blue Jays vs. A's Series Thread

[Antithesis]

Preview written by special guest correspondant: Brett R. Lawrie

DUDES! My alarm went off this morning and I was SO PUMPED to prepare for the Jays so I threw it against the wall and it BROKE INTO A BILLION PIECES, at least, LITERALLY! Since I was so JACKED UP I pounded back a Red Bull and got the day goin'! Grabbed some breakfast, and downed another Red Bull before leaving the room. On the way to the 'Dome I thought about how JACKED I was to play the Jays and show them that they lost out when they shipped me out so I just roundhouse punched some Granny on the sidewalk! Downed another Red bull on the way to the ballpark, 'cause, YOLO or whatever!!!! Then I saw the park and my brain started doing this weird stuff, yo. Like visions and crap. I think it was that PTSD or whatever. I DUDE COME ON it's not easy to play every day in a ballpark that SMELLS LIKE SEWA

(Editor's note: Our apologies, Mr. Lawrie's contribution was written on the back of a Montana's kids menu in red crayon and ends here.)

Toronto Blue Jays (61-52, conquering Kings of the universe) vs. Oakland A's Mehs (51-62, didn't want Josh Donaldson anymore)

Probable Starters:

Tuesday @5:00 PM Mountain Time: TOR: Drew Hutchison, 10-2, 5.42 ERA; OAK: Kendall Graveman, 6-2, 3.90 ERA
Wednesday @5:00 PM Mountain Time: TOR: Mark Buehrle, 12-5, 3.34 ERA; OAK: Aaron Brooks, 1-0, 2.41 ERA
Thursday @10:30 AM Mountain Time: TOR: R.A. Dickey, 6-10, 3.93 ERA; OAK: Sonny Gray, 12-4, 2.06 ERA

Gotta love watching the Jays sweep the Yankees over the weekend. Hopefully EE can get back in the lineup after sitting on Sunday due to a sore finger. Russell Martin should get back in as well after a couple days of rest.

You know what else you've gotta love? Seeing fans old and new catching the Jays fever. It's great to see so many people watching games and talking Jays - don't be shy - come in and join us! Ask questions, whatever. This is a strict 'no bandwagon shaming' zone.

Great news on a couple fronts for the Jays: First, Marcus Stroman has been cleared to begin throwing off a mound by Dr. James Andrews and will be doing so on Tuesday (I believe). If the Jays can get him back in the lineup, it would be huge indeed. Second, MLB announced today that Josh Donaldson and David Price were the co-winners of the AL Player of the Week. Congrats to them both!

Hopefully the Jays can take things one game at a time and continue making up ground against a team that frankly just isn't very good this year. The Yankees are playing in Cleveland for the next series so are also up against a sub-0.500 team.

Sportsnet shared today that the last 7 Blue Jays broadcasts have had over a million viewers, including Sunday's game which was watched by 1.43 million Canadians, which is huge for a regular season baseball game, and may be the Jays' largest TV audience ever on Rogers.

Here's some stats for you:

Over his career, current Oakland hitters have the following stats vs. Drew Hutchison: 13 AB, 3 H, 0 HR, 2 K, 0.231 AVG, 0.333 OBP, 0.231 SLG, 0.564 OPS
Over his career, current Oakland hitters have the following stats vs. Mark Buehrle: 221 AB, 64 H, 8 HR, 26 K, 0.290 AVG, 0.325 OBP, 0.457 SLG, 0.782 OPS
Over his career, current Oakland hitters have the following stats vs. R.A. Dickey: 108 AB, 20 H, 1 HR, 22 K, 0.185 AVG, 0.239 OBP, 0.250 SLG, 0.489 OPS

OK!

BLUE JAYS!

LETS!

PLAY!

BALL!

[InBurkeWeTrust]

I hope I'm not the only one scurrred for game 1 :eek:

[jayswin]

Anyone heard anything about tickets sold for this series? I know the Yankees series is virtually sold out, but I'd imagine we're getting to the point where even weekday, non-direct standings rivals are going to start getting some impressive numbers.

Looks like the typical weekday games as of last week were drawing 26-30k, I'm hoping we're looking at 30k+ for every game going forward, with 40k+ for all weekend games, and sellouts for any big series.

[bomber317]

Not sure if it's the same in Baseball, but this is the ultimate trap game in hockey.

Come back from a successful road trip beating a top team to come home to face a lowly Athletics team.

With Drew on the mound.... I'm hoping he can turn it around and have a solid outing today.

[Resolute 14]

Anyone heard anything about tickets sold for this series? I know the Yankees series is virtually sold out, but I'd imagine we're getting to the point where even weekday, non-direct standings rivals are going to start getting some impressive numbers.

Looks like the typical weekday games as of last week were drawing 26-30k, I'm hoping we're looking at 30k+ for every game going forward, with 40k+ for all weekend games, and sellouts for any big series.

Thursday (afternoon game) is sold out. Looking at Ticketmaster, my bet is they are looking at around 34k today, and about 30k tomorrow.

The Jays have also already sold out the Sunday game vs. Detroit at the end of the month, and the Saturday game is close. That's going to be six sell outs in our next nine games.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

An extra day of rest will hopefully help Hutch get back on track. He's probably just a little fatigued at this point of the season, because earlier this year he was pretty solid. The road woes are probably more mental than anything since the Rogers Center is a much more hitter friendly ballpark and he has good numbers there.

People are on Hutch lately, and rightly so, but I'm confident he can provide some solid starts down the stretch here. There are a LOT worse options as a 5th starter goes.

[Enoch Root]

Not sure if it's the same in Baseball, but this is the ultimate trap game in hockey.

