June has not been so kind to the Jays closer. Although his fastball is back to clocking in at 91 mph, his control has been an issue. From a 0-2 hanging slider about two feet from it's intended target to give Jason Giambi and the Yankees a walk-off victory, to uncharacteristic leadoff walks, Ryan has not had his stuff.
This afternoon, he appeared in the 9th in a non-save situation against the Mariners and took the loss. What's more, both he and John Gibbons were ejected immediately after giving up the lead run to Raul Ibanez for arguing calls (presumably those made on the previous at bat to Miguel Cairo that would have ended the inning). I've noticed that hitters only seem to explode at calls that pitch f/x says are legitimately blown really badly by the umpire, but what about frustrated closers? Here's a look at the calls that inning, with those thrown during the offending at-bat of Miguel Cairo circled:
Maybe Ryan gets those calls occasionally based on reputation, but they're at least 2, more like three inches outside. And the rest of the inning was well called as well. As much as it pains this unabashed homer to say it, the only mistake made on the field during the Jays' latest one-run collapse was nibbling the corners against one of the worst hitters in the league...