Toronto v Kansas. Series finale and afternoon get away game, in rain delay. Start 45 minutes late.
Lineups: Kansas: Crisp, Bloomquist, Teahen, Guillen, Butler, Jacobs, Callaspo, Buck, Aviles and Davies pitching.
Toronto: Changes today and some I agree with….Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Millar, Bautista, Chavez, Snider and Burres pitching.
I agree re Millar and Bautista. Chavez great arm but not as good as Barajas with the bat but Rod needs a break after night game. Jays have a tough one today as Burres is very suspect in my book since recall. Jays hitters will need to really find their bats today.
The good: Not much. Scutaro leadoff home run. Lind breaks out of his slump with his home run. Relief pitching. Bullington 2 runs in three innings, League kept them quiet after Jays get one back. Carlson finishing off.
The bad: three double plays by Jays hitters in first three innings. Six in the game to match AL record. Rios two plays one in the corner a catchable ball foul that he lets drop and on another almost colliding with Vernon causing a bobbled ball and another run.
Jay lose this one 8-6 despite valiant fight back. Jays also lose first series this season to end April.
Top 1st: Scutaro leading off, YES Marco second pitch lines it into left centre over the wall, leadoff home run and that’s the way to start, 1-0 Jays. Hill .376 average, what a great month. Fly ball out to centre Crisp. One down for Rios. Alex full count. lines it past a diving Aviles at short into left centre. Wells, will Alex be running today to get some pressure on? grounds it to Aviles on to second and first double play ball. Everyone still waiting to see Alex and Vernon get going on a consistent basis. The power has been from the rest of the lineup for the most part.
Bottom 1st: Crisp, full count, fly ball to right corner, foul, but that was catchable but Alex backs off, triple for Crisp he can really run. Has four triples already to lead the league. Bloomquist, another full count, grounds to Hill Crisp scores and game is tied 1-1. Teahen, with one down. grounds to Burres flip to Millar, two down for Guillen. Grounds to Burres, throw to Millar for third out. 20 pitches.
Top 2nd: Lind in his own slump. 1-11 this series but here lines it into left centre. Millar first at bat this series. No waiting around for Kevin, lines it up the middle. He has been so good off the bench. Bautista with two on and no outs, is he bunting? No. Grounds back to Davies over to second on to first double play ball. Lind at third but with two outs. Chavez lines it into centre, Lind scores and Jays go back ahead 2-1 Jays. Snider also in his slump. 1-11. Jays getting their hits today but two double plays don’t help. Full count, Snider still can’t hit that change up. Loops next pitch into shallow left and Bloomquist great running diving catch to rob Travis.
Bottom 2nd: Burres has to hold them here. Butler to lead off. 3-0 Brian semi-intentional walk? Butler walks on four pitches. Jacobs, with one on, strikes out on three pitches, nice pitching Brian. Callaspo with one on and one down, doubles to right centre. Butler at third. Buck off the left field wall two runs score, and Buck in at third 3-2 Kansas. Cito can’t wait to get some real pitching out there. Aviles with Bullington up in bullpen. I think Burres might be on the Vegas plane tonight. Jays were checking out Mills and Cecile earlier in the week. Aviles strikes out, Two down for Crisp. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar but damage is done.
Top 3rd: Can the hitters get a big inning, the last two games have been droughts. The two double plays have not helped today. Scutaro tries a bunt, foul. Singles up the middle, 2-2 today. Hill, grounds to short on to second on to first another double play, the third in three innings. Rios with two down pops up to third. The hitters are not giving Burres much help today.
Bottom 3rd: Bloomquist singles into shallow left. Teahen grounds to Millar, fumbles the ball, throw to Burres not in time. That’s the knock on Kevin. Great bat but not glove.Two on instead of two down. Guillen, 3-0 count, if he walks him expect to see Bullington. Full count. singles into left. Run scores 4-2 Royals. Still no outs and two on. and with runner at third. That’s it for Brian. No messing about today. Bullington now pitching. With a bit of luck Brian would have had two outs and guy at first. And if his hitters were even in this game they would be way ahead. But that’s baseball and Burres will probably be on his way to Vegas in a few hours. Butler doubles to right centre run scores 5-2 Royals. Jacobs with two in scoring position and still no outs. Not pretty. Pops it up to Chavez for first out this inning. Callaspo intentional walk. Buck with bases loaded. Cito rolling the doces. Fly ball to Wells, Rios gets in his way and Vernon bobbles the ball, run scores. 6-2 Royals. Alex is becoming a liability in the outfield. Two down. Cito questions umpire that runner left before catch completed, he did, but rule is that any contact with the body is the go ahead to leave base. Aviles fly ball to Wells.
