Jays win big in Tampa 5-2 behind Halladay and power bats.

Toronto v Tampa E=Rays. Game one of three.

Big series (another one) for Jays. Need to make some headway on the Rays and great chance to do it. Halladay tonight. Conflicting managerial styles tonight. The aggressive Joe Maddon against old school, no risk, wait for the big hit Cito. Great news to see Casey Janssen back with the team. Jays need long relief. I hope they don’t start him but they do need someone to swallow the innings for last 49 games.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Overbay, Wells, Ruiz, Encarnacion, Barajas, Inglett and Halladay pitching.
Tampa: Bartlett, Crawford, Longoria, Zobrist, Pena, Burrell, Gross, Zaun, Upton and Shields pitching.

The very good: Jays win 5-2 in Tampa, and against a team that has owned them this season. Great start to this series. Halladay, not overpowering but more than enough tonight. I think I have to give Barajas very good tonight for his throwing to get two stealing especially Crawford.
The good: Lind and Overbay home runs. Frasor save.
The bad: Jays hitters let Shields get away after the third.

Top 1st: Scutaro singles to centre. Hill strikes out. Lind fly ball to centre field Upton. Two down for Overbay, 1-2, there you go Lyle, that sweet swing, no doubt about it home run halfway up the 404 ft wall in centre. Jays go out 2-0. Wells with two down grounds to short Bartlett throw to Pena at first.
Bottom 1st: Bartlett grounds to Overbay flip to Halladay. One down for Crawford grounds to short, no chance to get this guy, Oh I wish Jays had some speed like Tampa does. Longoria with one on and one down, there goes Crawford, great throw by Barajas to Hill gets him, that is a huge out. Longoria grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay to end this one.

Top 2nd: Ruiz leading off singles to centre. Encarnacion strikes out. Barajas singles to right, Ruiz to second.Two on for Inglett, doubles to right, here comes Ruiz and Barajas holds at third. 3-0 Jays. Scutaro with one on, chance to pad the lead here, there you go Marco, fly ball to Gross in right, sac fly, Barajas scores 4-0 Jays. Hill fly ball to Upton in centre.
Bottom 2nd: Zobrist fly ball to Wells. One down for Pena, fly ball to Wells, two down for Burrell, strikes out. Good inning for Halladay.

Top 3rd: Lind leading off this one has gone no doubt about that hit, a Lind special that is still travelling south over right centre. 5-0 Jays and the bats are smoking tonight so far at least. Overbay fly ball to centre field Upton. Wells singles to right. Opposite field hit Vernon !!! . Ruiz strikes out. Encarnacion lined out to right fielder Gross.
Bottom 3rd: Gross lines out to Scutaro. One down for Zaun, ouch, hit on his hand by a pitch, although the sound was definitely wood. Upton grounds to third safe at first, Zaun to second. Bartlett grounds to Hill on to Scutaro throw to Overbay, double play ball. 43 pitches.

Top 4th: Barajas, pops up to Pena, first pitch, one down for Inglett, doubles in the secnd, not this time,. Fly ball to Upton, first pitch, come on Joe. Two puts on two pitches ??? Scutaro now has to take, Shields know this. Lines to Upton nice grab for third out, Jays go awfully quietly and rashly there. Six pitches for Shields. Jays unable to put the knife in. Shields pitch count only 62 as a result.
Bottom 4th: Crawford leading off. Doubles to centre. This guy is a menace every at bat. Longoria singles to left. Crawford to third, two on no outs, Halladay in trouble again. Zobrist first pitch swinging pops it up to Encarnacion. One down for Pena, strikes out, two down. Burrell, two down and two on. Strikes him out, Whoa Roy… way to go with two on and no outs.

Top 5th: Hill, grounds to Zobrist nice throw to just get Hill at first. One down for Lind, strikes out this time, two down for Overbay. Strikes out this time. Shields is settling into a groove here but you have to blame Jays free swinging bats to let him get off the hook. 78 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: Gross, another ex-Jay in tonight’s lineup. Grounds to Overbay flip to Halladay covering one down. Zaun, must be interesting for Halladay’s ex-catcher to face him. Who is outguessing whom? 0-2 count, strikes out, I guess advantage Roy in that at bat. Two down for Upton, grounds first pitch to Hill, throw to Overbay for third out. Pitch count 67.

Top 6th: Wells, swinging away, nothing to lose eh Vernon? Pops up to first, one down. Ruiz, fly ball to right, two down. Encarnacion, full count, lines out to right, three up and down again for Shields. Pitch count 89.
Bottom 6th: Bartlett leading off. Full count. Strikes out swinging. Great pitch. Crawford 2-2 tonight. Oh boy lines this one hard to right and over head of Inglett, triple and three quarters of the cycle. Error on the play. Longoria, fly ball to Wells and finally Crawford gets to come home. 5-1 Jays. One down for Zobrist, 3-0 count, full count, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 7th: Can Jays hitters get that one back plus? Barajas leading off. Rod is overdue for a home run. High fly ball to centre Upton, one down for Inglett, eager to make up for that Crawford miss although difficult chance with his height or lack of. 0-2 count. Shields over the 100 pitch now. Strikes out. Scutaro high fly ball to left first pitch.
Bottom 7th: Pena, strikes out. Aybar, pinch hitting for Burrell, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay two down. How many grounds balls have gone to Hill this season with Halladay pitching? Two down for Gross. Pops it up to Encarnacion, excellent and quick three up and down for Halladay. 95 pitch count.

Top 8th: Shields is still out there. Hill grounds back to Shields throw to first for the out. Lind, strikes out, Overbay with two down. That’s better, finally someone a hit, grounds it up the middle for a single. Now Rays bullpen is working. Springer, don’t worry it is Vernon. I don’t think anyone expects anything anymore from Vernon, if he gets a hit it is a plus. So very, very sad to see this decline. Will he ever regain even half of what he has lost? 3-0 count, gets under this one high fly ball to left for third out. 111 pitches.
Bottom 8th: Zaun leading off. Whoa Greg lines this to right and hits the foul pole, home run Zaun. 5-2 Rays. This game is by no means over. Upton singles to right. Jays bullpen working. Bartlett. Upton going and Barajas throw in time great throw for second time tonight. Bartlett lines out to centre, two down. One down but here comes trouble, Crawfird on the cycle, needs a home run. 1-2 count. Frasor up in Jays bullpen. 2-2 count, Man, lines it hard at Hill, off his body. And safe at first. Aaron should have had that one. Longoria with two down and one on. Grounds to Encarnacion throw to Scutaro for the out. No more damage done.

Top 9th: It would be good for Jays hitters to get a couple back here. Springer now pitching. Shields did a great job but Jays let him off the hook. Ruiz leading off, grounds to short, throw to first for the out. One down for Encarnacion, hitless tonight, fly ball to centre for second out, may be time for Bautista to take that third base position. Two down for Barajas, full count. Fouls off ball four. Swings over this one to end the inning. Will Halladay try to finish this one off?
Bottom 9th: No that is the end of Halladay’s evening, Frasor now pitching. Zobrist, 2-0 count. 2-2, pops it up to Encarnacion, one down for Pena, fly ball to Inglett in right, two down for Aybar, lines first pitch to centre, One on two down for Gross. 1-2 count, 2-2 just high, that’s more like it, strikes him out and Jays win he first of series in Tampa.

Outhit by Tampa 9-8 but great pitching by Halladay to get win number 13 and supported for a change with some power from Overbay and Lind.

Jays lose another behind Cito's questionable strategy and outhitting Yankees, Ruiz hits another home run

Toronto v New York final game of series.

Rubber game of series. Jays would love to beat Burnett today and the series. Interesting to compare records. Both Romero and Burnett have almost identical records. In fact Romero’s ERA is fractionally better, not bad for a rookie. This could be a tough one if Burnett is his dominating self, but Jays fans know he can be unpredictable as well. Romero has a tough assignment against this Yankee lineup.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Overbay, Wells, Ruiz, Encarnacion, Chavez, Inglett and Romero pitching.
New York: Jeter, Damon, Matsui, Rodriguez, Posada, Cano, Swisher, Hinske, Cabrera and Burnett pitching.
The good: Ruiz second home run in two days. Relief pitching by League going three innings. Romero kept Jays in the game. Jays overall gave Yankees a tough series and it could have gone their way.
The poor: Manager Cito gambling on no pinch runner for Chavez and losing potential winning run. Wells just keeps getting worse if that is possible.
Top 1st: Scutaro pops it up to Hinske in shallow right, one down for Hill. 2-2 count, full, strikes out looking. Lind, umpire calling those high pitches for strikes. Singles back up the middle. One on for Overbay. Wild pitch and Lind to second. 3-0 count, walks on four. Vernon with two on. Another high pitch, Posada out already, I note Yankees do this far more than Jays catchers.2-2 down and away ?? Vernon swings over the top. Cito has to move him down the order, fat chance. Cito’s weakness.
Bottom 1st: Jeter, hit on his foot, Damon, not sure why Jeter is staying in the game, if there is damage on that foot you would think he would want it checked out and not do further damage. Macho. 2-2 count, doubles down the right field line into corner, Jeter goes to third on play. That would not help his foot injury. Matsui, with two in scoring position and no outs. Perfect pops up to Lind in shallow left and Jeter holds at third. One down for A-Rod. Grounds to Encarnacion, throw home but Jeter has stopped, back to Encarnacion not in time, A-Rod safe at first and bases loaded. Posada. Grounds to Hill, bobbles the ball, should have been two but throw to first to get Posada but Jeter scores 1-0 Yankees. Tough luck for Romero. Two in a row, he should be out of this with no run. Cano pops up to Wells in shallow centre. Could have been worse but should have been much better. 22 pitch count for Romero.
Top 2nd: Ruiz, oh Yes Randy, gets hold of this one, first pitch bomb into the left field bullpen way over 400ft and into the wind. That was some hit, Ruiz home run number two in two days …. Hello Alex !! Crowd is QUIET! 1-1 game. Encarnacion. Pops up to Swisher one down for Chavez, pops up to Posada for second out. Inglett, singles up the middle, Scutaro with one on. Singles into left and Inglett gets to third with his speed. Two on for Hill, 2-2 Hill not going after that low pitch. But did go for that one. Jays get one back but could have should have been more. 44 pitch count for Burnett.
Bottom 2nd: Swisher, 3-0 count. Full count and walks. Now Chavez calming Romero down. Hinske with one on and no outs. Strikes him out on great curve, one down for Cabrera. Nice to have a number nine guy with 12 home runs… Cito when will Snyder come back? 3-0 count, there’s a strike. Pops it up to Inglett, shallow right centre, diving for the ball as the wind holds it up, nice catch Joe. Two down. Jeter, foot must be ok. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Hill for the force at second and Cabrera. 38 pitch count.
Top 3rd: Now Jeter is out, Pena in his place. Jeter should have come out when he injured the foot, there are so many bones there he could have easily broken, Lind grounds to short, ball bounces over Pena into left. Overbay strikes out on three pitches, unusual for Lyle. Wells, with one down and one on. That’s better Vernon, just back up the middle but solid hit. Two on for Home Run Randy. Not this time, grounds first pitch to Pena on to second on to first, double play ball. Pitch count 52.
Bottom 3rd: Damon, home run to right, this guy just golfs one hand every pitch the same way. Ricky pitch him away. Jays hitters note this. Just get that ball up into the wind. 2-1 Yankees. Matsui strikes out. A-Rod, with one down. Fly ball to left for Lind, two down. Posada, strikes out. Pitch count 53.

Top 4th: Jays have outhit Yankees 6-2 but are behind. Encarnacion, lines it to shirt, great diving catch by Pena, that was a single all the way. Chavez, pops up first pitch to second, come on Raul. Think here.Two quick outs Inglett, grounds to Cano throw to first for third out. Jays hitters need more patience here, Burnett is not in top form today. pitch count 60. Last two innings only 16 pitches as a result of the impatience not Burnett’s pitching.
Bottom 4th: Cano leading off. High fly ball to right, home run, pitch them away Ricky, learn man. 3-1 Yankees. I guess as visiting teams get used to this right field they will be lifting them just like that. Swisher. Walks. One on for Hinske. Strikes out, Hinske arguing. One down. Cabrera, 2-0, come on Romero. That’s better 2-2, Oh boy, Romero throws ball away at first, come on. Swisher to second. There’s no need for that Ricky just get the guy out at plate. Cabrera grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay two down. Swisher stays at second. Fly ball to Wells in shallow centre for third out.

