Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Shaun Marcum throws to the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of their interleague MLB baseball game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 26, 2010. REUTERS/Tim ShafferTIM SHAFFER/Reuters
Cito Gaston is right: there's no point in attempting to assess the effectiveness of his lineup shift after just three games.
But just a few hours after seeing Roy Halladay shackle the home run happy Toronto Blue Jays in a park that plays into the hands of a power-hitting team, the fact that Aaron Hill had one of three home runs in a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies was at least worth mulling over.
Perhaps it was the proximity to such a celebrated part of the Blue Jays past, but this three-game series that winds up Sunday seems to have turned into a type of touchstone for the team. Shaun Marcum, Halladay's replacement as No. 1 starter logistically if not yet emotionally, raised his record to 7-1 in nine starts following Blue Jays losses and Hill, who along with Adam Lind and Vernon Wells will be the offensive cornerstones of the future, sandwiched a solo home run around two-run shots by John Buck and Alex Gonzalez.
Hill was moved from second to sixth in the order before Thursday's 5-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Lind went from third to fifth. "I was just trying to take a little heat off Hill," said Gaston,the Blue Jays manager. Hmm. Asked if he had anything to do with the decision, Hill smiled Saturday and said: "Other than just playing poorly? No. Lindy and I kind of forced Cito's hand. He's not one to change lineups any way. We told him it doesn't take any pressure off … we're still putting pressure on ourselves."
So let's see what Sunday afternoon brings, when the rubber match of the three-game series will see 47-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer (8-6, 4.43) starting against Brett Cecil (7-4, 4.06.)
The site of the series was shifted from the Rogers Centre to Philadelphia because of security concerns arising from the G-20 summit, and the Blue Jays players all seemed aware of the unrest in their hometown.
Jesse Litsch scrolled through newspaper websites on his I-Pad. "They're tearing up our home," Gaston said, the disappointment evident in his voice.
Gaston tore up his lineup Thursday, leaving cleanup hitter Vernon Wells and lead-off hitter Fred Lewis the only players unaffected by moves involving two-thirds of the order. Lind is 2-for-12 with a homer since then. Hill has a double in addition to his homer and has three hits in 11 at bats and this is a move that will be watched because there are those in the industry who believe Hill has the power to be a middle of the order hitter.
"Where I hit doesn't change the way I approach it," said Hill, who is hitting .191 and hasn't been over .200 since May 6. "I get in the box and I swing the bat. That's the way I've always been, and I think Cito knows that.
" So until things start going a little better, I'll stay down there."
Marcum (7-3) threw 100 pitches over six innings of heat and humidity and, 66 for strikes. He struck out six - including Jayson Worth on three occasions. His first strikeout of Werth came with runners on first and second and two out in the first. His second came after Ryan Howard's fifth homer in 10 games.
"Doc (Halladay) told me my first game back here: 'This guy is a great kid to watch," said Gaston. "He just kept them off-balance."
Marcum's approach was surgical: expand the plate with sliders and cutters and make sure his change-up was down in the zone. Marcum joked about his fastball, calling it a "warmer" instead of a "heater." But when his change-up is as effective as it was Saturday, the actual speed of his fastball is irrelevant.
"They're a great lineup, especially in this park, and you have to keep the ball down," said Marcum, who is 6-1 (3.24) in 10 interleague games and is 3-0 in interleague games this season. "Not only are they an American League lineup with power and stuff but they have a lot of guys who can run very well. It's probably one of the better lineups we've seen all year.
"Any batter in that lineup can hit the ball out of the park,' Marcum said, continuing. "The main thing was to keep them off base and then do some damage control when they got on, and we were able to do that."
Phillies starter Cole Hamels (6-6) walked the first two batters, earning an early visit from pitching coach Rich Dubee. The five earned runs he allowed snapped a career-high streak of nine games of allowing three earned runs or less.
"He actually pitched," Hill said of Hamels, who gave up seven hits while walking three and striking out three. "It was just two change-ups he left up. Even Buck's was down and Buck just put a good swing on it. Even the pitch to Gonzo wasn't bad, a little cutter in. We were just fortunate to get those runs early and let Marcum do what he's been doing."