Two, Should've Been Three: West Coast Trip Starts with Series Win vs A's

West Coast baseball always throws me off. I get home from work after 5 pm and I eat dinner during the 7:07 pm game. 10 pm doesn't work for me.

Anyway, the series vs the A's was pretty good, but it was agonizingly close to being a sweep

Mark Buehrle started the Tuesday game and he was predictably workman-like in his awesomeness. He also did something Halladay, Stieb, Clemens and Hentgen didn't ever do as Blue Jays:

Buehrle became the first pitcher in franchise history to allow two earned runs or less while tossing at least six innings in nine consecutive starts. And typically, he shakes it off.

"I think any time streaks like that happen, it's going to come to an end, especially for me because I'm not striking guys out," Buehrle said. "Positioning guys, putting guys behind where the balls are going to be hit to, that obviously helps me out. I don't think I ever would have said I'd accomplish that."

I keep saying this, but I love watching this guy work. If we are rounding into the end of the Buehrle Era in Toronto, I am just going to appreciate every single time he pitches.

His success is also due to the fact that his offense gives him about 2000 runs per start. I don't know what folksy, self-depricating things Buehrle whispers to them, but it seems to be working.

Encarnacion, Bautista and Martin hit homers and Josh Donaldson contributed an RBI double in the 7-1 win.

Bautista tied Vernon Wells for second after Carlos Delgado in most franchise homers. Bautista was humbled by it.

"That's awesome because I really came here from a shaky situation in Pittsburgh and I was given an opportunity," Bautista said. "Everybody embraced me and welcomed me here and I've always been appreciative and I try to remind people that I'm really thankful for that."

"I have a lot to thank to Alex [Anthopoulos] and then also Cito Gaston and Dwayne Murphy. I'll never forget that and it's one of those things that always keeps you humble because this game can change quickly and dramatically."

The second game stretched long into the night. The Jays were in tough versus A's starter Sonny Gray but could never quite deliver the knockout punch. A's closer Tyler Clippard loaded the bases with no one out, and the Jays were only able to tie it via a walk. And then lost it in extras in a replay call that wasn't overturned.

"It's tough, when you're playing, it happens so fast that you don't really have a good idea," said Danny Valencia, who was playing first base, "But when you come and look at it on the replay, everybody in this clubhouse feels like he was out. Unfortunately it didn't get overturned. It is what it is."

It was weird watching the A's celebrate, suspend the celebration for a time for the replay and then resume. Weird, as well as annoying. The whole game was bullshit, frankly. 

I'm not convinced Davis was safe (though I admit my bias and was also watching in the middle of the night) but I would argue that the game should never have been decided by that play. It should've been won by the Jays earlier.

The third game had R.A. Dickey start in place of a barfy Drew Hutchison. And maybe because it was Drew's spot in the rotation, but the offense actually decided to give Dickey some run support for once in his life and his solid pitching over the last several starts was finally rewarded.

"I like to pretend that it doesn't affect you at all, but when you look up there and see 3-10 (win-loss record), it hurts, it's hard," Dickey said. "I'm hopeful to run off a whole bunch of wins in a row, thinking that things will eventually even out over the course of the year, but there's no guarantee that will happen."


"So, I just take it one outing at a time and being an older guy, I think it helps that I have a pretty healthy perspective on how to do that. I'm just going to try to do my job the rest of the year, let the cards fall where they may. I know that's a cliche, but it's the truth in this particular case."

Ok, stop looking at pitcher wins. It's a chump's game. Advanced stats are your friend, R.A. And maybe your offense doesn't hate you afterall. 

Dickey gives credit to Pete Walker for some extra work involving his hips (it's all about the hips with these pitchers) and warmer weather.

"I think after that Houston series, that's when Pete and I got in there and started grinding through some mechanical stuff," Dickey said. "Getting my hips involved a little bit more has helped for consistent velocities and that's really the one major adjustment I feel like I've been able to make.


"And, for whatever reason, I think the warmer temperatures may help. My body gets loose, I don't know, but my pitch certainly reacts differently when the weather is warmer."

Jose Reyes took bouncing baseball to the mouth (not the ankle or the oblique!) and was spitting a bit of blood. I read some idiotic Instagram comments on the Jays account calling Reyes soft. He was spitting blood! There was an inning left! You got to see your precious Ryan Goins! 

The more I read, the more convinced I am that there should be no comments on Instagram.