Four in a row and finally one for Halladay

Sunday May 4th. 2008. Toronto v White Sox.

Can Jays win three in a row. Today their best chance with Halladay, but Contreras is also very good. Should be a good one.

Jays win this one 4-3. Four in a row and counting.

But strange game. Contreras nine pitches and all strikes to get first three in first inning. Halladay almost threw this one away after getting a four run lead given to him. However much blame to Eckstein for making this one as close as it was. Bats deserve some credit especially the Canuck... Matt makes us forget the Big Hurt today.
For Vancouver Jay I did get the Aaron Hill bobblehead.
A side note to these giveaways. I find it so very different to have 10,000 fans in their seats so early in the afternoon. When Boston is in town most of the early fans are Red Sox nation and also get the giveways, but today majority seemed to be Jays fans and gives a buzz to start of game.

The good: Halladay and the bullpen today. The bats of Stairs and Wells. Loved the crowd into the game right in first inning for Halladay two strike counts. Good sign. Great first inning for Halladay striking out the side.
The bad: Hitting went silent after the third when Contreras was almost down. Too much free swinging.
The ugly: Eckstein’s error. This one lead to unearned runs for Halladay and totally threw him. It really hurts all fans to see these errors by Eckstein with Johnny Mac sitting on the bench.

Lineups: Chicago: Swisher, Cabrera, Thome, Konerko, Dye, Pierzynski , Crede, Ozuma and Contreras pitching.
Toronto: Rios, Eckstein, Rolen, Stairs, Wells, Overbay, Hill, Lind, Zaun and Halladay pitching.

The game : Top 1st: Halladay pitching Swisher strikes out, Cabrera strikes out, Thome strikes out. However Halladay 18 pitches, a little too high Roy for a complete game.
Bottom 1st: Contreras pitching. Rios strikes out on 3 pitches, Alex is NOT a leadoff guy. Eckstein grounds to SS. Rolen pops out to Swisher in CF. Contreras has thrown nine pitches all strikes and has three outs. This could be an interesting game today.

Top 2nd: Konerko grounds to Overbay, Dye strikes out Halladay’s fourth today. Pierzynski grounds to Hill. This time 13 pitches for Halladay. About seven innings at this rate.
Bottom 2nd: Stairs doubles to LF, breaks that impressive start in first inning by Contreras. Wells moves Stairs to 3B by grounding out to Konerko. Overbay sac fly to LF, Stairs scores, 1-0 Jays. Hill doubles to LF, the bobble head man determined to achieve this afternoon. Lind with average sinking fast. Grounds to 1B leaving Hill at 2B.

Top 3rd: Quentin fly ball to CF. Crede grounds to Eckstein, Ozuma free swinging guy this one, grounds out to Rolen.
Bottom 3rd: Zaun lead off single to RF, Rios doubles to RF, Zaun to 3B. Two in scoring position no outs. Is this not a great situation ???? Eckstein grounds to SS but Rios bumps him going back to 2B. Get Ecksteins at 1B but looks like interference to me. Umpire doesn’t call it and here comes Guillen like a shot out of dugout below me. I agree with him but he doesn't win this one.
Rolen coming up…. Lines to Crede who does not fumble this one. Two down. Stairs at bat, thank you Frank for giving us Matt in this position. Doubles to CF, Zaun and Rios score. 3-0 Jays. Looking good for Halladay today. Wells singles to CF, Stairs scores, 4-0 Jays. This is looking very good. Wells at 2B for Overbay. Lyle strikes out. He is not having a great season despite his on base percentage.

