Noe the defense fails as Jays lose yet another.

Series opener. Toronto v Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. Friday July 4, 2008.

Toronto: Scutaro, Inglett, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Rolen, Barajas, Overbay, Lind and Burnett pitching.
Angels: Figgins, Kotchman, Izturis, Guerrero, Hunter, Anderson, Mathews, Kendrick, Mathis and Weaver pitching.

Result: Angels win 8-2.

The good: I will say here that Burnett was the only one with anything good tonight. He pitched far too well to deserve that type of score. Nothing else good about tonight.
The bad: The hitters once again. Never looked like scoring the whole game until a flurry of hits from the three goats in the eighth but by then the pressure was off and it was batting practice time. No intensity and the team looked flat and uninspired. Definitely not what one could call an exciting team to watch. The new “turn the corner “ coaching staff had no answers tonight.

The real ugly: Inglett, Rios and Scutaro for their errors early which cost Burnett bigtime. This is not good as so far this season it has been the hitters all season and occasionally the pitching that has failed. Tonight it was the defense which has been above average most of the season. This team is at rock bottom.

The game:
Top 1st: Scutaro at bat fly ball out to LF for Mathews, Inglett back in the lineup, first at bat on this road trip. Singles to RF. Why has this guy been sitting? Rios now at bat two strikes, there it goes down and away and Alex swings and misses, two outs. Inglettt stealing and throw off plate. Two down and Inglett at 2B. Wells at bat, trainer out to see Weaver. No problem. Fly ball out to Hunter leaving Inglett at 2B. 13 pitches for Weaver.
Bottom 1st: Burnett pitching. Figgins at bat lines out hard to Inglett at 2B. Kotchman at bat, Groiunds to Scutaro behind Rolen, throw to 1B gets Kotchman. Izturis at bat two down. Pops up to Lind in LF good start for AJ. 10 pitches.

Top 2nd: Stairs at bat strikes out swinging. Rolen at bat, Full count, fly ball out to Guerrero, one down. Barajas at bat, two down. Fly ball out to Guerrero in shallow RF. Yankees have already lost, Boston, Rays and Baltimore have won. Weaver 28 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Guerrero at bat, grounds to Overbay throw to Burnett covering at 1B. One down for Hunter, this one is going out over head of Rios in RF corner, 1-0 Angels. Anderson at bat, line drive up the middle. Mathews at bat grounds to Rolen throw to Inglett throw to Overbay not in time but runner Anderson called safe at 2B. Inglett came off bag. Error Inglett. Two on one down. Kendrick singles to RF run scores 2-0 Angels with runners at 2B and 3B. Mathis at bat trying squeeze bunt but fails. Now strikes out, two down. Figgins at bat fly ball out to Lind. Could have been a lot worse. Inglett owes Burnett.30 pitches.

Top 3rd: Overbay at bat, lines to Guerrero in RF. Lind at bat one down. Rocket line drive down 1B line great play by Kotchman diving to save base hit. Lind out at 1B. Scutaro at bat, full count. Strikes out. 38 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Kotchman at bat, grounds out to Overbay. Izturis at bat, grounds back to Burnett throw to Overbay, two down. Guerrero at bat, fly ball out to Rios in the RF corner. Three up and down for AJ. 41 pitches.

Top 4th: Time for the big bats to do something here. Inglett to start and make up for that error which lead to a run in the 2nd inning. Grounds down to 3B Figgins throw gets Inglett at 1B.Rios at bat, 0-2 but does NOT swing at that one. It was way off plate. Now he gets hold of one, singles to RF Guerrero. Vernon your turn, pops this one high to 1B. Stairs at bat, Alex stealing and throw not in time, number 17 for Alex. Jays really need to do this more. Can Stairs bring him in? Swings over strikes out, Jays leave another in scoring position. 56 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Hunter at bat, grounds to Rolen long throw to get Hunter at 1B. Anderson at bat. Singles to RF. Mathews first pitch swing fly ball out to Wells. Two down. Kendrick strikes out 53 pitches. Another good inning for AJ. If only he could get some run support. 54 pitches.

