Post by #1 Jays Fan on Apr 5, 2008 12:04:57 GMT -5
TORONTO -- Back in the baby blue uniform worn during better days gone by, the Toronto Blue Jays opened the home portion of their 2008 season with a gem of a ballgame reminiscent of their former glory.
Shaun Marcum threw seven strong innings and Frank Thomas picked up his starter with a big two-run double in the seventh to lead the way in a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, before a rowdy sellout crowd of 50,171 at the Rogers Centre.
"That was kind of fun to see everyone out there running around like a little Smurf," Marcum said of the retro jerseys the Blue Jays will wear for all Friday home games this year. "I kind of had the extra adrenaline going, 50,000-plus here, the white towels, blue uniforms, everything. It was a fun night."
There was all the pomp and circumstance befitting a home opener, with young stars Alex Rios and Aaron Hill signing long-term contract extensions in the afternoon, and retired second baseman Roberto Alomar and former president and CEO Paul Beeston getting added to the club's Level of Excellence during the pre-game ceremonies.
Then, with a haze from the fireworks still in the air giving the field a dreamscape feel, the Blue Jays (2-2) began their pursuit of the World Series champion Red Sox (3-2), who are on the tail end of an 18-day, four-city, three-country road trip.
"It was fun, it felt like playoff baseball," said closer Jeremy Accardo. "It's a great day, Robbie going up on the wall, it's just a beautiful day for Toronto having that many fans and us having a good game."
Shaun Marcum (1-0), the 26-year-old looking to build on an impressive 12-6 campaign in 2007, outduelled veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield for six dominant innings but blew a 3-0 lead in the seventh when he coughed up a game-tying three-run shot to J.D. Drew.
"A lot of time that sucks the wind out of you but we bounced back," said Jays manager John Gibbons. "It's important if you can bounce right back, that's key."
Which is exactly what the Blue Jays did.
David Eckstein worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh off David Aardsma (0-1), and Shannon Stewart followed with a single off Javier Lopez. After Manny Delcarmen retired Rios and Vernon Wells, Thomas clutched up and made it 5-3 with his liner to left.
"We're built for it right now," said Thomas, who pumped his fist as he reached second. "We've got a very good lineup, it's not going to be a one-man show, you're going to see so many guys have big games to help this team win."
Brian Tallet pitched the eighth, Eckstein made it 6-3 with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning and Accardo, closing again with B.J. Ryan still on the disabled list, handled things in the ninth, getting Mike Lowell on a popper to end it and collect his second save.
Marcum went seven innings in all and struck out eight, allowing just three hits and a walk. He retired 19 of the first 20 batters he faced, rarely giving up solid contact to one of baseball's toughest lineups.
"Until that swing by J.D., he really had his way with us," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "He threw an outstanding changeup, missed a lot of bats with it and commanded both sides of the plate. He tied us in knots."
.Wakefield, meanwhile, worked over the Blue Jays through the first five innings but they caught up with him in the sixth. Matt Stairs of Fredericton ripped his second pitch of the inning over the wall in right to open the scoring, a bloop RBI single by Lyle Overbay made it 2-0 and Hill's bizarre single -- a drive to deep left-centre that Jacoby Ellsbury snared but dropped when he slammed into the wall -- brought home another run.
Marco Scutaro followed with a base hit that loaded the bases for Gregg Zaun, who failed to bury the Red Sox by grounding into a double play.
Notes: Scutaro and Rios each stole their third base of the season. ... The Red Sox flew from their spring site in Fort Myers, Fla., to Tokyo to open the season against Oakland, returned to Los Angeles for a pair of pre-season games and then headed back to Oakland for two more with the Athletics before arriving in Toronto. It's the first three-country road trip in big-league history. ... Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey was booed on two separate occasions during the ceremony to honour Alomar and Beeston. ... Former Blue Jay Kevin Cash is back in the majors with Boston to catch Wakefield's knuckleball. ... A couple -- he with his shirt off, she in a bra -- ran on the field with two outs in the ninth and were quickly tackled by security. The woman was covered up as she was escorted off the field, drawing boos from the crowd. ... Blue Jays players were left in awe of the multi-million dollar renovation to their clubhouse. "This is a country club," said Hill. "Everyone in here who's been on a different team says this is by far the best place they've been in."
