Jays big bats Rios and Wells just get worse as season goes on.

Tornto v Boston. Series opener. Friday September 19,2008.

Preview: The series Jays have been waiting for, for revenge. The city full of the Red Sox Nation. If Jays cannot get up for this one then they are as laid back as their Manager. The bad news re Marcum who has to have Tommy John surgery and will miss all next season. puts an interesting spin on the Burnett future..

Pitching: Burnett (18-10, 4.19 ERA). v Byrd. (11-12, 4.53 ERA) Burnett is 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA in two starts versus Boston t this season, and 5-0 with a 2.37 ERA all-time against them. Byrd is 2-2 with a 4.94 ERA in four starts versus Jays this season, and 5-5 with a 3.80 ERA in 10 career starts against them.

Lineups: Boston: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Youkilis, Casey, Bay, Kotsay, Lowrie, Varitek and Byrd pitching.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Overbay, Lind, Rolen, Zaun, Snider and Burnett pitching.

Result: Jays lose this one 4-3 and probably any chances of keeping AJ Burnett next season and I for one would not blame him. He pitched well enough to win yet again but the Jays big bats were terrible tonight 0-15.

The good: Three consecutive doubles in the 2nd inning. Bottom of the batting order Rolen, Zaun and Snider. Inglett and Scutaro in the bottom of the fifth to tie it up. Burnett to keep it close.
The bad: Rios and Wells. 0-8 tonight not just the first pitch swinging stuff, just awful at bats. Rios really does look as if he doesn’t care.

Top 1st: Ellsbury strikes out. One down Pedroia walks. One on one down for Ortiz pops it up to 3B Rolen. Youkilis fly ball out to RF Rios.
Bottom 1st: Inglett grounded out, second baseman Pedroia to first baseman Casey.
Scutaro doubles to left. Rios flied out to left fielder Bay. Wells fouled out to catcher Varitek. 7 pitches.

Top 2nd: One down Bay at bat, grounds to Burnett, tries to bare hand it and drops it. Rolen tries but not in time with throw to 1B. Error to Burnett. Kotsay lines out to CF tremendous catch by Wells, two down for Lowrie at bat, lines it past a diving Scutaro into LF, Varitek pops it up to Zaun for running cath in foul ground for third out.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay at bat, full count now equals number of pitches from first inning at least, in my book that is a plus sorry Cito. Grounds to Pedroia throw to Casey at 1B for first down, Lind at bat 0-7 high fly ball out to Ellsbury in CF, two down for Rolen, doubles into LF corner, this guy is hot right now. Zaun with two down and on in scoring position. Gregg doubles into LF, Rolen scores 1-0 Jays. Snider now YES Travis, he doubles into left centre, and scores Zaun. 2-0 Jays. I like Travis, he hits the way I wish Alex and Vernon would, stays back and goes with the pitch. Inglett now keep the line moving Joe. 3-1 count and walks him, two on for Scutaro. Here comes pitching coach. All this with two outs. Lines out hard to Ellsbury in CF for third out, but damage is done and Jays get out on top. 39 pitches.

Top 3rd: Ellsbury bunts to Burnett, does not miss this one and great throw down the line to Overbay to get Ellsbury, one down. Pedroia at bat one down, strikes out looking, two down. Ortiz at bat, full count, strikes him out bigtime. 46 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Rios (first pitch, of course) high fly ball out to CF, what a waste. Wells slaps it in to RF but at Casey 1B makes good play to knock it down. Two down for Overbay, first pitch grounds out to Casey. Six pitch inning, what is with these people? 45 pitches.

Top 4th: Six pitches ?? If I were Burnett I would really light into these hitters to give him a few minutes at least to sit down. Youkilis at bat, singles into RF. One on for Casey fly ball out to Wells in CF. one down for Bay, grounds to Rolen, on to Inglett to get Youkilis on to Overbay but not in time for two. Kotsay with two down and one on, singles into CF to Wells, two on for Lowrie, strikes him out, number five tonight. AJ is doing his job, how about the big bats? 54 pitches?
Bottom 4th: Lind grounds to Youkilis at 3B throw to Casey for first out. Rolen grounds to Lowrie SS throw to Casey for second out. Zaun at bat two down, full count. Fly ball out to Bay in LF. Jays go quietly again but a few more pitches at least.

Top 5th: Varitek at bat, doubles just inside the 3B bag into LF. Ellsbury bunt here? tries but not successful. Bunts past Burnett, he left it for Rolen as he goes back to 3B, Ellsbury safe at 1B, two on and no outs. Mental error there AJ. Pick off here and they get Ellsbury hung up, great play AJ. Redeems himself. One down. Pedroia lines hard wide of Scutaro, gets to it great play Marco and throws home to keep Varitek at 3B although Pedroia safe at 1B. Ortiz at bat, strikes him out for second time. Two down. Youkilis with two on and two down. Full count singles into CF and Varitek scores, 2-1 Jays. Casey at bat, two on and two down. Doubles over Rios to the RF wall. Two runs score. 3-2 Boston. Bay at bat, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for third out. 86 pitches though.
Bottom 5th: Jays bats have to get this one back for AJ, Snider at bat, strikes out. One down for Inglett, singles up the middle, one on for Scutaro. Keep it going Marco. YES Marco, doubles to the wall and Inglett scores 3-3. Nice hitting Marco and good running by Inglett. Now Rios, first pitch chin music… so Alex what are you going to do about it? Pops it up to Youkilis two down, sit this guy please Cito. Lopez up in Boston bullpen. Wells now, another underachiever with the bat, grounds to Youkilis tags Scutaro as he heads to 3B for third out. Rios and Wells what a pair. 75 pitches.