Top 5th: Scutaro leading off, showing bunt. Grounds to Pena fumbles but in time to get throw to first in time. One down for Hill. Full count. Singles up the middle, why don’t Jays do more like that? Lind with one on and one down. Strikes out on three pitches. Jays hitters are swinging over the top of these pitches. Overbay, full count, strikes out looking. 79 pitches he should be in the 90’s by now if Jays hitters were not so impatient.
Bottom 5th: Damon, 2-2, full, walks on perfect strike there. Romero not getting any breaks today. Matsui. Very nice grounds back at Romero ducks and Scutaro steps on second throw to Overbay double play ball. A-Rod. 1-2 count, 2-2, doubles to the wall in left. Posada, another 2-2 count, full, down the middle for a strike. Could be Romero’s last inning though. 95 pitch count.

Top 6th: Wells leading off. Grounds to Pena throw to first, one down. Ruiz, singles back up the middle. Encarnacion, singles to left, two on one down for Chavez, 2-0 count. Jays nine hits but only one run. 2-2, wild pitch, both runners move up, ok let’s take advantage of this. Full count. Perfect singles to right. Ruiz scores but Encarnacion held up on throw. 3-2 Yankees. One down and rumors on first and third for Inglett. Action in Yankees bullpen. Strikes out on three pitches. Scutaro’s turn. 100 pitches for Burnett. Rain starting also. 0-2 count, 2-2, another wild pitch, here comes Edwin and this game is tied up 3-3. Chavez to second. Ball four. Two on for Hill. Let’s hit one out Aaron. Not this time grounds to Pena, throw to first for the out. Jays have outhit Yankees 10-4.
Bottom 6th: Romero can start level again. Crowd emptying out here with rain. Cano, 2-0 count. 3-0, fly ball to Lind in left, one down. Swisher, fly ball to Lind. Hinske, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay and three up and down for first time today. Romero has not had it easy all afternoon.

Top 7th: Coke now pitching. Lind leading off. Lefty-lefty match up. High fly ball to left corner Damon has it at the wall, one down. Overbay, singles over Cano into right. That’s it for Coke. Robertson now pitching. Wells, has one hit today but is still not looking confident out there. I guess .257 average does that to you. Pops it up to Hinske in right. Two down. Ruiz with two hits today. I can see Cito moving him up the order in front of Vernon if he continues to hit. Another wild pitch and Lyle moves up to second. 2-2 count. Grounds to A-Rod, throw to first for the third out.
Bottom 7th: Who is on today for Jays to close this one out? League? Yes called that one right. Hang on here. Depends which Brandon is out there today Jekyll or Hyde? Cabrera leading off. Grounds back to League, throw to Overbay, one down. Top of the order Pena singles back up the middle. Damon, golfs it to Wells in centre, one down one on for Matsui strikes out and, nice throw, Chavez gets Pena off the bag. Great double play to end this one.

Top 8th: Bottom of the order, Robertson still pitching, Encarnacion leading off. Lines it hard to left but right at Damon, one down for Chavez, full count. Walks on ten pitches, great at bat. Inglett with one on. No pinch runner for Chavez ? Strikes out, Scutaro with two down. That’s it for Robertson, Hughes now pitching. Singles to right, Chavez chugging around to third. Hill with two on and Chavez at third. Fly ball to Hinske in right. Would a pinch runner have scored on that hit by Scutaro? Johnny Mc maybe.
Bottom 8th: League still out there, Cito rolling that dice again, Matsui, fly ball to Inglett in right. A-Rod 2-2. Strikes out. Two down for Posada, full count, don’t let him get away Brandon. Strikes him out. Nice pitching and Cito gambled right on League but lost the pinch runner bet though.

Top 9th: Jays need to get something here and keep Rivera out of the game. Hughes pitching, Lind strikes out. One down for Overbay. Lines it up the middle. 2-4 today. One on one down for Vernon. Pops it up to Hinske. Oh boy. Where do you put Vernon in the lineup to hide him and minimize this horrible slump? Ruiz with one on and two down. Strikes out. Jays have outhit Yankees 13-5.
Bottom 9th: League still out there, Cito has blind faith. More than most Jays fans do. Three innings is expecting far too much for Brandon. Cano, full count. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay one down. Swisher, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay two down. Hinske, strikes him out. Cito is a gambling man. Extra innings, Yankees love these.
Top 10th: Jays get another chance but bottom of the order unless Cito uses his bench. Chad Gaudin pitching. Encarnacion. Full count. Pops it up to Swisher. 10 pitch at bat. Chavez, singles to left. Now Johnny Mc is pinch running. Better late than never Cito. Inglett with one down and one on. Strikes out. Two down for Scutaro. 0-2 count. 2-2. Full count. Johnny Mc has been waiting for this. Come on Marco, called third strike, have to swing there Marco. Game on the line.
Bottom 10th: Barajas in as catcher. Camp now pitching. Cabrera strikes out.Teixeira pinch-hitting for Pena. Teixeira pops up to Scutaro. Damon pops up to Overbay. Camp did his job.

Top 11th: Teixeira in as first baseman. Swisher in as right fielder. Hairston in at short. Hill fly ball to right field Swisher, one down for Lind grounds to A-Rod throw to Teixeira for second out. Overbay, and walks. Oh boy, here comes Wells. 1-5 !! today. 0-2 count, goes after ball way shoulder high. Fouls it off. Shows how desperate Vernon has become these days. Full count. Is he swinging or taking? Swinging. 1-6 today.
Bottom 11th: Matsui, strikes out looking, great curve on the corner. A-Rod, hit on the left elbow even with the pad, this looks bad. No he is ok, on base. Posada, singles to left. A-Rod to second. Cano that’s the game doubles to right centre. Yankees win 4-3.

Jays had their chances, but some questionable managing today.

Jays lose this one but Ruiz, Inglett and Overbay help Richmond keep it close.

Toronto v New York. Game two of three.

Jays played very well last night but it will be hard to duplicate that in Yankee Stadium against Chamberlain. Ruiz called up in place of Rios. Will be interesting to see his bat, that is a tough baptism.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Overbay, Wells, Ruiz, Encarnacion, Barajas, Inglett and Richmond pitching.
Yankees: Jeter, Damon, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Matsui, Posada, Cano, Hinske, Cabrera, and Chamberlain pitching.

The very good: Overbay double to clear bases and score three. Ruiz home run in first game. (and more important opposite field hit). Inglett catch in right to save at least a double by Damon. And a second attempt almost had the Posada home run. Great efforts in right field that we have not seen all season. Richmond has to get a gold star after falling behind 3-0 early he gave Jays chance to get back into this and held it for them until the eighth and striking out eight Yankees hitters.
The good: Encarnacion home run dead centre deepest part of ball park, I didn’t know he had that type of power. Perhaps now he will settle into groove, we need that bat in number seven spot. Also gets praise for his glove in the seventh. Jays hitters had plenty of hits to the wall and track tonight. Close but no enough and they desperately need a left hand bat when they play in New York.
The bad: Cito very definitely tonight. Huge gamble bringing in Carlson for second night in a row and also error leaving him in there when he was obviously not sharp. With Carlson and League you can see right away if they are on and sharp and Jesse was very definitely struggling. Sorry Cito, but that is what managing is all about in my book, it should have been Roenicke to start the inning.

Top 1st: Scutaro gets hold of this and lines hard to left, great catch by Damon at the wall. One down for Hill. Grounds to Jeter, throw to Teixeira, two down for Lind. 3-1 count. Full count, singles into right, under a diving Cano. Overbay with one on and two down. 2-2 count. Strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Jeter first pitch, singles to centre, déjà vu last night. Damon doubles to right, Jeter to third. Teixeira grounds to Hill, Jeter scores, 1-0 Yankees just like that. Damon to third. A-Rod, singles to right, Damon scores, 2-0. Teixeira to third. Matsui with two on strikes out.

Top 2nd: Wells, 3-0 count, fly ball to Cebrera, one down for Ruiz, strikes out on three pitches, welcome to the big leagues Randy. Two down for Encarnacion. Grounds to Rodriguez throw to Teixeira for third out. Quick inning for Chamberlain but Jays are swinging at bad pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Cano, 0-2, lucky break for Richmond, just missed going out in that left field corner. Same again doubles into left. Richmond not fooling many tonight. Hinske, wow what has he been eating? Balk called and Cano moves to third. This is a disaster for Richmond so far. Nobody out and runner at third, strikes out, too much dinner Eric. One down for Cabrera fly ball to Wells in centre, Cano tags and scores on the throw home, 3-0 Yankees. Jeter with two down. Singles up the middle identical hit to first inning, you would think Cito would move Scutaro over into that hole. Damon, one hander lines it into right centre bounces over the wall, ground rule double, that saved a run. Runners at second and third for Teixeira. Arnsberg finally going out to give Richmond a talking to but he is all over the place tonight. Cito should get bullpen working. 2-0 count on Teixeira. There’s a strike. 3-1, loads them up for A-Rod. Richmond has a death wish tonight. Pops it up to Wells for third out. Richmond has another big escape, this could be 7 or 8 for the Yankees by now. Seven hits already for Yankees. 38 pitches for Richmond. He has to focus here.

Top 3rd: Barajas, 0-2 count, pops it up to A-Rod, one down for Inglett, 3-0 count, walks him. One on for Scutaro singles to left. Inglett to second. Good at bat by Scutaro, Hill with two on and one down. 0-2 count, 2-2, Posada out to settle Chamberlain. Grounds to Rodriguez, only one play at second to get Scutaro. Hill safe at first and Inglett at third on the play, two down for Lind. 2-0 count another mound conference, come on umpire they are overdoing this. 3-0, one more to load them up, Ball four. Bases loaded for Overbay, chance for Jays to get something here. OH YES, Perfect Lyle, doubles to right centre to clear the bases and this game is tied up 3-3. Perfectly placed drive by Lyle in the gap to the wall. Vernon now with Overbay at second, grounds to Jeter, throw just beats him out at first. But Jays are back in this now if Richmond can settle. Chamberlain pitch count over 60, ouch, he was cruising along.
Bottom 3rd: Matsui, pops it up for Encarnacion, one down for Posada. Full count, Richmond being too fine. Strikes him out, two down for Cano, grounds to Hil, throw to Overbay for third out. Nice inning by Richmond here, exactly what he had to do and now let Jays hitters do their job.

Top 4th: Ruiz leading off. YES, YES Randy, very nice, opposite field drive hits the foul pole, Home run Randy his first. 4-3 Jays. Alex who? What I like about that was that it was an opposite field hit. His team mates are happy for him in the dugout, Halladay grining from ear to ear. He likes what he sees. Encarnacion, strikes out. One down for Barajas grounds to Rodriguez throw to first for out number two. Inglett, 2-2 count. Strikes out, but Jays newbie gets his first and the lead for Jays. 76 pitches for Chamberlain. They are cheering in Fenway.
Bottom 4th: Hinske, strikes out swinging. Great inside pitch by Richmond. Cabrera with one down. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging same pitch inside. Two down for danger man Jeter 2-2 tonight. Block that hole at second Cito. Grounds to Scutaro, throw to Overbay, three up and down for Richmond. 62 pitches.

Top 5th: Can the Jays see Chamberlain this guy out of game this inning? Scutaro, 2-2 count. Full count. Grounds top A-Rod throw barely beats Scutaro at first, one down. Hill, 2-0 count, singles to left centre, one on one down for Lind. High pop up to Jeter, two down for Overbay. 1-2, grounds to Teixeira for the out. 93 pitches. Boston leading 4-3.
Bottom 5th: Damon, 2-2 count, Lines this one handed to right, OH MY Joe baby. What a catch. Full stretch and bangs into the wall in right, falls over but hangs on to the ball, highlight reel catch. Alex who? Teixiera fly ball to Wells, two down. A-Rod, 3-0, come on Scott. Walks him on four. Matsui with two down and one on. Richmond has to be careful here. 1-0 can’t find the strike zone here. That’s better, 2-2, fly ball to Inglett, the hero of that inning. 80 pitches.

