Jays bats disappearance ruin this one for AJ.

Jays v Rays. Friday July 818,2008 Series opener.

Pitching: Burnett 10-8 4.96 ERA. Shields 7-6, 3.83 ERA.

Lineups:
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Stairs, Barajas, Overbay, Rolen, Wilkerson, Lind and Burnett pitching.
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Floyd, Navarro, Hinske, Zobrist, and Shields pitching.

The result: Jays lose this one 2-1 but ruin great pitching by AJ once again with lack of offence and worse still with runners in scoring position. This also gets Rays back in winning grooove instead of Jays keeping them down and out.

The good: Lind HR in third inning. Double play ball in 5th rescues Burnett. Burnett and Downs pitching held Rays to two runs. Inglett bunt in the 8th but as it turns out would have been better off hitting away. Overbay two hits.
The bad: Alex Rios, comes back from a week long absence and is swinging at first pitches first two at bats, should use his head and take a few to get back into the swing, he does it third at bat and gets a single. Also lost his head forgetting number of outs and almost gives up another run. Rios at bat in the 8th strikes out with runner at 3B. Everybody in baseball not just the long suffering Jays fans knows that Alex will swing at a pitch down and away with two strikes. BUT not just Alex tonight, the team with runners in scoring position 0-7 ! Stairs is probably finished.

Top 1st: Inglett at bat, fly ball out to Upton, one down. Scutaro at bat full count, slices this one to RF corner, nice catch by guess who Eric Hinske. Two down. Alex now what can he do to celebrate his new baby? swings at first pitch, nice swing Alex but fly ball out to LF. Crawford. Eleven pitch inning for Shields.
Bottom 1st: Iwamura at bat singles to LF Lind, Crawford, at bat, one on, bounces back to Burnett, drops ball both runners safe. Upton at bat with two on and no outs. Strikes out looking. Pena at bat, grounds to Overbay, flip to Burnett two down. Longoria at bat, strikes out, great pitching AJ. 23 pitches though.
Top 2nd: Stairs at bat strikes out on three pitches, Matt is in a major slump. Barajas at bat strikes out. Overbay at bat singles to RF. First Jays hit. Now Scott Rolen, what can he do? 3-0 count. Grounds to Zobrist at SS, throw gets Rolen at 1B. 31 pitches.

Bottom 2nd: Floyd at bat grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay just gets him at 1B, one down. Navarro at bat full count, lines it in the gap for a double to CF wall. Hinske at bat with runner at 2B. Fly ball out to Alex, thinks it is three outs and runs in, Navarro almost scores but holds at 3B. Two down, mental error for Rios. Zobrist at bat walks him. Two on. Iwamura at bat fly ball out to Rios in CF but huge pitch count here already 46 pitches in two innings ?

Top 3rd: Time to get going here team. Wilkerson at bat full count, lines to RF wall and Crawford for loud out. One down. Lind at bat, YES Adam, gets hold of this one high fly ball to RF corner, a moon shot. 1-0 Jays. Inglett at bat fly ball out first pitch to Upton in CF. Scutaro at bat strikes out to end inning but Jays are ahead. 47 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Crawford at bat, first pitch swing lofts it to LF. One on, watch him AJ. Upton at bat, has him caught in rundown picks him off here Crawford was going at first movement at the first pitch, great work AJ. One down. Upton strikes out. Two down. Pena at bat, full count strikes out. 58 pitches. Much better inning for Burnett.

Top 4th: Rios at bat, hope his head in this at bat. Another first pitch swing, fly ball out to RF Hinske. Two pitches to Alex tonight and two outs, not what the fans expected from a $65 million man. Stairs at bat full count, and walks. One on one down. Barajas at bat, high fly ball to Upton in CF two down. Overbay at bat two down grounds to Iwamura throw to Pena Overbay out leaving Stairs on base. 64 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Longoria at bat strikes out. Number five for Burnett. Floyd at bat first pitch ground to Overbay flip to Burnett at 1B two down, Navarro at bat hits him on the foot. Hinske at bat, two down one on. Hits this one hard fly ball out to Wilkerson in RF. 70 pitches.

