Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the Texas Rangers follows through on the game-winning hit against the Toronto Blue Jays in the ninth inning of their MLB American League baseball game in Arlington, Tex.TIM SHARP/The Associated Press
All spring long, Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston has preached that if the starting staff were able to pitch deep into games and then turn things over to the bullpen with a lead, his team would do okay.
That's the way the script played out for Toronto over the first 8-1/2 innings in the Blue Jays' Major League Baseball regular season opener Monday afternoon against the Texas Rangers.
Toronto starting pitcher Shaun Marcum, showing absolutely no rust in returning to action for the first time since late in the 2008 MLB season, was razor-sharp, carting a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Vladimir Guerrero sliced a line drive into right field to break up that drama.
Then it was over to newly crowned closer Jason Frasor to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning after a perfect eighth by reliever Scott Downs that would have allowed the Blue Jays to roll into the 2010 season on a high note.
Instead, it all turned sour as Frasor coughed up two runs off four hits, including a walk-off bases-loaded game-winning single to right-centre by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that provided Texas with a dramatic 5-4 victory before a delighted sellout gathering of 50,299 fans at Rangers Ballpark.
"What a way to start the season," Gaston remarked after the game. "You start it almost with a no-hitter and it leads to a loss. Marcum did everything he could out there."
It was a game that the Blue Jays probably deserved to win, out-hitting the Rangers 8-6 with Vernon Wells and Adam Lind each stroking home runs to account for all of the Toronto scoring.
Wells went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in three of the Toronto runs, while Lind was a perfect 3-for-3 and scored twice.
"I feel bad for Shaun because, what a performance," said a dejected Frasor, who was credited with the loss. "Downs pitched a perfect eighth inning. And it would be nice to get that W to start off at 1-0, but it wasn't to be."
This is the 34th season in the Major League history of the Blue Jays and they enter the year with plenty of trepidation, minus their star pitcher, Roy Halladay, who was traded in the off-season as Toronto embarked on a major rebuilding program.
A difficult year is anticipated by most, and a large inspirational sign that was posted in the visitors' clubhouse seemed to echo that notion: "The Road to Success Is Always Under Construction" read the message.
An uplifting sign was the performance of Marcum, 28, who is in the unlikely role of having to supplant Halladay as the Toronto ace.
Nobody knew what to expect from him in his first Major League appearance since Sept. 16, 2008, so his outing was especially gratifying in spite of the loss.
"It was a lot of fun," Marcum said. "I never expected that. I don't think anyone ever expects to have a no-hitter going. All in all, it felt good."
Marcum, his precise changeup causing the Texans fits, allowed no hits and only two baserunners through the first six innings as the Jays constructed a 3-0 lead.
"When he's keeping the ball down, throwing his changeup at will, just making guys look silly … that's where he's going to live," Wells said of watching Marcum work.
Marcum started the seventh by walking Josh Hamilton before Guerrero broke up the no-hit bid with a single to right field.
Nelson Cruz then followed with a three-run home run - off a pitch that Marcum claimed would have been called a ball - to right field that tied the game.
The Blue Jays regained a 4-3 lead in the eighth when Wells singled home Jose Bautista with the bases loaded.
But Frasor couldn't save the day, as a Nelson Cruz double scored Michael Young from third with the tying run.
And with one out, the bases loaded and the Blue Jays defence drawn in to try to prevent the go-ahead run, it was easy pickings for Saltalamacchia to take a Frasor offering to right-centre to score the winning run.