Jays fumble this one and give one away after taking the lead.

Toronto v Boston Night game of double header. Saturday September 13,2008.

Pitching: Colon (4-2 ) v Litsch (11-8 )
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Overbay, Lind, Rolen, Zaun, Snider and Litsch pitching.
Boston: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Youkilis, Kotsay, Bay, Lowrie, Cora, Cash and Colon pitching.

Result: Jays lose this one 7-5 and blowing a 5-2 lead.
The good: Snider, patience for walk in the second inning, and his defence with great catch in RF wall to take away a two run HR.
The bad: First inning Litsch Zaun mess for two runs. Cito almost blew the game in the 6th inning gambling first on Litsch and then on League. And finally leaving in Downs when he just didn’t have it tonight.

The very bad: Vernon Wells in 5th inning. First pitch out after a three pitch inning for first two outs, hitting into three double plays, two by Rios.

The game: Top 1st: Inglett, fly ball out to CF Ellsbury, one down for Scutaro, lines it hard back up the middle almost took head off Colon. Rios now with one down and one on. Pops it up to in shallow LF. Two down. Wells DH tonight, grounds to Cora at SS throw to for the out. 16 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Ellsbury, full count, and walks, Litsch does not need this to start. Pedroia, doubles into the RF corner. Two on and no outs, Litsch already in big trouble. Ortiz at bat, and strikes out. One down for Youkilis, oh man… wild pitch and Ellsbury scores and here comes Pedroia, TWO runs score on a ball that went six feet. 2-0 Boston. That is called aggressive Cito,but also lousy defense by Jays. error on Zaun. Youkilis walks. Kotsay now at bat, only one out. 3-1 count. Fly ball out to Rios playing in CF tonight. Two down now for Bay. Pops it up to Rolen. 30 pitches. At this rate Jesse will go three innings on his 100 pitch count.

Top 2nd: Jays have to answer here. Overbay at bat, fly ball out to LF Bay. Lind at bat, one down, singles up the middle. One on one down for Rolen, singles up the middle, Lind stops at 2B, two on for Zaun. Grounds it to 3B Lowrie but he kicks the ball, all runners safe, bases loaded and one out for guess who. Snider… 2-0 count. 3-1 count. Walks and a run. 2-1 Boston. Great at bat by Travis. Bases still loaded for Inglett doubles to LF, Rolen scores, Zaun scores, 3-2 Jays. Here comes those Jays. Snider moves to 3B. Scutaro hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Kotsay, Snider scores, 4-2 Jays. Inglett moves to 3B. Two down for Rios, singles to CF, Inglett scores. 5-2 Jays. Wells strikes out. 45 pitchers for Colon. Jays show Boston they are in for a fight.
Bottom 2nd: Jays are back in this one. Now to close Red Sox down. Lowrie fly ball out to LF Lind. Cora grounds to Inglett 2B throw to 1B Overbay. Cash last night’s hero. Patient at bat, would be no good playing for this Jays team, full count and walks. Ellsbury grounds out to 1B Overbay. Much better inning for Litsch.

Top 3rd: Overbay grounds to Cora at SS throw to Youkilis for first out. Lind at bat one down. Singles up the middle. Rolen, with one down, grounds to Lowrie, on to Pedroia for out on to Youkilis to get Rolen double play ball to end the inning. 55 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Pedroia at bat, grounds to Rolen, throw to Overbay for first out. Ortiz with right shift on. Bounces back to Litsch, throw to Overbay to get Ortiz. Two down, Youkilis at bat, full count. Strikes out. 61 pitches.

Top 4th: Zaun, 3-0 count now full count and pops it up to Cora, one down. Snider at bat, first pitch swinging here fly ball out to CF Ellsbury. Inglett at bat, 3-1 count. Fly ball out to CF Ellsbury. 66 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Kotsay at bat, lines out softly to Overbay for first out. Bay grounds it up the middle past diving Scutaro. One on, one down for Lowrie. Gets hold of this one, high fly ball to RF back to the wall catch by Snider. Two down. That was over that low wall in the visitors bullpen.. great catch by Travis in his first game in RF at Fenway. Pops it up to Inglett behind Overbay. 75 pitches.

Top 5th: Scutaro grounds first pitch to Cora throw to Youkilis for first out. Rios at bat, has not had a great series, one hit so far. Grounds back up the middle and ball hits Colon ‘s glove, throw to Youkilis for the out. He had turned his back to avoid the ball on the play. Wells, NO Vernon, that is one terrible at bat. First pitch, ground out to SS. Throw to Youkilis for the third out. FOUR pitch inning. That was bush league Vernon. And especiially agiainst a pitcher who has been going deep into the count.
Bottom 5th: Cash at bat, full count, more pitches than three Jays hitters in the last inning. Now walks him. Ellsbury grounds to Inglett throw to Scutaro on to Overbay, double play ball, two down for Pedroia, doubles it off the wall. If Alex’s throw had been on target he would have had him. Ortiz at bat, strikes him out for second time. 94 pitches however. What will Cito do here ?