Come back from a successful road trip beating a top team to come home to face a lowly Athletics team.

With Drew on the mound.... I'm hoping he can turn it around and have a solid outing today.

Exactly what I was getting at.

Hopefully the day off has helped them.

I'm just hoping for a 10-9 slugfest that they can find a way to win.

[Roof-Daddy]

Well, I'm happily back on the band wagon.

I've always been a Jays fan, but admittedly the last 15 years or so I haven't followed the Jays as closely as I follow the Flames (for example) but I've always kept one eye ball on them, and casually followed the MLB as well.

It's great to finally actually have a shot at post season baseball again though, as the Jays WS championships are some of my greatest memories as a sports fan. I played baseball as a kid, and followed the Jays religiously back in the late 80's early 90's.

Anyways, hopefully they continue to play well, this team has been fun to watch lately.

[dustyanddaflames]

Will be important to get games 1 and 2 - as Sonny Gray is that good.

[KelVarnsen]

Shi Davidi ‏@ShiDavidi
Clarifying: #BlueJays flipping RA Dickey and Mark Buehrle in rotation. Dickey goes tomorrow, Buehrle on Thursday.

[FLAMESRULE]

Shi Davidi ‏@ShiDavidi
Clarifying: #BlueJays flipping RA Dickey and Mark Buehrle in rotation. Dickey goes tomorrow, Buehrle on Thursday.

I'm guessing that's so Dickey's knuckler gets to screw up the Yankees again?

[Enoch Root]

Shi Davidi ‏@ShiDavidi
Clarifying: #BlueJays flipping RA Dickey and Mark Buehrle in rotation. Dickey goes tomorrow, Buehrle on Thursday.
Hope so, but it would still mean 3 days rest for him to go Sunday

If that's the reason they're doing this, great. But I thought that Dickey, followed by Price, was an awesome 1-2 punch. 75 MPH knuckleball, followed by a 95 MPH heater from the left side. And that teed up Estrada nicely as well.

[KelVarnsen]

It probably has a lot to do with giving Martin a day off in between the Dickey and Price.

[transplant99]

Yeah no question this is so Dickey goes Sunday.....he gave the Yankees fits last week, so it makes sense.

[MyFlamesFirst]

It probably has a lot to do with giving Martin a day off in between the Dickey and Price.
Hadn't thought of this but it actually makes a lot of sense. Especially because catching Dickeys Knuckler can be frustrating.

[schooner]

In Toronto for work. Nabbed a single right behind the Jays dugout for Wednesday night. Super pumped.

[SportsJunky]

EE sitting tonight. Finger still bothering him.

Smoak in at 1st - Colabello to DH

[Antithesis]

First pitch strikes are going to be huge for Hutch's confidence tonight. Gotta imagine there's a lot of pressure on him with this start.

[Finger Cookin]

An MLB player with an .091 batting average? And he's walked? :|

[Antithesis]

Ugh. Hutchison has taken the mantle of "Starting Pitcher I Irrationally Dislike". He walks Crisp. Crisp bats 0.091. What the hell.

[Sylvanfan]

So I'm guessing Lawrie is out due to hurting his hand when he punched that old lady?

[Antithesis]

Well, it wouldn't be a Drew Hutchison start if the Jays weren't losing in the first inning.

[Dan02]

Some brutal D by the As here.

[Antithesis]

Well there, a couple of brain farts from the A's later and the Jays are now up 2-1.

[Dan02]

Looks safe to me.

[Scornfire]

error after error

[Scornfire]

did hutch even get a strike that inning? he seems to get bailed out more than an American auto company

[Derek Sutton]

As a former Little League first baseman that was a great play by Smoak to turn the DP, he is very good defensively. There has been talk the last few days of how good the infield is FWIW, this is IMO the best defensive infield in MLB.

[Frequitude]

A couple cannons of arms on that DP. So nice to see great defensive plays to go with the offense.

[Antithesis]

Gotta be fair, Hutch is cruising along right now.

[Enoch Root]

Finally caught up live...

Great 4th inning for Hutch. And even though they didn't score, the bottom of the order made Graveman throw a lot of pitches - 82 after 4 innings.

[Antithesis]

Yep, another series where the Jays are going to force the opposition into using a lot of their bullpen early.

[Antithesis]

The very definition of a no-doubter!

[sketchyt]

error after error

Weird, I didn't know Reyes got traded to the A's

[Dan02]

That was a bomb

[Tyler]

Their manager looks like a huge dork

[Scornfire]

whoa, nice catch hutch!

[V]

Hutch has been pretty bloody solid after the first inning. If this is the weakest we have, I think we're alright.

[KelVarnsen]

Another good inning for Hutch!

[Antithesis]

My goodness, he's on a roll. What a start.

[Racki]

Hutch is just cruising. Awesome to see. Always like to see a starter go deep in game one of a series. The bullpen will be good and rested.

[Sylvanfan]

To think I wanted to banish Hutchison to Edmonton last week. Maybe the Jays made the threat?

[Antithesis]

A well-deserved ovation.

[Enoch Root]

Great night for Hutch and I think it's exactly the right call to go to the pen there - no need to wait any longer.

[Enoch Root]

Yankees tied it in the 8th

[Dan02]

ugh that ball should not have fallen.

[jayswin]

Just under 40k for a Tuesday night game against the A's, I'd say that's pretty damn impressive.

[KelVarnsen]

Win!

[Enoch Root]

Great win!

[Bobblehead]

That was a nice way to finish off a game, Bautista's adventure notwithstanding. And that final K by Osuna was dominate.

