Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Ervin Santana works against Toronto Blue Jays during second inning AL action in Toronto on Sunday April 18 2010.CHRIS YOUNG/The Canadian Press
Don't say you weren't warned.
That, in effect, was what Cito Gaston said yesterday after watching his grip-and-rip Toronto Blue Jays get swept by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which rode Ervin Santana's sixth career complete game for a 3-1 win and a sweep of their three-game series.
Adam Lind's solo home run with two out in the ninth was one of only four hits given up by Santana (1-2) in front of a crowd of 14,246 at a closed Rogers Centre.
Coming into the game, the Blue Jays were first in the American League in home runs and total bases, tied for second in extra-base hits, fifth in slugging percentage - and 11th in batting average. They also had the most strikeouts in the Majors (103.)
"It's the kind of team I told you we had in spring training," Gaston said, after his club's record fell to 7-6. "We have some guys who are going to hit 20 or 25 home runs, and we're pretty much going to have to live on that. So, that's the way it's going to be - pretty much the team you have out there."
The Blue Jays burned a strong outing from Ricky Romero, who scattered five hits in eight innings and gave up a run on Hideki Matsui's double, when a fastball away ran instead down the middle of the plate. That scored Erick Aybar, who doubled to lead off the sixth. Romero looked as if he'd get out of the inning when Howie Kendrick popped up his bunt attempt and Bobby Abreu grounded out, but Matsui cashed in the run.
Poor defence did in the Blue Jays in the ninth as the Angels added two more runs off Scott Downs. Kendry Morales's bouncer skipped through the legs of Lyle Overbay at first base to bring in pinch-runner Mike Napoli (who'd come on after Matsui's second double) and right-fielder Travis Snider compounded the error by over-throwing the cut-off man, allowing Morales to take second. Morales scored on Jeff Mathis's double. Overbay, who said the resulting booing was "nothing new, it's been happening all year," claimed that he glanced up at Napoli going to third base and that he should have played the ball on the backhand.
It was more than enough against the Blue Jays, who are without regulars Edwin Encarnacion and Aaron Hill - the latter of whom is missed terribly in this lineup.
"It wasn't like we were getting ourselves out," said Lind, who also had a fourth-inning single. "There was no reason for us to go up there taking. He was throwing first-pitch strikes."
Santana, who carried an earned-run average of 6.94 into the game, shrugged off any questions about whether he was surprised to toss a complete game against a team that owns him. Not the way it approached him yesterday.
"I had less pitches because they swing at everything," said Santana, who threw 74 pitches through seven innings and needed just 106 pitches in total. "So I knew I had something left at the end of the game."
Romero (1-1) fired his third quality start of the season, and has allowed just 11 hits in 23 innings this season, for an opponents' average of .143. He struck out six and walked two and was also charged with two more wild pitches, giving him five for the season. The Blue Jays catchers - John Buck and Jose Molina - have not had good starts defensively but Gaston said he isn't worried. "I'd rather have Ricky miss down than leave pitches up," he said.
Asked if series like this were part of the development curve, Gaston paused.
"You never want to go out and expect that," said Gaston. "You want to go out there and try to win every ballgame you can. And in the end, if there's something learned that day, then that's development. If you lose and there's nothing learned that day? That's not development.
"When you're talking about Romero and Snider? Yeah, development's good. But some of these other guys have been in the Majors already."