Marcum and Camp awful, along with Wells missing this week lose badly,

Toronto v Boston Friday August 22, 2008.

Preview: Yet another big series, but they all are now, this is the clutch pressure time. Jays fresh of the thrashing they gave to Yankees last night and series win actually gained half a game on Boston idle yesterday. Tonight , Marcum v Byrd. No Halladay in this series. Can the bats continue this sudden surge ? Sunday in Fenway 22 hits, last night 21 hits, that has been a month’s supply earlier in the season. Last night’s win was satisfactory though not just for Halladay’s dominance but the bats all the way down the lineup apart from Vernon who was hitless. The multiple hits from the guys at the top would be very satisfying for Cito. BUT all for naught unless they can keep it going and put the pressure on the Red Sox. I don’t think the early season dominance by the Jays will have any bearing tonight, this is the home stretch and players are pressing for that post-season activity.

What they said last night: Jeter after the game: "How many did they end up with? I don't even know." Jeter on the playoffs: "It's up to us. We have to start stringing together some wins. We can't just keep winning one here, losing one there. We've got to get on a streak here. Hopefully that can start (Friday) night."
Manager Joe Girardi: "That's not good enough. We have to do better if we want to play in October." Damon on the Yankees slump: "It seemed like things were going our way. We made things happen, we had that winning attitude. Right now it feels like we have to be a little perfect. We have to do everything right to catch a break and get a win."
Damon on Halladay: "He's not the best pitcher in the game for nothing. He's not going to leave the ball in the middle of the plate, he's not going to throw too many straight pitches. He's so good. He'd be the ace on any team in the big leagues."
Ponson on his outing: "I didn't have anything. My sinker wasn't there, my slider wasn't there, my change-up wasn't there. I pitched like crap and I let these guys down today."
Manager Girardi on Ponson: "Sidney couldn't find his rhythm and we had to go to the bullpen early. They just kept tacking on,"Pitching:

Marcum 8-5, 3.36ERA v Byrd 7-11, 4.55 ERA

Lineups: Boston: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Youkilis, Bay, Lowrie, Varitek, Cora, Crisp and Byrd pitching.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Overbay, Stairs, Zaun, McDonald and Marcum pitching. The only change is Zaun.

Result: Jays lose 8-4. Awful performance by Marcum and Camp along with Wells missing in action once again.

The good: Rios and Overbay, HR’s for all four runs. Defence by the infield. Tallet and Frasor did their job.
The bad: Inglett picked off at 1B. Wells not pulling his weight at all the last two games, Marcum and Camp awful tonight.

The game:
Top 1st: Boston will want get off to a good start here to make a statement. Ellsbury at bat lots of Red Sox Nation here this weekend, grounds to Johnny Mc . throw to Overbay, for first out. Pedroia with one down. Oh Boy, gets hold of this one and this is in LF bullpen, listen to that Boston crowd, HR 1-0 Boston. Ortiz strikes out, two down for Youkilis, doubles off the CF wall. Marcum needs to get his act together and quick, this is an important game. Jason Bay with two down and one in scoring position. Lines out to a diving Lind in LF. Nice catch Adam. 22 pitches though for Marcum, needs to tighten up here.
Bottom 1st: Inglett and Lind now both over .300 average. 3-1 count. Walks. Good start Joe. Scutaro now with one on. Is he bunting? No. Inglett stealing and just beats the throw. Joe in scoring position with no outs, Marco fouling them off here. strikes out looking there, Great pitch. Gotta swing Marco. Rios at bat, one down one on. YES, gets hold of this one, turns on it and hammers it into the LF corner, that’s a HR friends. 2-1 Jays. Vernon with one down first pitch swing, no Vernon, pops it up to second baseman Pedroia. ?? That was NOT a smart at bat, take a couple with Byrd upset at that HR. Lind now, please take a couple. Strikes out on three. 19 pitches.

