Wednesday April 30, 2008 Jays v Red Sox. Second of three.
Jays really need this one. But it will not be easy at all. Best pitcher, great lineup, and at Fenway and after great morale boosting win for Boston last night to break streak. Odds are definitely with Boston.
Boston wins 2-1. And in the bottom of the ninth.
The very good: McGowan pitching. Superb like Halladay.
The good: Rolen bat again, Lind gets off the mark. Great throw by Wells to get Lowry. Defence by Lind great catch tonight. Barajas blocking plate in 9th. Accardo good inning.
The bad: McDonald dumb play as pinch runner picked off at 1B.
Lineups: Jays. Rios, Eckstein, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Overbay, Hill, Lind, Zaun, McGowan pitching
Boston: Pedroia, Youkilis, Ortiz, Ramirez, Lowell, Moss, Varitek, Crisp, Lugo and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
The game.
Top 1st : Rios grounds to 2B, Eckstein same play, Rolen strikes out.
Bottom 1st: McGowan pitching Pedroia at bat, high fly ball to Wells on first pitch, Yuokilis strikes out, Ortiz fly ball great catch by Lind in LF at the wall… full run full stretch very nice Adam…. That should give the bats some rocket fuel.
Top 2nd: Stairs lines to RF, Youkilis jumps full stretch and gets the ball, great out, saves at least a double, Wells grounds to 2B, Overbay hits it hard but lines out to RF. Great defence so far on both sides.
Bottom 2nd: Ramirez at bat, interesting he is 1-12 similar to Vernon, we have been on Vernon’s case but Manny is in just as bad a slump, singles to right centre, Lowell fly ball to Lind in left, Moss fly ball to CF, Varitek, grounds bouncer to Hill.
Top 3rd: Hill first pitch wild in the dirt, strikes out weakly, Lind great line drive Pedroia, great catch, Zaun full count, walks, great patience there Gregg, Rios at bat full count again, lines to CF.
Bottom 3rd: Crisp grounds out to Hill, Lugo grounds out to SS Eckstein, two down, Pedroia full count, ground ball to Rolen.
Top 4th This is déjà vu last night, someone please get a hit !!! Eckstein strikes out. Rolen pops to Youkilis at 1B, Stairs single to RF, thank you Matt. Wells at bat, now Vernon, please……. Walks on four pitches ! next best thing for Vernon right now, two on…..but two out, Overbay at bat. How many innings since Jays have scored a run ??? 13 in Boston now and still counting.. Overbay grounds out to Lowell at 3B.
Bottom 4th: Youkilis grounds out to Overbay, Ortiz strikes out, Ramirez strikes out. Very nice Dustin… now if only the bats could help you out…
Top 5th: Hill fly ball to the wall in LF, nice try Aaron, Lind fly ball to RF, Zaun wild pitch, grounds to 1B.
Bottom 5th: Lowell fly ball to Vernon at the wall, Moss wild pitch one gets away high, grounds to 2B, Varitek strikes out. Another great inning by Dustin.
Top 6th: Top of the order must break out…. this is 15th inning since a run for Jays. Daisuke 82 pitches 58 for McGowan. Rios at bat, high inside pitch under Rios chin, grounds to 1B, Daisuke just gets there in time, Eckstein fly ball to LF now 97 pitches. Rolen double off the wall in centre right, Yeah finally…… 4th double… for Scott, Stairs at bat strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Crisp pops up on foul ground to Rolen, Lugo high chopper to Rolen, Pedroia grounds to McGowan. Another nice inning. Still around 70 pitches.
Top 7th: Wells come on Vernon….. just relax…. Fly ball to the wall in LF, just under it, plus wind blowing in, Overbay, Daisuke still in there, 106 pitches, grounds to 2B, Hill grounds to 3B.
Bottom 7th: Boston big guys, be careful here Dustin. 73 pitches Daisuke 108. Youkilis first pitch fly ball to Vernon. Ortiz HR to RF but I think Rios could have had that one it was catchable in the 2nd row low wall in RF, On the replay it was the front row. Ramirez grounds in hole at 3B, dives and get ball and Ramirez, two down, Lowell, double to LF, Moss strikes out. Dustin you have done ok…. It is not your fault bats are dead, dead and deader.
Top 8th: Delcarmen pitching. Lind singles to CF, first base hit in majors this season at least, I like Adam, he had such a great Spring training and will be a great asset when he settles, has power and a good arm and speed. Here is Francona, another Captain Hook. Delcarmen is gone. Okajima pitching, Zaun at bat or Barajas ? Zaun it is, turns around and doubles to LF corner,so much for percentages Terry. Back to back hits Lind at 3B, Zaun at 2B, Scutaro pinch runner for Zaun, Rios at bat, now Alex make up for that lost catch, Rios lines ball to centre right and Moss catches diving full length, Lind scores, 1-1. Great catch by Moss to save a run, but Alex gets job done, rbi first run in 16 innings, Eckstein strikes out, two down, Rolen at bat strikes out. Jays tie this one up but leave Scutaro at 2B.
Bottom 8th: Varitek at bat McGowan still there, Barajas now catching for Zaun, grounds out to Eckstein, NOT a good throw by Eckstein, where is Johnny Mac now ? Crisp at bat double to RF, Lugo walks, Pedroia here comes Gibbons. 100 pitches for Dustin very good outing, would have been more than sufficient with even a few runs support. Jays one run in 17 innings wasting great pitching by Halladay and McGowan. They can’t pitch better than they did. Accardo now pitching with two on and only one out, need double play here Jeremy. Falls behind 3-0. Fly ball to CF, Crisp to 3B. Youkilis grounds to SS gets Lugo at 2B. Nice job Jeremy.
Top 9th: Papelbon pitching, Stairs at bat. Single to CF, nice hit Matt, last night he was cold off bench, when he faced Papelbon, Johnny Mac pinch running, Wells Mac picked off at 1B, dumb. What next for Jays ? how many more ways can they find to mess up ? Wells grounds to SS would have been double play but Macdonald didn’t need to make it that easy.. Two down. Overbay full count, grounds to Pedroia throws him out at 1B. Another Pedroia type play.
Bottom 9th: and of course the big guys at bat. Déjà vu ? Ortiz, Downs now pitching…. Shift was on for Ortiz but hard hit single to Hill behind Overbay, Ramirez full count, walks him, but safer than hit. Pinch runner Lowry now for Ortiz. No one up in Jays bullpen, two on no outs, Lowell at bat strikes out, one down, Moss lines to centre Wells throw gets him, Barajas blocks plate great throw Vernon. Ramirez at 2B Varitek at bat, base hit up the middle, Ramirez scores just beats out Wells throw. Boston wins 2-1.
This one could not be much closer. Two out bottom of the 9th but this is Boston in Fenway guys…
Major disappointment. Two games in a row. Incredible that only four runs between the two teams in two games. One day ! someone is going to suffer when these two teams break out. Here's hoping it will be the Jays tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Preview: Jays v Boston Wednesday April 30
Preview: Jays Boston Wednesday April 30 2008.
Game will be interesting tonight. After last night the first 1-0 game for these two team since 1992 !!! will tonight be a slugfest ? and one of the more usual multi- run games?
On paper with Daisuke not likely…. BUT I suggest several reasons why it could be a slugfest.
1. Daisuke has not pitched in twelve days, he will be rusty and maybe too strong at first. His control has been suspect anyway in last starts.
2. The Jays offence has to burst out one game and why not in Fenway ?
3. After last night’s tough loss Jays are straining to get even.
4. Similarly Boston offence cannot stay quiet for much longer two runs on the last three games is not Boston’s style.
5. McGowan is also the type of pitcher that is either dominant or wild as he was in last game with seven walks. If he does that tonight then the Green Monster will be very happy.
6. Boston bullpen has been horrible and if Jays can get past Daisuke and burst the dam anything can happen with that lineup.
7. Wells has just one hit in his last 19 at-bats and is due bigtime unless there is smething radically wrong with him. He was certainly robbed last night by Pedroia.
Halladay tied club record last night with his fourth consecutive complete game and the last three all losses, last achieved by Jim Clancy in 1980.
What they said.
Halladay after last night 1-0 loss in bottom of ninth. “It's just a tough part of the lineup. Ortiz and (Manny) Ramirez. They can beat you with one pitch. You want to be aggressive," Halladay said. "It's a tough way to lose. You never get used to it." (I think Roy was being SO diplomatic... and not blasting his defence specifically Wells and also the bats that have disappeared)
Halladay on team confidence: "It's tough to say," when asked if he thought the team was losing confidence. "We've got a lot of tough guys in here. "But it's definitely been a grind, It's been an extremely tough trip (1-6). It definitely takes its toll."
Gibbons: The toughest loss of the year? "Yeah, because it's the latest one. It was one of those games. Both guys on the mound (Jon) Lester and Doc, did their thing." (Thanks John, great insight as usual)
Daisuke "I realize that I have to go deeper into games. The very fact that we have to even talk about pitch counts, I think that's a problem right there."
Gibbons on Downs: Downs has been hampered by biceps tendinitis. "He should be OK. His shoulder was a little tender and he needed a couple of days." (of course not related to overuse by the Manager)
Toronto hasn't been much better than Boston losing six straight before beating Kansas City on Sunday, and they've now averaged just 2.6 runs in their last eight games, losing seven times.
The pitchers tonight:
Matsuzaka has won four straight starts - matching the longest streak of his rookie season last year - but he was scratched from his start last week and pushed back to Wednesday due to a severe case of the flu. He's also battled control problems and high pitch counts despite his winning streak. He hasn't made it out of the sixth inning in either of his last two starts, throwing more than 100 pitches each time.
Matsuzaka has also won three straight starts against Toronto, even though he allowed seven runs on 10 hits in just 5 1-3 innings against them last Sept. 3 at Fenway Park. He had a 5.18 ERA against them in four starts last year.
McGowan pitched a complete game in his last start against Boston Sept 17, allowing five hits and striking out nine in a 6-1 win. But his last game in Orlando only lasted four innings, not much control, walking seven and allowing five runs in a 5-3 loss.
Rolen fast becoming poster boy for JP Ricciardi..... has collected a hit in each of his opening four games for Toronto. On the season he is 5-for-15 (.333).
Lind went 0-for-3 and is 0-for-10 since being called up from Class AAA Syracuse on Saturday. Meantime Reed ?... ah well not much point is there?
Lineup last night was big change. Hill who is not a power hitter, batted fifth. "It just made sense to me with a lefty (Jon Lester) going," Gibbons said.
The one-two Rios-Eckstein order. "We'll see how that works, maybe it's something that lasts," Gibbons said. I guess Eckstein can always bunt Alex over wherever he is on base, but am not convinced it is his best position and would like to see him behind the bg bats not in front.
In 2007, Rios thrived in the leadoff spot, in 241 plate appearances, he hit .282 with 12 homers and 30 RBIs. "He made things happen there in the past," Gibbons.
Marcum was sent back to the team hotel Tuesday night, victim of flu bug that has swept through the clubhouse but shuld be ok for Friday start in Toronto.
Game will be interesting tonight. After last night the first 1-0 game for these two team since 1992 !!! will tonight be a slugfest ? and one of the more usual multi- run games?
On paper with Daisuke not likely…. BUT I suggest several reasons why it could be a slugfest.
1. Daisuke has not pitched in twelve days, he will be rusty and maybe too strong at first. His control has been suspect anyway in last starts.
2. The Jays offence has to burst out one game and why not in Fenway ?
3. After last night’s tough loss Jays are straining to get even.
4. Similarly Boston offence cannot stay quiet for much longer two runs on the last three games is not Boston’s style.
5. McGowan is also the type of pitcher that is either dominant or wild as he was in last game with seven walks. If he does that tonight then the Green Monster will be very happy.
6. Boston bullpen has been horrible and if Jays can get past Daisuke and burst the dam anything can happen with that lineup.
7. Wells has just one hit in his last 19 at-bats and is due bigtime unless there is smething radically wrong with him. He was certainly robbed last night by Pedroia.
Halladay tied club record last night with his fourth consecutive complete game and the last three all losses, last achieved by Jim Clancy in 1980.
What they said.
Halladay after last night 1-0 loss in bottom of ninth. “It's just a tough part of the lineup. Ortiz and (Manny) Ramirez. They can beat you with one pitch. You want to be aggressive," Halladay said. "It's a tough way to lose. You never get used to it." (I think Roy was being SO diplomatic... and not blasting his defence specifically Wells and also the bats that have disappeared)
Halladay on team confidence: "It's tough to say," when asked if he thought the team was losing confidence. "We've got a lot of tough guys in here. "But it's definitely been a grind, It's been an extremely tough trip (1-6). It definitely takes its toll."
Gibbons: The toughest loss of the year? "Yeah, because it's the latest one. It was one of those games. Both guys on the mound (Jon) Lester and Doc, did their thing." (Thanks John, great insight as usual)
Daisuke "I realize that I have to go deeper into games. The very fact that we have to even talk about pitch counts, I think that's a problem right there."
Gibbons on Downs: Downs has been hampered by biceps tendinitis. "He should be OK. His shoulder was a little tender and he needed a couple of days." (of course not related to overuse by the Manager)
Toronto hasn't been much better than Boston losing six straight before beating Kansas City on Sunday, and they've now averaged just 2.6 runs in their last eight games, losing seven times.
The pitchers tonight:
Matsuzaka has won four straight starts - matching the longest streak of his rookie season last year - but he was scratched from his start last week and pushed back to Wednesday due to a severe case of the flu. He's also battled control problems and high pitch counts despite his winning streak. He hasn't made it out of the sixth inning in either of his last two starts, throwing more than 100 pitches each time.
Matsuzaka has also won three straight starts against Toronto, even though he allowed seven runs on 10 hits in just 5 1-3 innings against them last Sept. 3 at Fenway Park. He had a 5.18 ERA against them in four starts last year.
McGowan pitched a complete game in his last start against Boston Sept 17, allowing five hits and striking out nine in a 6-1 win. But his last game in Orlando only lasted four innings, not much control, walking seven and allowing five runs in a 5-3 loss.
Rolen fast becoming poster boy for JP Ricciardi..... has collected a hit in each of his opening four games for Toronto. On the season he is 5-for-15 (.333).
Lind went 0-for-3 and is 0-for-10 since being called up from Class AAA Syracuse on Saturday. Meantime Reed ?... ah well not much point is there?
Lineup last night was big change. Hill who is not a power hitter, batted fifth. "It just made sense to me with a lefty (Jon Lester) going," Gibbons said.
The one-two Rios-Eckstein order. "We'll see how that works, maybe it's something that lasts," Gibbons said. I guess Eckstein can always bunt Alex over wherever he is on base, but am not convinced it is his best position and would like to see him behind the bg bats not in front.
In 2007, Rios thrived in the leadoff spot, in 241 plate appearances, he hit .282 with 12 homers and 30 RBIs. "He made things happen there in the past," Gibbons.
Marcum was sent back to the team hotel Tuesday night, victim of flu bug that has swept through the clubhouse but shuld be ok for Friday start in Toronto.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Great pitching duel but Jays lose one, Boston ends losing streak.
Tuesday April 29, 2008. Toronto v Boston at Fenway.
This should be interesting. Jays have won the last seven against Boston including two sweeps. Boston on a five game losing streak. Jays not much better but on one game win streak.
Boston wins bottom of the 9th 1-0.
The very good: Halladay once again a complete game.
The good: Defence, Rolen double first time facing Papelbon.
The bad: Wells fielding error in 9th. The bats all round apart from Rolen. More double plays. Jays lead this category.
Lineups: Jays. Rios, Eckstein, Rolen, Wells, Hill, Overbay, Stewart, Lind, Zaun. Halladay pitching.
Boston: Crisp, Pedroia, Ortiz, Ramirez, Youkilis, Drew, Lowell, Varitek, Lugo. Lester pitching.
The game.
Top 1st: Lester pitching, Rios grounds to Lester, Eckstein grounds to Lowell, Rolen pops up to Youkilis at 1B.
Bottom 1st: Crisp strikes out, Pedroia strikes out, Ortiz grounds out to Rolen.
Top 2nd: Wells grounds to 3B, Hill strikes out, Overbay walks on full count, Stewart grounds to Youkilis.
Bottom 2nd: Ramirez grounds to 3B, Youkilis single to CF, Lowell strikes out, Youkilis steals second, Drew grounds to SS.
Top 3rd: Lind grounds to 2B, Zaun strikes out, Rios grounds out to 2B.
Bottom 3rd: Varitek strikes out, Lugo grounds to Eckstein, Crisp grounds to SS.
Top 4th: Moss has replaced Drew in RF, Eckstein grounds to 3B, Rolen grounds to 3B, Wells walks, Hill fouls out to Youkilis. Both pitchers are on their game tonight.
Bottom 4th: Pedroia grounds to Eckstein, Ortiz grounds to Overbay, Ramirez flies to Wells.
Top 5th: Overbay single to RF, perhaps now something can get going, Stewart first pitch swinging, great, double play, that is another dumb play this time by Stewart. Give Lyle a pitch or two to do something please. Lind grounds to 2B.
Bottom 5th: Youkilis grounds to Eckstein, Lowell grounds to Eckstein, Moss infield single to 3B, Varitek grounds to 2B.
Top 6th: Zaun walks on four pitches, Rios strikes out, Eckstein grounds to SS into double play.
Bottom 6th: Lugo grounds to Eckstein, Crisp grounds to Eckstein, Pedroia grounds to Eckstein. All three outs to Eckstein. Nine ground ball outs to Eckstein.
Top 7th: Rolen hammers one high foul LF, strikes out, Wells grounds to SS, Hill walks on four pitches, patient at bat Aaron, Overbay fly ball to RF.
Bottom 7th: Halladay 71 pitches Lester 87 pitches. Ortiz first pitch, grounds ball to Eckstein at 2B, (shift was on) ball is following him around, 10 assists for Eckstein so far, Jays record is 13. Ramirez strikes out, Youkilis grounds to Hill at 2B.
Top 8th: Stewart strikes out on three pitches, Lind strikes out, Zaun grounds to 3B.
Bottom 8th: Halladay 85 pitches. Lowell lines to RF Rios, Moss hitting for Drew, out in 4th.with quad muscle injury, lines hard at Overbay, two down, Varitek single to CF, Lugo strikes out.
Top 9th: Here we go… Top of order. Give Halladay something guys. Lester out after 97 pitches. Papelbon in… Francona wants this finished in 9th. Rios strikes out on three pitches. Stairs ph for Eckstein. Strikes out. Rolen double off LF wall, Wells hard single up the middle but amazing stop and throw by Pedroia to get Wells. That was the go ahead run no doubt at all. Poor Vernon can’t buy anything these days.
Bottom 9th: Halladay 97 pitches 6 strikes. Crisp fly ball to Wells, Pedroia pops up to Rolen at 3B, Ortiz high drama, batting .172 walks him, Ramirez single to CF, Ortiz at 2B, Youkilis single up the middle Wells fumbles the ball Ortiz scores. This game is over 1-0 Boston. That was a ball Wells has to make and with a chance to throw out Ortiz with his gimpy knee and running more like walking from 2B.
Halladay another complete game but to no avail. Rough one for Halladay to lose.
Tomorrow McGowan pitching.
This should be interesting. Jays have won the last seven against Boston including two sweeps. Boston on a five game losing streak. Jays not much better but on one game win streak.
Boston wins bottom of the 9th 1-0.
The very good: Halladay once again a complete game.
The good: Defence, Rolen double first time facing Papelbon.
The bad: Wells fielding error in 9th. The bats all round apart from Rolen. More double plays. Jays lead this category.
Lineups: Jays. Rios, Eckstein, Rolen, Wells, Hill, Overbay, Stewart, Lind, Zaun. Halladay pitching.
Boston: Crisp, Pedroia, Ortiz, Ramirez, Youkilis, Drew, Lowell, Varitek, Lugo. Lester pitching.
The game.
Top 1st: Lester pitching, Rios grounds to Lester, Eckstein grounds to Lowell, Rolen pops up to Youkilis at 1B.
Bottom 1st: Crisp strikes out, Pedroia strikes out, Ortiz grounds out to Rolen.
Top 2nd: Wells grounds to 3B, Hill strikes out, Overbay walks on full count, Stewart grounds to Youkilis.
Bottom 2nd: Ramirez grounds to 3B, Youkilis single to CF, Lowell strikes out, Youkilis steals second, Drew grounds to SS.
Top 3rd: Lind grounds to 2B, Zaun strikes out, Rios grounds out to 2B.
Bottom 3rd: Varitek strikes out, Lugo grounds to Eckstein, Crisp grounds to SS.
Top 4th: Moss has replaced Drew in RF, Eckstein grounds to 3B, Rolen grounds to 3B, Wells walks, Hill fouls out to Youkilis. Both pitchers are on their game tonight.
Bottom 4th: Pedroia grounds to Eckstein, Ortiz grounds to Overbay, Ramirez flies to Wells.
Top 5th: Overbay single to RF, perhaps now something can get going, Stewart first pitch swinging, great, double play, that is another dumb play this time by Stewart. Give Lyle a pitch or two to do something please. Lind grounds to 2B.
Bottom 5th: Youkilis grounds to Eckstein, Lowell grounds to Eckstein, Moss infield single to 3B, Varitek grounds to 2B.
Top 6th: Zaun walks on four pitches, Rios strikes out, Eckstein grounds to SS into double play.
Bottom 6th: Lugo grounds to Eckstein, Crisp grounds to Eckstein, Pedroia grounds to Eckstein. All three outs to Eckstein. Nine ground ball outs to Eckstein.
Top 7th: Rolen hammers one high foul LF, strikes out, Wells grounds to SS, Hill walks on four pitches, patient at bat Aaron, Overbay fly ball to RF.
Bottom 7th: Halladay 71 pitches Lester 87 pitches. Ortiz first pitch, grounds ball to Eckstein at 2B, (shift was on) ball is following him around, 10 assists for Eckstein so far, Jays record is 13. Ramirez strikes out, Youkilis grounds to Hill at 2B.
Top 8th: Stewart strikes out on three pitches, Lind strikes out, Zaun grounds to 3B.
Bottom 8th: Halladay 85 pitches. Lowell lines to RF Rios, Moss hitting for Drew, out in 4th.with quad muscle injury, lines hard at Overbay, two down, Varitek single to CF, Lugo strikes out.
