This team is certainly up and down and all over the place so far this season. We win the first two games big, then we lose the second two, and we bounce back with a big 5 home run filled drubbing of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Mark Clark took the mound for the first time since last June, and to be honest, after the first two innings, I didn’t feel he was a whole lot different. Sure, he pitched fairly well during spring, but Florida’s games are a lot different than the ones that count. After two innings, we were down 4-0 (although one of the runs was unearned). However, that was it for the Blue Jays (except a solo HR by them in the 9th). From this point on it was all Texas.
What was interesting about this game if you check the line score, is that someone scored in all nine innings. The Jays scored in innings 1 & 2, and we scored in innings 3 through 8, and Toronto did in the 9th. However, we belted a total of five home runs, led by Royce Clayton, who had his first ever two home run game ever. Just about every one of our runs came from the long ball – was nice to see that, although I would not like to have to rely on it, as I can’t believe we can sustain that over the course of a whole season.
Mark Clark, after the first two innings, settled in, and became the pitcher he was supposed to be when we first obtained him. He looked good, and was pulled probably out of concern based on his past – he didn’t look thrilled sitting in the dugout after being pulled. However, he got a win for the first time in a long time, and he’s got to feel happy about that.