I'm spending a week in Canada before returning to Singapore and the Blue Jays thoughtfully scheduled a home series against Kansas City, so I went to the first two games at Rogers Centre (the big white spot in the aerial shot below, taken during my flight from Atlanta).
On Monday, Ricky Romero was torched to the tune of eight earned runs as KC won 11-3. No pictures from this nightmare. Despite being a holiday Monday, only 17,127 showed up. The good news with such a poor crowd is that you can buy an upper deck ticket and then sit in the lower deck without being hassled.
On Tuesday, the team played a truly enjoyable baseball game. After falling behind 3-0, the Jays fought back by sending 11 batters to the plate in the 4th. Colby Rasmus' bunt single and a 3-run jack from Adam Lind were the highlights as Toronto took a 6-3 lead.
Starter Brett Cecil and three relievers kept KC off the board the rest of the way, with Casey Janssen (above being congratulated by Jeff Mathis) getting his 10th save. With the win, the Jays hit the halfway mark of the season at 41-40.
Yunel Escobar singles
For this game, my friend Chien was visiting from Beijing and he brought his young son to his first ballgame. We were able to procure good seats from a friendly scalper, just eight rows up from first base and cheaper than the box office. With only 15,516 on hand, the place was deadly quiet at times. To compare, the AAA Buffalo Bisons had 414 more fans for their Independence Eve game. The Jays need to find ways to get more fans into the ballpark for these less popular opponents.
Yuniesky Betancourt returns to the dugout
The roof was closed when the game began as there was a threat of rain, but when the skies cleared, the roof was opened (below). Interestingly, it was during the 4th inning and the Jays responded with their six-spot once they had some natural light to work with.
Stupid Stats
In the two summer trips this year, I saw the Jays 11 times, 5 in Toronto and 6 on the road. They went 3-2 at home and 3-3 as visitors. In those 11 games, they committed only 2 errors and generally played very good defense. They also have a great offense but the injuries to their rotation have doomed them this season, I fear. Great fun to watch though and it will be enjoyable to see them develop over the next few years.
Next Up
I'll be returning to Toronto this weekend, first for the Argos home opener on Saturday and then the Honda Indy on Sunday. Check back for updates next week.
Best,
Sean
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