Top 5th: Rolen at bat, first pitch swinging fly ball out to Upton in CF. This first pitch swinging in aggression is NOT working tonight. Wilkerson at bat walks, his second walk tonight, perhaps Jays hitters should note this and be more patient as opposed to swinging wildly at every first pitch. Lind at bat, takes first two pitches, this kid is showing more brains than Rios, and Rolen and those other free swingers, chases wrong one there but takes next. Full count now fly ball out to Upton in CF. Two down. Inglett at bat more patient here they arelistening to me. Takes first two pitches for balls. Grounds to Iwamura throw to 1B Pena gets Inglett. 79 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Zobrist at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay one down. Iwamura at bat strikes out. Two down. Crawford at bat grounds to Scutaro at SS throw to Overbay gets Crawford, Three up and down for AJ. 79 pitches.

Top 6th: Scutaro at bat, Jays need to get some insurance here for Burnett. Grounds to Zobrist at SS throw to Pena gets Scutaro. Rios at bat, will he swing this time, takes strike one. Singles to LF on pitch number three. Will he pressure here with steal? Stairs at bat need a big one here Matt. Strikes out. Two down. Barajas Rios stealing but great throw gets him at 2B. 92 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Upton grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay one down. Pena at bat, full count, now walks him. Second walk tonight. Longoria at bat one down one on. Grounds to Scutaro, flip to Inglett throw to Overbay, double play ball. Great timing. Burnett will go into the seventh now. 90 pitches.

Top 7th: Jays hitters have to take advantage of AJ’s great pitching. Barajas continues his at bat. Grounds to Zobrist at SS, throws him out at 1B. Overbay at bat, breaks another bat. This time lines this one into right centre, doubles to the track. Rolen now really needs to get his act together with his bat. Grounds to Zobrist at SS, throw to 1B two down. Overbay holds at 2B. 100 pitches for Shields. Wilkerson at bat fly ball out to Crawford. Overbay left at 2B. Jays bats are continuing futility from first half with runners in scoring position. 0 for 5 tonight. 105 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Floyd at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay at 1B one down. Navarro at bat fly ball to Rios in CF two down. Hinske at bat full count and 101 pitches . Walks him third walk for AJ. Zobrist at bat there it goes two run HR into RF corner. 2-1 Tampa. Iwamura taps it down 3B line. Crawford at bat. Iwamura stealing but caught good throw by Barajas. That was tough for AJ, with good Jays hitting he would still be in line to win this game.

Top 8th: Now can this underachieving load of hitters get something back for AJ, don’t bet on it. Lind at bat, then top of the order. Howell now pitching. Gross at RF for Hinske. 3-0 count. Lind can teach some of these guys something with his very good disciplined at bats. Grounds it up the middle Zobrist throw wild into the dugout. Adam is on 2B on the error. Inglett now with runner in scoring position Jays 0-5 tonight. Bunts to 1B and Howell throw gets him at 1B, Lind to 3B. Good execution. Scutaro at bat one down. Grounds to Pena at 1B holds Lind at 3B, Scutaro out at 1B, two down. Balfour to face Rios. 3-0 count. Full count. Fly ball is no good Alex, need a single here. Strikes out. Down and away pitch, what’s new with this guy on two strikes ? 0-7 tonight with runners in scoring position. If here is one thing Cito and his staff can do with this team it is to teach them how to bring runners in and the fans will be forever grateful. Now they have to face the closer in the ninth.
Bottom 8th: Downs now pitching Crawford lines first pitch to RF but Wilkerson great diving catch gets him. One down and Crawford off base. Upton at bat, full count, strikes him out on great curve. Two down. Pena at bat, strikes out, Nice pitching by Downs. It is not the pitching that is the problem with this team. No team will win many games with one run.

Top 9th: Balfour staying in, Stairs at bat, strikes out, I think Matt may be getting a little too old for this game. Barajas at bat, pops it up to Longoria at 3B. Overbay don’t expect too much here. Strikes out. Jays throw this one away.
Coaching staff have a major problem with the hitters.