Jays give this one away yet again.

Series finale Toronto v Texas Sunday August 4,2008.

A tough one tonight, Purcey is pitching against a very good hitting Rangers team, this could be a high scoring game. Texas has almost 60 more HR’s than Toronto. Jays also used up Downs and Ryan last night. Must also win to stay with the pack as everyone above them has already won. Not least the temperature at game time 100 degrees F. and this is an evening game. No easy games anymore for this team.

Pitching: David Purcey 1-1, 8.10 ERA v Luiz Mendoza 2-4, 7.34 ERA
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Overbay, Lind, Stairs, Wilkerson, Zaun, McDonald and Purcey pitching.Rolen not playing tonight Scutaro 3B.
Texas: Kinsler, Laird, Young, Hamilton, Byrd, Murphy, Boggs, Davis, Metcalf and Mendoza pitching.

Result: Jays lose this one 5-4 after giving up a four run lead.

The good: Not much after the first inning apart from Parrish.

The bad: Inglett with his first two at bats. Sometimes Joe does not have his head in the game and tonight was one of those games. Two poor at bats to start the game. Some very poor at bats by Jays hitters, Inglett and Scutaro chief culprits. But overall poor performance all round. Jays have same number oif hits as Texas but lose by four. One team has power and the other zilch.

The game: Top 1st: Inglett at bat, grounds to Kinsler, throw to Davis, one down. Scutaro full count and walks. Rios at bat singles up the middle, Scutaro to 2B. Overbay doubles to right centre, Scutaro scores and Alex to 3B 1-0 Jays. Lind at bat lines out to RF and Rios scores 2-0 Jays. Stairs at bat with Overby at 2B. Singles to RF, Overbay scores 3-0 Jays. Wilkerson at bat, grounds to Kinsler throw to Davis to get Wilkerson. Jays get three but they have had this type of lead before and lost. Texas is one good hitting team and Purcey has to be on his game. 23 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Kinsler at bat grounds weakly to SS Johnny Mac throw to Overbay gets first out. Laird strikes out on three pitches. Young with two down, full count, strikes him out swinging. Good start here for Purcey but he needs to keep this up. 14 pitches.

Top 2nd: Zaun at bat, strikes out. McDonald at bat, lines it hard down the line but Davis dives to his left to stop this one and beats him to 1B bag. That saved two bases. Inglett grounds first pitch to Kinsler. Inglett is in one of those head nights. Sometimes this guy does not think. It is at bats like that that give a pitcher like Mendoza hope. 34 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Hamilton hit by pitch, just grazes his shirt. Byrd at bat, grounds back to Purcey throw to McDonald gets Hamilton but Byrd beats out double play at 1B and that was result of Purcey’s weak throw to McDonald. Murphy at bat with one on and one down. That’s better grounds to Overbay strong throw to Johnny Mac and back to Lyle double play gets Purcey off the hook. 22 pitches.

Top 3rd: Scutaro first pitch grounds to 3B throw to Davis one down. What’s wrong with these guys? Rios at bat, high fly ball to Hamilton in RF at the wall. Overbay at bat, Lyle hits this hard but Davis again gets to it and touches 1B for the out. Three very quick outs here and six pitch inning. Looks as if Jays want to catch the plane out of here but they are letting Mendoza back into the game. Not only that they are not giving Purcey any break in this heat. 40 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Boggs at bat full count, strikes out, his third. Davis at bat one down, strikes out. Metcalf with two down, pops it up to Inglett on the run in RF. Another good inning for Purcey. 36 pitches.

Top 4th: Can the hitters at least take a few here from Mendoza and put some pressure back on him? Lind at bat, singles into LF. Stairs with one on, and no outs, seven pitches already and Mendoza is getting wild, 3-1 count, singles to right centre and Lind to 3B. Wilkerson at bat with two on and no outs. Takes first pitch and that is what he should do here. Grounds to Kinsler throw to Davis to get Wilkerson. Stairs avoids double play by stopping to avoid interference but also forces Kinsler to throw to 1B at 2B with Zaun at bat and one down. Lind scores 4-0 Jays. Full count here for Zaun, strikes out but a good patient at bat making Mendoza work here. McDonald at bat knocked down by first pitch. Gets hold one, this one carries, high fly ball out to Byrd in CF. Mendoza 65 pitches, a 25 pitch inning here.
Bottom 4th: Kinsler full count. Walks. Laird at bat, this one is trouble, big hit to RF, home run and two runs score 4-2 Jays. first hit off Purcey. You can’t relax against this team. Young at bat no outs grounds to Scutaro at 3B and throw to Overbay one down. Hamilton at bat, full count, they are making Purcey work in this heat. Walks another. Byrd at bat, fly ball to Rios in CF. Murphy at bat with two down and one on. Lines it hard to Inglett, great diving catch to end this one but long inning 68 pitches a 32 pitch inning for Purcey, he must be very hot, it is still 100F. Jays hitters have to get him a break here and maybe even some runs.

