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 ?
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