I took the Jays/Phillies game to go under 9 runs Tuesday night thinking that Cole Hamels was on the mound and the Jays have been hitting like they’ve traded their bats for purses lately.
I also liked the fact that Ricky Romero was being slightly underestimated by oddsmakers here as a young arm that has been a pleasant surprise for the Bee-Jays as their rotation continues to crumble to injuries.
But there was another factor I failed to consider that also helped my bet. His name is Ricky Romero.
Not the guy on the mound. The guy at the plate.
Watching him bat with runners on the corners in the fourth inning with one out, the Jays up 2-1, was like watching a little kid trying to jump off the diving board for the first time.
He was lining up to bunt for so long before Hamels delivered that I can’t believe the Phillies’ southpaw didn’t crack up laughing and call for time.
On his second strike, he sort of whiffed on a bunt that made his bat look like he was holding a piece of road kill.
“That was new,” said the Rogers Sportsnet color guy. (I think it was Pat Tabler doing the game.)
Romero went down on strikes after following up that embarrassment with the ugliest hack I’ve seen all season. Surely this guy has had to hit at some point in his life on his way to the majors. Right?
He finished the game with three strikeouts and a pop up in the eight inning with two runners on and one out. (Why Cito Gaston didn't pinch hit for him in the eighth, I'll never know because he didn't pitch in the bottom of the inning.) In total, he left eight runners on base in the game.
It reminded me just how big the advantage can be for NL clubs when they’re at home during interleague play. Not to mention for the under.
I had to lay a bit of juice (-120) at Betjamaica.com to get the under on this one, but after watching Romero at the plate I liked my bet, even though Toronto scored five runs in the 10th innning to spoil it for me.
The Jays ended up winning 8-3 as +175 underdogs (at BetJam).