Jays win big comeback in bottom of ninth

Game two. Toronto v Oakland. Tuesday August 5, 2008.
Jays need to get something going tonight, I think they were very lucky to get away with poor hitting last night only because Halladay was pitching. Tonight with Richmond the batters have to be more productive. They cannot expect Richmond to pitch like Halladay and cover their deficiencies.

Pitching: Greg Smith. 5-10, 4.04ERA V Scott Richmond. 0-1, 5-06ERA
Lineups: Oakland: Sweeney, Suzuki, Cust, Thomas, Gonzalez, Ellis, Hannahan, Crosby, Barton and Greg Smith pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Eckstein, Rios, Overbay, Barajas, Lind, Rolen, Mench, McDonald. and Scott Richmond pitching.
The very good: Come from behind win in bottom of the ninth to win. Mench double, Rios and Barajas. Single and double for Jays to score two for the win.
The good: Richmond, 5 2/3 innings to hold Oakland to three. Johnny SuperMac plus Jays defence tonight, three double plays ???? League and Carlson holding A’s scoreless in four.
The bad: The bats, the bats, the bats….. until the great ninth which is when it counts I guess but they have to consider the heart conditions of their fans and get some runs earlier than this.

Top 1st: Sweeney at bat, full count, fly ball out to Lind in LF. One down for Suzuki, grounds to McDonald, throw to Overbay, two down for Cust, first pitch fly ball out to Rios. 11 pitches. Nice start Scott.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro the usual leadoff first pitch swing and ground to 3B throw to 1B and one down. This guy is NOT a leadoff hitter Cito, please move him out of there. Eckstein at bat, fly ball out to Cust in LF. Rios at bat lines softly out to Crosby at SS. 8 yes you read it right, 8 pitches. These hitters don’t give pitcher time to sit down in dugout.

Top 2nd: Thomas at bat, strikes out, Gonzalez at bat one down, doubles to RF wall. Ellis at bat, this trouble, doubles to CF, throw not in time to get Gonzalez, 1-0 Oakland. Hannahan, full count, fly ball out to Lind, runner holds. Two down. Crosby at bat, two down and one on grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay for the third out. 29 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Jays hitters had better get smart here. Overbay at bat, full count, strikes out on ball four. One down for Barajas, singles to LF. Lind with one on and one down. Triples off the wall in CF, Barajas chugging around bases to score, 1-1. Rolen with one down and Lind at 2B. Strikes out. Mench at bat, two down. Lines hard fly out to Cust in LF. 30 pitches, at least he had to work for this inning as opposed to lazy Jays bats giving him easy outs. Jays should have at least one more with Lind at 3B and one out.

Top 3rd: Barton at bat, fly ball out to Rios in CF. One down for Sweeney, shatters bat single to RF. Suzuki at bat, one down and one on. Runner Sweeney running, Suzuki grounds to McDonald only one play at 1B to get Suzuki. Two down one on for Cust, full count. Strikes him out. That was huge with Thomas on deck.
Bottom 3rd: McDonald at bat, pops up to Ellis at 2B. Scutaro at bat, one down, gets under this one, high fly ball to Cust in LF. Just missed that one. Eckstein at bat. Singles to CF. One on two down for Rios. Fly back out to Gonzalez CF. Oh boy when is this guy going to get it together? 44 pitches.

Top 4th: Thomas flied out to center fielder Rios. Gonzalez grounds up the middle great diving stop by Scutaro flips it to Johnny Mc for throw but over his head, and safe at 1B. That would have been tremendous play, if it had worked. Ellis Fly ball out to Mench in RF, two down. Hannahan at bat two down one on,full count. Walks him , two on two down for Crosby. Gets hold of this one. To the wall in CF past Rios, two runs score and Crosby at 3B. 3-1 Oakland. Barton at bat strikes out but major damage is done. 65 pitches. However one again, if the Jays bats do not come through in support of Richmond, not much he can do, except try to keep it close.
Bottom 4th: Overbay at bat, great, first pitch fly ball out to Gonzalez CF. This is exactly what I mean. Barajas at bat, fly ball to Gonzalez shallow CF. Two down. Lind now with two down. Walks, how come the rookie can show the pros how to do it? Triple and a walk at two at bats. Rolen at bat, this guy should probably shut it down for the season with his shoulder. Full count but those swings are not good. Strikes out looking but on a very low pitch there umpire. 63 pitches.