Top 6th: Wells leading off. Pops up to Jeter, one down for Ruiz, batting .500 after that home run, strikes out on three here .333. Two down for Encarnacion. Grounds to Jeter throw to Teixeira for third out. Three up and down.
Bottom 6th: Posada, strikes out, one down for Cano, singles into centre, one on for Hinske, they have been pitching him inside all game, now two outside, 2-0 count.3-0, nothing inside yet. There we go, strike one. Strike two, pops it up to shallow centre for Vernon, two down and Cano holds at first. Cabrera 2-2 count, strikes him out, number eight tonight, very nice Scott. 97 pitches.That could be it for him tonight with top of order next inning.

Top 7th: Chamberlain’s night is over, Bruney pitching. Barajas at bat, high fly ball to left centre, Cabrera gets it at the track. Almost but not quite Rod. Inglett with one down, singles into right, good for you Joe. Scutaro now with one on and one down. Strikes out. Two down for Hill. Opposite field fly ball caught at the track by Hinske. For third out. A couple of long ones there but no joy this inning. Boston winning 6-3.
Bottom 7th: Who will be pitching? Accardo with something to prove to Cito. Great blue glove Jeremy. Jeter leading off. 3-1 count. Full count, pops it up in front of Inglett. One on for Damon, is he bunting? Pops it up into shallow left for Lind running in. Jeter holds at first. One down one on for Teixeira. 0-2 count. Would love a double play ball here. That will do, pops it up to Encarnacion, two down for A-Rod. Oh boy lines this one hard to third, Encarnacion diving to his right, on his knees and throws to second to get Jeter, great play Edwin. Jays have great defence so far tonight.

Top 8th: Coke now pitching. Lind leading off. 1-2 count, fly ball to centre for Cabrera, one down for Overbay, we need another big one here Lyle. 2-1 count. 2-2, grounds back to Coke, throw to Teixeira, two down for Wells, that’s it for Coke. Robertson now pitching. Vernon overdue tonight. 0-3. Grounds to A-Rod, throw to Teixeira and Vernon has a hitless evening 0-4. Boston 6-3 in rain delay but seventh inning so if it is called they have this one and they want Jays to hold on as well.
Bottom 8th: Who has the eighth? Carlson again. Perfect last night but two in a row??? Cito rolling the dice. Will we see Roenicke tonight? Matsui leading off. Cito heard me, Roenicke up in bullpen. His arm is very fresh. 2-2 count. Full count, yes you could see this coming, high fly ball into left field seats, Cito’s gamble did not pay off here, you can’t keep bringing these guys out every night Cito. Game is all tied up 4-4. Posada with no one out. You can see Jesse is not as sharp as he was last night. Another home run to left field. Over leaping Inglett. 5-4 Yankees. Cito arguing that fan interference on Inglett. Umpires are checking video. Review shows call was correct home run stands. Cano with no one out grounds back to Carlson throw to Overbay one down. Hinske doubles to right. That’s it for Carlson but I don’t think he should have been out there tonight at all. Rivera up in bullpen. Cabrera at bat, one down one on. Roenicke now pitching. Hairston pinch runner for Hinske. Cabrera singles to left, run scores 6-4 Yankees. Jeter pitch outside and Cabrera takes second. Jeter strikes out, great pitch from Roenicke. Two down for Damon. 2-4 tonight. Singles to right, run scores but Damon hung up between first and second for third out. 7-4 Yankees and Jays have uphill battle this inning.

Top 9th: Ruiz leading off. Lines it to Cano at second for first out. Encarnacion, Oh boy Edwin, really gets hold of this one, home run to dead centre, 408 ft mark, no doubt at all. 7-5 New York. Take that one Yankees. Barajas, singles into left and tie run comes to the plate in Joe Inglett. Pinch runner for Barajas, Johnny Mc. Strikes out looking on three pitches. Gotta swing Joe. Scutaro last chance for Jays here. Johnny Mc takes second, defensive indifference. Bring him in Marco. 2-2 count. Count full. Strikes out.

Jays lose this one but lots of positives tonight to give Yankees a fight for much of the game after being down three early.

Jays win big in Yankee Stadium and farewell Alex.

Toronto v New York. Game one of three in New York.

A very tough assignment for Jays. Yankees on a roll from sweeping Boston and a seven game win streak. Jays on two game win streak and throwing out three rookies for the series. Big news before game with Rios traded to Chicago White Sox. Nothing in return but a huge salary freed up for next five years. It also enables the fans to see Travis Snider back in Toronto for the last few weeks. I have no problem at all with this move. Rios had not been the player he was three seasons ago. I also did not like his lack of aggression in the right field. Very rarely dove for a ball and would never run into the wall. Plus his base running skills were minimal. Good move JP.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Overbay, Wells, Bautista, Encarnacion, Barajas, Inglett, and Rzepczynski pitching. No Rios, on his way out of town to Chicago White Sox. Not a lineup to scare Yankees tonight after the top three. Jays need more than pitching help but would love to see young Snider in there, he is tearing it up in Vegas. Two home runs yesterday giving him twelve now. Alex who?
Yankees: Jeter, Swisher Teixeira, Rodriguez, Posada, Cano, Hairston, Cabrera, Molina, and Mitre pitching.

The very good: Obviously the win. Overbay huge home run, Hill number 27. Bullpen scoreless relief of Camp, League, Carlson and Frasor. Jays outhit by Yankees but the win is what counts.
The good: Letting Rios go, and $60 million of salary. Fine with me. But Jays need another long relief guy to help out Tallet.
The bad. Wells striking out in first with two on. Encarnacion error on throw to Overbay in 2nd. Barajas error on throw in 3rd to let Jeter get to third, and cost them second run.

Top 1st: Scutaro strikes out. Hill strikes out. Lind singles to left. Overbay singles to centre, Lind to third. Wells with two on. Down and away strikes out. What a surprise. Nothing changes with Vernon. 21 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Jeter gets hold of this one, home run to centre, 1-0 Yankees. Swisher, full count, singles to right Bautista in right. Teixeira full count, singles to left, Rodriguez with two on and no outs. Perfect ground to Scutaro flip to Hill on to Overbay double play ball. Swisher to third on play for Posada, with two down. Lines out to Bautista in right. Could have been much worse for Rzepczynski.

Top 2nd: Bautista, strikes out. Encarnacion fly ball to centre, two down, Jays not offering much tonight here. Barajas with two down. 0-2 count, strikes out, looked low but Jays will not get any close calls tonight. Quick and easy so far for Mitre.
Bottom 2nd: Cano grounds to Overbay flip to for the out at first, one down for Hairston, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for second out. Cabrera, full count, grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Overbay, error on play. We miss Rolen at third. Molina, fly ball to Bautista for third out. 39 pitches.

Top 3rd: Inglett, 3-1 count. Full count, Inglett thought it was outside. Strikes out looking. Umpire not giving him that one. Scutaro. Grounds to Cano at second, great play just gets Scutaro at first. Hill, YES Aaron, gets hold of this one, bounces off the top of the wall in left into the bullpen and Jays have tied this up 1-1. Hill number 27 on season. Lind high fly ball to right to Swisher, just under it Adam but Jays have tied this one up. 47 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Jeter, singles first pitch up the middle. 2-2 tonight. Swisher, bunting ? No need, Oh man, Jeter stealing and throw gets away into centre. That was awful throw by Barajas. Jeter goes to third with no outs, fly ball to Bautista, Jeter beats great throw, Bautista has an arm. 2-1. One down. Teixeira, grounds to Scutaro, throw to Overbay two down for Rodriguez. 3-1 count. Full count, A-Rod was walking, umpire will not like that, now ball four. Posada, full count, almost hits him. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for third out. 58 pitches. Cito is thrown out for arguing those calls. Tenace now managing.

Top 4th: Overbay, full count, and walks. Wells, chance here Vernon to make up for first inning mess up. That will do, singles into left centre. Overbay at second, two on no outs for Bautista, grounds back to Mitre, Oh NO. throw to Cano at second off his glove, Overbay scores 2-2 game, Bautista at second Vernon at third. Now Edwin two in scoring position. That was Cano looking for double play ball before he had the ball. Took his eye off the ball. 3-0 count, 3-1. Need a hit Edwin. Full count, That was ball four. Fly ball shallow right, here comes Vernon beats the throw and Jays go out ahead 3-2. Overbay to third. One down for Barajas, grounds to Rodriguez at third, throw to first for second out. Inglett chance to be a hero. Yes Joe, that will do, grounds it past diving Teixeira into right corner, Inglett hustling all the way round to third, Overbay scores easily. 4-2 Jays. Scutaro with runner at third, grounds it to Teixeira takes it himself to first for third out. But Jays have big inning and they are cheering in Boston at the score. 77 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Rzepczynski has a lead now. Can he hold Yankees here? Cano, the guy who started it with his error, gets hold of this one though, home run to right centre, just like that. Come on Marc. 4-3 Yankees. Hairston, I don’t believe it, high fly ball into left field seats and this game is all tied up again 40-4. Back to back and still no outs, Cabrera 3-0 count, Marc is losing it here someone calm him down. Now full count. Singles into centre. Camp now up in bullpen. Conference at the mound. Molina, with runner at first, bunting? no, swinging way and why not, throwing a few over to first to give Camp time. 0-2 count. Grounds to Encarnacion throw to Scutaro on to Overbay not in time. One down but that’s it for Rzepczynski. He did not seem comfortable throughout the four innings, probably intimidated by Yankee Stadium we tend to forget these guys are young rookies. A learning experience, he will be different next time they visit here. Camp now in one down Molina on at first. Jeter 2-2 tonight. Fly ball to Bautista in right, Molina holds at first, two down for Swisher. Showing bunt. 2-2 count, strikes him out, great pitch. But Jays momentum has turned to Yankees as they tie this one up. Not too happy in Boston either.

Top 5th: Hill, rolls it down the line, just fair for the out by Teixeira. Lind, time for one Adam, grounds to Cano, throw to Teixeira, two down for Overbay. 3-1 count. Strike two, full count. OH YES Lyle… gets hold of this one, off the wall in Yankees bullpen in right centre. WOW, that one is still travelling. 5-4 Jays. That was a classic Overbay swing. So smooth. Wells with two down, full count. Stay away from down and away Vernon. Grounds to Jeter short but Jays have the lead again and they love them in Fenway tonight at least.
Bottom 5th: Teixeira strikes out, one down for A-Rod, Camp going outside and inside, full count, singles into left. Posada, we need ground ball here Shawn, 2-0 count. Great play, grounds to Overbay, plays tag with A-Rod trying to delay the out, and then throw to Camp covering at first to just get Posada double play ball.

Top 6th: Aceves now pitching, this guy was very good against Jays earlier, but no one can be perfect all the time can they? Bautista grounds to Cano throw to Teixeira for first out. Encarnacion, horrible swing first pitch high pop up to Jeter behind second, wind is blowing now, two down. Barajas, high fly ball to Hairston in left, wind is keeping this one in. Jays go very quietly here.
Bottom 6th: Cano, doubles to left centre, Hairston, showing bunt. Grounds to Scutaro, throw to Overbay for the out. One down. Cabrera 2-2 count. Full count. Grounds to third, Camp misses it but great recovery by Encarnacion to throw to Overbay for second out. Camp hurt himself on that play, no he is staying in for now at least, Two down with Cano at third. Molina, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. Nice inning for Camp after that leadoff double.

