Jays deliver gift-wrapped sweep and shut out to Lee.

Series finale. Cleveland v Toronto. Sunday August 19, 2008.

Jays trying to avoid a sweep today but the chances are not good, Cleveland sending the best AL pitcher to the mound against Toronto’s rookie Richmond. Add to those odds the fact that Jays hitters are collectively in a hopeless slump and will probably remain there until September when we see the rookies from AAA fighting for a place and recognition, only then I think will we see a team worth watching. Right now there is very little about this team that fans want to spend their hard earned money on. At yesterday’s game I felt that the atmosphere was so lethargic, all around me fans were just eating and sleeping. There was no excitement, there are no Aggressive plays, suicide squeeze, although to be fair on Cito that could be because it is rare for a Jay to reach 3B. There are no HR power hits anymore, no double steals. My thesis is that this also reflects the new management style of Cito. He is a very laid back Manager and always has been, he is not a Joe Maddon type to send runners on double steal or play small ball. More to the point he is not going to do what Cleveland Manager did and bench a player like Garko for not running out a ball or playing sloppily in the field. The Jays players know that there are no consequences for poor play. Last point, these two teams have played each other six times Cleveland have owned the Jays winning five of six and outscoring them 30 runs to 8. I guess that could be called dominance and the Indians are bottom of their division and with a worse record than Jays. Go figure.

Lineups: Cleveland: Sizemore, Dellucci, Shoppach, Peralta, Choo, Garko, Gutierrez, Marte, Cabrera and Byrd pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Eckstein, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Wilkerson, McDonald and Richmond pitching.

Result: Cleveland sweep Jays 4-0 today and six of seven this season outscoring 34-8 and blanking them on three of those games.
The good: Nothing to boast about. Vernon returns. Parrish and Camp scoreless relief. Defence with two double plays turned.
The bad: Rios does have two hits at first two at bats but then ruins it with not hitting when it matters and once again sloppy play at CF.
But the bad is once again the hitters. Eight hits but four players have two each. 0/4 with runners in scoring position but that also pales against Indians 3/15 with runners in scoring position (fortunately !!!) but that really underlines how dominant Indians were over this team today.

The game: Top 1st: Sizemore singles to RF. Dellucci doubles to CF Sizemore scores. 1-0 Indians and that is called execution lesson number one for the Jays. Shoppach at bat runner in scoring position strikes out. Peralta singles to CF, Dellucci scores. Execution lesson number two. 2-0 Indians. Choo doubles to RF, Peralta to 3B. Richmond is fooling no one today and Indians are going after him early. A two run lead is more than Lee will need to win this one.
Garko grounds to Eckstein at 2B today throw to Overbay for the second out. Gutierrez grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the third out. Richmond escapes further major damage leaving two in scoring position, but two runs should be enough for Lee the way Jays are hitting.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro at bat grounds back to .Lee throw to Garko at 1B. Eckstein grounds to SS Peralta throw to Garko two down. Rios 0-9 this series, which Alex is here today? doubles to LF. That’s a good sign perhaps he has come to play today. Here is a welcome sight, Vernon returns as DH today but still good to see him back in the lineup. Wells gets hold of one hard fly ball out to Sizemore CF.

Top 2nd: Marte fly ball out to Rios in CF. Cabrera singles to CF. One on one down for Sizemore full count. Cabrera is running, Sizemore strikes out, throw by Barajas wild into CF. Cabrera to 3B. Error on Barajas. Probably didn’t need to throw there, Cabrera had 2B stolen. Dellucci grounds to Eckstein throw to Overbay 1B and Richmond has much better inning leaving Cabrera at 3B.
Bottom 2nd: Lind fly ball out to Choo in LF.Barajas fly ball out to Gutierrez in RF. Overbay with two down singles to CF. Wilkerson grounds to Peralta throw to Garko for third out.

Top 3rd: Shoppach strikes out. Peralta grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay two down. Choo doubles to RF, 2-2 with two doubles. Garko singles to LF Choo scores. 3-0 Indians. Gutierrez grounds to Scutaro throw to Eckstein at 2B. Garko out. Gutierrez at 1B.
Bottom 3rd: McDonald grounds to Peralta throw to Garko for the out at 1B. Scutaro singles to CF. Eckstein fly ball out to Choo LF. Rios singles to LF 2-2 today,great sign. Scutaro to 2B. Wells ground s to Cabrera throw to Garko 1B.

