Post by #1 Jays Fan on Apr 10, 2008 12:05:46 GMT -5
TORONTO -- Things are never easy for the Toronto Blue Jays when they play the Oakland Athletics and Wednesday night's 6-3 loss was certainly another painful trip through the meat grinder.
For eight innings they nursed a lead built during a three-run first only to watch closer Jeremy Accardo cough things up in the ninth, when he was blasted for four runs.
Accardo (0-2), who also gave up the winning run in Tuesday's 9-8 loss, hit Travis Buck to open the ninth and then surrendered a game-tying triple to Mark Ellis. An out later, Daric Barton was walked intentionally to set up the double play and Emil Brown provided a potential inning-ending grounder.
But third baseman Marco Scutaro unwisely tried to cut down Ellis at the plate, threw wildly, and on the inning went. Brian Wolfe relieved and gave up a two-run double to Bobby Crosby before ending the inning.
Huston Street then came in to close out the lights for his second save, surviving after allowing the first two batters to reach. Fernando Hernandez (1-0) picked up a win in his big-league debut by pitching a scoreless eighth.
It was an ugly end to an ugly night of baseball, with each at-bat dragging deep into counts as the teams chewed up pitch after pitch after pitch. The Blue Jays (4-4) couldn't survive the three-hour, 31-minute battle of attrition before a crowd of 16,102, losing their sixth straight home meeting with the Athletics (5-4).
Dustin McGowan dodged trouble for five tough innings and it looked like he and the bullpen would be able to make the three-run first off Greg Smith, a soft-tossing lefty also making his big-league debut, stand up.
Early on the Blue Jays, who smacked around lefties at will last season, looked like they would have their way with Smith, who was part of the return from Arizona in the Dan Haren deal and was starting in place of the injured Justin Duchscherer.
In the first, David Eckstein was hit by Smith's second pitch, Shannon Stewart followed with a walk and after Alex Rios struck out, his first of three against the 24-year-old, Vernon Wells ripped an RBI single to open the scoring.
Frank Thomas walked to load the bases for Aaron Hill, who hit a fly ball to centre deep enough for Stewart to score, and Wells followed him home when Barton cut off Ryan Sweeney's relay from the outfield and throw wildly to the plate for an error.
Down 3-0, Smith settled and wore down the outside corners against Toronto's righties. He didn't allow another hit until the fifth and left after six without surrendering another run, despite five walks.
McGowan, meanwhile, looked dominant through his first three before hitting a bump in a sloppy fourth, when the Athletics hit just one ball hard but picked up a pair on Crosby's single and Jack Hannahan's bases-loaded walk. Had a couple of balls bounced differently and been fielded cleanly behind him, he would have escaped unscathed.
McGowan did come out clean in the fifth, pulling off a miraculous escape from bases-loaded, none-out jam to preserve the 3-2 lead. He struck out Jack Cust and snared Brown's liner before getting Bobby Crosby to hit into a fielder's choice.
He was done after that, needing 101 pitches to get through five while allowing seven hits and three walks. He struck out seven.
The Blue Jays, however, weren't done living dangerously.
Scott Downs, who replaced Jason Frasor with two down in the sixth and tossed 2 1-3 frames, opened the eighth by allowing a single to Brown and a double to Crosby. He bounced back to strikeout Hannahan for the first out, walked Kurt Suzuki to load the bases and then got Sweeney to hit into an inning-ending double play on a 3-2 pitch.
. Notes: The A's designated 1B Dan Johnson for assignment top clear a roster spot for Smith. Johnson was hitless in his only at bat this season and was pushed out of a job by rookie Daric Barton. ... LHP David Purcey, Toronto's 1st-round pick in 2004, continued his strong start to the season at triple-A Syracuse by throwing six innings of two-run ball Tuesday night against Indianapolis. He struck out seven and took a no-decision in the 4-3 loss. ... The Blue Jays averaged over 36,000 fans in their first four home games.
For eight innings they nursed a lead built during a three-run first only to watch closer Jeremy Accardo cough things up in the ninth, when he was blasted for four runs.
Accardo (0-2), who also gave up the winning run in Tuesday's 9-8 loss, hit Travis Buck to open the ninth and then surrendered a game-tying triple to Mark Ellis. An out later, Daric Barton was walked intentionally to set up the double play and Emil Brown provided a potential inning-ending grounder.
But third baseman Marco Scutaro unwisely tried to cut down Ellis at the plate, threw wildly, and on the inning went. Brian Wolfe relieved and gave up a two-run double to Bobby Crosby before ending the inning.
Huston Street then came in to close out the lights for his second save, surviving after allowing the first two batters to reach. Fernando Hernandez (1-0) picked up a win in his big-league debut by pitching a scoreless eighth.
It was an ugly end to an ugly night of baseball, with each at-bat dragging deep into counts as the teams chewed up pitch after pitch after pitch. The Blue Jays (4-4) couldn't survive the three-hour, 31-minute battle of attrition before a crowd of 16,102, losing their sixth straight home meeting with the Athletics (5-4).
Dustin McGowan dodged trouble for five tough innings and it looked like he and the bullpen would be able to make the three-run first off Greg Smith, a soft-tossing lefty also making his big-league debut, stand up.
Early on the Blue Jays, who smacked around lefties at will last season, looked like they would have their way with Smith, who was part of the return from Arizona in the Dan Haren deal and was starting in place of the injured Justin Duchscherer.
In the first, David Eckstein was hit by Smith's second pitch, Shannon Stewart followed with a walk and after Alex Rios struck out, his first of three against the 24-year-old, Vernon Wells ripped an RBI single to open the scoring.
Frank Thomas walked to load the bases for Aaron Hill, who hit a fly ball to centre deep enough for Stewart to score, and Wells followed him home when Barton cut off Ryan Sweeney's relay from the outfield and throw wildly to the plate for an error.
Down 3-0, Smith settled and wore down the outside corners against Toronto's righties. He didn't allow another hit until the fifth and left after six without surrendering another run, despite five walks.
McGowan, meanwhile, looked dominant through his first three before hitting a bump in a sloppy fourth, when the Athletics hit just one ball hard but picked up a pair on Crosby's single and Jack Hannahan's bases-loaded walk. Had a couple of balls bounced differently and been fielded cleanly behind him, he would have escaped unscathed.
McGowan did come out clean in the fifth, pulling off a miraculous escape from bases-loaded, none-out jam to preserve the 3-2 lead. He struck out Jack Cust and snared Brown's liner before getting Bobby Crosby to hit into a fielder's choice.
He was done after that, needing 101 pitches to get through five while allowing seven hits and three walks. He struck out seven.
The Blue Jays, however, weren't done living dangerously.
Scott Downs, who replaced Jason Frasor with two down in the sixth and tossed 2 1-3 frames, opened the eighth by allowing a single to Brown and a double to Crosby. He bounced back to strikeout Hannahan for the first out, walked Kurt Suzuki to load the bases and then got Sweeney to hit into an inning-ending double play on a 3-2 pitch.
. Notes: The A's designated 1B Dan Johnson for assignment top clear a roster spot for Smith. Johnson was hitless in his only at bat this season and was pushed out of a job by rookie Daric Barton. ... LHP David Purcey, Toronto's 1st-round pick in 2004, continued his strong start to the season at triple-A Syracuse by throwing six innings of two-run ball Tuesday night against Indianapolis. He struck out seven and took a no-decision in the 4-3 loss. ... The Blue Jays averaged over 36,000 fans in their first four home games.
