Power shortage for 2-16.

Jays v Oakland April 10, 2008
Jays lose 3-2 in 12.

This was another disaster for the bats, 2-16 with runners in scoring position. Not funny at all. Jays get swept and lose any momentum they had with Boston sweep. Now they have to pick it up on the road.

Lineups: Jays: Eckstein, Stewart, Rios, Wells, Thomas, Hill, Overbay, Barajas, Scutaro and pitching Shawn Marcum.
Oakland: Buck, Ellis, Barton, (Mike( Sweeney, Cust, Crosby, Hannahan, Suzuki,(Ryan) Sweeney, and pitching Dana Eveland.

The game: Top of 1st. Buck doubles to RF. Ellis strikes out, Barton strikes out, after going 3-0, Sweeney flies to LF. 18 pitch inning for Marcum. Not really sharp but could have been much worse.
Bottom of 1st: Eckstein grounds to 2B, Stewart same play, two down. Rios strikes out. 16 pitches for Eveland.

Top of 2nd. Cust strikes out, Crosby walks, Hannahan pops up to 3B, Suzuki grounds to SS and get lead runner at 2B. 28 pitches for 2 innings Marcum needs to get pitch count down. Throwing too many balls.
Bottom of 2nd: Wells first pitch swinging double of CF wall, Thomas strikes out, Hill grounds to SS Wells to 3B, Overbay strikes out. This is awful with leadoff at 2B.

Top of 3rd: Ryan Sweeney grounds to Marcum, put out at 1B, Buck ground sato 2B, four pitches two outs. Ellis single to LF, Barton strikes out. Marcum 13 pitches and now at 51 for three innings. May not last six at this rate. Is really struggling but hanging in there. Needs run support !
Bottom of 3rd: Barajas single to LF, again lead runner on, Scutaro tries bunt, horrible Barajas caught, this is not Benji Molina but almost as slow, what was Scutaro thinking ? Eckstein double play ball. Eveland pitch count is 36, compared to Marcum’s 51. Much more efficient although Jays bats are helping him.

Top of 4th: Sweenmey fly ball to CF, one down, Cust grounds to SS two down, Crosby strikes out, nice nine pitch inning for Marcum he seems to be getting stronger and more efficient as game goes on.
Bottom of 4th: Jays have not scored a run since first inning of last night’s game. Stewart pops up to SS, Rios grounds out and Wells (first pitch again) grounds to SS. Awful inning for bats. 42 pitch count for Eveland. Almost 20 less than Marcum.

Top of 5th: Hannahan strikes out, the sixth strikeout for Marcum, Suzuki grounds to SS, two down, Ryan Sweeney single to CF, Buck double to CF, run scortes 1-0 Oakland. Ellis pops up 1B. Marcum at 80 pitch count.
Bottom of 5th: Thomas walks on 4 pitches, Hill pops up, Overbay strikes out, Barajas pops up. Jays have not scored in 13 innings.

Top of 6th: Barton bounces to 3B no play, M Sweeney single to LF, 2 on no outs, Cust grounds to 2B, one down with runners advancing to 2B and 3B, Crosby pops up in front of plat, Barajas does not find until late and great diving catch, runners hold, Hannahan flies to LF. Marcum off the hook but battloing the whole game so far and now up to 90 pitches. Rookie Carlson ready in bullpen.
Bottom of 6th: Eveland still on only 58 pitches. Scutaro walks, will he steal ? Ecksteion singles to RF runners at 1B and 2B, no outs… top of order to bring them in. Stewart pos to SS. Rios long overdue, flies to CF, Wells perhaps ? strikes out. This is the story of the series. Jays getting the hits but leaving all of them on the bases.

Top of 7th: Marcum still in, gutsy performance tonight and should have been enough if the bats had cooperated. Suzuki strikes out, Sweeney flies to CF, Buck strikes out. Must be it for Marcum 105 pitches.
Bottom of 7th: Thomas strikes out, 80mph slider, Hill is on walks on four pitches, Overbay hit, two on for Barajas, That’s it for Eveland. Casilla in. Stairs pinch hitting for Barajas grounds into yet another double play. I believe this is three in his last four at bats.

