The Blue Jays dusted the Astros for the second consecutive afternoon in Dunedin this afternoon, 5 – 2, as Dustin McGowan made his first start of the spring.
Hitting an impressive 94 mph on some pitches, McGowan went his scheduled two innings throwing 24 pitches with 15 for strikes. He gave up one hit, struck out one and didn’t walk any batters. A promising outing for the right-hander that has spent the better part of the last four seasons rehabbing from various injuries and surgeries.
It was a nice start to his Grapefruit League as he’s expected to compete for the fifth starters spot with a host of other candidates including Kyle Drabek and Aaron Laffey, who threw 3 shutout innings himself this afternoon, earning the win.
In the batters box, the Blue Jays hit 3 home runs with José Bautista providing two of them ( 2 – 3, 3 RBI) and Travis Snider showing he might be able to hit left-handers afterall, with one as well. In a post-game interview with Mike Wilner of the FAN 590, Snider indicated he has a new approach to lefties, but wouldn’t divulge what it is. He leads the Jays this spring with 3 homeruns and 6 RBIs.
Despite the impressive display of power by the Jays outfield today, Dustin McGowan is certainly the story this aft. Written off by many people, McGowan has started to change the talk about him from “Is he healthy?” to “Man, does he have some filthy shit”. Keep it goin Dusty.
In other news, Kelly Johnson continues to stink at the plate and in the field with a failure to make an easy play. Even Alan Ashby, on the FAN broadcast said “If you’re a major league second baseman, you have to make that play”.
The Blue Jays (SS) take on the Twins tomorrow in Port Lucie with Ricky Romero taking the hill.
