Jays Pitching & Offence Sputters In Oakland Loss
Posted July 28, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A combination of suspect pitching and a lack of offence killed the Toronto nine in this one, as they lost 5-2 against the A’s in Oakland Thursday night.
The Jays took the lead twice during the game, with 1-0 and 2-1 bulges, but starter Ted Lilly (now 9-9) couldn’t hold them. He lasted just six innings and was finally K.O.’d by an RBI single from Eric Chavez.
Jay Payton homered and singled and Marco Scaturo added a sac fly, as the Blue Birds dropped their third of four on the road.
“The way I was pitching, I was lucky I didn’t give up more runs,” Lilly admits. “Going out there and performing like that bothers me. I don’t think that’s going to go away any time soon. I’m looking forward to getting out there again, that’s for sure.”
But he might not want to do it in Oakland. Lilly hasn’t won in that ballpark since Sept. 21, 2003 – and that’s when he was still a member of the A’s.
“It was one of those tight games and it’s kind of been our track record this year,” manager John Gibbons sighs. “Low-scoring games, we haven’t won a lot of them.”
The match also involved a bench clearing brawl when A’s starter Joe Blanton and Lilly both hit batters, but a warning from the umpire quieted down any later concerns. The Jays weren’t able to use that competitive fire to light up their offence, which sputtered against a good outing from the Oakland hurler.
About the only good news for Toronto in this one was the return of Vernon Wells to centrefield. He missed two games in Seattle with back pain and was relegated to a DH role on Wednesday. He managed a double in the fourth inning.
The loss was costly – with both New York and Boston idle, the Jays missed a chance to move up in the standings and now sit a full six games off the lead in the A.L. East and 4½ behind the Yankees in the Wild Card race.
