GameDay - May 9th
Toronto Blue Jays @ Philadelphia Phillies
The story in this game is really the performance of the Jays’ opening-day starter. When is Manoah going to figure it out? I think we can all agree that he is confident in his process and will figure it out at some point. He just doesn’t look comfortable out there and the inconsistent release point is obvious on screen and his erratic fall off the mound suggests there is some discomfort up on the hill when Manoah takes the bump.
Two innings are complete and Manoah is flirting with trouble in this game. He just doesn’t have an outpitch right now. The slider is consistently in the middle of the zone. The pitches the Red Sox were crushing in his last start are being missed by the Philly batters in this start. So far so lucky but how long is this going to last? The next trip through the lineup starts next time he takes the mound. What worries me are the two pitch sequences he has where he is nowhere near the zone. At least one at-bat in each inning has come with two free balls for the Phillies’ batter. It looks like he is trying to overthrow when he completely losses the zone. If I’m the Phillies, I’m not swinging at any first pitches until he gets three first-pitch strikes in a row.
Manoah was gifted a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third. Just to be clear, I know I sound like I’m being tough on a guy who is clearly trying to figure it out. I can see the movement on his pitches. I just want him to trust his stuff and play catch with the catcher. It’s the same thing Kikuchi dealt with last year. The movement is there, just trust your stuff and let the outs happen. I know, easy for a keyboard manager to say. I lose my golf swing sometimes, I want both Manoah and my golf game to succeed, that is why I get frustrated watching both.
There is a saying you hear thrown around baseball that goes something like “lose with your best stuff”. Manoah gave up a 2-run home run on a middle-middle slider. This is why I get extra frustrated. I know that is the traditional out-pitch but it isn’t working today. I would rather see a competitive 2-seamer than this middle-middle slider we’ve been seeing all game. What do they think is going to change in this particular version of the slider? Next game maybe, but not today. Manoah’s night ends after giving up an RBI-double on an 0-2 pitch that was in the top half of the zone. It’s non-competitive pitching. At least Schneider pulled Manoah before the damage got worse and it’s not like the game is over. The Jays’ bats are still the Jays’ bats. Just, ugh, it’s one thing to be figuring it out and just getting by one 2 of your 3 pitches. Manoah is trying what we can all see isn’t working and just hoping it works. Hope baseball is bad baseball!!!
I love Pearson coming into the game with a runner on third and down a run. I want to see him in a high-leverage situation. Well, the runner from third scored and Pearson goes on to give up his first earned run of the season. The slider is really letting the Jays down tonight. Bad pitching nights happen and this game isn’t over. Three runs can be scored in a hurry by this Jays’ lineup. I haven’t seen anything that tells me the Jays can get 4 consecutive batters to the plate without making an out.
The Jays lost the game on a night it felt like they just didn’t have enough to get the lead and hold it. They had a chance in the 7th and just didn’t get the runs across. Also disappointing, well, read the previous two paragraphs again. I’m not going to trounce on our players more than I already have. At least the Rays lost, get ‘em in the next one.
Tampa Bay Rays @ Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore needs to make an impression in this game. They don’t need to win because I don’t think their window is open this year. However, a win here will tell the Rays and the rest of the AL East they are here to make noise this season and have the ability to bounce back after a close loss.
The Rays get a first-inning home run and this game picks up exactly where the last game left off. The Orioles find themselves playing catch-up from the very beginning and do they have enough bats to catch and beat the Rays? Last night they had to face the ace of the staff. The task is slightly easier tonight, but it’s still the Rays and their seemingly endless pitching depth.
A lead-off triple to start the third inning. Exciting but last night, the Orioles would not have cashed in the runner, will that change tonight? Quickly the answer is yes with a groundout that scores the runner. The game is tied and the Orioles get an early counter-punch in this game. Talk about counter-punch, how about a two-run home run with two outs? Rutschman breaks his funk with a home run and the Orioles are now ahead 3-1. I think we have an exciting game on our hands.
Just as Rodriguez gets rolling and the Orioles are up 4-1, he gives up a leadoff home run in the top of the 5th. The lead is now 4-2 and the Rays have a lot of game left to do what they have done a lot of this season, take the lead and win the game.
…
Credit to the Orioles’ bullpen, they have navigated their way to the 9th inning and the score is still 4-2 Orioles. The first two runners get on base then a double play changes the entire complexion of this inning. Of course, Wander Franco is at the plate and a home run will tie this game. However, a deep flyout ends this game and sets the series at one game a piece. We get a rubber match tomorrow in what has become the most interesting AL East series this week.
Oakland A’s @ New York Yankees
The A’s got out to an early lead and looked like they were going to put up a crooked number. The Yankees held them to one run and have since scored 5 of their own. This is the game we were probably all expecting to see coming into the series.
This game was forgettable after the third inning. The A’s scored a total of 5 runs in the game but the win probability was well on the Yankees side of the chart after those 5 runs in the third and didn’t sniff the mid-line for the rest of the game. Yankee fans can take this win and think about the team getting going coming out of this series. There is a 3+ team dustup happening in the top of the division and the Yankees belong in there too. They need to get back to their winning ways and get in the division fight.
Boston Red Sox @ Atlanta Braves
Pivetta gives up 4 runs in the first inning and I’m not going to lie, I love seeing the runs against him and the Red Sox. Pivetta chirps more than his record suggests he should and it always feels like he chirps in games against the Jays. The Red Sox, well, they can lose every game as far as I’m concerned. 6 years of living in New England and I have some deep scars.
The primary story in this game will be the chase of the Boston bats against Charlie Morton.
I wrote the above yesterday, while the game was still on and I can say now that the chase never materialized. The Red Sox were never able to string together base runners and score more than one run in the innings where they did score. Credit to the Braves’ bullpen for striking out 5 and allowing only one run when the game was already over.
