Poor managing, lousy base running, and not much hitting lose this one.

Game number two against Angels.

Jays have to keep up the pressure on the rest of the East.
Tampa has already won tonight 2-0.

Marcum 5-3 2.64 ERA v Lackey 1-1 2.05 ERA

Lineups: Jays: Stewart, Scutaro,Rios, Rolen, Stairs, Overbay, Barajas, Wilkerson, Eckstein and Marcum pitching.
Angels: Willits, Kendrick, Anderson, Guerrero, Hunter, Kotchman, Izturis, Mathis, Quinlan and Lackey pitching.

Result: Angels win 3-2 in ten innings.

The very good: Not much tonight.
The good: Marcum pitching to keep Jays in the game. Rolen’s defence, Barajas Home Run.Eckstein 2-3.
The bad: Base running by Rios and Wilkerson. Bat first pitch swinging. Rios at bat in 8th. Swinging wildly at balls and taking third strike, totally at sea right now. Rolen, Stairs and Overbay tonight 0-10. And I have to add the Manager to this mix tonight. The percentages did not work out in the tenth and he paid the price.

Top 1st: Stewart good at bat here fouling several off, full count. Walks him Nice at bat Shannon, nine pitches. Scutaro at bat will Shannon be running ? grounds out to 2B double play. Rios now at bat grounds out to SS. Stewart’s lead off base for naught. 17 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Willits strikes out. Good start. Kendrick at bat fly ball to shallow center for Rios. Anderson at bat, 3-0 here. There’s a strike. Walks Anderson for Guerrero…. Not good Shawn. Grounds out to Scutaro first pitch. That IS ok Shawn. 12 pitches.

Top 2nd: Rolen at bat strikes out. Stairs strikes out. Overbay at bat, good patience, full count call third strike. Lyle didn’t offer at all. Hard to figure Lyle out. He has great on base percentage but seems to score more when he is aggressive as last night. 28 pitches for Lackey. Boston and Yankees are winning their games. Yankees 6-3 bottom of the sixth. And Boston 4-3 top of the seventh.
Bottom 2nd: Hunter fly ball to Wilkerson in RF. Kotchman single to RF. One on one out. Izturis, singles to RF just through Scutaro and Overbay. Two on. Mathis fly ball into LF Stewart nice running catch. Runners hold. Two down. , Quinlan at bat roller to 3B runner safe. Bases loaded. Willits at bat, whoa first pitch swinging pops up to Stewart. Agressive there Willits. Marcum escapes trouble 25 pitches.

Top 3rd: Bottom of the order now, Barajas, Wilkerson and Eckstein. Barajas grounds out to SS. Wilkerson full count, strikes out. Eckstein another great reception from crowd. He last played here in 2004 but is still a crowd favourite. Pops up to 2B but not before Eckstein has fouled off several and pushed Lackey’s pitch count now to 50.
Bottom 3rd: Kendrick first pitch fly ball to Wilkerson. Anderson grounds out weakly to Scutaro. Guerrero at bat grounds to Scutaro. Three up and down very quickly for Marcum. Only seven pitches that inning now at 32.

Top 4th: Jays bats have fallen very silent. Don’t go in a funk now team. We are just getting used to the hitting. Top of the order for second time through. Stewart at bat, pulls it to 3B thrown out at 1B. Scutaro singles to CF. First hit for Jays tonight. Rios now, let’s do the same here Alex. That’s ok Alex, singles to RF Scutaro going to 3B but Alex caught off 1B in rundown. Kotchman throws to 2B and into LF, error to Kendrick. Scutaro scores. Alex safe at 2B. 1-0 Jays. Rolen now let them pay Scott. Fly ball to Willits sliding catch in LF. Two down. Alex back to 2B. Stairs now hits him on shoulder. Overbay now with two on. First pitch grounds to 2B. Not a good at bat Lyle. 67 pitches for Lackey.
Bottom 4th: Hunter HR to CF. 1-1. Just as Jays get the lead. Is it not ever so. Kotchman grounds out to Eckstein at SS. Izturis at bat, singles to RF under the diving Scutaro. Mathis at bat pops up to Overbay. Two down. Quinlan grounds up the middle but ball hits off the bag at 2B bounces out into the outfield. That was crazy. Runners safe at 1B and 3B. Willits full count here grounds out to Eckstein at SS. No further damage for Marcum. 51 pitches.

Top 5th: Bottom of the order bats. Barajas lines to Qunilan at 3B. One down. Wilkerson gets hold of this one, doubles to centre right. Eckstein now, overdue for a hit here David. There you go David, singles to RF. Wilkerson held at 3B. Stewart lines softly to Kendrick leaping high gets it and then doubles up Eckstein at 1B. Maybe Wilkerson should have gone earlier it would have to be perfect throw by Guerrero to get him. 20-20 ball. 74 pitches for Lackey luck is on Angels side tonight.
Bottom 5th: Kendrick strikes out. Anderson singles to LF. Guerrero going for downtown LA with that swing. Strike one. Bounces one to Eckstein, steps on 2B and throws Guerrero out at 1B. Double play friends. 63 pitches for Marcum.

