Eckstein and Jays bats combine to lose this one for Halladay

Saturday June 14, 2008. Toronto v Chicago Cubs. Game 2.

After last night’s gem, Jays have a great chance with Halladay pitching to go two up and win the series against the best team in baseball.

Pitching: Halladay 8-5 v Marquis. Going for his third consecutive win.

Lineups: Chicago: Johnson, Fukodome, Lee, Ramirez, Edmonds, DeRosa, Fontenot, Blanco, Cedeno and Marquis pitching.
Toronto: Rios, Stairs, Rolen, Wells, Overbay, Barajas, Wilkerson, Eckstein, Inglett and Halladay pitching.

Result: Jays lose this one 6-2.

The good: Not much in this one at all. One run is walked in the other a sac fly.

The bad: Jays leave six on base and 1/6 with runners in scoring position. Eckstein has to take some blame here for his error that lead to the four run inning. Rolen and Wells ground into double plays. Halladay shortest outing since July 12, at Boston, and the most runs against him since last June 5, against Tampa Bay.

Top 1st: Reed Johnson leading off today getting another very good reception from today’s crowd. Do the Jays ever miss Reed, grounds this one out to Rolen at 3B. Fukudome grounds out to Overbay on to Halladay at 1B. Halladay getting the ball down so far. Lee now walks. Ramirez at bat one on. Strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Marquis pitching, he was a pinch runner last night. You can never tell what Pinella is going to do next. This lineup today is another different one that he is having to juggle with Soriano injured as leadoff. Reed of course is no stranger to this role. Rios at bat, had a great night last night at the plate going 3-4. Can he continue like that or was it a one off ? Grounds out this time to Cedeno at SS. Stairs at bat had that great home run last night and usually hits them in batches, would be great to see one today with this large crowd. Patient here though, full count now, walks. Rolen at bat his first home run in over a month last night, can he repeat ? Grounded out here to 3B DeRosa to 2B Fontenot and on to 1B Lee, call this one a double play.

Top 2nd: Edmonds at bat grounds out to 2B Inglett. DeRosa at bat grounds out to 3B Rolen. That is the fourth ground out so far for Halladay. Fontenot at bat singles to LF. Blanco catching today in place of Soto singles to RF. Fontenot at 3B. Two on now two down. Number nine batter Cedeno grounds this one hard at Eckstein at SS, hits his glove and bounces away. Fontenot scores, Blanco to 2B. Cedeno safe at 1B. 1-0 Cubs. Error to Eckstein. Reed Johnson at bat now with two on two down. Gets hold of this one, HR to LF in the netting over Jays bullpen. Big trouble. Blanco, Cedeno and Johnson score 4-0 Cubs. Reed also gets loud cheers from the crowd. Hmm. JP are you listening and watching this? That was on a 0-2 pitch and two outs. Halladay wants that pitch back. Fukudome at bat strikes out but damage is already done. Not a great inning but Halladay should have been out of it if Eckstein had had that grounder by Cedeno. All the damage done with two outs.
Bottom 2nd: Jays will need some bats going today to get four. Vernon at bat lines out to Cedeno at SS one down. Overbay grounds out to Fontenot. Barajas at bat two down singles to CF safe at 2B on error by Edmonds. Barajas has really done well since Zaun was injured. Word is that Zaun will be back with the team tomorrow after another rehab game today. Wilkerson at bat with one on grounds out to 2B Fontenot. Jays have to start getting these runners in against teams like the Cubs.

Top 3rd: Lee at bat singles to CF. Ramirez flyball to CF Wells, Lee holds at 1B. Edmonds at bat singles to LF, Lee to 2B. DeRosa singles to CF, Lee scores, Edmonds to 2B. 5-0 Cubs. This game is getting away from Jays early. Halladay is not as sharp today. Fontenot at bat still only one out and two on. Fontenot strikes out. Blanco with two on and two down strikes out. Halladay escapes further trouble but this is not his normal stuff. However his defence has not helped him so far today.
Bottom 3rd: Eckstein at bat needs to shake the goat image now, grounds out to 3B DeRosa. Inglett fly ball out to RF Fukudome. Rios same play fly ball to RF Fukudome. Marquis is cruising here.

Top 4th: Cedeno at bat fly ball to CF Wells. Johnson pops up to Inglett two down. Fukudome fly ball to CF Wells.No damage for Roy here this inning but he will not win any games with run support and so far today Jays bats are AWOL.
Bottom 4th: Stairs at bat fly ball out to CF Edmonds. Rolen at bat with one down, patience here and walks. Second walk by Marquis but only the third base runner for Jays. Wells at bat grounds to 2B Fontenot on to Lee 1B, double play ball second time today for Jays. At this rate I think Gibbons will start sending runners as soon as they get on base hit and runs on first pitch.

Top 5th: Lee at bat drives this one to CF, this is big trouble, triple. Ramirez at base no outs. Halladay has impossible task with this lineup. Ramirez strikes out. One down. Edmonds at bat grounds this one but beats out throw and safe at 1B. Lee scores 6-0 Cubs. DeRosa at bat with Edmonds at 1B, grounds to SS Eckstein to Inglett at 2B to get lead runner Edmonds. Two down. Fontenot at bat with DeRosa at 1B and two down, grounds out to Overbay.Cubs are putting this one away out of reach of the anemic Jays bats.
Bottom 5th: Overbay at bat singles to CF, one on. First time today Jays have a leadoff hitter on base. Now can they do something with him? Barajas at bat fly ball out to CF Edmonds. One down.Wilkerson at bat same play fly ball out to CF Edmonds. Eckstein at bat, final chance to move runner, grounds out to SS Cedeno.