Top 7th: Jays need more runs here, one run lead is nothing for this Yankee lineup. Inglett leading off. Showing bunt, too hard and lines it to Teixeira, our Joe reckons he is a leadoff guy. Scutaro, one down. Lines it hard to left but wind pulls this one back and easy catch by Hairston for second out. Hill singles to left, Aaron another multi-hit night. Lind, would love him to connect on one here and pull it into this wind out to right centre. Does just that, but only a single, that’s ok Adam. Hill moves to second, two on two down for Overbay. 2-2 tonight. High fly ball to left Hairston has it at the track.
Bottom 7th: Top of lineup for Yankees. Jeter leading off. New pitcher for Jays. Downs? No, League. He had a horrible outing last week. As we have said before when he is on he is the best but when he is wild, then pull him quick. Back up the middle for Jeter his third hit tonight. Almost takes head off League. Swisher, very nice Brandon, strikes him out on three pitches and wicked, wicked third strike pitch. Teixeira with one down. League up to 97mph with that one, now strikes him out inside corner. Two down for A-Rod. 1-2 count, strikes him out, A-Rod throws his bat away in disgust. Great inning by League.

Top 8th: Jays running out of outs now. Six more to widen that one run lead. Vernon to lead it off. Strikes out on three pitches. Bautista, breaks his bat grounding to Jeter throw to Teixiera for second out. Encarnacion, high fly ball to Hairston in left for third out. Jays need more lefties in Yankee Stadium to go the other way. Fenway all tied up with Tigers at 5-5.
Bottom 8th: Carlson now pitching. As with League, either untouchable or trouble, this season at least. Posada, fouling them off here, hanging tough, got him, gets him swinging, 11 pitch at bat. Carlson glad to see him go. One down for Cano, 2-3 tonight. Grounds up the middle but Scutaro is there throw to Overbay two down for pinch hitter Damon. This guy is always trouble for Jays. Not this time, grounds it slowly up the line to Overbay to make out himself. Nice inning Jesse.

Top 9th: Jays do not have to see Rivera, yet at least. Barajas leading off, Aceves still out there for his fourth inning of work, high pop up to Damon in left. One down for Inglett, please don’t bunt here Joe. Grounds to Cano, throw to Teixeira for second out. Scutaro hitless tonight. Pops it up to right Swisher.
Bottom 9th: Frasor to try and close this one. Good luck Jason, we would all love to see Jays celebrating at Yankee Stadium and so would Boston fans down the road. But easy to say and much harder to do. Cabrera leading off. Grounds back up the middle for Scutaro throw to Overbay. One down for another pinch hitter Matsui. Great to have this type of depth on the bench. 0-2 count. Singles into right centre. One on one down for Jeter. Pena pinch runner for Matsui. Another 0-2 count. Grounds to Scutaro flip to Hill but that’s it to get Pena, no chance for two. Two down, Jeter at first for Swisher, 2-2 count. Strikes him out.

WHOA !!! Jays win in Yankee Stadium. Three in a row now and they break Yankees win streak at seven. Tough for Cito not to be out there celebrating this win.

Halladay wins number twelve and Jays win a series

Jays v Orioles. Series finale.

Halladay pitching but he has little run support recently so even this one is not a given. Rios trying to show that he belongs but this is one fan who hopes that the waiver goes through to Giants and Jays get pitcher in return. Cito now posturing about saving arms for rest of the season a little late now. But I wonder what would happen if Jays were really in this thing? Playing for play off position, would he be resting the arms? He would have no choice. But now he can say as Jays are out of it, he has excuse to rest the arms for the last six weeks ???? Unless of course he can use the arms traded for Rolen and Rios and ? Interesting scenario.

But on to today.

Lineups: Baltimore: Pie, Izturis, Jones, Markakis, Huff, Mora, Scott, Wieters, Andino and Matusz pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Millar, Wells, Rios, Encarnacion, Barajas and Bautista, and Halladay pitching.

The very good: Millar three hits and a walk and home run. Too bad he cannot pitch as well. Halladay of course, win number twelve but only his second win in eight starts since his return from injury at the end of June. Scutaro four hit game. Jays 4/7 with runners in scoring position. Jays turn three double plays.
The good: Jays hold a lead for a change. Frasor save. Fourteen hits to support Halladay. Wells three RBIs but oh so late in the season to help Jays, where were all these hits in April, May, June and July?

Top 1st: Pie strikes out. Izturis grounds to Scutaro but safe at first. Jones grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar, double play ball. ball.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro pops up to second base Andino. One down for Hill, singles to right. Lind strikes out. Two down for Millar, there goes Aaron but throw by Wieters is good and gets him at second. Millar left at the plate for next time.

Top 2nd: Markakis grounds to Hill throw to Millar. One down for Huff, full count and walks. Mora grounds to second Huff moves up to third and Mora safe on play at first. Scott, singles to right, Huff scores Mora to third. Wieters grounds to Hill on to Scutaro throw to Millar, another double play to end the inning.
Bottom 2nd: Millar, there she goes, home run to left. This guy has been sitting for too long a time, I wish Cito would play him more. Jays take early lead 1-0. Wells full count and walks. Rios pops up to Andino at second. Encarnacion singles to left, Wells to second. Two on one down for Barajas, chance for more here, grounds to Mora at third throw to second base Andino on to Huff at first, another inning ending double play. The third today.

Top 3rd: Andino grounds to Scutaro, safe at first on error by Marco. Pie, there goes Andino and safe at second. Pie grounds to Hill throw to Millar, one down but Andino moves to third. Izturis doubles to right, here comes Andino and this is all tied up 1-1, Scutaro’s error hurts Halladay here. Jones grounds to Hill throw to Millar for the out but Izturis to third. Two down for Markakis fly ball to Wells.
Bottom 3rd: Jays want to get this back for Halladay here. Bautista singles to right. Good start. Scutaro, there goes Bautista and safe at second. Marco gets hold of this one home run to left, here comes Bautista, two runs score and Scutaro makes up for the error plus one as Jays go ahead 3-1. Hill grounds back to Matusz throw to Huff. One down for Lind, lines out to left field Pie. Two down for Millar, full count and walks. Wells, there it goes, home run to left his second of the series and here comes Millar, 5-1 Jays. Rios singles to centre. That’s it for Matusz today. Bass now pitching. Encarnacion grounds to short Izturis throw to Huff to get Encarnacion but Jays get four more and have given Halladay a nice cushion for a change.

Top 4th: Huff strikes out. Mora pops up to Hill. Scott grounds out to Millar. Halladay making no mistake here with this four run lead.
Bottom 4th: Barajas fly ball to centre field Jones. One down for Bautista, fly ball to left field Pie. Top of the order with two down. Scutaro singles to centre. Hill grounds to short Izturis flip to second base Andino, Scutaro out.

Top 5th: Wieters grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar, one down. Andino singles to centre. Pie grounds to Hill on to Scutaro throw to Millar, a third double play for Halladay, getting lots of help today.
Bottom 5th: Lind back to Bass one down. Millar singles to centre, hit number two today. Wells pops it up to second base Andino. Rios grounds to third base Mora throw to second base Andino, Millar out.

Top 6th: Izturis grounds to Hill throw to Millar. One down. Jones singles to centre. Markakis singles to right, Jones to second.Two on one down for Huff grounds back to Halladay throw to Scutaro, Markakis out. Jones to third, Huff to first. Mora, this is trouble, singles to right. Jones scores, Huff moves to second. 5-2 Jays. Scott, with two down, strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Encarnacion grounds out to first base Huff. One down for Barajas lines out to Markakis in right. Bautista grounds to Mora at third throw to Huff at first for third out. Halladay not getting the help he needs here.

Top 7th: Wieters grounds out to Millar. Andino grounds to Hill throw to Millar. Two down. Pie singles to centre. Izturis grounds to Encarnacion throw to Millar for third out. Halladay 96 pitches but you know he wants to finish this one if he can.
Bottom 7th: Top of Jays order, can they get something going here? Albers now pitching. Scutaro singles to centre. One on for Hill, lines out to Markakis in right. Scutaro holds at first. Lind, hitless tonight. Full count and walks, That’s fine Adam. Scutaro to second Millar now, two hits and walk today. But this is where it counts. One down and two on. There we go Kevin, 3-3 today, singles to right, here comes Scutaro 6-3 Jays. Lind to second but error on Markakis enables Adam to get to third. Overbay now pinch running for Millar at first. Two on still only one down. Wells, singles to centre, Lind scores 7-3 Jays. Overbay to second. That’s it for Albers. Ray now pitching. Rios keeps it going here singles to left, bases loaded for Encarnacion. Chance to put it away here Edwin. Not this time. Encarnacion grounds back to Ray throw home to Wieters on to Huff at first, double play.

Top 8th: Halladay has a 7-3 lead. Jones strikes out. Markakis, fly ball to Bautista. Two down.Huff grounds out to Overbay.107 pitches for Roy, will he be out in the ninth.
Bottom 8th: Barajas, lines out to third base Mora. One down for Bautista grounds to Mora throw to Huff at first, two down. Top of the order Scutaro, 3-4 today, now 4-5 as this one is double to left. Hill with Scutaro in scoring position. Grounds to Mora at third, throw to Huff at first to end the inning.

Top 9th: Frasor now pitching. In his hands to save this one for Halladay. Mora leading off. Full count and walks, come on Jason, you will not get closer role like this. Scott, fly ball to Bautista, one down. Wieters, Wieters fly ball to Bautista. Two down for Andino, no, Reimold pinch-hitting for Andino. Mora takes second, defensive indifference. Reimold strikes out and Jays win this one 7-3. Number twelve win for Halladay.

Jays win a series however it was Baltimore and they should have swept them.

Now a tough road trip into Yankees Stadium tomorrow.

Jays win big 7-2, the game and series. Hill HR #26

Toronto v Oakland Game three.

Jays going for their first road series win in seven weeks. Jays will need it as everyone above them is winning this afternoon so far. Snider is hitting .520 (13-for-25) with two homers and 11 RBI in his last six games at Triple-A Las Vegas. Downs is out again reinjuring that left toe but probably just as well he has not pitched well at all in his last six relief appearances since return from that injury. I was right about Frasor, he will be handling closer role. Chance for him to make it his own.

Lineups: Toronto: Bautista, Hill, Lind, Overbay, Wells, Rios, Encarnacion, Barajas, McDonald and Romero pitching.
No Scutaro in lineup today, too bad Cito cannot rest Wells or Rios instead. Scutaro has bruised heel so will get two days off with tomorrow off day.
Oakland: Kennedy, Davis, Suzuki, Hairston, Cust, Everidge, Crosby, Ellis, Pennington and Mazzaro pitching.

The very good: Hill, to get this one going in the first with home run number 26. Incredible season. He must pinch himself every night. Rios with three RBIs double. Bautista good replacement for Scutaro today.
The good: The hitters in first inning, getting it going early. Barajas number ten home run. Romero win number ten, not bad for a rookie. Now 10-4 on the season.
The bad, no the very bad: 3/15 with runners in scoring position, another double play by Vernon.

Top 1st: Bautista, full count and walks, Good eye Jose. Hill, Wild pitch Bautista moves up to second. Wow Aaron, again and again, this guy is having huge season, home run to left, Bautista scores, here comes Aaron, 2-0 Jays. Lind, doubles to left, Mazzaro not having a good day. Overbay, bring him in Lyle. Both Bautista and Hill taking pitches, one full count and the other 2-2 count before the hit. 3-0 to Lyle and walks on four. Ok Vernon your big chance here two on and nobody out. Surely with Mazzaro throwing balls not strikes, be patient here. Full count, there you are Vernon you can do it, walks and loads bases for Rios. Lets see what he does, he can swing away, just put the ball in play Alex. (into the outfield I mean).There you go Alex doubles to centre and clears the bases, Jays go out 5-0 and still no one is out. Good at bat Alex. Encarnacion now with Alex at second and Mazzaro already on the ropes. 29 pitches. Not this time Edwin fly ball to Hairston in left for first out. Alex stays put for Barajas. Grounds to Pennington at short throw to Crosby at first and here comes McDonald to complete the bat around first inning. Rios still at second. Fly ball to Davis in centre to end this one. Jays have a five run start for Romero. But I know Jays will not have forgotten last weekend in Toronto and the 8-1 lead that they blew. No rejoicing just yet. Mazzaro 37 pitch inning with three walks. Hill now has 76 RBIs. WOW!
Bottom 1st: Kennedy leading off. Strikes out one down for Davis. This is the dangerous guy for Oakland, always ready to steal bases and constantly distracts the pitcher. Singles to short. One on one down. Suzuki, perfect grounds to Johnny Mc. on to Hill throw to Overbay, double play ball to end the inning. 10 pitches by comparison to Mazzaro.