Shaun Marcum threw seven strong innings and Frank Thomas picked up his starter with a big two-run double in the seventh to lead the way in a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, before a rowdy sellout crowd of 50,171 at the Rogers Centre.
"That was kind of fun to see everyone out there running around like a little Smurf," Marcum said of the retro jerseys the Blue Jays will wear for all Friday home games this year. "I kind of had the extra adrenaline going, 50,000-plus here, the white towels, blue uniforms, everything. It was a fun night."
There was all the pomp and circumstance befitting a home opener, with young stars Alex Rios and Aaron Hill signing long-term contract extensions in the afternoon, and retired second baseman Roberto Alomar and former president and CEO Paul Beeston getting added to the club's Level of Excellence during the pre-game ceremonies.
Then, with a haze from the fireworks still in the air giving the field a dreamscape feel, the Blue Jays (2-2) began their pursuit of the World Series champion Red Sox (3-2), who are on the tail end of an 18-day, four-city, three-country road trip.
"It was fun, it felt like playoff baseball," said closer Jeremy Accardo. "It's a great day, Robbie going up on the wall, it's just a beautiful day for Toronto having that many fans and us having a good game."
Shaun Marcum (1-0), the 26-year-old looking to build on an impressive 12-6 campaign in 2007, outduelled veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield for six dominant innings but blew a 3-0 lead in the seventh when he coughed up a game-tying three-run shot to J.D. Drew.
"A lot of time that sucks the wind out of you but we bounced back," said Jays manager John Gibbons. "It's important if you can bounce right back, that's key."
Which is exactly what the Blue Jays did.
David Eckstein worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh off David Aardsma (0-1), and Shannon Stewart followed with a single off Javier Lopez. After Manny Delcarmen retired Rios and Vernon Wells, Thomas clutched up and made it 5-3 with his liner to left.
"We're built for it right now," said Thomas, who pumped his fist as he reached second. "We've got a very good lineup, it's not going to be a one-man show, you're going to see so many guys have big games to help this team win."
Brian Tallet pitched the eighth, Eckstein made it 6-3 with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning and Accardo, closing again with B.J. Ryan still on the disabled list, handled things in the ninth, getting Mike Lowell on a popper to end it and collect his second save.
Marcum went seven innings in all and struck out eight, allowing just three hits and a walk. He retired 19 of the first 20 batters he faced, rarely giving up solid contact to one of baseball's toughest lineups.
"Until that swing by J.D., he really had his way with us," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "He threw an outstanding changeup, missed a lot of bats with it and commanded both sides of the plate. He tied us in knots."
.Wakefield, meanwhile, worked over the Blue Jays through the first five innings but they caught up with him in the sixth. Matt Stairs of Fredericton ripped his second pitch of the inning over the wall in right to open the scoring, a bloop RBI single by Lyle Overbay made it 2-0 and Hill's bizarre single -- a drive to deep left-centre that Jacoby Ellsbury snared but dropped when he slammed into the wall -- brought home another run.
Marco Scutaro followed with a base hit that loaded the bases for Gregg Zaun, who failed to bury the Red Sox by grounding into a double play.
Notes: Scutaro and Rios each stole their third base of the season. ... The Red Sox flew from their spring site in Fort Myers, Fla., to Tokyo to open the season against Oakland, returned to Los Angeles for a pair of pre-season games and then headed back to Oakland for two more with the Athletics before arriving in Toronto. It's the first three-country road trip in big-league history. ... Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey was booed on two separate occasions during the ceremony to honour Alomar and Beeston. ... Former Blue Jay Kevin Cash is back in the majors with Boston to catch Wakefield's knuckleball. ... A couple -- he with his shirt off, she in a bra -- ran on the field with two outs in the ninth and were quickly tackled by security. The woman was covered up as she was escorted off the field, drawing boos from the crowd. ... Blue Jays players were left in awe of the multi-million dollar renovation to their clubhouse. "This is a country club," said Hill. "Everyone in here who's been on a different team says this is by far the best place they've been in."
