Monday May 5th 2008. Toronto v Chicago.
Can Toronto sweep tonight and make it five in a row? McGowan v Vazquez.
Jays win 1-0.
The very good: McGowan for eight.
The good: Canadian lumber. Stairs HR. BJ saves it but not before shakiness.
The bad: Bats again. Rolen and Rios terrible at bats. Rolen especially in 6th with Stewart at 3B after triple.
Lineups: Toronto: Rios, Stewart, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Overbay, Hill, Zaun, Eckstein and McGowan pitching. Lind not playing tonight despite right hand pitcher. Rationale is that Stewart has seen more of Vazquez when he played in Minnesota. I think that giving Adam a break from his struggles 1-19.
Chicago: Cabrera, Quentin, Thome, Konerko, Dye, Swisher, Ozuna, Uribe, Hall and Vazquez pitching.
Top 1st : Cabrera first pitch grounds to Eckstein. Quentin hard grounder to Eckstein’s right nice play by Eckstein, two down two pitches. Thome first pitch singles to LF. Konerko grounds to Hill.
Bottom 1st: Rios strikes out. Stewart in LF tonight grounds to SS, two down. Rolen lines hard to RF, Dye at the wall makes catch.
Top 2nd: Dye lines out to Rios in RF. Swisher strikes out. Ozuna at bat how about first pitch swing ? I won that bet… grounds to SS. Ozuna has swung at every pitch in last two days. Patience is not his middle name.
Bottom 2nd: Stairs strikes out. Wells fly ball to Swisher in CF. Overbay strikes out.
Top 3rd: Uribe chops it over McGowan’s head, Hill could not get it, I think Eckstein was closer might have made it and Johnny Mac would definitely have. Hall in for Pierzynski, doubles down 3B line, just inside bag, two on. Cabrera grounds to Eckstein, Uribe holds and might have scored. Quentin fly ball to shallow CF Rios, Uribe holds. Two down for Thome, strikes him OUT. Great pitching Dustin… Two in scoring position with no outs and he gets them all…. Ozzie must be climbing the dugout wall. When you’re in a slump these things happen…. Talk to the Jays.
Bottom 3rd: Hill strikes out. Zaun singles to RF. Eckstein grounds to 1B, step on first and throw to 2nd double play ball.
Top 4th: Konerko strikes out on three pitches. Dye grounds to Rolen. Swisher grounds to Rolen. Good inning by Dustin.
Bottom 4th: Rios first pitch fly ball to CF. Stewart singles into RF, same shot as Zaun. Rolen lashes one to LF , Stewart at 3B but Rolen caught in run down mid-bases and is out. Two down. Stairs grounds to 2B. No score.
Top 5th: Ozuna strikes out. Uribe high fly ball to Stewart. Hall pop up to shallow centre for Wells running in. Good inning by McGowan.
Bottom 5th: Wells doubles to corner in RF, don’t often see Vernon hit one down there. Overbay fly ball, cannot move Vernon. Hill, grounds to 1B, Vernon moves up to 3B. Zaun strikes out.
Top 6th: Cabrera grounds out. Quentin grounds to Eckstein, two down. Thome strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Jays have been threatening last two innings, can they get to Vazquez this one? Eckstein fly ball to RF. Rios, patience Alex, strikes out swinging head in air. Stewart lines it into CF, triple for Shannon. His second of the season. Rolen first pitch swinging again, come on Scott…. Grounds to SS. That was NOT a good at bat by Rolen. Put some pressure on Vazquez.
Top 7th: Konerko strikes out. Number six for McGowan. Dye fly ball to Wells. Swisher grounds to Rolen.
Bottom 7th: Vazquez 80 pitches. McGowan 98 pitches. Jays have been threatening for last three innings, surely they can break through. Stairs at bat. HOME RUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!! to RF. I am psychic. Frank we miss you. 1-0 Jays. Wells strikes out. Overbay grounds out to Uribe at 2B. Hill average dropping these days come on Aaron we need another. A double !!! ( I AM psychic) up the centre. Zaun, try again, Gregg you are overdue. Another flying bat by Gregg. Strikes out, high called strike. Leaves Hill on 2B.Now can Jays hold here?
