Vernon MVP day with bat and glove helps Jays embarrass Red Sox in big loss.

Toronto v Boston Saturday August 23, 2008.

Preview: After yesterday’s fiasco Marcum is sent to AAA Syracuse and I agree 100%, his performance was totally unacceptable. That was a crucial game and he blew it. It was not a case of just good hitting by the Red Sox, it was the way Marcum was pitching and certainly Camp didn’t help by adding gasoline. There was no apparent awareness of the importance of the game, a win would have set Jays up perfectly today with Litsch. Jesse is the weak link in this series and if he loses today it would put Jays right out of it and Boston in a position of sweep tomorrow. Huge crowd here already an hour and half before the game. Boston fans everywhere we look and outside the Rogers Centre is surrounded by Bosox regalia. Am tempted to sell my tickets rather than be surrounded by them behind their dugout. Batting practice is over early and yet the Boston fans are all still there, just standing looking at the field, there is nothing going on as ground crew are not out to move the cages. Weird rather like a Far Side scene. Perhaps they are all staring at the ghosts of Buckner at first base or Babe Ruth perhaps, he played very close to here many years ago, whatever their reason it is a strange sight.
Note however to the Tourism czars, surely Toronto should recognize and appreciate the huge influx of Boston fans for these games and officially pronounce “Boston weekend” or something for the city. Whereas Jays fans may not like to see and hear them, they are certainly a colorful addition to Toronto for three days. It is time the tourism people partnered with the Jays and harnessed that sea of red shirts into something positive for the city.

Today Jesse Litsch needs huge support from the hitters Vernon, Alex and the HR leader Bautista playing at 3B today, his first start. If Litsch goes down early, it will be interesting to see how Cito handles it with an off day on Monday.

Lineups: Boston: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Youkilis, Bay, Lowrie, Varitek, Cora, Crisp, and Lester pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Bautista, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Mench, McDonald and Litsch pitching.

Pitching: Litsch 8-7 v Lester 12-4

The result: Jays explode and shutout Red Sox to win 11-0.

The very good: Vernon’s breakout, 4-5 but two HRs and two singles but also two great catches, one over the shoulder that only he could make. Mench, Scutaro HR, Rios batters up and down the lineup. Five with more than one hit.Great defence.
The good: Bullpen of Carlson, League, Ryan holding them scoreless. But what better sight than to see Red Sox fans leaving game in hundreds by the fifth inning. They were VERY quiet today.

The bad: Nothing today.

The game: Top 1st: Ellsbury infield single to Bautista playing at 3B today. Pedroia full count and walks, Ellsbury moves to 2B. Jesse this is not what we need with this huge crowd. You don’t need to give these guys anything. Here’s big trouble, Ortiz at bat, no outs and two on. Pops up to Johnny Mc. Youkilis strikes out. Bay strikes out. Litsch escapes trouble here but long inning.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro grounds to Lester throw to Youkilis at 1B one down. Bautista making his first start, good hit here but long fly ball out to Crisp in CF. Two down for Rios, singles to CF to keep inning alive. Vernon at bat, two down and one on, now 0-11 and in a real mini-slump the last two games and has not looked at ease at the plate. WHOA !!!! That’s more like it Vernon this one is out of here, first pitch HR to LF, Rios scores and just like that Jays are ahead 2-0. Lind walks on four pitches. Keeps inning alive for Barajas,he is now hit by a pitch, Lind to 2B. Lester is having a rough time here. Overbay with two on and two down strikes out. But Jays strike first and that could be big for Litsch today who will need all the help he can get from the hitters.

Top 2nd: Lowrie strikes out. One down for Varitek, full count and walks. Second walk today for Litsch not his usual control early in this game. Cora now hit by a pitch, Varitek to 2B. Litsch not at all sharp today, I hope it will not be another Marcum outing here. Crisp at bat one down and two on. Fly ball out to Lind in LF two down. Ellsbury for his second at bat, grounds out to Bautista throw to Overbay for third out and once again Jesses escapes damage, but he is playing with fire here with this Boston lineup. He is also pushing his pitch count up.
Bottom 2nd: Mench at bat, DH today, doubles to RF. McDonald grounds to Cora throw to Youkilis for the out but Mench moves to 3B. Scutaro full count walks. Two on for Bautista, gets hold of this one to RF Ellsbury, Mench scores. 3-0 Jays. Rios at bat one on two down. Alex strikes out. This game is already one hour old for two innings, we will be here all afternoon. Boston players must be getting hot out there.

Top 3rd: Pedroia at bat fly ball out to Lind. Ortiz with shift right on, grounds to McDonald playing between 1B and 2B. throw to Overbay for the second out. Youkilis singles to LF. Bay hits this on hard and high to CF Wells. OH MY !! that was one incredible catch by Vernon, over his head Willy Mays style. Right at the wall. That was extra bases for Bay. Vernon has brought bat and glove today. Litsch is hanging tough and so far Boston is getting no breaks.
Bottom 3rd: Wells at bat singles to LF 2-2 today after that drought at bat. Lind grounds to SS and safe at 1B on the poor throw by Cora,ball gets away from Youkilis. Vernon moves up to 2B on the ground ball but on to 3B on the throwing error by Cora. Lind moves up to 2B. That could be costly for Cora. Two on and in scoring position and no outs for Barajas grounds to Cora throw to Youkilis, but Wells scores. 4-0 Jays. Overbay at bat doubles to LF, Lind scores. 5-0 Jays. Mench doubles to LF, his second hit and second double today, Overbay scores. 6-0 Jays. And I don’t hear one Boston fan……they seem stunned by this onslaught. Jays fans however are happy around my seat. McDonald singles to LF, Mench moves to 3B. That’s it for Lester today. He did not expect this hitting, but then not many Jays fans did either. Smith now pitching. Still only one out this inning. Scutaro at bat with Mench at 3B, have to bring him in Marco. Yes he does another hit to Ellsbury in RF, sac fly, Mench scores.7-0 Jays and the start of a rout here. Bautista strikes out but Jays have blown this one open scoring four runs.