Top 2nd: Bautista to start all over again. Singles to centre, doing a good fill in for Scutaro so far. Here comes Hill, singles to right 2-2 today. Bautista to second. Lind singles to right Bautista scores 6-0 Jays Hill to third on the play for Overbay. Two on no outs. Lyle strikes out. One down for Wells. Error to Suzuki on that, Vernon stays put. Grounds to third, Kennedy home to get Hill, Vernon safe at first. Lind moves to second, Two on two down for Rios. Pops up to Crosby at first. Jays only get one here as Mazzaro escapes more damage.
Bottom 2nd: Hairston singles to centre. Cust full count and walks, two on no outs, come on Rickey. Everidge lines out to Hill, one down. Crosby grounds to Encarnacion throw to Hill to get Cust, one down, Hairston to third, Crosby to first. Two on for Ellis, singles to right, Hairston scores 6-1 Jays. Pennington grounds to Romero throw to Overbay to end this inning but A’s get one back. Romero cannot afford to relax; Jays have been bitten this way before.

Top 3rd: Encarnacion, strikes out, one down for Barajas. Barajas singles to centre for McDonald, yes Johnny Mc. doubles to left, Barajas to third. Two in scoring position, one down for Bautista. 74 pitch count for Mazzaro now. Not much longer surely. Fly ball to Davis in shallow centre. Barajas has to hold at third. Two down for Hill. Pops up to Ellis at second. Not too good there boys. Hope you do not regret it at the end of game. 82 pitch count for Mazzaro.
Bottom 3rd: Kennedy leading off. Pops up to Encarnacion. One down for Davis, doubles to left. 2-2 today, Romero cannot relax with this guy. Suzuki, singles to right here comes Davis, 6-2 Jays. One down one on for Hairston. Pops up to Hill, two down for Cust. Grounds out to Overbay for third out. Romero far from dominating here. A four run game is no big lead.

Top 4th: Mazzaro still out there, Lind leading off, yes Adam, doubles to right, his third hit of the day. Now someone bring him in here. Overbay, Overbay grounded out, first baseman Crosby to pitcher Mazzaro, Lind to third. Wells strikes out. Rios pops up to first base Crosby. That is pretty bad with a pitcher on the ropes. 94 pitch count.
Bottom 4th: Everidge hit by pitch, one on, Crosby grounds to Hill throw to McDonald, Everidge out. Crosby at first. Ellis grounds to McDonald throw to Hill on to Overbay, double play. Romero gets out of that jam nicely. 53 pitch count.

Top 5th: Encarnacion grounds to short Pennington throw to first base Crosby, one down. Barajas, there you go Rod, this one is out of here, home run to left and Jays go up 7-2. McDonald grounds out to first base Crosby, two down for Bautista. Strikes out. I can’t believe that Mazzaro has lasted five after a 37 pitch first inning and seven runs. Must have a bullpen problem in Oakland.
Bottom 5th: Meantime Romero still shaky has one more run back. Pennington singles to centre. Top of the order again, Kennedy, Romero is playing with fire each inning.

Top 6th: Springer now pitching. Mazzaro deserves a medal to get through five and keep the lead at five. Am not so sure Cito would have had that type of reaction and patience with a pitcher. Hill, pops up to Crosby at first, Lind with one down. 3-3 today. Not this time, grounds to Crosby flip to Springer for second out. Overbay, fly ball to Davis in centre, three up and down.
Bottom 6th: Hairston grounds to Romero throw to Overbay, one down. Cust, strikes out. Two down for Everidge. Yankees salvage one in Chicago, Boston wins a wild one 18-10 with Baltimore, Red Sox bullpen shaky ??? Tampa has lost. Everidge doubles to right, error on Rios on the play. And Everidge reaches third. Crosby with runner on third. Strikes out. You owe him one Alex.

Top 7th: Can Jays pad this lead here? Wells singles to centre. Rios fly ball to left field Hairston. One down Vernon holds. Encarnacion, hitless today along with Overbay although Lyle has been on base with a walk. Vernon stealing and safe at second as Encarnacion strikes out, two down. Barajas fly ball to Cust in right.
Bottom 7th: Romero now on 85 pitches, one more inning Ricky. Ellis at bat, lines out to Wells. One down forPennington, fly ball to Rios. Two down for Kennedy top of the order. Doubles to right, here comes trouble, Davis. 100 pitches for Romero. Strikes out Davis, great way to end this one Ricky. 102 pitch count.

Top 8th: McDonald leading off. Gonzalez now pitching. Fly ball out to Davis in centre. Top of the order Bautista. Bautista grounds to second base Ellis throw to first base Crosby. Hill with two down, 2-4 today. Strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Roenicke making Jays debut. Suzuki leading off. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay one down. Hairston strikes out, two down for Cust. Full count and walks. Cito will not like that. One on for Everidge. Strikes out, that’s more like it. Nice debut by Roenicke.

Top 9th: Lind leading off. 3-4 today. Full count and walks. Overbay pops up to Suzuki. One down for Wells, grounds to short Pennington on to Ellis throw to Crosby, double play ball. I really think Cito has to seriously discus what to do with Wells. Firstly he cannot put him together with Rios in the lineup. He also has to move him way down the order. Put him at number eight or nine and see what happens, but Cito to do nothing just hastens your own departure.
Bottom 9th: Accardo pitching. Retribution here Jeremy for being demoted. Show Cito it was mistake. Crosby strikes out, good start. Ellis pops up to Overbay, two down. Pennington, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay and this game is over.

Accardo makes a statement to you Cito. Sent down yesterday and back today and finishes it off. Hmmm. Decision time but I think Downs will be out of it for several weeks if not the season so Accardo may just have another life.
Meantime Jays win one and a series on the road and pick up one on Tampa. Now for the Yankees on Tuesday for two.

Jays win nail-biter 6-5.Frasor saves it for Cecil.

Game two Toronto v Oakland. Game two of three.

Rickey Henderson Day in Oakland , hard to watch and remember when we never see anything like that speed or hustle in Toronto. Response to the Rolen trade though has been overall positive. We will see. Sad to see Rolen go but evidently it was a personal family issue and we can’t argue with that. It must be so hard to be on the road for six months of the year plus spring training, not much time for a family but now at least Scott will be close top home for half of the season. Jays will miss him bigtime, he was playing so well this season, not just for his hitting, but his glove and his leadership. He leaves a vacuum Vernon ???? Who will pick it up?
Surely Jays can’t throw it around the way they did last night with three almost four errors. Cito is on the hot seat to get this team motivated and to do something about Wells and Rios. He is the hitting guru they obviously need his skills….

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Overbay, Wells, Rios, Encarnacion, Chavez, Inglett and Cecil pitching. New third base Encrnacion first game for Jays.
Oakland: Kennedy, Davis, Suzuki, Hairston, Cust, Everidge. Crosby, Ellis, Pennington, and Cahill pitching.

Very sad to see the Jays lineup. In April and May Jays had eight home runs Snider at number nine and had hitters all the way down the line. Now it ends at number four !!! JP it is not pitchers this team needs.

The very good: Cecil going seven, had one very bad inning and could have gone longer without those 37 pitches in the second but he obviously did well for rest of the game. Bullpen League, and Frasor saving this one with tie run at third. Hill with home run and his glove.

The good: Yankees lose two in a row to Chicago and Burnett losing. That is the good news. Vernon gets two hits so let’s be charitable here. Definitely Edwin Encarnacion, first hit, first run and his glove was fine. Not a Rolen but has age on his side at 26 to contribute to Jays for some years. Chavez deserves a good tonight with his two hits.

The very bad: Cecil giving up a three run lead in the second inning. Downs, is he finished? Certainly as the closer for Jays. Lets see what the injury is. But regardless I don’t see him being the closer anymore. Cito had short fuse with BJ Ryan but this is SIX games in a row for Downs.. But Cito is a stubborn man and could stick with Downs. Rios 0-4 … what can be done with this guy?

Top 1st: Top three had such a great night last night, so hard to duplicate it, but Jays desperately need them to do so. Cahill has been roughed up his last six starts but is probably looking forward to having an easier game against the hitless Jays tonight. 49 walks to 56 strikeouts. Control issue ??? But that is why the free swinging first pitch Jays will help him tonight. You don’t see Vernon and Alex walking much. Scutaro leading off, three hits last night, can he get it going again tonight? No, takes third strike, one down for Hill. Grounds (first pitch) to Pennington at short, two down for Lind. 2-2 fly ball to Davis in centre. Jays go quietly one, two three. 13 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Kennedy leading off, Cecil pitching. Grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, one down. Davis, doubles to right field corner, one on one down for Suzuki, chance to bring Davis in. Davis stealing but this is Chavez, great arm, throw gets him at third, Encarnacion first out as a Jay !!! Relay inconclusive but doubtful.Two down, full count. Suzuki grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. 14 pitches.

Top 2nd: Big bats now, who were certainly missing last night but Overbay back in lineup so I hope that helps tonight. Overbay leading off. We don’t often see Lyle in cleanup role, but who else is there now? His usual patience at bat, 3-1. Full count, Whoa, Lyle, great swing, drives this one to centre right at the 388 sign, this one is out of here, 1-0 Jays. Vernon, were you watching on deck there? Singles to second, cannot hold on to it, knocks it down to save a double. Vernon safe at first. Rios with runner on and no outs, Your turn Alex. Fly ball to Davis but Vernon cannot move, at least it was not a double play Alex. One down for Edwin Encarnacion, first at bat as Jay. Yes Edwin, singles to centre, that will do just fine. Vernon moves up to second. Two on one out for Chavez. 3-1 count, a pitch away form loading them up. Both Vernon and Edwin running on pitch and Raul singles to left, Vernon scores 2-0 Jays. Aggression by Cito tonight… great to see something different. Inglett with two on and one down. Lifts this on into shallow left centre but Hairston has it, two down and runners both hold. Scutaro with two on. 3-0 count, Ball four and bases loaded for Hill. Chance to break it open Aaron. Takes ball one. Grounds it through Pennington at short, no error but close, Encarnacion scores 3-0 Jays, his first hit and first run and first out. Not bad for two innings work. Bases still loaded for Lind. Gets way under it high, high fly ball to Davis for third out and leave bases loaded but Jays have three. 44 pitch count.
Bottom 2nd: Cecil now has a good lead to work with here. Hairston, grounds to Encarnacion, long smooth throw to Overbay for the out. Cust, full count, didn’t like that called strike. Singles into left. Shift was too far over, note to Cito. Everidge, 0-2, singles to left, two on one down for Crosby, come on Brett, here’s trouble, Crosby hammers this one over head of Wells in centre, run scores, 3-1. Three successive hits. Crosby at second, Ellis with two in scoring position. 3-1 count. Full count. Ball four. Cecil coming apart here. Pennington with bases loaded and one down. Pops it up to Encarnacion, two down but bases still loaded for lead off hitter Kennedy. 2-0 count. There’s a strike, the very worst, doubles into right corner and clears the bases 4-3 Oakland. How can you give up a 3-0 lead Brett? Davis, strikes out looking but Cecil has given best imitation of return ticket to Vegas here. Over 50 potches already. I guess we will be seeing one of the new pitchers at least tonight. But that was a very, very poor inning by Cecil. 51 pitch count. That was a 37 pitch inning, ouch, ouch bigtime.

Top 3rd: Cahill comes out feeling a lot better now with a lead, ten minutes ago he was down three. Overbay leading off. Full count, and walks on ball four. Here comes Vernon 1-1 tonight.. back to his usual, grounds (first pitch) to short on to second on to first double play ball. Oh Vernon. Rios, at least he can’t do the same. He tries to though, pulls a ball way outside to third. How can you do that Alex? Throw to first for third out. Cahill an easy inning, any inning with Wells and Rios has a good chance of being easy. 56 pitch count.
Bottom 3rd: Cecil hardly sat down, back out there. Suzuki, pops up to Scutaro, one down for Hairston, pops up first pitch (it is contagious) to Inglett in shallow left. Two down for Cust. Strikes out on four pitches, much much better Brett. Eight pitch inning. 59 pitch count.

