Jays defense gives Cleveland a gift win.

Toronto v Cleveland Game two. Saturday August 9, 2008.

After giving away the game last night Jays have something to prove today and have Halladay pitching to at least give them a chance. BUT once again hitters have to appear and not least Rios 0-5 last night has to show he should not be demoted or at minimum pushed down the order. Cito and the fans will be looking for some of that value for $65 million from this young man. Crowd looks as if it will be big this afternoon, already fans are in fifth deck to both of the foul poles.

Pitching: Halladay 13-8 v Byrd 6-10.

Lineups: Cleveland:Sizemore, Dellucci,Shoppach, Peralta, Choo, Francisco, Garko, Marte, Cabrera and Byrd pitching.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Lind, Overbay, Stairs, Wlkerson, Zaun, McDonald, and Halladay pitching. Lind batting cleanup for the first time in his career.

The good: Nothing today from Jays hitters apart from Inglett who went 3-4 and needed HR for the cycle, a much better game than last night. The bullpen of League and Frasor did at least shut Cleveland down. The large crowd almost 40,000 but they had to sit on their hands most of the game because there was absolutely nothing to get excited about this today.
The bad: Hitters with runners in scoring position 1/6. Defensive errors by McDonald and Rios and a possible error by Scutaro on Wilkerson throw. All round sloppy baseball by Jays. This was game they were leading after two. Six hits for Jays but three for Inglett, two for Overbay and the other for Wilkerson.

The game: Top 1st: Sizemore grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay, one down. Dellucci singles to CF. Dellucci stealing Shoppach strikes out. Throw to Inglett at 2B gets Dellucci, very nice inning ending double play. Good throw by Zaun.
Bottom 1st: Inglett hammers one to RF Choo tries to catch and ball gets by him Inglett at 3B with a triple. That makes up for last night’s hitless efforts in one at bat. Scutaro at bat first pitch sacrifice fly to CF Sizemore, Inglett scores and Jays go up 1-0 Jays. Great execution for a change. Now Rios, can Alex do better than his 0-5 last night? Not this time. Rios fouls out to Shoppach behind the plate today. Two down. Lind playing cleanup today, fly ball out to CF Sizemore.

Top 2nd: Halladay with a lead for a change. Peralta strikes out. Choo at bat one down, singles to RF. Francisco grounds to MacDonald beats out the throw, Choo to 2B. Garko at bat, two on, fly ball out to Wilkerson, Choo moves to 3B. Marte at bat, two down fouls out to Overbay. Halladay escapes trouble.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay singles to CF. Stairs grounds to Marte throw to Garko gets Stairs at 1B, Overbay moves to 2B. Matt did his job but it would be good to see him get back in thet HR groove again. Wilkerson doubles to RF, Overbay scores 2-0 Jays. One down. Zaun at bat grounds to Cabrera at 2B throw to Garko for the out but Wilkerson moves to 3B. McDonald fly ball out to Choo in RF.

Top 3rd: Halladay is getting some run support today. Cabrera singles to RF Wilkerson. Sizemore fly ball out to Lind in LF. Dellucci singles to right, Wilkerson’s throw is a bullet to Scutaro who cannot handle it and Cabrera safe at 3B. He would have been out easily. Dellucci to 2B. Shoppach strikes out. Two down. Peralta grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the third out.
Bottom 3rd: Inglett doubles to RF. 2-2 today and both extra base hits. Is this the same guy that was awful last night? Scutaro lines out to Cabrera. One down. Rios at bat now with runner in scoring position. Alex Rios pops out to Garko. Rios is a deep slum now 0-7 in last two games. Lind grounds to Cabrera throw to Garko at 1B and Jays leave Inglett out after three tries.

Top 4th: Choo fly ball to CF Rios drops it. Now his poor play is affecting his defence. Alex you are on borrowed time. Choo at 2B on the error. Vernon would have had that at CF. Francisco bunting here pops up to Halladay. One down, a bit of luck there. Garko at bat doubles to CF, Choo scores 2-1 Jays, and that error by Rios hurts here. Marte grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the second out. Cabrera lines out to Lind. That was an unearned run against Halladay.
Bottom 4th: Overbay fly ball out to Francisco in LF. Stairs pops up to Peralta at SS, two down.Wilkerson strikes out. How easy for Byrd.

