Jays Finish Sweep Of Orioles

A good sign for the Blue Jays today, as they finished the sweep in their first division series. OK, let's temper the enthusiasm a bit. It was the Orioles, not the Sox, Yankees or even the Rays. But still, Baltimore has been largely picked to finish ahead of Toronto this year, so it's a positive for the team that they have gotten such a good start. 5-1 now.

Marcum pitched well enough, getting a quality start despite giving up two runs in the first inning. The eight hits he gave up meant he was pitching from the stretch much of the day. But he handled it well, and shut down the scoring for the rest of his six innings.

Alex Gonzalez grabbed a run back for the Jays with a solo home run in the fourth, and managed to hit another as part of a three-run eighth. Who would have thought that Gonzalez would have four home runs to his credit after only six games? Jose Bautista hit a two run shot just before Gonzalez at bat, driving in John McDonald, who reached on a Miguel Tejada error. The scoring was completed in the ninth with a solo homer from Edwin Encarnacion. Late power really was the factor in this one.

It may have come as a surprise that Cito Gaston elected to go with Kevin Gregg for the save today, leaving "regular closer" Jason Frasor on the bench. This seemed strange to me, at first, until I realized that all five Blue Jays wins thus far have been saved, and even the short inning guys need some rest. It's nice to have options in the bullpen.

Well done to the Blue Jays over the first six games of the season. Let's keep it up!