Top 4th: Encarnacion leading off, he must be happy he is not hitting in front of Vernon or Alex. Takes ball one, ball two, gets under this one, fly ball to left, one down. Chavez, way to go Raul, doubles down left field line. Inglett, bring him in Joe. Not like that, (first pitch) pop up to short, two down. Scutaro with Chavez at second. 0-2, don’t take this one Marco. Bounces to the plate, ball one. 2-2, full count. Ball four, two down two on for Hill. Oh YES Aaron, Coral Bay is happy, gets hold of this one high into left home run and three more runs, 4rbis night for Aaron. 6-4 Jays. Lind, strikes out but Hill gets Jays back out ahead for Cecil. 77 pitch count for Cahill.
Bottom 4th: Everidge leading off. Grounds it to Cecil throw to Overbay, one down. Crosby, started the trouble last at bat. Grounds to third Encarnacion, nice smooth throw to Overbay. Two down. Ellis, lines out to Rios in right for third out. By the way Alex now playing closer to the line, Cito or someone must have noticed that he has already been caught out a couple of times not being able to cut off balls into the corner, playing too far to centre. 68 pitch count.

Top 5th: Overbay leading off again. This could be last inning for Cahill if Jays beat him up taking pitches. Posp this one up very nice catch at the third base tarp by Kennedey. One down for Wells, way outside swings at first pitch. way outside, almost falls over. That’s better Vernon singles yup the middle. Second time tonight. Beats pulling every ball. Rios, one on one down,. Bullpen working for A’s. Vernon going but Alex fouls it off. Grounds it to third, on to second Vernon out sliding, throw not in time to get Alex, avoids the double play. Now you have to steal Alex. Two down for Encarnacion. There you go Alex, agro, not wasting much time.… steals second. High, high, high fly ball to Davis in centre field, Edwin got under that one. That may be last inning for Cahill. Bullpen is working. 92 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: Pennington leading off. Fly ball to Inglett in left, one down. Back to the top of the order. Kennedy, grounds up the line to Overbay takes it himself to the bag for second out. Davis, lines out to Inglett in left. Three up and down for Cecil. If you take out that one 37 pitch inning, Cecil has not done a bad job. 76 pitch count.

Top 6th: Cahill out to start this one. Chavez leading off. 2-2 tonight. Half way to the cycle with double and single.!! Not so sure Raul could get a triple though…..Grounds to short, throw to first one down. Sorry Raul. Inglett, full count, I think if Joe gets on here that could be last hitter for Chahill tonight. Ball four, yes, I called that right, you can’t walk number nine guy. The end for Cahill. 105 pitch count and four more walks tonight to add to his collection. Casilla now pitching. Scutaro, Inglett stealing, Scutaro strikes out, throw to second double play. Ouch. Chose that wrong Joe.
Bottom 6th: Suzuki leading off. Cecil still in there but I am guessing we might see new pitcher Roenicke soon. Let’s see if Brett can get through this one at least. High fly ball to Wells in centre left. One down for Hairston. Pops it up to Overbay, long run in foul territory, there’s lots of room behind the plate here in Oakland. Two down for Cust, strikes out, another good inning for Cecil. He would love to have the second inning back. 87 pitch count, May start the next one at least, could get a couple of outs.

Top 7th: Hill grounds to Ellis at second, throw to Crosby at first one down. Lind, hitless tonight. Grounds to Pennington at short, throw to Crosby for second out. Overbay, singles into centre. Vernon with two down and one on. On base twice tonight. But we need some power Vernon. Where has it gone??? 2-2 he can’t hold off those low pitches, full count. Lyle will be running. That was ball four but Vernon does not care, he wants a hit, Lyle doing wind sprints, that’s three in a row. Pulls this one to Ellis at short throw to Crosby for third out.
Bottom 7th: Everidge first pitch fly ball to Wells in centre, one down. Crosby, 0-2, 2-2, fly ball to Rios in right, two down. Roenicke up in bullpen. Cito took my advice. Ellis two down, 2-2, full count, lines it to Rios, dives for it but cannot make catch. We don’t often if ever, see Alex diving for the ball but he made good attempt here. Ellis at first, Pennington grounds to Scutaro throw to Hill at second for the force on Ellis, very close call but third out.

Top 8th: Rios leading off, hitless again tonight. Strikes out. Another 0-4 night for Alex. Encarnacion, lines it hard but right at Pennington makes a nice grab for second out. Chavez, 2-3 tonight. Ground ball along first base line for the out by Crosby at first.
Bottom 8th: No, not Roenicke here, League this time. Top of the order, Kennedy to leadoff. High fly ball to Inglett in left. One down. Davis, full count, that was very close. Grounds this one to Hill, throw to Overbay, two down for Suzuki. Grounds it up the middle, great play by Hill and perfect throw to Overbay for the out.

Top 9th: But big questions is who will pitch ninth for Jays? Downs ? or Frasor ? Cito is old school, I guess Downs. But to help him out Jays hitters could get a couple more here. Edgar Gonzalez now pitching. Another 29 walks 24 strikeout pitcher. Control, where are you control? Inglett lines out (first pitch) to in left centre. You will never know Joe will you, that Gonzalez has control problems? You don’t go after first pitch with a guy who has walked more than he has struck out. One down for Scutaro. 2-2. Grounds to second throw to Crosby for second out. Hill, great night with bat and glove tonight. 3-0 count. Are you watching Joe? Pops up to Ellis at second.
Bottom 9th: Downs it is but probably on a very short leash. Hairston leading off. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay, one down. Cust, grounds back to Downs, muffs this one off his glove, no throw for Hill, should have let it go through to Hill. Cust at first. Everidge, here we go again, doubles to right. Two in scoring position one down, a single will tie this up. Downs reckons he is injured, we all are Scott watching you for the last six outings. Trainer out with Cito. Downs is bent over in pain. Is it his hand or reinjured his toe? Perhaps from the last play. I thought it hit his glove but could have been his pitching hand. Frasor now pitching. Game on the line here. Garciaparra pinch hitting for Crosby. Patterson pinch running at second for Everidge. Full count. Grounds back to Frasor, throw to first for second out, run scores. 6-5.
Should Frasor have come home? Sweeney with tie run at third, two down here comes Cito.Tells him what to do. 2-2 strikes him out looking.
Way to go Jason, is he ever happy. He may have just nailed the closer position as well.

Jays win one !!! Yankees have already lost so Jays pick up one on them although both Rays and Boston have won.

Jays give this one away. Rolen is missed already

Toronto v Oakland. Game one of three.

Starts with the news that Rolen has been traded to Cincinatti. What a shame… he was having such a great year and brought so much to Jays. Well, proof will be in Encarnacinon, had a wrist fracture this season, will that have any effect? Two more pitchers but nothing great. Roenicke and Stewart.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Millar, Wells, Rios, Bautista, Barajas, McDonald and Richmond pitching. Pretty sad lineup tonight without Rolen and Overbay in there, Johnny Mc is no replacement for Rolen. After the first three !!! nothing much tonight, what a state of affairs…. If ever a time for Wells and Rios to get it together it is now. Too bad JP could not trade those two, but no one is going to want either and with their overblown salaries to boot.
Oakland: Kennedy, Davis, Suzuki, Cust, Sweeney, Everidge, Patterson, Ellis, Pennington and Braden pitching.

The very good: Scutaro 3-3, Lind 3-4, Hill 2-3. Top three in order. That’s says it all tonight. No Rolen to make a fourth.
The good: Jays fight back for four to make it closer.
The bad: Defence and pitching…. Awful defensive display and including McDonald. Rios his bat and glove tonight. Vernon, keeps sinking lower and lower. Needs a complete overhaul with his bat. Richmond obviously not ready yet for bigtime and Tallet had one of his nights to forget.

The very, very bad: Defensive errors, three of them Rios, Millar and yes Johnny Mc huge error.

Top 1st: Scutaro, singles through the gap into right, Hill lifts it into shallow centre, great running diving catch by Davis. Lind with one down and one on. Pops it up into shallow left for Patterson, two down for Millar. This is where Jays lineup starts to look AAA. Pops it up to Ellis at second.
Bottom 1st: Richmond now, what does he have after his injury? Kennedy leading off. Full count, lines out to Wells in centre, one down for Davis, full count, walks him. Suzuki, lines it to right, Rios drops the ball. Right through his glove… If the sun were in his eyes, where are his shades? No just Alex being Alex, error on the play. He really can’t do much right these days, but no way will Cito bench him. Cust with two in scoring position, fouling off pitch after pitch here. Full count. Now he gets him but at huge pitch count. Close to 30 pitches already. Sweeney two on two down. Singles up the middle 2-0 Oakland. Richmond does not have much tonight, Cito will be in the bullpen sooner than later. Everidge, 3-1 count. Pops it up to Millar for third out, but so far not a good sign for Jays. Richmond has nothing and his defence is certainly not helping him in right field. 37 yes 37 pitches. Let’s see if he can give four innings and bring in Tallet for four.

Top 2nd: Wells, first pitch ???? No he takes it. Wide outside. And takes two. Can’t resist this one , pops up to shallow left, one down for Rios. First pitch ??? no. 2-0 pops up foul to Everidge at first. Two down six pitches. Bautista, 3-1 grounds to short throw to first far too easy for Oakland tonight. Did Richmond even get to sit?
Bottom 2nd: Patterson showing bunt, takes it. Strikes out. Ellis, doubles to right field corner. Pennington, singles to right. I might revise my projections for Richmond lasting even four tonight. These are the bottom two of the order. Kennedy for second at bat. Ellis at third, Pennington at first one down. Pops it up to shallow right for Rios to run onto and make second out. Davis, singles to left, run scores 3-0 Oakland. Suzuki, with Pennington at third. Fly ball to centre right for third out but Oakland has another and lead this one 3-0. 57 pitches for two innings. He might just get four in.

Top 3rd: Meantime where are Jays bats? Barajas leading off. Braden by the way, 28 pitches for two innings. I think that says it all. 3-0 count to Barajas, golfs it to right. One down for Johnny Mc. He has a .297 average almost 50 points higher than Vernon. I bet he loves telling Vernon that. Pops this one up to Davis running in from centre, two down for Scutaro has the only hit for Jays tonight. There is number two as he lines this one into left. Hill, yes Aaron, doubles into centre right and Scutaro motoring all the way from first to score, 3-1 with Lind at bat. Singles into right, Hill held at third wise decision this throw is right on the money he would have been out. Sweeney has an arm. Millar, with two down and two on. 2-2, Kevin gives this one a long ride to centre but Davis has it for third out. Jays at least on the board and showing some life in the corpse.
Bottom 3rd: Richmond now has to hold them here as Jays bats (at least the top three) are showing some life. Cust leading off. 2-2. Full count. Walks him after going 0-2. Not good. Sweeney, pops up to Bautista in shallow left, one down for Everidge, singles up the middle. Two on, one down for Patterson. Singles up the middle, run scores 4-1. Ellis, now Tallet is up in bullpen. Grounds to Scutaro, on to Hill throw to Millar, double play ball. Easy Richmond, why not more ground balls we ask???? 80 pitches, might get one more in for the four. Ouch, not what Jays expected tonight from their starter.