Top 5th: Sizemore strikes out. Dellucci grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay, two down. Shoppach strikes out. Three up and down for a change.
Bottom 5th: Zaun fly ball out to Sizemore in CF, good hit but right at Sizemore. McDonald grounds to Peralta SS throw to Garko for the second out at 1B. Inglett 2-2 today, singles to CF, three for three and puts himself in the cycle next at bat. Scutaro fly ball out to Choo in RF.
How come Byrd's pitch count is only 50 pitches? This should not be but with the free and first pitch swinging hitting philosophy of new coaching staff this is the result. I am yet to be convinced. When Jays can go better than the 20-10 that they did in May under Gibbons, I will start to believe that the new staff has made a difference. So far not in my book at least.

Top 6th: Peralta singles to RF. Choo grounds to SS McDonald tries to force double play but Peralta safe at 2B and no throw possible to get Choo. Error on Johnny Mac. That could have been a double play. Halladay is getting no help today from bats or fielders. Francisco bunting Halladay. Peralta to 3B, Choo to 2B.Still no outs. Garko singles to LF, Peralta scores, Choo to 3B This game is tied up 2-2. Still only one out. Marte singles to RF Choo scores, Indians take the lead 3-2. Garko moves to 2B. Cabrera, full count, and walks bases loaded with one out. That error by McDonald is huge now. Top of the order again. Sizemore grounds to Overbay throw home Garko out at home plate, that is huge out but bases still loaded. Marte to third, Cabrera to second. Sizemore at 1B. Dellucci full count and walks, Marte scores, 4-2 Indians. Cabrera to 3B, Sizemore to 2B, Dellucci at 1B. Bases still loaded, Shoppach fly ball out to Wilkerson. All three runs were unearned but that is little consolation to Halladay. Jays hitters had better get him back in this one but his pitch count is over the hundred pitches. That may be it for him today.
Bottom 6th: Rios leading off, 0-7 grounds to Marte at 3B throw to Garko and he continues his misery. Lind grounds out to Garko at 1B. This clean up spot is not for Adam. May be a mistake to put this pressure on him even for a game. Last thing Jays want is for their only hot hitter to get messed up with his at bats. Barajas will probably be back tomorrow and then Vernon should be joining the team in Detroit if all goes well. Overbay strikes out. Halladay not getting anything from these hitters today and to tell the truth the whole team looks flat and listless.

Top 7th: Halladay still in there. Peralta fly ball out to Lind. One down. Choo strikes out. Two quick outs for Roy. Francisco doubles to LF. Garko now hit by a pitch on the foot.Two on and two down, here comes Cito. That’s it for Halladay, but gets a nice ovation from the crowd, they know that those errors have pushed him out of the game. 130 pitches,almost double that of Byrd. Roy was victimised today with poor fielding. One one run is earned so far. When the hits are not there the poor defence makes it impossible for any pitcher. League now pitching. Passed ball Zaun cannot handle it, Francisco moves to 3B, Garko to 2B, nothing is going right for this team today. Marte grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay for the final out.
Bottom 7th: Stairs grounds back to Byrd throw to Garko for the out. Wilkerson fly ball out to CF Sizemore. Zaun grounds out to Garko. Three up and down and the crowd has been silent most of the game and no one can blame them. Jays are flat, flat and flat.

Top 8th: Cabrera grounds to Overbay throw to League for the out. Sizemore strikes out. Two quick outs for League. Dellucci singles to CF. Shoppach full count and walks, Dellucci to 2B.Peralta grounds to Overbay throw to League or the third out. Indians leave two on base.
Bottom 8th: Byrd still in here. McDonald grounds to Peralta SS throw to Garko at 1B. Inglett hitting for the cycle, needs a home run here, grounds to Cabrera 2B throw to Garko. Two down. Scutaro fouls out to Garko at 1B and Byrd will easily finish this game. Jays hitters have not got to him since the second inning.

Top 9th: Frasor now pitching. League did a good job. Choo strikes out. Francisco lines out to Wilkerson in RF. Garko grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for third out, three up and down for Frasor.
Bottom 9th: Last chance for the hitters, can they do a walk off win here? Middle of the order. Rios 0-3 today grounds to Cabrera throw to Garko and Rios ends these two games 0-9, that is serious. Cito has a problem. Lind at bat grounds to Cabrera throw to Garko. Two down. Lind is not a cleanup guy yet at last. Last chance Overbay singles to LF finally…. But is thrown out at 2B by Francisco. That is another huge mistake but typical of today. He should have stayed at 1B with Stairs coming up with possible tying run. Byrd has a complete game and still only has 94 pitches. Jays hitters gave him this one.