Top 9th: Here we go… Top of order. Give Halladay something guys. Lester out after 97 pitches. Papelbon in… Francona wants this finished in 9th. Rios strikes out on three pitches. Stairs ph for Eckstein. Strikes out. Rolen double off LF wall, Wells hard single up the middle but amazing stop and throw by Pedroia to get Wells. That was the go ahead run no doubt at all. Poor Vernon can’t buy anything these days.
Bottom 9th: Halladay 97 pitches 6 strikes. Crisp fly ball to Wells, Pedroia pops up to Rolen at 3B, Ortiz high drama, batting .172 walks him, Ramirez single to CF, Ortiz at 2B, Youkilis single up the middle Wells fumbles the ball Ortiz scores. This game is over 1-0 Boston. That was a ball Wells has to make and with a chance to throw out Ortiz with his gimpy knee and running more like walking from 2B.
Halladay another complete game but to no avail. Rough one for Halladay to lose.
Tomorrow McGowan pitching.
Boston Toronto series Preview (2)
This is a series Toronto would love to win. They should be on ahigh note with Rolen kick-starting the offence and Lind filling big gap in LF. Plus Boston is down right now as were the Jays on Saturday evening.
Boston is in five games losing streak their longest in three years, will have some lineup returns to help them tonight.
Ortiz and Lowell should be back after injuries. With the day off yesterday also Boston should be ready to go. They didn’t lose more than four straight in 2007.
Toronto has Halladay pitching followed by Burnett and McGowan so certainly have the stars aligned to give Boston a headache. Halladay helped Toronto complete a three-game home sweep of Boston on April 6, pitching eight innings and giving up four runs in a 7-4 victory. It might also give bullpen time to recuperate from overuse in forst few weeks of season.
Ortiz missed the last two games due to a bruised right knee. He has five homers in 76 at-bats versus Halladay.
Lowell has been out since April 10 with a sprained left thumb.
"I don't have any pain," said Lowell. "I'm looking forward to getting back." Lowell's has three homers in 24 at-bats against Halladay.
Toronto Lineup: On Sunday Gibbons put Rios at leadoff with Eckstein day off. It worked very well and Alex had 4-5 game. Last season he had similar good luck at leadoff. With Eckstein in tonight will Gibbons leave Alex there and drop Eckstein below the big bats or maybe number two ?
Tonight could look like this: Rios, Overbay, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Hill, Lind, Zaun, Eckstein. Looks a great deal stronger now with Rolen and Lind playing. Let’s hope the Green Monster gets some dents tonight or better still over the top.
Pitchers Lester and Halladay. For Boston Jon Lester is starting tonight, ahead of Daiske Matsuzaka who's recovering from flu-like symptoms and is scheduled to pitch Wednesday. In his only appearance against Toronto he gave up one run and three hits over 6 2-3 innings.
For Toronto: Halladay is coming off his third consecutive complete game, but second straight loss. He allowed five runs in eight innings of a 5-3 defeat at Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
What they said:
Wells on John Gibbons during slump: "He's not out there hitting for us or in the field for us. I've been here long enough to see managers come and go (Jim Fregosi, Buck Martinez, Carlos Tosca)... good people, and he's one of the good people I've been fortunate to be with.”
Halladay: who was unable to hold a 3-0 lead against Tampa. "It's frustrating. It's disappointing. It's a number of things,"
FYI. Ex-Jays
Frank Thomas: ONE FOR THE BOOKS AND RIPLEY BELIEVE IT OR NOT. tripled for the first time in six years and got three hits against Angels Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.
"That was priceless," winning pitcher Chad Gaudin said of Thomas' 12th career triple. "I played with the guy in '06, and I don't think I saw him beat out a ball - much less go from home to third on a triple. It's uplifting. He told me a couple of days ago, 'I can run now.' And I said, 'Really.' And I'm thinking to myself, in 15 years, all of a sudden you can run now? And sure enough, he can run."
Thomas hit a towering fly that landed just inside the right-field line after a long but fruitless run by Vladimir Guerrero. His first triple since April 24, 2002, with the Chicago in a 9-2 win at Cleveland. His last one before that was Aug. 22, 1998. "It's been a long time since one of those," Thomas said, laughing. "The way the ball was curving, I just thought it was going to be a double. But then I saw the ball get by him. I've felt better all year, so I'm running a lot better. I was happy to get it. It's something I haven't done in a long time, so it was fun."
Everything is fun again for the 19-year veteran. "It just feels good to be back playing. I don't have any hard feelings about anything. It was a bad fit over there (in Toronto) and it didn't work out, so I'm just happy to be able to come back here and fit in. This is a good situation for me. "I saw this team earlier in the year when they swept us and I saw how talented they were. I saw the good left-handed bats, the great defense and great young pitching. So when all this went down in Toronto, this was the first place I was trying to go to because I still had so many friends on this team. It was an easy transition. Business took me away, and business brought me back."
Reed Johnson: Having a great time with the Cubs now leading the Division. Highlight reel this week with incredible diving catch and slide into the wall that was close enough to wall to bend his cap peak. Batting .324 and nine rbis in 71 at bats .
Troy Glaus: First home run of the season this week but still hitting 18 rbis in 92 at bats. Glaus is having problems with his eyes due to allergies in night games at home. Struck out twice on Friday before leaving game.
Boston is in five games losing streak their longest in three years, will have some lineup returns to help them tonight.
Ortiz and Lowell should be back after injuries. With the day off yesterday also Boston should be ready to go. They didn’t lose more than four straight in 2007.
Toronto has Halladay pitching followed by Burnett and McGowan so certainly have the stars aligned to give Boston a headache. Halladay helped Toronto complete a three-game home sweep of Boston on April 6, pitching eight innings and giving up four runs in a 7-4 victory. It might also give bullpen time to recuperate from overuse in forst few weeks of season.
Ortiz missed the last two games due to a bruised right knee. He has five homers in 76 at-bats versus Halladay.
Lowell has been out since April 10 with a sprained left thumb.
"I don't have any pain," said Lowell. "I'm looking forward to getting back." Lowell's has three homers in 24 at-bats against Halladay.
Toronto Lineup: On Sunday Gibbons put Rios at leadoff with Eckstein day off. It worked very well and Alex had 4-5 game. Last season he had similar good luck at leadoff. With Eckstein in tonight will Gibbons leave Alex there and drop Eckstein below the big bats or maybe number two ?
Tonight could look like this: Rios, Overbay, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Hill, Lind, Zaun, Eckstein. Looks a great deal stronger now with Rolen and Lind playing. Let’s hope the Green Monster gets some dents tonight or better still over the top.
Pitchers Lester and Halladay. For Boston Jon Lester is starting tonight, ahead of Daiske Matsuzaka who's recovering from flu-like symptoms and is scheduled to pitch Wednesday. In his only appearance against Toronto he gave up one run and three hits over 6 2-3 innings.
For Toronto: Halladay is coming off his third consecutive complete game, but second straight loss. He allowed five runs in eight innings of a 5-3 defeat at Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
What they said:
Wells on John Gibbons during slump: "He's not out there hitting for us or in the field for us. I've been here long enough to see managers come and go (Jim Fregosi, Buck Martinez, Carlos Tosca)... good people, and he's one of the good people I've been fortunate to be with.”
Halladay: who was unable to hold a 3-0 lead against Tampa. "It's frustrating. It's disappointing. It's a number of things,"
FYI. Ex-Jays
Frank Thomas: ONE FOR THE BOOKS AND RIPLEY BELIEVE IT OR NOT. tripled for the first time in six years and got three hits against Angels Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.
"That was priceless," winning pitcher Chad Gaudin said of Thomas' 12th career triple. "I played with the guy in '06, and I don't think I saw him beat out a ball - much less go from home to third on a triple. It's uplifting. He told me a couple of days ago, 'I can run now.' And I said, 'Really.' And I'm thinking to myself, in 15 years, all of a sudden you can run now? And sure enough, he can run."
Thomas hit a towering fly that landed just inside the right-field line after a long but fruitless run by Vladimir Guerrero. His first triple since April 24, 2002, with the Chicago in a 9-2 win at Cleveland. His last one before that was Aug. 22, 1998. "It's been a long time since one of those," Thomas said, laughing. "The way the ball was curving, I just thought it was going to be a double. But then I saw the ball get by him. I've felt better all year, so I'm running a lot better. I was happy to get it. It's something I haven't done in a long time, so it was fun."
Everything is fun again for the 19-year veteran. "It just feels good to be back playing. I don't have any hard feelings about anything. It was a bad fit over there (in Toronto) and it didn't work out, so I'm just happy to be able to come back here and fit in. This is a good situation for me. "I saw this team earlier in the year when they swept us and I saw how talented they were. I saw the good left-handed bats, the great defense and great young pitching. So when all this went down in Toronto, this was the first place I was trying to go to because I still had so many friends on this team. It was an easy transition. Business took me away, and business brought me back."
Reed Johnson: Having a great time with the Cubs now leading the Division. Highlight reel this week with incredible diving catch and slide into the wall that was close enough to wall to bend his cap peak. Batting .324 and nine rbis in 71 at bats .
Troy Glaus: First home run of the season this week but still hitting 18 rbis in 92 at bats. Glaus is having problems with his eyes due to allergies in night games at home. Struck out twice on Friday before leaving game.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Fenway series Preview (1)
Boston preview.
The big series. Payback time for Boston ? after two, yes two consecutive sweeps of the Red Sox by Jays in Toronto dating back to September 2007.
Don’t forget role of Frank in April sweep with runs in each of the games and home runs in two.
Boston on five game losing streak… swept against Rays. Ortiz and Lowell injured during that streak. But no reason not to make it eight before Jays leave on Wednesday evening.
Toronto themselves coming off six game losing streak to win albeit with some luck on Sunday afternoon but then again they didn’t get much luck with the dropped Eckstein ball, and the Lind double miraculously stifled by Kansas and a host of other missed opportunities. Jays must feel good starting with Halladay. I wonder if Boston is holding back Dice-K for this reason???? Surely not ? 4-0 this season… hmmmm… flu ??? Why don’t MLB players have the flu shot each year ? Ah well.
Interesting to hear Ortiz on his slump, it could be Vernon Wells speaking about his own !!!!
Interesting also not to see any cries for Francona’s head unlike the negative media for Gibbons in Toronto.
What they are saying. Boston Globe:
Not-so-booming bats
It's not as though the Sox are weak at the dish; they still lead the AL in batting average, OPS and runs. But over the past week, the stats have told a different story. Only five homers have been hit, and the team's slugging percentage is a meager .394. On the whole, the Sox averaged a meager 4.25 runs per game over the last week. Kevin Youkilis has been particularly ineffective at the plate, hitting at a pedestrian .050 clip (his lone hit being a home run), but he's hardly the only culprit; J.D. Drew hit just .150 with no extra base hits and no RBIs (Youk had two).
Youkilis has filled in admirably at third for a number of games in Mike Lowell's DL stint (hot prospect Jed Lowrie did pretty well himself), but a lineup with Lowell and Youkilis in it is better than one with Youk and Sean Casey (who, by the way, is on the DL himself).
The recent outbreak of illness among Sox players has wreaked havoc upon the starting lineup and rotation; Daisuke Matsuzaka missed his start against the Angels, Jason Varitek didn't play at all against the Angels (and didn't get a hit against the Rays), and Manny Delcarmen was affected during the game when he was dizzy on the mound. Furthermore, Kevin Youkilis has had back problems, and Josh Beckett missed a start with neck stiffness. Oh, and Monday is the Sox' first off-day since April 7. It's no stretch to say this team is in dire need of a break.
No relief at least, not in the middle-to-late innings. Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima are the only Sox relievers with ERAs in the past week below 5.00. Delcarmen's been torched for four runs in two innings, and David Aardsma has given up three in his last 2 2/3 while allowing three walks and three hits. Mike Timlin allowed two runs as well. The bullpen blew what looked like Justin Masterson's first major league victory on Thursday.
David Ortiz. Walking off field after Sunday. “I’m not frustrated, just keep playing. I’m not frustrated”
Ortiz after head first slide into 1B. “When you feel like I feel, you’ll try anything. Like I said, a little crazy. You swing you’re out. You don’t swing, your’e out too. I never saw anything like that before. What else can you do, keep on swinging.”
Dave Magadan hitting coach: “There’s nobody as frustrated as he (Ortiz) is right now. You can see that with dive into first base. That’s a dangerous thing for him to do. It’s one of those periods where it’s frustrating for him because as soon as he thinks he’s getting his way, he takes an 0 for 6. I’ve seen a lot of guys get hurt doing that. We were holding our breath.”
Before the frustrating, hitless night, Ortiz had lifted average from .070 April 12 to .189. He is now at .177. “I’m coming out of it, Ortiz said. “I’m feeling better lately, Bad luck.Two or three times hit just right at people. It’s a inches game”. (Jays say same thing !!) “Keep swinging in my situation. I don’t play different. Just got to keep battling.”
Boston should have both Ortiz and Lowell back in lineup on Tuesday.
Things for Jays to watch out for. Manny stealing. Manny Ramirez on stealing second base on Sunday, his first steal in three years. “Contract year, I’m stealing bases. I’m just trying to make something happen, I thought I was out. I was going., Yeah, I got a break’.
Terry Francona. "We have some guys that need to throw a little bit and we'll use the day off (on Monday) to our advantage.We hope it does us some good."
Boston 15-12 are in their longest losing streak in three seasons since losing six in a row August 2006. Last season didn’t lose more than four straight .
Ortiz missed the last two games due to a bruised right knee, but is expected to return Tuesday. Though he's batting .177 and went 0-for-6 on Friday, Ortiz has hit .303 with three homers and 16 RBIs in his last eight games. He has five homers in 76 at-bats versus Halladay.
Lowell, meanwhile, is expected to come off the disabled list Tuesday after being out since April 10 with a sprained left thumb.
"I don't have any pain," said Lowell, 6-for-30 with no homers or RBIs in nine games this season. "I'm looking forward to getting back."
Despite his early struggles, three of Lowell's hits have come against Toronto, and he has three homers in 24 at-bats against Halladay.
Jon Lester (1-2, 5.40) will start Tuesday, ahead of Daisuke Matsuzaka who's recovering from flu-like symptoms and is scheduled to pitch Wednesday. (Another one next year to get th flu shot ???)
Halladay is coming off his third consecutive complete game, but second straight loss. He allowed five runs in eight innings of a 5-3 defeat at Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
"It's frustrating. It's disappointing. It's a number of things," said Halladay, who was unable to hold a 3-0 lead again st Rays. Halladay pitched four consecutive complete games from Sept. 1-17, 2003, winning all four. He is 10-9 with a 4.45 ERA in 30 starts versus Boston.
Boston series is the last one on a nine game road trip for Jays, 1-5 to date. Rolen has given Jays a huge boost. Change in lineup worked on Sunday, will Gibbons keep same even with Eckstein back ?
Rios on Sunday with four hit game and average now at .330.
Unfortunately Vernon is like Ortiz and still in season slump.What I find amazing is that Jays are still only 3 ½ back after that horrible week.
The big series. Payback time for Boston ? after two, yes two consecutive sweeps of the Red Sox by Jays in Toronto dating back to September 2007.
Don’t forget role of Frank in April sweep with runs in each of the games and home runs in two.
Boston on five game losing streak… swept against Rays. Ortiz and Lowell injured during that streak. But no reason not to make it eight before Jays leave on Wednesday evening.
Toronto themselves coming off six game losing streak to win albeit with some luck on Sunday afternoon but then again they didn’t get much luck with the dropped Eckstein ball, and the Lind double miraculously stifled by Kansas and a host of other missed opportunities. Jays must feel good starting with Halladay. I wonder if Boston is holding back Dice-K for this reason???? Surely not ? 4-0 this season… hmmmm… flu ??? Why don’t MLB players have the flu shot each year ? Ah well.
Interesting to hear Ortiz on his slump, it could be Vernon Wells speaking about his own !!!!
Interesting also not to see any cries for Francona’s head unlike the negative media for Gibbons in Toronto.
What they are saying. Boston Globe:
Not-so-booming bats
It's not as though the Sox are weak at the dish; they still lead the AL in batting average, OPS and runs. But over the past week, the stats have told a different story. Only five homers have been hit, and the team's slugging percentage is a meager .394. On the whole, the Sox averaged a meager 4.25 runs per game over the last week. Kevin Youkilis has been particularly ineffective at the plate, hitting at a pedestrian .050 clip (his lone hit being a home run), but he's hardly the only culprit; J.D. Drew hit just .150 with no extra base hits and no RBIs (Youk had two).
Youkilis has filled in admirably at third for a number of games in Mike Lowell's DL stint (hot prospect Jed Lowrie did pretty well himself), but a lineup with Lowell and Youkilis in it is better than one with Youk and Sean Casey (who, by the way, is on the DL himself).
The recent outbreak of illness among Sox players has wreaked havoc upon the starting lineup and rotation; Daisuke Matsuzaka missed his start against the Angels, Jason Varitek didn't play at all against the Angels (and didn't get a hit against the Rays), and Manny Delcarmen was affected during the game when he was dizzy on the mound. Furthermore, Kevin Youkilis has had back problems, and Josh Beckett missed a start with neck stiffness. Oh, and Monday is the Sox' first off-day since April 7. It's no stretch to say this team is in dire need of a break.
No relief at least, not in the middle-to-late innings. Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima are the only Sox relievers with ERAs in the past week below 5.00. Delcarmen's been torched for four runs in two innings, and David Aardsma has given up three in his last 2 2/3 while allowing three walks and three hits. Mike Timlin allowed two runs as well. The bullpen blew what looked like Justin Masterson's first major league victory on Thursday.
David Ortiz. Walking off field after Sunday. “I’m not frustrated, just keep playing. I’m not frustrated”
Ortiz after head first slide into 1B. “When you feel like I feel, you’ll try anything. Like I said, a little crazy. You swing you’re out. You don’t swing, your’e out too. I never saw anything like that before. What else can you do, keep on swinging.”
Dave Magadan hitting coach: “There’s nobody as frustrated as he (Ortiz) is right now. You can see that with dive into first base. That’s a dangerous thing for him to do. It’s one of those periods where it’s frustrating for him because as soon as he thinks he’s getting his way, he takes an 0 for 6. I’ve seen a lot of guys get hurt doing that. We were holding our breath.”
Before the frustrating, hitless night, Ortiz had lifted average from .070 April 12 to .189. He is now at .177. “I’m coming out of it, Ortiz said. “I’m feeling better lately, Bad luck.Two or three times hit just right at people. It’s a inches game”. (Jays say same thing !!) “Keep swinging in my situation. I don’t play different. Just got to keep battling.”
Boston should have both Ortiz and Lowell back in lineup on Tuesday.
Things for Jays to watch out for. Manny stealing. Manny Ramirez on stealing second base on Sunday, his first steal in three years. “Contract year, I’m stealing bases. I’m just trying to make something happen, I thought I was out. I was going., Yeah, I got a break’.
Terry Francona. "We have some guys that need to throw a little bit and we'll use the day off (on Monday) to our advantage.We hope it does us some good."
Boston 15-12 are in their longest losing streak in three seasons since losing six in a row August 2006. Last season didn’t lose more than four straight .
Ortiz missed the last two games due to a bruised right knee, but is expected to return Tuesday. Though he's batting .177 and went 0-for-6 on Friday, Ortiz has hit .303 with three homers and 16 RBIs in his last eight games. He has five homers in 76 at-bats versus Halladay.
Lowell, meanwhile, is expected to come off the disabled list Tuesday after being out since April 10 with a sprained left thumb.
"I don't have any pain," said Lowell, 6-for-30 with no homers or RBIs in nine games this season. "I'm looking forward to getting back."
Despite his early struggles, three of Lowell's hits have come against Toronto, and he has three homers in 24 at-bats against Halladay.
Jon Lester (1-2, 5.40) will start Tuesday, ahead of Daisuke Matsuzaka who's recovering from flu-like symptoms and is scheduled to pitch Wednesday. (Another one next year to get th flu shot ???)
Halladay is coming off his third consecutive complete game, but second straight loss. He allowed five runs in eight innings of a 5-3 defeat at Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
"It's frustrating. It's disappointing. It's a number of things," said Halladay, who was unable to hold a 3-0 lead again st Rays. Halladay pitched four consecutive complete games from Sept. 1-17, 2003, winning all four. He is 10-9 with a 4.45 ERA in 30 starts versus Boston.
Boston series is the last one on a nine game road trip for Jays, 1-5 to date. Rolen has given Jays a huge boost. Change in lineup worked on Sunday, will Gibbons keep same even with Eckstein back ?
Rios on Sunday with four hit game and average now at .330.
Unfortunately Vernon is like Ortiz and still in season slump.What I find amazing is that Jays are still only 3 ½ back after that horrible week.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Lineup changes work with great pitching,hitting and fielding
Sunday April 27, 2008 Jays v Kansas series closer.
Lots to fight for today…. Will Gibbons make the changes necessary? Line- up changes, move Rios and Wells at least? Will Eckstein get a break before Boston series?
How will Jesse Litsch fare? Lots of pressure on him today with the bats in such a slump. Hope Jesse will not try to overdo it and win it all himself. But he is the number 5 in lineup and the first four have not won although to be fair they have all pitched well apart from McGowan. Jesse up against Meche also very good pitcher and one the Jays wanted. Will Kansas do the unthinkable and sweep the sad Jays or will the real Jays show up?
Jays WIN ! 5-2.
Finally. We knew it would happen one day but this is how it should be going into Fenway on Tuesday, far better on win streak than 7-0 losing streak.
The very good: Jesse Litsch seven two hit two run innings. Kept Jays in game for bats to come alive. Bullpen of Ryan and Carlson hold and save. Rios four hit game with three runs. Gets his averag now to .330, Rolen HR and two hits and two rbis. In thee games since activiation he has four rbis. Perfect timing for Fenway.
The good: Overbay and Hill plus Barajas throw to catch Callapso in 1st.
The bad: No bad today, lets enjoy the win. BUT Vernon still bothers although he did break his drought. Perhaps with less pressure on him he can take time to get that swing relaxed and productive in Boston.
Lineups: Jays. YES indeed changes by Gibbons (see yesterday's suggestions.)
