Post by Fish Troll on May 13, 2007 18:04:18 GMT -5
Despite Marcum's gem, Jays shut down
Right-hander throws six no-hit innings; bullpen miscues costly
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
TORONTO -- There are certain situations that pitchers spend countless hours training for during the course of a season. One of those scenarios arose during the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, but Blue Jays reliever Brian Tallet wasn't prepared. He won't deny it, either.
"I got caught standing around on the mound," admitted a dejected Tallet, who could only shrug his shoulders at the thought of the costly gaffe he made against the Devil Rays.
Tallet was not able to cover first base on a potential inning-ending ground ball, opening the door for the game's deciding run in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tampa Bay. The mental lapse proved to be the difference in a contest that featured an unlikely pitchers duel between the Jays' Shaun Marcum and the Rays' Jae Seo.
Marcum, who spent the first six weeks of the season in Toronto's bullpen, turned in six innings of no-hit baseball before Toronto manager John Gibbons was forced to heed the right-hander's limited pitch count. The Jays received more than they would've hoped for from Marcum in his first start of the year, but mistakes by the relief corps sent Toronto (15-22) to its 17th loss in 24 games.
"Marcum was perfect," Gibbons said. "He actually went a little further than we anticipated, but he was rolling along. It's tough to lose a ballgame like that."
Tallet was quick to shoulder the blame. With two outs in the ninth inning, Carlos Pena stepped upped to the plate for Tampa Bay (15-22) with runners on first and third base. Pena chopped a 3-2 offering from the left-hander into the hole on the right side of the field, where Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay gloved the ball.
In that situation, a pitcher's responsibility is to immediately cover first base in order to retire the runner. Tallet hesitated just long enough on the mound to force Overbay to try to hustle back to the bag to retire Pena. Overbay stepped on the base a second too late, allowing Carl Crawford to score from third base to put Toronto behind, 2-0.
"I made the pitch I needed to make to get the weak ground ball," Tallet said. "The problem is that's all I did. I didn't do what I'm supposed to do and get over to the bag -- plain and simple."
"That can't happen," Gibbons agreed. "You've got to cover first base. That turned out to be the difference."
At the time, it wasn't the game's decisive blow, but that all changed in the home half of the final inning. That's when Matt Stairs belted a solo home run to pull the Jays within one run, but that's all the offense Toronto managed against Tampa Bay, which won for the first time in seven games.
"There's no excuses," Tallet said. "If I get over [to first base] it's not even an issue, because I'm there and [Overbay] flips me the ball, we tie the game and we're still playing."
The Jays' hitters were silenced for seven innings by Seo (2-3), who struck out seven and gave up just two hits en route to the win. Seo retired 14 of the first 15 Blue Jays he faced, and the right-hander held Toronto hitless until shortstop Royce Clayton collected a double in the fifth inning.
Tallet wasn't the only Blue Jays reliever to take responsibility for the loss. A few minutes earlier, and a few lockers to the right of Tallet's, Jason Frasor (1-2) also accepted some of the blame. After all, Frasor had yielded a solo homer to Pena with two outs in the seventh -- a blast that snapped Toronto's no-hit bid and put Tampa Bay on top, 1-0.
"At the time, I thought it was a good pitch," Frasor said. "He's ahead in the count and looking fastball and he got it. He connected and there's your win."
The miscues by Tallet and Frasor followed an impressive appearance by Marcum, who moved into the rotation when Victor Zambrano landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right forearm on Thursday. Marcum entered the game with a pitch count limit of 70, and he finished with 78, including 44 for strikes.
The 25-year-old righty gave no hits to the 21 hitters he faced and finished with seven strikeouts and four walks in the outing. Marcum retired 17 of the first 18 Devil Rays he faced, including one stretch of 12 consecutive outs. The performance marked the longest hitless stretch for any Toronto starter this season.
"I was excited to go out there today and give the team everything I had," Marcum said. "I felt good the last couple days leading up to today. I just wanted to go out there and try to get as many innings in as possible with the pitch count that I had."
