Jays 8, BAL 4 - May 1st Recap

Pitching: Not exactly the picture perfect outing from the Doc since he did allow 10 hits over 8 innings, but he did strike out 6 and only allowed 3 runs to score and gave the bullpen a much appreciated rest. He threw 117 pitches, 80 of them strikes, and was tagged once for a home run by Nick Markaikis - a 2-run shot in first inning. Doc was able to get over his first inning troubles as an ace should, and handed the 9th to Downs who shut the door with 1 inning, 1 hit allowed and 1 strike out. Downs lowered his season ERA to 0.77, while Doc's now sits at 3.68. All-in-all a good outing for the Doc that will help the Jays pen rejuvenate substantially.

Offense: The Jays continue to get outstanding production from their middle infielders, with Hill going 3 for 5 with a stolen base and Scutaro hitting a double to go with a walk. Scutaro's double was about as close as you can get to not hitting a home run as it bounced off the top of the fence just out of Luke Scott's reach. Lind continues to do his job as DH with his 5th home run of the season, which he hit off Sarfate. Who would have thought that Rolen stole his second base of the season off of Sarfate and Zaun, embarassing for the ex-Jay. Rod Barajas continues to impress with a 3 for 5 night and is now hitting .319 on the season. Kevin Millar hit a critical 2-run double in the 4th inning that broke the game wide open and allowed the Jays to kick-start their offense. Moral of the story, just about all of the Jays offense is clicking, with all of them getting on base and only Bautista not getting a hit. In fact, 6 of the 9 in the starting lineup are now hitting above .300, quite a luxury for the Jays pitching in comparison to 2008!

Next up: 25 yr old Robert Ray (0-0, 0.00) will get his first start of his career BAL and Brad Bergesen (1-0, 5.59) who is getting the 3rd start of his career. It's a 1:07 ET start.

Robert Ray's 2009 stats: at Dunedin - 1 GS, 3.2 IP, 7 HA, 1 SO, 4.91 ERA, at New Hampshire - 1 GS, 4.1 IP, 2 HA, 3 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA.