Blue Moon Rising: Toronto Blue Jays (MLB '11)

[BlueNGold]

Quote: Originally Posted by Avsfan192

WOW. great work with all the (depth)charts, looks very professional. Looking great so far

Yeah, looks great.

Can't wait to see this progress.

[theaub]

The Jays IRL look a lot better than the video game ones lol...also my depth charts sort of got screwed up by the stupid April Fools Day thing which appears to still be going (I hate that cat).

Anyhow, exams for the next week and a half or so are going to slow this down a bit, but hopefully I can stay on track with the real life Jays and then come mid-April start to go through a few series per week.

[jeremym480]

Very nice work so far. I wish I had the time to do all of this but, I don't so I'll just live vicariously through you.

[theaub]

Haha mildly bad news...went to load the file and its corrupted! Thankfully we're only one series in, so let's all just imagine that last post never happened.

[theaub]

bluejays.com l 4/3/2011

Series Recap: Twins @ Blue Jays
Toronto starts off year by taking two from Twinkies

Game 1

MIN at TOR - Rogers Centre
Apr 1, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota Twins (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	10	0
Toronto Blue Jays (0-0)	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	X	3	7	1
W: Ricky Romero (1-0) L: Carl Pavano (0-1) S: Jon Rauch (1)
HR: J.P. Arencibia (1)
POTG: Ricky Romero: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 K, 2 BB

J.P. Arencibia hit a home run in his first at bat and added a RBI single in the 7th inning as Toronto cruised to a 3-1 opening day victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Ricky Romero started off the season on a high note, throwing 6.1 innings of shutout ball as he was aided by Arencibia's second inning homer and a RBI hit from Edwin Encarnacion in the third. Arencibia added the insurance with a single to right field in the 7th that scored Encarnacion.

Jon Rauch came on for the save in the 9th, but ran into trouble. Jason Kubel homered, and Denard Span singled to bring Delmon Young to the plate with two outs as the tying run. But the Twins left fielder hit a weak grounder to second to secure the win for the Blue Jays,

Carl Pavano started for the Twins, giving up two runs in six innings to become the hard luck loser. Minnesota outhit the Blue Jays 10-7, but stranded 10 baserunners, including not being able to score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 5th, when Romero struck out Joe Mauer and induced Justin Morneau into a double play grounder.

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Game 2

MIN at TOR - Rogers Centre
Apr 2, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota Twins (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	4	9	0
Toronto Blue Jays (1-0)	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
W: Francisco Liriano (1-0) L: David Purcey (0-1) S: Joe Nathan (1)
HR: Delmon Young (1), Jose Bautista (1), Edwin Encarnacion (1)
POTG: Jose Bautista: 2-4, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB

Delmon Young's two run homer off David Purcey in the 8th inning was the difference as Minnesota evened their series against Toronto with a 4-3 win.

The Blue Jays power game showed up, as 2010 homer king Jose Bautista opened the scoring in the first inning with a mammoth blast off the facing of the third deck in left field. Bautista scored again in the third off an Adam Lind double, and Edwin Encarnacion homered in the fourth to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead.

However, despite a workmanlike start from Kyle Drabek, who gave up two runs in 6.2 innings, the Twins scrapped back to draw within one on a Justin Morneau single in the seventh, and then pulled ahead with Young's blast in the eighth. After Encarnacion's home run, Toronto didn't have a single baserunner until Bautista singled in the 9th, and was then subsequently wiped out on a Lind double play.

Francisco Liriano went seven innings to pick up the victory, giving up only five hits and a walk. Joe Nathan picked up his first save since undergoing Tommy John surgery before the 2010 season. Octavio Dotel came in to start the 9th inning but suffered a shoulder injury, and he is currently day-to-day.

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Game 3

MIN at TOR - Rogers Centre
Apr 3, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota Twins (1-1)	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	7	2
Toronto Blue Jays (1-1)	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	X	7	11	1
W: Brett Cecil (1-0) L: Nick Blackburn (0-1) S: Mark Rzepczynski (1)
HR: Delmon Young (2), Jason Kubel (2), Jose Bautista (2), Aaron Hill (1)
POTG: Jose Bautista: 3-4, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB

Jose Bautista hit his second homer of the year in the first inning, and Aaron Hill added a two run blast in the third to pace the Blue Jays to a 7-3 win over Minnesota and a series victory.

Nick Blackburn only went 2.2 innings for the Twins, who got solo homers from Delmon Young and Jason Kubel to draw the Twins within two runs. However, Travis Snider and Adam Lind drove in runs in the 7th and 8th respectively to put the game out of reach.

The Jays got yet another quality start, as Brett Cecil put forth seven innings of two run ball, while Mark Rzepczynski came in for the eighth and picked up a two inning save. Bautista, Hill and Snider all had multi-hit games for the Blue Jays, who will take on Oakland at home next week. Minnesota flies to New York after a series loss, but can build on the fact that seven starters had hits.

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Series Preview: Oakland (2-1) @ Toronto (2-1)

Last 3 Series
Oakland (2-1)
Seattle: L 1-0, W 5-2, W 7-2

Toronto (2-1)
Minnesota: W 3-1, L 4-3, W 7-3

Probable Starters
Tuesday: Dallas Braden (NR) vs Jo-Jo Reyes (NR)
Wednesday: Brandon McCarthy (NR) vs Jesse Litsch (NR)
Thursday: Trevor Cahill (0-1, 1.13) vs Ricky Romero (1-0, 0.00)

Injuries
Oakland: Andrew Bailey (1-2 weeks), Rich Harden (2-3 weeks)
Toronto: Frank Francisco (1-2 weeks), Brandon Morrow (1-2 weeks)

(Team Leaders will start showing up in May when there's actual stats to put in there)

[theaub]

bluejays.com l 4/7/2011

Series Recap: Athletics @ Blue Jays
Jays off to Los Angeles after 4-2 start

Game 1

OAK at TOR - Rogers Centre
Apr 5, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland Athletics (2-1)	0	4	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	7	10	0
Toronto Blue Jays (2-1)	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	6	0
W: Dallas Braden (1-0) L: Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1) S: Brian Fuentes (1)
HR: Daric Barton (1), Conor Jackson (1), Mark Ellis (1), Adam Lind (1), Aaron Hill (2), Edwin Encarnacion (2)
POTG: Josh Willingham: 2-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB

Jo-Jo Reyes got lit up for three homers in five innings, as Toronto dropped the opener of their series to Oakland by a score of 7-4.

The Blue Jays had three big flies from Adam Lind, Aaron Hill and Edwin Encarnacion, but it wasn't enough to get by the A's, who got homers from Daric Barton, Mark Ellis and Conor Jackson.

Oakland jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 2nd on homers from Barton and Jackson, and Reyes, in the rotation for an ailing Brandon Morrow, was never able to recover. He made it through five tough innings giving up five earned runs. His counterpart, lefty Dallas Braden, threw seven solid innings of four run ball.

Toronto only managed six hits, but four were for extra bases. Shawn Camp and David Purcey threw shutout innings in relief for the Jays, while Michael Wuertz and Brian Fuentes closed the door for Oakland.
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Game 2

OAK at TOR - Rogers Centre
Apr 6, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland Athletics (3-1)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0
Toronto Blue Jays (2-2)	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	0	7	11	0
W: Jesse Litsch (1-0) L: Brandon McCarthy (0-1)
HR: Kevin Kouzmanoff (1), Adam Lind (2)
POTG: Jesse Litsch: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Jesse Litsch tossed a complete game three hitter as Toronto defeated Oakland 3-1 to even up their series.

Adam Lind led the charge for the Blue Jays with a three hits, including a three run homer in the 8th that put any hopes of an Athletic comeback on ice. Travis Snider added two hits and two RBI for Toronto, who moved back to 3-2 on the season.

Oakland got a homer from Kevin Kouzmanoff, but that was pretty much all the offense they could muster, as Litsch kept the A's off balance all night. He only struck out three batters, but induced 23 grounders as only four balls got out of the infield the entire night.

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Game 3

OAK at TOR - Rogers Centre
Apr 7, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland Athletics (3-2)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0
Toronto Blue Jays (3-2)	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	X	5	10	0
W: Ricky Romero (2-0) L: Trevor Cahill (0-2) S: Mark Rzepczynski (2)
HR: Rajai Davis (1)
POTG: Rajai Davis: 3-4, 2 R, HR, RBI, SB

The Toronto Blue Jays completed a winning homestand with a 5-2 victory over Oakland in a matinee game.

Rajai Davis burned his former team with a homer and a stolen base, scoring two runs in the victory. He led off the game with a bunt single and stole second, and scored on Yunel Escobar's RBI double. The center fielder added his first big fly of the year in the seventh inning.

Ricky Romero was also on for the Jays, throwing eight innings of six hit, nine strikeout ball. In the 4-2 homestand, Toronto had five quality starts, which bodes well for a 10 game road trip through Los Angeles, Seattle and Boston.

Oakland got two doubles from Josh Willingham in the losing effort, and once again the A's didn't support ace Trevor Cahill. Although the righty gave up four runs over five innings, he has only received two runs of support in his two starts in this young season.

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Series Preview: Toronto (4-2) @ Los Angeles (3-2)

Last 3 Series
Toronto (4-2)
Minnesota: W 3-1, L 4-3, W 7-3
Oakland: L 7-4, W 7-1, W 5-2

Los Angeles (3-2)
@ Kansas City: W 4-2, L 3-2, L 3-2
@ Tampa Bay: W 9-6, W 3-2

Probable Starters
Friday: Kyle Drabek (0-0, 2.70) vs Jered Weaver (1-0, 2.08)
Saturday: Brett Cecil (1-0, 3.86) vs Joel Pineiro (0-0, 1.35)
Sunday: Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1, 9.00) vs Ervin Santana (0-1, 5.40)

Injuries
Toronto: Frank Francisco (1-2 weeks), Brandon Morrow (1-2 weeks)
Los Angeles: Scott Downs (1-2 weeks), Kendry Morales (1-2 weeks)

[theaub]

bluejays.com l 4/10/2011

Series Recap: Blue Jays @ Angels
Jays drop two of three in La-La Land

Game 1

TOR at LAA - Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Apr 8, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto Blue Jays (4-2)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	12	1
Los Angeles Angels (4-2)	0	1	0	0	1	5	0	0	X	7	8	2
W: Jered Weaver (1-0) L: Kyle Drabek (0-1)
HR: Bobby Abreu (1)
POTG: Jered Weaver: 8 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Los Angeles opened up their home season with a bang, as Jered Weaver threw eight innings to lead the Angels to a 7-2 win over Toronto.

Weaver scattered 11 hits but managed to shut down the Jays bats in key situations to move to 2-0 on the year. Kyle Drabek gave up five earned in as many innings to pick up his first loss of the year, and remain without a major league win in his first five starts.

Toronto had 12 hits total, including four from Aaron Hill and three from Jose Bautista, but they just couldn't string them together and create a rally. Bautista hit into a bases loaded double play in the 7th which killed any chance of a Blue Jay comeback.

Bobby Abreu homered for the Angels, who capitalized on shoddy Toronto defense in a five run sixth inning. Peter Bourjos tripled after a misplay by Rajai Davis that led to three more Los Angeles runs.

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Game 2

TOR at LAA - Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Apr 9, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto Blue Jays (4-3)	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	3	7	0
Los Angeles Angels (5-2)	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	X	5	9	1
W: Joel Piniero (1-0) L: Jason Frasor (0-1) S: Fernando Rodney (4)
HR: Aaron Hill (3), Adam Lind (3), Vernon Wells (5)
POTG: Vernon Wells: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB

Vernon Wells burned his former team, and moved the Angels closer to a weekend sweep over Toronto.

The Angels were criticized for picking up the $86 million owed to the former Blue Jay centerfielder, but he cranked his fifth homer in eight games in the first inning, and Willie Aybar doubled home two runs in the 7th to lead the Angels to a 5-3 win.

Brett Cecil threw 6.1 solid innings, but Jason Frasor blew the game after giving up two hits and a walk in only a third of an inning. Fernando Rodney picked up his fourth save on the young season for Los Angeles, who moved to 6-2.

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Game 3

TOR at LAA - Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Apr 9, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto Blue Jays (4-4)	3	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	9	10	2
Los Angeles Angels (6-2)	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	10	1
W: Jo-Jo Reyes (1-1) L: Ervin Santana (0-2) S: Jon Rauch (2)
HR: Jose Bautista (3), Aaron Hill (4), Travis Snider (1), Vernon Wells (6)
POTG: Jose Bautista: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB

Jose Bautista, Aaron Hill and Travis Snider homered as the Jays salvaged a game against Los Angeles with a 9-5 win.

Vernon Wells hit his sixth homer for the Angels, but it wasn't close to enough as Toronto battered Ervin Santana for seven runs over just four innings. Bautista put the Jays up 3-0 three batters in with his third homer of the season.

Jo-Jo Reyes rebounded from a shaky first start, throwing eight innings and giving up only two earned runs. Jon Rauch picked up Mark Rzepczynski to grab the save after the lefty gave up four hits without recording an out.