[flames_fan_down_under]

This is so awesome. The SkyDome was packed on a Tuesday. The Jays are winning. The pitchers are pitching very well. Joey Bats is on fire. Osuna is really good. GO JAYS!

[V]

Cleveland pretty unlucky to not win it in the ninth. Lined it straight at Texiera, a few inches more and it drives the winning run in.

[Cortez]

I've heard lots about the plus million viewers of jays games over the last couple weeks. So a question for anyone who knows- how does that compare to American viewers of their own local teams? I would guess not close at all but I have no idea. I mean not including major markets like NY and LA, what would a normal weekday game bring in for viewers?

[Enoch Root]

Yankees have the bases loaded with one out

[V]

And then score two. It's over.

[Enoch Root]

Cleveland has 2nd and 3rd with no one out

[whosurnabby]

I've heard lots about the plus million viewers of jays games over the last couple weeks. So a question for anyone who knows- how does that compare to American viewers of their own local teams? I would guess not close at all but I have no idea. I mean not including major markets like NY and LA, what would a normal weekday game bring in for viewers?

http://andrewstoeten.com/2015/08/10/the-jays-tv-ratings-are-skyrocketing-but-what-does-that-mean/
here's an excerpt from that Stoeten piece that will blow your mind..."the best performing club in prime time in their market in the portion of the season prior to the All-Star break the Kansas City Royals, with a 12.7 rating — meaning 12.7% of TV-owning households in that market are watching their games. That only accounts for 118,000 households, and these numbers are referring to just prime time viewership — i.e. weeknights between 7 and 11 pm.":w00t::w00t::w00t:

Bangers. This team has a bunch of Bangers and we're all watching it as a NATION.:D

[jschick88]

Woo Tie game.

[Enoch Root]

Indians tie it, still only one out

[MyFlamesFirst]

I must be on the blue jays wagon. I have never been this invested in a NYY and CLE game ever

[Tyler]

Bangers. This team has a bunch of Bangers and we're all watching it as a NATION.:D

http://streamable.com/nyv9

[FLAMESRULE]

Angels down 3-0 as well in top 8 to the White Sox as well !

[Cortez]

http://andrewstoeten.com/2015/08/10/the-jays-tv-ratings-are-skyrocketing-but-what-does-that-mean/
here's an excerpt from that Stoeten piece that will blow your mind..."the best performing club in prime time in their market in the portion of the season prior to the All-Star break the Kansas City Royals, with a 12.7 rating — meaning 12.7% of TV-owning households in that market are watching their games. That only accounts for 118,000 households, and these numbers are referring to just prime time viewership — i.e. weeknights between 7 and 11 pm.":w00t::w00t::w00t:

Bangers. This team has a bunch of Bangers and we're all watching it as a NATION.:D


118,000!? And that's the highest?? That does blow my mind. What about the Chicago, Boston and NY markets??

[Enoch Root]

Those markets would have way more viewers, just not a 12.7% penetration

[jayswin]

I've heard lots about the plus million viewers of jays games over the last couple weeks. So a question for anyone who knows- how does that compare to American viewers of their own local teams? I would guess not close at all but I have no idea. I mean not including major markets like NY and LA, what would a normal weekday game bring in for viewers?

http://andrewstoeten.com/2015/08/10/the-jays-tv-ratings-are-skyrocketing-but-what-does-that-mean/
here's an excerpt from that Stoeten piece that will blow your mind..."the best performing club in prime time in their market in the portion of the season prior to the All-Star break the Kansas City Royals, with a 12.7 rating — meaning 12.7% of TV-owning households in that market are watching their games. That only accounts for 118,000 households, and these numbers are referring to just prime time viewership — i.e. weeknights between 7 and 11 pm.":w00t::w00t::w00t:

Bangers. This team has a bunch of Bangers and we're all watching it as a NATION.:D

Anyone have any links to recent Jays TV ratings?

[Red Ice Player]

I would like to see the Yankees and Indians go 17 or 18 innings, just exhausting the bullpen, and then have the Indians win with a walk off homer. The same thing tomorrow as well.

[Enoch Root]

Angels lose and are now 2 back of the Jays

[Caged Great]

Angels lose and are now 2 back of the Jays

Nice to see. Hopefully the Jays can continue to create a separation between themselves and those below them. They aren't going to win every game from here on out.

[Galakanokis]

Pitching! The starting pitching has been fantastic. Another excellent start where the starter goes 7 deep. You will win the majority of your games with quality starts like that. And man oh man is that defence good. What a left side of the infield and Goins has to be near the top for defenders at second. I could watch him catch and throw all day. Amazing release and arm.

What an August.

[Resolute 14]

Anyone have any links to recent Jays TV ratings?
Look up the Yahoo blog "The Eh Game". They do weekly ratings reports. The Jays are all over it. Pulling a million viewers a game lately, and up to 1.4 million.

Don't have the link right now, so I'll find and post it tomorrow, but in terms of viewers, I believe the Yankees have the highest prime time viewership numbers in the US at around a half million per game.

[Yoho]

And Indians win! What a day!

[corporatejay]

Watching Major League (it's on netflix) in honour of the Cleveland win.

[Caged Great]

The M's walk off the O's

All the important teams lost.

Houston, Yanks, Angels, O's.

Awesome.

[T@T]

A little crazy stat from last night, for the first time in MLB history all 15 home teams won. I found it hard to believe really.

From MLB.com

The Mariners' walk-off victory over the Orioles on Tuesday night capped an unprecedented slate in Major League Baseball.
For the first time in the league's history, all 15 home teams won on the same day. Prior to Tuesday, the closest the home teams have ever come was 12 wins more than a century ago, on May 23, 1914, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

[Rjcsjc62]

A little crazy stat from last night, for the first time in MLB history all 15 home teams won. I found it hard to believe really.

