Saturday May 24, 2008. Toronto v Kansas.

Jays on a roll, can Jesse Litsch continue. Jesse 5-1 so far on season and has far surpassed expectations from the number five in rotation.
Kansas rookie Hochevar is 3-3.

Result: Jays shutout Kansas and win this one 6-0.

Lineups: Kansas: DeJesus, Grudzielanek, Gordon, Guillen, Teahen, Butler, Buck, Pena, Gathright and pitching Hochevar
Jays: Stewart, Hill, Rios, Rolen, Overbay, Wilkerson, Scutaro, Zaun, Inglett and pitching Litsch.

The excellent: Jesse Litsch pitching complete game shutout. His first of major league career.
The very good: Wilkerson’s grand slam in first inning (his career fifth) which almost finishes this one. Eight hits for Jays and six runs.
The good: Jays first back to back complete games *(Halladay and Litsch) since 2000 and Carpenter and Escobar in New York. Hill double. Rolen’s stolen base. Overbay’s tying Tony Fernandez's team record by reaching base in 11 consecutive plate appearances. Overbay has six hits, five walks and three RBIs in the streak. Joe Inglett’s second triple this week. It seemed to me that Jays hitters were far more patient tonight than usual. The first pitch swinging has gone for the most part and it appears to be paying off in this series at least. Toronto now has only one loss in 12 day games to date.
The not so good: Runners left in scoring position again tonight. Nine left on base and Jays only 3/13 with runners in scoring position. (Kansas was even worse 0-8)

Scutaro was the only Jay without getting on base but at least he was the hero last night . Rios was also hitless but had one walk and came round to score.

The game:
Top 1st: DeJesus single to Hill. Grudzielanek fly ball to Inglett, Mr. Utility man playing LF today. Gordon strikes out and with Zaun catching DeJesus trying to steal this is a good quick inning for Jesse.
Bottom 1st: Stewart singles to LF. Hill now at bat, doubles to LF. Good to see Hill getting his hits again. Two on no outs. Stewart trying to come home on that hit is thrown out at home plate. great throw by DeJesus and relay by Pena. One down. Alex now at bat, strikes out leaving Hill in scoring position at 2B.Rolen now very patient works count to full count ,now walks. Two on one down for the hot Overbay. Lyle now infield single to SS. Bases loaded for Brad Wilkerson. Rockets away, this one is out in CF. GRAND SLAM Wilkerson and Jays take a 4-0 lead in this one. Great start. Scutaro now, last night’s hero. Not this time, grounds to Gordon. Third out but Jays have the 4-0 lead.

Top 2nd: Jesse has nice lead to work with. Guillen singles to LF. Teahen strikes out. Butler singles to LF, Guillen to 2B. Buck fly ball to Wilkerson in RF. Buck fly ball to Wilkerson. Pena grounds out to Overbay. Guillen is left out there.
Bottom 2nd: Zaun fly ball to Gathright. I don’t think Gregg will be playing on Sunday. Inglett fly ball to Teahen in RF. Stewart now hit by pitch. Hill grounds to SS. Pena gets the lead runner Stewart.

Top 3rd: Gathright grounds out to Scutaro at SS, one down. DeJesus grounds out to Hill. Grudzielanek grounds out to Scutaro. Good quick three up and down for Jesse. Hard to believe that Jesse was not in starting lineup a year ago.
Bottom 3rd: Alex leading off. No luck here, strikes out. Rolen now at bat, not swinging and walks on four pitches. Overbay walks on four pitches. Hochevar having trouble finding the strike zone here. Wilkerson now the first inning. grand slam hero grounds to Grudzielanek double play ball .

Top 4th: Gordon grounds to Hill. Guillen pops up to Overbay. Teahen grounds to Overbay.
Bottom 4th: Scutaro grounds out to Butler. Zaun strikes out. Inglett grounds to Grudzielanek.

Top 5th: Butler fly ball to Wilkerson. Buck doubles to RF. Pena grounds back to Jesse throw to Overbay. Buck moves to 3B. Gathright grounds out to Rolen.
Bottom 5th: Stewart pops up to Butler. Hill grounds out to Butler. Alex grounds to Pena at SS. Jays are sitting on that 4-0 lead.

