Canadian lumber finds market in Texas.

Blue Jays v Texas. Friday April 11, 2008.

Jays in Texas for big three game series after terrible sweep in Toronto by Oakland. They need a lift.

Jays win 8-5

The good: Litsch great outing, Overbay’s three run double his 5th of season, four stolen bases by Jays, Zaun’s steal home, backend of double steal with Coats. Wells, Rios, Eckstein, big bats come through tonight . Bullpen again apart from Frasor. Carlson in particular very nice outing. No nerves with this guy.

Yankees beat Boston, Jays need those two to have a tough series especially with Yankees on 18 game road trip. Oakland continue their pace by beating Indians.

Lineups: Jays: Eckstein Hill, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Overbay, Zaun, Scutaro, Coats. Pitching Litsch
Texas: Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Bradley, Blalock,Murphy, Catalanotto, Laird, Broussard, Padilla pitching.

The game:
Top of 1st: Padilla pitching, Eckstein grounds to 3B, Hill strikes out, Rios grounds to 3B. Quick inning for Padilla.
Bottom of 1st: Kinsler flies to LF, Ex-Jay Mihcael Young flies to RF, Ha,Milton lines a rocket at Litsch, great catch Jesse. six pitch inning.

Top of 2nd: Wells, Strikes out, Stairs strikes out, Overbay flies to CF.
Bottom of 2nd: Bradley strikes out, Blalock HR to RF, 1-0 Texas. Murphy strikes out, Catalanotto striukes out. Three strikes out for Jesse.

Top of 3rd: Zaun grounds to 2B, Scutaro pops up behind 1B, Coats strikes out. Padilla nine up and down.
Bottom of 3rd: Laird strikes out, Broussard walks, Kinsler hit, Young flies to RF, Hamilton grounds to 1B.

Top of 4th: Eckstein singles to CF, Hill at bat, Eckstein running but Hill fouls off, Single to RF, two on for Rios strikes out, Wells doubles off Catalanotto’s glove in LF Eckstein scores, 1-1, Hill at 3B, Wells at 2B, Stairs walks, Padilla bases loaded 21 pitches this inning, Overbay doubles to RF thre runs score, 4-1. Zaun grounds to 1B, Overbay to 3B, Scutaro to SS. 4-1 Jays on four hits.
Bottom of 4th: Bradley singles to RF, Blalock strikes out, five strikeouts for Litsch, Murphy grounds to 2B, gets lead runner Catalanotto bunt single runners at 1B and 2B,Laird walks, Broussard grounds to 1B , nice pitching Jesse leaves bases loaded.

Top of 5th: Coats single to CF, Eckstein doubles to RF, runners at 2B and 3B no outs, Hill strikes out, Rios intentional walk, for Wells. Bases loaded for Wells grounds to 3B gets lead runner, bases still loaded, Stairs flies to LF.
Bottom of 5th: Kinsler double to LF, Young flies to RF, Kinsler to 3B, Hamilton sac fly to LF, 4-2. Bradley flies to LF.

Top of 6th: Overbay fly to CF, Zaun singles to LF, takes 2B on Catalanotto’s fumble (error) Scutaro flies to RF, Zaun to 3B, Coats walks, good at bat for Buck. Eckstein at bat, Coats going Laird throws and Zaun steals home, both safe, 5-2 Jays. Eckstein is hit, two on, Hill flies to RF.
Bottom of 6th: Blalock single to RF, Murphy flies to CF, Catalanotto pops up to Overbay, Laird singles to RF, runners on 1B and 2B. Jesse is done for night, great outing for number 5 starter and one that Jays needed tonight after Toronto. Plus Jays didn’t get in until 5.00 a.m. this morning. A tired group needing a good start and they have it. Can the bullpen hold it? Wolfe in. Two on two out. Broussard pops up to Zaun.

Top of 7th: Fukumori pitching. ERA of 20.25… interesting. His name translated is “Lots of luck”. Rios walks on 10 pitch at bat, Alex really is far more patient this year. Wells at bat Rios is going, Laird’s throw is wild and goes into CF, Alex on to 3B. No outs, surely Jays can bring him home. Wells grounds to 1B, no one at first to get throw, ouch bigtime. Rios scores and Wells safe on huge mental block by someone. 6-2 Jays.
Stairs singles to RF, Wells at 2B, Overbay lines out to Blalock, Zaun loops single into LF Wells scores 7-2 Jays, Scutaro doubles left centre, Stairs scores 8-2. Zaun to 3B.
That’s it for Fukumori, I can’t count high enough for his new ERA. Nippert pitching. Coats grounds to SS rundown play 2 now on at 1B and 2B. Eckstein flies to LF. Where were all these hits in Toronto ? BUT no one is complaining tonight. Eckstein has been on base three time, Jays have three stolen bases including steal of home.

Bottom of 7th: Wolfe has been sitting a long time. Kinsler grounds to SS, Young walks, Hamilton blasts a rocket to Right centre. Houston we have takeoff. Ball is still in flight somewhere. 8-4 Jays however.
Bradley fly ball to LF Coats and Eckstein converge, Coats veers away and Eckstein drops ball, Coats should have called him off, error on Eckstein but rookie should have taken charge on that one, much easier for him running in. Wolfe is done. Too bad. Jesse Carlson is in again second night in a row. Last night three pitches to end the 12th. One down one on at 1B. Blalock flies to Coats Murphy pops to Hill. This Carlson guy is a cool dude.

Top of 8th: Nippert still pitching Hill at bat now has .342 average, a great start. High pop up to Laird, Rios strikes out, Wells 2-4 on the night singles to LF 3-5, with his Dad looking on.Stairs at bat, 1-3 with walk tonight, Wells stealing Laird’s throw offbase, Jays have his number tonight 4 stolen bases. Vernon goes on to 3B on the throw. Stairs strikes out.
Bottom of 8th: Carlson still pitching and why not. Bird flies to RF (oops sorry about that), Laird strikes out, Broussard pops to Scutaro, another quick great inning by Carlson who will probably go down when Ryan gets back, too bad.

Top of 9th: Nippert still pitching. Overbay lines one off Young’s bidy into LF, Zaun flies to LF nice twisting catch by Murphy, Scutaro at bat, Overbay stealing but not this time, Laird raises his average to 20% caught stealing. Scutaro grounds to 1B.
Bottom of 9th: Frasor pitching. Why do I always get nervous when he is pitching? Kinsler walks,Young at bat, Kinsler takes 2B, indifference and no throw, Young strikes out, Hamilton single to CF Kinsler of the indifferent steal scores, 8-5, Now I know why Frasor gets me upset. Gibbons agrees and is in to pull him for Downs.
Still no Accardo… interesting as he didn’t pitch last night either. Bradley grounds to Eckstein, two down, Blalock in, ball gets away from Zaun, runner (Hamilton) to 2B, Come on Scott. Blalock grounds to Hill.
Game over. Jays win big.


.