From MLB.com

And even more crazy, 8 people in Western Canada predicted it for a measly $900

From WCLC Pools results yesterday:

There were 8 winning shares
matching 15 out of 15
for CARD 884
paying prizes of $916.50 each.

[habernac]

Watching Major League (it's on netflix) in honour of the Cleveland win.

"Nice catch, Hayes. Don't ever ####in' do it again."

Love seeing the Yankees lose. Can't recall the last time I watched a team that wasn't my own play that many extra innings.

[Sylvanfan]

Watching Major League (it's on netflix) in honour of the Cleveland win.

Bob Ueker is great in those movies. I was at Superstore at lunch yesterday and noticed a pretty geriatric crowd. Made me think of the promotion Die Hard night. Fans who were alive the last time the Indians won the pennant get a souvenir...

[Antithesis]

When we wake up tomorrow, it's possible that we'll see the Jays leading the AL East. :)

[Red Ice Player]

On July 28th the Jays were in 4th place in the East, 8 games behind the Yanks and 9 games behind in the loss column. It has taken them 14 days to erode that lead to a half game behind in the standings, and 2 games behind in the loss column. What an unbelievable swing.

[Resolute 14]

Look up the Yahoo blog "The Eh Game". They do weekly ratings reports. The Jays are all over it. Pulling a million viewers a game lately, and up to 1.4 million.

Don't have the link right now, so I'll find and post it tomorrow, but in terms of viewers, I believe the Yankees have the highest prime time viewership numbers in the US at around a half million per game.

Ok, this is the chart I was thinking of...

http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5436f0f169beddca549cf934-800-870/01-591.png

I was a bit off on the numbers (heh), but the chart is also households rather than viewers. I don't know the differences between how Nielson does it in the US vs. Numeris in Canada.

And, courtesy of the Eh Game, viewers for recent Jays games.

Aug 9 @ NYY 1,430,000
Aug 8 @ NYY 1,150,000
Aug 7 @ NYY 1,290,000

Aug 3 vs MIN 1,390,000 (Price debut, holiday)
Aug 2 vs KC 997,000
Aug 1 vs KC 981,000
Jul 31 vs KC 1,080,000

For some reason, the blog simply forgot the other three Twins games, but they do state that Sportsnet has drawn over 1 million viewers (https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/the-great-canadian-ratings-report--jays--jays--jays-135310508.html) per game for the entire week.

The Jays' season average before the trades was in the range of 600,000

By comparion, CFL games usually draw between 500-650k. Non-Jays baseball and NASCAR in the 200k range, soccer in the low to mid 100s.

[Antithesis]

Ridiculous stat of the morning:

Of the last 12 games, the Jays have been leading in 76 innings and trailing in 7.

Courtesy of the Baseball Tonight podcast.

[Enoch Root]

despite the fact that the starters' worst inning, collectively, has been the 1st.

[Resolute 14]

I've left a ticketmaster window open with the seating map for much of the morning. Blue dots are vanishing rapidly. I think the Jays are going to be in the 40-42k range tonight.

[habernac]

another fun MLB stat: there were 15 games played last night, the home team won all of them. This has never happened before.

[KelVarnsen]

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith 15m15 minutes ago Toronto, Ontario
Last night’s #BlueJays game was most-watched #Jays broadcast in @Sportsnet’s history. Average audience: 1.44 million.

[Enoch Root]

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith 15m15 minutes ago Toronto, Ontario
Last night’s #BlueJays game was most-watched #Jays broadcast in @Sportsnet’s history. Average audience: 1.44 million.

More than the Yankee games on the weekend? Bizarre.

I guess Tuesday night is TV night.

[Enoch Root]

To put that number into perspective, there are only a few teams that could generate an audience of 440,000 - never mind the extra million

[jayswin]

To put that number into perspective, there are only a few teams that could generate an audience of 440,000 - never mind the extra million

That's incredible. Have any US media outlets picked up on just how massive the audiences have been up here, or is it likely off the radar down there?

I know they have a vested interest in not spending too much time on the Jays (virtually no viewer fanbase down there), but you'd think ratings this exuberantly high would be worthy of a story just for baseball fans in general.

[whosurnabby]

http://andrewstoeten.com/2015/08/12/jays-attendance-will-top-40000-tonight/
"Attendance will top 40k tonight." Also read on twitter that Thursday's matinee until Sunday's Finale against the Yankees are soldout games at the Skydome. Blue Jays Fever is back in 2015 and as a long time suffering fan, I hope that Rogers sees this and decides that Jays fans will absolutely come to the ballpark if they keep on fielding a winning product.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

That's incredible. Have any US media outlets picked up on just how massive the audiences have been up here, or is it likely off the radar down there?

I know they have a vested interest in not spending too much time on the Jays (virtually no viewer fanbase down there), but you'd think ratings this exuberantly high would be worthy of a story just for baseball fans in general.

Au contraire, the MLB network has been talking about them non-stop over the past 2 weeks. They seem to be the new darlings of the baseball world.

That being said, I rarely see coverage of how many fans watch any team, let alone MLB teams, let alone the Jays.

[Enoch Root]

http://andrewstoeten.com/2015/08/12/jays-attendance-will-top-40000-tonight/
"Attendance will top 40k tonight." Also read on twitter that Thursday's matinee until Sunday's Finale against the Yankees are soldout games at the Skydome. Blue Jays Fever is back in 2015 and as a long time suffering fan, I hope that Rogers sees this and decides that Jays fans will absolutely come to the ballpark if they keep on fielding a winning product.

