Sunday, August 14, 2011

CS Fullerton Alum Ricky Romero Quiets Angels

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays delivered a healthy dose of redemption to Jered Weaver on Saturday afternoon.

The Angels right-hander had one of the best starts of his career against Toronto earlier this season, when he struck out a personal-best 15 batters.

That wasn't the case on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre as Adam Lind hit his second grand slam of the season, and the Blue Jays chased Weaver after only 4 2/3 innings of an 11-2 victory over the Angels.

"I just got a pitch over the middle of the plate and finally hit it," said Lind, who went 1-for-4 with five RBIs. "He has been, I think we all know, one of the best pitchers in the big leagues this season.

"He got us in Anaheim, but that's how it goes. We got him today."

Weaver entered the game having recorded a quality start in a club-record 15 consecutive outings. He had allowed just 10 earned runs in his past 10 starts and had won eight of his past nine.

None of that seemed to matter against the Blue Jays. Toronto opened scoring in the first inning on a two-run homer by Edwin Encarnacion. The shot to left field was Encarnacion's 11th of the season and extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

The Blue Jays added one more in the second inning before really breaking things open in the fifth. Weaver retired two of the first three batters he faced, then issued a pair of walks to set the table for Lind.

Toronto's designated hitter responded by hitting a first-pitch changeup over the wall in right field. Lind's home run was No. 100 in his career and his first since July 26 against the Orioles.

Lind is coming off a month in which he hit .210, but he appears to be starting to turn things around. The 28-year-old now has three extra-base hits in his past four games.

"The way I had been feeling, I honestly thought it would never happen," Lind said of his 100th homer. "But I just got a pitch, was aggressive with it, and hit a granny."

Mark Teahen followed two batters later with a solo shot to extend Toronto's lead to 8-1. Weaver, who was coming off a six-game suspension for throwing at Detroit's Alex Avila, was pulled after tying a career high with eight earned runs on eight hits and two walks.

Weaver's 4 2/3 innings marked the first time in 32 outings he didn't pitch at least six innings. It was also the first time this year that the 28-year-old surrendered more than four runs in a game. Weaver dropped to 7-2 with a 3.70 ERA in his career against the Blue Jays.

"A little rusty," Weaver said. "You run into a team like that, and the slider's backing up, and the curveball isn't doing much, and the fastball is up, that stuff is going to happen.

"The command wasn't there, everything was kind of flat, nothing was really sharp. Usually, I have a pitch I can go to, to get me out of situations, and I really didn't have that today."

Left-hander Ricky Romero out of Cal State Fullerton continued his recent string of impressive outings. The reigning American League Player of the Week allowed just one run in seven innings against Los Angeles.

Romero's lone blemish occurred during the fifth inning, when he surrendered a solo home run to infielder Alberto Callaspo. Romero has now allowed just four earned runs in his past four outings, and all four have come on solo home runs.

The Cal State Fullerton Alumni has struck out 24 while walking nine and allowing just 11 hits in that span of 31 1/3 innings. Romero has won four consecutive starts for the second time in his career -- the previous occurred from June 21 to July 6, 2009.

"Just being consistent, throwing strikes, getting quick outs and getting deep into games," Romero said of his recent success. "There's really no other formula.

"I'm kind of just going out there and competing. I think the key for me every time I go deep into games is strike one. That's big with me, and when I do that, I feel like I'm in control."

Encarnacion, Lind and catcher J.P. Arencibia each added an RBI in the sixth inning, and all nine starters recorded at least one hit during the game.

What made the victory impressive to manager John Farrell was his club's ability to bounce back from Friday night, when it scored just one run on seven hits against right-hander Ervin Santana.

"I think it showed a lot with us coming out and swinging the bat the way we did," said Farrell, whose club scored its most runs since July 20 at Seattle. "Right from the get-go, we felt like this was going to be a low-run game, maybe take some opportunities to create some runs, create some opportunities.

"Eddie kinds of jumps up quickly and drives one out of the ballpark. Had a way of setting a tone for the rest of the day."

By Gregor Chisholm
Mr. Chisholm is a reporter for MLB.com.


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