Top 4th: Well we don’t expect anything from the next two hitter s Wells and Rios, so anything other than two “first pitch” outs will be a bonus. Wells pops up to left, one down. Rios, lines out to left, but to be fair that is six pitches combined. Bautista, with two down, he must hate hitting behind these two. Might be an idea Cito to split them up …. Strikes out on three. Oh boy can these guys get any worse ??? Braden have a great time tonight.
Bottom 4th: Someone who is not having a good time Richmond on 80 pitches. The value of having Tallet in bullpen. He can eat up the rest. Pennington, number nine leading off. 3-1 count. Walks him. Cito still sitting in his corner. Kennedy doubles into left corner. Now Cito gets out there, always just that one or two pitches too late. Tallet in to put out the fire. Nobody out and two in scoring position. Richmond may have needed another one or two games rehab at AAA. Definitely not there yet. Davis, singles to left, goes to second on throw run scores 5-1, runner held at third. Suzuki, grounds to Hill, looks runner back at third and throw to first for out. One down. Cust, 3-0, Tallet’s weakness the walk. Putting him on now. Sweeney, 2-0, 3-0, there’s a strike, full count, walks him and a run, 6-1 Oakland, bases stay loaded. For Everidge, grounds to Scutaro throw to hill, Sweeney on top of him and unable to turn two. Two down run scores 7-1 Oakland and already in a blowout, for Patterson. On it goes grounds to Millar, fumbles the ball and cannot get it to first for the out. Run scores 8-1. Cito where is Overbay at first ? With Rolen and Overbay out, Jays defence now suffering also. Strikes out, but once again Jays pitchers hobbled by their defence.

Top 5th: Let’s see if Jays have any guts tonight ? or are they rolling over ? Jays pitchers have thrown 116 pitches tonight against the 58 of Braden. Ouch bigtime. Bottom of the order for Jays. Barajas. Fly ball to right. One down. McDonald, grounds to shirt, throw to first, two down. Scutaro 2-2 tonight. Full count. Doubles to centre, 3-3 but he can’t score nine runs himself. Hill, Inglett pinch running, is Scutaro limping there? Hill 3-0 and walks on four pitches, two on two down for Lind. Singles to centre, Inglett scores, 8-2. Hill to third. Millar lots to redeem here Kevin. Not like that, he is a Cito player, first pitch fly ball to right. Another airhead play with two on and Hill at third.
Bottom 5th: All the changes, Inglett in left, Bautista at third and Johnny Mc at short. Pennington lines to Johnny Mc nice leaping catch. Kennedy fly ball to left two down. Davis walks him. Too good to be true to get three up and down. Suzuki, strikes out swinging. First scoreless inning for Oakland. That’s a start.

Top 6th: Wells leading off, hitless and hopeless. He is so lucky he is not in Toronto hearing the boos. Lines out to Davis. One down for Rios even worse tonight, lines out to Davis. Two down for Bautista, Jays have six hits all from the top three in the order. Go figure. Lines out to left. Three up and down.
Bottom 6th: Cust, singles up the middle. Sweeney, grounds to McDonald and so it goes on, Johnny Mc. fumbles the ball, yes you heard right. That was an easy double play, both players safe. What more can go wrong here? Three errors on the night by Jays. Everidge, full count, Fly ball to Rios, he actually catches it, runner Cust tags and moves to third on play, but one down. Patterson, strikes out.Carlson up in bullpen. Two down, two on for Ellis, grounds to Millar for third out, no damage done by that McDonald error. Two scoreless innings but of no value if Jays cannot score either.

Top 7th: Bottom of the order Barajas, Braden on 90 pitches. Pops it up first pitch to Patterson, one down for McDonald. Grounds up the middle throw to first, two down for Inglett. Hit by pitch, any way you can Joe, they all count. Hill with two down and one on. Hill doubles to centre wall, Inglett scores 8-3 Jays. Inglett must love getting on ahead of Aaron, that is twice tonight. Lind with Hill at second. 100 pitches for Braden. Full count. I wonder when Wells and Rios last had full counts? Oh Adam, gets hold of this one, home run high on centre wall. That one is still travelling if the wall did not stop it, a Lind special and Jays are not quite cooked 8-5. Lind and Scutaro both with three hits tonight. That’s it for Braden, he also hit the wall at 106 pitches. Millar to face Springer, finally, a hit, singles to centre. This should be interesting, Wells at bat, is he ever overdue for a big hit. Sad really to see a good player go downhill like this. Strikes out. 0-4 tonight and average at .253.
Bottom 7th: Jays are at least back in this thing. Can pitchers hold them here for another two? Carlson now pitching, Pennington leading off. Grounds to McDonald, no error here throw to Millar for the out. Kennedy, strikes out swinging, two down for Davis, on base four times, not this time friend, grounds to McDonald nice play and great throw to get him at first. Three up and down for Carlson, he does his job.

Top 8th: Leading off Rios. Also 0-3 and a bad error, not a good night for him, or season for that matter. Chance here to do something. Ziebler now pitching, sidearm, Alex lines out (first pitch) to right, one down and Alex 0-4 tonight. Bautista, grounds to short, Pennington quick throw but gets there in time. Two down for Barajas, also hitless, 2-0 count, full count, gets hold of this one doubles to left centre wall. One on for McDonald. Just get on base here Johnny. Takes third strike. Another chance wasted.
Bottom 8th: Camp now pitching. Suzuki, bounces to Bautista at third, throw high pulls Millar off bag, Cust, with Suzuki at first walks, two on not outs for Sweeney. Camp missing now, 2-0, fly ball to Inglett in left, one down Suzuki to third on throw. Everidge, that’s better, grounds to Hill on to McDonald back to Millar at first, double play ball to get Camp out of this one and give Jays one more chance here.

Top 9th: Top of Jays order, Inglett leading off. Bailey 13/17 saves this season. Fly ball to Patterson in left, one down for Hill, 2-3 tonight. fly ball to Sweeney in right, two down. Lind last chance for Jays. Adam 3-4 tonight. Full count. Strikes out.

Jays lose another and also the series 3-2 without little run support for Halladay

Toronto v Seattle. Game three.

A rough one to lose last night in the bottom of the ninth. More disturbing of course is Downs. What is happening to him? The last week he has been awful, losing games and blowing saves. Last night Suzuki gets to that third strike pitch an inch off the ground, but then again why was he throwing same pitch as previous two? Surely mix it up. Mentioned in trade rumours, maybe if Jays can get something for him then it would be a good idea.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Rios, Wells, Millar, Barajas, Bautista and Halladay pitching. Vernon back down the order and on merit….. he was awful last night. Perhaps if that first hit, brought back off the top of the wall by Saunders, had gone out, it would have been different… but that is no excuse for undisciplined hitting. Lind and Barajas back in the lineup.
Seattle: Suzuki, Gutierrez, Lopez, Griffey, Shelton, Johjima, Hannahan, Woodward, Saunders and Rowland-Smith pitching in his third game since promotion from AAA. This is the type of pitcher that gives Jays real trouble.

The very good: Nothing much here.
The good: Nothing much either. Only three hits Lind with the two RBIs, Rolen and Rios.
The bad: 0/0 for runners in scoring position. Should we rejoice ? or cry that Jays didn’t get a runner into scoring position the whole game.

Top 1st: Scutaro, strikes out. Hill, lines it at Shelton at first, two down good catch. Lind, Rowland-Smith working very fast and throwing strikes here in the first inning. Not that one, gets away from him and almost hits Lind on the shoulder. 3-1 count. Full count, high fly ball to Gutierrez in centre. Not far enough Adam, gave it a good shot. Good supporting crowd for Jays again today.
Bottom 1st: Suzuki who had such a great game last night, was a thorn in Jays side all night and had the winning run in the bottom of the ninth against Downs, going after a two strike pitch down and away and about an inch off the ground. Just got the bat head on it. Not this time, grounds to Scutaro throw only just in time, he moves fast down that line. Gutierrez. 2-2, strikes out. Crowd LOUD for Jays here. Lopez, two down, doubles into the left field corner. Griffey, with two down and one on. Grounds first pitch to Millar for third out.

Top 2nd: Rolen, first pitch fly ball to Saunders in left. Rios, first pitch, pops up to Lopez at second, Two pitches two outs, great. Wells, not swinging, first pitch, but there he goes pops it up to Saunders in shallow left, and Jays go on FOUR pitches. I am sorry Cito but that is appalling hitting, aggressive or not.

Bottom 2nd: Halladay had hardly sat down. Shelton takes more pitches than previous three Jays hitters. Strikes out. One down Johjima, Halladay hits him, you don’t often see that from Roy. One down one on for Hannahan, grounds to Millar, fumbles ball and tags him out, not so says umpire, Cito loses argument but replay says he got him. Error now to Millar. Woodward, two on one down. 3-1 count, doubles to left but Bautista’s throw gets Johjima at home plate, two down, number eight assist for Bautista. 2-2 count, full count, strikes him out.

Top 3rd: Interesting to see how Jays hitters do this inning. Bottom three of the order, will they be more selective than the big guns above them? Millar leading off. Hits him. One on for Barajas, pops it up to Lopez, drops the ball, but Millar had to wait and is thrown out at second, this game is getting stranger. Bautista, pops it up to Woodward. Two down one on for Scutaro, pops it up to Shelton at first. Rowland-Smith having an easy time so far today.
Bottom 3rd: Ichiro, how come this guy always appears to be leading off an inning? Bunts here to first, great bunt. Halladay doesn’t even try a flip to Millar. How come the Jays never get a leadoff guy like this ? Not since Henderson for that brief spell. But Ichiro puts so much pressure on the pitcher. Gutierrez with one on grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar, and moves Suzuki to second. Lopez grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar, Suzuki to third.Two down for Griffey, pops up to Scutaro. Ichiro left out there.

Top 4th: Hill grounds to Hannahan at third throw to first base Shelton.One down for Lind, strikes out. Rolen fly ball to left field Saunders. Three up and down for Jays, not threatening Rowland-Snmith tonight, he is mowing them down.
Bottom 4th: Shelton singles to centre. One on for Johjima, grounds to Scutaro throw to Hill to get Shelton. Hannahan singles to right, Johjima to second. Woodward strikes out, two down. Saunders lines out to Wells. They are getting hits of Halladay but so far Roy has been holding them.

Top 5th. Rios leading off, grounds to Johjima throw to first base Shelton. Wells fly ball to left field Saunders. Two down for Millar, strikes out. The fourth one-two-three inning for Jays today.
Bottom 5th: Suzuki leading off for third time this game. Get him this time, flyball to Rios in right. One down for Gutierrez, grounds back to Halladay throw to Millar. Two down for Lopez, full count and there she goes, home run to left field for Lopez to get first run today. 1-0 Seattle. Griffey doubles to centre. Shelton with runner in scoring position strikes out.

Top 6th: Barajas pops to third base Hannahan. One down for Bautista, fly ball to left field Saunders. Two down for Scutaro, fly ball to centre field Gutierrez for third out.
Bottom 6th: Johjima pops up to Scutaro. Hannahan lines out to Bautista. Two down for Woodward, fly ball to Rios.

Top 7th: Hill singles to left.One on for Lind, YES Adam, gets hold of this one home run to centre, Hill scores and here comes Lind. 2-1 Jays. Rolen strikes out. Rios singles to right. Wells, one on one down lines out to centre field Gutierrez. Two down for Millar, fly ball out to left field Saunders.
Bottom 7th: Saunders (not Suzuki this time) bunt single to first. Are you sure it is not Ichiro? Now it is, Suzuki singles to right, Saunders to second, two on and no outs. Gutierrez fly ball to Wells. Lopez singles to centre, Saunders to third, Suzuki to second.Bases loaded for the maestro. Griffey, doubles to right. Here comes Saunders, here comes Ichiro. Lopez goes to third.3-2 Mariners. Shelton, strikes out.Two down for Johjima fly ball to Bautista for third out, but Mariners get two more.

Top 8th: That’s it for Rowland-Smith, only 89 pitches, Lowe now pitching. Barajas strikes out. Bautista grounds to third base Hannahan throw to Shelton at first base.Two down for Scutaro grounds to third base Hannahan throw to first base Shelton for third out.
Bottom 8th: That’s it for Halladay 113 pitches but 11 hit attack from the Mariners today, more than enough to beat this very listless Jays team today. League now pitching.Hannahan grounds to Millar flip to League, one down. Woodward grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar. Saunders grounds to Hill throw to Millar. Three up and down for League. Economical eleven pitches.

Top 9th: Jays last chance to avoid another series loss. Aardsma now pitching. Hill walked on a full count. Lind strikes out. Rolen strikes out. Rios, last chance for Jays, grounds to third base Hannahan throw to second base Lopez to get lead runner Hill.