If I'm the Jays/AA, I go to Price and say: "look, we get that you want to test free agency - why wouldn't you? But why not consider signing for 2 years with us - we'll pay you market - and be part of what we believe will be something special. Donaldson, Tulo, Bautista and EE (for at least one year), Stroman, Sanchez, Estrada, Osuna, among others will all be here. And we will be committed to free agency in order to build a winner. After 2 years, you'll only be 27 and free agency will still be there for you."

[Roof-Daddy]

If I'm the Jays/AA, I go to Price and say: "look, we get that you want to test free agency - why wouldn't you? But why not consider signing for 2 years with us - we'll pay you market - and be part of what we believe will be something special. Donaldson, Tulo, Bautista and EE (for at least one year), Stroman, Sanchez, Estrada, Osuna, among others will all be here. And we will be committed to free agency in order to build a winner. After 2 years, you'll only be 27 and free agency will still be there for you."

Price will be 30 in a couple weeks.

[Resolute 14]

If I'm the Jays/AA, I go to Price and say: "look, we get that you want to test free agency - why wouldn't you? But why not consider signing for 2 years with us - we'll pay you market - and be part of what we believe will be something special. Donaldson, Tulo, Bautista and EE (for at least one year), Stroman, Sanchez, Estrada, Osuna, among others will all be here. And we will be committed to free agency in order to build a winner. After 2 years, you'll only be 27 and free agency will still be there for you."

Price can sign long term for a ton of money, or he can sign short term and being one major injury short of losing all of it. The reaction to his acquisition and the excitement in Toronto and all Canada may well give us a big chance at keeping him, but to do so, we're going to have to shatter the team record for biggest contract.

[FLAMESRULE]

And in important news...the Orioles are getting no-hit through 7 by the Mariners and losing 3-0 :)

[Enoch Root]

Price will be 30 in a couple weeks.

My memory just gets worse and worse - should have checked

[Fire of the Phoenix]

If we sign Price it will be for a minimum 7 years $210m IMO, the same type of deal Scherzer got with the Nats and Kershaw got with LA. Price might not be quite as good as those two but it's close, so I can't see Price accepting less from the Jays. No way it will be a short term deal at any rate.

[GirlySports]

And in important news...the Orioles are getting no-hit through 7 by the Mariners and losing 3-0 :)

Done. No Hitter. Iwakuma.

It's a 2 horse race for the East now. O's were done on Sunday when they idiotically intentionally walked the bases loaded.

[Resolute 14]

I know the Jays said they swapped Dickey and Buherle to give the latter a rest, but I think they swapped them to make sure Dickey gets another start against New York. Especially after the Yankees manager lamented how the knuckleballers screwed up his team's timing.

[KelVarnsen]

Colabello!

[dsavillian]

This team. So hot right now.

[Antithesis]

Colabello destroyed that pitch. Wow.

[Resolute 14]

http://i.imgur.com/yAM4qSe.gif

Scary as it sounds, the A's pitcher got a little lucky too. Both Bautista and Martin just missed. Fractions of an inch away from going back to back to back.

[transplant99]

That was the definition of a "moon shot". Yowzers.

[whosurnabby]

As much as I miss Danny V, I get why Gibby chose Collabello instead of him. Here's hoping that he can learn how to play a solid 1B next spring training because he does have a legit bat.

Oops..jinxed it, Danny V. still remembers how to hit it out of the Rogers Centre. 3-1 Jays Top 2nd.

[Resolute 14]

Blah. C'mon RA. Don't allow them any hope!

[jayswin]

I bet that feels good for Valencia, he even had that "Oh yeah, just hit a homerun against my old team" look on his face when it left his bat.

EDIT: Oh boy, Dickey in a bit of trouble here in the second.

[Dan02]

I think valencia smashed that one even harder then colabello did in the first, the outfield didn't even move.

[Antithesis]

The Jays are hitting this poor kid hard again. Revere almost went deep. That would have been absurd.

[jayswin]

So is Resolute going to get to post that gif in consecutive innings? Top of the order, 2 on, 1 out.

[jayswin]

Oh man, bases loaded, Donaldson then Bautista. That's gotta be nerve racking.

[Antithesis]

This is the definition of playing with fire. Getting behind Donaldson with the bases loaded and one out.

[Antithesis]

Mvp! Mvp! Mvp!

[Machiavelli]

Gotta love JD!!

[Resolute 14]

Soul = crushed.

[whosurnabby]

this offence...is some kind of amazing. professional at bat after professional at bats.

lol lefty Felix Doubront warming up in the pen. This will not go well for the A's.

[dsavillian]

This time last year that would have been a double play ball

[jayswin]

Oh boy, pretty sure that just nailed a kid sitting down.

[Machiavelli]

Darn, Tulo got tagged

[jayswin]

Dman, that was one hell of a throw.

[Machiavelli]

Or maybe not!

[whosurnabby]

Close play, I almost thought Tulo sneaked by the catcher there.

[dsavillian]

Wow. Close play!

Certainly replay worthy.

[jayswin]

You can see it just barely catch his shoulder right at the end.

[jayswin]

Yep, right call.

[Resolute 14]

That was a terrible read by the third base coach. You have a guy who just hit a 900 foot home run, and Russell Martin coming up next, why risk it?

[Dan02]

Tulos reaction said it all. Knew he was out.

[Resolute 14]

Cola!

[SportsJunky]

Staying in a hotel that doesn't get the Jays game. Brutal. Keep the commentary coming guys!

[jayswin]

That's three runs Res, cue the gif!

[Antithesis]

Colabello doing his part to show the Jays that of him and Valencia, they kept the correct one.