Top 6th: Most of the good hitting has been from bottom of the order Rios and Wells have been invisible and not hitting well at all. Overbay at bat, more patient. Perhaps Cito should put him in front of Wells after Alex. But then Cito has no problem with the first pitch swing club. Lyle singles it into CF. One on for Lind, 2-2 tonight. Pops it very high to Youkilis at 1B. Rolen at bat one on, one down. Grounds (yes, first pitch) to 3B Lowrie on to 2B Pedroia on to 1B Youkilis double play ball. That is Rolen’s second double play this game. 80 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Litsch still out there but needs a quick one here. Youkilis 2-2 count. Doubles off the wall. Kostay at bat, Carlson up in the bullpen. 3-0 count, and walks on four pitches. Come on Cito. Bay at bat two on and no outs. Cito is gambling here bigtime. Singles up the middle but Youkilis is held at 3B respecting Rios arm there. Bases loaded and no outs. Cito still not out. Armsberg is out however. League also pitching with Carlson in bullpen. Lowrie at bat, high fly ball to RF Snider, one out but Youkilis scores. 5-3 Jays. Now Cito is out, a little late I am afraid. If Jesse was on a 100 pitch count he is well over (111 pitches) and maybe would have been better for someone else to start the inning. Now the game is on the line, this time Cito’s gamble backfired. Carlson now pitching with two on and one down. Lowell pinch hitting. Runners on the corners, soft liner to Inglett at 2B, both runners hold. Two down. Now Cito is out again. Give me a break. League now pitching. Crisp at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 7th: Javier Lopez now pitching. Red Sox defence changes are Youkilis at 3B, Kotsay at 1B. Ellsbury in RF, Crisp in CF and Ross catching. Lowrie to SS. Zaun at bat, grounds to SS Lowrie throw to Kotsay for first out. Snider at bat, shows bunt, strikes out. Two down. Inglett grounds to Youkilis at 3B throw to Kotsay at 1B..


Bottom 7th: League still pitching, Ellsbury at bat, doubles to right centre. Pedroia grounds to Scutaro and throw to Overbay for first out. Ellsbury to 3B.Ortiz at bat, here comes Cito, and Downs on his way in from the bullpen. Lefty lefty matchup. 3-1 count. Full count and walks Ortiz. Two on for Youkilis. Grounds to Inglett throw to Scutaro, Ortiz out at 2B, no chance for double play as Ortiz takes out Scutaro. Run Ellsbury scores 5-4 Jays. Two down for Kotsay grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 8th: Time for the top of the order Rios and Wells to show their hitting skills which have been missing tonight, Masterson pitching. Scutaro at bat, grounds hard to Youkilis at 3B knocks it down but cannot throw out Scutaro at 1B. Error on Youkilis. Now Rios. Here we go, no bets on this one. First pitch grounds to SS Lowrie on to 2B Pedroia to get Scutaro at 2B on to 1B Kotsay double play ball, 1-4 tonight and 1-12 !!!! in this series when the season is on the line. Wells fly ball out to CF Crisp. Vernon might as well have stayed at home tonight. I don’t believe that Alex has it in his makeup to come through in the clutch. I don’t think he chokes but he certainly does not perform on so many occasions. Blue Jays eighth.

Bottom 8th: Downs still pitching. Bay at bat, doubles high off the wall, Lowrie singles into CF. Bay scores 5-5. Downs doesn’t have it tonight. Is not fooling any of the hitters. Cito sits and folds those arms tighter. Ross sacrifice bunt and Downs throws him out at 1B Inglett. Lowrie moves to 2B. Crisp at bat, Papelbon up in Red Sox bullpen. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay two down for Ellsbury. Lowrie at 3B. Full count. Taps it in front and Downs falls over trying to get to the ball, Lowrie scores 6-5 Boston. Downs out of the game. Camp now pitching. Ellsbury at 1B. Pedroia at bat, singles into LF. Ellsbury to 2B.Two on, two down for Ortiz. Camp is all over the place nowhere near strike zone. Doubles off the wall. Ellsbury scores. 7-5 Boston. Pedroia to 3B. Youkilis at bat pops it up to Overbay, nice play Lyle. -


Top 9th: Do Jays want to give up their season here ? At least we will not see Rios and Wells at bat. Look at the positives. Varitek in catching. Papelbon pitching. 36 saves. Overbay to leadoff. Grounds (first pitch) to Pedroia for first out at 1B Kotsay . One down for Lind. 2-3 tonight, strikes out. Rolen at bat two down. Grounds to SS Lowrie throw to 1B Kotsay and Jays lose another. 7-5.

They gave this one away and letting Red Sox get back into it. Cito gambled and lost twice. Downs has lost something from his earlier season dominance and can no longer be relied upon to close hitters down in the eighth. The early first inning error cost them a run and hitting into the three ! double plays does not help the cause. Finally that reckless first pitch swinging has reache ridiculous stage when opposing pitcher takes four pitches to get through an inning and that was the top of the order. Sorry Cito even you would be ashamed of that performance.
Just a thought but I think when Vernon is DH he does not get into the game and his bat suffers as well.