Post by #1 Jays Fan on Apr 21, 2008 11:26:40 GMT -5
TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays feel their lineup still has enough pop following the release of Frank Thomas and, unexpectedly, David Eckstein stepped up to supply some Sunday afternoon.
A rare home run from the diminutive shortstop, a three-run shot in the fourth inning, provided enough cushion for a wild A.J. Burnett and the bullpen to protect in a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
"Not at all," Eckstein, now 31 career homers to his credit, said laughing when asked if he was going to replace Thomas's power. "I really haven't pulled a pitch effectively all year, I would say, so I was just trying to make sure I was getting my swing down where I'm staying on pitches. Fortunately enough I was able to stay on it."
The second straight victory for the Blue Jays (10-9) came hours after Thomas was given his unconditional release in a morning meeting with GM J.P. Ricciardi.
The unexpected divorce took place after Thomas was benched Saturday, accused the team of sitting him to keep his US$10 million option for 2009 from becoming guaranteed and then said he'd rather be released than be a part-time player.
Nasty business aside, the team went out and continued to right itself following a nasty six-game home losing skid, once again keeping the potent attack of the Tigers (6-13) at bay before a crowd of 30,139.
"It's behind us now," manager John Gibbons said of the Thomas affair. "We don't have to deal with it any more, I know he was frustrated, but we move on."
Burnett (2-1), his start bumped two days after pitching the 14th inning of Wednesday's 7-5 loss to Texas, needed 113 pitches to survive five sloppy innings. Still, even though his curveball was inconsistent and his fastball was all over the place, he managed to hold Detroit to three runs despite allowing four hits and six walks.
"Good thing I made a pitch when I needed to and that was with the fastball, it was doing its job today," said Burnett. "When you feel like I felt today, it's kind of hard to harness that, so we'll work on that."
Burnett left up 5-3 and relievers Jesse Carlson (1 1-3 innings, Shawn Camp (1 2-3 in his Blue Jays debut) and the slumping Jeremy Accardo were able to nurse the lead home.
Accardo's scoreless ninth for his fourth save, in particular, was big for the Blue Jays, as he had been struggling for two weeks and had fallen to 0-3. With B.J. Ryan still unable to pitch on back-to-back days while recovering from Tommy John surgery -- the big left-hander closed out Saturday's 3-2 win -- a reliable Accardo is key to the bullpen.
"It feels good to those rough ones out of my system, that bear off my back," said Accardo. "I hit my spots, I gave up a hit but I got my ground-ball double play. Even on the hit I made my pitch where I wanted to."
Clete Thomas's one-out single put some bad thoughts in Accardo's head, but he bounced back, inducing Ivan Rodriguez to bounce into a game-ending double play.
"After (the single) I'm like, `OK, here we go again,"' said Accardo. "I had to step off, get that out of my head and get back to work. One hit isn't going to make or break you, it's the next batter that matters."
Eckstein's pivotal blast capped a four-run Blue Jays rally that came after the Tigers had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth on Clete Thomas's two-run single.
John McDonald's two-out RBI single tied the game and Eckstein followed with his shot off Nate Robertson (0-2) into the Toronto bullpen in left to make it 5-2.
"Johnny Mac broke the ice with that key base hit," said Eckstein. "We're going to have to get big hits when we get runners on base, especially against clubs like the Tigers where you don't know if you have enough runs at any point in the game."
Burnett gave up a run-scoring double to Miguel Cabrera in the fifth but retired Jacque Jones and Edgar Renteria before the inning could unravel further.
The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the first when Eckstein scored on an Alex Rios groundout.
Notes: Blue Jays 3B Scott Rolen (broken right middle finger) began a rehab assignment with single-A Dunedin on Sunday. He'll play three games before being re-evaluated Wednesday and could rejoin the team late this week. ... Catcher Robinzon Diaz will take Thomas's roster spot and join the Blue Jays for Monday's series finale against the Tigers. Heading into Sunday, Diaz was batting .333 with a homer and seven RBIs for triple-A Syracuse. ... Tigers DH Gary Sheffield has a sore right shoulder and will visit the doctor Tuesday when the team returns to Detroit. ... Tigers 2B Placido Polanco sat out with a sore back.
