My Nails Are Bitten Already!

Yet another nail-biter-of-a-win for the Blue Jays, a 2-1 win over the Angels. Wow, that was really close. If it weren't for some key defensive plays from Gregg Zaun, John McDonald, Casey Janssen and Lyle Overbay (I'll get to that later) we might've lost-- it would've definitely been tied at least. Shaun Marcum was fantastic, like usual, only allowing one earnie on four hits and one walk in 7+ innings. He also struck out 6 innings and oh, he made the Angels his bitch.

The first great play came when Gregg Zaun threw out Chone Figgins, who stole 33 bases already. That the second time he threw out a runner in two nights! The great play wasn't just Zaun's throw, though, it was also John McDonald's tag-- another boner-inducing play from the glove of The Wizard Johnny Mac. Directly afterward, Orlando Cabrera singled to left. If Zaun didn't throw Figgins out, it would have been a tie ballgame.

Once Marcum was pulled in the 8th after walking the first batter, Angels' SS Erick Aybar, Casey Janssen came in and threw a strike to Lyle Overbay, who tagged Aybar out for the pickoff; another fine play from the Blue Jays...

The next great play came in the 9th. With nobody out and a runner at first, this is when it qualified as a nail-biter. But, Gary Matthews, Jr. then hit a linedrive directly into the glove of Overbay, who non-shalantly stepped on first base to double up the runner and just like that, there were two out. If that ball skips by Lyle, the runner probably would have scored; like the Beetles say, "All you need is glove..." Oh, so punny.

The Good

Shaun Marcum was excellent once again, improving his record to 10-4 and his ERA to 3.31, eighth best in the AL.

Alex Rios picked up yet another multi-hit game going 3-for-4. Its his fourth straight and seventh in nine games. His average is a very impressive .314 now.

Gregg Zaun did manage to throw out Chone Figgins, one of the best base stealers in the business.

The Bad

The Jays managed to get only one run in the second inning, although they were in a bases loaded with none out situation. Gregg Zaun happened to ground into a weakly-hit double play, and John McDonald couldn't score Troy Glaus from third.

The Ugly

Sometimes I feel like punching fellow Jays fans in the face. In the eighth when Casey Janssen walked a batter, fans in right field started booing him! What the fuck? Are these confused individuals so utterly incompetent that they fail to understand who they're cheering for, or can they just not grasp the fact that pitchers don't always get a batter out, and they're not completely perfect.

Aaron Hill made another error, which makes me wonder what happened to his defence? I don't know if I'm the first to think this, but has his defence been down since the all-star break? Maybe it's that knee injury he never got placed on the DL for...