Random Thoughs from Last Night’s Walk-Off Win

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There were a whole bunch of random thoughts I had during and following last night’s walk-off win, and rather than attempting to string them together into some nonsensical essay format, here are the myriad of thoughts in no particular order.

David Cooper could not have picked a better time to come up with his first home run of the season. Considering he entered the game as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning, I’d say that’s a huge game for Cooper.

The ball squirted out of his glove during a pickoff attempt in the seventh, but he made up for it with a stellar defensive play later in the game. After his game-tying home run, I remarked “enjoy it Cooper, you’ll probably be back in AAA sooner than later”.

However, the gentleman in front of me reiterated that the Blue Jays don’t really have any reason to send Cooper down to the minors at the moment. So unless they feel like bringing Jayson Nix back, David Cooper could be here for the long haul.

Initially, I was very weary of John Farrell sending Rajai Davis not once, but twice in the bottom of the 10th. Davis was erased on the basepaths previously in the game, and yet those stolen bases paid dividends.

John McDonald is the consummate human highlight reel. Not only due to his phenomenal catch in foul territory, but a diving stop in the seventh to steal away extra bases from Adrian Gonzalez and possibly a run.

Speaking of A-Gonz, he has 3 home runs in 2 career games at the Rogers Centre. He’ll likely be the bane of our existence and I do not look forward to seeing him play the Blue Jays 18 times a year for the next 7 years.

For those who are curious, David Ortiz’ home run off Kyle Drabek was a mammoth 418 foot shot to dead centre field.

Edwin Encarnacion racked up yet another error, which ties him for the lead league with 8. I don’t think the TV cameras caught this, but actually the inning prior EE also missed a catch while the infielders were going around the horn in between innings. That should have been a warning sign.

Yes, I brought a Red Sox fan to the game but luckily I did not regret the decision. The funny thing is he actually is a Tigers fan first and foremost, but the Red Sox are his second favourite team.

The dichotomy of sitting with an opposing fan is actually quite interesting and I recommend you try it sometime. Especially with so many lead changes, it was fascinating to see the highs and lows from both ends of the fan spectrum.

Lastly, I noticed the box score was quite lopsided in favour of the Red Sox (16 hits compared to the Blue Jays 9), yet Toronto squeaked out the win.

I don’t know if that says more about or more about Toronto’s shutdown bullpen and defense or Boston’s lack of capitalizing on opportunities,  but I’m willing to bet it’s more the latter.