Rios lead off (with Eckstein day off), Overbay, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Hill, Lind, Barajas and Johnny Mac for Eckstein. Starting for a change. One of the criticisms has been the fact that the best Shortstop in League has been sitting on bench too long. But hard to sit Eckstein also.
I like this lineup. Moves Wells down, Hill is protecting him, Rolen moves up, Stairs in cleanup. I can see some of these changing when Alex and Vernon get their swings back but for now, a good lineup. Barajas a better bat than Zaun, some sacrifice being made with Johnny Mac but will provide stronger defence perhaps to stop runs being scored ??? and his throw is much better defensively. Overbay is a much better bat than his average but his on-base percentage earns him number two spot and provides better percentage on base guy for Rolen and Stairs. Litsch pitching.
Kansas: DeJesus, Callaspo, Gordon, Guillen, Teahen, Butler, Olivo (catching), Gload, Pena and Gil Meche pitching.
The game: Top 1st. Rios leadoff triple, great start !!! surely Jays can bring him in….. please…. Wild pitch by Meche, Alex scores 1-0 Jays. That’s fine, Jays will take it the way bats are hitting. Interesting last run scored last night was on an error. Soon Jays bats will get honest runs. Overbay no pressure Lyle, fly ball to RF Teahen, would have scored Alex but this time no rbi Lyle. Rolen now way up the order. And deservedly so based on his first two games. Scott HR to CF. Wow… 2-0 Jays, great start and Gibbons is a genius. Stairs grounds out to 2B, Wells way down order today, no pressure on you Vernon now, take your time… grounds to SS. Great start 2-0 Jays.
Bottom 1st: Jesse LItsch pitching. DeJesus grounds to Johnny Mac, good to see his glove in there. Callaspo single to LF, Gordon at bat, Callaspo is stealing, Gordon strikes out and Barajas catches Callaspo, Johnny Mac didn’t drop that one. Nice tidy first inning for all.
Top 2nd: Hill grounds to SS beats out throw, Lind lines to Gload at 1B, double play. Ouch. Barajas pops up to 2B. Quick inning.
Bottom 2nd: Guillen pops to Overbay, Teahen grounds out to Hill at 2B, Butler pops up to Hill. Very nice inning Jessse.
Top 3rd: McDonald grounds back to Meche, Alex single to CF, his second hit of day, Overbay strikes out, Rolen lines to LF. Leaves Alex on base.
Bottom 3rd: Olivo grounds to McDonald, Gload single to RF, Pena back to Litsch, error on Jesse, Pena safe at 1B, Gload to 2B, Oh no another throwing error by Jesse sends Gload to 3B and Pena to 2B, two in scoring position with one out. We don’t need this….. top of order coming up. DeJesus, singles to CF, Gload and Pena score AND an error by Wells gets DeJesus to 2B in scoring position. This game is all tied up….. How many times has this happened this week after Jays get a lead ? 2-2 with only one out. Come on Jesse. But added pressure now from Vernon with runner in scoring position. Vernon will be glad when April is over. Callaspo grounds out to Hill, DeJesus to 3B, two down. Gordon at bat strikes out…. Clutch pitching by Litsch. Now Jays have to get those bats moving again.
Top 4th: Stairs flies out to CF, Wells flies out to CF, Hill single to CF, on base for second time, perhaps the lack of pressure in lineup is helping him today, Lind walks on full count, Hill at 2B, Barajas strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Guillen fly ball to Wells, Teahen grounds to Hill at 2B, Butler pops up to McDonald. Good neat inning for Jesse keeping Kansas quiet until Jays bats can wake up……
Top 5th: McDonald fly ball to LF, Rios single to LF, his third hit of the game !!!! Leadoff spot certainly helping him today…. Poses some interesting questions for Eckstein return. Overbay fly ball to CF, two down.
Rolen singles to LF, Rios to 3B and now being waved home on Guillens mental error throwing to 2B and not to cutoff, Alex scores 3-2 Jays. Rolen’s second hit and second rbi for today. He is also happy with the new lineup. Stairs strikes out. Jays retake lead 3-2. NOW Jesse please this is big inning…..
Bottom 5th: Olivo strikes out, Gload singles to CF, Pena grounds to SS. Johnny Mac turns double play, perfect. That's it Jesse.
Top 6th: Wells grounds to Meche, I think every Jays fan is hoping that every bat he takes is the start of a new hit streak but so far Vernon is awful. Hill fly ball to RF, Lind grounds to 2B. No sign yet of his great bat, but he himself said that the majors are a little different from AAA.
Bottom 6th: DeJesus fly ball to Lind in LF, Callaspo grounds to Hill. Gordon strikes out. Litsch is certainly doing his part today.
Top 7th: One run lead will not be enough. Someone, somewhere has to get it going. On cue, Barajas singles to CF, McDonald pops up to Callaspo at 2B, Rios on base three times in first three at bats, not this time, fly ball to RF, Overbay’s turn singles to LF, Barajas to 2B. That’s it for Meche. Peralta now in pitching to Rolen. Scott pops up to Callaspo.
Bottom 7th: Litsch still pitching. Guillen fly ball to Wells, Teahen singles to RF, Butler grounds in front of Barajas, gets him at 1B, Olivo not a happy guy today, lines out to McDonald. Jesse has pitched his heart out today and is in line for deserved win. BUT that’s what we said about the last few Jays pitchers…
Top 8th: Stairs walks, Wells 0-3 today and 0-100 at least it seems like this week, singles to CF, yeah Vernon, perfect timing, Stairs to 3B, Wells stealing, Olive throws him out, Vernon, Vernon, Vernon…. So excited about getting on base I guess we all would do the same. Still only one out and Stairs at 3B, Hill grounds out to 3B of all the places, Stairs has to hold. Lind grounds to 1B. Stairs is left on base at third.
Bottom 8th: Jesse is gone, in his place B.J.Ryan… This confirms t o me that Gibbons has NO faith that Jays can hold this lead and believes there will not be a ninth to let BJ get save. This is the second game he has done this. First time he was right on.That doesn’t augur well for BJ and save opportunities. Accardo pitched yesterday so who will be out there in the ninth? Gload fly ball to Wells in CF, Pena strikes out, two down, DeJesus fly ball to CF. B.J. Ryan continues successful comeback. Jays still 3-2. Need some insurance.
Top 9th: Barajas fly ball to Guillen in LF, Johnny Mac doubles to CF, his first hit of game, Rios doubles to CF his fourth hit of game, second double, and goes with his triple and single. McDonald held at 3B, Gobble now pitching. Overbay grounder and safe on fielder’s choice McDonald scores 4-2, Rios to 3B, error to Pena and Rios scores on error. 5-2 Jays. Gobble wild pitch, Overbay moves into scoring position at 2B. Stairs long overdue today strikes out. Perhaps Matt it will not be necessary today. Jays ahead 5-2 BUT no BJ to finish off for save.
Bottom 9th: Jesse Carlson !!! pitching for save. Well I can’t deny his potential in this situation but my fear is that Gibbons is overusing him, he pitched yesterday also. This is a Gibbons strategy, if he finds a good bullpen thrower he will use him until he fails.
Well here we go, for a change Jays in lead in the 9th. Callaspo singles to RF, oh no… here we go again… Gordon grounds to Hill, DOUBLE PLAY…. Lady luck on Jays side today. Guillen grounds to Johnny Mac, he makes NO mistake. This game is over, losing streak ends at six, Carlson picks up his save and Gibbons is a lineup hero of today.
Now tomorrow off to Fenway for Tuesday game. Boston will be in foul mood having lost series to Tampa today, and will want revenge for the sweep in Toronto early in month. Jays have work cut out for them.
But factors in favour are start with Halladay and top of lineup for the series. Boston did not see Burnett and McGowan in Toronto. Other factors are return to form by Rios and don't be surprised to see him leadoff again in the series, perhaps even with Eckstein at number nine. Other x factors are Rolen four rbis since return to lineup and Vernon who has to have a good game one day.....
Lots to fight for today…. Will Gibbons make the changes necessary? Line- up changes, move Rios and Wells at least? Will Eckstein get a break before Boston series?
How will Jesse Litsch fare? Lots of pressure on him today with the bats in such a slump. Hope Jesse will not try to overdo it and win it all himself. But he is the number 5 in lineup and the first four have not won although to be fair they have all pitched well apart from McGowan. Jesse up against Meche also very good pitcher and one the Jays wanted. Will Kansas do the unthinkable and sweep the sad Jays or will the real Jays show up?
Jays WIN ! 5-2.
Finally. We knew it would happen one day but this is how it should be going into Fenway on Tuesday, far better on win streak than 7-0 losing streak.
The very good: Jesse Litsch seven two hit two run innings. Kept Jays in game for bats to come alive. Bullpen of Ryan and Carlson hold and save. Rios four hit game with three runs. Gets his averag now to .330, Rolen HR and two hits and two rbis. In thee games since activiation he has four rbis. Perfect timing for Fenway.
The good: Overbay and Hill plus Barajas throw to catch Callapso in 1st.
The bad: No bad today, lets enjoy the win. BUT Vernon still bothers although he did break his drought. Perhaps with less pressure on him he can take time to get that swing relaxed and productive in Boston.
Lineups: Jays. YES indeed changes by Gibbons (see yesterday's suggestions.)
Rios lead off (with Eckstein day off), Overbay, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Hill, Lind, Barajas and Johnny Mac for Eckstein. Starting for a change. One of the criticisms has been the fact that the best Shortstop in League has been sitting on bench too long. But hard to sit Eckstein also.
I like this lineup. Moves Wells down, Hill is protecting him, Rolen moves up, Stairs in cleanup. I can see some of these changing when Alex and Vernon get their swings back but for now, a good lineup. Barajas a better bat than Zaun, some sacrifice being made with Johnny Mac but will provide stronger defence perhaps to stop runs being scored ??? and his throw is much better defensively. Overbay is a much better bat than his average but his on-base percentage earns him number two spot and provides better percentage on base guy for Rolen and Stairs. Litsch pitching.
Kansas: DeJesus, Callaspo, Gordon, Guillen, Teahen, Butler, Olivo (catching), Gload, Pena and Gil Meche pitching.
The game: Top 1st. Rios leadoff triple, great start !!! surely Jays can bring him in….. please…. Wild pitch by Meche, Alex scores 1-0 Jays. That’s fine, Jays will take it the way bats are hitting. Interesting last run scored last night was on an error. Soon Jays bats will get honest runs. Overbay no pressure Lyle, fly ball to RF Teahen, would have scored Alex but this time no rbi Lyle. Rolen now way up the order. And deservedly so based on his first two games. Scott HR to CF. Wow… 2-0 Jays, great start and Gibbons is a genius. Stairs grounds out to 2B, Wells way down order today, no pressure on you Vernon now, take your time… grounds to SS. Great start 2-0 Jays.
Bottom 1st: Jesse LItsch pitching. DeJesus grounds to Johnny Mac, good to see his glove in there. Callaspo single to LF, Gordon at bat, Callaspo is stealing, Gordon strikes out and Barajas catches Callaspo, Johnny Mac didn’t drop that one. Nice tidy first inning for all.
Top 2nd: Hill grounds to SS beats out throw, Lind lines to Gload at 1B, double play. Ouch. Barajas pops up to 2B. Quick inning.
Bottom 2nd: Guillen pops to Overbay, Teahen grounds out to Hill at 2B, Butler pops up to Hill. Very nice inning Jessse.
Top 3rd: McDonald grounds back to Meche, Alex single to CF, his second hit of day, Overbay strikes out, Rolen lines to LF. Leaves Alex on base.
Bottom 3rd: Olivo grounds to McDonald, Gload single to RF, Pena back to Litsch, error on Jesse, Pena safe at 1B, Gload to 2B, Oh no another throwing error by Jesse sends Gload to 3B and Pena to 2B, two in scoring position with one out. We don’t need this….. top of order coming up. DeJesus, singles to CF, Gload and Pena score AND an error by Wells gets DeJesus to 2B in scoring position. This game is all tied up….. How many times has this happened this week after Jays get a lead ? 2-2 with only one out. Come on Jesse. But added pressure now from Vernon with runner in scoring position. Vernon will be glad when April is over. Callaspo grounds out to Hill, DeJesus to 3B, two down. Gordon at bat strikes out…. Clutch pitching by Litsch. Now Jays have to get those bats moving again.
Top 4th: Stairs flies out to CF, Wells flies out to CF, Hill single to CF, on base for second time, perhaps the lack of pressure in lineup is helping him today, Lind walks on full count, Hill at 2B, Barajas strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Guillen fly ball to Wells, Teahen grounds to Hill at 2B, Butler pops up to McDonald. Good neat inning for Jesse keeping Kansas quiet until Jays bats can wake up……
Top 5th: McDonald fly ball to LF, Rios single to LF, his third hit of the game !!!! Leadoff spot certainly helping him today…. Poses some interesting questions for Eckstein return. Overbay fly ball to CF, two down.
Rolen singles to LF, Rios to 3B and now being waved home on Guillens mental error throwing to 2B and not to cutoff, Alex scores 3-2 Jays. Rolen’s second hit and second rbi for today. He is also happy with the new lineup. Stairs strikes out. Jays retake lead 3-2. NOW Jesse please this is big inning…..
Bottom 5th: Olivo strikes out, Gload singles to CF, Pena grounds to SS. Johnny Mac turns double play, perfect. That's it Jesse.
Top 6th: Wells grounds to Meche, I think every Jays fan is hoping that every bat he takes is the start of a new hit streak but so far Vernon is awful. Hill fly ball to RF, Lind grounds to 2B. No sign yet of his great bat, but he himself said that the majors are a little different from AAA.
Bottom 6th: DeJesus fly ball to Lind in LF, Callaspo grounds to Hill. Gordon strikes out. Litsch is certainly doing his part today.
Top 7th: One run lead will not be enough. Someone, somewhere has to get it going. On cue, Barajas singles to CF, McDonald pops up to Callaspo at 2B, Rios on base three times in first three at bats, not this time, fly ball to RF, Overbay’s turn singles to LF, Barajas to 2B. That’s it for Meche. Peralta now in pitching to Rolen. Scott pops up to Callaspo.
Bottom 7th: Litsch still pitching. Guillen fly ball to Wells, Teahen singles to RF, Butler grounds in front of Barajas, gets him at 1B, Olivo not a happy guy today, lines out to McDonald. Jesse has pitched his heart out today and is in line for deserved win. BUT that’s what we said about the last few Jays pitchers…
Top 8th: Stairs walks, Wells 0-3 today and 0-100 at least it seems like this week, singles to CF, yeah Vernon, perfect timing, Stairs to 3B, Wells stealing, Olive throws him out, Vernon, Vernon, Vernon…. So excited about getting on base I guess we all would do the same. Still only one out and Stairs at 3B, Hill grounds out to 3B of all the places, Stairs has to hold. Lind grounds to 1B. Stairs is left on base at third.
Bottom 8th: Jesse is gone, in his place B.J.Ryan… This confirms t o me that Gibbons has NO faith that Jays can hold this lead and believes there will not be a ninth to let BJ get save. This is the second game he has done this. First time he was right on.That doesn’t augur well for BJ and save opportunities. Accardo pitched yesterday so who will be out there in the ninth? Gload fly ball to Wells in CF, Pena strikes out, two down, DeJesus fly ball to CF. B.J. Ryan continues successful comeback. Jays still 3-2. Need some insurance.
Top 9th: Barajas fly ball to Guillen in LF, Johnny Mac doubles to CF, his first hit of game, Rios doubles to CF his fourth hit of game, second double, and goes with his triple and single. McDonald held at 3B, Gobble now pitching. Overbay grounder and safe on fielder’s choice McDonald scores 4-2, Rios to 3B, error to Pena and Rios scores on error. 5-2 Jays. Gobble wild pitch, Overbay moves into scoring position at 2B. Stairs long overdue today strikes out. Perhaps Matt it will not be necessary today. Jays ahead 5-2 BUT no BJ to finish off for save.
Bottom 9th: Jesse Carlson !!! pitching for save. Well I can’t deny his potential in this situation but my fear is that Gibbons is overusing him, he pitched yesterday also. This is a Gibbons strategy, if he finds a good bullpen thrower he will use him until he fails.
Well here we go, for a change Jays in lead in the 9th. Callaspo singles to RF, oh no… here we go again… Gordon grounds to Hill, DOUBLE PLAY…. Lady luck on Jays side today. Guillen grounds to Johnny Mac, he makes NO mistake. This game is over, losing streak ends at six, Carlson picks up his save and Gibbons is a lineup hero of today.
Now tomorrow off to Fenway for Tuesday game. Boston will be in foul mood having lost series to Tampa today, and will want revenge for the sweep in Toronto early in month. Jays have work cut out for them.
But factors in favour are start with Halladay and top of lineup for the series. Boston did not see Burnett and McGowan in Toronto. Other factors are return to form by Rios and don't be surprised to see him leadoff again in the series, perhaps even with Eckstein at number nine. Other x factors are Rolen four rbis since return to lineup and Vernon who has to have a good game one day.....
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Ditto, Ditto with runners in scoring position
Saturday April 26, 2008 Jays v Kansas
Jays lose another 2-1.
Now question is what does JP do with this team ? or does he wait until end of road trip? It was last weekend when he released Thomas… Other question what does Gibbons do with the batting order ? Will he move Rios and Wells way down. Try Eckstein, Hill, Stairs, Rolen, Overbay, Wells and Rios. Shame these guys into some fire. I don't think Gibbons should go. (yet)
The good: Marcum fine outing like Burnett gives the team a chance to win. Rolen bat and glove, Eckstein bat.
The bad: 35th double play by Jays in 2008, number 1 in league.
The very, very bad: Jays leave 11 on base, 1-14 runners in scoring position.
What they said today: Kansas. Buck. "I can understand why a lot of people might feel a little gun shy after the last seven losses. This team has a lot of fight. We're not so young or shy anymore. We got in one of those ruts, where we weren't pitching and we weren't hitting. It was good to win that type of ball game. It was good to get a win coming-from-behind the way we've been struggling."
Toronto: John Gibbons re Rolen: "We don't expect him to come in here and carry the team," before Friday's game. "Just having him around is going to give us a boost." Re losing streak: We're in a rut," "We're rock bottom right now."
As for Gibbons, there were questions about why he left Burnett so long."My thinking (was) if (left-handed hitter Mark) Teahen was the winning run (then Downs would face him)," said Gibbons, referring to the fact that Teahen represented only the tying run and was coming up with one out. "We wanted A.J. to face (Billy) Butler (the next batter, a right-handed hitter). A.J. was strong, he was fine."
Eckstein on his error: "I missed it, that shouldn't happen out there," "Having Scott (Rolen)back healthy is definitely great ... if I could just catch the ball we'd of been all right."
Darin Fletcher on off-season preparation. “Drank coffee and ate donuts” and “ do you ever see a cheetah stretch before he takes off after antelope ?”
Jays five-game losing streak is their longest since a nine game skid in May 2007.
Lineups: Jays Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Rolen, Overbay, Lind, LF finally arrived tonight for Stewart with the flu, Zaun with Marcum pitching.
Royals: DeJesus, Callaspo , Gordon, Guillen, Teahen, Butler, Gload, Buck, Tony Pena Jr. Hochevar pitching.
The game: Top 1. Hochevar pitching. Eckstein 1-5 last night, strike out. Hill first pitch swing fly ball to CF, Rios single to RF, Wells 0-8 batting, Rios stealing safe and throw into CF sixth SB for Rios, full count to Vernon, strikes out.
Bottom 2: DeJesus strike out, Callaspo strike out, Gordon walks, Guillen lines to Hill at 2B.
Top 2: Stairs, grounds to 1B, Rolen, walks, Overbay walks on four pitches, Lind, takes 1st pitch I like it after two walks, grounds to 3B Royals only get one, Overbay at 2B, Rolen at 3B, Lind at 1B, Can Zaun bring one in ? grounds to 1B.
Bottom 2nd: Teahen, grounds to Overbay at 1B, Butler, grounds to Rolen at 3B two down. Gload strikes out. Marcum three strike outs.
Top 3rd: Eckstein, single to CF, Hill, hit and run but Hill misses and Eckstein safe at 2B, flyball to RF and Eckstein moves to 3B. Two chances now the Eckstein at 3B, Rios and Wells ? Can one of these guys get it? Not Rios who grounds to 3B, Wells ? grounds to 2B, Wells and Rios are the major problem right now with this team. Jays 0-6 with runners in scoring position. If this continues Gibbons must change lineup and move these two. Perhaps split them up or move them to 6 and 7.
Bottom 3rd: Buck, fly ball to Lind. Pena triple of LF wall, DeJesus grounds to 2B Hill gets Pena at home, DeJesus at 1B, Callaspo walks, Gordon walks bases loaded, Guillen at bat, Marcum 64 pitches , grounds to Rolen gets runner at 2B.
Top 4th: Stairs, grounds to 1B, Rolen, double to RF same place last night, Overbay at bat, Rolen steals 3B without throw, aggressive yeah!…. Overbay grounds to 1B, Lind grounds to 2B. Oh man. Jays 0-8 with runners in scoring position. Awful or just pathetic ?
Bottom 4th: Teahen, double down RF line, Butler, fly ball to Rios. Gload single to RF, 1-0 Kansas. Buck fly ball to CF two down, Pena lines to Rolen nice catch. Could have been lot worse for Marcum.
Top 5th: Zaun, double to CF, leadoff in scoring position. Eckstein, great at bat nine pitches, singles to RF, Zaun 3B, Hill at bat. Jays 1-9 in scoring position this game, horrible swung at awful pitch, strikes out, Rios grounds to Pena at SS, bobbles ball, error, Zaun scores,1-1. Rios safe at 1B, Eckstein at 2B, 1-1. Wells with two on. Grounds to 3B, double play. Ouch big time for Vernon.
Bottom 5th: DeJesus liner at Eckstein, Callaspo lines to Overbay nice catch, Gordon, lines bullet to Rolen what a great catch. Gold glove yeah…. Good inning by Marcum. Needed that one.
Top 6th: Hochevar 91 pitches Marcum 86. Stairs single to RF, Rolen grounds to 2B, double play, Overbay grounds to SS.
