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Heartbreaker: Jays Lose to Mariners in 10th

By Matt Soteroff | June 9th, 2008

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Say what you want about BJ Ryan’s blown saves in the past week, but tonight’s loss to the Mariners frustrated me more than any other game the Jays have played this year. Here are some of the lowlights that only scratch the surface of how easily this game could have been won by Toronto:

Jarrod Washburn has not won a start since May 5 and has had an ERA over 6 in that span. In tonight’s game, the Jays started a lineup of righties to exploit Washburn and the result: Washburn went 6 innings of one-run ball.
The Jays 3 and 4 hitters (Rolen and Wells) went a combined 0-9 and left 8 runners on base. They both had golden opportunities to win the game and could not come through.
The Jays stranded 25 runners on base…in a one run ballgame. I think we just found a new definition for the word: frustration.

This was a series that the Jays could have and should have swept against a team that is 16 games out of first place, 18 games under .500 and is arguably the worst team in the majors. This mini skid that the Jays find themselves in has slowed them in the quest to make a run at the top of the division. Just like that, they have dropped to a 3-way last place tie with the Yankees and Orioles, 7 games back of the Red Sox.

With the Rays stumbling, this homestand would have been a perfect time for the Jays to make up some ground. After playing so brilliantly in the month of May, the Jays have gotten off to an awful start in June, going 2-6. With Vernon Wells back, the Jays should be able to drop out of this funk quickly and earn a series win against Seattle. They are a good enough squad to take the division this year, but the question remains about whether or not they can focus and beat the beatable teams when they have to.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 10:10 pm and is filed under BJ Ryan, Jarrod Washburn, Jesse Litsch, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Kevin Mench, Scott Rolen, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.