Top 6th: DeJesus fouls out to Inglett in LF. Grudzielanek singles to CF. Gordon fly ball to Inglett, Joe is busy tonight. Wild pitch by Jesse. Grudzielanek moves up to 2B. Guillen grounds out to Hill. Jesse escapes another.
Bottom 6th: Rolen singles to RF. Overbay at bat. There goes Scott and steals 2B. Full count now for Lyle, walks. Two on no outs. Wilkerson strikes out. Scutaro lines to Gathright in CF. Two down are the Jays going to leave Rolen at 2B yet again. Zaun now infield single Grudzielanek’s throw to 1B into foul territory Rolen scores. 5-0 Jays. Overbay to 3B. Wild pitch moves Zaun to 2B. Overbay does not move up. Inglett at bat fly ball to Teahen. Two more left on byut Jays score one more.

Top 7th: Litsch still pitching. Teahen grounds to Hill. Butler grounds to Scutaro. Buck fly ball to Wilkerson. Jesse still pitching well.
Bottom 7th: Yabuta now pitching for Hochevar. Stewart full count and walks. Hill infield single. Stewart moves up to 2B. Alex now walks, first time on base today. Bases are loaded. No outs, another great opportunity here for Jays to blow this one open. Ramirez in to replace Yabuta. Rolen fly ball to DeJesus too shallow for run to score, runners hold. Overbay now patient at bat, full count, and walks run in. Stewart scores. 6-0 Jays. Bases still loaded. Hill moves to 3B. Rios to 2B. Look who is at bat ? First inning hero Wilkerson again with bases loaded. This time pops up to Pena. No chance to score on that. Scutaro now, grounds out to Pena, hets lead runner Overbay at2B. Not a great inning by Jays hitters at all. Run scores from a walk. But six is a big target for the Royals in last six outs and BJ Ryan sitting out there in LF bullpen.


Top 8th: Pena fly ball to Inglett in LF. Gathright bunting here to 2B. Tryiong something different against Litsch and this works. DeJesus at bat one down. Grounds to Hill, this could be trouble, double play ball. Good to see it turned by the Jays this time for a change.
Bottom 8th: Nunez pitching Zaun grounds out to Butler at 1B. I really do think Barajas will be playing tomorrow Zaun is struggling bigtime. Inglett now also not having a good afternoon. This time different at bat triple to CF. His second triple this homestand. He is proving to be a versatile player. Now can the others bring him in with only one down. Will Gibbons try something aggressive with Stewart now at bat ? Suicide squeeze ? Shannon is probably the best player to try this. Full count here, walks. Hill now fouls out to Buck. Rios lines out to Teahen. No runs here. Disappointing yet again even with the six run lead.

Top 9th: Jesse still in there to finish this one. Would be a first for him both a shutout and complete game. Grudzielanek doubles to CF. Careful Jesse. Gordon strikes out. Guillen grounds out to Scutaro. Grudzielanek moves to 3B. Two down two on. Teahen to 2B, defensive indifference. Butker fly ball to Wilkerson. This one is over and great win for Lirtsch, Complete game and shutout. His first of both in major leagues.

Jays win 6-0. And are back above .500 for first time since April 20. They will make up another game on Orioles or Rays. Boston game is later tonight on west coast. Yankees are winning but will remain below Jays.

They said: Wilkerson on his grand slam in first inning: "I got in a good hitter's count by being patient. He gave me a good pitch, got it up over the middle of the plate. I tried not to do too much and drove the ball out."
Overbay on his hitting streak: "I feel like I'm seeing the ball well. I'm not expanding the zone too much."
Hochevar on Wilkerson’s grand slam in first inning: "That was the game. When the wind gets taken out of our sails early on like that, that puts us in a hole and it's tough to come back out of it. I made a mistake and I paid for it."
Litsch: "I try to pound the zone every time I go out there. The key to my game is pounding the zone, making contact and using my defense. It's good to be able to go out and finish one and get that first complete game under my belt,"
John Buck- Kansas on Litsch: "He has good, late effective movement. We're not the only team that's been having trouble with him."
Trey Hillman, Kansas Manager: "We did a very poor job of working the count. Litsch is good. His numbers bear that out. He's been a solid pitcher."

Other news: Wells is hitting balls pre-game and will be on his way to Florida rehab on Monday when Jays head to the west coast. Stairs has missed three straight games with stiff neck.