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Series Preview: Toronto (5-4) @ Seattle (5-4)

Last 3 Series
Toronto (5-4)
Minnesota: W 3-1, L 4-3, W 7-3
Oakland: L 7-4, W 7-1, W 5-2
@ Los Angeles: L 7-2, L 5-3, W 9-5

Seattle (5-4)
@ Oakland: W 1-0, L 5-1, L 7-2
@ Texas: W 4-2, W 12-4, L 13-3
Cleveland: W 6-5, W 8-4, L 9-2

Probable Starters
Monday: Jesse Litsch (1-0, 1.00) vs Doug Fister (1-0, 4.70)
Tuesday: Ricky Romero (2-0, 1.26) vs Felix Hernandez (1-1, 3.00)
Wednesday: Kyle Drabek (0-1, 4.63), vs Erik Bedard (0-1, 4.63)

Injuries
Toronto: Brandon Morrow (1-6 days), Frank Francisco (1-2 weeks)
Seattle: David Aardsma (3-4 weeks)

[theaub]

MLB WEEKLY
April 10, 2011

Greg Amsinger (GA): Hello everybody, and welcome to the first episode of MLB Weekly! Its a special episode to start off the season, as we give you 11 days of baseball fun wrapped up a quick review. I'm joined to start by Matt Vasgersian, and Harold Reynolds. You'll see a variety of faces throughout the season, including Mitch Williams, Eric Karros, Peter Gammons and Ken Rosenthal as they bring us all the news and excitement of Major League Baseball. For tonight though, its just us three, and guys, welcome to the show.

Matt Vasgersian (MV): Its great to be here, and I think this show's going to be pretty fun. Being only a couple weeks into the season, there's not a whole lot to look at compared to, say, July, but there's definitely some good stories in the first eleven days.

GA: And we'll be getting to those very shortly. Let's start it off like we will every week, with a look at the standings.

MLB Standings - Updated: Apr 10, 2011
AL EAST	W	L	GB
Boston	6	3	-
New York	6	4	0.5
Toronto	5	4	1.0
Baltimore	4	5	2.0
Tampa Bay	3	6	3.0
AL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Detroit	8	1	-
Cleveland	4	5	4.0
Kansas City	4	5	4.0
Minnesota	4	6	4.5
Chicago	3	6	5.0
AL WEST	W	L	GB
Los Angeles	6	3	-
Seattle	5	4	1.0
Oakland	4	5	2.0
Texas	2	7	4.0
NL EAST	W	L	GB
Atlanta	7	3	-
Florida	6	3	0.5
New York	4	5	2.5
Washington	3	6	3.5
Philadelphia	2	7	4.5
NL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Pittsburgh	8	2	-
Cincinnati	5	4	2.5
Houston	5	4	2.5
Milwaukee	5	5	3.0
Chicago	4	5	3.5
St. Louis	3	6	4.5
NL WEST	W	L	GB
San Francisco	6	3	-
San Diego	5	3	0.5
Arizona	5	4	1.0
Colorado	3	6	3.0
Los Angeles	2	7	4.0

GA: Well, there's certainly a few surprises there, and let's start with the Red Sox starting off the year 6-3.

Harold Reynolds (HR): Is this really a surprise? I mean its not like they'd start off 0-6 or something...

GA: Yeah, I guess you're right. No way that would ever happen.

MV: How about Tampa down there at the bottom? Not like they're a team that would start off 0-6 either?

HR: Well they did just get run out of US Cellular by a White Sox team that actually didn't win in their first six tries, so you have to cut them a bit of slack. I've been very impressed by the Tigers, who have sweeps over New York and Kansas City already this year.

GA: Out in the west, the big stunner has to be Texas starting off 2-7. And a lot of those games weren't even close.

MV: Well, they might have a bit of a World Series hangover, that's for sure. The hitting has been fantastic for them, but they have starters that have ERA's of 16.20, 12.79, 6.75, 5.59 and 5.25. You're not going to win anything with a rotation that looks that bad.

HR: They need guys like Hanson and Feldman back, but its still going to be awhile for both of them. Those guys can't be that bad all year obviously so I'd expect them to turn it around.

GA: Moving onto the NL, you would think that we mixed up the Pennsylvania based teams. Is that really the Pirates at 8-2?

MV: Garrett Jones wasn't happy about being moved into a platoon role, and he decided to show it by hitting five homers and driving in twelve runs in only nine games so far. Combine that with a .412 average and he'll definitely be seeing some more starts in the near future.

GA: Meanwhile, the greatest pitching staff of all time has run into some early issues.

HR: Well, when the only guy with an ERA under 4.50 is Joe Blanton, you get a bit confused. And combined with the injury to Chase Utley, the Phillies are really looking bad right now. But just like Texas, you'd expect the pitching to turn around.

