AJ plus BJ equals great win.

Sunday June 29, 2008. Series finale. Jays v Braves.

Pitchers Reyes 3-5. Burnett 7-7

Lineups: Braves: Blanco, Gotay, Johnson, Teixeira, McCann, Norton ,Francouer, Brandon Jones, Lillibridge and Reyes pitching.
Toronto: Eckstein playing DH ??? Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Rolen, Overbay, Wilkerson , McDonald and Burnett pitching. The second team playing today, I don’t get Cito. No Inglett today (his 30th birthday) No Lind and No Stairs. Stairs I get as lefty pitching but Lind and Inglett are both playing far better than Eckstein, McDonald and Wilkerson. The problem with this club Cito is the hitting.

Result: Jays win this one 1-0.

The very good: Burnett definitely one of his best of the season. His curve ball was working throughout and he mixed it all up very well. Downs and BJ Ryan completed great pitching performance today.
The good: Rios RBI double, 2-for-4 with two doubles and is batting .387 (24-for-62) with nine doubles in his past 17 games. Defence Johnny Mc and Rolen, Barajas’ throw to get Blanco in the third inning. First time this season Blanco has been caught stealing. Barajas has caught 10 of 24 would-be base-stealers this season. The Jay have now won back-to-back home series for the first time this season. Cincinati and Atlanta. Not the greatest record but 4-6 is a huge improvement.
The bad: Jays hitters 0-14 with runners in scoring position. I see no improvement in this area in the last week despite Jays apparently playing much better. Is this true ? or are they just having some luck right now? Lets see what happens in Seattle.

The game: Top 1st: Today is dog day at Rogers Centre. Big parade lead by Paul Godfrey and his dog. A couple of Jays players have dogs in there as well. Blanco strikes out, great curve ball AJ. Johnson at bat singles to LF, there goes the no hitter. Teixiera at bat, danger here for that fastball AJ. Mixing in the curve ball very effectively so far, strikes out. Good first inning for AJ.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein at bat, lines a bullet down the first base line but Teixeira is no normal 1B fielder, makes a great catch saving at least a double. One down for Scutaro free swinging fly ball to RF Francouer. Rios now has to take a few pitches, strikes out. Seven pitch inning for Reyes.

Top 2nd: McCann fly ball to Wilkerson in LF. Norton strikes out. Francouer full count, now walks. Second base runner today for AJ. Brandon Jones at bat, Jays have been lucky to miss Chipper Jones on disabled list although he was on deck circle yesterday for pinch hit. Brandon strikes out. Third strikeout for Burnett, he is mixing it up very well the only problem is his high pitch count. He is going deep into count on these outs.
Bottom 2nd: Wells doubles to center. Vernon appears to be in the groove the last two gamers at least. Barajas strikes out. Rolen grounds out, Gotay at 3B throw to Teixeira 1B. Wells moves to third. Overbay with two down grounds out to Lillibridge SS throw to Teixeira 1B. Jays old problem with runners in scoring position.

Top 3rd: Lillibridge grounds out to Rolen 3B bounces off Rolen’s glove but Johnny Mc also going for ball gets the deflection and great throw to Overbay gets runner at 1B. Blanco at bat bunt single and safe at first. Burnett reached that ball on the 1B line but didn’t throw, either he was blocked by Blanco or didn’t think the throw was worth risking but from my seat it looked as if he could have had him. Gotay at bat. Blanco is going great throw by Barajas to shortstop McDonald at 2B bag gets him. Blanco out. Gotay strikes out on the play. Burnett escapes again but his pitch count is mounting fast.
Bottom 3rd: Wilkerson at bat walks. McDonald singles to CF, Wilkerson moves to 2B. Two on and no outs for Eckstein. Need a single here David. Eckstein grounds shortstop Lillibridge to second baseman Johnson to first baseman Teixeira, Wilkerson to third, McDonald out. Double play. As I mentioned in third inning. Cito, this is the issue with this team. Scutaro at bat grounds to Johnson 2B throw to Teixeira. Once again two on and no outs and cannot score.

Top 4th: Johnson at bat walks on four pitches. Burnett cannot find strike zone now. Teixeira at bat with one on and no outs, Burnett walks him as well. Johnson moves to 2B. Braves turn to have first two on base with no outs. Will be interesting to compare their execution in this situation. McCann at bat fly ball out to Wilkerson in LF. One down, Norton at bat grounds this hard right back at Burnett, throws a high throw to Johnny Mc on to Overbay. Double play for the Jays for a change but saves Burnett from damage here. So much for execution but Jays will take it.
Bottom 4th: Rios at bat lines out to Blanco CF. Wells at bat strikes out. Barajas fly ball out to Blanco. VERY quick three up and down. Reyes is baffling Jays today.

