Toronto Blue Jays Enhance Trade Value
Toronto’s Jose Molina, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay each hit home runs and proved once again that they are unquestionably the most prolific home run hitting team in Major League Baseball, enhancing the value of several players ahead of the approaching trade deadline.
Overbay's two-out, two-run, ninth-inning homer off Tigers All-Star reliever Jose Valverde gave the Jays a 5-3 victory in Detroit on Sunday, as the Jays win the first game of a doubleheader.
"Honestly, I was just trying to get something in the gap and let Vernon run," said Overbay of his opposite-field shot with Wells on first base. "He was throwing me a lot of splitties, and he hung one. I made him pay."
Tigers’ catcher Gerald Laird was impressed with Overbay’s performance. "Lyle's been hitting fastballs all series," said Laird. "When you get beat in those situations, you want to get beat with your best pitch. He just left one up. Overbay went opposite [field], which is something he hasn't done to us all year."
The homer was only the second allowed all season by Valverde, who is considered one of the games top pitchers. "He's one of the premier closers in the game," Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "He got it up, and it looked like the ball was carrying to left."
For Toronto, scoring runs via the long ball is nothing new. Overbay's homer was the 147th home of the season for Toronto. "We got back to the home run today," said Gaston. "That's what this team is about."
While Toronto has a healthy roster, there is concern about the number of innings being racked up by its young pitchers. Toronto’s coaching staff revealed that Marc Rzepczynski will make spot starts from time to time throughout the remainder of the season to allow the starters to rest in what is essentially a development season for the Jays with the team way out of contention for a playoff spot.
This is an afterthought for the Jays compared to what’s going on in Detroit. Just two games back of division-leading Chicago White Sox, the Tigers are desperate to fill voids left by recent injuries plaguing their team. With a lineup now dominated by unproven talent and newly acquired players, Detroit’s aspirations to win its first division title since 1987 are in serious jeopardy.
The middle of a pennant race is not when your team wants to test the depth of its minor league system.
"We don't expect anyone to feel sorry for us," said Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland, who lost third baseman Brandon Inge with a broken hand earlier in the week and reliever Joel Zumaya is out for the season with a fractured elbow. "You have to keep playing."
That is exactly what the Tigers continued to do and they were in terrific position to win the game, but failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity. Scott Sizemore and Jeff Larish, both called up this week to fill voids left by recent injuries plaguing the Tigers, had the chance to be heroes.
With the bases loaded and only one out, Toronto reliever Scott Downs entered and struck out Sizemore and Larish, ending any threat. Both were unable to come up with the clutch hit, but Leyland said he doesn't expect the young players to get the job done every time.
"You are expecting them to show what they got," Leyland said. "But you don't expect them to come through every time in big situations. Veterans don't even do that. I don't think it's fair to expect some young kid to do that all the time. You are hoping as they get better they go on and play and get some experience. But that takes time. You want to perform, but you can't ask those kids to come up from Toledo and carry you. That's not fair."
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