Top 5th: Inglett showing bunt, now singles to LF. Scutaro at bat with one on. Inglett stealing and safe at 2B. Scutaro long fly out to Byrd, Inglett tags and gets to 3B. Rios with one down and runner at 3B. Lines to 3B Metcalf, Inglett holds, throw to Davis two down for Overbay. High fly ball out to Murphy in RF. Jays leave opportunity at 3B. 77 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Purcey needs a better inning here. Boggs, bunting first pitch here diving catch by Scutaro at 3B. Davis, this one has gone, high fly ball HR to RF. 4-3 Jays. Déjà vu first game. Metcalf at bat, one down, hits him on foot, umpire calls him back from 1B. Umpires now confer and reverse call again. Kinsler now with one on. fly ball out to Rios in CF. Two down. Laird at bat, off the wall in RF two run HR. Not a very good 0-2 pitch there, three fast balls in a row to a fastball hitter. 5-4 Texas. Young at bat. Line drive out to Rios in CF. 89 pitches.

Top 6th: Well Jays came back last night, can they do it again here and pick up Purcey? Lind grounds first pitch weakly to Kinsler, throw to Davis at 1B, one down. Stairs at bat strikes out. Wilkerson with two down, grounds to Davis throw to Mendoza for the out. Three up and down. 88 pitches. You can feel this one slipping away from the Jays.
Bottom 6th: New pitcher John Parrish. This should be interesting. First time out of the bullpen. Hamilton at bat full count. Strikes him out looking. One down. Byrd at bat, strikes out. Murphy at bat, full count, walks him. Boggs at bat, Parrish has a great pick off move. Grounds to Scutaro at 3B, throw to Overbay for the third out. Parrish has done his job, now the hitters have to do theirs.

Top 7th: Mendoza still pitching. Zaun at bat grounds to Davis at 1B throw to Mendoza for the out. McDonald at bat, one down. first pitch fly ball out to RF Murphy. Two down for Inglett. Grounds to SS Young. Three up and down and these Toronto hitters are halfway to the airport. No fight at all tonight. They have outhit Texas and are losing but it is the way they are losing that is the key. 98 pitches for Mendoza. Last three innings have all been 10 and under pitch counts.
Bottom 7th: Davis at bat, fly ball out to Lind in LF. One down. That’s it for Parrish. Here comes Cito. Too bad as Parrish was pitching well and could go longer and not only that if Jays do manage to tie this up and it goes into extra innings, Parrish is a starter and can go long. Cito rolling the dice here. Shawn Camp in to pitch. We do not see much of him these days. Vazquez pinch hitting for Metcalf. Full count. Doubles to CF Alex drops the ball. Kinsler at bat with one in scoring position. Pops up to Inglett at 2B, two down. Laird at bat breaks his bat grounds out to Overbay.

Top 8th: Frank Francisco pitching setting up for Wilson. Top of the order. Lets see what Scutaro does here. Full count, fly ball out to Byrd in CF. Rios now the goat in last inning, can he redeem himself here? When was his last HR? Not this time, grounds weakly to Kinsler at 2B. Two down for Overbay. 3-0 count. Strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Young singles into CF. Here comes Cito. Carlson pitching, Hamilton at bat, one on and no outs. Wild pitch and Young moves up to 2B. This guy has 106 RBIs ? Jays have no one at 50 yet… Balk called and Young moves to 3B. This is not going well for Jesse. Walks him, the wind is really wild here now. Byrd at bat, doubles to LF. Young scores 6-4 Texas. Runners at 2B and 3B, no outs. Murphy pops up to Overbay one down. Boggs at bat. Intentional walk. Davis at bat. Bases loaded. One out. Singles to RF, run scores 7-4 Texas. Bases still loaded one out for Vazquez. Fly ball out to Rios, run scores 8-4 Texas.Two down. Cito us out again. Probably wishes he had left Camp in. Frasor now pitching. Kinsler with two down and two on in scoring position. Strikes out.

Top 9th: What do the Jays hitters have now? Will they swing away to get on that plane ? or will they see this as a challenge? Don’t place your bets here. Guardado pitching, not a save situation for Wilson. . Lind at bat fly bal out to Boggs in LF. Mench pinch hitting for Stairs doubles into RF corner, nice at bat Kevin. Wilkerson with one down and one in scoring position. Strikes out. Zaun at bat, pops up to Kinsler.
Jays give this one away again. This is a series they could have won, but instead return to Toronto early tomorrow morning below .500 yet again, falling, and showing no signs of making a run at anything let alone a wild card spot. Unless of course Halladay and Burnett can pitch every other game.