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.