Top 4th: Vernon to lead off. Hits this one out of stadium but foul. Walks him. That’s what we need friends. Lind now, lines to first Wells running but run down and gets back safe. First piece of luck for Jays today. Millar with one down. Grounds to second on to first, yes friends another double play number, four in four innings. Is it a full moon today? This game gets stranger as it goes on.
Bottom 4th: Crisp (again?) for third time today. Walk number two. Bloomquist bunting, Chavez throw to Millar for the out. Crisp at second for Teahen. Fly ball out to Lind. Crisp stays at second. Two down for Guillen, that second strike was favourable for Bullington, look ed high and inside Guillen also thinks so, but today Jays need all the help they can get. Lines it right at Scutaro. That’s must be the first inning in the last two games, since the first inning last night at least, where Kansas has not scored. Royals have only six hits same as the Jays but those four double plays by Jays hitters are the major difference today plus poor fielding by Rios.
Top 5th: Try again. Bautista fly ball to Bloomquist in left, one down. Chavez, grounds to short. Snider, at least he can’t hit into a double play… grounds back to Davies throw to first for third out. Jays hitters giving up here? thinking about home cooking in Toronto ?
Bottom 5th: Butler, one man wrecking crew the last two games. Singles into right. On base seven of his last eight at bats. Jacobs, 3-0 count. 3-2, pops it up to Hill one down. Callaspo, how about a double play ball guys. Another full count, and walks. Buck with two on and only one out.triple to the wall in right centre. Two more runs score 8-2 Kansas. Another laugher for the Royals today. Aviles fly ball to Rios, runner holds, two down. Crisp, Royals hitters now swinging at every pitch. Fly ball to Wells for third out.
Top 6th: Jays have to play this out. Twelve more at bats but the way they are today no chance. Awful all round, no hitting no fielding and no pitching. Scutaro to leadoff, the only bright light today. 2-2. Grounds to second throw to first one down. Hill, hitless today. walks, Davies getting wild here, is he tiring ? Rios with one on. Can he redeem himself with a hit? Yes, Alex doubles to left, Hill stops at third. Wells now, would be nice to hit one out Vernon. Manager doesn’t like this out to talk to Davies. Mahay up in bullpen. Davies stays. Vernon grounds to second throw to first and concede the run, 8-3. Two down. Rios at third. Lind at bat, seems to have lost all his power since his great start. Full count. Fouls off ball four. Another ball outside. Two on for Millar. That’s it for Davies. Royals getting worried here that Jays can come back. Mahay with two outs. Millar at bat. Come on Kevin we need a huge one here. Fly ball to Crisp. Jays leave two out there.
Bottom 6th: League pitching. Bloomquist grounds to Hill nice play to first for out. Teahen strikes out. Two down for Guillen, pops it up to Scutaro. Good inning for League.
Top 7th: Bautista facing Mahay. Need base runners Jose. Full count, and walks, lays off the last three pitches. Good at bat. Chavez one on, here comes coach. Just throw strikes at these guys we have a five run lead. 2-0 he didn’t listen. Chavez singles into centre, Bautista at third two on for Snider, hitless for so long. If we ever need a big one it is now Travis. Singles into centre, that will do, Bautista scores 8-4. Still two on and no outs, Bullpen busy again. Jamey Wright now pitching to Scutaro. With runners at first and second and no outs. Scutaro 2-3 today and on base nine times this series. Grounds to second on to first double play number five. Chavez at third. Hill at bat, bring him in Aaron. 3-0 count and walks. Rios 2-3 today. Not the guy I want there right now though. This is crunch time not Alex’s speciality. Grounds to Aviles, steps on second to get Hill. Cito please, next time get a pinch hitter for Rios. Another great opportunity lost. Jays have out hit Royals today9-8 and are four runs behind. Five double plays will do that.
