Boof, Breakouts & Burnout

A trimmed down Boof Bonser took the mound tonight and immediately continued his trend of brutal first innings by surrendering a grand slam to Matt Stairs. I actually missed it, and was completely shocked when I flipped back to the game and saw a 4-0 Blue Jay lead in the top of the first. How Bonser picked up the moniker Boof as a youngster, I have no idea. Why he legally changed his name to said moniker in 2001 baffles me even more. Still, it landed him at the top of the list for best nicknames in MLB, so he's got that going for him.

Anytime the Jays can put up four runs in the first with Roy Halladay on the mound, you've got to be thinking good things. Even against the best hitting teams, you've got to like your chances. Well, after a Justin Morneau big fly and Jason Kubel double, the four run lead was down to one. The Twins then tied it up after a couple of singles and fielder's choice in the third. I felt like I was watching some type of bizarro game. Tonight was Halladay's ninth start and he comes in having pitched 63 innings (almost 8 per start) not to mention 4 complete games. We all know he's a workhorse and can throw a zillion innings if need be, it'd just be a piss off if he was burnt-out from this heavy workload early in the season.

I sense the bats are coming out of their horrendous, season long funk. True, it wouldn't take anything substantial to be declared breakout at this point. The ugliness of the early season wouldn't/couldn't continue for much longer. Even the legendary 2003 Detroit Tigers and their 43-119 record hit better with runners in scoring position, and we're not anywhere near that bad.

5-4 Jays in the bottom of the sixth...should be good enough