Jays show some fire at last but too little too late as Halladay loses this one.

Saturday July 19,2008. Toronto v Tampa. Game two of series.


Lineups:
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Stairs, Barajas, Overbay, Rolen, Wilkerson, Lind and Halladay pitching.
Rays: Iwamura, Crawford, Pena, Hinske, Longoria, Floyd, Upton, Navarro, Zobrist and Garza pitching.
Pitching: Garza 7-5 v Halladay 11-6

Result: Jays lose this one 6-4 but try to make it close in the ninth with tying run at bat but not enough. Halladay did not deserve this loss, but just like Burnett the night before if the hitters do not do it then the pitchers efforts are wasted game after game.

The good: The ninth inning when game out of sight, Jays finally show some backbone and make some effort at hitting. Can this carry over into tomorrow and let them salvage at least one game in this series? The other good, Lind getting it going in the ninth, Inglett moving the line, and Scutaro executing with the two RBIs. These three players have shown over the last month that they are worth their money in my book. Scutaro two hits tonight. Stairs and Overbay coming through also in the ninth. Four runs in the ninth after near drought in the first 17 innings of this series. Good execution and bringing in runners in scoring position in the ninth.

The bad: Alex Rios, I hate to get on his back but this kid has loads of talent, why is he not using producing? Hits into double play ball in the seventh. Last night with runners in scoring position and again tonight in the ninth, key at bats both times and he fails. Tonight was made worse as the hitters had started some comeback. I really believe Jays played better without him last week in Toronto.
Scott Rolen continues his woes and making last out in the ninth. League has to throw something other than fast ball after fast ball down the middle. That sixth run given up by him was huge tonight.

Top 1st: Inglett fly ball out to LF Crawford. Scutaro strikes out on three pitches. Rios fly ball out to Hinske in RF. Three up and down. 17 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Iwamura at bat full count walks him. Crawford at bat one on. Grounds to Inglett throw to Scutaro over the Overbay double play ball. Pena at bat, two down, Roy strikes him out. 14 pitches.

Top 2nd: Stairs at bat, prove me wrong please Matt that you are finished. Full count. Strikes out but better at bat. Barajas at bat, here we go first pitch fly ball out to CF. Upton. Overbay grounds up the middle to Zobrist. Throw to Pena gets Overbay. 31 pitches. Six up and down so far.
Bottom 2nd: Hinske at bat, full count. Strikes him out, number two for Halladay. Longoria at bat, first pitch liner to Lind in LF. Two down. Floyd, grounds first pitch to Overbay toss to Halladay. Great quick inning but he needs some run support here. 24 pitches.

Top 3rd: Rolen at bat, long, long overdue. Loops one into left centre, drops in. He will definitely take it. First hit for Jays tonight Wilkerson at bat, another underachiever, strikes out, could not even move Rolen to 2B. Lind at bat, one down , grounds to Zobrist gets Lind at 1B, Rolen moves to 2B. Inglett again two down, one on. Grounds to 2B Iwamura. Throw to Pena gets Inglett hustling down the line at least. Jays empty again with runner in scoring position. 49 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Upton at bat, full count, walks him, number two tonight for Halladay, Navarro at bat, runner going, great release by Barajas gets him at 2B. Navarro singles off Overbay’s glove to Rios in RF. One on, one down. Zobrist at bat 3-0 count and walks him on four pitches. Ouch Roy that was number nine guy. Two on now with one down. Iwamura at bat grounds to Overbay throw to 2B gets Zobrist. Two on the corners two down. Crawford at bat. Pops it up to Scutaro at SS. No damage Roy. 43 pitches.

Top 4th: Runs, runs and more runs needed fast. Top of the order at least what can they do this time? Fly ball out to LF Crawford. One down. Rios, what can he do? Only four home runs in first half of the season. What is wrong with the guy? Fly ball out to Hinske in RF. Stairs at bat, full count, strikes him out. Second time tonight on a full count. Is it his eyes ? or are his reflexes slowing ? 62 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Pena at bat first pitch grounds to Overbay at 1B throw to Halladay gets Pena. Hinske at bat, grounds it to Inglett, two down. Longoria at bat, two down. Pops it up to Inglett behind 2b. Nice inning Roy. 52 pitches.

Top 5th: Barajas at bat, please take one Rod. Taps it in front of Garza, throws to Pena, one down. Overbay at bat, need a double here Lyle. 3-0 count. Full count, strikes out. Two down. Rolen at bat, lines it hard to Hinske in RF. 79 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Floyd at bat, grounds to Inglett, throw to Overbay, one down. Upton at bat, strikes out on three pitches, two down. Navarro at bat, strikes out. Number three on the night.62 pitches.