Top 6th: Jays have to start something here. Scutaro pops this one up to Izturis at SS. Rios now, first pitch swinging hard liner to 3B, two down. Right now Alex cannot do anything right consistently at least. Rolen fly ball to RF Guerrero gets it easily. Three up and down not a good inning by Jays bats here especially Rios. 82 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Hunter first pitch grounds out to Rolen. Kotchman singles to RF. Izturis at bat, Kotchman running and Izturis singles into LF. Two on. Mathis at bat 3-0 count. Full count. Fly ball to Wilkerson in RF. Runners hold. Two down. Quinlan lines it to Wilkerson in RF. Marcum escapes damage again. 76 pitches but he needs help from the bats….. They can’t be empty tonight.

Top 7th: Stairs first pitch lines hard down the line but great play by 1B Kotchman. Overbay now has to take a few, second pitch fly ball to Willits. Three pitches two outs. Not hard to see what is wrong with them tonight. Barajas that’s more like it bounces this one off the top of the wall in LF. HOME RUN 2-1 Jays. Willits great jump but just over his head. Wilkerson now strikes out but ball gets away and gets down to 1B. Eckstein at bat, Wilkerson running and is caught at 2B. Man that is so ….. unprintable. With Eckstein at bat. Hiribke base running tonight by the Jays. 94 pitches. Eckstein would have taken him over that 100 mark.
Bottom 7th: Willits chops it over head of Overbay and gets a double. Kendrick trying to bunt here. Doubles now off the wall in right centre and just like that 2-2. Anderson with Kendrick at 2B. First pitch pops up to Stewart in shallow LF. Not a great at bat. Guerrero, not putting him on. Not intentional at least but now 3-1. Fly ball out to RF Wilkerson. Kendrick moves to 3B. Hunter at bat two down. Full count grounds to 3B, Rolen on his knees throws him out at 1B. GREAT play Scott, saves further damage.

Top 8th: Eckstein first pitch doubles into LF corner. Can they bring Eck in? Stewart at bat strikes out, not even a bunt to get him over. Scutaro at bat. 100 pitches now for Lackey. Grounds to SS Eckstein has to hold. Two down. Rios now with horrible night at bat and on base. Swings at ball one. Swings at ball two in the dirt. Watches strike three. Rios has to move down the order he is becoming a liability in front of Rolen. Lead off double by Eckstein and three good chances wasted.
Bottom 8th: Downs now pitching. Kotchman grounds to Scutaro. Izturis 3-3 tonight. Full count after 0-2 count. Grounds out to Eckstein. Two down. Mathis at bat grounds out to Eckstein. Now the big Jays bats in the ninth but can they do anything ? tonight so far has been a bust for the bats.

Top 9th: Frankie Rodriguez the closer pitching. Rolen at bat pops it up in shallow LF Willits has to run in hard to get it. Stairs, now this should be interesting, big swing first pitch. Full count. Grounds this one to Kendrick. Two down. Overbay now what can he do? Full count. Walks him very good at bat by Lyle. Barajas lines to CF Hunter makes great catch.
Bottom 9th: Quinlan at bat Downs still pitching. Singles into LF. Pinch runner Mathews. Willits bunts Barajas hits the runner but called out as runner is on grass inside line. Mathews has to return to 1B. Kendrick at bat strikes him out, great curve ball by Downs. Anderson now at bat, wicked curve ball here right across Anderson’s body, singles to RF. Mathews to 2B. Guerrero at bat. That’s it for Downs. Benitez in to pitch to Guerrero. Pops it up to Rolen. Not this time Vladdy.

Top 10th: Wilkerson at bat. Wood for Quinlan at 3B. Scot Shields now pitching grounds it to Kendrick. One down. Eckstein 2-3 tonight. Fly ball to Guerrero. Stewart grounds to 2B.
Bottom 10th: Inglett in for Stewart in LF. Benitez still pitching, he only had one pitch in the ninth against Guerrero . Hunter at bat grounds to Overbay just beats out dive by Hunter. Captain Hook brings in Brian Tallet for percentages. Kotchman singles to CF that pitching change worked well. Izturis bunts Tallet throws it away. Runners at 2B and 3B. Mathis intentional walk to load bases. Man here comes Gibbons again. Frasor now ? Frasor is the last one to have in there with runners on base. I don’t understand why Gibbons didn’t leave Benitez in… he struck out the side last night and had two quick outs tonight. Juan Rivera pinch hitting for Wood. Singles to RF. Angels win this one 3-2.

Some poor managing tonight along with the players. This one was slipping away all night. Marcum kept them in it but two runs is not enough against this team. Rubber game tomorrow.
Footnote: Boston has beaten Baltimore 6-3. Rays win. Yankees win in twelve.