A real nail biter and disappointment in the ninth.

Wednesday April 30, 2008 Jays v Red Sox. Second of three.

Jays really need this one. But it will not be easy at all. Best pitcher, great lineup, and at Fenway and after great morale boosting win for Boston last night to break streak. Odds are definitely with Boston.

Boston wins 2-1. And in the bottom of the ninth.

The very good: McGowan pitching. Superb like Halladay.
The good: Rolen bat again, Lind gets off the mark. Great throw by Wells to get Lowry. Defence by Lind great catch tonight. Barajas blocking plate in 9th. Accardo good inning.
The bad: McDonald dumb play as pinch runner picked off at 1B.

Lineups: Jays. Rios, Eckstein, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Overbay, Hill, Lind, Zaun, McGowan pitching
Boston: Pedroia, Youkilis, Ortiz, Ramirez, Lowell, Moss, Varitek, Crisp, Lugo and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The game.
Top 1st : Rios grounds to 2B, Eckstein same play, Rolen strikes out.
Bottom 1st: McGowan pitching Pedroia at bat, high fly ball to Wells on first pitch, Yuokilis strikes out, Ortiz fly ball great catch by Lind in LF at the wall… full run full stretch very nice Adam…. That should give the bats some rocket fuel.

Top 2nd: Stairs lines to RF, Youkilis jumps full stretch and gets the ball, great out, saves at least a double, Wells grounds to 2B, Overbay hits it hard but lines out to RF. Great defence so far on both sides.
Bottom 2nd: Ramirez at bat, interesting he is 1-12 similar to Vernon, we have been on Vernon’s case but Manny is in just as bad a slump, singles to right centre, Lowell fly ball to Lind in left, Moss fly ball to CF, Varitek, grounds bouncer to Hill.

Top 3rd: Hill first pitch wild in the dirt, strikes out weakly, Lind great line drive Pedroia, great catch, Zaun full count, walks, great patience there Gregg, Rios at bat full count again, lines to CF.
Bottom 3rd: Crisp grounds out to Hill, Lugo grounds out to SS Eckstein, two down, Pedroia full count, ground ball to Rolen.

Top 4th This is déjà vu last night, someone please get a hit !!! Eckstein strikes out. Rolen pops to Youkilis at 1B, Stairs single to RF, thank you Matt. Wells at bat, now Vernon, please……. Walks on four pitches ! next best thing for Vernon right now, two on…..but two out, Overbay at bat. How many innings since Jays have scored a run ??? 13 in Boston now and still counting.. Overbay grounds out to Lowell at 3B.
Bottom 4th: Youkilis grounds out to Overbay, Ortiz strikes out, Ramirez strikes out. Very nice Dustin… now if only the bats could help you out…

Top 5th: Hill fly ball to the wall in LF, nice try Aaron, Lind fly ball to RF, Zaun wild pitch, grounds to 1B.
Bottom 5th: Lowell fly ball to Vernon at the wall, Moss wild pitch one gets away high, grounds to 2B, Varitek strikes out. Another great inning by Dustin.

Top 6th: Top of the order must break out…. this is 15th inning since a run for Jays. Daisuke 82 pitches 58 for McGowan. Rios at bat, high inside pitch under Rios chin, grounds to 1B, Daisuke just gets there in time, Eckstein fly ball to LF now 97 pitches. Rolen double off the wall in centre right, Yeah finally…… 4th double… for Scott, Stairs at bat strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Crisp pops up on foul ground to Rolen, Lugo high chopper to Rolen, Pedroia grounds to McGowan. Another nice inning. Still around 70 pitches.

Top 7th: Wells come on Vernon….. just relax…. Fly ball to the wall in LF, just under it, plus wind blowing in, Overbay, Daisuke still in there, 106 pitches, grounds to 2B, Hill grounds to 3B.
Bottom 7th: Boston big guys, be careful here Dustin. 73 pitches Daisuke 108. Youkilis first pitch fly ball to Vernon. Ortiz HR to RF but I think Rios could have had that one it was catchable in the 2nd row low wall in RF, On the replay it was the front row. Ramirez grounds in hole at 3B, dives and get ball and Ramirez, two down, Lowell, double to LF, Moss strikes out. Dustin you have done ok…. It is not your fault bats are dead, dead and deader.

Top 8th: Delcarmen pitching. Lind singles to CF, first base hit in majors this season at least, I like Adam, he had such a great Spring training and will be a great asset when he settles, has power and a good arm and speed. Here is Francona, another Captain Hook. Delcarmen is gone. Okajima pitching, Zaun at bat or Barajas ? Zaun it is, turns around and doubles to LF corner,so much for percentages Terry. Back to back hits Lind at 3B, Zaun at 2B, Scutaro pinch runner for Zaun, Rios at bat, now Alex make up for that lost catch, Rios lines ball to centre right and Moss catches diving full length, Lind scores, 1-1. Great catch by Moss to save a run, but Alex gets job done, rbi first run in 16 innings, Eckstein strikes out, two down, Rolen at bat strikes out. Jays tie this one up but leave Scutaro at 2B.
Bottom 8th: Varitek at bat McGowan still there, Barajas now catching for Zaun, grounds out to Eckstein, NOT a good throw by Eckstein, where is Johnny Mac now ? Crisp at bat double to RF, Lugo walks, Pedroia here comes Gibbons. 100 pitches for Dustin very good outing, would have been more than sufficient with even a few runs support. Jays one run in 17 innings wasting great pitching by Halladay and McGowan. They can’t pitch better than they did. Accardo now pitching with two on and only one out, need double play here Jeremy. Falls behind 3-0. Fly ball to CF, Crisp to 3B. Youkilis grounds to SS gets Lugo at 2B. Nice job Jeremy.

Top 9th: Papelbon pitching, Stairs at bat. Single to CF, nice hit Matt, last night he was cold off bench, when he faced Papelbon, Johnny Mac pinch running, Wells Mac picked off at 1B, dumb. What next for Jays ? how many more ways can they find to mess up ? Wells grounds to SS would have been double play but Macdonald didn’t need to make it that easy.. Two down. Overbay full count, grounds to Pedroia throws him out at 1B. Another Pedroia type play.
Bottom 9th: and of course the big guys at bat. Déjà vu ? Ortiz, Downs now pitching…. Shift was on for Ortiz but hard hit single to Hill behind Overbay, Ramirez full count, walks him, but safer than hit. Pinch runner Lowry now for Ortiz. No one up in Jays bullpen, two on no outs, Lowell at bat strikes out, one down, Moss lines to centre Wells throw gets him, Barajas blocks plate great throw Vernon. Ramirez at 2B Varitek at bat, base hit up the middle, Ramirez scores just beats out Wells throw. Boston wins 2-1.

This one could not be much closer. Two out bottom of the 9th but this is Boston in Fenway guys…
Major disappointment. Two games in a row. Incredible that only four runs between the two teams in two games. One day ! someone is going to suffer when these two teams break out. Here's hoping it will be the Jays tomorrow.