Top 6th: This team has scored one run in the last 14 innings and the run was scored by a rookie Adam Lind. I think that underlines the problem with this team. Wilkerson at bat, one of the “experienced bats”. Strikes out, number six for Garza. Lind at bat, pops it up to Longoria at 3B. Inglett now at bat with two down. Fly ball out to CF Upton. 15 innings with one run. You can sense how this one is going to end, déjà vu last night. 88 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Zobrist at bat chops it over Rolen’s head into LF. Iwamura at bat. Bunts to Rolen, throw not in time. Great speed there by Iwamura. Two on, how come Jays hitters cannot bunt like this? Crawford with two on and no outs. Bunts it up the line lets it roll, ruled safe, replay shows it was not and had rolled foul but bases loaded. No outs. Pena at bat loops it into CF, run scores. 1-0 Rays. Hinske at bat bases still loaded. Strikes out on three pitches. Eric didn’t like that call. One down. Longoria at bat full count, OH NO! there it goes, HR to LF grand slam and this game is 5-0 Rays. First of his career. Floyd at bat, strikes out. Upton bounces to 3B off Rolen’s glove, ouch bigtime. Navarro bunts safe Barajas cannot get ball. Zobrist at bat grounds to Overbay throw to Halladay and this nightmare inning is over. Umpire blew the call but that’s baseball.
It is too much to expect the underachieving bats here to get some runs but let’s see how they fight.

Top 7th: Gross now in RF. Scutaro at bat, Garza still pitching full count, need runners here. Singles to LF, only the second hit !!! of the game. Maybe a little too late. Rios at bat, need some leadership here Alex, certainly get it here grounds out to SS throw to 1B double play ball. How much longer can Cito go with this guy? He is becoming a huge liability game after game. Jays played far better last week without him in the lineup, perhaps, just perhaps time to bench him. Stairs now at bat. Lines out to 2B and they go very quietly here. They are making Garza look like Cy Young. 16 innings with only one run.
Bottom 7th: Carlson pitching. Iwamura at bat, full count and now walks him. Crawford at bat, Arnsberg thrown out of game telling the umpire he does not agree with the calls. However if the Jays don’t score any runs it doesn’t really matter what that umpire calls. Fly ball out to Rios in CF. One down. Pena at bat strikes out, two down. Gross at bat, two down one on. Singles to Lind in LF. Two on, two down. Longoria again gets great ovation. Strikes him out Longoria doesn’t like call and discusses with umpire, hope we don’t have another prima donna here. Sometimes friend you will strike out in your career.

Top 8th: Six more outs for Jays to show something here. Barajas at bat, grounds down to 3B, misses it, error on play to Longoria, not quite invincible, Barajas at 2B. Lead off double. Overbay at bat, fly ball out to Crawford. Lyle hangs his head ad so he should. Rolen now can he bring him in? Garza is still in there, over 100 pitches here. Rolen grounds to Longoria, throw to 1B two down and Barajas remains at 2B. Now Garza leaves at 105 pitches. Rays getting worried that Jays hitters will fight back here? Mench pinch hitting for Wilkerson at bat, J.P. Howell pitching, two down, one on. Strikes out, all three hitters leaving Barajas at 2B. Seventeen innings and one run.
Bottom 8th: The good news is that this should be the last time Jays pitchers see Rays hitters tonight. Floyd at bat, League pitching first pitch swing HR to CF. 6-0 Rays. League just throws fast ball after fast ball right down the middle. Upton next batter first pitch swing fly ball to Rios one down. Rays want this over quickly. League hits Navarro on the foot. Someone is thrown out of game. Barajas arguing with umpire. It is League. Tallet now pitching. I guess we should be happy with some fire from this very sad bunch tonight. And that really is one of the issues with this team, they play lackluster ball so often with no enthusiasm, imagination or confidence. Zobrist at bat, strikes out. Two down for Iwamura full count. Strikes out.

Top 9th: How will Jays go this inning? Surely the law of averages apply even to this team. Ex-Jay Miller now pitching. Adam Lind at bat, singles up the middle error on Iwamura. Hits his glove but cannot throw Lind out. One on for Inglett. 0-12 slump. There it goes doubles down left field, runners at 2B and 3B no outs. First time Jay at 3B tonight. Scutaro now surely someone can bring one run in. That’s it for Miller. Opportunity here for Jays to at least end this game on high with a couple of runs but no Jays fan is betting the house on it. Al Reyes now pitching first game off disabled list. There it goes, Marco singles to LF, two runs score finally Linda and Inglett. 6-2 Rays. Rios now, with Inglett on 1B. Pops it up to 1B. One down. The good news is that not a double play. Stairs at bat, if ever we need a big one Matt it is now. Yes Matty, doubles to RF corner. He will be very happy with that. That’s it for Reyes. Dan Wheeler now pitching. Barajas at bat, two on one down. Grounds up the middle to Iwamura Scutaro scores 6-3 Rays. Barajas out at 1B. Two down for Overbay with Stairs at 3B. Yes Lyle, doubles to RF corner Stairs scores, 6-4 Rays. Rolen now can he keep it going? Pops it up to Navarro. Close but not close enough.