Well.

That kind of sucked.

Detroit came to town for 4 games and took 3 of them from us, outscoring us on the series 21 to 14. After the break? Some highlights and lowlights… and what we need to focus on to move forward.

Morrow Gets The Hook

Monitoring what fans had to say throughout last night’s game, it appears that Farrell’s honeymoon is over. In perhaps the most controversial decision of his Toronto career, he pulled Morrow out of the 4th inning with 2 runs scored, 1 out and the bases loaded. Dustin Parkes has some great analysis of Morrow’s 4th inning. Yes, Morrow appeared to be struggling, but the inning really demonstrated how baseball is a team sport; the responsibility is not on the pitcher alone.

1. First, Molina failed to block a pitch in the dirt, and Boesch advanced on what would have been a strikeout. 1 on. No outs.
2. Miguel Cabrera was walked on 6 pitches, the last of which was questionably a ball. (See Parkes’ article for graphs.) 2 on. No outs.
3. Victor Martinez hits a long fly to center field… and somehow Corey Patterson fails to catch it. It could have been an out, and Patterson looked kind of terrible for missing it. 1 run scores. 2 on. No outs.
4. Don Kelly line drives to center through the gap. Another run scores. 2 on. No outs.
5. Jhonny Peralta hits a strong liner right into Escobar’s glove. Finally an out. 2 on, 1 out.
6. Alex Avila walks. Again, this is kind of a questionable call. It looks like the first pitch could have been considered a strike. 3 on. 1 out.

Morrow was then pulled for Shawn Camp, a decision that upset the fans, and Morrow himself. Check out John Lott’s article in the National Post for some comments from Farrell and Morrow.

Ultimately, Morrow may have gotten out of the inning, leaving the score tied at 2-2. It probably couldn’t have gone any worse than what Camp did; allowing 4 more runs to score before ending the inning.

But whatever could have happened, it didn’t.

The inning left the team – and the crowd – deflated. The rest of the game was an exercise in frustration.

Bautista’s Back… But Can It Help?

Jose Bautista’s back in the lineup as of Sunday. He came on as a DH for his first game post-neck-strain and hit a 2-run homer; his 10th bomb of the season. Unfortunately, those were the only 2 runs scored in the game; an entirely winable match against Detroit’s Penney.

But here’s the problem with JBau right now. He’s doing everything he can, with so very little support. Lind’s out with a back issue, so Farrell had Edwin Encarnacion batting cleanup.

<crickets>

Yeah. It didn’t exactly go well.

Farrell even expressed frustration after Sunday’s game. His batters aren’t doing their thing. They’re too eager, swinging at first and second pitches, striking out too often.

Last night’s game? 10 strikeouts.

Enough said.

Series Recap: 1-3
AL East Position: 4th (5.5 GB)

What now?

Considering this is what I said going into the Tampa series, I’m hesitant to predict any sunshine for these games against Boston.

A few good games in Tampa, and we should be able to enjoy coming home, for a much more reasonable month with fewer road trips and more games against the AL Central. Phew.

Yeah. That’s exactly how that worked.

Seriously though, we’re going into two games with Boston, followed by the getting-hotter Twins, and back to Detroit to see these Tigers again.

Unless our bats can find their way again, it’s going to be another rough road trip.