Bottom 6th: Guillen, HR inside foul pole LF 2-1 Kansas, Teahen grounds to Overbay, 1 down, Butler fly ball to LF, Gload, lines back to Marcum nice fielding. 2-1 Kansas.
Top 7th: Mahay pitching. Lind, pop up to shallow LF, Zaun, walks, Eckstein fly ball to CF, two down, Hill fly ball to the CF wall. Great hit but long out.
Bottom 7th: Marcum still pitching, Buck fly ball to Lind nice running catch, Pena roller to Marcum throws out at 1B, two down, DeJesus, strikes out. Very nice inning by Marcum, 109 pitches tonight, he has done his job.
Top 8th: The POWER bats…. Rios, Wells and Stairs, what can they do this time? Tonight Jays 1-10 with runners in scoring position and that run was on an error. Rios, Nunez now pitching, walks on four pitches, Hillman out, no change of pitcher, Wells 0-3 tonight and way overdue, pops up to 1B, Stairs you know he will not lie down like Wells, yes Matt, singles to RF, Rios to 3B, That’s it for Nunez. Rolen, with Rios at 3B and Stairs at 1B, Ramon Ramirez pitching, Johnny Mac running for Stairs, strikes out, walks him, nice at bat Lyle, didn’t bite at low pitches, Bases loaded for Lind…. Grounds to Pena, from his knees throws Lind out. Great play by Pena, Jays can’t buy any luck here. Nine times out of ten that is a run but when things are going badly, you don’t get any breaks.
Bottom 8th: Carlson pitching, his ninth game. Callaspo single to RF, Gordon, strikes out, here comes Captain Hook. Accardo now pitching. Guillen lines to Rios in RF, Teahen grounds to Overbay.
Top 9th: Soria pitching. Zaun, fly ball to LF, Eckstein single to CF, third hit for Eckstein tonight, Hill 0-4, fly ball to CF, two down, Rios fly ball to LF. Jays lose sixth in a row.
Jays lose another 2-1.
Now question is what does JP do with this team ? or does he wait until end of road trip? It was last weekend when he released Thomas… Other question what does Gibbons do with the batting order ? Will he move Rios and Wells way down. Try Eckstein, Hill, Stairs, Rolen, Overbay, Wells and Rios. Shame these guys into some fire. I don't think Gibbons should go. (yet)
The good: Marcum fine outing like Burnett gives the team a chance to win. Rolen bat and glove, Eckstein bat.
The bad: 35th double play by Jays in 2008, number 1 in league.
The very, very bad: Jays leave 11 on base, 1-14 runners in scoring position.
What they said today: Kansas. Buck. "I can understand why a lot of people might feel a little gun shy after the last seven losses. This team has a lot of fight. We're not so young or shy anymore. We got in one of those ruts, where we weren't pitching and we weren't hitting. It was good to win that type of ball game. It was good to get a win coming-from-behind the way we've been struggling."
Toronto: John Gibbons re Rolen: "We don't expect him to come in here and carry the team," before Friday's game. "Just having him around is going to give us a boost." Re losing streak: We're in a rut," "We're rock bottom right now."
As for Gibbons, there were questions about why he left Burnett so long."My thinking (was) if (left-handed hitter Mark) Teahen was the winning run (then Downs would face him)," said Gibbons, referring to the fact that Teahen represented only the tying run and was coming up with one out. "We wanted A.J. to face (Billy) Butler (the next batter, a right-handed hitter). A.J. was strong, he was fine."
Eckstein on his error: "I missed it, that shouldn't happen out there," "Having Scott (Rolen)back healthy is definitely great ... if I could just catch the ball we'd of been all right."
Darin Fletcher on off-season preparation. “Drank coffee and ate donuts” and “ do you ever see a cheetah stretch before he takes off after antelope ?”
Jays five-game losing streak is their longest since a nine game skid in May 2007.
Lineups: Jays Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Rolen, Overbay, Lind, LF finally arrived tonight for Stewart with the flu, Zaun with Marcum pitching.
Royals: DeJesus, Callaspo , Gordon, Guillen, Teahen, Butler, Gload, Buck, Tony Pena Jr. Hochevar pitching.
The game: Top 1. Hochevar pitching. Eckstein 1-5 last night, strike out. Hill first pitch swing fly ball to CF, Rios single to RF, Wells 0-8 batting, Rios stealing safe and throw into CF sixth SB for Rios, full count to Vernon, strikes out.
Bottom 2: DeJesus strike out, Callaspo strike out, Gordon walks, Guillen lines to Hill at 2B.
Top 2: Stairs, grounds to 1B, Rolen, walks, Overbay walks on four pitches, Lind, takes 1st pitch I like it after two walks, grounds to 3B Royals only get one, Overbay at 2B, Rolen at 3B, Lind at 1B, Can Zaun bring one in ? grounds to 1B.
Bottom 2nd: Teahen, grounds to Overbay at 1B, Butler, grounds to Rolen at 3B two down. Gload strikes out. Marcum three strike outs.
Top 3rd: Eckstein, single to CF, Hill, hit and run but Hill misses and Eckstein safe at 2B, flyball to RF and Eckstein moves to 3B. Two chances now the Eckstein at 3B, Rios and Wells ? Can one of these guys get it? Not Rios who grounds to 3B, Wells ? grounds to 2B, Wells and Rios are the major problem right now with this team. Jays 0-6 with runners in scoring position. If this continues Gibbons must change lineup and move these two. Perhaps split them up or move them to 6 and 7.
Bottom 3rd: Buck, fly ball to Lind. Pena triple of LF wall, DeJesus grounds to 2B Hill gets Pena at home, DeJesus at 1B, Callaspo walks, Gordon walks bases loaded, Guillen at bat, Marcum 64 pitches , grounds to Rolen gets runner at 2B.
Top 4th: Stairs, grounds to 1B, Rolen, double to RF same place last night, Overbay at bat, Rolen steals 3B without throw, aggressive yeah!…. Overbay grounds to 1B, Lind grounds to 2B. Oh man. Jays 0-8 with runners in scoring position. Awful or just pathetic ?
Bottom 4th: Teahen, double down RF line, Butler, fly ball to Rios. Gload single to RF, 1-0 Kansas. Buck fly ball to CF two down, Pena lines to Rolen nice catch. Could have been lot worse for Marcum.
Top 5th: Zaun, double to CF, leadoff in scoring position. Eckstein, great at bat nine pitches, singles to RF, Zaun 3B, Hill at bat. Jays 1-9 in scoring position this game, horrible swung at awful pitch, strikes out, Rios grounds to Pena at SS, bobbles ball, error, Zaun scores,1-1. Rios safe at 1B, Eckstein at 2B, 1-1. Wells with two on. Grounds to 3B, double play. Ouch big time for Vernon.
Bottom 5th: DeJesus liner at Eckstein, Callaspo lines to Overbay nice catch, Gordon, lines bullet to Rolen what a great catch. Gold glove yeah…. Good inning by Marcum. Needed that one.
Top 6th: Hochevar 91 pitches Marcum 86. Stairs single to RF, Rolen grounds to 2B, double play, Overbay grounds to SS.
Bottom 6th: Guillen, HR inside foul pole LF 2-1 Kansas, Teahen grounds to Overbay, 1 down, Butler fly ball to LF, Gload, lines back to Marcum nice fielding. 2-1 Kansas.
Top 7th: Mahay pitching. Lind, pop up to shallow LF, Zaun, walks, Eckstein fly ball to CF, two down, Hill fly ball to the CF wall. Great hit but long out.
Bottom 7th: Marcum still pitching, Buck fly ball to Lind nice running catch, Pena roller to Marcum throws out at 1B, two down, DeJesus, strikes out. Very nice inning by Marcum, 109 pitches tonight, he has done his job.
Top 8th: The POWER bats…. Rios, Wells and Stairs, what can they do this time? Tonight Jays 1-10 with runners in scoring position and that run was on an error. Rios, Nunez now pitching, walks on four pitches, Hillman out, no change of pitcher, Wells 0-3 tonight and way overdue, pops up to 1B, Stairs you know he will not lie down like Wells, yes Matt, singles to RF, Rios to 3B, That’s it for Nunez. Rolen, with Rios at 3B and Stairs at 1B, Ramon Ramirez pitching, Johnny Mac running for Stairs, strikes out, walks him, nice at bat Lyle, didn’t bite at low pitches, Bases loaded for Lind…. Grounds to Pena, from his knees throws Lind out. Great play by Pena, Jays can’t buy any luck here. Nine times out of ten that is a run but when things are going badly, you don’t get any breaks.
Bottom 8th: Carlson pitching, his ninth game. Callaspo single to RF, Gordon, strikes out, here comes Captain Hook. Accardo now pitching. Guillen lines to Rios in RF, Teahen grounds to Overbay.
Top 9th: Soria pitching. Zaun, fly ball to LF, Eckstein single to CF, third hit for Eckstein tonight, Hill 0-4, fly ball to CF, two down, Rios fly ball to LF. Jays lose sixth in a row.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Five and counting. Lousy defence tonight sinks Jays.
Friday April 25 2008. Toronto v Kansas in Kansas.
Before the game:
Lots of insightful comment: “losing streak tough, due to break out ““Rolen is big part of team, make us better.”
and a classic Gibbonsism from Manager before game “One of us is due to win “ That’s very insightful John..
Gregg Zaun "We're playing well below our capability," "We've had some moments of brilliance. We get some great individual performances from people night in and night out. But as a team, we haven't played a really solid nine-inning game in a while."
So tonight, one team on losing streak of four another on seven and two hard losses in the double header for Kansas the night before. Royals have scored three runs or fewer in five losses. Odds should be in favour of Jays tonight. But we all know about Jays percentages. Jays 2-21 runners in scoring position in the Tampa series.
Final score: Jays 4 Royals 8 but it was the way they lost tonight that hurts.
Defence was the culprit tonight, makes a change from batting and pitching I guess. Nothing else left is there ? in this horrible slump.
The very good: Burnett pitching into the 8th and deserved a win. Rolen two run double in the 8th.
The good: Overbay HR, he has been playing much better this week getting on base at least, Rios 2-4 tonight.
The bad: Sloppy fielding by Rios and Wells. Horrible batting from most of team.
The very bad: Two errors Eckstein and especially the double play miss in 8th that leads to the avalanche.
Lineups
Jays: Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Rolen, Overbay, Stewart, Barajas and Burnett pitching.
Kansas: De Jesus, Callapso, Gordon, Guillen ,Teahen, Butler, Gload, Buck, Tony Pena jr
Burnett won both starts in 2007 against Kansas while posting a 1.29 ERA. He's 2-1 with a 3.67 ERA in four career outings versus Kansas City. Toronto won four of seven meetings against Kansas 2007..
Cold and windy night Kansas had double header last night ending at midnight losing both games. Jays arrived early in the morning. Both should be tired but I would imagine a double header loss finishing at midnight is the rougher of the two on players.
The game:
Top 1st: Greinke young guy. only 24. Eckstein 1-10 in last three games, but career .365 batter at Kauffman Stadium, where he's hit safely in 18 of 19 games makes it 19 of 20 and loops single into LF, Hill only two hits in last 3 games, full count, pops to Guillen, Rios, fly ball to RF, Wells, grounds out to SS.
Bottom 1st: Burnett pitching, which AJ is around tonight ? De Jesus pops to Rolen, Callaspo grounds to SS, Gordon single to CF, Guillen strikes out. AJ 13 pitches.
Top 2nd: Stairs, ex Royal, full count, strikes out, Rolen first at bat for Jays full count, walks, Overbay at bat, Rolen running on first pitch, hit and run, Overbay single to RF and Rolen to 3B, aggression yeah ! Stewart pops up to 2B, Barajas. Jays .228 as team with runners in scoring position. Barajas strikes out leaving two on.
Bottom 2 . Teahen at bat,fly ball to LF, Butler grounds to Rolen, Gload, grounds to 2B. Five pitches for Burnett great… keep that pitch count down AJ.
Top 3rd: Eckstein grounds to 2B, Hill fly ball to RF, Rios, lines to LF good catch by Guillen. Quick inning for Greinke. Jays really a big threat tonight. Two bad teams fighting it out.
Bottom 3rd: Buck bounces back to Burnett bare hands throws him out at 1B, Tony Pena Jr. .136 average grounds to SS first pitch. De Jesus walks, Callaspo, De Jesus bouncing around at 1B, balk called on Burnett, De Jesus to 2B, Callaspo strikes out.
Top 4th: Wells first pitch swing fly ball to LF, Stairs double to LF, nice running by Stairs, tested LF throw, Rolen fly ball to wall, 0-3 runners in scoring position, Overbay pops up to SS,
Bottom 4th: Gordon strikes out, Guillen strikes out, Teahen singles to CF, Burnett balk, Teahen to 2B, Butler grounds to 2B.
Top 5th: Stewart grounds out 3B, Barajas fouls out to catcher, Eckstein strikes out.
Bottom 5th: Gload doubles to CF, Burnett wild pitch, Glaod to 3B. Buck doubles to RF Gload scores, 1-0 Kansas. Pena sacrifice bunt, DeJesus strikes out, Callaspo walks four pitches, Gordon grounds to SS.
Top 6th: Hill grounds out to 3B, Rios infield single to 3B, Wells flies out to RF, Stairs grounds to pitcher.
Bottom 6th: Guillen fly ball to RF, Teahen fly ball to LF, Butler ground ball to 3B.
Top 7th : Rolen grounds to SS, first pitch, Overbay HR Lyle CF 1-1 first for Lyle in 44 games since August 2--7, Stewart awful strike, pitch way off plate, Barajas high fly to LF.
Bottom 7th: Burnett 72 pitches Greinke 93 pitches. Gload full count strikes out, Buck grounds to SS, throw wild error to Eckstein, Buck at 1B, Pena single to LF, diving Hill cannot get it, two on, De Jesus single to CF, run scores 2-1 Royals. Callaspo at bat, Pena at 3B, Barajas fakes throw to 2B and gets Pena at 3B, great heads up play by Barajas, huge out. Two down, De Jesus to 2B on the play, Callaspo grounds to 3B.
Top 8th: Leo Nunez pitching. Eckstein grounds back to Nunez, Hill single to LF, Rios double to LF, Hill at 3B, Rios to 2B, Wells, grounds out to SS, Hill scores, 2-2. Rios to 3B, Wells out, Stairs hits Stairs on shoulder, Rolen at bat, don’t be a hero Scott just a hit, YES!!! two run double to left centre, 4-2 Jays. Overbay at bat, grounds to 2B (by the way friends, Frank would not have scored from 1B as Stairs did).
Bottom 8th: Burnett still pitching, Gordon pops out to Rolen, Guillen single to RF, 94 pitches. Teahen walks on full count, Arnsberg out there, Butler singles to LF, Guillen scores, 4-3 Jays. That’s it for AJ, nice game, just couldn’t finish it off but that’s what bullpens are for. Downs now in lefty lefty match up.. One down two on. Gload back to Downs, turns and throws to 2B Eckstein drops ball run scores, that was double play ball. 4-4. Second error of game for Eckstein. Buck singles down LF line, run scores from 2B. 5-4 Kansas, two on at 2 and 3B, Pena, puts him on intentional. Bases loaded for De Jesus, singles to RF two runs score 7-4 Kansas. Rios might have had a throw at 3B but doesn’t bother. And runner goes to 3B. sloppy. Callaspo with runners at 1B and 3B, single to CF, single but error by Wells as he fumbles ball, scores run 8-4 Kansas, that’s it for Downs. Frasor now in. Runners at 2B and 3B Gordon at bat, strikes out, two down both Gordon at bats !! Guillen at bat, chopper down 1B line Frasor fields to 1B. End of terrible inning, with two errors and six runs after going ahead in top of the inning.
Top 9th: Soria the closer. OK Jays what do you have ? any guts ? Stewart grounds to SS, Zaun pinch hit for Barajas, same again to SS, Eckstein the goat tonight, fitting that he is last at bat, grounds to 2B.
Tale of three games: Great pitching for 7 innings. Jays take lead 4-2 then Royals finish them off with six in bottom of same inning.
Epilogue: Tomorrow another game. Were there any good signs tonight ? Yes indeed and that is what we have to focus on. Great pitching from AJ, Scott Rolen is back and swinging so is Overbay, Rios 2-4. We know the fielding is usually very good, tonight was aberration especially for Eckstein. The hole is much deeper but this team is supposed to be able to put some wins together. And they have to find a way very quickly to salvage this road trip. How about a run of five wins ??
Now I believe the big question is how far with management go with John Gibbons ? Will he be history if Jays don’t turn this road trip around ? Someone has to pay, this team has been built up too much to accept underachieving this season.
Footnote: Rays beat up on Red Sox and Yankees lose to hot Indians. SO…… Jays don’t lose ground to those at the top but Rays go further ahead. Boston has lost three in a row now.
Before the game:
Lots of insightful comment: “losing streak tough, due to break out ““Rolen is big part of team, make us better.”
and a classic Gibbonsism from Manager before game “One of us is due to win “ That’s very insightful John..
Gregg Zaun "We're playing well below our capability," "We've had some moments of brilliance. We get some great individual performances from people night in and night out. But as a team, we haven't played a really solid nine-inning game in a while."
So tonight, one team on losing streak of four another on seven and two hard losses in the double header for Kansas the night before. Royals have scored three runs or fewer in five losses. Odds should be in favour of Jays tonight. But we all know about Jays percentages. Jays 2-21 runners in scoring position in the Tampa series.
Final score: Jays 4 Royals 8 but it was the way they lost tonight that hurts.
Defence was the culprit tonight, makes a change from batting and pitching I guess. Nothing else left is there ? in this horrible slump.
The very good: Burnett pitching into the 8th and deserved a win. Rolen two run double in the 8th.
The good: Overbay HR, he has been playing much better this week getting on base at least, Rios 2-4 tonight.
The bad: Sloppy fielding by Rios and Wells. Horrible batting from most of team.
The very bad: Two errors Eckstein and especially the double play miss in 8th that leads to the avalanche.
Lineups
Jays: Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Rolen, Overbay, Stewart, Barajas and Burnett pitching.
Kansas: De Jesus, Callapso, Gordon, Guillen ,Teahen, Butler, Gload, Buck, Tony Pena jr
Burnett won both starts in 2007 against Kansas while posting a 1.29 ERA. He's 2-1 with a 3.67 ERA in four career outings versus Kansas City. Toronto won four of seven meetings against Kansas 2007..
Cold and windy night Kansas had double header last night ending at midnight losing both games. Jays arrived early in the morning. Both should be tired but I would imagine a double header loss finishing at midnight is the rougher of the two on players.
The game:
Top 1st: Greinke young guy. only 24. Eckstein 1-10 in last three games, but career .365 batter at Kauffman Stadium, where he's hit safely in 18 of 19 games makes it 19 of 20 and loops single into LF, Hill only two hits in last 3 games, full count, pops to Guillen, Rios, fly ball to RF, Wells, grounds out to SS.
Bottom 1st: Burnett pitching, which AJ is around tonight ? De Jesus pops to Rolen, Callaspo grounds to SS, Gordon single to CF, Guillen strikes out. AJ 13 pitches.
Top 2nd: Stairs, ex Royal, full count, strikes out, Rolen first at bat for Jays full count, walks, Overbay at bat, Rolen running on first pitch, hit and run, Overbay single to RF and Rolen to 3B, aggression yeah ! Stewart pops up to 2B, Barajas. Jays .228 as team with runners in scoring position. Barajas strikes out leaving two on.
Bottom 2 . Teahen at bat,fly ball to LF, Butler grounds to Rolen, Gload, grounds to 2B. Five pitches for Burnett great… keep that pitch count down AJ.
Top 3rd: Eckstein grounds to 2B, Hill fly ball to RF, Rios, lines to LF good catch by Guillen. Quick inning for Greinke. Jays really a big threat tonight. Two bad teams fighting it out.
Bottom 3rd: Buck bounces back to Burnett bare hands throws him out at 1B, Tony Pena Jr. .136 average grounds to SS first pitch. De Jesus walks, Callaspo, De Jesus bouncing around at 1B, balk called on Burnett, De Jesus to 2B, Callaspo strikes out.
Top 4th: Wells first pitch swing fly ball to LF, Stairs double to LF, nice running by Stairs, tested LF throw, Rolen fly ball to wall, 0-3 runners in scoring position, Overbay pops up to SS,
Bottom 4th: Gordon strikes out, Guillen strikes out, Teahen singles to CF, Burnett balk, Teahen to 2B, Butler grounds to 2B.
Top 5th: Stewart grounds out 3B, Barajas fouls out to catcher, Eckstein strikes out.
Bottom 5th: Gload doubles to CF, Burnett wild pitch, Glaod to 3B. Buck doubles to RF Gload scores, 1-0 Kansas. Pena sacrifice bunt, DeJesus strikes out, Callaspo walks four pitches, Gordon grounds to SS.
Top 6th: Hill grounds out to 3B, Rios infield single to 3B, Wells flies out to RF, Stairs grounds to pitcher.
Bottom 6th: Guillen fly ball to RF, Teahen fly ball to LF, Butler ground ball to 3B.
Top 7th : Rolen grounds to SS, first pitch, Overbay HR Lyle CF 1-1 first for Lyle in 44 games since August 2--7, Stewart awful strike, pitch way off plate, Barajas high fly to LF.
Bottom 7th: Burnett 72 pitches Greinke 93 pitches. Gload full count strikes out, Buck grounds to SS, throw wild error to Eckstein, Buck at 1B, Pena single to LF, diving Hill cannot get it, two on, De Jesus single to CF, run scores 2-1 Royals. Callaspo at bat, Pena at 3B, Barajas fakes throw to 2B and gets Pena at 3B, great heads up play by Barajas, huge out. Two down, De Jesus to 2B on the play, Callaspo grounds to 3B.
Top 8th: Leo Nunez pitching. Eckstein grounds back to Nunez, Hill single to LF, Rios double to LF, Hill at 3B, Rios to 2B, Wells, grounds out to SS, Hill scores, 2-2. Rios to 3B, Wells out, Stairs hits Stairs on shoulder, Rolen at bat, don’t be a hero Scott just a hit, YES!!! two run double to left centre, 4-2 Jays. Overbay at bat, grounds to 2B (by the way friends, Frank would not have scored from 1B as Stairs did).