Top 5th: Francoeur at bat, long overdue to break out, grounds to Rolen at 3B throw to Overbay at 1B. Jones at bat strikes out. Burnett using that curve ball well with his fast ball to get his strikes. Lillibridge at bat strikes out. Six strikes outs now. Burnett getting stronger as this game is going on.
Bottom 5th: Rolen doubles to CF. Leadoff hitter on for a change. Can they bring him in? Overbay strikes out. Not even moving Rolen over. Wilkerson at bat grounds out, Johnson at 2B to Teixeira at 1B, Rolen moves to 3B but iof Overbay had done his job that would have been first run. McDonald at bat, singles last time at bat, we need another here Johnny Mc. strikes out. Jays add to their very long list of runners left in scoring position and Rolen was there with no outs. Burnett must be seething inside. He has pitched so well and Jays hitters have been on base just cannot bring anyone in.

Top 6th: Blanco singles to right. Gotay at bat sacrifice bunt back to Burnett to Scutaro, Blanco moves to second. Braves have runner in scoring position, can they do better job than Jays ? Johnson at bat strikes out. Two down but Teixeira at bat. They have first base open Teixeira is intentionally walked. Two on two down. McCann at bat strikes out. Burnett today is really on fire, he is pitching superbly although pitch count is very high now. That may be it for him today.
Bottom 6th: Now Jays have to capitalize after that let off by Braves hitters. Top of the order again. Eckstein grounds out, Gotay to Teixeira. One down. Yes here we go, Scutaro singles to CF. Rios at bat, Alex time to come through again, doubles this down the left field line past Gotay. Scutaro is coming home and scores standing up. 1-0 Jays. Rios moves to 3B on the throw. Wells at bat, Vernon only one down here you have to bring him in. Grounds to Johnson 2B to Teixeira. Vernon not at his best yet. Barajas at bat another chance to get Alex in before he does a suicide steal himself. Barajas grounds to Gotay 3B throw to Teixeira and that’s it yet again. Jays score but this could and should have been at least two.

Top 7th: Burnett out again pitching on gas fumes as the cliche goes, but he has been outstanding so far today. He is also very pumped up for this one you can see his reactions at the end of each inning. The crowd has also been into this one from first inning giving him good support on every two strike pitch. Nine strike outs so far and the crowd also has it’s free slice of pizza. Norton at bat doubles to left. Francoeur at bat careful here AJ this guy can go ahead with one swing. Francouer grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay gets Francouer. Norton holds at 2B. One down. Jones at bat, wild pitch now moves Norton to 3B. This one is really getting tense. Has Cito left him in too long? Another wild pitch will tie this up, a sac bunt will also do same and HR will go head. Crowd around me are VERY quiet. Jones at bat with one out strikes out. AJ that was perfect timing. Lillibridge at bat still not out of danger yet, strikes out. AJ gets standing ovation all the way to dugout. This has to be his last inning and bullpen has to save it for him, this would be a real gut wrencher to lose this one after such a great outing.
Bottom 7th: Rolen at bat, still time to get a few insurance runs for Burnett grounds this one to Lillibridge and throw to Teixeira, one down. Overbay hitless today, now singles to LF. Wilkerson at bat patient here not swinging full count and walks. Two on and one down for McDonald. Johnny Mc fly ball out.to Jones in LF. Runners hold. Eckstein at bat grounds to Gotay throw to Teixeira and the Jays have wasted more opportunities with runners in scoring position. Fans think that Cito has changed the club this week but this major problem with the hitters remains.

Top 8th: Downs now pitching. Burnett’s day is finished but what a great outing. Blanco at bat grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay, one down. Gotay at bat singles to CF. Johnson grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay, Gotay moves to 2B. Two down but look who is at bat? Teixeira. They have to walk him again he is much too dangerous in this situation. I long for the day when the opposing sides say that about any of the current Jays hitters. McCann at bat with Gotay at 2B and Teixeira at 1B. McCann is not a slouch with the bat, has 14 HR’s this season already. One mistake can really hurt here. McCann grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay ends this one. 30,000 breathe again.
Bottom 8th: Boyer now pitching. Chance for Jasy to add one here. Top of the order at bat. Scutaro grounds out to Lillibridge throw to Teixeira. One down. Alex now RBI double last at bat, at least he has been coming through. Alex doubles again this time to RF. Another runner in scoring position with one out. Wells at bat, strikes out. 1-4 today but has had chances to make this game a lot easier for bullpen. Hard to be on Vernon all the time but he is not playing consistently at his best. Barajas at bat, passed ball, Rios moves to 3B. Barajas fly ball out to Jones in LF. Thus BJ will have only one run to work with but it should have been several with the chances Jays have had.

Top 9th: BJ Ryan now pitching. Norton strikes out. Ryan is throwing very hard and has that look on his face. Francoeur at bat careful BJ.strikes out. Crowd is enjoying this one. Jones at bat gets hold of this one could be trouble, no Wilkerson has it deep in LF. This game is over.

Burnett now 8-7 on season, pitched seven shutout innings, 119 pitches and eleven strikeouts both season highs and deserved this one despite not much help from his hitters.

What they said: Bobby Cox on Jays pitching: "They've got golden-plated pitchers over there. Their bullpen is outstanding and they've got all good starters."
Jo-Jo Reyes: "I pitched a good game but Burnett pitched a better game,"