We Were Due...

For a shit-kicking. David Purcey vs. Andy Pettitte was really a no-contest from the get go. Purcey struggled, Pettitte was effective, and the Jays bats were eerily silent yet again.

For the Yankees, there were positives all around. They stroked 10 hits, including a two-run bomb from Derek Jeter, Pettitte was lights out, and Johnny Damon didn't drop a fly ball all night.

I was hoping to see Purcey step up and deliver against a lineup the likes of New York's, but he was brutal, falling behind most of the hitters he faced in his four innings of work. You can't do that up here in the big leagues, especially against the Yankees. They'll burn you everytime, those bastards.

The esteemed Robert MacLeod of The Globe and Mail completely stole my thunder and wrote the post I was thinking about writing, over at Globe on Baseball. With Purcey and Jesse Litsch manning the back end of the Blue Jays rotation, it's going to take a Festivus miracle for the Jays to get within striking distance of the wild card. The injury to Dustin McGowan really, really fucks things up.

Doc Halladay takes the ball in tonight's rubber match. There's no other guy I want on the mound in what is pretty much a must-win game.

I wonder, if the Jays can somehow close the gap to within five games, might we see a four-man rotation of Doc, A.J. Burnett, Shaun Marcum, and Litsch? A.J.'s only a Blue Jay for 40 odd more days, why not send him out there every four days.

Yesterday's silver lining? The Baltimore Orioles did us a solid and finally beat the Red Sox. We're still 7.5 games back.

Thank You Johnny Damon

I would like to take this opportunity to thank New York Yankees douchebag outfielder Johnny Damon for his shocking inability to catch routine fly balls at the Major League level.

Thank you, Johnny Damon. Thank you for sucking so incredibly.

Damon made sure A.J. Burnett got his 16th win last night. I was at the ball game and, trust me, Burnett deserved it. It might have been his finest performance in a Blue Jays uniform; five hits scattered over eight strong innings, one walk, and 13 punch outs. A.J. struck out Damon, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi a combined 10 times. That's domination, folks, plain and simple.

Burnett's now third in all of baseball in wins and strikeouts. He could win 20 games and, boy, wouldn't that be something? It's a damn shame every year can't be a contract year.

Props out to Adam Lind for his game-tying home run in the 7th inning off Yankees starter Darrel Rasner, who was bitch slapping the Jays up until that point. For the record, I prophetically called the Lind home run. And I've got a witness. It might have been the beer talking but, hey, you can call me Navstradamus from here on out.

Do you want to know how sick Adam Lind is? No, do you really want to know? Check this out, jack, from the charming fellas over at The Southpaw.

Props out to Lyle Overbay and B.J. Ryan as well. Overbay made a helluva play on A-Rod in the 9th, gunning him down at second as he tried to stretch a bloop single into a double. Overbay's been a disappointment at the plate (who hasn't?), but I've still got man-love for Lyle. And The Beej picked up his 24th save on the year, getting A-Rod, Giambi and Xavier Nady in the 9th.

I figured the Jays would struggle to put runs on the board last night, coming off that ridiculous 15-run explosion at Fenway Park on Sunday, and they did. But thanks to Damon's misadventures out in centre field, we got the 2-1 win, and that's all that matters.

The series, and one huge week of baseball, continues tonight. Make me proud, David Purcey.