Bottom 8th: Burnett still pitching, Gordon pops out to Rolen, Guillen single to RF, 94 pitches. Teahen walks on full count, Arnsberg out there, Butler singles to LF, Guillen scores, 4-3 Jays. That’s it for AJ, nice game, just couldn’t finish it off but that’s what bullpens are for. Downs now in lefty lefty match up.. One down two on. Gload back to Downs, turns and throws to 2B Eckstein drops ball run scores, that was double play ball. 4-4. Second error of game for Eckstein. Buck singles down LF line, run scores from 2B. 5-4 Kansas, two on at 2 and 3B, Pena, puts him on intentional. Bases loaded for De Jesus, singles to RF two runs score 7-4 Kansas. Rios might have had a throw at 3B but doesn’t bother. And runner goes to 3B. sloppy. Callaspo with runners at 1B and 3B, single to CF, single but error by Wells as he fumbles ball, scores run 8-4 Kansas, that’s it for Downs. Frasor now in. Runners at 2B and 3B Gordon at bat, strikes out, two down both Gordon at bats !! Guillen at bat, chopper down 1B line Frasor fields to 1B. End of terrible inning, with two errors and six runs after going ahead in top of the inning.
Top 9th: Soria the closer. OK Jays what do you have ? any guts ? Stewart grounds to SS, Zaun pinch hit for Barajas, same again to SS, Eckstein the goat tonight, fitting that he is last at bat, grounds to 2B.
Tale of three games: Great pitching for 7 innings. Jays take lead 4-2 then Royals finish them off with six in bottom of same inning.
Epilogue: Tomorrow another game. Were there any good signs tonight ? Yes indeed and that is what we have to focus on. Great pitching from AJ, Scott Rolen is back and swinging so is Overbay, Rios 2-4. We know the fielding is usually very good, tonight was aberration especially for Eckstein. The hole is much deeper but this team is supposed to be able to put some wins together. And they have to find a way very quickly to salvage this road trip. How about a run of five wins ??
Now I believe the big question is how far with management go with John Gibbons ? Will he be history if Jays don’t turn this road trip around ? Someone has to pay, this team has been built up too much to accept underachieving this season.
Footnote: Rays beat up on Red Sox and Yankees lose to hot Indians. SO…… Jays don’t lose ground to those at the top but Rays go further ahead. Boston has lost three in a row now.
Post-mortem on half dead corpse
Vancouver Jay’s comments re Rios and Overbay… Thank you.
I realize that Rios and Overbay did have excuses, BUT my point that I have been trying to make since Spring training is that this team has NO intensity or passion to rival the Rays and others. There really is no need to give young guys like Rios and Wells days off in April. They are the big bats, multi-million fat cat contracts and should be busting their guts to play and hustle everyday both in the field and at bat.
Rios will never run into the wall and has never done so, it is obviously not in his makeup, he is no Barfield or Mondesi in right field. He can throw and he can run which makes him above average in RF. Now he has more than $60 million excuses not to run into the wall.
A twisted ankle and Rios flu like symptoms ?? after a day off ? No I don’t buy that they could not pinch hit in the ninth in Wednesday’s game still only two run difference.
Remember last season when the Jays scored six in the ninth to win???? I was at that game and you KNEW they were going to do it, you could feel it. This season you KNOW they are not. I sometimes think Gibbons knows this also it explains some of his decisions. Using Diaz in the 9th, leaving good bats on the bench in later innings, using all his closers before end of game. He knows they don’t have that killer instinct that Boston has. How many games has Boston come from behind to win in the last couple of weeks ? This team so far shows no sign of being able to put their feet on opponents neck.
No one ever forgets Kirk Gibson standing on one leg hitting his home run, that is what I am talking about guts and glory. Sorry Alex, Sorry Vernon, Sorry Lyle I don’t see this in you. I don’t see you slamming bats in dugout when Gibbons gives you a day off? Sure this is early season BUT it is the overall “wait until September”, “it’s a marathon”,” it’s a long season” pithy aphorisms that drive me nuts. Excuse after excuse.
Question is what role can a Manager play ? I look no further than Joe Maddon. He has given those Rays a cockiness and swagger from the first inning on Day one in Spring training. The Crawford- Pena double steal will define the Rays season for me and the major difference between Rays and Jays. No one had ever done that in Spring training before. The confidence that Maddon gave to this young team gave them a great record in spring training and this has carried over which is what he had hoped for. Maybe it will not last the season but he has given the young players a taste of what can and will be.
The Jays, now what ? Rolen back tonight, maybe Lind soon to take pressure of left field woes. Wells and Rios ? very difficult to predict. Rios has never given a full season. Last year he disappeared after the All-Star break and the hundred home runs he hit in the derby, remember he had 21 before the break and then sank out of sight with lack of power. Season before, great first half and then infected leg. Noone knows what he can do in a full healthy season but right now he is not earning his millions by any stroke of imagination. I want to see him hustle his butt off in the field and at bat and show me that the $ I along with other fans are paying him are worth it. Vernon, who knows… Slow starter ( ooops isn’t that what Frank said also ?) Last season it was his shoulder, this season ???? Come on Vernon you are the leader of this team.
So on to the yellow brick road to Kansas…. A team struggling right now…. Should be an interesting series. But remember the Jays have to win six to have a decent road trip now. Even if they sweep Kansas and Rays lose three the best they can hope for is tied with Rays for bottom place…. Tough hole Jays… and Mr Gibbons, please,please don’t kill the only positives that you have right now, your bullpen by using them all everyday. Forget your percentage game it is obviously not working in terms of winning games. I shudder to think the state of bullpen if Halladay had not thrown three complete games.
I realize that Rios and Overbay did have excuses, BUT my point that I have been trying to make since Spring training is that this team has NO intensity or passion to rival the Rays and others. There really is no need to give young guys like Rios and Wells days off in April. They are the big bats, multi-million fat cat contracts and should be busting their guts to play and hustle everyday both in the field and at bat.
Rios will never run into the wall and has never done so, it is obviously not in his makeup, he is no Barfield or Mondesi in right field. He can throw and he can run which makes him above average in RF. Now he has more than $60 million excuses not to run into the wall.
A twisted ankle and Rios flu like symptoms ?? after a day off ? No I don’t buy that they could not pinch hit in the ninth in Wednesday’s game still only two run difference.
Remember last season when the Jays scored six in the ninth to win???? I was at that game and you KNEW they were going to do it, you could feel it. This season you KNOW they are not. I sometimes think Gibbons knows this also it explains some of his decisions. Using Diaz in the 9th, leaving good bats on the bench in later innings, using all his closers before end of game. He knows they don’t have that killer instinct that Boston has. How many games has Boston come from behind to win in the last couple of weeks ? This team so far shows no sign of being able to put their feet on opponents neck.
No one ever forgets Kirk Gibson standing on one leg hitting his home run, that is what I am talking about guts and glory. Sorry Alex, Sorry Vernon, Sorry Lyle I don’t see this in you. I don’t see you slamming bats in dugout when Gibbons gives you a day off? Sure this is early season BUT it is the overall “wait until September”, “it’s a marathon”,” it’s a long season” pithy aphorisms that drive me nuts. Excuse after excuse.
Question is what role can a Manager play ? I look no further than Joe Maddon. He has given those Rays a cockiness and swagger from the first inning on Day one in Spring training. The Crawford- Pena double steal will define the Rays season for me and the major difference between Rays and Jays. No one had ever done that in Spring training before. The confidence that Maddon gave to this young team gave them a great record in spring training and this has carried over which is what he had hoped for. Maybe it will not last the season but he has given the young players a taste of what can and will be.
The Jays, now what ? Rolen back tonight, maybe Lind soon to take pressure of left field woes. Wells and Rios ? very difficult to predict. Rios has never given a full season. Last year he disappeared after the All-Star break and the hundred home runs he hit in the derby, remember he had 21 before the break and then sank out of sight with lack of power. Season before, great first half and then infected leg. Noone knows what he can do in a full healthy season but right now he is not earning his millions by any stroke of imagination. I want to see him hustle his butt off in the field and at bat and show me that the $ I along with other fans are paying him are worth it. Vernon, who knows… Slow starter ( ooops isn’t that what Frank said also ?) Last season it was his shoulder, this season ???? Come on Vernon you are the leader of this team.
So on to the yellow brick road to Kansas…. A team struggling right now…. Should be an interesting series. But remember the Jays have to win six to have a decent road trip now. Even if they sweep Kansas and Rays lose three the best they can hope for is tied with Rays for bottom place…. Tough hole Jays… and Mr Gibbons, please,please don’t kill the only positives that you have right now, your bullpen by using them all everyday. Forget your percentage game it is obviously not working in terms of winning games. I shudder to think the state of bullpen if Halladay had not thrown three complete games.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Brooms sweep hapless Jays out of Goofy land.
Thursday April 24 2008. Jays v Tampa
Rays win 5-3 and sweep Jays first time since May 2007 against Texas in same Champions Field.
The good: still trying to find something good in this. Boston lose ? Jays only have to play Rays three times in this series ? There is nothing good here tonight. Maybe Carlson again perfect, ditto Camp and Ryan. Johnny Mac steal second in 9th to get tie run in scoring position with only one out. Zaun’s base running. Scott Rolen worked out with the team before the game and could be activated tomorrow for Kansas series.
The bad. No bats, no starting pitching. Rios getting ejected in third inning. Jays blow another lead. Jays losing streak now four in a row and seven of last nine. They are now three under .500 and three behind Rays above them in fourth spot. They have huge climb to make. They need a prolonged streak of wins to even get back in this. Right now they are playing bottom place baseball all round. Tallet pitching although runs are McGowan’s not a good outing. The guy is probably exhausted.
The very bad: McGowan seven walks in four innings. Loads bases with walks in fourth and two more in the fifth load bases with no outs. The big bats ????? numbers three four and five 0-12 tonight.
Rays killer bats were Longoria, Hinske, Navarro and Crawford. Sonnestaine goes into the seventh inning whereas McGowan is out after 4. The pitching is now starting to fray and not surprising with the bats so cold.
Lineups: Jays Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Stewart, Overbay, Scutaro, Zaun, and McGowan pitching.
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Hinske, Gross, Navarro, Bartlett, and Sonnanstine pitching
The game: Top 1st. Sonnanstine pitching, last game was complete game shutout of Chicago. Eckstein fly ball to RF, Hill grounds to 2B, Rios strikes out.
Bottom 1st: McGowan pitching. Iwamura strikes out, Crawford strikes out, Upton ground ball to 3B. Good start for McGowan.
Top 2nd: Wells strikes out, Stairs fly ball to RF, Stewart fly ball to LF.
Bottom 2nd: Pena strikes out, Longoria walks four pitches, Hinske strikes out, Gross strikes out. McGowan has four strikeouts in two innings.
Top 3rd: Overbay infield single to 2B, his ankle must be ok, Zaun singles to LF, Overbay to 3B, Scutaro single to CF, Overbay scores, Zaun to 2B, Eckstein bunts Zaun to 3B, Navarro goes to 2B but Scutaro safe, but Zaun comes home with Navarro off plate, great base running by Zaun. Still only one down and the big bats coming…….. Hill pops to SS, Rios strikes out and objects and is ejected. Nice going Alex, now the team has lost your bat. I don’t understand how the bottom of the order can bring in the runs, do the clutch hitting and heads up base running and yet the big guys are in the desert somewhere. Meantime however Jays are leading this one 2-0 but without Rios for rest of the game.
Bottom 3rd: Inglett in RF for Rios. Navarro walks on full count, Bartlett singles to CF. Why is that when Jays get the lead they cannot have a quick inning to follow ? Two on no outs. Iwamura bunt, Navarro to 3B and Zaun cannot get Bartlett at 2nd. One down two in scoring position. Crawford grounds to SS, Navarro scores, Bartlett at 3B for Upton. Strikes out but not a tidy inning by McGowan. 2-1 Jays.
Top 4th: Wells fly ball to LF, what is wrong with Vernon ????. Stairs lines to SS, Stewart doubles to RF, Overbay walks on full count, Lyle’s on base percentage is starting to climb at least, Zaun walks bases loaded on full count, Scutaro fly ball to RF.
Bottom 4th: Pena fly ball to LF, Longoria triple to LF, this kid is very good, Hinske singles to RF, Longoria scores, 2-2. Jays once again give up lead in this series. Hinske stealing, Zaun gets him, Zaun is fired up this game and playing with the intensity that is missing some of the others. Gross walks, Navarro walks, Hinske’s caught stealing is big now for McGowan who appears to be losing control after those first two innings. Wild pitch now sends Gross to 3B and Navarro to 2B. Bartlett walks bases loaded. Iwamura fly ball to LF saves McGowan from further damage but game is now tied.
Top 5th: Eckstein grounds to SS. Hill doubles to CF, Aaron you needed that in the previous at bat. Inglett grounds to 12B, Hill to 3B, wild pitch Hill will take it and scores. 3-2 Jays. Wells fly ball to LF. Hill obviously knew what was coming. Vernon is really off his game.
Bottom 5th: McGowan still pitching. Crawford single to LF, here we go….. Crawford steals 2B. Pena walks on full count, double steal Crawford to 3B and Upton to 2nd. That’s it for McGowan. Tallet now in. Longoria sac fly to RF, Crawford scores, 3-3. Upton tags and gets to 3B, Hinske grounds to Hill, safe at 1B and Upton scores, 4-3 Rays. Pena to 2B, Gross fouls out to Zaun, Navarro singles to LF, Pena scores and Hinske to 3B. 5-3 Rays. This is so bad. Tallet out and hurls his glove in the dugout. Camp pitching strikes out Bartlett leaving runners on.
Top of 6th: Chance for Jays to answer this. Stairs pops up to Navarro, Stewart fly ball to CF, Overbay grounds out to 1B. Well, I would say that is just about what we have seen all week in Orlando from Jays hitters.
Bottom 6th: Iwamura fly ball to CF , Crawford single to LF, guess what’s next? Crawford steals 2B, Upton fly ball to LF. That’s it Shawn, Captain Hook here. Carlson now pitching. Pena strikes out leaving Crawford stranded.
Top 7th: Zaun singles to LF, he has had a good game the only Jay to do so tonight, Scutaro grounds to 2B, Zaun to 2B, Glover now pitching. Eckstein fly ball to RF, Hill fly ball to CF.
Bottom 7th: Carlson still pitching. LongorIa lines one over Inglett’s head in RF, Alex this is why your bonehead act was so stupid. Rios would have had this catch. Hinske fly ball to CF, Gross strikes out. Captain Hook gets Carlson… playing percentages… Accardo now pitching. Carlson still continues to impress and would probably have got Navarro. Longoria steals 3B. Navarro grounds out to 1B.
Top 8th: Inglett with Lowe pitching grounds to SS, great play by Bartlett. Wells lines out to LF. Vernon cannot wait to get out of Orlando and never come back . Miller now pitching. Joe Maddon playing the percentages also. Gibbons responds by pulling Stairs for Barajas. Barajas pops to Bartlett.
Bottom of 8th: B.J.Ryan in. Now I understand BJ needing an inning of work but why use Accardo for one batter in the 7th? Who will now pitch in any save situation if Jays manage to score in 9th ? It would make more sense to let Carlson take that third out. He was pitching well. Perhaps Gibbons has no faith in his team coming back in the 9th…. ???? Smarter guy than I thought. Bartlett fly ball to CF, Iwamura strikes out (he has had a horrible night), Crawford singles to CF, this guy has lived on the bases tonight but will probably not try to steal this time t leave 1B open for Upton. Upton fly ball to CF.
Top 9th: Last chance for Jays. Percival pitching for third night in a row. Maddon plays different game from Skipper Captain Hook. Stewart he of the .213 average but unfair to single him out amongst rest of underachievers. This time single up the middle off Bartlett’s glove, Overbay adds to his on base percentage by walking, two on, no outs…. Interesting scenarios maybe for bottom of 9th. Zaun fly ball to RF, Stewart moves to 3B, Macdonald pinch running for Overbay, steals 2B without a throw. Another strange play, this puts the tying run in scoring position with one out. Obviously Tampa playing percentages…… knowing Jays will not score ?? Scutaro at bat, strikes out, two down. Eckstein fly ball to CF.
This one is over. Rays win 5-3, Sweep Jays and Jays can’t wait to get out of town. I anticipate major order changes tomorrow with Rolen back. Something has to happen.
After game notes: Frank Thomas signed by Oakland and played today.
Thomas in Oakland talking about Toronto: "The situation there, they had just spent $200 million on two guys," Thomas said. "I understand it and I respect it. Maybe it wasn't a good fit there for me. I'm just happy to be back here. I wasn't forcing their hand. For them to tell me I wasn't going to play every day and I wasn't in their future plans, it really wasn't a good situation. I respect J.P. for coming out and saying that to me and we parted ways, peacefully."
Kansas has lost six in a row by game end tonight but someone has to end their terrible streaks will it be the Jays ?
Rays win 5-3 and sweep Jays first time since May 2007 against Texas in same Champions Field.
The good: still trying to find something good in this. Boston lose ? Jays only have to play Rays three times in this series ? There is nothing good here tonight. Maybe Carlson again perfect, ditto Camp and Ryan. Johnny Mac steal second in 9th to get tie run in scoring position with only one out. Zaun’s base running. Scott Rolen worked out with the team before the game and could be activated tomorrow for Kansas series.
The bad. No bats, no starting pitching. Rios getting ejected in third inning. Jays blow another lead. Jays losing streak now four in a row and seven of last nine. They are now three under .500 and three behind Rays above them in fourth spot. They have huge climb to make. They need a prolonged streak of wins to even get back in this. Right now they are playing bottom place baseball all round. Tallet pitching although runs are McGowan’s not a good outing. The guy is probably exhausted.
The very bad: McGowan seven walks in four innings. Loads bases with walks in fourth and two more in the fifth load bases with no outs. The big bats ????? numbers three four and five 0-12 tonight.
Rays killer bats were Longoria, Hinske, Navarro and Crawford. Sonnestaine goes into the seventh inning whereas McGowan is out after 4. The pitching is now starting to fray and not surprising with the bats so cold.
Lineups: Jays Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Stewart, Overbay, Scutaro, Zaun, and McGowan pitching.
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Hinske, Gross, Navarro, Bartlett, and Sonnanstine pitching
The game: Top 1st. Sonnanstine pitching, last game was complete game shutout of Chicago. Eckstein fly ball to RF, Hill grounds to 2B, Rios strikes out.
Bottom 1st: McGowan pitching. Iwamura strikes out, Crawford strikes out, Upton ground ball to 3B. Good start for McGowan.
Top 2nd: Wells strikes out, Stairs fly ball to RF, Stewart fly ball to LF.
Bottom 2nd: Pena strikes out, Longoria walks four pitches, Hinske strikes out, Gross strikes out. McGowan has four strikeouts in two innings.
Top 3rd: Overbay infield single to 2B, his ankle must be ok, Zaun singles to LF, Overbay to 3B, Scutaro single to CF, Overbay scores, Zaun to 2B, Eckstein bunts Zaun to 3B, Navarro goes to 2B but Scutaro safe, but Zaun comes home with Navarro off plate, great base running by Zaun. Still only one down and the big bats coming…….. Hill pops to SS, Rios strikes out and objects and is ejected. Nice going Alex, now the team has lost your bat. I don’t understand how the bottom of the order can bring in the runs, do the clutch hitting and heads up base running and yet the big guys are in the desert somewhere. Meantime however Jays are leading this one 2-0 but without Rios for rest of the game.
Bottom 3rd: Inglett in RF for Rios. Navarro walks on full count, Bartlett singles to CF. Why is that when Jays get the lead they cannot have a quick inning to follow ? Two on no outs. Iwamura bunt, Navarro to 3B and Zaun cannot get Bartlett at 2nd. One down two in scoring position. Crawford grounds to SS, Navarro scores, Bartlett at 3B for Upton. Strikes out but not a tidy inning by McGowan. 2-1 Jays.
Top 4th: Wells fly ball to LF, what is wrong with Vernon ????. Stairs lines to SS, Stewart doubles to RF, Overbay walks on full count, Lyle’s on base percentage is starting to climb at least, Zaun walks bases loaded on full count, Scutaro fly ball to RF.
Bottom 4th: Pena fly ball to LF, Longoria triple to LF, this kid is very good, Hinske singles to RF, Longoria scores, 2-2. Jays once again give up lead in this series. Hinske stealing, Zaun gets him, Zaun is fired up this game and playing with the intensity that is missing some of the others. Gross walks, Navarro walks, Hinske’s caught stealing is big now for McGowan who appears to be losing control after those first two innings. Wild pitch now sends Gross to 3B and Navarro to 2B. Bartlett walks bases loaded. Iwamura fly ball to LF saves McGowan from further damage but game is now tied.
Top 5th: Eckstein grounds to SS. Hill doubles to CF, Aaron you needed that in the previous at bat. Inglett grounds to 12B, Hill to 3B, wild pitch Hill will take it and scores. 3-2 Jays. Wells fly ball to LF. Hill obviously knew what was coming. Vernon is really off his game.
Bottom 5th: McGowan still pitching. Crawford single to LF, here we go….. Crawford steals 2B. Pena walks on full count, double steal Crawford to 3B and Upton to 2nd. That’s it for McGowan. Tallet now in. Longoria sac fly to RF, Crawford scores, 3-3. Upton tags and gets to 3B, Hinske grounds to Hill, safe at 1B and Upton scores, 4-3 Rays. Pena to 2B, Gross fouls out to Zaun, Navarro singles to LF, Pena scores and Hinske to 3B. 5-3 Rays. This is so bad. Tallet out and hurls his glove in the dugout. Camp pitching strikes out Bartlett leaving runners on.
Top of 6th: Chance for Jays to answer this. Stairs pops up to Navarro, Stewart fly ball to CF, Overbay grounds out to 1B. Well, I would say that is just about what we have seen all week in Orlando from Jays hitters.
Bottom 6th: Iwamura fly ball to CF , Crawford single to LF, guess what’s next? Crawford steals 2B, Upton fly ball to LF. That’s it Shawn, Captain Hook here. Carlson now pitching. Pena strikes out leaving Crawford stranded.
Top 7th: Zaun singles to LF, he has had a good game the only Jay to do so tonight, Scutaro grounds to 2B, Zaun to 2B, Glover now pitching. Eckstein fly ball to RF, Hill fly ball to CF.
