Jays lose series and ruin a Marcum masterpiece again.

Wednesday June 11, 2008. Series finale. Toronto v Seattle.

Jays really need this one. Losing series to Baltimore they don’t want to lose this one to Mariners. The worst team in the league and at home. However any team can beat another and Jays should recall Seattle win over Boston last week8-0 in Fenway. That is some result.

Lineups: Seattle: Suzuki, Bloomquist, Vidro, Ibanez, Lopez, Reed, Sex, Johjima, Betancourt and Hernandez pitching.
Toronto: Eckstein, Inglett, Wells, Stairs, Overbay, Mench, Wilkerson, Scutaro, Thigpen and Marcum pitching.
The second team today definitely. No Rolen, No Rios and No Barajas. I do not understand this logic. Tomorrow is an off-day and that should be sufficient right now for this group. It really bothers me that Gibbons never shows any ruthlessness win at all costs approach. He is much too laid back and that can hit sometimes. They should have been winning every single on this home stand against Baltimore and Seattle. Instead they have already lost three of five. They are getting great pitching, good defence but horrible, horrible hitting especially with runners in scoring position. Dead last in the league. This cannot continue, can it?

Result: Jays lose another heartbreaker literally on the last hit by Overbay to the wall.

The excellent: I have to give Marcum this today. He was superb, his off-speed stuff kept Mariners hitters off-balance throughout. He was matched by Hernandez but Hernandez was definitely helped by poor hitting approach by this Jays second team. Poor judgement in swinging and seemingly little thought of approach at each bat by the players. This is second great game in a row for Marcum and nothing to show for it.
The good: Thigpen (number three catcher and probably already en route to Syracuse) diving catch for bunt and throw to 2B for double play. Scutaro stab at 3B to throw out runner. Stairs groundout to bring in runner from 3B after Wells had struck out.
The bad: Where do I start? The inept, hitting by most of the lineup. Overbay yet another double play. Wells with three strikeouts, two in critical game saving opportunities. The bullpen. Downs 30 pitch inning Ryan three walk inning.

Top 1st: Already so different from last night’s game. Ichiro leads off and there is not a murmur from the large “school day” crowd here. Last night every movement was followed by a horde of Japanese-Canadians in the crowd and media, cameras flashing. Today a much greater response to Scooby Doo catching the ceremonial first pitch than Ichiro at bat. Crowd today swelled by 20,000 schoolchildren. Can the Jays give them something to cheer about and get into the game loud. Marcum strikes him out. First pitch today fast ball 87mph.Last night McGowan was 97mph even in the ninth. Bloomquist at bat also strikes out. Two down for Marcum. Vidro grounds one back to Marcum. Quick tidy inning for Marcum , here up and down.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein leading off today for Rios. Grounds to Lopez at 2B. Inglett still in there for Hill although Aaron has had three symptom free days and could be back after seven although he may get rehab in Dunedin for a couple. It will be good to see him out there again. Inglett grounds out to Betancourt at SS. Vernon now batting number three today. Fly ball to Ichiro in CF. Hernandez has three up and down inning.

Top 2nd: Ibanez grounds back to Marcum. Lopez strikes out. Marcum is throwing nothing but strikes these first two innings. Reed grounds out to Scutaro at 3B. Nice play by Marco. Eighteen pitches and fifteen strikes for Marcum, he is throwing many off-speed pitches here to go along with his “fast ball”. So far Mariners have not worked out an answer. Three strike outs for Marcum
Bottom 2nd: Stairs at bat, walks. First person on base today. Overbay now at bat. GUESS WHAT ? another double play ball, Lopez, Betancourt to Sexson. Stairs tries to break it up but no go. This is Lyle’s third in this series. He is definitely off his timing. Mench at bat, singles to CF. That double play hurts now. Wilkerson at bat. Strikes out. Jays threaten but that’s it.

Top 3rd: Sexson at bat, strikes out. Johjima walks. First base runner for Marcum. Betancourt at bat strikes out. Ichiro for second time today. Strikes out, Marcum continues to baffle Mariners with his off-speed stuff today. Five strikes outs in first three innings.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro at bat, grounds out to Betancourtat SS. Thigpen first at bat strikes out. This might be the one and only start for Thigpen. Zaun is on rehab assignment today and could be back in team by Friday which means that Curtis will be sent down again, he should make the most of today’s chances. Eckstein for the second time today grounds out to Sexson at 1B. Jays are giving nothing to the crowd to cheer about. Too bad as it is huge again today swelled by 20,000 school children and also by the Bay Street suits on lunch break. Probably close to 30,000 today.

Top 4th: Bloomquist at bat, strikes out for second time today. Every pitch from Marcum seems to be different, he is really mixing it up well and also pitching quickly. Vidro at bat, now singles to left, there goes the no-hitter for Marcum. Ibanez at bat, grounds out to Inglett playing 2B. Cannot turn two. Vidro moves to 2B. Lopez at bat fly ball to Mench in LF.
Bottom 4th: Inglett at bat drives this one to the wall, Joe going for third gets in safely as Reed fumbles ball. Inglett at 3B no outs and Vernon at bat. Needs that fly ball he had in first inning. Strikes out swinging. OUCH. Stairs now at bat, grounds one to Lopez at 2B scores Inglett, Matt out at 1B. 1-0 Jays. Two down for Overbay. Grounds out to Betancourt at SS. Jays get one but could and should have been much better with leadoff guy at 3B.

