A Neat Way to Win: Jays top Yankees in Extras.


It was a pitcher's duel, with one extra bomb courtesy of Jose Bautista. Josh Donaldson and Mark Texeira both hit their 30th homers of the season early (in the first and second innings, respectively.)

I didn't exactly agree that Texeira's actually made it over the fence, as that fan looked to be hanging over the fence and interfering with Ben Revere. Without the fan there, I think it might've bounced on the ledge or at the top of the wall.


"It was hard to see. We don't get a ton of angles, but I thought it was a home run," Joe Girardi said. "You're never sure because it wasn't called a home run on the field."

It was hit by a Yankee in Yankee Stadium, Joe. It's a homer. I don't know if the top of the wall is a homer in Yankee Stadium, but it was definitely vague. And if the New York command central where they look at the footage requires definitive proof to overturn a call on the field, I'm not sure how this qualifies. But questionable calls are to be expected in this environment and a team just needs to deal with them.

The game also featured some....interesting.... strike calls at home plate. One to Josh Donaldson was particularly ridiculous:
I mean, wow. 2% of pitches in that location are called strikes. A whole 2%.  Jose Bautista actually came in to pull an outraged Donaldson away, which is hilarious given how people see Bautista and umpires.  The zone also made Gibby do this:

And then Bautista hit a delightful bomb into the left field stands. And all was right in the world.

In case you were wondering, they still do the handshakes.

Also, I enjoy Josh Donaldson screaming in his face in the best possible way.

"He just made a mistake with the fastball," Bautista said. "I felt like it was right down the middle in a 1-2 count. I'm looking for an extra-base hit, I'm not trying to poke a single to the right side in that situation. I need to get on second, there's already one out, trying to get in scoring position as soon as possible."

RA Dickey continued the trend of awesomeness he's had going since June. Dickey had his sixth straight start of allowing two or fewer runs. And he seemed philosophical about not getting the win:

"I think it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit. It’s a neat way to win a ballgame tonight."

Neat.


Amazing photo by Julie Jacobson from the AP.