Top 2nd: Marcum with the lead now, will he pitch any better? Lowrie at bat, pops it up to Rios in shallow RF. Varitek at bat one down, lines it into RF in front of Rios. Cora with one on and one down. Singles up the middle. Marcum is not pitching very well right now. Crisp at bat two on one down. Strikes out swinging. Two down. Top of the order, Ellsbury fly ball to Lind in LF leaving two on. Marcum escapes damage here, but his pitch count is getting high already. 42 pitches in two innings.
Bottom 2nd: Meantime Byrd rolling along. Overbay at bat, strikes out. Stairs. First pitch, hit on the elbow. Zaun at bat one on, gets hold of it but long fly ball out to Crisp in CF, two down. McDonald at bat, McDonald average now .222. A lot better than a month ago. Grounds to Cora throw to Youkilis for the out. 28 pitches.

Top 3rd: Pedroia at bat, lines out to Lind in LF, one down. Ortiz at bat with shift right on here, pops it up to McDonald just behind Overbay. Youkilis at bat two down. fly ball out to Wells for third out. Yankees - Baltimore game tied up 1-1 after two. 55 pitches for Marcum.
Bottom 3rd: Inglett at bat, full count, singles over Pedroia at 2B into RF. One on for Scutaro, bunting this time? Hit and run but Scutaro pops up to Lowrie, one down and Inglett gets back to 1B. Pops out to Youkilis in foul ground. Vernon at bat, now hitless for last six, Inglett picked off at 1B. That also happened in Boston with same players, Joe get your head together because Vernon will certainly do it for you now. That was a very messy Jays inning. Failed hit and run and a pick-off, these are giveaways and Boston does not need any gifts.

Top 4th: Bay at bat singles up the middle. Lowrie with one on, full count. Walks him, two on no outs. Marcum is not pitching well at all tonight. Varitek at bat, another full count. Walks bases loaded with no outs. Finally Arnsberg comes out. Maybe too late here. 70 pitches. Cora at bat, hits him on the back to bring in a run. 2-2. Tallet now up in bullpen. Crisp singles to RF 3-2 Boston. Bases still loaded. Ellsbury grounds to Overbay one down but run scores. 4-2 Boston. Pedroia at bat,fly ball to Rios, Cora beats the throw, 5-2 Boston. Here comes Cito finally and get Marcum out of here. Very disappointing outing by Marcum had nothing tonight on probably his biggest game of the season. No use being good when it doesn’t count. Marcum has a lot to work on for next outing if it counts at all by then. Tallet now pitching to Ortiz. Two down but one on 3B. Lines out to McDonald for third out. Jays need to get some back here, Marcum needs to work on some pitching homework.
Bottom 4th: Wells now perfect one to get it going, he is overdue bigtime. Chops it to 1B, Byrd beats out Wells to the bag for first out and Vernon continues his own misery. Nothing last night and nothing tonight. Lind at bat, singles to RF. Overbay gets hold of first pitch here and lines it over wall in right centre, HR number ten, scores Lind and himself. 5-4. Stairs at bat, a dribbler to Byrd. Throw to Youkilis for second out. Zaun at bat two down. Strikes out looking. 61 pitches.

Top 5th: Youkilis at bat, full count. Gets him, strikes out on ball four. Bay at bat with one down, 3-1 count. walks. Lowrie with one on and one down. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Inglett on to Overbay for double play ball. Perfect.
Bottom 5th: McDonald at bat, pops out to Cora at SS. One down. Inglett at bat, singles up the middle. Scutaro with one on and one down. Pops out to Ellsbury. Two down for Rios, would love another here Alex. Gets hold of one but long fly ball out to Crisp in CF. Good try Alex.70 pitches ?