Top 4th: Litsch now with a very comfortable lead Lowrie grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay, one down. Varitek pops up to Scutaro at 2B. Two down for Cora, the goat of last inning with his error, doubles to LF. Crisp full count and walks. Not good Jesse tighten up here. Two on for Ellsbury fouls out to Bautista. Another nice catch and Boston leaves two on.
Bottom 4th: Smith still pitching. Rios at bat doubles to LF and the hits continue. Wells infield single to 3B. Two on for Lind, grounds to Pedroia throw to Youkilis. Adam moves both runners up Rios to 3B, Wells to 2B. Barajas with two in scoring position yet again, strikes out. Overbay one down, singles to first, Rios scores, Wells scores. 9-0 Jays and they have scored in each inning so far. Mench at bat 2-2 singles to RF, Overbay to 2B. Two on for Johnny Mc. strikes out but Jays have already done more damage. This game is two hours long and Boston players must be exhausted they must have been out there for at least two thirds of that time.

Top 5th: Pedroia pops up to Scutaro 2B. Ortiz hitless today but lifts this one fly ball out to Lind. Two quick outs. Youkilis strikes out and Red Sox are out there one more with little break.
Bottom 5th: Scutaro at bat gets hold of this one and this one is just out off the top of the wall in LF. Home Run Marco and Jays are 10-0. Bautista pops up to Pedroia at 2B for first out. Rios pops up Pedroia. Wells with two down another huge hit for Vernon, first pitch Home Rin to CF. His second of the day and Jays now 11-0. And that’s it for Smith, he can’t stop this onslaught. today. Ex-Jay Timlin pitching. Gets a very nice welcome from Jays fans. He started his career in 1991 in Toronto. Amazing to see him still pitching. Lind singled to center. Barajas walked on a full count, Lind to second. Overbay lined out to third baseman Lowrie. I love the red exit here, good to see the Red Sox fans getting out early, but certainly Jays hitters have silenced this huge Boston army today. Timlin's 1,050th career appearance, tying Kent Tekulve for seventh place on the career list.

Top 6th: Bay gets hold of this one and into deep left-center but another great running catch by Vernon, maybe not as spectacular as the earlier one but same result and poor Jason Bay is denied again of extra bases. Lowrie fly ball out to Lind. Two down for Varitek, pops up to Litsch who is now over the 100 pitch count. This could be his last hitter but he escaped trouble in earlier innings and has been helped considerably by great defence behind him along with the superb hitting today of course.
Bottom 6th: Boston waving the white flag. Bailey in as left fielder. Cash in as catcher. Mench strikes out. He has had a great game today. McDonald fly ball out to Ellsbury.Two down. Scutaro grounds to Cora throw to Youkilis. That must be the quickest inning toay.

Top 7th: Carlson now pitching. Litsch did mnorethan enough for the win but certainly this is a team effort today. Cora lines out to Bautista. Crisp grounds out to Carlson off his glove to McDonald great barehanded throw to Overbay. Who needs offence with defence like that? Ellsbury walks on four pitches. One on two down for Pedroia fly ball out to Rios.
Bottom 7th: Javier Lopez now pitching. Bautista grounds to Lowrie throw to Youkilis, one down. Rios singles to LF. Wells with one on, 4-4 what an afternoon he has had with bat and glove. grounds to Lowrie throw to Pedroia to get Rios out at 2B.Vernon at 1B. Lind fly ball out to Crisp ends that threat.

Top 8th: League now pitching. Announcer says Downs. I don’t think so. Ortiz strikes out. Youkilis strikes out. Two down for Bailey grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay. Good inning by League here. I have become a believer in League again. This season and especially lately he has been very good. He was mixing the 97mph fast ball up with a great cutter on two of those strikeouts
Bottom 8th: Delcarmen now pitching. Barajas strikes out. Overbay lines out to Bailey in LF. Mench pops up to Pedroia. Three up and down, I think Jays hitters are exhausted.

Top 9th: Ryan now pitching. Not for the save but for some work. Lowrie singles to LF. Not the start BJ had in mind. Cash fouls out to Overbay. Wild pitch here, Lowrie moves up to 2B. That didn’t move five feet but Barajas could not find it quickly. Cora strikes out. Crisp strikes out. BJ makes it interesting as always but never any doubt about this one.

Jays hammer Red Sox 11-0. And set up tomorrow as a very interesting game. In the last four games against the Red Sox, the Jays have hit 34 runs on 54 hits including eight home runs. They also had that a 21-hit game with the Yankees on Thursday.
Over the last seven games scoring 47 runs on 81 hits. Where was that offence this season? JP must get some satisfaction in seeing the team perform the way he thought they could when he put it together. Although today, no Rolen, Eckstein, Hill and no Frank Thomas of the starting lineup that came north from Dunedin.

What he said: Litsch on his demotion to Syracuse: "I guess everyone is saying it's a totally new me or whatever. I just went down there and worked on what I worked on while I was here and just got back to myself."