Bottom 7th: Carlson still pitching. LongorIa lines one over Inglett’s head in RF, Alex this is why your bonehead act was so stupid. Rios would have had this catch. Hinske fly ball to CF, Gross strikes out. Captain Hook gets Carlson… playing percentages… Accardo now pitching. Carlson still continues to impress and would probably have got Navarro. Longoria steals 3B. Navarro grounds out to 1B.
Top 8th: Inglett with Lowe pitching grounds to SS, great play by Bartlett. Wells lines out to LF. Vernon cannot wait to get out of Orlando and never come back . Miller now pitching. Joe Maddon playing the percentages also. Gibbons responds by pulling Stairs for Barajas. Barajas pops to Bartlett.
Bottom of 8th: B.J.Ryan in. Now I understand BJ needing an inning of work but why use Accardo for one batter in the 7th? Who will now pitch in any save situation if Jays manage to score in 9th ? It would make more sense to let Carlson take that third out. He was pitching well. Perhaps Gibbons has no faith in his team coming back in the 9th…. ???? Smarter guy than I thought. Bartlett fly ball to CF, Iwamura strikes out (he has had a horrible night), Crawford singles to CF, this guy has lived on the bases tonight but will probably not try to steal this time t leave 1B open for Upton. Upton fly ball to CF.
Top 9th: Last chance for Jays. Percival pitching for third night in a row. Maddon plays different game from Skipper Captain Hook. Stewart he of the .213 average but unfair to single him out amongst rest of underachievers. This time single up the middle off Bartlett’s glove, Overbay adds to his on base percentage by walking, two on, no outs…. Interesting scenarios maybe for bottom of 9th. Zaun fly ball to RF, Stewart moves to 3B, Macdonald pinch running for Overbay, steals 2B without a throw. Another strange play, this puts the tying run in scoring position with one out. Obviously Tampa playing percentages…… knowing Jays will not score ?? Scutaro at bat, strikes out, two down. Eckstein fly ball to CF.
This one is over. Rays win 5-3, Sweep Jays and Jays can’t wait to get out of town. I anticipate major order changes tomorrow with Rolen back. Something has to happen.
After game notes: Frank Thomas signed by Oakland and played today.
Thomas in Oakland talking about Toronto: "The situation there, they had just spent $200 million on two guys," Thomas said. "I understand it and I respect it. Maybe it wasn't a good fit there for me. I'm just happy to be back here. I wasn't forcing their hand. For them to tell me I wasn't going to play every day and I wasn't in their future plans, it really wasn't a good situation. I respect J.P. for coming out and saying that to me and we parted ways, peacefully."
Kansas has lost six in a row by game end tonight but someone has to end their terrible streaks will it be the Jays ?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Deja vu for Jays futility and Halladay's complete game
Wednesday April 23 2008, Jays v Rays in Orlando at Champions Field.
Rays win 5-3.
The good: Jays can’t fall any lower than bottom of the division where they are tonight. Matt Stairs 3 rbis two Home Runs. Halladay for six of eight innings tonight.
The good news, Rolen may join the team after this series and had two hits in Dunedin rehab game.
The bad: Bats once again, twice again and forever. Diaz should not even be in the lineup with an approach like that. No Rios, No Overbay, No Scutaro… what is Gibbons doing to this team?
The ugly. The bats many times over.
Lineups: Jays: Eckstein, Stewart, Hill, Wells, Stairs, Barajas, Zaun, Diaz and Inglett will give fright to any minor league opposition. Halladay pitching tonight but he can’t do it on his own. It usually needs runs to win a game.
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Hinske, Gomes, Navarro and Bartlett. An excellent lineup and we have said this since day 1 of Spring training, Joe Maddon has this team ready to compete and they are deservedly routing the Jays. This is the team that did a double steal first inning of the first game of spring training. Aggressive,talented, young and fearless, I say no more.
The game: Top 1st: Eckstein walks on four pitches. Stewart grounds to 3B. . Take a look at Reed Johnson’s average with the Cubs? Ouch JP… Cubs are smoking and so is Reed. Eckstein moves to 2B. Hill bones one to SS. Eckstein moves to 3B. Wells ???? strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Halladay pitching Iwamura grounds to SS, Crawford grounds to Hill, Upton strikes out.
Top 2nd: Stairs HR to RF. 1-0 (Hello Frank wherever you are. ) Barajas playing tonight for Overbay, breaks bat in pop up to SS, Zaun grounds out to 2B, Diaz DH for tonight, first pitch swinging grounds to 2B. Where do they get these guys from ? Adam hurry up please… Jays 1-0.
Bottom 2nd: Pena single to CF, Longoria grounds to 3B, double play. Hinske with five ??? home runs already this season in RF, hello Alex ??? how are you feeling? Probably not as sick as JP watching his $100 million in action. Hinske fly ball to Stairs.
Top 3rd: Inglett walks, Eckstein bunts Inglett to 2B, Stewart walks, did you know that Jays are number 1 in walks this season to date ? Hill grounds out, Wells grounds to SS. Leaves two on. What do they have to do to bring one in?
Bottom 3rd: Gomes infield single, Navarro grounds out to Eckstein double play, second in two innings by Jays. Something is going right for them at least. Bartlett grounds to 3B. Halladay cruising, so far.
Top 4th: Stairs hammers one deep to LF, almost Matt. Barajas fly ball to CF, Zaun walks, Hammel’s fourth so far this game. Diaz again first pitch swinging and worse still after the walk to Zaun, lines out to CF. I can’t wait until Lind arrives.
Bottom 4th: Iwamura single to CF, Crawford grounds to 1B Barajas steps on 1st to get Crawford rather than lead runner at 2nd. Good decision, he doesn’t want Crawford running around out there, Halladay throws one behind Upton, definitely not intentional. Great catch by Zaun to save a base. Upton fly ball to CF, Iwamura to 3B. Zaun has saved a run by that earlier play, Pena strikes out.
Top 5th: Inglett single to LF. Joe is making the most of his at bats until Rolen returns, both with glove and the bat. Inglett stealing on first pitch, throw not in time. Stewart at bat, Inglett goes again and gets into 3B, two steals back to back. I think Gibbons realizes he has to score runs without hits … Novel. Stewart pops up to 3B, Hill grounds to Longoria at 3B. These guys can’t buy a run.
Bottom 5th: Longoria grounds to 3Bbobblsball but still throws out runner, Hinske pops up to 3B, Gomes grounds to SS. Quick short one for Halladay only five pitches… If only he could bat as well.
After five innings, Hammel 79 pitches and four walks, Halladay 53 pitches.
Top 6th: Wells singles to LF, Stairs HR to RF, his second of the game and he also hammered the ball in last at bat. Two runs score Jays up 3-0. Looking better ? Barajas grounds to SS, Zaun grounds to 1B, Diaz grounds to 1B. Ah well….. for a moment there it looked good.
Bottom 6th: Halladay now with 3-0 lead. Navarro lead off dribbler to 3B safe at 1B, Bartlett singles to RF, Navarro at 3B. Iwamura strikes out, one down two on. Crawford singles to CF, one run scores, 3- 1. Upton walks, bases loaded. Pena strikes out, two down. Longoria singles to RF, two runs score, this game is tied 3-3 and Halladay has given up three run lead just like that. Déjà vu all over again. Hinske at bat, single to RF run scores 4-3 Rays. Arnsberg out to visit Roy, calm down Roy the big bats will save you. Lots of time still. Gomes pops up to Hill. Halladay 34 pitch inning.Ouch.
Top 7th: Hammel is gone with lead. Wheeler pitching. Inglett fly ball to LF, Eckstein singles to LF, Stewart grounds to 3B, double play ball…. What wag mentioned Reed Johnson?
Bottom 7th: Navarro grounds to 2B, Bartlett pops to Hill, Iwamura grounds to 3B. Halladay recovers this inning but is it already too late? With the way the bats are hitting or rather not hitting this game is probably over.
Top 8th: Hill grounds to 3B, Wells singles to CF, second hit for Vernon tonight but still no power. Stairs again, has been hammering the cover off the ball tonight. Average back to .340. Another long fly ball to the wall in LF. Barajas grounds to SS. Now all they have to do is beat Percival in the 9th.
Bottom 8th: Halladay determined to finish this one his third complete game in last three. Crawford lead off triple to CF wall, Upton sac fly to CF wall, run scores 5-3 Rays. Pena grounds to 1B, Longoria grounds to Hill at 2B. That’s it Roy for tonight at least.
Top 9th: Percival closing second night in a row. Zaun lines out to RF but a gutsy at bat, takes nine pitches to get him, Diaz strikes out, this was one great night for this guy, surely Manager Gibbons there was someone on the bench to pinch hit for the poor guy. Where was Scutaro or Overbay even Johnny Mac ? Inglett last chance, fly ball to LF.
This game is over. Rays deserve this one, they outplayed Jays with their bats and pitching (again) and will be going for an easy sweep tomorrow unless someone clones Matt Stairs.
Horrible. As the Queen once said…. This year is annus horribulus or words to that effect. Something has to be done.
Or is the party line to stand firm, stiff upper lip until Rolen and Lind arrive ? Two below 500 now…. And everyone to overtake to get to the top. This type of play will not sell many tickets for Mr Rogers. No hustle, no swagger, no confidence, no hits, the world is flat in Jays land.
Rays win 5-3.
The good: Jays can’t fall any lower than bottom of the division where they are tonight. Matt Stairs 3 rbis two Home Runs. Halladay for six of eight innings tonight.
The good news, Rolen may join the team after this series and had two hits in Dunedin rehab game.
The bad: Bats once again, twice again and forever. Diaz should not even be in the lineup with an approach like that. No Rios, No Overbay, No Scutaro… what is Gibbons doing to this team?
The ugly. The bats many times over.
Lineups: Jays: Eckstein, Stewart, Hill, Wells, Stairs, Barajas, Zaun, Diaz and Inglett will give fright to any minor league opposition. Halladay pitching tonight but he can’t do it on his own. It usually needs runs to win a game.
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Hinske, Gomes, Navarro and Bartlett. An excellent lineup and we have said this since day 1 of Spring training, Joe Maddon has this team ready to compete and they are deservedly routing the Jays. This is the team that did a double steal first inning of the first game of spring training. Aggressive,talented, young and fearless, I say no more.
The game: Top 1st: Eckstein walks on four pitches. Stewart grounds to 3B. . Take a look at Reed Johnson’s average with the Cubs? Ouch JP… Cubs are smoking and so is Reed. Eckstein moves to 2B. Hill bones one to SS. Eckstein moves to 3B. Wells ???? strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Halladay pitching Iwamura grounds to SS, Crawford grounds to Hill, Upton strikes out.
Top 2nd: Stairs HR to RF. 1-0 (Hello Frank wherever you are. ) Barajas playing tonight for Overbay, breaks bat in pop up to SS, Zaun grounds out to 2B, Diaz DH for tonight, first pitch swinging grounds to 2B. Where do they get these guys from ? Adam hurry up please… Jays 1-0.
Bottom 2nd: Pena single to CF, Longoria grounds to 3B, double play. Hinske with five ??? home runs already this season in RF, hello Alex ??? how are you feeling? Probably not as sick as JP watching his $100 million in action. Hinske fly ball to Stairs.
Top 3rd: Inglett walks, Eckstein bunts Inglett to 2B, Stewart walks, did you know that Jays are number 1 in walks this season to date ? Hill grounds out, Wells grounds to SS. Leaves two on. What do they have to do to bring one in?
Bottom 3rd: Gomes infield single, Navarro grounds out to Eckstein double play, second in two innings by Jays. Something is going right for them at least. Bartlett grounds to 3B. Halladay cruising, so far.
Top 4th: Stairs hammers one deep to LF, almost Matt. Barajas fly ball to CF, Zaun walks, Hammel’s fourth so far this game. Diaz again first pitch swinging and worse still after the walk to Zaun, lines out to CF. I can’t wait until Lind arrives.
Bottom 4th: Iwamura single to CF, Crawford grounds to 1B Barajas steps on 1st to get Crawford rather than lead runner at 2nd. Good decision, he doesn’t want Crawford running around out there, Halladay throws one behind Upton, definitely not intentional. Great catch by Zaun to save a base. Upton fly ball to CF, Iwamura to 3B. Zaun has saved a run by that earlier play, Pena strikes out.
Top 5th: Inglett single to LF. Joe is making the most of his at bats until Rolen returns, both with glove and the bat. Inglett stealing on first pitch, throw not in time. Stewart at bat, Inglett goes again and gets into 3B, two steals back to back. I think Gibbons realizes he has to score runs without hits … Novel. Stewart pops up to 3B, Hill grounds to Longoria at 3B. These guys can’t buy a run.
Bottom 5th: Longoria grounds to 3Bbobblsball but still throws out runner, Hinske pops up to 3B, Gomes grounds to SS. Quick short one for Halladay only five pitches… If only he could bat as well.
After five innings, Hammel 79 pitches and four walks, Halladay 53 pitches.
Top 6th: Wells singles to LF, Stairs HR to RF, his second of the game and he also hammered the ball in last at bat. Two runs score Jays up 3-0. Looking better ? Barajas grounds to SS, Zaun grounds to 1B, Diaz grounds to 1B. Ah well….. for a moment there it looked good.
Bottom 6th: Halladay now with 3-0 lead. Navarro lead off dribbler to 3B safe at 1B, Bartlett singles to RF, Navarro at 3B. Iwamura strikes out, one down two on. Crawford singles to CF, one run scores, 3- 1. Upton walks, bases loaded. Pena strikes out, two down. Longoria singles to RF, two runs score, this game is tied 3-3 and Halladay has given up three run lead just like that. Déjà vu all over again. Hinske at bat, single to RF run scores 4-3 Rays. Arnsberg out to visit Roy, calm down Roy the big bats will save you. Lots of time still. Gomes pops up to Hill. Halladay 34 pitch inning.Ouch.
Top 7th: Hammel is gone with lead. Wheeler pitching. Inglett fly ball to LF, Eckstein singles to LF, Stewart grounds to 3B, double play ball…. What wag mentioned Reed Johnson?
Bottom 7th: Navarro grounds to 2B, Bartlett pops to Hill, Iwamura grounds to 3B. Halladay recovers this inning but is it already too late? With the way the bats are hitting or rather not hitting this game is probably over.
Top 8th: Hill grounds to 3B, Wells singles to CF, second hit for Vernon tonight but still no power. Stairs again, has been hammering the cover off the ball tonight. Average back to .340. Another long fly ball to the wall in LF. Barajas grounds to SS. Now all they have to do is beat Percival in the 9th.
Bottom 8th: Halladay determined to finish this one his third complete game in last three. Crawford lead off triple to CF wall, Upton sac fly to CF wall, run scores 5-3 Rays. Pena grounds to 1B, Longoria grounds to Hill at 2B. That’s it Roy for tonight at least.
Top 9th: Percival closing second night in a row. Zaun lines out to RF but a gutsy at bat, takes nine pitches to get him, Diaz strikes out, this was one great night for this guy, surely Manager Gibbons there was someone on the bench to pinch hit for the poor guy. Where was Scutaro or Overbay even Johnny Mac ? Inglett last chance, fly ball to LF.
This game is over. Rays deserve this one, they outplayed Jays with their bats and pitching (again) and will be going for an easy sweep tomorrow unless someone clones Matt Stairs.
Horrible. As the Queen once said…. This year is annus horribulus or words to that effect. Something has to be done.
Or is the party line to stand firm, stiff upper lip until Rolen and Lind arrive ? Two below 500 now…. And everyone to overtake to get to the top. This type of play will not sell many tickets for Mr Rogers. No hustle, no swagger, no confidence, no hits, the world is flat in Jays land.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Outpitched, outplayed, defensive and offensive fog.
Tuesday April 22 2008. Jays v Tampa Rays at Champions Field in Orlando. Home of Atlanta Braves Spring training.
Jays lose 6-4.
Outplayed by a good young team that is getting it all together. Jays looked tired, flat, and totally lacking intensity. They have to step it up bigtime. Why was Rios resting ???? Three weeks into season... Wells yesterday ? Gibbons should be playing first team until they can get it all together. Have a day off when they are winning. Get a good streak going five plus games and then take a break.
Best shot of the day, JP's face watching Hinske tear it up tonight... Eric is playing very well.
Lineups: Jays: Eckstein, Hill, Stairs, Wells, Overbay, Stewart, Zaun, Scutaro, Inglett. Pitching Jesse Litsch
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Hinske, Navarro, Haynes, Bartlett with Shields pitching.
Good: Not much tonight apart from Wells HR. and once again bullpen Carlson and Down pitching.
The bad: Fielding, hitting, intensity.
Top 1st: Eckstein grounds to pitcher, Hill same play, two down, Stairs singles to CF, Wells grounds to 3B.
Bottom 1st: Litsch pitching, Iwamura grounds to 1B, Crawford grounds to 2B first pitch, Upton grounds to 1B Upton grounds to 1B, good inning Jesse.
Top 2nd: Overbay walks on full count, Stewart walks on full count, Shields having problems, Zaun grounds to 1B, Hinske drops ball, Zaun safe, but Hinske throws ball away and pitcher then drops ball at homeplate, Overbay scores, 1-0. Two errors by Rays on same play. Stairs to 3B, Scutaro grounds to 1B, Zaun out at 2B, Scutaro safe at 1B, Stewart scores 2-0. Inglett fly ball to CF, two down. Eckstein at bat, Scutaro caught stealing.
Bottom 2nd: Pena strikes out. Longoria HR to CF, Hinske double to CF, Litsch in a spot here, Navarro singles up the middle, Hinske scores 2-2. Navarro at 1B, Haynes strikes out, Zaun throw to 2B and gets Navarro.
Top 3rd: Eckstein lines out to SS, Hill strikes out, Stairs strikes out.
Bottom 3rd: Bartlett strikes out, Iwamura singles to CF, Crawford singles to CF, Upton grounds to SS double play.
Top 4th: Wells fly ball to RF, Overbay first pitch swing grounds to 2B, Stewart single looper into LF, Zaun singles to Scutaro singles to RF, Stewart scores, Zaun to 3B, 3-2 Jays, Inglett grounds to 2B.
Bottom 4th: Pena strikes out, Longoria walks, Hinske triple to RF, Longoria scores, 3-3. Navarro singles scores Hinske 4-3 Rays. Haynes walks on full count, Bartlett singles to RF bounces over Overbay’s glove, run scores 5-3. Litsch is finished. Carlson pitching. Iwamura bunts to Carlson gets runner at home plate. Crawford grounds to 2B.
Top 5th: Eckstein fly ball to RF. Hill singles to LF, Stairs grounds to 1B, double play. Ouch.
Bottom 5th: Carlson still pitching. Upton strikes out. Pena strikes out for third time tonight, Longoria strikes out on three pitches. Carlson really confusing these batters tonight.
Top 6th: Wells HR to LF. 5-4 Rays. Overbay strikes out, Stewart fly ball to CF, Zaun strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Carlson still in there. Hinske HR to RF 6-4. Hinske needs single for cycle next at bat. Navarro pops up to Zaun, Haynes fly ball to RF, Captain Hook out….. Shawn Camp now pitching. Bartlett grounds to Eckstein at SS.
Top 7th: Scutaro strikes out, Inglett grounds out to 2B, Eckstein grounds to 3B.
Bottom 7th: Iwamura fly ball to LF, Crawford singles to LF, steals 2B on first pitch. Upton fly ball to CF, Crawford. That’s it for Camp. Downs now in. Fourth pitcher for Jays whereas Rays still with Shields. Pena strikes out on three pitches.
Top 8th: Wheeler pitching. Hill lines to 2B, Stairs pops up to SS, Wells fly ball to RF.
Bottom 8th: Longoria strikes out. Hinske at bat can he get single to complete cycle? Strikes out. Next time Eric. Navarro lines to RF, Inglett drops ball. Lost in the lights, Wild pitch Navarro moves to 2B, Haynes grounds to Overbay, drops ball, rough night for Lyle. Everyone safe. Haynes steals, defensive indifference, Bartlett strikes out.
Top 9th. Troy Percival to save. Overbay grounds to SS, Stewart strikes out. Zaun fly ball to CF.
This one is over. Rays win 6-4.
Jays lose 6-4.
Outplayed by a good young team that is getting it all together. Jays looked tired, flat, and totally lacking intensity. They have to step it up bigtime. Why was Rios resting ???? Three weeks into season... Wells yesterday ? Gibbons should be playing first team until they can get it all together. Have a day off when they are winning. Get a good streak going five plus games and then take a break.
Best shot of the day, JP's face watching Hinske tear it up tonight... Eric is playing very well.
Lineups: Jays: Eckstein, Hill, Stairs, Wells, Overbay, Stewart, Zaun, Scutaro, Inglett. Pitching Jesse Litsch
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Hinske, Navarro, Haynes, Bartlett with Shields pitching.
Good: Not much tonight apart from Wells HR. and once again bullpen Carlson and Down pitching.
The bad: Fielding, hitting, intensity.
Top 1st: Eckstein grounds to pitcher, Hill same play, two down, Stairs singles to CF, Wells grounds to 3B.
Bottom 1st: Litsch pitching, Iwamura grounds to 1B, Crawford grounds to 2B first pitch, Upton grounds to 1B Upton grounds to 1B, good inning Jesse.
Top 2nd: Overbay walks on full count, Stewart walks on full count, Shields having problems, Zaun grounds to 1B, Hinske drops ball, Zaun safe, but Hinske throws ball away and pitcher then drops ball at homeplate, Overbay scores, 1-0. Two errors by Rays on same play. Stairs to 3B, Scutaro grounds to 1B, Zaun out at 2B, Scutaro safe at 1B, Stewart scores 2-0. Inglett fly ball to CF, two down. Eckstein at bat, Scutaro caught stealing.
Bottom 2nd: Pena strikes out. Longoria HR to CF, Hinske double to CF, Litsch in a spot here, Navarro singles up the middle, Hinske scores 2-2. Navarro at 1B, Haynes strikes out, Zaun throw to 2B and gets Navarro.
Top 3rd: Eckstein lines out to SS, Hill strikes out, Stairs strikes out.
Bottom 3rd: Bartlett strikes out, Iwamura singles to CF, Crawford singles to CF, Upton grounds to SS double play.