Top 4th: Marte singles to CF. Cabrera hit. Marte moves to 2B. Sizemore grounds to Eckstein 2B flip to McDonald throw to Overbay 1B, double play ball. Richmond likes that. Marte to 3B
Dellucci hit by a pitch, second hitter this inning. Two on, two down. Shoppach strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Lind grounds back to Lee. Barajas grounds to Marte throw to Garko for the out at 1B. Overbay singles to CF.One on two down. Wilkerson pops up to Cabrera at 2B.

Top 5th: Peralta fly ball out to CF Rios. Choo doubles to RF. Garko strikes out. Gutierrez grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay. Three up and down.
Bottom 5th: McDonald singles to CF. Scutaro bunts McDonald to 2B. Eckstein grounds to Lee throw to Marte to get McDonald . Scutaro to 2B, Eckstein at 1B. Two on for Rios. 2-2 today. Perfect chance for him now with runners on can he do it again? Rios grounds to Peralta flip to Cabrera 2B on to Garko, double play ball. What is it about this guy ? does he choke in these situations ? think too much ? not enough ?

Top 6th: Parrish pitching, Marte singles to shallow CF. Cabrera at bat one on. Singles to shallow LF Lind. Two on no outs. Sizemore fly ball out to Wilkerson in RF one down, runners hold. Francisco pinch hitting for Dellucci grounds to Scutaro, throw to McDonald for out on to Overbay double play ball to end this one. Parrish escapes bigtime trouble.
Bottom 6th: Wells fly ball out to Lind grounds out to Barajas at bat two down. Strikes out. Three up and down. Ho hum… 76 pitches for Lee. Easy game for him today. Jays hitters are their usual reckless at bats. He should have a complete game win here if he wants it.

Top 7th: Shoppach grounds to Scutaro at 3B throw to Overbay for the out. Peralta strikes out. Choo at bat 3-3 all doubles,strikes out. Nice pitching by Parrish.
Bottom 7th: Overbay at bat fly ball out to Gutierrez RF. Wilkerson grounds to 2b throw to 1B for the second out. McDonald grounds hard back to Lee flips to Garko but Johnny Mac safe at 1B. That gets the crowd alive for the first time today. Some commentators moan about crowd silence but if they don’t have any exciting plays to cheer about why should they? They are tired of being asked to stand and cheer in the ninth, and cheer artificially for this team. The crowd will cheer when the players make a good play. Scutaro at bat with two down. Hits this one hard to the wall in right centre but Sizemore runs it down and makes great catch. Alex are you watching?

Top 8th: Garko at bat, singles to shallow RF. Hit number twelve for Indians today. Gutierrez walks on four pitches, two on no outs, Marte at bat, strikes out. Cabrera at bat, one down and two on. Lines out to Rios in CF, just makes the catch. He didn’t move at first misjudging the hit. Vernon, PLEASE get back out there. Sizemore fly ball out to shallow right centre, Rios under it and drops the ball and now fumbles it. Garko scores, here comes Gutierrez, Rios throw beats him and is out at home BUT… should have had the out in the catch, I repeat the mantra Vernon, please, please get back out there in CF. Rio is no substitute. 4-0 Indians.
Bottom 8th: Eckstein at bat lines out to RF Gutieerz, now Rios what can he do? The goat last inning and not having a good day. Despite his two hits he has not come through when it matters in the field or at bat. Full count. Down and away any bets? No, high fly ball out to Sizemore in CF. Two down. Vernon 0-3 today on his return but has hit ball hard at least, loops it here to 2B, three up and down. Jays hitters are already packing to get out of here and most fans don’t mind. This has been awful, awful baseball in this series against a team bottom of the division. Embarrassing to say the least to be swept by the Indians at home.

Top 9th: Camp pitching, Francisco strikes out on three pitches. Shoppach strikes out on three pitches, Indians also want to get home, or maybe they would like to keep playing this team. They have owned them this season winning six of seven. Peralta grounds back to Camp throw to Overbay for the out. Three up and down but I don’t think that was because of good pitching.
Bottom 9th: Perez pitching, Lind at bat. Strikes out. Lind 0-4 today and in a mini-slump since they moved him up the order. Barajas strikes out. Jays hitters are really trying hard here. Overbay 2-3 today at least one bright light but two singles is not anything great to boast about here. Lyle strikes out and Jays have been swept at home by the bottom team of the central division.

Jays have serious problems.