Jays lose yet another series but never looked as if they would win today from the very first wild inning. Far too lacking in hitting discipline. They would do well to trade some of the wilder hitters and get some experienced hitter, the Molitor type.
Getaway day today so afternoon game but Jays head down the coast to Oakland and day off tomorrow whereas Oakland are on the east coast and have the long flight home. Jays need every advantage they can get to try to beat these teams. They could have and should have had at least this series, if not a sweep of the Mariners. Certainly this awful performance would not give Halladay any reason to stay with this team.
The other good news is that Richmond will be back with the team starting on Friday, that should help bullpen with Tallet going into long relief. BUT right now it is the hitters that need help.

Jays give one away in bottom of ninth in 4-3 loss.

Toronto v Seattle. Game two of three.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Rios, Overbay, Millar, Bautista, Chavez and Rzepczynski pitching.
Suzuki, Gutierrez, Sweeney, Shelton, Hannahan, Johnson, Woodward, Saunders, Cedeno and Washburn pitching.

The good: Rzepczynski kept Jays in this one without any run support. Camp great relief for three innings. also Rolen three hit night.
The bad: Jays hitters 2/10 with runners in scoring position tells most of the story. The rest was in the very bad.
The very bad: Wells, a terrible game, had no clue at all at bat, first pitch swinging and Washburn was waiting for him. Yes he was robbed of home run in the first inning but his at bats after that were awful. I hope Cito moves him back down the order tomorrow.
Almost as bad, Scott Downs, what has gone wrong with this guy? He loads the bases in the ninth, with no outs before giving up the winning run.

Top 1st: Scutaro, fly ball to Suzuki in right, one down for Hill. Gropund spot Cedeno at short, throw to Shelton at first, two down for Wells, Cito reckons Vernon is due for promotion? Oh Wow…. Vernon clubs this one Saunders great catch to bring this back over the wall in left. Robs Vernon of a home run there. That was heading into the Jays bullpen. Great catch. Tough luck for Vernon he definitely deserved better there. 8 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Suzuki, grounds to Scutaro, throw to first but Ichiro beats it out. Gutierrez, balk called on Rzepczynski, Ichiro to second, bunting, and gets it down, throw to first for the out but Ichiro at third, small ball in Seattle tonight. Sweeney, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay two down but Ichiro scores. 1-0 Seattle. Shelton, full count. Come on Marc, fly ball to Rios, nice inning, a split second and they had Ichiro at first. A little higher and Vernon’s hit would have been out and the scores reversed. 15 pitches.

Top 2nd: Rolen leading off. Trade rumours for Scott as well, singles into shallow right. Rios, hit it out Alex, fly ball to centre for Gutierrez, Rolen has to hold. Overbay, grounds out to Shelton at first, they have Rolen hung up and tag him out. Double play. 17 pitches.

Bottom 2nd: Hannahan, lines it up the middle for single. Almost takes Rzepczynski’s head off. Johnson with one on. 2-2 count, full count, strikes out swinging, nice pitching. One down for ex-Jay Chris Woodward, 3-0 count, ball four, two on one down for Saunders, Chavez out to settle him down here. Ball gets away from Chavez runners move up despite nice off-balance throw to third by Chavez. But Marc in trouble now, takes away the double play. Full count. Strikes him out, huge pitch. Two down with two on and Cedeno at bat. Showing bunt. 2-0 you don’t want to load them up for Ichiro. 2-2 count, strike three looking, great pitching by young Marc here but so far an adventure to keep score at 1-0. He needs some run support to take the pressure off. 37 pitches. Needs to get that down next inning.

Top 3rd: Millar leading off, Kevin DH tonight, fly ball to Ichiro in right. Bautista, grounds to Hannahan at third, throw to Shelton for the second out. Washburn in a groove here, they need to upset this rhythm. Chavez, full count, high and outside, walks him. One on two down for Scutaro. Nice curve 0-2, 2-2, full count, but Chavez running and easily out at second. Not a good decision by Raul there especially as he is slow as molasses. 37 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Suzuki leading off. Keep him off base Marc. Pops it up Chavez and Rolen going for it, Chavez should have left it for Scott there as it drops. Nothing going right tonight so far for Jays. Ichiro strikes out swinging. The dropped ball doesn’t hurt here. One down for Gutierrez, 2-2, full count, fly ball to Rios in right, two down for Sweeney, gets hold of this one huge swing but high fly ball to Bautista in left. That looked as if it were heading down the west coast. One two three inning for Rzepczynski. He needed that. 50 pitches though in just three innings, he will not last long unless he cuts pitch count down.

Top 4th: Scutaro again but no matter lines it to third into Hannahan’s glove, one quick first pitch out. Hill, come on Aaron grounds first pitch to Hannahan at third, throw to first, two pitches two outs. Jays major weakness all season long apart from Overbay. Wells, has to take a couple of strikes now. Pops it up to Shelton at first, five pitches three outs, that is awful…. Don’t tell me Cito that is good aggressive hitting. What it does mean is that Washburn will be pitching tomorrow at this rate. 42 pitches for four innings. He will take that anyday.
Bottom 4th: Shelton, already faced as many pitches as three Jays last inning. Full count, strikes him out on pitch number seven. Hannahan with one down. Strikes out, number six for Rzepczynski but at a cist. Johnson, with two down, 0-2, strikes him out looking. Very nice Marc. 64 pitches though.Now if only your hitters could give you some support here.

Top 5th: Washburn cruising easily here tonight, not threatened at all by Jays hitters who have been wild and undisciplined. Rolen, the only guy with a hit tonight although Vernon was robbed of a home run by Saunders. Full count here, there’s hit number two for Scott, up the middle, leadoff guy is on. Rios, high fly ball but right at Saunders in left. One down for Overbay. Ciot reckon Lyle does not swing early enough. Full count, Lyle’s favourite count. Strikes out on ball four. Two down for Millar. 2-0 count, 3-0, lines it to Ichiro in right for third out. 64 pitches, at least they made Washburn work for this one.
Bottom 5th: Woodward, 2-2 count, grounds up first base line, nice recovery by Rzepczynski to flip to Overbay for the out. Saunders, strikes out, number eight for Marc. Cedeno with two down. Fly ball to Welsl in centre for third out. Another great inning from Rzepczynski. 75 pitches. He has kept Jays close in this one but he will not win any game with run support, he must be wondering where the bats are from last night.

Top 6th: Bautista leading off, first pitch, lashes this one to third, Hannahan knocks it down for Cedeno, throw to first to get Bautista. Chavez, finally another hit. Scutaro now with one down and one on. Hitless tonight. 3-0 count, Chavez no danger to run but a double play candidate. 3-1 count, ball four, two on one down for Hill, also hitless and reckless at bat tonight at his worst. He heard me, takes ball one, ball two, lines out to Shelton but Scutaro holds at first. Wells, fly ball to centre, and yes, first pitch by Vernon. What is the point of getting runners on base? Sometimes this team is oh so frustrating to watch at bat.
Bottom 6th: Rzepczynski, facing Ichiro leading off yet again. 3-1 a little wild here Marc. Walks him. Stealing? I think so with a one run game. Guttierrez, 2-0 count, lines it to left Ichiro to second, Sweeney, grounds up the middle great play by Scutaro flip to Hill to get Guttierrez although ball held up in his glove and no chance for two. Ichiro at third, one down for Shelton, 3-0 count. there’s a strike, and another, doubles over head of Rios to the wall, Ichiro scores, 2-0 Seattle and two in scoring position, Hannahan, Chavez out, calm down Marc. Singles to Rios in right, another run Guttierrez scores, 3-0 Seattle. Here comes Cito. You can’t blame this kid tonight, he has kept them in this game, it is the hitters that have been flat, listless and inept as well as wild and swinging away recklessly. Camp now pitching. One down, two on, Johnson grounds first pitch to Scutaro, flip to Hill, on to Overbay double play ball. That’s more like it, now get some hitting going.

Top 7th: Jays running out of time to wake up here. Washburn enjoying his walk in the park so far tonight, it has been very easy for him. Rolen leading off. Two of the three Jays hits tonight, again singles up the middle, three hit night for Scott, Rios, hitless, finally singles into left, two on no outs for Overbay long fly ball to centre, Rolen tags and moves to third at least. Millar with runner at third, give Alex time to steal Kevin. Full count, but Alex has not moved. Ball four and bases loaded for Bautista, need a base hit here Jose. Lowe up in bullpen for Seattle. If Washburn loses Bautista here he will be his last hitter. 2-2 count, this should be one, high fly ball to centre, Rolen tags and scores 3-1 Jays with two down. Alex tags from second to get to third. Chavez now with two on and two down. Inglett pinch running for Millar. Terrible swing at ball two. 1-2 count. Full count, two down, Inglett will be running. Lines it to Saunders in left leaving two on base. Jays get one but they will need more to win this one tonight. Strange how one night they can get 15 hits 11 runs and tonight one run on five hits three of them to Rolen. .
Bottom 7th: Woodward grounds to Rolen, throw to Overbay for first out. Saunders, grounds out to Overbay for second out. Cedeno, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out, great quick inning by Camp.

Top 8th: That’s it for Washburn, His line was much better as a result of Jays poor hitting tonight, Lowe now pitching to Scutaro, hitless tonight. 3-1 count. There you go Marco, doubles into the right field corner. Hill also hitless tonight now has one in scoring position. Way to go Aaron, you are forgivem drives this one dep to thewall in centre Scutaro scores easily, Hill at second for Well,s Donlt bet n Vernon, pops up to second and yes no bets, first pitch. Awful, awful. Rolen, one down, 3-3 tonight but this is a big at bat if he can bring Hill in from second to tie this one up. 2-0 count, 3-0, no pops it up to Hannahan at third, two down for Rios. Well done Alex, lines it very hard over third base into left corner, Hill scores and this one is all tied up 3-3. Alex at second for Overbay. Strikes out. Jays however have tied this one up. No decision for Rzepczynski, which is much fairer than a loss tonight on his performance.
Bottom 8th: Suzuki leading off again, Camp still pitching, grounds it up the middle. This guy is a pain. Just gets the bat on the ball somehow. Gutierrez, Camp has been getting the ground balls, needs one here. Grounds to Rolen, tyhrw to Overbay, no chance to trun two there with Ichiro’s speed. Sweeney with Ichiro at second. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay, two down Ichiro moves to third. Shelton takes a strike, 2-2, whoa , strikes out, swinging over that one. Camp has done a great job, now over to the hitters.

Top 9th: Aardsma now pitching for Seattle. Inglett leading off. Hey Joe, alright, singles up the middle. You are making me a believer of you last two games.One on for Bautista, hitless tonight, bunting back to Aardsma, out at first but Inglett to second. Lind pinch hitting for Chavez. Bring him in Adam. Downs up in Jays bullpen, fly ball to Saunders in left corner. Inglett stays at second. Scutaro two down, pitching him inside, almost hits him twice here, 2-2 count. Pops it up Shelton makes a great catch at the tarp in right leaning into the crowd. Not good hitting here by Jays with lead guy on base and in scoring position with one down. Tonight Jays 2/10 with runners in scoring position.
Bottom 9th: Downs is out there anyway. Hannahan singles to left centre, Johnson, is he bunting ? No, pitch out and wild pitch come on Scott, 2-0, Whoa this one was very close lines it into left field seats just hooking foul past that foul pole, far too close, 2-2 count. Downs is nowhere near here. Full count. Ball four and he had three almost hit Johnson’s feet. Woodward with two on and no outs. Now bunting? Yes and Downs fumbles an easy out at third, Bases loaded no outs, What is wrong with this guy? Saunders swinging away, 0-2, Lopez pinch hitting grounds to Rolen, throw home one down but no chance for two. Cedeno with bases loaded and one down. 0-2 count, strikes out on three pitches two down but look who is here? Mr. Ichiro Suzuki very fitting. Bases loaded two down, and 2-3 tonight. Strike one, strike two, just reaches out and gets bat on the ball and lifts it over the infield, Johnson scores. Jays lose this one 4-3, but have only themselves to blame for this one. Downs gave himself too big a hole with bases loaded and no outs.

Both Boston and Yankees lose tonight so Jays do not fall further behind but on the other hand they lose golden opportunity to pull one back.