Toronto 8, Twins 6: Bullpen, Slowey battered by Jays' hit parade

by Jon Marthaler on Apr 14, 2009 12:09 AM EDT in Game Recaps Comment 3 comments

As a wise man once said: it's hard to scatter 19 hits.

The Blue Jays came out swinging Monday night against the Twins, and when the dust cleared and the scraps of horsehide had settled, Toronto had pounded out three doubles, three home runs, and an astonishing 13 singles, running up enough runs to come from behind to beat the Twins.

Jays left fielder Travis Snider hit a pair of home runs, the second off of Luis Ayala in the eighth inning to give Toronto an 8-6 lead. Ayala was the least effective of a parade of Twins relievers, allowing his only inherited runner to score to blow the lead, then allowing three more hits and two more runs to take the loss.

Kevin Slowey, on the other hand, was simply shelled over a longer period of time. The starter gave up 13 hits in five and a third, ten of them singles, and though he managed to escape jam after jam, the Jays eventually touched him for five runs.

Despite the failures of the pitching staff, though, the Twins were in position to win for much of the night. Jason Kubel's solo home run and Nick Punto's two-run single in the second inning put the Twins up 3-1. In the fourth, Brian Buscher tripled in a run, and the Twins manufactured two in the fifth with the help of a Justin Morneau double, and it was 6-3 Minnesota.

But Slowey, and then the already-beleagured bullpen, simply couldn't keep the Jays from slapping the ball all over the lot.

After the jump, the three Twins stars of the game...

3. RA Dickey
The reliever got the last four outs for the Twins with a minimum of fuss, allowing one hit and striking out one to keep Minnesota within striking distance.

2. Nick Punto
Struck out twice later in the game, but his two-run, two-out single in the second was clutch enough to make up for it.

1. Justin Morneau
His double in the fifth should have driven home Denard Span, who was on second base but dithered and ended up only making it as far as third. And the first baseman made a heady play in the second, picking off a Toronto runner at third after a putout at first base, helping to kill a Blue Jays rally.

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Slowey

is on pace to give up 60+ HR…awesome.

by guinness junky on Apr 14, 2009 12:53 PM EDT reply actions

I suspect you're not serious

but Slowey’s HR/FB rate is 17.4% for the season. Considering league average is typically around 10% and his career rate was 11.1% coming into this season, I expect this will balance out. Slowey’s made some bad pitches, but he’s also been a bit unlucky with FB leaving the yard.

by Adam Peterson on Apr 15, 2009 10:04 AM EDT up reply actions

It doesn't have to be that way Gardy!

Certainly a game like yesterday’s emphasizes a beleagured bullpen; however, does it really have to be that way? The Twins have always had the mentality that if you go out and sign some player that has washed ashore (code phrase for Ayala this year) that they feel they must use that player in critical situations regardless of past performances. Yesterday, Breslow came in to face one batter whom he promptly whiffed…EXIT Breslow immediately because of the inanity of right/left, left/right for the inexperienced arm (he hasn’t earned his stripes yet so…). Breslow should be as fresh as a daisy given the number of innings he has pitched in total. (If Gardy has no confidence in him beyond one batter, send him down and bring up someone who can face righties and lefties.) Instead, we turn to Ayala to stem the tide in spite of the fact that he has failed not once, but twice in similar situations during this very young season. I have always believed that you have to earn your innings (which is why Gardy drives me to distraction with his use of pitchers). Ayala has not earned his “right” to be brought into a close game considering that he hasn’t held any team in a close game yet. Why not bring him into three or four blowouts (3+ runs either way) until he finds his groove? if he succeeds in those situations, then test the waters again. If he can’t manage those situations, maybe it’s time to jettison him and his contract. Anyway, yesterday, my questions was: Since Breslow hasn’t pitched that many innings (1/3 over the last four games), why not leave him in? Give him a chance to show what he has and rest some of the other arms. If that is not satisfactory, how about bringing in Humber (1 inning in four games)? The upshot is that the bullpen is only beleagured because of the poor use of the arms in the bullpen.

"I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. See, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughing at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it . . ."

by Skippy tastes better than Jiff on Apr 14, 2009 9:36 PM EDT reply actions