Marcum did more than enough, but the bullpen wasn't able to complete the task.
Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Right-hander throws six no-hit innings; bullpen miscues costly
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
TORONTO -- There are certain situations that pitchers spend countless hours training for during the course of a season. One of those scenarios arose during the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, but Blue Jays reliever Brian Tallet wasn't prepared. He won't deny it, either.
"I got caught standing around on the mound," admitted a dejected Tallet, who could only shrug his shoulders at the thought of the costly gaffe he made against the Devil Rays.
Tallet was not able to cover first base on a potential inning-ending ground ball, opening the door for the game's deciding run in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tampa Bay. The mental lapse proved to be the difference in a contest that featured an unlikely pitchers duel between the Jays' Shaun Marcum and the Rays' Jae Seo.
Marcum, who spent the first six weeks of the season in Toronto's bullpen, turned in six innings of no-hit baseball before Toronto manager John Gibbons was forced to heed the right-hander's limited pitch count. The Jays received more than they would've hoped for from Marcum in his first start of the year, but mistakes by the relief corps sent Toronto (15-22) to its 17th loss in 24 games.
"Marcum was perfect," Gibbons said. "He actually went a little further than we anticipated, but he was rolling along. It's tough to lose a ballgame like that."
Tallet was quick to shoulder the blame. With two outs in the ninth inning, Carlos Pena stepped upped to the plate for Tampa Bay (15-22) with runners on first and third base. Pena chopped a 3-2 offering from the left-hander into the hole on the right side of the field, where Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay gloved the ball.
In that situation, a pitcher's responsibility is to immediately cover first base in order to retire the runner. Tallet hesitated just long enough on the mound to force Overbay to try to hustle back to the bag to retire Pena. Overbay stepped on the base a second too late, allowing Carl Crawford to score from third base to put Toronto behind, 2-0.
"I made the pitch I needed to make to get the weak ground ball," Tallet said. "The problem is that's all I did. I didn't do what I'm supposed to do and get over to the bag -- plain and simple."
"That can't happen," Gibbons agreed. "You've got to cover first base. That turned out to be the difference."
At the time, it wasn't the game's decisive blow, but that all changed in the home half of the final inning. That's when Matt Stairs belted a solo home run to pull the Jays within one run, but that's all the offense Toronto managed against Tampa Bay, which won for the first time in seven games.
"There's no excuses," Tallet said. "If I get over [to first base] it's not even an issue, because I'm there and [Overbay] flips me the ball, we tie the game and we're still playing."
The Jays' hitters were silenced for seven innings by Seo (2-3), who struck out seven and gave up just two hits en route to the win. Seo retired 14 of the first 15 Blue Jays he faced, and the right-hander held Toronto hitless until shortstop Royce Clayton collected a double in the fifth inning.
Tallet wasn't the only Blue Jays reliever to take responsibility for the loss. A few minutes earlier, and a few lockers to the right of Tallet's, Jason Frasor (1-2) also accepted some of the blame. After all, Frasor had yielded a solo homer to Pena with two outs in the seventh -- a blast that snapped Toronto's no-hit bid and put Tampa Bay on top, 1-0.
"At the time, I thought it was a good pitch," Frasor said. "He's ahead in the count and looking fastball and he got it. He connected and there's your win."
The miscues by Tallet and Frasor followed an impressive appearance by Marcum, who moved into the rotation when Victor Zambrano landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right forearm on Thursday. Marcum entered the game with a pitch count limit of 70, and he finished with 78, including 44 for strikes.
The 25-year-old righty gave no hits to the 21 hitters he faced and finished with seven strikeouts and four walks in the outing. Marcum retired 17 of the first 18 Devil Rays he faced, including one stretch of 12 consecutive outs. The performance marked the longest hitless stretch for any Toronto starter this season.
"I was excited to go out there today and give the team everything I had," Marcum said. "I felt good the last couple days leading up to today. I just wanted to go out there and try to get as many innings in as possible with the pitch count that I had."
Marcum did more than enough, but the bullpen wasn't able to complete the task.
Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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