Top 5th: Sweeney at bat, singles up the middle. Suzuki, at bat one on, grounds to Johnny Mac steps on 2B bag throw to Overbay, double play ball yessir. Give Richmond some help here guys. Cust at bat two down, strikes out. 77 pitches. That might keep him in game for a couple more innings but he has probably already given what Cito expected.
Bottom 5th: Mench at bat, full count. Walks. McDonald at bat, bunting in front, Smith throw to 1B gets Johnny Mac but he has done his job, Mench to 2B, Scutaro and Eckstein now two chances to bring him in. Full count on Scutaro, that will do it, singles up the middle to Gonzalez, Mench scores easily, 3-2 Oakland. Eckstein at bat, lines out to 3B throw to 1B double play ball but on replay Scutaro looks safe.77 pitches.

Top 6th: Thomas at bat, pops it up for Rios. One down. Parrish now up in Jays bullpen. Gonzalez lines this hard to RF wall, but great play by Mench to throw back to Scutaro, long single. Ellis at bat, one down one on, pops it up to Johnny Mac and throw to 1B. Two down. That is it for Richmond. Parrish now pitching. Hannahan at bat two down, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 6th: Rios leading off, this guy has been the biggest enigma this season. Strikes out here. When oh when will he do something consistently? Overbay at bat, grounds to Crosby throw to Barton 1B two down. Barajas at bat gets hold of this one into LF but WOW what a great catch by Cust running hard jumps perfectly right at the LF wall to rob Barajas of at least a double. That was highlight reel catch. 87 pitches.

Top 7th: Crosby at bat fly ball out to Rios in shallow CF. Barton at bat, singles to RF. Sweeney with one on and one down. Singles to Lind in LF. Two on one down. Suzuki at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Johnny Mac to Overbay double play. Jays need that bigtime. Now time to get the bats going.
Bottom 7th: Brad Ziegler pitching, Lind at bat, grounds to Ellis, throw to Barton to get Lind. One down for Rolen. Grounds to Ellis, same play for two out. Mench at bat, grounds right back at Ziegler throw to Barton for third out. Very quick three up and down for Ziegler.

Top 8th: Cust at bat, full count, walks him for Thomas, he did not want that. That’s it for Parrish. League pitching. This should be interesting for a fastball hitter like Thomas. I would put my money on Frank here. Davis pinch runner for Cust at 1B. Full count. Davis running,walks Thomas. Two on for Gonzalez 3-3 tonight. Carlson pitching in bullpen. 4-4 for Gonzalez as he singles up the middle to Rios, too hard for Davis to score, bases loaded no outs. Brown pinch running for Thomas at 2B. Ellis lines to Johnny Mac great diving catch and from his knees throw to Scutaro and double play ball. WOW even for Johnny Mac that was highlight reel bigtime. Two down for Hannahan grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay and third out. Jays escape big trouble there with bases loaded and no outs.
Bottom 8th: Fielding changes for A’s Sweeney in LF, Davis CF, Gonzalez in RF. McDonald at bat, full count, walks. Scutaro at bat with one on. Bunting ? Yes, but right back to Ziegler, Johnny Mac out at 2B. Scutaro safe at 1B. Stairs at bat, full count, grounds to 1B, Scutaro holds steps on 1B to get Stairs and then rundown tag on Scutaro double play. Not a good inning after Johnny Mac did his part.

Top 9th: League still pitching, Crosby grounds to Rolen, throw to Overbay, one down. That’s it for League, Jesse Carlson now pitching, Barton at bat, fly ball out to Rios, two down for Sweeney. Strikes hm out on three pitches. Very nice pitching Jesse.
Bottom 9th: Rios at bat, Huston Street pitching, Alex first pitch singles into CF. Overbay at bat, will Alex be stealing? full count. Long fly ball to Davis in left centre. One down. Barajas at bat Barajas doubles to LF wall, over the head of Sweeney. Rios scores from 1B. This game is tied. 3-3. Pinch runner Wilkerson for Barajas. Lind at bat. Intentional walk to Lind. Rolen now. One down, two on. Can Scott bring him in? Grounds weakly to pitcher Street, runners move up Rolen out at 1B. Mench now with two in scoring position and two down. YESSIRRREEEEEE, Mench first pitch doubles to the CF wall, this game is over. Jays win 4-3 in great come from behind win in bottom of the ninth. That is huge… They cannot afford to lose anymore ground.

Tampa winning 4-3 Boston winning 3-1 and Yankees losing 4-1.Baltimore yet to start in Seattle.