Chavez hit a home run... yes, you read that right

In the words of Matt Kennedy Gould from the Joe Schmo Show, "what is going on?" Raul Chavez, yes, Raul Chavez has hit a home run! His two run shot in the 3rd inning has put the Jays ahead 2-0.

Just how rare is it to see Chavez go yard apple? It's his 6th home run. Ever. In his 11 year career! And only his 2nd in the last 4 years.

Wow.

Romero bounces back

Ricky Romero bounced back from two poor outings to have his first quality start since coming off the disabled list. After a pair of bad games, where he was knocked around for 10 runs in 9.1 innings, the lefty responded to go 7 strong innings in the opener against Kansas City.

Romero cruised through the first 6 innings without allowing a run, but ran into a speed bump in the 7th frame. The Jays rookie hurler allowed a 2 run shot to Jose Guillen, followed immediately by a solo bomb to Mike Jacobs. Suddenly, the Jays 7-0 lead evaporated, tightening the collar on Romero, potentially signalled another blow up. However, he settled down to retire the side to get out of the 7th inning and picked up his 3rd victory of the campaign.

Romero displayed maturity for a young rookie. It's something he should keep in the memory bank should he get roughed up again, knowing that he has the ability to work through a bad inning, and also pitch well after struggling in a couple of contests.

Jays light up "best pitcher in baseball" Greinke!

Enough already with the talk that Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke is the "best pitcher in baseball." He wasn't even the best pitcher suited up at the Rogers Centre Friday night. That distinction belongs to Roy Halladay.

The Jays lit up Greinke, tagging him for 7 runs (5 earned) in just 5 innings of work, allowing the Blue Birds to cruise easily to victory. The Jays scored 6 runs in the first three innings, aided by strong performances of guys that have floundered for much of the season. Alex Rios had an RBI double, Vernon Wells drove in a pair of runs, and Lyle Overbay plated three runners.

Overbay's home run in the 2nd frame ended Greinke's phenomenal (and I'll tip my cap, this stat is RIDICULOUS) consecutive homerless innings streak at 111.

Greinke is an outstanding pitcher, but he had one very bad game. It happens. But if he wins the CY Young over Halladay it'll be a travesty. Enough already with these pitchers (see Cliff Lee last season) that have one unbelievable year to unseat the brilliant Doc Halladay.

Halladay will pitch in the series finale Sunday. Take notes Greinke. See how the actual best pitcher in baseball gets it done.

Rios rips into fan after charity event

If you haven't already seen it, you absolutely must go to the following link on you tube. Alex Rios cusses out a fan after a charity event!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVJbhmwRCmM

After a pathetic 0 for 5 game Thursday against the Angels, Rios attended a charity event that evening and refused to grant a kid an autograph. Then Rios started getting heckled from a fan saying "you should be happy someone wants your autograph" Rios eventually snapped, and several f-bombs were said.

This is great stuff. I like that Rios stood up for himself instead of brushing the nasty comments aside. The passion was incredible and extremely raw. I just wish Rios brought that much intensity to the baseball diamond every day.

Rios apologized for the altercation today, and responded by going 1 for 4 in the series opener against the Royals, including an RBI double.

Note: A previous posting included the link to Rios arguing with a fan. The video has since been taken down by YouTube.

Overbay fails when it matters most

Just looking at a box score of a baseball game without watching the actual contest can be entirely misleading. Case in point, Lyle Overbay's outing against the Angels on Thursday.

The Jays first basemen had a pair of hits, and drove in 3 runs. Without question, he had a pretty good game. In fact, he has a 10 game hitting streak, in which he's batted over .400. However, when the club needed him to come up big in a critical 9th inning, he floundered.

With the score tied at 5 in the ninth, and runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out, Overbay fell asleep. The Jays turned a double play ball, but Overbay did not react quickly enough when Howie Kendrick broke for home on that play, tossing the ball too late to Rod Barajas. Kendrick scored, and the Angels went on to win the game 6-5. Then in the bottom of the 9th, with Adam Lind on 2nd, Overbay struck out, choking in the clutch.

Is Overbay good, or crappy? I really can't decide. Of all the Blue Jays, I go back and forth on whether he is a viable performer for the club. This much I know; he failed when the team needed him to come up large Thursday against the Angels.

I guess that answers my question.

Lind rules; Rios sucks

The difference between how great Adam Lind is and how pathetic Alex Rios plays is absolutely astounding. One guy is a complete clutch hitter, and the other is a lazy bum. It was never more apparent then Thursday afternoon against the Angels.

Lind had an astounding game that will be unfortunately forgotten because the Jays lost. He went 5 for 5, his first career five hit performance, where he had 3 doubles and a pair of singles. Rios, on the other hand, had 5 strikeouts. FIVE FREAKING STRIKEOUTS! Dating back to his previous game. Rios has 7 straight whiffs. Are you kidding me?

I don't ever want to hear a positive story about the clown. He's had a couple of home runs the past few games. So what? They came in a blowout loss to Boston and early in a ball game against the Angels. Do you think Rios would blast a big homer when it mattered? Of course not. There is no way anyone can legitimately say Rios is a solid 5 tool ball player. How about the 5 tool piece of crap?

Adam Lind is sensational. Alex Rios sucks. End of story.

Power outage for Bautista

Where did Jose Bautista's power stroke go? When the Jays traded for the versatile veteran midway through last season, he was supposed to bring a little pop in his bat. Bautista has just one home run this year, and he hit it in a blow out game against Chicago. What happened with him? Is there any hope he'll start getting it going at the dish?

Bautista was awful today in the series finale against the Angels. He struck out three times, including the 9th inning, when his whiff ended what would have been a phenomenal Blue Jays comeback. Yhe last three seasons he has 16, 15, and 15 long balls, so a home run really would have gone a long way in securing the comeback.

Bautista has played in 35 of the first 56 contests for the Jays this year. He is a very good depth player, and a quality guy to start a game here or there. However, if the Toronto Blue Jays are hoping to unseat the Red Sox and Yankees, they can not have Bautista starting as many games as he has.