The hits come but no runs. Guerrero beats Jays on his own.

Wednesday May 21st, 2008. LA Angels v Toronto

Second game of series Marcum v Garland. Jays need to get something going at home. Terrible record and if they can’t win at home forget playoff hopes. Tonight Marcum should at least given them some hope. But they still have to score runs to win a game. Garland loves pitching against the Jays.

Result: Angels win their second and the series 4-3.

Lineups: Angels: Figgins back from injury, Mathews, Guerrero, Anderson, Hunter, Kotchman, Napoli, Rodriguez, Izturis and Garland pitching.
Toronto: Wilkerson, Hill, Rios, Rolen, Stairs, Overbay, Stewart, Zaun, Scutaro and Marcum pitching.

The good: Rios, who had a pair of singles, rbi and a two-out walk. Hill and Zaun two hits. Eleven hits outhit Angels with four BUT one of those was a three run blast.
The bad: Rolen now in a slump. Marcum not good tonight.
The very bad: Three more double plays given up by Jays Hill, Stairs and Scutaro. That makes seven for the first two games of this series.

The game:
Top 1st: Marcum pitching. Figgins back off disabled list grounds to Scutaro at SS. Mathews strikes out. Guerrero still in his own slump but ever free swinging. There she goes HR to CF. 1-0 Angels. Anderson single but error by Overbay and gets to 2B. Hunter lines to Rolen. Not the start Marcum had hoped for.
Bottom 1st: Wilkerson fly ball to Hunter in CF. Hill grounds out to Rodriguez at 2B. Now Alex, admits yesterday that this game is mainly mental, his head right now is a real mess. Walks this time. Rolen now single to RF. Alex at 3B. Two down. Stairs now can he bring him in. Yes indeed back to back hits for Jays nice to see perhaps tonight is the night. Alex scores 1-1. Overbay now with Rolen and Stairs on, make up for that error Lyle. Strikes out. Two left on. Must have felt good for Alex to actually get around all those bases including home plate.

Top 2nd: Kotchman grounds to Hill. Napoli fly ball to Stewart in LF.Rodriguez strikes out. Much better for Marcum.
Bottom 2nd: Stewart grounds to Figgins at 3B. Zaun pops up to Garland, Scutaro grounds to Kotchman.

Top 3rd: Izturis grounds to Hill. Figgins full count, walks. Mathews walks. Marcum playing with fire here guess who is up? Guerrero now there he goes first pitch HR to LF. Three runs score. 4-1 Angels. Marcum was burned by those walks, he knew Guerrero would be looking for a strike first pitch. Marcum should have used his head there. Anderson now with bases empty singles to CF. Hunter strikes out. Kotchman fly ball to Rios. Escapes further trouble but his pitch count is now 58 pitches. At this rate he will be out by the 5th. This game may already be over. Jays bats have to score five to win. Tough the way they are hitting right now and all season.
Bottom 3rd: Wilkerson now full count, walks. Good start.Hill at bat NO. grounds to Rodriguez double play. Fifth double play by Jays this series already.Rios now, grounds o Rodriguez error on play and Alex at 1st. The luck changes. Rolen at bat, passed ball enables Alex to 2B and in scoring position. Rolen grounds to Figgins at 3B. Three left on this game.

Top 4th: Marcum not only 4-1 down but in trouble with his pitch count, Napoli at bat, grounds to Scutaro. Rodriguez fly ball to Rios at CF. Izturis the same. Three up and down for Marcum.
Bottom 4th: Stairs in his own mini slump fly ball to Hunter in CF. Overbay lines out hard at Figgins. Stewart grounds to Izturis. The problem is the poor hitting becomes contagious.

Top 5th: Top of the order and trouble for Marcum. Figgins now at bat, strikes out. Mathews strikes out. Two down. Guerrero at bat already with all the runs and two home runs. Swinging away, feast or famine for Vlad. Strikes out this time. Marcum strikes out the side. A little late but better than the other.
Bottom 5th: Zaun leads off with single to RF. Another lead off guy on base. Second time this game. Scutaro grounds to Figgins gets lead runner Zaun. Wilkerson now pops up to Izturis. Two down for Hill. Singles to LF. At least no double play this time. You have to wonder about Hill and his ability to go the other way and stay out of double play. Why doesn’t he do it more often ? Ditto with Stairs the major double play culprits. Alex now with two down and Scutaro on 2B. Been here before Alex, just relax. Yes indeed singles to CF that will score Scutaro and bring Hill to 3B. Nice hitting Alex. That must feel good. 4-2 Angels. Rolen now with two on and Aaron at 3B. Grounds out to Izturis. Scott’s early hitting has deserted him. Five now left on base by Jays this game.