And Brooks is out - his two starts in Toronto have totaled 2.1 IP.

[whosurnabby]

Is Doug Melvin seriously putting Doubront to relieve the kid? Oh well, I'd like another 10+ run game for the good guys. It's been awhile :)

[jayswin]

Staying in a hotel that doesn't get the Jays game. Brutal. Keep the commentary coming guys!

Hopefully the more knowledgeable guys can provide you a better commentary. I'll tone down my cheerleader noise for you, lol.

[whosurnabby]

Staying in a hotel that doesn't get the Jays game. Brutal. Keep the commentary coming guys!

A's manager just pulled Brooks for former Jays Felix Doubront. Expect more runs. Like A LOT.

[Machiavelli]

These guys are incredible, truly.

[Antithesis]

That might be just what the doctor ordered for Martin - he's been struggling at the plate of late.

[dsavillian]

Staying in a hotel that doesn't get the Jays game. Brutal. Keep the commentary coming guys!

The MLB website has a great live tracker that I use when I can't watch/listen

Check it out!

[KelVarnsen]

Smoakked!

[Machiavelli]

Holy freaking crap

[dsavillian]

They send 2 across the plate? We'll send 10 to bat

[The Big Chill]

Smoak!!!!

[Street Pharmacist]

I honestly feel bad for opposing pitchers. Just a body trail of destroyed careers...

[Antithesis]

The game is on easy mode for the Jays right now. There's the 10 spot!

[whosurnabby]

Smoak with the GRAND SALAMI on the CF porch at Rogers Centre!

[Frank MetaMusil]

Smoke!

[Dan02]

Smoak!!

[Resolute 14]

Ok, this is just ridiculous.

[whosurnabby]

Man, when you're a great ballclub everything just drops in the field huh? Amazing.

[transplant99]

It's just not fair.

Good.

[jayswin]

http://i.imgur.com/yAM4qSe.gif http://i.imgur.com/yAM4qSe.gif
http://i.imgur.com/yAM4qSe.gif
http://i.imgur.com/yAM4qSe.gif
http://i.imgur.com/yAM4qSe.gif

[corporatejay]

This team is absurd. Like absolutely freaking ridiculous.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNKw8bYCUAA1HeE.jpg

[jayswin]

This team is absurd. Like absolutely freaking ridiculous.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNKw8bYCUAA1HeE.jpg

Hahaha, Is that your own photoshop? The hat's great, but the see through Jays logo is gold!

[whosurnabby]

Alright Gibby, if the Dickster is pitching against the Yanks on the weekend, can you please pull him out after the 7th? I'd like to see that happen, Aaron Loup needs to shake off the "rust".

[jayswin]

How must it feel to be scoreboard watching as a Yankee's fan these days.

"Okay, Jays game should be in the 2nd inning by now, let's see if we've got some good ne.........oh ****, why did I even bother?".

[corporatejay]

Hahaha, Is that your own photoshop? The hat's great, but the see through Jays logo is gold!


No, stole it from google images (from Reddit I think).

[SportsJunky]

Wow.

[whosurnabby]

http://www.sportingcharts.com/mlb/stats/team-run-differential/2015/
That +129 run differential should increase now. What an unbelievable team this is. That was the only thing that I was holding unto prior to the trades that AA made during the trade deadline. Everything in baseball evens out though, and I am so glad that the Jays are finally playing to what their run differential says about them. They've always had the stats to back up the claim that "they are a great team", the only issue prior to this was shoddy starting pitching and craptastic bullpen. AA fixed those holes, and rightfully so, they are winning a lot because they are a legit GREAT team this year.

[hockey.modern]

Can someone let me in on how MLB standings work?

[jayswin]

I imagining they had a really strong walkup crowd tonight. When it was announced 40k were sold the ticketmaster graphic had a lot of available seats that now look filled on TV.

Wouldn't surprise me if it's 42-43k.

[jayswin]

Can someone let me in on how MLB standings work?

Bluejays keep going up.

[whosurnabby]

Can someone let me in on how MLB standings work?

Division winners have a bye round in the playoffs.

Wild card teams are the top two teams -records wise (ie: wins and losses)- outside of the division winners, that will play for the "WILDCARD game."

WILDCARD game = 1 game PLAY-IN game. You win that, and your team is in the AL or NLDS which is played as your typical win 4 out of 7 and you move on to the next one playoff round.

[dsavillian]

Can someone let me in on how MLB standings work?

Division winners make playoffs. 2 wildcard teams from each league playoff in a one game showdown for the 4th playoff spot

Most wins determines standings (no ties, no extra points). "Games behind" is just a way to display the standings in an easy to understand format. Half games might seem strange, but they are kind of like games in hand.

[Resolute 14]

Can someone let me in on how MLB standings work?

Straight wins and losses.

The games behind column is basically the difference between your record and the division leader, with the difference between wins and losses being worth 1/2 game each. So, Toronto has one more win than the Yankees, but two more losses, thus we are 1/2 game back.

[Resolute 14]

Get the feeling Dickey only goes five in this one.

[whosurnabby]

Get the feeling Dickey only goes five in this one.
That's fine by me if the agenda is that he'll slot in the Yankees series instead of Hutch.

[Blaster86]

Two on and no one out in the bottom of the 5th for Cleveland.

[hockey.modern]

Straight wins and losses.



The games behind column is basically the difference between your record and the division leader, with the difference between wins and losses being worth 1/2 game each. So, Toronto has one more win than the Yankees, but two more losses, thus we are 1/2 game back.


So if we win today were ahead of them?

[Antithesis]

So if we win today were ahead of them?

If we win and they lose.

[whosurnabby]

So if we win today were ahead of them?

