TORONTO

Toronto Blue Jays. Not a name that normally strikes fear in Red Sox Nation – but perhaps it should. I can’t even begin to properly write about this series, so instead I’m just going to give a little narration of what I saw and did.

Tuesday – We departed from Upstate NY properly “decked out” in Red Sox gear before arriving in Toronto just in time for the gates to open. All throughout batting practice the guys looked HOT. Balls flew off the bats while everyone ooh’ed and ahh’ed. You knew it would be a big night for the bats.
I lucked out getting Payton and Damon to sign and stand for pictures before settling into my seat 25 rows behind the dugout within a mix of Sox and Jays fans. Wells would start. This made every Sox fan uneasy – as to many of us he is still a Yankee. Wells was the usual donut that we all despise. He conveniently forgot to cover the bag when the ball was hit to first and made it difficult for Boston’s hitters to keep pace with Toronto or attempt to hold a lead. All the same Timlin was handed a lead when he came in. And he gave up a home run. When the 9th inning rolled around, the game was tied 6-6 and as we all know, Alan Embree gave up a 3 run home run to Reed Johnson.
Sure the pitching wasn’t great but at least hitting was starting to pick up, and with Arroyo going on Wednesday the Sox were sure to pick up a win!

Wednesday – The day was spent taking a tour of the stadium and than discussing random Sox statistics over lunch before settling down outside of the Rodgers Center to wait to get into batting practice. Yet again Damon signed for me, and I also met Lynn Jones. Batting practice looked good again. However, this did not carry over into the game. Ted Lily continued his dominance of Boston completely shutting down Red Sox hitters. A Millar error shook up Arroyo and he never settled down. Toronto ran away with an early lead and Boston’s hitters never woke up. It was a long walk back to the hotel. But okay, so we didn’t get the series … there was always Wade pitching and Miller was just too good to get shelled right?

Thursday – Waiting outside the Rogers Center you could feel the urgency in RSN. Everyone struggling to formulate some plan to better our pitching, hitting, and fielding. Bullpen, Second Base (Bellhorn), First Base (Millar), and Shortstop (Renteria) were some of the popular topics. However, us die hards pointed out that over the past few games Renteria’s production was picking up and we shouldn’t be quick to go at him. Ironically, people didn’t mention players like Ortiz and Ramirez who have not been doing much for the Red Sox at all this year. The basic feeling was – how are we not winning… look at the line up. And when it comes down to it, that is the truth, this team is TOTALLY underachieving – and the conclusion was – all we can do is hope for it to improve.
We all know how the game turned out. Wade Miller wasn’t Wade Miller and the Red Sox bats never came around. The long faces on all Sox fans showed it. Perhaps the best thing for Sox fans was the LET’S GO RED SOX chant on the way out of the stadium. Even though disgruntled, every Red Sox fan still wore his or her hat proudly and continued to support their team.

A few things to note:
Negatives:
Damon, Ortiz, Manny 0-for Wednesday and Thursday
Varitek was not patient at the plate and paid for it in strike outs.
Wells didn’t cover the bag and needs to go back to Pitching 101
Arroyo has another shaky start.
Miller – who knows?
And finally – Oritz was safe on Monday.

Positives
Edgar went 6-12 and continued to look good defensively, making those who joined PETER (People for the Ethical Treatment of Edgar Renteria) look like they knew what they were talking about.Mueller toughed it out after getting hit hard in two games and continues to be both clutch and consistent – which is what we need more of and is what the Jays seem to have throughout their roster.