Top 5th: Rolen first pitch pop up to Mathis. One down. Barajas fly ball to Hunter in shallow CF. Two down for Overbay, yes Lyle, doubles to right centre wall. Lind at bat, grounds to 3B, no chance for throw by Figgins. Lind at1B and Overbay moves to 3B. Scutaro with two down and hitters at 1B and 3B. Fly ball to Guerrero. Leaves another in scoring position. 70 pitches. Jays keep threatening but no runs yet.
Bottom 5th: Mathis at bat, lines this one to Rios in RF. Mathis on at 1B. Figgins bunting ? Yes he does, first pitch and moves Mathis to 2B. Execution. Kotchman at bat grounds to Scutaro fumbles this one but still gets Kotchman, two down. Izturis with Mathis at 3B. Full count nice strike to leave Mathis at 3B. 65 pitches ?

Top 6th: Same old, same old Jays chorus tonight, where are the runs? Inglett again, first pitch tapper to Figgins at 3B. One down. Rios at bat, oh for the days of the long ball. Strikes out. Wells at bat grounds hard to SS Izturis great diving play and throw to get Wells at 1B. and only in the sixth inning.
Bottom 6th: Geurrero fly ball to Rios in RF corner, drops it, we have seen this before, should have been error on play. Not scored. Guerrero at 2B. Hunter at bat singles up the middle Scutaro kicks the ball. Error on play. Two on no outs for Anderson. Guerrero at 3B. Anderson lines to Rios, gets this one and throw keeps Guerrero at 3B. Mathews with one down. Burnett trying to keep Hunter at 1B. Doubles down first base line. 3-0 Angels. Kendrick with both runners in scoring position. Mathews at 2B Hunter at 3B. Doubles up the middle two runs score 5-0 Angels. Mathis at bat pops up to Inglett. Two down. Figgins grounds back to Burnett throws it hard at 1B, there is frustration. This was not Burnett’s fault. Rios and Scutaro the goats here along with Inglett earlier.

Top 7th: Well we will see what this team is made of here. Not much right now. Stairs at bat, walks, one on. Rolen strikes out. Barajas at bat lines one out to Kendrick at 2B. Stairs gets back. Overbay at bat taps it softly to SS Izturis. 94 pitches. This guy would have been out of game with a bit more patience by this underachieving lot of hitters.
Bottom 7th: Burnett incredibly still only 83 pitches. Marlins beating Rockies top of the seventh, 17-12, 34 hits so far. Kotchman at bat doubles this one into RF corner. Singles to CF run scores Kotchman but Izturis caught in rundown ……….6-0 Angels. Guerrero singles up the middle. Hunter at bat Angels just throwing their bats at everything now. Hunter lines one out to Wells in CF. Two down. Anderson at bat. This one has gone, high fly ball into RF corner seats. Two runs score 8-0. Cito out but AJ is left in there. Mathews pops up to Scutaro. I really feel for Burnett, he has pitched so well with zilch run support and even worse defense behind him leading to the runs.

Top 8th: Six more at bats. Let’s see what this crew can do tonight. Weaver still out there Willis in LF. Lind at bat, grounds out to 1B, one down. Scutaro one of the goats tonight. High one to left centre wall, a double. Inglett the second goat lines it to RF Mathews misses it, and Scutaro scores 8-1 and Inglett gets to 3B. Too little too late here. 8-1 Angels. for the third Billy goat Gruff tonight Alex Rios. 106 pitches for Weaver and that is it tonight. Speier now pitching. Rios singles to LF, Inglett scores.8-2.The problem is with no pressure these guys are hitting. Wells now with Rios at 1B. First pitch fouls off. Takes a strike now right down the middle, he is all over the place in pitch selection. Fly ball out to hunter in CF. Stairs at bat big swing misses. Rios takes 2B defensive indifference. Stairs walks. Scorer changes score and gives Alex stolen base number eighteen. Rolen now with two on and two down. Takes strike three and complains to umpire on the call. Frustration here but the good thing is that there is at least SOME intensity from someone. Jays are so flat and lethargic all round.
Bottom 8th: Rolen now out and McDonald in at SS. Scutaro moves to 3B. Frasor in for the work. Kendrick at bat grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B. One down. Pops up to Inglett. Two down. Figgins at bat singles to LF. Hit number thirteen for Angels. Kotchman at bat. Figgins takes 2B. Defensive indifference. Are the Angels worried Jays will come back here and score six ?? Kotchman strikes out.

Top 9th: New pitcher Darren Oliver. Barajas at bat grounds to SS Izturis. Overbay at bat grounds first pitch to 3B. Lind at bat strikes out. Angels win this one 8-2.
Jays just keep getting worser and worser and finding new ways to lose, tonight it was the defense.

BTW Marlins are now leading Rockies 17-16 in the ninth. JP sign them all.