Say what you will about the Oakland Athletics’ fateful game against the Kansas City Royals last year – it still wasn’t as embarrassing as what happened to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday afternoon. The Royals destroyed the Jays, crushing them in a 14-2 victory that saw R.A. Dickey chased from the game after just 1.2 innings. In fact, the game was so bad that former Oakland Athletics’ infielder Cliff Pennington pitched in the ninth inning, becoming the first full-time position player to pitch in the postseason.
If there was any doubt about how important good pitching is, the Blue Jays have certainly cleared that up – at least in terms of bullpen help.