Top 6th: That’s it for Halladay today no need to keep him in, this game is lost already. Today he was burned by that Eckstein error as well as failure of Jays bats.Tallet now pitching. Blanco at bat fly ball out to CF Wells. Cedeno at bat singles to LF. Johnson at bat, top of the order again. Grounds this one to 2B Inglett on to Eckstein to get lead runner Cedeno at 2B. Fukudome at bat with Johnson at 1B grounds to Eckstein on to Inglett to get lead runner Johnson. Tallet has done his job.
Bottom 6th: Inglett at bat grounds out to Lee at 1B one down. Rios at bat, hitless today grounds out to 3B DeRosa. Stairs at bat with no one on and two down fly ball out to CF Edmonds. Marquis has had no trouble at all with the Jays bats today.

Top 7th: Tallet still pitching Lee at bat strikes out. Ramirez at bat singles to RF. Edmonds at bat with one on singles to CF, Ramirez moves to 2B.Cubs threatening again. DeRosa at bat fly ball out to LF Wilkerson. Two down for Fontenot, Tallet hits him and loads bases, nothing going right today for Jays. Ramirez at 3B, Edmonds at 2B.Fontenot at 1B. That’s it here’s Captain Hook. Frasor now pitching. Blanco at bat with bases loaded, this could be big trouble, fouls this one out to 2B Inglett. Frasor saves further major damage.
Bottom 7th: Big bat s now for Jays not that they have done anything today. Rolen at bat fly ball out to CF Edmonds. Wells at bat fouls out to 1B Lee. Two down, Wells is walking off field holding his left wrist, not good if he has damaged that again. Overbay at bat strikes out.

Top 8th: Rios is at CF for Vernon. Mench is now in as LF. Wilkerson in as RF. Frasor still pitching. Cedeno fly ball out to RF Wilkerson. Johnson grounds out to Ingeltt at 2B. , second baseman Inglett.Two down for Frasor. Fukudome at bat full count here and now walks. Lee at bat with two down and one on, singles to LF, Fukudome moves to 2B. Cubs threatening again Ramirez at bat grounds to SS Eckstein, Lee out at 2B. Frasor and Jays escape this one.
Bottom 8th: Marquis still pitching and why not Jays hitters have been impotent against him today. Barajas at bat singles to CF. Wilkerson singles to RF, Barajas to 2B.Is that the first time today Jays have had two consecutive hits? Eckstein at bat grounds to 3B but beats out the throw and bases are loaded. Barajas at 3B, Wilkerson at 2B. Three consecutive hits for Jays. Marquis has no gas left and here is Pinella. Marquis seven innings, four hits, only one strike out and two walks but very effective. Marmol now pitching bases loaded and huge opportunity for Jays to do some damage. Inglett strikes out. One down for top of the order. Rios strikes out. This is terrible once again. Stairs at bat, we need a big one Matt. This is your moment. Patience but full count and now walks, run scores, Barajas scored 6-1 Cubs. Finally Jays get one but not thanks to the bats. This is the only way Jays can score? Wilkerson at 3B, Eckstein 2B. Rolen at bat pops it up to 2B Fontenot. I can hear the boos from here. What does it take to get this group hitting?

Top 9th: Wolfe now pitching. Edmonds fly ball to CF Rios. DeRosa fouls out Overbay at 1B. Fontenot fly ball to Rios CF. Quick three up and down. Cubs want to finish this one and get out on the town tonight.
Bottom 9th: Howry now pitching. Mench at bat hammers this one hard to CF a triple. Overbay at bat sac fly to Johnson LF, Mench scores 6-2 Cubs. Too little too late I am afraid though. Barajas at bat pops up Cedeno. Two down.Wilkerson doubles to CF. Where were all these hits earlier in the game and with bases loaded? Eckstein at bat with runner in scoring position strikes out. Jays lose this one but by no means the fault of Halladay.The bats were awful and once again 1/6 with runners in scoring position.

Halladay was not on his usual form or sharp at all. Chicago showed some of their muscle and why they are number one right now. They now have six wins in their last seven games. No one expected Jays to sweep the Cubs in Toronto but if they had to chose a game to win it would have been this one today with Halladay pitching. Tomorrow Jesse Litsch has to surprise everyone and continue great form shown so far this season. But to be fair to Halladay the bats have to get some run support for all their starters.

What they said:
Pinella on Reed Johnson’s three run homer. "It had to feel good for him. It felt good to me."
Reed on his standing ovation last night. "I had a lot of good memories here in Toronto and that's just one more to add to the collection. I wish my wife and my family could have been here to see it. I expected people to stand up and clap but I didn't know it was going to be as special as that."
Halladay on the error by Eckstein giving up one run and setting up the three run HR. "There's obviously things you can't control as a pitcher. I've got to worry about my job and I just didn't make a quality pitch after that. I think that's the biggest thing is knowing what you can control and what you need to control."
Marquis on his 4-0 record in last six starts. "I've felt pretty good all year. Stuff wise I feel like I'm the same but I'm just attacking the strike zone early and often now."

Footnote on Vernon’s wrist. Following game he said it was just a little sore. He placed ice on it following the game and will see how it feels tomorrow.
I think we might also see Johnny Mc at SS tomorrow for Eckstein.