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.....