Wakefield pitched pretty well. You know what you're going to get when Wakefield takes the mound and a haul of seven innings with only three runs (all of them earned) isn't too bad. Normally, I would say it would be an easily surmountable obstacle; as it is, they still aren't hitting well and the Jays were in get-on-base-any-way-you-can mode-including not making any real effort to get out the way of errant pitches, so what are you going to do? Wakefield losses are always easier to dismiss then losses from other pitchers. Any fan who goes in expecting Wake to pull out a win probably also expects them to win 162 games on the season.
During his six innings, Wake gave up six hits (including a home run), walked four, hit two Jays with a pitch, and didn't strike out anyone. He had nine ground outs and fourteen fly outs. He was also aided by some good defensive play. Manny made some good grabs out in left, Coco was Coco in center, there was a lousy throw down by Cash but he also had one that succeeded and had the added bonus of embarrassing David Eckstein.
[Aside: I've recently developed an extreme distaste for the man. Most things about him rub me the wrong way-the way he chokes up on the bat, the excessive fidgeting entailed in his batting stance, but mostly it's the way he sprints to first base when he draws a walk. Just jog, man. It's like he thinks they're going to change their minds and make him go back. I can easily imagine him to have been a combination of the teacher's pet and the classroom snitch in elementary school. I'm really glad their gone for awhile now.] The play went like this: Eckstein (who had reached on a double) stood on second and Scott Rolen (who had been hit by a pitch) stood on first. Matt Stairs hit a double off the wall in left center but Eckstein didn't get moving until it was too late. Once the ball hit the wall he took off for home but the ball got there before him. So, he turned around to go back to third but because Stairs was on second, Rolen was on third, and Eckstein was caught in the run down.
Aardsma, Lopez, and Timlin finished off the game for Wakefield. And while it wasn't pretty, they did their job. Aardsma got the first three outs but not before he gave up a double. Lopez struggled to get the next two outs. He gave up two hits but then got a nice pick off at third by Cash for the first two outs. He then got the next batter to ground out. Timlin got the last batter to ground out, as well.
As for offense, there really wasn't any. Ortiz continues to claw his way out of the hole he dug for himself (he was two for four tonight.) Mike Lowell hit a double and Coco got himself a single at the end.
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