A rare home run from the diminutive shortstop, a three-run shot in the fourth inning, provided enough cushion for a wild A.J. Burnett and the bullpen to protect in a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
"Not at all," Eckstein, now 31 career homers to his credit, said laughing when asked if he was going to replace Thomas's power. "I really haven't pulled a pitch effectively all year, I would say, so I was just trying to make sure I was getting my swing down where I'm staying on pitches. Fortunately enough I was able to stay on it."
The second straight victory for the Blue Jays (10-9) came hours after Thomas was given his unconditional release in a morning meeting with GM J.P. Ricciardi.
The unexpected divorce took place after Thomas was benched Saturday, accused the team of sitting him to keep his US$10 million option for 2009 from becoming guaranteed and then said he'd rather be released than be a part-time player.
Nasty business aside, the team went out and continued to right itself following a nasty six-game home losing skid, once again keeping the potent attack of the Tigers (6-13) at bay before a crowd of 30,139.
"It's behind us now," manager John Gibbons said of the Thomas affair. "We don't have to deal with it any more, I know he was frustrated, but we move on."
Burnett (2-1), his start bumped two days after pitching the 14th inning of Wednesday's 7-5 loss to Texas, needed 113 pitches to survive five sloppy innings. Still, even though his curveball was inconsistent and his fastball was all over the place, he managed to hold Detroit to three runs despite allowing four hits and six walks.
"Good thing I made a pitch when I needed to and that was with the fastball, it was doing its job today," said Burnett. "When you feel like I felt today, it's kind of hard to harness that, so we'll work on that."
Burnett left up 5-3 and relievers Jesse Carlson (1 1-3 innings, Shawn Camp (1 2-3 in his Blue Jays debut) and the slumping Jeremy Accardo were able to nurse the lead home.
Accardo's scoreless ninth for his fourth save, in particular, was big for the Blue Jays, as he had been struggling for two weeks and had fallen to 0-3. With B.J. Ryan still unable to pitch on back-to-back days while recovering from Tommy John surgery -- the big left-hander closed out Saturday's 3-2 win -- a reliable Accardo is key to the bullpen.
"It feels good to those rough ones out of my system, that bear off my back," said Accardo. "I hit my spots, I gave up a hit but I got my ground-ball double play. Even on the hit I made my pitch where I wanted to."
Clete Thomas's one-out single put some bad thoughts in Accardo's head, but he bounced back, inducing Ivan Rodriguez to bounce into a game-ending double play.
"After (the single) I'm like, `OK, here we go again,"' said Accardo. "I had to step off, get that out of my head and get back to work. One hit isn't going to make or break you, it's the next batter that matters."
Eckstein's pivotal blast capped a four-run Blue Jays rally that came after the Tigers had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth on Clete Thomas's two-run single.
John McDonald's two-out RBI single tied the game and Eckstein followed with his shot off Nate Robertson (0-2) into the Toronto bullpen in left to make it 5-2.
"Johnny Mac broke the ice with that key base hit," said Eckstein. "We're going to have to get big hits when we get runners on base, especially against clubs like the Tigers where you don't know if you have enough runs at any point in the game."
Burnett gave up a run-scoring double to Miguel Cabrera in the fifth but retired Jacque Jones and Edgar Renteria before the inning could unravel further.
The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the first when Eckstein scored on an Alex Rios groundout.
Notes: Blue Jays 3B Scott Rolen (broken right middle finger) began a rehab assignment with single-A Dunedin on Sunday. He'll play three games before being re-evaluated Wednesday and could rejoin the team late this week. ... Catcher Robinzon Diaz will take Thomas's roster spot and join the Blue Jays for Monday's series finale against the Tigers. Heading into Sunday, Diaz was batting .333 with a homer and seven RBIs for triple-A Syracuse. ... Tigers DH Gary Sheffield has a sore right shoulder and will visit the doctor Tuesday when the team returns to Detroit. ... Tigers 2B Placido Polanco sat out with a sore back.