Top 6th: Varitek at bat, oh no… gets hold of this pulls it hard into LF corner, over the wall inside the foul pole. HR Varitek. 6-4 Boston. Cora at bat, Frasor up in bullpen. Full count and strikes him out. One down. Crisp with one down, singles into CF. Top of the order again. Ellsbury at bat with one on and one down. Crisp stealing and safe on the throw at 2B. Pops up to Lind in shallow LF. Here comes Cito. Frasor now pitching. Pedroia at bat with two down. Crisp at 2B.Strikes him out.
Bottom 6th: Wells hitless in two nights. It would be good to see him start on a hit streak. When oh when? Pops it up to Lowrie at 3B. Lind at bat, Masterson and Lopez up in Boston bullpen. Grounds it back to Byrd throw to Youkilis for out number two. Overbay at bat, off the LF wall, just a single as it bounces back to Bay in LF, a little higher and that is out of here. Stairs at bat with one on and one down. Walks him. Two on for Zaun 0-15. 85 pitches. Grounds yes first pitch to Pedroia, throw to Youkilis for third out and great opportunity wasted by Zaun. I can see why Cito now plays Barajas.

Top 7th: Ortiz at bat, full count, walks him. Youkilis at bat with Ortiz at 1B. Pops one up but Alex late start to catch it and it drops foul at the wall. Could have had that one Alex. Another full count. Gets him, strikes out. Bay one down and one on, fly ball out to Rios in RF. Two down for Lowrie. Frasor has slowed tempo of this game down, very deliberate every pitch, strikes him out here and that is what counts.
Bottom 7th: Where are Jays bats? Byrd is out 86 pitches. New pitcher Justin Masterson, Johnny Mc. singles into CF. Top of the order again. Inglett at bat with one on. Grounds to Pedroia throw to Cora on to Youkilis double play. Scutaro with two down. Full count. Walks, now that double play hurts. Rios at bat, with one on and two down. Come on Alex keep it going. Another full count.and walks Rios. Vernon now. 0-3 tonight and 0fer last night. Bounces it off the plate and Varitek throws Wells out at 1B. Jays had the chances that inning.

Top 8th: Camp now pitching. Varitek at bat, is hit, Cora at bat with Varitek at 1B. Taps it in front, Zaun throws him out at1B and Varitek to 2B with one down. Crisp at bat and bunting, gets it down and Camp’s throw hits him in the back. Crisp safe at 1B. Two on and one out. Ellsbury at bat, singles to RF, Varitek scores 7-4 Boston. Pedroia with two on, loops it into shallow LF, Crisp scores, 8-4 Boston. Ortiz with two on. Full count. grounds out to Overbay two down. Youkilis at bat runners moved up on ground out. Pops it up to Overbay for third out but Camp has made it far more difficult for Jays hitters now.
Bottom 8th: Okajima pitching. Lind at bat, strikes out. Overbay at bat, full count, grounds to Pedroia at 2B throw to Youkilis for second out. Bautista, the newest Jay, first at bat for Jays, pinch hitting for Stairs. Grounds to Lowrie at 3B throw to Youkilis for the third out.

Top 9th: Yankees and Tampa now winning. Camp still pitching. Bay at bat, grounds to Scutaro at 3B throw to Overbay, one down. Lowrie at bat, strikes out, two down. Grounds to Scutaro, great diving play and throw to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 9th: Papelbon pitching, tough task to score let alone four against Papelbon. Zaun leading off. 0-3 tonight and will not be paying tomorrow or Sunday, he has not impressed at all tonight. Strikes out again. McDonald with one down, bounces this one high to 3B and head down, hustles very well to 1B, excellent hustle Johnny Mc. His second hit tonight. Vernon are you watching? Inglett at bat, grounds to Cora at SS steps on 2B and throw to Youkilis for the double play. That about sums up tonight’s game. Awful.

Jays lose this one 8-4 this was one they needed this series, the next two will be even tougher with Lester and Matsuzaka pitching, this could be a revenge Boston sweep this weekend. I don't see Litsch beating Lester and Burnett v Matsuzaka could the best of the three. BUT great pitching is no good if hitters cannot score.
Worse still Yankees have already won and of course Tampa winning. Jays do not seem to understand the importance of their situation.