Well, maybe that wasn't 8th inning weirdness, but more like 8th inning disappointment.
Zito pitched a fantastic game that he didn't deserve to lose, but he made one mistake and that mistake ended up costing him the game. With the game tied at 2-2 going in the bottom of the 8th inning, Edwin Encarnacion smashed a hanging breaking ball to put Toronto up 3-2 for good. 8th inning disappointment.
This game was sloppy. Zito was cruising, not allowing a hit until the 5th inning, when things started to fall apart. First an infield single. Then Zito hit Jose Bautista. The next play was where things really started to go wrong. On a groundball to Sandoval, the Panda double clutched and was late with the throw to second. It was definitely a mental error, as tagging the runner headed for third or throwing to first would've been much better options. With the bases loaded and zero outs, Encarnacion (him again?!) ripped a single to bring in two runs. Zito did a great job getting out of the inning, inducing an inning-ending double play, but still, the damage was done.
To make things worse, in the next half inning, Huff, thinking he had his 12th homer of the year, went into a trot and only got a double out of what should have been a triple. A couple of plays later on a single from Burrell, Huff badly misjudged the ball and was out at the plate by a wide margin. Definitely some more mental errors. But hey, I'm not going to criticize Huff too much. He's been a huge part of the team's success this year, so he's allowed one off night.
Anyway, tough loss, but we've got Cain taking the hill tomorrow. That's pretty much a guaranteed win these days.
One more note: I was among the many who were a little frustrated that Fred Lewis was never given a fair shot in San Fran. Boy, did it work out well for us. If Lewis was still around, Torres probably wouldn't be playing, and as we all know, Torres is having an All-Star caliber season. Let's compare their stat lines:
Torres - .292/.393/.474
Lewis - .286/.327/.471
I'll take the first player, please.
Don't forget how much better torres is on defense. Lewis should have caught that ball that huff hit, and he really has no business playing center. Still would have been nice to get more than 75 grand for him.
ReplyDeleteYeah Torres deserves an All-Star spot and a Gold Glove for his play this year, but he's probably going to get neither. It's really a shame.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I was always under the impression that Fred Lewis was worth at least a decent prospect.