Dave Purcey, un bon mec

Coming off his most dominant start of the year, Big Dave Purcey was pretty good but not great against the Pawtuckets in Syracuse this afternoon. As a Bosox affiliate, one assumes that the Patriots or whatever they actually call Pawtucket players have been drilled in the art of driving up pitch counts because it was mission accomplished in that department. One suspects that this sort of patient lineup will give the walk-prone Big D more trouble than most through his pro career.

It looked a little somethin' like this:

Syracuse
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Purcey (L, 3-2)	6.0	5	2	2	3	6	1	1.85
Nelson, B	0.1	1	2	2	1	0	0	5.40
Gosling	0.2	4	2	2	1	0	0	2.82
MacDonald	2.0	3	0	0	1	2	0	6.39

In taking the loss, Purcey allowed 5 hits, 3 walks and 2 Earned Runs over 6 innings. He threw 63 of 107 pitches for strikes, a definite step back from his last start, but did once again induce more groundouts (7) than flyouts (5), which is his key to succeeding as a major leaguer in a hitter friendly park like the Rogers Centre. He also uncorked a wild pitch and surrendered a solo home run to AAAAer Jeff Bailey.

The Syracuses ultimately lost this one, 6-2.

Jesse "the Body" Litsch seems to have taken that stern tongue-lashing from his skipper to heart and has put up back to back quality starts. His job is secure, which is good, but there's no reason not to root for for both young men because injury replacement starts are an inevitability and you will see Purcey in a Jays uni again at some point this summer.

Incidentally, what could happen with four ace starters, an acceptable 5th, a lockdown bullpen and a middling offense?

-- Johnny Was