Top 4th: Swisher doubles to CF. Cabrera grounds to SS. No… safe on error by Eckstein throws it away. Thome singles to CF, Swisher scores. 4-1. Cabrera at 2B. Konerko double to left. Cabrera scores, 4-2. That was expensive error by Eckstein. Thome to 3B. Dye strikes out. Pierzynski grounds out to Hill. Thome scores 4-3. Konerko moves to 3B. Jays. Quentin is hit by pitch. Crede fly ball to Vernon at CF. Not a good inning by Halladay. I know Eckstein should have had that throw but Halladay should have had been ok. I think he seemed to relax with a lead, probably very surprised he had one for a change. However four run lead should be automatic lights out for Roy. Now he has given Sox hope when they should be down big time.
Bottom 4th: Hill lines out to Quentin. Lind strikes out. Adam is in steep dive of his average. Zaun lines out to Swisher. Contreras has second life after last inning.

Top 5th: Ozuna strikes out, This guy is such a free swinger, doesn’t believe in taking any pitches. Fine for Halladay to have him leading off. Swisher fly ball to Rios in RF. Cabrera lines out to Rios. Good fielding by Alex.
Bottom 5th: Rios grounds to Cabrera, Eckstein grounds to Crede. Rolen fouls out to Pierzynski. Rolen not sharp today did that off day have any effect ?

Top 6th: Thome grounds out to Hill. Konerko grounds out to Overbay. Dye grounds out to Hill. Halladay pitching again….but his pitch count is very high now.
Bottom 6th: Stairs grounds out to Ozuna at 2B. Wells grounds out to Konerko. Overbay strikes out.

Top 7th: Pierzynski lines out to Lind. Quentin strikes out. Halladay's seventh strikeout. Crowd happy gets free pizza. Crede flies out to Lind.
Bottom 7th: Hill lines out to Swisher. Lind strikes out, his average must .50 now. I watched Lind at Spring training and this kid can really hit. Question will be will they stick with him ? I think so because he definitely has great potential. Bat and glove. Zaun grounds out to Crede. Halladay isn’t getting much help now from his bats.

Top 8th: Ozuna grounds out to Rolen. That’s it for Halladay today, 101 pitches. No fifth complete game for him and he can’t complain he really let pitch count get away in first inning. Plus the bullpen is fresh after last week’s great starters.
BUT here Gibbons bringing in Carlson again. I do like Carlson but Gibbons is running him out almost every game now. No Tallet ??? for lefty lefty ? Carlson pitching to top of order as well. Swisher very dangerous bat, strieks out well doen Jesse. Cabrera grounds to Rolen, short hops him and Cabrera gets to 2B. Tough play for Rolen but cannot finish it today.
Now Thome, ever dangerous and long overdue. Strikes him out. Crowd gives Jesse a standing ovation to the dugout and well deserved. It does make you wonder where this guy was in the organization before this season ? He has certainly been a huge asset made more valuable with Jansson going down in the Spring.
Bottom 8th: Top of the order but Contreras still pitching. The free swinging Jays have meant that his pitch count is better than Halladay’s. Too bad, as the Chicago bullpen has been beaten up in the last two games. Rios grounds to Crede. Eckstein grounds to Cabrera for the third time today, not a good game for Eckstein bat or glove. Rolen grounds out to Crede. Scott has had a ho-hum game today not sharp at all. I hope it was not result of the day off yesterday.

Top 9th: Here we go…… Accardo now in. Why does everyone get so nervous when Jeremy comes in ? Konerko lines out to Wells, Great start Jeremy. Dye lines out to Wells. Even better. Two down. Oh no here comes Captain Hook !! For one at bat…. !! This guy lives and will die by the percentages. Downs now in, also getting overused like Carlson. Pierzynski grounds to Hill. This game is over. Jays win 4-3 and fourth in a row.

They are gradually climbing out of that hole they dig for themselves .
Halladay wins one for a change for him at least, now 3-4 on season and Downs gets the save… for his two pitches. I think Carlson deserves it though in my book.

What they said: Halladay: "I'd rather go five innings and get a win than go nine and lose."
Gibbons: “It’s never easy taking Halladay out. But you have to do what you think is right. Then you hope like hell it works.”