Top of 8th. Frasor pitching. Zaun catching for Barajas. Ellis pops to Overbay nice catch at the wall. Barton strikes out, Sweeney flies to LF. Nice pitching by Frasor, throwing strikes. 12 pitches 8 for strikes.
Bottom of 8th: Embree in to hold lead. Scutaro triple off the CF wall, surely Jays can score. Eckstein pops to pitcher, Scutaro holds, Stewart sac fly to CF finally run scores, it is 16 innings since last Jays run. That is the real story of this series. Rios walks, Wells grounds to SS. Not good friends. This was opportunity to rack up the runs with leadoff triple.

Top of 9th: Tallet pitching. Cust strikes out, Crosby strikes out on 3 pitches, Hannahan grounds to Tallet. Nice inning by Tallet.
Bottom of 9th: Andrew Brown pitching for Oakland. Thomas, strikes out, Hill flies to CF, Overbay singles to CF, Johnny Mac is in for Overbay, interesting play, Zaun flies to RF. This game is extra innings.

Top of 10th: Tallet still pitching. Suzuki grounds to SS, Emil Brown pinch hitting for Sweeney strikes out on 3 pitchers, Tallet is doing very well tonight to make up for last outing. Buck strikes out. Great inning.
Bottom of 10th: Devine now pitching. Eckstein pops to 2B, Stewart single to RF, Rios grounds to 2B runners both safe, Wells one down two on, pops to RF but drops in between three players, runners were holding for catch, Rios is thrown out at 2B as Wells now on 1B. Stewart at 3B, crowd is on their feet. Two on two down for the Big Hurt…. Strikes out. The number of chances for Jays to have won this thing many times.

Top of 11th: League pitching. Ellis flies to CF, Barton walks, Sweeney grounds to SS, double play.
Bottom of 11th: Yet another life for Jays. Devine still pitching. Hill flies to CF, Johnny Mac singles to LF, Zaun singles to 1B and safe , Johnny Mac at 3B one down , crowd on their feet yet again. Scutaro grounds to 3B, two down. Eckstein grounds to 1B. Crowd leaving game. This team cannot produce a base hit when it matters.

Top of 12th: League pitching. Denorfia singles, Crosby grounds to 3B go ahead run at 2B, Hannahan intentional walk. I don’t understand this play either. Hannahan is .182 average but Suzuki .324. If it is a double play they want out of luck. League hits him, bases are now loaded. Great. Brown grounds to 3B, runners moving but thrown out at home plate. Bases still loaded for top of order. Buck has really hurt Jays in this series after being 1-21. Doubles to CF two runs score 3-1 Oakland. Ellis walks bases loaded again League is finished. What crowd that is left give him a farewell to the dugout. Jesse Carlson making his major league debut. Bases loaded two out, strikes out Barton, that would feel good. But damage is done.
Bottom of 12th: There are a few fans left from the announced 16,000 attendance which was probably double the actual bodies tonight. The three guys in front of me remained in their seats, they were from Montreal and staying in the hotel so nowhere else to go. However top of the order coming up and two runs should be no problem. Stewart grounds to SS, one down. Rios doubles to CF, I told you so. Wells singles to CF, Rios is waved home by Mart Pavey and fortunately scores. Pavey has played with fire at 3B since beginning of Spring training.
3-2 Jays for the big guy again. Crowd once again on their feet and they are not leaving. One down, tie run in scoring position. Thomas walks !!!! on four pitches. Coats in to run. This would be the winning run. Hill at bat, grounds to 2B, double play to end this one.
A fitting epitaph to this series. Each game lost by one run.

Tonight Jays 2-16 with runners in scoring position, not hard to find reason why this one was lost.
Easy to blame League and the pitching in other games but runs should have been scored.