Top 6th: Kotsay at bat, full count, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for first out. Lowrie at bat, loops it into shallow LF, Snider throw not in time. One down one on, Varitek grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for second out, Lowrie moves to 3B. Ellsbury grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for third out. 107 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Overbay at bat, full count, patience here Lyle. Pops up ball four to Bay in shallow LF. Lind, 0-9 mini slump, 3-0 count, good at bat here by Adam fouling off pitch after pitch on full count. This time fly ball out to Bay in LF. Two down for Rolen. Full count, another good patient at bat, strikes out. 98 pitches.

Top 7th: Burnett out again. He wants that win. It is too bad that you donlt see that intensity transfer to some of his overpaid teammates. Pitch count over 100 though. Tampa hammering Twins 9-0 and Yankees leading Baltimore 3-2. Pedroia fly ball out to Rios in RF. Ortiz full count, but walks him. Tallet and Camp working in Jays bullpen. Youkilis fly ball out to Snider throw back to Overbay gets Ortiz double play ball. Great play by Snider, terrible lapse by Ortiz venturing too far to 2B and then ambling back that was an Alex Rios moment, and costs the Red Sox. AJ doesn’t mind though. 121 pitches and six strikeouts.
Bottom 7th: Now the Jays bats have to get one here for Burnett. Lopez now pitching. Zaun grounds up the middle Pedroia great play to just get Zaun, a Johnny Mc play. Snider at bat, strikes out. Top of the order, Inglett full count, and walks. Scutaro at bat, that’s it for Lopez, here comes manager Francona. Delcarmen now pitching. First pitch grounds it up the middle to Pedroia steps on the 2B bag to get Inglett for third out.

Top 8th: Tallet, Casey at bat, strikes out swinging. One down for Bay singles past Tallet to Inglett, but Bay safe at 1B. Kotsay at bat, 3-0 count, and walks him on four pitches. Two on and that’s it for Tallet, here comes Cito and Camp now pitching. Lowrie at bat, 3-1 count and walks him to load the bases. One down for Varitek grounds slowly to Scutaro throw to Inglett but cannot turn two. Bay scores. 4-3 Boston. That’s it for Camp, Parrish now pitching two down and two on. Ellsbury at bat, lines it into shallow CF great diving catch by Vernon to get third out.
Bottom 8th: How bad are the Jays hitters tonight? Big bats Rios, Wells, Overbay and Lind are combined 0-12 tonight. They will not win many games with numbers 2-6 in the lineup hitless. One more chance for them now. Rios at bat, 0-4 as he pops it up to 1B Casey. Wells now at least he has had a good night with his glove. High fly ball out to CF Ellsbury for second out. Vernon is also 0-4. Here comes Manager Francona for new pitcher, Okajima to face Overbay. Setting up for Papelbon in the ninth. Lyle fly ball out to Bay in LF and this game is virtually over. 0-15 for those lineup hitters 2-6. Ouch, ouch. Cito I thought you had new hitting coaches.

Top 9th: Pedroia facing Parrish grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for first out. Ortiz at bat, pops it up to Rolen at 3B wall, long run for that as he was playing almost at 2B with right shift on. Youkilis at bat full count, and walks. Number five walk by Jays pitchers tonight. Fly ball first pitch to Wells in CF for third out. Pitchers and fielders have done their job tonight but yet again as all season long the hitters and I mean the professional hitters have been unable to get anything between them. It has been the two at the top and the guys at the bottom that have come through tonight but not enough against this Boston team, they want to win and there’s the difference from this seat at least. So why would Burnett want to come back next year with this hitless underachieving group?
Bottom 9th: Youkilis in as first baseman.Cora in as shortstop. Lowrie in as third baseman. Papelbon pitching. Will not make same mistakes he did in Boston last weekend against this team. Lind at bat, grounds to Papelbon cannot handle it, knocks it down, and his throw to 1B is wild, Lind safe and falls but now up and risks another base and is just safe at 2B on the throw. That was huge gamble but paid off. Error on Papelbon. Wilkerson now pinch running. Rolen at bat runner in scoring position. 3-1 count, Rolen not tempted but lines this one out to SS Cora, one down. Zaun with one down and one on. Grounds to 2B throw to Papelbon for second out. Wilkerson moves to 3B for Snider. A lot of pressure on Travis here. Strikes out.

Don’t blame yourself Travis, the game was lost by the guys who are paid in the millions batting higher in the lineup.