Top 4th: Wells fly ball to RF, Overbay first pitch swing grounds to 2B, Stewart single looper into LF, Zaun singles to Scutaro singles to RF, Stewart scores, Zaun to 3B, 3-2 Jays, Inglett grounds to 2B.
Bottom 4th: Pena strikes out, Longoria walks, Hinske triple to RF, Longoria scores, 3-3. Navarro singles scores Hinske 4-3 Rays. Haynes walks on full count, Bartlett singles to RF bounces over Overbay’s glove, run scores 5-3. Litsch is finished. Carlson pitching. Iwamura bunts to Carlson gets runner at home plate. Crawford grounds to 2B.
Top 5th: Eckstein fly ball to RF. Hill singles to LF, Stairs grounds to 1B, double play. Ouch.
Bottom 5th: Carlson still pitching. Upton strikes out. Pena strikes out for third time tonight, Longoria strikes out on three pitches. Carlson really confusing these batters tonight.
Top 6th: Wells HR to LF. 5-4 Rays. Overbay strikes out, Stewart fly ball to CF, Zaun strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Carlson still in there. Hinske HR to RF 6-4. Hinske needs single for cycle next at bat. Navarro pops up to Zaun, Haynes fly ball to RF, Captain Hook out….. Shawn Camp now pitching. Bartlett grounds to Eckstein at SS.
Top 7th: Scutaro strikes out, Inglett grounds out to 2B, Eckstein grounds to 3B.
Bottom 7th: Iwamura fly ball to LF, Crawford singles to LF, steals 2B on first pitch. Upton fly ball to CF, Crawford. That’s it for Camp. Downs now in. Fourth pitcher for Jays whereas Rays still with Shields. Pena strikes out on three pitches.
Top 8th: Wheeler pitching. Hill lines to 2B, Stairs pops up to SS, Wells fly ball to RF.
Bottom 8th: Longoria strikes out. Hinske at bat can he get single to complete cycle? Strikes out. Next time Eric. Navarro lines to RF, Inglett drops ball. Lost in the lights, Wild pitch Navarro moves to 2B, Haynes grounds to Overbay, drops ball, rough night for Lyle. Everyone safe. Haynes steals, defensive indifference, Bartlett strikes out.
Top 9th. Troy Percival to save. Overbay grounds to SS, Stewart strikes out. Zaun fly ball to CF.
This one is over. Rays win 6-4.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Another poor performance by defence and bats
Jays v Detroit. Monday, April 21 2008.
Jays lose 5-1 splitting series.
Wells has day off, Marcum not too sharp, huge crowd 25,000 for a mid week day game. 90% were under 18 for school day. This was one I was looking forward to with the noise and enthusiasm of the U-18 crowd so different from normal night and weekend games. However not much for crowd to cheer and stadium announcer did not use the “extra player” until the last inning. Too bad, the players would have loved the support.
This game was lost on the two errors by Eckstein and Rios in the 2nd. Although Marcum was not as sharp as usual he was definitely victimized. Overall Jays were definitely flat this afternoon, no life at all.
I was correct yesterday re Lind recall for Thomas but as he is injured Diaz is temporary recall.
Thomas issue still in discussion around the media. Seattle, Oakland and Tampa are the front runners in rumours for Frank’s next home. Toronto media are mostly supporting move although blaming JP for original signing as a waste. Time will tell.
The good: Marcum, Zaun HR. Also good to see that Frasor is not the slowest pitcher in the league, Denny Bautista beat him today although Frasor tried to win his title back in the 9th. The two between them combined to add about an hour to the game’s length. It seemed like it anyway.
The bad: Apart from the two errors in same inning by Eckstein and Rios the total lack of energy by the Jays throughout. They will definitely have to step it up next series against Tampa youngsters or be run out of town literally.
Lineups: Detroit: Thomas, Rodriguez, Guillen, Ordonez, Cabrera, Jones, Renetria, Raburn, Inge with Gallarago pitching. Gallarago has taken over from Dontrelle Willis whilst injured and has done very well.
Toronto: Eckstein, Stewart in LF today, Hill, Rios in CF with Wells day off, Stairs at DH, Overbay, Scutaro, Zaun, Inglett in RF with Marcum pitching.
The game: Top 1st: Thomas grounds out to Marcum, Rodriguez doubles to CF, Guillen pop to Eckstein, Ordonez fly ball to Inglett in RF.
Bottom 1st: Ecsktein strikes out, Stewart fly ball to LF, Hill pops up to 1B. 11 pitches by Gallarago.
Top 2nd: Cabrera walks four pitches, Marcum not sharp today, Jones lines to Eckstein. Tries to catch it and then changes mind and ball shorthops him unable to get either runner . Error Eckstein, that could have been double play ball. Renteria singles LF, bases loaded. Eckstein’s error big now. Raburn singles to LF Cabrera and Jones score, 2-0 Detroit. Rios fumbles ball and Renteria moves to 3B, Raburn to 2B. Rios throw too late at 3B. he would have had him easily if no error. Marcum should have been out of this long ago. Inge sac fly to CF Rios, Renteria scores, Raburn to 3B, Alex’s throw from CF pulls Zaun to 1B side. Rios not having a very good afternoon. 3-0 Detroit. Runner on 3B. Marcum 37 pitches and not out of 2nd inning. Thomas walks on four pitches. This gets worse. Here comes Rodriguez already with double in first inning. Singles to CF, Raburn scores 4-0 Detroit. Here comes Arnsberg, not really Marcum’s fault he should be out of this long ago. Guillen grounds to Marcum takes out himself, Thomas to 3B and Rodriguez to 2B. Ordonez walks on full count. Detroit hitters very patient, I hope Toronto “first swing club” are watching. Frasor already up in bullpen. Cabrera grounds to 3B get Orodinez at 2B. Not a good inning but defence to blame bigtime.
Bottom 2nd: Big bats chance to get a couple back ?? Dream on…. Rios grounds to SS, Stairs fly ball to CF, Overbay strikes out. Hitting slump continues.
Top 3rd: Jones fly ball to CF, Renteria ground ball to SS, Raburn strikes out. First strike out for Marcum. Up to 54 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro grounds to 3B. Zaun walks on full count, Inglett single to RF, Zaun to 3B, something going now for Jays, Eckstein lines out to LF, Stewart walks on full count, Inglett to 2B, bases loaded. Hill grounds to SS. Great opportunity to get at least one back lost. Jays seem unable to buy runs in these situations.
Top 4th: Inge walks on full count, Thomas grounds to Overbay, could be two here, wild throw to Eckstein gets Inge but no chance to get two. Fielding is flat this afternoon. Jays have turned more difficult chances. Rodriguez for third time already two hits. Grounds to SS gets Thomas. Gueillen grounds to 2B.
Bottom 4th: Big bats ?? Rios fly ball to CF, Stairs singles to RF, Overbay singles to RF, Stairs to 2B, Scutaro walks on four pitches, bases loaded again for second inning, this time only one out. Zaun strikes out. Inglett , NO Joe, first pitch swinging grounds to 1B. This is awful. Gallargo has walked three batters in last two innings on full counts, obviously control not as sharp and Inglett swings ! first pitch. This is the problem the bad habits of the older players are now impacting the rookies. But a thinking player would have worked that out themselves and bat accordingly. I am not sure Inglett fits that category. I recall him forgetting how many outs in one Dunedin game this spring. Toronto cannot say they didn’t get opportunities to get a couple in both of the last two innings. I have no doubt that Marcum thinks so as well.
Top 5th: Ordonez grounds to 2B, Cabrera grounds to 3B, Jones fly ball to RF. Marcum at least is trying hard to get back in this game. Now over 90 pitches though.
Bottom 5th: Eckstein walks on full count, see what I mean Joe ????? Stewart grounds oh no, into double play, this is definitely not Marcum’s day to win. Hill strikes out.
Top 6th: Renteria HR to LF. 4-0. Raburn fly ball to RF. Inge strilkes out. Here comes Catain Hook. Tallet is called. Percentage left lefty. Marcum 102 pitches. Had no support from bats today or the field. And yet he managed to keep them in game until Renteria’s HR. Thomas singles to CF, Rodriguez singles to RF his third hit of the afternoon, Thomas to 3B. Guillen grounds out to 1B.
Bottom 6th: Big bats again…. Rios grounds to SS. Stairs at bat, Rapeda now pitching. Leyland playing percentages but much better odds with a 4-0 lead. Stairs pops up to Renteria.
(Frank is that a .341 average that Stairs has ?) Overbay singles to RF, Lopez now pitching. Wild pitch Overbay to 2B, Scutaro strikes out.
Top 7th: Ordonez strikes out on three pitches. Cabrera fly ball to RF, Jones strikes out. Detroit in a hurry to get on road ??
Bottom 7th: Zaun fly ball, Inglett trying to make amends from previous mess at bat, doubles to CF, Eckstein pops to Raburn at 2B, Stewart grounds to 3B.
Top 8th: Frasor now pitching. Too bad as most of the crowd want to get out of stadium before rush hour starts. Renteria pops up to 2B, Raburn strikes out, Inge grounds to 3B. We may yet get out in time.
Bottom 8th: Santiago now playing at 2B. Raburn has moved to LF. Big bats again….
Denny Bautista walks Hill on four pitches. Come on Alex.. strikes out. He has had a terrible day. Stairs flies to CF, Hill takes 2B, defensive indifference says the scorer, I disagree, the infield are asleep with Bautista pitching, he is after Frasor’s record for slowest relief pitcher. Overbay now walks on four pitches, slower and slower….. Scutaro fly ball to RF. Leaves two more on base.
Top 9th: Thomas grounds to 2B, Rodriguez singles up the middle nice stop by Eckstein but throw not in time. Rodriguez 4-6 today. Guillen grounds to 3B. Ordonez singles to CF, Rodriguez to 3B, Cabrera walks on full count. Bases now loaded but Frasor will have to finish this one himself. No way Captain Hook is going to bring in another pitcher. The problem that both Frasor and Bautista have is that as soon as they get player on base they slow the game down so much. Great way to take out the support of 20,000 kids in ball park today. Santiago first at bat today, grounds out to Overbay at 1B. Bullet bitten Jason.
Bottom 9th: Last chance Toronto. Todd Jones closer pitching to get the workout not the save. Zaun HR to RF on full count pitch, nice hit Gregg…. 5-1. Now for the comeback kids. Inglett grounds out to 1B, Eckstein fly ball to CF, Stewart fly ball to shallow RF. Nice running catch. This one is over.
I would say Toronto lost this one as much as Detroit won it. Jays had more than enough chances to get back into game and without the two errors it would have been a much different game. One of those that could have been won like so many this season starting with the opening series in New York. .
We have to keep hoping that things will click, perhaps when Rolen rejoins the team later this week on the road. BUT good teams find a way to win games like today.
Meantime down the road, Boston sweep Texas…
Jays lose 5-1 splitting series.
Wells has day off, Marcum not too sharp, huge crowd 25,000 for a mid week day game. 90% were under 18 for school day. This was one I was looking forward to with the noise and enthusiasm of the U-18 crowd so different from normal night and weekend games. However not much for crowd to cheer and stadium announcer did not use the “extra player” until the last inning. Too bad, the players would have loved the support.
This game was lost on the two errors by Eckstein and Rios in the 2nd. Although Marcum was not as sharp as usual he was definitely victimized. Overall Jays were definitely flat this afternoon, no life at all.
I was correct yesterday re Lind recall for Thomas but as he is injured Diaz is temporary recall.
Thomas issue still in discussion around the media. Seattle, Oakland and Tampa are the front runners in rumours for Frank’s next home. Toronto media are mostly supporting move although blaming JP for original signing as a waste. Time will tell.
The good: Marcum, Zaun HR. Also good to see that Frasor is not the slowest pitcher in the league, Denny Bautista beat him today although Frasor tried to win his title back in the 9th. The two between them combined to add about an hour to the game’s length. It seemed like it anyway.
The bad: Apart from the two errors in same inning by Eckstein and Rios the total lack of energy by the Jays throughout. They will definitely have to step it up next series against Tampa youngsters or be run out of town literally.
Lineups: Detroit: Thomas, Rodriguez, Guillen, Ordonez, Cabrera, Jones, Renetria, Raburn, Inge with Gallarago pitching. Gallarago has taken over from Dontrelle Willis whilst injured and has done very well.
Toronto: Eckstein, Stewart in LF today, Hill, Rios in CF with Wells day off, Stairs at DH, Overbay, Scutaro, Zaun, Inglett in RF with Marcum pitching.
The game: Top 1st: Thomas grounds out to Marcum, Rodriguez doubles to CF, Guillen pop to Eckstein, Ordonez fly ball to Inglett in RF.
Bottom 1st: Ecsktein strikes out, Stewart fly ball to LF, Hill pops up to 1B. 11 pitches by Gallarago.
Top 2nd: Cabrera walks four pitches, Marcum not sharp today, Jones lines to Eckstein. Tries to catch it and then changes mind and ball shorthops him unable to get either runner . Error Eckstein, that could have been double play ball. Renteria singles LF, bases loaded. Eckstein’s error big now. Raburn singles to LF Cabrera and Jones score, 2-0 Detroit. Rios fumbles ball and Renteria moves to 3B, Raburn to 2B. Rios throw too late at 3B. he would have had him easily if no error. Marcum should have been out of this long ago. Inge sac fly to CF Rios, Renteria scores, Raburn to 3B, Alex’s throw from CF pulls Zaun to 1B side. Rios not having a very good afternoon. 3-0 Detroit. Runner on 3B. Marcum 37 pitches and not out of 2nd inning. Thomas walks on four pitches. This gets worse. Here comes Rodriguez already with double in first inning. Singles to CF, Raburn scores 4-0 Detroit. Here comes Arnsberg, not really Marcum’s fault he should be out of this long ago. Guillen grounds to Marcum takes out himself, Thomas to 3B and Rodriguez to 2B. Ordonez walks on full count. Detroit hitters very patient, I hope Toronto “first swing club” are watching. Frasor already up in bullpen. Cabrera grounds to 3B get Orodinez at 2B. Not a good inning but defence to blame bigtime.
Bottom 2nd: Big bats chance to get a couple back ?? Dream on…. Rios grounds to SS, Stairs fly ball to CF, Overbay strikes out. Hitting slump continues.
Top 3rd: Jones fly ball to CF, Renteria ground ball to SS, Raburn strikes out. First strike out for Marcum. Up to 54 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro grounds to 3B. Zaun walks on full count, Inglett single to RF, Zaun to 3B, something going now for Jays, Eckstein lines out to LF, Stewart walks on full count, Inglett to 2B, bases loaded. Hill grounds to SS. Great opportunity to get at least one back lost. Jays seem unable to buy runs in these situations.
Top 4th: Inge walks on full count, Thomas grounds to Overbay, could be two here, wild throw to Eckstein gets Inge but no chance to get two. Fielding is flat this afternoon. Jays have turned more difficult chances. Rodriguez for third time already two hits. Grounds to SS gets Thomas. Gueillen grounds to 2B.
Bottom 4th: Big bats ?? Rios fly ball to CF, Stairs singles to RF, Overbay singles to RF, Stairs to 2B, Scutaro walks on four pitches, bases loaded again for second inning, this time only one out. Zaun strikes out. Inglett , NO Joe, first pitch swinging grounds to 1B. This is awful. Gallargo has walked three batters in last two innings on full counts, obviously control not as sharp and Inglett swings ! first pitch. This is the problem the bad habits of the older players are now impacting the rookies. But a thinking player would have worked that out themselves and bat accordingly. I am not sure Inglett fits that category. I recall him forgetting how many outs in one Dunedin game this spring. Toronto cannot say they didn’t get opportunities to get a couple in both of the last two innings. I have no doubt that Marcum thinks so as well.
Top 5th: Ordonez grounds to 2B, Cabrera grounds to 3B, Jones fly ball to RF. Marcum at least is trying hard to get back in this game. Now over 90 pitches though.
Bottom 5th: Eckstein walks on full count, see what I mean Joe ????? Stewart grounds oh no, into double play, this is definitely not Marcum’s day to win. Hill strikes out.
Top 6th: Renteria HR to LF. 4-0. Raburn fly ball to RF. Inge strilkes out. Here comes Catain Hook. Tallet is called. Percentage left lefty. Marcum 102 pitches. Had no support from bats today or the field. And yet he managed to keep them in game until Renteria’s HR. Thomas singles to CF, Rodriguez singles to RF his third hit of the afternoon, Thomas to 3B. Guillen grounds out to 1B.
Bottom 6th: Big bats again…. Rios grounds to SS. Stairs at bat, Rapeda now pitching. Leyland playing percentages but much better odds with a 4-0 lead. Stairs pops up to Renteria.
(Frank is that a .341 average that Stairs has ?) Overbay singles to RF, Lopez now pitching. Wild pitch Overbay to 2B, Scutaro strikes out.
Top 7th: Ordonez strikes out on three pitches. Cabrera fly ball to RF, Jones strikes out. Detroit in a hurry to get on road ??
Bottom 7th: Zaun fly ball, Inglett trying to make amends from previous mess at bat, doubles to CF, Eckstein pops to Raburn at 2B, Stewart grounds to 3B.
Top 8th: Frasor now pitching. Too bad as most of the crowd want to get out of stadium before rush hour starts. Renteria pops up to 2B, Raburn strikes out, Inge grounds to 3B. We may yet get out in time.
Bottom 8th: Santiago now playing at 2B. Raburn has moved to LF. Big bats again….
Denny Bautista walks Hill on four pitches. Come on Alex.. strikes out. He has had a terrible day. Stairs flies to CF, Hill takes 2B, defensive indifference says the scorer, I disagree, the infield are asleep with Bautista pitching, he is after Frasor’s record for slowest relief pitcher. Overbay now walks on four pitches, slower and slower….. Scutaro fly ball to RF. Leaves two more on base.
Top 9th: Thomas grounds to 2B, Rodriguez singles up the middle nice stop by Eckstein but throw not in time. Rodriguez 4-6 today. Guillen grounds to 3B. Ordonez singles to CF, Rodriguez to 3B, Cabrera walks on full count. Bases now loaded but Frasor will have to finish this one himself. No way Captain Hook is going to bring in another pitcher. The problem that both Frasor and Bautista have is that as soon as they get player on base they slow the game down so much. Great way to take out the support of 20,000 kids in ball park today. Santiago first at bat today, grounds out to Overbay at 1B. Bullet bitten Jason.
Bottom 9th: Last chance Toronto. Todd Jones closer pitching to get the workout not the save. Zaun HR to RF on full count pitch, nice hit Gregg…. 5-1. Now for the comeback kids. Inglett grounds out to 1B, Eckstein fly ball to CF, Stewart fly ball to shallow RF. Nice running catch. This one is over.
I would say Toronto lost this one as much as Detroit won it. Jays had more than enough chances to get back into game and without the two errors it would have been a much different game. One of those that could have been won like so many this season starting with the opening series in New York. .
We have to keep hoping that things will click, perhaps when Rolen rejoins the team later this week on the road. BUT good teams find a way to win games like today.
Meantime down the road, Boston sweep Texas…
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Jays win another. Frank has left the house.
Sunday April 20, 2008. Jays v Detroit in Toronto.
Jays win 5-3
The day started with news re Frank’s release. Not unexpected after his negative outburst yesterday to news of benching. JP had no choice really, he could not afford to have such influence in the clubhouse. If Frank had taken it differently and acknowledged that he was awful to date with .167 average but was going to work his butt off to get his timing ready, might have been different.
They are still paying his salary whether or not he in team or not. But from day one in Dunedin Frank had said he had one goal to get his 600hrs. Nothing about helping the team etc etc…
Now where will he end ? JP said that Frank told him “he still wants to play every day”. He is no good in field anymore. Has to be an American League team. Yankees DH ?
Overall a good but essential move by JP. It also sends strong message to clubhouse about commitment to win something this season.
The good: Burnett win although struggled all day after early great start. He only has one pitch right now until that finger heals. Eckstein’s three run home run. Johnny Mac’s single that set this up for Eckstein with two outs. The bullpen today of Carlson, Camp and Accardo. Fielding as ever including super save by Johnny Mac playing at 3B today and Eckstein's double play in 8th.
News from Dunedin that Rolen is starting game as DH and will play series. Great news Scott, hurry home. Toronto playing with one short on bench today still have to name replacement for Thomas. Lind ??? to cover LF as well and give Wells and Rios the day off occasionally. Stewart also still day to day with that groin injury, would be good insurance.
The bad: Aftertaste of Frank’s departure. Vernon still not in a consistent groove.
The lineups: Tigers: Thomas, Rodriguez, Guillen, Ordonez, Cabrera, Jones, Renteria, Raburn and Inge with Nate Robertson pitching.
Toronto: Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Scutaro, Overbay, Zaun and Macdonald with Burnett pitching. Interesting but not unexpected to see Overbay moving lower in order. Lyle is still not in synch with his own bat.
The game: Top 1st: Burnett showing great fastball at 97-8mph throughout strikes out the side. Thomas, Rodriguez and Guillen. Great start A. J.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein roller down 3B line into LF, double to start, Hill is he going to bunt ? yes. But misses it. Now swinging away. Flare into CF, drops, two on no outs for Alex. Rios first pitch swinging… grounds to SS. Eckstein at least scores. 1-0. Hill holds. Wells at bat with Hill stealing 3B, successful. Not sure whether that is lack of faith in Vernon ? Wells strikes out. Hmmm. Barajas hit on leg. Scutaro fly ball to CF.
Top 2nd: Ordonez fly ball to RF, Cabrera fly ball to CF, Jones walks and with Jones running on pitch Renteria grounds to Overbay. Burnet still pitching well but heavy reliance on fastball only.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay strikes out, Zaun grounds out to 2B, Johnny Mac lines to SS. Not a great inning.
Top 3rd: Raburn grounds to Eckstein, Inge walks, Thoma s fly ball to Scutaro in LF today, Burnett wild itch moves Inge to 2B, Rodriguez walks, Guillen walks, bases loaded. Burnett almost total reliance on fastball is hurting him, his curve ball is nowhere near. Ordonez grounds to 2B. AJ is off the hook for a time at least, his pitch count is around 60 already.
Bottom 3rd: Eckstein grounds to 3B, Hill singles to CF, Rios flies to RF, Wells strikes out for the second time today. Big bats are still missing even without Frank.
