Snider continues to impress as Jays rout Twins 9-0 to sweep season series
Published Friday September 5th, 2008
TORONTO - Travis Snider has already impressed the Toronto Blue Jays with his poise at the plate and ability to handle the bat. On Thursday night he gave the team a first-hand glimpse of his raw power in what is becoming an increasingly impressive September audition.
The 14th overall pick in the 2006 draft crushed his first big-league homer, a massive blast to dead centre, to highlight a three-hit performance in a 9-0 romp over the playoff-contending Minnesota Twins.
"Man, he's something," said Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston. "He's very calm, he doesn't get excited, he handles himself up there well, even when he takes walks.
"I think we might have something here."
Led by Snider, at 20 the youngest player in the majors, and sophomore starter Jesse Litsch, who pitched his second career shutout for his 10th win, the Blue Jays (73-66) moved seven games over .500 for the first time since finishing the 2006 season at 87-75.
The win also gave them a 6-0 sweep of the season series with the Twins (77-63), who fell 1 1-2 games back of the idle Chicago White Sox for top spot in the AL Central after completing a gruelling 14-day, 15-game road trip at 5-9.
"We've got to get home and see if we can right the ship," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.
Brought up last Friday for a series at Yankee Stadium following the trade of Canadian slugger Matt Stairs to the Philadelphia Phillies, Snider was front and centre in the final two games with the Twins, and got plenty of love from the crowd of 25,128.
He picked up three hits in the 5-4, 11-inning win Wednesday, playing a catalyst's role in the game-tying rally in the ninth and in the winning rally in the 11th.
In the finale, his solo shot off Kevin Slowey (11-9) in the fifth gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead (he became the fourth-youngest Blue Jay to ever homer) and his two-out RBI single in the sixth tacked on more insurance.
"Pretty excited, I was trying not to sprint, it was tough for me," Snider said of his trip around the bases. "It was a good moment to take it all in as you're travelling around the bases getting a good welcome from the home crowd."
While September stats are sometimes viewed as fool's gold since they can be amassed against inferior or unmotivated competition, and his 7-for-15 run in four big-league games is far too small a sample size to draw any conclusions from, Snider is certainly giving team officials lots to think about.
"It's just the way he's done it," said Gaston. "You put a kid in the game in New York and if that's not the big-leagues, there's no big-leagues. He carries himself well there and continues to do it well here with a contending team. It's the confidence he has in himself, which is half the battle.
"There's a lot of guys who should have been in the big-leagues but they just couldn't handle the pressure. This kid seems to handle the pressure well."
The Blue Jays are gauging his ability to contribute in 2009 over the remainder of the season to determine whether they need to upgrade at DH or not, but Snider is already winning over his teammates.
"When he gets in the box you can see that he's in there to do some damage," centre-fielder Vernon Wells said before the game. "It's been great watching him so far. When he takes pitches, he's balanced, when he takes his swings, he's balanced.
"And there's some authority when that bat goes through the zone."
Wells did some damage of his own Thursday, opening the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first and ripping a solo blast to left for a 4-0 lead in the seventh. A two-run double by Joe Inglett, a two-run single by Alex Rios and an RBI double by Adam Lind in the eighth broke things wide open.
That was plenty for Litsch (10-8), who allowed only four hits and two walks. He's now allowed just three earned runs in 28 2-3 innings since returning from triple-A Syracuse last month.
"I'm up here throwing four-seamers now, that's what I went down there to work on," said Litsch. "Hitting spots with my two-seamer was really key tonight. ... I feel like I'm pounding the zone a lot more now."
Notes: Blue Jays reliever Jeremy Accardo recently visited with Dr. Lewis Yocum and was told he wouldn't need surgery on his strained right forearm. Accardo has been out since May 10 and is done for the season. ... John McDonald didn't start at shortstop for a second straight night as manager Cito Gaston looked for more offence with Joe Inglett and Marco Scutaro up the middle. Gaston said McDonald would start Friday against Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays are 27-18 when he starts. ... Fans shouted "replay" when Rod Barajas sent a ball a few feet to the wrong side of the foul pole in left in the sixth. It wasn't needed, as the ball was clearly foul. ... Danny Ainge is the youngest Blue Jay to ever homer, doing at 20 years, 79 days on June 2, 1979. Snider's homer came at 20 years, 215 days.
More Sports
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
