Toronto-Tampa Bay: Shaun Marcum Comes Up Big Against the Rays

The Toronto Blue Jays received yet another outstanding performance from their starting pitcher and didn’t miss a beat despite losing two shortstops to injuries a night earlier, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 on Wednesday night.

It was Toronto’s sixth win in seven games.

The Jays, who lost both David Eckstein (hip flexor) and John McDonald (ankle) to injuries one night earlier, received a 3-for-4 night from replacement Marco Scutaro.

Scutaro singled home Aaron Hill in the seventh to break up a scoreless game, and the Jays never looked back.

But the story of the night was starter Shaun Marcum (4-2), who brought a one-hitter into the ninth and came within one out of pitching his first major league complete game and shutout.

Marcum, who retired the first two batters in the ninth, looked poised to finish it off, but then the righty surrendered three straight hits, capped by B.J. Upton’s two-run double. Scott Downs relieved Marcum and fanned Carlos Pena for the game’s final out.

The only hit off Marcum prior to the ninth came off the bat of Dioner Navarro, who singled in the third inning but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

For a while, it seemed as though the Blue Jays would waste yet another strong outing from their starter, as the game went into bottom of the seventh still tied 0-0.

Rays starter Matt Garza had a four-hit shutout going into the inning and was charged with a run in his 6.2 innings pitched, but still took the loss as Marcum just pitched better.

Before Wednesday, the Blue Jays had gone just 3-3 in Marcum’s six starts this season despite the fact the right-hander had five quality starts during that span and a 2.70 ERA.

Marcum’s ERA dropped to 2.59, the best amongst Blue Jays starters. He is also tied with Jesse Litsch for the team high with four victories.

Still, a 1-0 lead after seven was a very slim margin, but the Jays hitters came through again an inning later.

Toronto broke it open with a five-run eighth, including a two-run homer from Scott Rolen and another RBI hit from Scutaro.

In other action around the majors, it was the tale of two pitchers—Cliff Lee remaining undefeated and Barry Zito still winless.

Lee outpitched the Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 3-0 win at Yankee Stadium.

Lee amazingly has a 0.81 ERA this season, the lowest in the big leagues, and is now 6-0. It has been a great comeback story for the Cleveland right-hander so far this year, as Lee struggled last year (5-8, 6.29) and was left off the Indians’ postseason roster.

Wang dropped to 6-1 for the Yanks.

New York was back to its losing ways; after a sweep by the Detroit Tigers at home, the Yanks seemingly broke out of their slump by routing the Seattle Mariners 5-1, 6-1, and 8-2 during the weekend. However, the Yanks have now lost two straight to Cleveland.

For the Yanks, the last two defeats have come against their best—super reliever Joba Chamberlain gave up a three-run shot to David Dellucci with New York just four outs away from victory on Tuesday, and Wang—their best starter—couldn’t match Lee on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Giants’ Zito was given another shot in the starting rotation. Though Zito pitched his best game of the year, it still wasn’t enough thanks to San Francisco’s weak offense.

The Giants lost 3-1, with Zito allowing Xavier Nady’s two-run homer in the fourth and nothing else before being removed for a pinch-hitter in the sixth.

Zito is now 0-7 in seven starts.

You just have to wonder: would the unsigned Barry Bonds make a difference for either the Yanks or Giants?