Top 8th: Will it be McGowan? Yes but Carlson and Camp up in bullpen. Ozuna, didn’t swing at first pitch, here he goes, two swings and grounds to Hill who stumbling but gets speedy Ozuna. Uribe singles past diving Eckstein into LF, crowd wish Johnny Mac was in there for that one. Here comes Gibbons. Backpack, backpack Jesse Carlson in, Pierzynski pinch hitting for Hall Jesse hits him. Two on. That’s it for Jesse. Camp now pitching. Top of order for White Sox, need to be careful here. Cabrera lines at Camp, hits his glove, Hill steps on 2B gets Pierzynski. Two down. Quentin fly ball to Stewart. Bullpen holds them. BUT they could help themselves with another run or two……
Bottom 8th: Vazquez still in there for a complete game. Eckstein grounds to Uribe at 2B. Rios patience now Alex. Takes one, takes two, takes three, takes it all the way for a strike, full count, strike out on ball four. Stewart 2-3 tonight, full count grounds to 3B but Shannon beats throw. Not over yet. Stewart 3-4 tonight. Rolen at bat. Now Scott this is your chance. 116 pitches for Vazquez. Shannon dancing around at 1B gives Vazquez someone to think about, throws over. Rolen takes one, takes two, takes three, now a strike. Walks him…. Stairs again with two on. Ozzie is out. Vazquez great game gets very nice reception from Toronto crowd. Thornton for lefty, lefty matchup. Stairs strikes out. Up to BJ now.
Top 9th: BJ Ryan pitching against the big bats. Tense big time. Thome, Konerko, and Dye. Thome with right shift on, Johnny Mac is in for Eckstein, finally Gibbons is listening. This has to be standard for every game. Full count , grounds to Overbay one down. Konerko full count again, walks him this time. Dye pinch runner Brian Anderson for Konerko at 1B, three and 0…. Ozzie Guillen shouting at umpires re balks. Home plate umpire replies and Ozzie gets out there. But effect is definitely disrupting BJ. Ozzie knows this. BJ walks Dye. Swisher walks, bases loaded and with three walks. Arnsberg out to settle BJ. Ozuna at bat takes strike one, grounds back to BJ. Throw to home gets one Zaun throw on to 1B gets two. DOUBLE PLAY ….. Jays win this one.
Jays win this one 1-0. McGowan win now 2-2 and BJ Ryan save. Earned with lots of blood and sweat.
And first four game sweep in five years. Only five runs allowed in this five game win streak.
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3 comments:
i heard it was the first 4 game sweep in 7 years... double check your sources warwickjay ;)
my thoughts on the game: WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was stressed out in that final inning. gotta hand it to BJ for that double play. if it had gone past him.. yikes, we could have been looking at extra innings, then what would gibby have done, having used up all of his great pitchers so early...thats what i worry about. i definitely understand the motivation behind using many pitchers so early, but when the score is so low, is that such a great idea??? maybe, since they jays have the best pitching staff in the AL...... but its still risky... one day that might come back to bite him.... (i hope it doesn't)
other thoughts:
- personally, i laughed out loud during rolen's pickle between first and second... great try! reminded me of the sandlot...(the movie)
- stewart has finally found his groove. i remember reading an article last week about how he (stewart) was worried about his slump especially since he doesnt get enough play time to work it out. but tonight he proved himself. 3-4 and a triple!!!! what a guy!
- stairs homerun = WOW!!!! frank who????????
good game... highlights from other games were more exciting... but thats okay. LOVED guillen's "rant" about chicago media/fans that was shown after the game. perhaps gibby has the same feelings , even if he doesn't articulate them as so......
highlights from other games, i meant the boston game and the st.louis games... (not other jays games) in case it wasn't clear
clarification: first 4 game SERIES sweep in 7 years. (not 4 game sweep)
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