If Yankees lose = YES
If Yanks win = still 0.5 games back. :)

We're in the PRIME SPOT of controlling our destiny though so that's a plus. This weekend series is going to be BANANAS. Then we face the Yankees for a 4 gamer and 3 gamer next month too.

[V]

Geez, show up a little late and miss 10 runs. That's ridiculous.

[whosurnabby]

http://storage.torontosun.com/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297735771671_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=420x
In other news...HE's pitching THIS YEAR.

[Resolute 14]

So if we win today were ahead of them?

As others mentioned, only if they lose too. If both win, then we would still be one win up and two losses back.

[Resolute 14]

Indians take a lead!

[whosurnabby]

Indians take a lead!

Awesome! Here's hoping the Tribe keeps the lead this time!:D

[whosurnabby]

lol Billy Butler is the true GIDP king!

[Resolute 14]

1R 3H 0E for the Yankees, 2R 9H 0E for the Indians. The Yankees are lucky to still be in that one.

[V]

Isn't that what the line looked like last night too? The Indians just seem really bad at converting hits into runs.

[whosurnabby]

Great play by Brett there to end the inning.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

This team is a video game

[Resolute 14]

44,597. I think that's about 1k shy of a sellout.

[KelVarnsen]

An Aaron Loup sighting...

[TKB]

44,597. I think that's about 1k shy of a sellout.

Would love to get on a plane and head to Toronto to catch a weekend series!

[Resolute 14]

Would love to get on a plane and head to Toronto to catch a weekend series!

If I wasn't already going to SoCal next month, I would have.

And in Cleveland, Aroid kils a rally with a double play. 3 outs away!

[whosurnabby]

An Aaron Loup sighting...
I hope he does find his stuff again. Loup was an amazing bullpen arm from 2012-2014.

[KelVarnsen]

Woohoo!

[whosurnabby]

BALLGAME! 3 more outs (for the Tribe) and Cleveland wins their game too!!!

[Resolute 14]

First team with two 10+ game winning streaks since the 77 (iirc) Royals.

[whosurnabby]

Here we go..one more out for the Tribe!

[corporatejay]

Back to back major league watching nights??? Sure, why not?

[Resolute 14]

First place!

[whosurnabby]

Didi Gregorious strikes out to end the game..The Yankees LOSE. The Yankees LOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEE! CLE 2 - NYY 1

Fun fact...Jays haven't lead the AL East this late in the season since...1993.

[SportsJunky]

12:30 ET start today. If reports true that Gray won't start...well, it could be a short outing for the new starter today.

[cavalera403]

As per the Blue Jays Twitter RHP Jesse Chavez is to make the start today

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/631823181758664704

Jesse is 6-11 this year with a 3.75 ERA 1.32 WHIP in 24 appearances with 20 of those being starts

His last appearance was August 8th where he went 7.0IP with 1 ER and 6 Hits against the Astros

[Hemi-Cuda]

Division winners make playoffs. 2 wildcard teams from each league playoff in a one game showdown for the 4th playoff spot

Most wins determines standings (no ties, no extra points). "Games behind" is just a way to display the standings in an easy to understand format. Half games might seem strange, but they are kind of like games in hand.

One thing I've never understood about MLB is why play so many regular season games (twice as many as NHL/NBA), yet have so few playoff games? Adding in another round of playoffs (and getting rid of an equal number of regular season games) would give more teams a playoff shot, help get rid of ridiculous 20+ year playoff droughts like the Jays are in, increase the number of sellout games, and increase TV ratings. That should mean a lot more money for the league and would grab the attention of a lot more casual fans like me, instead of waiting every few decades to see our favorite team in the post season

[Lil Pedro]

No Sonny Gray for the A's today due to back spasms!

[Resolute 14]

One thing I've never understood about MLB is why play so many regular season games (twice as many as NHL/NBA), yet have so few playoff games? Adding in another round of playoffs (and getting rid of an equal number of regular season games) would give more teams a playoff shot, help get rid of ridiculous 20+ year playoff droughts like the Jays are in, increase the number of sellout games, and increase TV ratings. That should mean a lot more money for the league and would grab the attention of a lot more casual fans like me, instead of waiting every few decades to see our favorite team in the post season

MLB long predates the advent of playoffs, so traditionally followed the European model of having the team at the to of the table win the title. The World Series began when the AL and NL were separate organizations entirely and was a true interleague championship. And if one sport clings to traditions hard, it's baseball. League playoffs only began in 1969.

[GirlySports]

One thing I've never understood about MLB is why play so many regular season games (twice as many as NHL/NBA), yet have so few playoff games? Adding in another round of playoffs (and getting rid of an equal number of regular season games) would give more teams a playoff shot, help get rid of ridiculous 20+ year playoff droughts like the Jays are in, increase the number of sellout games, and increase TV ratings. That should mean a lot more money for the league and would grab the attention of a lot more casual fans like me, instead of waiting every few decades to see our favorite team in the post season

I dont think there was ever meant to be playoffs. In the old days there were two 7 teams leagues. You played the other 6 teams 144 times (24 times each) to see who was the best. The two winners would playoff in the World Series. Im sure if we looked it up they were teams who rarely ever won the pennant.

Beaten by Resolute

[Antithesis]

Further, I think that as long as baseball organizes itself as it does right now (two Leagues, three Divisions), this is pretty much the ideal playoff setup.

- Division winners get an advantage but not a huge one
- 2 Wild Card teams get a shot at the playoffs, one game winner takes all? Sign me up!

It makes winning the division so much more important than it was previously.

