Inside the Boxscore 04/02

This is a new thing that I've always wanted to do because sometimes, a boxscore can tell a great story...hopefully this will become a recurring thing. But first of all, check out the official boxscore on MLB.COM.

-Reed Johnson had an 0 for 4 day at the plate but he did draw 20 pitches and walked once. He stole second after this walk and scored. Even with his speed, last season he only had 8 stolen bases
-Vernon Wells had a great at bat in the tenth, wearing down Rodney with a nine pitch sequence including 5 foul balls until Rodney relented and walked him. The reliever had to throw 31 pitches during that inning and Wells at-bat was a big part of that.
-He also stole a base, of which he only had 17 last year...The Jays as a team only had 65, not sure if this a new aggressive approach or just being able to read the pitcher/catcher combo. But Pudge is not an easy catcher to steal from, last season, he had an 0.21 Stolen Bases Allowed per 9 innings and caught 51% of all would-be base stealers.
-Gibbons showed that he would utilize his bench this season, using a pinch runner and pinch hitter and then making 2 defensive changes to make up for this and in effect used every player.
-As well as Doc pitched, the bullpen was fantastic, throwing 4 shut out innings including a great performance by Casey Janssen. The youngster did not allow a hit or walk in his 2.1 innings and threw 18 of 25 pitches for strikes. Ryan made the fans nervous in the ninth but two strikeouts helped him get the save.

What did you think, what were the stories that needed to be told? 1:05 start today, A.J. takes the mound.