Toronto Blue Jays: Clutch hitting has been a problem

On Friday as I settled down to watched the Texas Rangers versus the Toronto Blue Jays, I wasn’t expecting much from the Jays in this three game series.  The Rangers are first in the American League West Division and the Jays would have to face their pitching ace Yu Darvish.   The Jays also just lost a four game series to the Chicago White Sox, so I thought the prospects of winning a game against Texas were low.

To my surprised, the Blue Jays played well in the first game.  In fact, they managed to win it 3-2.  Starting pitcher, J.A. Happ pitched a gem.  By the fourth inning, he’d already struck out seven batters. ”He (Happ) did an outstanding job,” said Jay’s manager, John Farrell after the game.  By the time the Blue Jays  went to the bullpen, Happ gave up only two hits, one earned run, one walk, and struck out a total of eight batters in six innings pitched.  I also have to acknowledged Anthony Gose’s running skills.  In the bottom of the fifth inning, Gose  hit a fly ball into center field that went off of Craig Gentry’s glove.   Gose practically flew around the base paths and got himself a triple.  He later scored on a sacrifice fly by Rajai Davis

J.A. Happ pitches a gem against the Rangers

In the second game, the Rangers had to face Carlos Villanueva, the best pitcher in the Jay’s starting rotation right now in my opinion.

Things started off okay for the Jays  in the first four innings.  They even had a 1-0 lead at one point in the game.  At the top of the fifth inning, though,  Nelson Cruz hit a two run homer  to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead for good.

What frustrates me the most is that Toronto had the bases loaded twice and were unable to score any runs.  You cannot give up opportunities like that and expect to win against teams like Texas.  They are that good.  Clutch hitting or lack there of has been a real problem for them this year from time to time.

The real sad thing about this game is Villanueva had a pretty good outing, giving up only four hits, two earned runs, one walk and struck out four batters in 6.1 innings pitched.

The Jays finished their 10 game homestand in the worse way possible, losing to the Rangers 11-2.  The Jays ended the

home stand with a 3-7 record.

The Jays have a day off tomorrow, but will back at it on Tuesday night as they travel to Detroit to play three games against the Tigers.