Top 4th: Cabrera fly ball to CF, Jones singles to RF, Renteria singles to RF, Jones moves to 3B, AJ in trouble again. Raburn walks, bases loaded again… Inge pops out to CF too shallow for run to score, Thomas singles to RF, that will do it, two runs score. Thomas to 2B, Rodriguez strikes out. 2-1 Detroit.
Bottom 4th: Barajas strikes out, Scutaro singles to LF, Overbay singles to RF, Scutaro to 2B, Zaun grounds to 3B, Johnny Mac with two outs and two on, singles to LF, Scutaro scores, this game is tied 2-2. Good at bat by Johnny Mac . Eckstein HR !!! to LF, scores Overbay and Macdonald. 5-2. Eckstein pats Johnny Mac at dugout, he knows it was his single that kept things alive. Eckstein is an enigma… how can this little guy hit a home run ? and yet he did it also in Dunedin for a grand slam… Whereas Vernon can’t buy a hit. Hill lines to SS to end inning but Jays retake lead at 5-2.
Top 5th: Guillen grounds to 2B, Ordonez walks, Cabrera doubles CF, run scores 5-3. Come on AJ. Jones grounds to 2B, Renteria fly ball to RF.
Bottom 5th: Rios singles to LF, Wells strikes out for third time, Vernon is not having a good day or series. Barajas lines to CF, Scutaro walks, Alex moves to 2B, Overbay pops to SS.
Top 6th: Carlson pitching, I like this guy, he is all business and looks as if he has ice in his veins. Raburn grounds to 3B, Inge pops up to Zaun, Thomas singles to shallow CF, Rodriguez strikes out, Good inning for Jesse and continues a very good week so far.
Bottom 6th: New pitcher for Tigers. Zach Miner. Zaun singles to CF, Manager Leyland out of the dugout but no change, just telling him out his AAA assignment if he messes this one up. Johnny Mac bunts Zaun to 2B, Eckstein have another good day at the office with double and HR. Not this time, grounds to SS, Hill grounds out to 2B leaving Zaun out there. I guess Zach will continue.
Top 7th: Jesse Carlson still pitching. Guillen strikes out, Now here comes Captain Hook. Jesse is gone but very nice outing. Shawn Camp fresh in from Syracuse now in. Strikes out Ordonez, and strikes out Cabrera. Very nice.
Bottom 7th: Rios grounds to 3B, Wells with three strikeouts this afternoon already, determined not to make four… swings at first pitch, that will do it, do or die Vernon ? This time die with ground out to 3B. I wonder if Vernon will get a rest tomorrow ? Barajas grounds to 2B.
Top 8th: Camp still pitching. Jones grounds to Overbay, Campo completes play at 1B, Renteria strikes out but gets to 1B on passed ball by Zaun. Raburn grounds back to Camp who throws a bullet to Eckstein running over 2B and throw to 1B gets Renteria easily and completes a great double play by Eckstein. This guy is doing it all this afternoon.
Bottom 8th: Bobby Seay pitching. Scutaro walks, Overbay grounds to 2B double play ball. Zaun singles to CF, Jonny Mac strikes out.
Top 9th: Accardo in for save. Management says that BJ will not be pitching two consecutive days for a while at least. Jeremy is still on probation with Captain Hook Gibbons and the fans after last outings. Inge grounds to 3B, Thomas singles to CF. Oh no…. Here comes Rodriguez… grounds to 2B double play ball.
Jays win this one 5-3.
Burnett win and Accardo save. One more tomorrow with Detroit daytime game with thousands of school age fans. Always great atmosphere. It will be a (very) noisy one to get Jays going.
Jays win 5-3
The day started with news re Frank’s release. Not unexpected after his negative outburst yesterday to news of benching. JP had no choice really, he could not afford to have such influence in the clubhouse. If Frank had taken it differently and acknowledged that he was awful to date with .167 average but was going to work his butt off to get his timing ready, might have been different.
They are still paying his salary whether or not he in team or not. But from day one in Dunedin Frank had said he had one goal to get his 600hrs. Nothing about helping the team etc etc…
Now where will he end ? JP said that Frank told him “he still wants to play every day”. He is no good in field anymore. Has to be an American League team. Yankees DH ?
Overall a good but essential move by JP. It also sends strong message to clubhouse about commitment to win something this season.
The good: Burnett win although struggled all day after early great start. He only has one pitch right now until that finger heals. Eckstein’s three run home run. Johnny Mac’s single that set this up for Eckstein with two outs. The bullpen today of Carlson, Camp and Accardo. Fielding as ever including super save by Johnny Mac playing at 3B today and Eckstein's double play in 8th.
News from Dunedin that Rolen is starting game as DH and will play series. Great news Scott, hurry home. Toronto playing with one short on bench today still have to name replacement for Thomas. Lind ??? to cover LF as well and give Wells and Rios the day off occasionally. Stewart also still day to day with that groin injury, would be good insurance.
The bad: Aftertaste of Frank’s departure. Vernon still not in a consistent groove.
The lineups: Tigers: Thomas, Rodriguez, Guillen, Ordonez, Cabrera, Jones, Renteria, Raburn and Inge with Nate Robertson pitching.
Toronto: Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Scutaro, Overbay, Zaun and Macdonald with Burnett pitching. Interesting but not unexpected to see Overbay moving lower in order. Lyle is still not in synch with his own bat.
The game: Top 1st: Burnett showing great fastball at 97-8mph throughout strikes out the side. Thomas, Rodriguez and Guillen. Great start A. J.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein roller down 3B line into LF, double to start, Hill is he going to bunt ? yes. But misses it. Now swinging away. Flare into CF, drops, two on no outs for Alex. Rios first pitch swinging… grounds to SS. Eckstein at least scores. 1-0. Hill holds. Wells at bat with Hill stealing 3B, successful. Not sure whether that is lack of faith in Vernon ? Wells strikes out. Hmmm. Barajas hit on leg. Scutaro fly ball to CF.
Top 2nd: Ordonez fly ball to RF, Cabrera fly ball to CF, Jones walks and with Jones running on pitch Renteria grounds to Overbay. Burnet still pitching well but heavy reliance on fastball only.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay strikes out, Zaun grounds out to 2B, Johnny Mac lines to SS. Not a great inning.
Top 3rd: Raburn grounds to Eckstein, Inge walks, Thoma s fly ball to Scutaro in LF today, Burnett wild itch moves Inge to 2B, Rodriguez walks, Guillen walks, bases loaded. Burnett almost total reliance on fastball is hurting him, his curve ball is nowhere near. Ordonez grounds to 2B. AJ is off the hook for a time at least, his pitch count is around 60 already.
Bottom 3rd: Eckstein grounds to 3B, Hill singles to CF, Rios flies to RF, Wells strikes out for the second time today. Big bats are still missing even without Frank.
Top 4th: Cabrera fly ball to CF, Jones singles to RF, Renteria singles to RF, Jones moves to 3B, AJ in trouble again. Raburn walks, bases loaded again… Inge pops out to CF too shallow for run to score, Thomas singles to RF, that will do it, two runs score. Thomas to 2B, Rodriguez strikes out. 2-1 Detroit.
Bottom 4th: Barajas strikes out, Scutaro singles to LF, Overbay singles to RF, Scutaro to 2B, Zaun grounds to 3B, Johnny Mac with two outs and two on, singles to LF, Scutaro scores, this game is tied 2-2. Good at bat by Johnny Mac . Eckstein HR !!! to LF, scores Overbay and Macdonald. 5-2. Eckstein pats Johnny Mac at dugout, he knows it was his single that kept things alive. Eckstein is an enigma… how can this little guy hit a home run ? and yet he did it also in Dunedin for a grand slam… Whereas Vernon can’t buy a hit. Hill lines to SS to end inning but Jays retake lead at 5-2.
Top 5th: Guillen grounds to 2B, Ordonez walks, Cabrera doubles CF, run scores 5-3. Come on AJ. Jones grounds to 2B, Renteria fly ball to RF.
Bottom 5th: Rios singles to LF, Wells strikes out for third time, Vernon is not having a good day or series. Barajas lines to CF, Scutaro walks, Alex moves to 2B, Overbay pops to SS.
Top 6th: Carlson pitching, I like this guy, he is all business and looks as if he has ice in his veins. Raburn grounds to 3B, Inge pops up to Zaun, Thomas singles to shallow CF, Rodriguez strikes out, Good inning for Jesse and continues a very good week so far.
Bottom 6th: New pitcher for Tigers. Zach Miner. Zaun singles to CF, Manager Leyland out of the dugout but no change, just telling him out his AAA assignment if he messes this one up. Johnny Mac bunts Zaun to 2B, Eckstein have another good day at the office with double and HR. Not this time, grounds to SS, Hill grounds out to 2B leaving Zaun out there. I guess Zach will continue.
Top 7th: Jesse Carlson still pitching. Guillen strikes out, Now here comes Captain Hook. Jesse is gone but very nice outing. Shawn Camp fresh in from Syracuse now in. Strikes out Ordonez, and strikes out Cabrera. Very nice.
Bottom 7th: Rios grounds to 3B, Wells with three strikeouts this afternoon already, determined not to make four… swings at first pitch, that will do it, do or die Vernon ? This time die with ground out to 3B. I wonder if Vernon will get a rest tomorrow ? Barajas grounds to 2B.
Top 8th: Camp still pitching. Jones grounds to Overbay, Campo completes play at 1B, Renteria strikes out but gets to 1B on passed ball by Zaun. Raburn grounds back to Camp who throws a bullet to Eckstein running over 2B and throw to 1B gets Renteria easily and completes a great double play by Eckstein. This guy is doing it all this afternoon.
Bottom 8th: Bobby Seay pitching. Scutaro walks, Overbay grounds to 2B double play ball. Zaun singles to CF, Jonny Mac strikes out.
Top 9th: Accardo in for save. Management says that BJ will not be pitching two consecutive days for a while at least. Jeremy is still on probation with Captain Hook Gibbons and the fans after last outings. Inge grounds to 3B, Thomas singles to CF. Oh no…. Here comes Rodriguez… grounds to 2B double play ball.
Jays win this one 5-3.
Burnett win and Accardo save. One more tomorrow with Detroit daytime game with thousands of school age fans. Always great atmosphere. It will be a (very) noisy one to get Jays going.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Jays win one.
Saturday April 19,2008
Detroit v Jays at Rogers Centre. Jays win 3-2.
Thomas is out and upset. Frank, when you are hitting .167 and Stairs is hitting .325 AND is 13-25 against Bonderman you should not be surprised that you are not in lineup.
Inglett is in for last minute scratch by Stewart with groin strain. Not good.
The good: McGowan for seven good innings, Bullpen and of course BJ's save. Rios HR, Stairs, and two great catches by Scutaro and Eckstein.
The bad: Overall hitting with runners on.
Lineups: Detroit. Thomas, Jones, Sheffield, Ordonez, Cabrera, Guillen, Renteria, Rodriguez, Raburn. And Bonderman pitching.
Jays: Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Barajas, Overbay, Scutaro, Inglett and McGowan pitching.
Top 1st: Thomas grounds out to Hill. Jones singles to LF,Inglett playing in LF, Sheffield grounds to 3B, Jones out at 2B, Sheffield safe at 1B, Ordonez grounds to 3B.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein grounds out to 3B, Hill pops up to Raburn at 2B, Rios, HR to LF. Jays 1-0. Wells grounds to SS.
Top 2nd: Cabrera pops up to Overbay at 1B.Guillen grounds to 3B, safe at 1B, Scutaro throws pulls Overbay off bag. Renteria grounds to 2B, double play ball.
Bottom 2nd: Stairs in for Thomas, long overdue. Dribbler in front of plate, beats out throw to 1B, nice hustle Matt. Somehow I don’t think Frank could do that. Barajas walks, Overbay walks, bases loaded no outs. Scutaro walks. Stairs scores. 2-0 Jays. Still no outs and bases still loaded. Inglett grounds to Bonderman double play ball back to catcher and throw to 1B. Eckstein fly ball to CF.
Not good Toronto. Bases loaded no outs and only run is walked in. Where are those bats ? Big opportunity lost here to a very good team.
Top 3rd: Rodriguez singles to LF, Raburn at bat, hit and run on, fouls off ball, double off the wall. Rodriguez at 3B. Thomas at bat, strikes out. Jones grounds to 2B, Rodriguez scores, 2-1. Sheffield pops up, infield converges, McGowan cannot find ball in sun, Eckstein dives in front of sliding Hill to finish great catch to end threat.
Bottom 3rd: Hill pops up to 3B, Rios singles to LF, Alex at least seems to be getting out of his mini slump, Wells hit and run on, singles to LF, Alex has to hold at 2B. Two on. Stairs lines a bullet to 1B, Guillen. Instinctive reaction but great catch. Barajas grounds up the middle but thrown out at 1B.
Top 4th: Ordonez walks, Cabrera flies to CF, Guillen bounces to McGowan, double play ball. Great leaping catch by McGowan helps himself.
Bottom 4th: Overbay walks, his second of the game, Scutaro grounds to SS, another double play. Secd of the game. Inglett walks, Nice at bat for Joe who fouls off several pitches. Eckstein strikes out. Bonderman has not been sharp today but is hanging in there somehow.
Top 5th: Renetria flies out to Rios, Rodriguez flares single to shallow CF, Raburn fly ball to Inglett at LF wall. Thomas pops up to Eckstein. McGowan pitching well and efficiently.
Bottom 5th: Hill doubles to left centre, Rios strikes out, Wells singles one off Cabrera’s leg, Hill scores. Error to Cabrera. 3-1 Jays. Wells at 2B, Stairs intentional walk. Barajas grounds to SS, Wells to 3B, Stairs out at 2B.Overbay flies to LF leaving both runners on.
Top 6th: McGowan has been more effective today than Bonderman.
Bonderman: 5 innings pitched, 6 walks, 108 pitches.
McGowan: 5 innings pitched, 1 walk and 71 pitches.
Jones grounds to McGowan, Sheffield grounds to 2B, two down. Ordonez pops to Hill. Another good inning by McGowan.
Bottom 6th: Jason Grilli now pitching for Detroit. Scutaro fly ball to CF, Inglett triple to the CF wall. That would feel good after the double play last at bat. Runner at 3B. Eckstein at bat. Suicide squeeze on with Inglett running. Eckstein pops to pitcher and throw to 3B gets Inglett. Ouch bigtime double play. Major gamble when only one out with top of order coming up. Someone doesn’t have much faith. Especially in a one run game. This could hurt later.
Top 7th: Cabrera single to LF, Guillen double off the wall, almost out of here. That suicide squeeze could be big here with two on at 2B and 3B with no outs, McGowan is in deep. Renteria fly ball to shallow centre, not risking this one on Vernon’s arm. Vernon keeps both runners honest with throw back to cather. Rodriguez flies to RF, run scores, 3-2 game. Raburn with runner at 3B, walks after being 0-2. Not good. Thomas grounds back to McGowan. Luck is on Jays side today.
Bottom 7th: Hill lines to Ordonez in RF, Rios first pitch swinging, he has to do at least one, grounds out to 3B, Wells flies out to left centre.
Top 8th: Downs in for McGowan. Thames lines out to Scutaro, great leaping catch by Marco, standing ovation for that one, Sheffield pops to Eckstein, Ordonez strikes out, Good pitching Scott.
Bottom 8th: Rapada pitching. Stairs infield single to 2B, second time today he has beaten one out, Frank it's not looking good for your return. Raburn error and Stairs on to 2B, even better. Barajas pops to 2B, Overbay grounds out to 1B, Stairs on to 3B. Lopez now pitching. Scutaro pops up to 3B.
Top 9th. B.J. Ryan enters……. Time for his show. Cabrera strikes out, crowd loves it. Guillen singles to CF, crowd quiet. Santiago pinch runner. Rodriguez singles up the middle, Santiago to 3B, two on one out. Tension time. Crowd vey quiet. Raburn strikes out. Crowd goes wild and B.J saves another.
Toronto 3 runs on 7 hits and no errors.
Detroit 2 runs on 9 hits and 2 errors
Jays had plenty of chances early in this one to put it away. Hitting still missing cosnistency but good pitching and fielding saves the day.
Will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow with lineup. Will Frank be back in there ? Stairs did more than enough to stay in.
Detroit v Jays at Rogers Centre. Jays win 3-2.
Thomas is out and upset. Frank, when you are hitting .167 and Stairs is hitting .325 AND is 13-25 against Bonderman you should not be surprised that you are not in lineup.
Inglett is in for last minute scratch by Stewart with groin strain. Not good.
The good: McGowan for seven good innings, Bullpen and of course BJ's save. Rios HR, Stairs, and two great catches by Scutaro and Eckstein.
The bad: Overall hitting with runners on.
Lineups: Detroit. Thomas, Jones, Sheffield, Ordonez, Cabrera, Guillen, Renteria, Rodriguez, Raburn. And Bonderman pitching.
Jays: Eckstein, Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Barajas, Overbay, Scutaro, Inglett and McGowan pitching.
Top 1st: Thomas grounds out to Hill. Jones singles to LF,Inglett playing in LF, Sheffield grounds to 3B, Jones out at 2B, Sheffield safe at 1B, Ordonez grounds to 3B.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein grounds out to 3B, Hill pops up to Raburn at 2B, Rios, HR to LF. Jays 1-0. Wells grounds to SS.
Top 2nd: Cabrera pops up to Overbay at 1B.Guillen grounds to 3B, safe at 1B, Scutaro throws pulls Overbay off bag. Renteria grounds to 2B, double play ball.
Bottom 2nd: Stairs in for Thomas, long overdue. Dribbler in front of plate, beats out throw to 1B, nice hustle Matt. Somehow I don’t think Frank could do that. Barajas walks, Overbay walks, bases loaded no outs. Scutaro walks. Stairs scores. 2-0 Jays. Still no outs and bases still loaded. Inglett grounds to Bonderman double play ball back to catcher and throw to 1B. Eckstein fly ball to CF.
Not good Toronto. Bases loaded no outs and only run is walked in. Where are those bats ? Big opportunity lost here to a very good team.
Top 3rd: Rodriguez singles to LF, Raburn at bat, hit and run on, fouls off ball, double off the wall. Rodriguez at 3B. Thomas at bat, strikes out. Jones grounds to 2B, Rodriguez scores, 2-1. Sheffield pops up, infield converges, McGowan cannot find ball in sun, Eckstein dives in front of sliding Hill to finish great catch to end threat.
Bottom 3rd: Hill pops up to 3B, Rios singles to LF, Alex at least seems to be getting out of his mini slump, Wells hit and run on, singles to LF, Alex has to hold at 2B. Two on. Stairs lines a bullet to 1B, Guillen. Instinctive reaction but great catch. Barajas grounds up the middle but thrown out at 1B.
Top 4th: Ordonez walks, Cabrera flies to CF, Guillen bounces to McGowan, double play ball. Great leaping catch by McGowan helps himself.
Bottom 4th: Overbay walks, his second of the game, Scutaro grounds to SS, another double play. Secd of the game. Inglett walks, Nice at bat for Joe who fouls off several pitches. Eckstein strikes out. Bonderman has not been sharp today but is hanging in there somehow.
Top 5th: Renetria flies out to Rios, Rodriguez flares single to shallow CF, Raburn fly ball to Inglett at LF wall. Thomas pops up to Eckstein. McGowan pitching well and efficiently.
Bottom 5th: Hill doubles to left centre, Rios strikes out, Wells singles one off Cabrera’s leg, Hill scores. Error to Cabrera. 3-1 Jays. Wells at 2B, Stairs intentional walk. Barajas grounds to SS, Wells to 3B, Stairs out at 2B.Overbay flies to LF leaving both runners on.
Top 6th: McGowan has been more effective today than Bonderman.
Bonderman: 5 innings pitched, 6 walks, 108 pitches.
McGowan: 5 innings pitched, 1 walk and 71 pitches.
Jones grounds to McGowan, Sheffield grounds to 2B, two down. Ordonez pops to Hill. Another good inning by McGowan.
Bottom 6th: Jason Grilli now pitching for Detroit. Scutaro fly ball to CF, Inglett triple to the CF wall. That would feel good after the double play last at bat. Runner at 3B. Eckstein at bat. Suicide squeeze on with Inglett running. Eckstein pops to pitcher and throw to 3B gets Inglett. Ouch bigtime double play. Major gamble when only one out with top of order coming up. Someone doesn’t have much faith. Especially in a one run game. This could hurt later.
Top 7th: Cabrera single to LF, Guillen double off the wall, almost out of here. That suicide squeeze could be big here with two on at 2B and 3B with no outs, McGowan is in deep. Renteria fly ball to shallow centre, not risking this one on Vernon’s arm. Vernon keeps both runners honest with throw back to cather. Rodriguez flies to RF, run scores, 3-2 game. Raburn with runner at 3B, walks after being 0-2. Not good. Thomas grounds back to McGowan. Luck is on Jays side today.
Bottom 7th: Hill lines to Ordonez in RF, Rios first pitch swinging, he has to do at least one, grounds out to 3B, Wells flies out to left centre.
Top 8th: Downs in for McGowan. Thames lines out to Scutaro, great leaping catch by Marco, standing ovation for that one, Sheffield pops to Eckstein, Ordonez strikes out, Good pitching Scott.
Bottom 8th: Rapada pitching. Stairs infield single to 2B, second time today he has beaten one out, Frank it's not looking good for your return. Raburn error and Stairs on to 2B, even better. Barajas pops to 2B, Overbay grounds out to 1B, Stairs on to 3B. Lopez now pitching. Scutaro pops up to 3B.
Top 9th. B.J. Ryan enters……. Time for his show. Cabrera strikes out, crowd loves it. Guillen singles to CF, crowd quiet. Santiago pinch runner. Rodriguez singles up the middle, Santiago to 3B, two on one out. Tension time. Crowd vey quiet. Raburn strikes out. Crowd goes wild and B.J saves another.
Toronto 3 runs on 7 hits and no errors.
Detroit 2 runs on 9 hits and 2 errors
Jays had plenty of chances early in this one to put it away. Hitting still missing cosnistency but good pitching and fielding saves the day.
Will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow with lineup. Will Frank be back in there ? Stairs did more than enough to stay in.
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