[Resolute 14]

http://i.imgur.com/FvReVfr.jpg

[DiracSpike]

I love the baseball playoff format. It makes the regular season so much more exciting, if you're a casual fan I really see no reason to watch any NHL regular season game. Also due to the first round being a best of five you don't have playoffs that last for 2.5 months and drag on and on and on and on....

This was the game of this series I was pencilling in for a loss because Gray is that good. The breaks just keep coming for the Blue Jays.

[Dan02]

The luck seems to be firmly in the Jays favour because that should have been a 2-3 run inning for the A's

dunno, bad call on the first batter should have been a strikeout and then both those balls in the outfield should have been caught, could have been a 1 2 3 innning.

[Enoch Root]

is the homeplate ump drunk?

[Dan02]

He certainly is all over the place so far today.

I thought the ump last night called a pretty good zone, but unless the pitch tracker is off today who knows what's a ball and strike to this guy.

[Caged Great]

Nice to get out of two innings and 5 baserunners without no runs crossing the plate. MB looked better in the last two batters, hopefully he settles down after being a bit erratic with his pitches.

[Caged Great]

Nice Pillar

[Caged Great]

1-0 on the Pillar single

[Caged Great]

Goins going gone 4-0

[MyFlamesFirst]

Wow. Goins even gets a Homer. This lineup is crazy.

[Blaster86]

"Alright we got through that top of the line-up everything should be great now -- ####"

[GirlySports]

:eek:

[Joborule]

Another dominate second.

[dsavillian]

That has to be demoralizing for the As.

Have a couple of really good innings that the Jays are fortunate to get out of - then bam, down 4-0

[Caged Great]

Everything coming up Jays.

[BsFaninCGY]

What a day - off work early to find the Jays game starting at the same time. Like dsavillian said above - demoralizing start for the A's.

[dino7c]

it almost doesn't seem fair...but then I remember the last 22 years

[GirlySports]

it almost doesn't seem fair...but then I remember the last 22 years

shuuuuuuuuuuuush :)

[Caged Great]

MB has settled down and a quick inning is just what the doctor ordered.

[Burke Salad]

I freaking love getting paid to watch the Blue Jays game!

[Dan02]

As broadcast is showing a bunch of crowd shots and Rogers Centre is absolutely packed.

[Caged Great]

Buehrle is on a roll now. Hopefully he can get another quick inning or two.

[Blaster86]

A's have to be worried, bottom of the line-up here.

[Burke Salad]

As broadcast is showing a bunch of crowd shots and Rogers Centre is absolutely packed.

Was thinking does anyone work in Toronto?

[Dan02]

Anyone else watching on mlb.tv having horrible buffering/quality issues?

[whosurnabby]

Anyone else watching on mlb.tv having horrible buffering/quality issues?

*raises hand* maybe Jays fans are breaking the mlb.tv servers too.:whistle:

[The Big Chill]

Damn, didn't realize this was a day game until right now. Nice to check in and see we're up 4-0!

[Caged Great]

Nice DP

[Caged Great]

That was a bad play by Pillar.

[The Big Chill]

Standing O for Buehrle. Great outing for him once again.

[whosurnabby]

Horrible decision by Pillar to dive for the ball there.

[whosurnabby]

What an outstanding play by Smoak to get Lawrie out!

[Caged Great]

One more inning. Hopefully Osuna can put them away.

[Enoch Root]

just another sweep

[Caged Great]

11!!

[Caged Great]

The Jays

GGXzlRoNtHU

[Scornfire]

The Toronto Broom Jays do it again!

[corporatejay]

This team is absurd. Like absolutely freaking ridiculous.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNKw8bYCUAA1HeE.jpg


Jays!!!

[KelVarnsen]

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/3497554/daniel-bryan-yes-o.gif

[Pagal4321]

http://33.media.tumblr.com/c9169809d552f2874479c43ffab19c8b/tumblr_nsqrdfIntB1r37slco1_500.gif

[Lil Pedro]

Nice sweep!

[SuperMatt18]

Big sweep heading into a big series.

[The Big Chill]

Another fantastic win after a great outing from our starting pitching staff. Lovely stuff.

[Dan02]

and sending Price to the bump tomorrow too!

[howard_the_duck]

It's just insanity right now. I'm trying to get tickets for September and multiple sellouts already, a day after the 6 game flex packs were sold out for the season.

EVERYONE is talking about the Jays. Gonna be a fun ride.

[Blaster86]

http://streamable.com/zwag

"Wow."

[Puddy27]

Was at the game today. Not the most exciting game of the streak but a W is a W. The team is so deep. Everybody is taking a turn knocking them in and another solid pitching effort.

I live an hour north of the city and the Jays buzz has even reached a feverish pitch there. Really fun time to be a Jays fan again (about time eh)

[puffnstuff]

Go Cleveland!

[sketchyt]

Great series, great excuse for me re-post this:

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1186980/sutter.gif

[Roof-Daddy]

This country has been waiting along time for something to cheer about when it comes to the Jays. Going to be quite the ride.

[CroFlames]

Good for the Jays. Genuinely happy for them.

Not looking forward to even more Toronto news on Snet and TSN though.

[nik-]

Good for the Jays. Genuinely happy for them.

Not looking forward to even more Toronto news on Snet and TSN though.

Don't watch.

[SuperMatt18]

Good for the Jays. Genuinely happy for them.

Not looking forward to even more Toronto news on Snet and TSN though.

At least it will be relevant news about Toronto.

If anything this is good. If they Jays were not winning, and relevant we would be hearing about some type of news about the terrible Leafs team.

TBH there isn't really anything to talk about right now for sports teams anywhere else in the country anyways. (CFL is boring until after Labour Day, Canadian Tennis is having a terrible year).