MV: Well, one team that's had the pitching perform as expected is San Francisco, as they jumped out to a 7-2 start in the NL West.

HR: Lincecum and Cain have been lights out, they're getting Brian Wilson back tomorrow and Buster Posey is hitting .424. Times are looking good out by the Bay.

GA: How about some of the key series so far? We saw the Yankees come into Fenway and sweep the Red Sox. Does that turn the tide a bit, considering we expected Boston to win the division this year?

MV: Well its obviously too early for that, but what impressed me the most was that New York won the close games. They score in the 9th to take the game yesterday 8-7, and then today Ivan Nova goes down with an injury but Bartolo Colon comes out of the pen and gives them six shutout innings. After that shaky start against Detroit you have to be impressed.

HR: The series that I thought was the most interesting was the Boston/Texas series to start the year. The Red Sox outscored Texas 27-11 and definitely made it known that they're ready to play this year, regardless of what happened this weekend.

GA: Well now, let's take a look at the league leaders. We'll be alternating each week, and we'll start off with the American League.

(Note: I'll be alternating, and then at the end of each month have a massive stats pack post)

AL League Leaders - Updated: Apr 10, 2011
Batting Average		BA	Home Runs		HR
	1. Alex Avila	.448		1. Vernon Wells	6
	2. Carl Crawford	.385		2. Robinson Cano	5
	3. Adam Lind	.382		3. Carl Crawford	4
	4. Aaron Hill	.378		4. Manny Ramirez	4
	5. Joe Mauer	.367		5. Mark Reynolds	4
Runs Batted In		RBI	Stolen Bases		SB
	1. Robinson Cano	14		1. Brett Gardner	5
	2. Kevin Youkilis	12		2. Jacoby Ellsbury	4
	3. Vernon Wells	11		3. Shin-Soo Choo	4
	4. Ryan Raburn	10		4. Alcides Escobar	4
	5. Jack Hannahan	10		5. Carl Crawford	3
Wins		W	Earned Run Average		ERA
	1. Gio Gonzalez	2		1. Gavin Floyd	0.00
	2. Jered Weaver	2		2. Jesse Litsch	1.00
	3. Ryan Perry	2		3. David Price	1.13
	4. Max Scherzer	2		4. CC Sabathia	1.26
	5. Ricky Romero	2		5. Ricky Romero	1.26
Strikeouts		K	Saves		SV
	1. Justin Verlander	21		1. Fernando Rodney	4
	2. Gavin Floyd	19		2. Joe Nathan	4
	3. David Price	17		3. Koji Uehara	4
	4. Brian Matusz	16		4. Jose Valverde	4
	5. Dan Haren	15		5. Joakim Soria	3

GA: Since we don't have the National League up there, pick one random fact that you like about it.

HR: Well, we already talked about Garrett Jones, but how about those ex-Blue Jays on the homer charts. You see Vernon Wells up there with six for the Angels, which leads all of baseball, but the NL has John Buck with four, and in 2nd in the NL.

MV: I think the work of Bud Norris so far is the most impressive. Here's a guy who wasn't expected to do anything for Houston, but through two weeks he has two wins and a 0.53 ERA behind a two hitter. Also props to James McDonald, who's on the disabled list now but three hit the Cubs on opening day.

GA: Starting in May, we'll profile two teams per week in this space, but we're going to wait for some actual concrete stats to show up. For now, its a quick tour to the injury list to look at some of the key ones that have occurred since the start of the season.

MLB Injury Report
Pos	Player	Injury Note
BOS	Jacoby Ellsbury	Knee, 1-2 weeks
MIN	Scott Baker	Wrist, 1-2 months
ANA	Mike Trout	Pectoral, 1-2 weeks
NYM	Jason Bay	Calf, 1-6 days
MIL	Ryan Braun	Head, 1-6 days
PIT	James McDonald	Hand, 1-2 months
LAD	Ted Lilly	Arm, 1-2 months
SF	Madison Bumgarner	Hamstring, 1-6 days

GA: That's about it for us tonight. Before we go, any series you guys are looking forward too next week?

HR: Atlanta takes on Philly during the week in what's an early battle of National League East leaders. Wednesday night should be a great duel as Josh Johnson goes up against Tommy Hanson, who has a 0.60 ERA through two starts.

MV: Sticking in the NL, I want to see what Pittsburgh does this week. They have a home series against Milwaukee and then a trip to see the defending Central champs in Cincinnati, and we'll see if they can keep their early season hot streak going.

GA: Its sure going to be another fun week of baseball! From Studio 3, good night!