Top 5th: Marcum now pitching with a lead. Reed at bat, pops up to Inglett at 2B. Sexson at bat, he is so tall his bat looks like a toy bat, strikes out for second time today. Seven strikeouts now for Marcum still confusing the Mariners. Johjima singles to right. One on two down. Betancourt grounds out to Inglett, Johjima out at 2B. Another good inning from Marcum he needs some more run support though.
Bottom 5th: This game is moving very quickly. Some of the lunch crowd are now leaving having seen half a game in an hour. Mench at bat pops up top Lopez at 2B. Wilkerson strikes out. Scutaro at bat, strikes out. Hernandez is settling in here matching Marcum but lower pitch count thanks to lack of disciplined hitting by Jays.

Top 6th: Ichiro at bat. Grounds out to Scutaro at 3B. Marco’s throw beats him at 1B. Bloomquist at bat, strikes out. Number eight for Marcum. Vidro at bat singles to LF. Ibanez infield single to Scutaro throw not in time Vidro moves to 2B. Two on two down. Lopez at bat grounds to Scutaro, beats Vidro to 3B bag.
Bottom 6th: Thigpen strikes out. Hernandez is still strong. Eckstein at bat, singles here to CF. Inglett doubles this one to LF. Thigpen is held at 3B. I think he may have scored there, at least challenge the throw here. But with Vernon up and only one out, percentage plays. Vernon now strikes out swinging for the second time with runner at 3B. Not even contact. Not his day today. Two down again for Stairs with runner at 3B. Stairs grounds this one to Lopez, problem is two outs already and that is it for this inning. Jays have had their chances to get some runs but Vernon in particular has left his bat I the dugout after hitting so well since he returned from the disabled list.

Top 7th: Reed singles to LF. Sexson at bat gets first hit here singles to LF. Reed to 2B. Trouble here for Marcum. Johjima bunting pops one up, Thigpen diving catch and throw to 2B to double up Reed. What a great play by Curtis. Definitely has helped his future here and helped Marcum. Two down now with only one on. Betancourt at bat, drives this one to RF, a triple Sexson scoring 1-1. This hurts after the missed chances in the bottom of Jays last inning. Ichiro now with Betancourt at 3B. Intentional walk to put him on 1B. Bloomquist at bat pops up to Inglett at 2B. Marcum escapes further damage and game is not out of sight although even one run against Hernandez is proving difficult for the Jays hitters today.
Bottom 7th: Overbay at bat grounds out to Betancourt at SS. Mench grounds out to Betancourt. Wilkerson at bat flies out to Betancourt. All three plays to SS. Hernandez getting stronger as game goes on.

Top 8th: That’s it for Marcum, pitched so well today with little run support. Eight strike outs but it as he mixing of all his pitches that kept Mariners confused all afternoon. Downs now pitching he has to hold it here. Vidro walks, not a good start here Scott. Cairo immediately in there to pinch-run. Ibanez pops up to Eckstein, one down one on. Lopez at bat strikes out. Two down. Beltre pinch-hitting for Reed, Cairo running steals 2B. Beltre full count now walks. Two on, two down. Sexson at bat now full count. Walks bases loaded. Third walk for Downs this inning, not what Jays want. Johjima at bat drives this hard to the wall in CF Vernon has it. Downs escapes bigtime here. BUT Jays hitters have to come through now.
Bottom 8th: Bloomquist in at RF. Cairo as DH. Beltre at 3B. Scutaro at bat fly ball to Bloomquist in RF. Barajas now pinch hitting for Thigpen, strikes out. Eckstein last chance. Grounds this one out to Betancourt at SS. Jays woes continue with the bats.

Top 9th: Barajas catching. BJ Ryan in here to keep it at one for bats in bottom of inning. Downs was really off today almost thirty pitches in the eighth. Betancourt at bat grounds out to Inglett. One down. Ichiro at bat, walks. Not the ideal guy to have on base with twenty six steals. Bloomquist strikes out, that’s more like it BJ. Two down. Cairo at bat, Ichiro steals 2B. Now steals 3B immediately. Ryan can’t afford to ignore him here. Cairo now walks. This is not BJ at his best, but what I am noting is that he is not firing the ball in there as usual, he is throwing too many off speed pitches. I hope this does not mean a problem with his shoulder. Ibanez at bat. Cairo now defensive indifference takes 2B. Ibanez singles to RF, this is trouble, Ichiro scores. 2-1 Mariners. Cairo moves to 3B.Ryan is thrown out of game here. Gibbons in to argue case is also thrown. This one is unravelling. Camp in to pitch. Lopez fouls out to Barajas. Damage is done. Jays have one more chance here.
Bottom 9th: JJ Putz in. He had long outing two nights ago. Inglett at bat, full count and walks, Wells at bat horrible day for him two strikes outs and important at bats with runners on 3B. Something wrong with Putz. Trainer and Manager out he is finished after six pitches. Morrow in to complete at bat with Wells two strikes against him. Vernon strikes out for the third time today. Miserable. Overbay last chance. Gets hold of this one, drives it to the wall in LF but Ibanez gets it. Right at the wall, very close there Lyle but close is not enough. Jays lose another close one. Mariners win the series their first one since mid-April.

Jays have day off tomorrow before Cubs come into town. They will need a break to get sorted out here, this could be their season. Losing two series to bottom of division teams and at home is not play-off caliber.