Top 6th: Anderson grounds to Hill. Hunter grounds to Rolen. Kotchman fly ball to Wilkerson. Another three up and won for Marcum, pitching much better now they are losing.
Bottom 6th: Stairs lines back to Garland continuing his slump. Overbay now doubles !!!! to CF, we have not seen many of those from Lyle this season. Stewart now with Lyle in scoring position, lines to Izturis. Two down. This is so repetitive. Zaun singles off Garland to Izturis shallow left, Lyle running and scores this time 4-3 Jays. Surprise surprise…. Scutaro now singles t CF. Zaun to 2B. Two more for Wilkerson, keep the line moving Brad. Lines out to Kotchman very nice play on hard hit. Seven left on base by Jays this game. But good news is the gap is only one now.

Top 7th: Napoli strikes out. Rodriguez walks on full count. Izturis grounds to Hill gets Rodriuez at 2B. Cannot turn double play. Top of order up, danger time for Marcum. Figgins singles to LF. Izturis at 2B. That’s it for Marcum his early innings pitch count has pushed him to 112 now. Tallet now pitching. Mathews grounds to Rolen gets Figgins at 2B.
Bottom 7th: Garland is finished stand to keep his undefeated record here. Arredondo pitching. Hill singles to 2B. One on for Alex, RBI hit in last at bat. Singles to CF for second time. Wow, when did he have two consecutive hits in a game? Here’s hoping his slump is over. Jays have something going here. Rolen at bat. Two on. Passed ball Hill to 3B. Rolen strikes out. NO. Not even a fly ball Scott ? Stairs now as savior…Fouling a few off here Matt. Nice at bat. NO I don’t believe it. Grounds to Kotchman DOUBLE PLAY… Alex out at 2B. That hurts big time. Neither Rolen nor Stairs could get a fly ball ????? That is bottom of the barrel friends. Nine left on base by Jays this game. When oh when….?

Top 8th: Guerrero leading off be careful Tallet. Fly ball to Rios in CF. Anderson fly ball to Rios in CF. Hunter strikes out. Very nice pitching Tallet. But when was the Jays pitching any trouble ? It’s the bats friends. Bats, bats and where are they?
Bottom 8th: Shields now pitching again on consecutive nights and Jays got to him last night, sort of at least. Overbay strikes out. Stewart infield single to SS. Hustle Shannon. He knows. Has to make something happen. Zaun at bat, there he goes Shannon steals 2B. Gibbons has no choice now he has to play small ball. Hit and run, steals, sac bunts and even suicide bunts, nothing else is working. Jays are getting the guys into 3B but cannot bring them in. Zaun now full count, walks. Two on déjà vu last night with Shields. Luna now in pinch running for Zaun. Scutaro at bat. NO I DON’T BELIEVE THIS. Scutaro grounds to Rodriguez at 2B. Double play again and again and again. Third double play of this game and seven, YES SEVEN in two games. Must be close to Guiness Book of Records. Jays really don’t deserve to win these games. They are bush league in the hitting. Ten left on base.

Top 9th: Barajas now in for Zaun. Tallet still pitching. Kotchman grounds out to Hill. Napoli at bat, pops up WHOA ! great catch by Barajas going into Angels dugout but ball to his chest.That’s leaving it all out there. Leading by example. Two down. Rodriguez now full count, walks. Izturis get this guy you don’t want the top of order back in there. Grounds to Scutaro gets Rodriguez at 2B.
Bottom 9th: Last chance for Jays but Frankie Rodriguez with 18 saves is back out there. You know he will not repeat last night’s bases loaded. Jays have to really work to tie this one and you know Vegas odds will not be in their favour. Top of the order. I am surprised that Gibbons is not using his bench here for Wilkerson anything to shake the bats. Bring in Joe Inglett. Wilkerson grounds out to Rodriguez. Hill now in walks. One on one down. Alex having a good night, we need one here Alex. Too much pressure for this kid right now. Fly ball to Anderson. Two down for Rolen. Not much better here Scott is awful also right niow. Pops it up to Izturis. This game is over although it was over by the third tonight.

Angels go for the sweep tomorrow and right now the odds look very good for them. Jays had eleven hits but only three runs. Angels have only four hits but they made them count or at least Guerrero did. Eleven Jays left on base tonight and so the list of woes continues. Jays now have losing record at home. 10-11.

Guerrero two home runs tonight came into this game with only one home run in last 22 games. Alex it can happen to you to.Just relax.