Bottom 7th: Butler lines out at Hill for the first time this week it seems, big out for Brandon. Jacobs, full count. Strikes out. Two down for Callaspo, strikes out on three pitches, Great stuff Brandon. Now can your hitters get a couple back and make this interesting ?
Top 8th: Six more outs. Vernon to leadoff. 0-2 today so due. There he goes singles into centre. Good boy Vernon, too bad you didn’t get the chance last inning. Lind now 1-2 today. Full count. YES, YES Adam, gets hold of this one into right centre, Home run all the way off the bat and two runs score. 8-6. Millar with no outs. 2-0 count. Here comes the coach. Not listening, walks Millar. Bautista the tying run !!!! strikes out, the first out of the inning. Chavez now another chance. Showing bunt ? Not this time. NO….. grounds to short, Aviles steps on second throw to first, number six double play for the Jays today. That one definitely hurts the most. Also ties AL record.
Bottom 8th: Carlson pitching to Buck, two triples today and five rbis. Doubles into left. Aviles bunting gets it down and Buck to third on out at first, Crisp full count. Come on Jesse. Pops it up to shallow right to Alex. Runner holds two down. Bloomquist intentional walk. Teahen 0-4 today. Bloomquist takes second. Fly ball to centre, Vernon pulls it in. Great pitching Jesse.
Top 9th: Last chance for Jays. Cruz pitching. Snider chance to be a hero. Pops it up to second. Scutaro at bat, need base runners Marco. Scutaro pops up to first base Butler. Hill last chance strikes out.
Jays gave this one away but not helped by Burres or some of the fielding by Rios AND those six double plays. Cito has to do something about those. Perhaps some stolen bases ???
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Kansas use Jays for batting practise tonight.
Toronto v Kansas. Game three of four.
Lineups: Toronto: same as last night. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Tallet pitching.
Kansas: Crisp, Bloomquist, Teahen, Guillen, Butler, Jacobs, Callaspo, Aviles, Oilivo and Greinke pitching.
Big game tonight, Greinke yet to give up an earned run in four starts this season. Probably number one pitcher right now. Will be interesting to see what Jays can do against him.
Top 1st:Scutaro doubles to right. Hill strikes out. Rios strikes out, Wells singles to centre, Scutaro scores 1-0 Jays and there goes Greinke invincibility after 29 scoreless innings. Lind strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Crisp struck out, catcher Barajas to first baseman Overbay. Bloomquist fly ball to Rios. Two down for Teahen grounds to Overbay flip to Tallet for the out. Good first inning for Tallet.
Top 2nd: Rolen strikes out. Overbay fly ball to Crisp in centre.Barajas doubkes to left. Snidre fly ball to Bloomquist in left.
Bottom 2nd: Guillen grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay, one down. Butler at bat, gets hold of this one, over Vernon’s head into centre right seats HR his first of the season. 1-1. Jacobs with one out, full count and walks, Callaspo, one on one down. fly ball out to Rios. Two down. Aviles, at first, doubles to right, Alex misjudges this one and ball bounces away on his dive.. Off his glove. Jacobs to third. Olivo strikes out. No further damage from Alex’s miscue.
Top 3rd: Scutaro to lead off. 1-1 with his first inning double. Marco walks as he has been doing all month. Hill now with one on again, lifts this one into shallow centre, Scutaro all the way to third on the play nice base running. Runners at the corners and no outs for Rios. Gotta bring one in Alex, grounds to Teahen at third on to Callaspo at second on to Butler at first, double play ball but concede the run to Scutaro. 2-1 Jays. Wells at bat two down. Grounds to Teahen at third for the out but Jays get another off Greinke.
Bottom 3rd: Crisp doubles first pitch over head of Snider in left. Bloomquist bunting a beauty up the first base line and safe on Tallet’s throw to first. Two on and no outs for Teahen, first pitch pops it up to Rolen, one down and both runners hold. Guillen first pitch pops it up shallow to Scutaro, no chance for run. Two down. Butler lines it past Rolen into left field corner two runs score 3-2 Kansas. Rolen was not on the bag there. Here comes Cito, just strategy talk. Butler at second. Jacobs at bat, two down, 3-0 count. singles into left, Butler scores 4-2 Kansas. Callaspo with Jacobs at first. Singles into left over Rolen’s glove, the hot corner this inning. Runers at second anfd third for Aviles. Grounds to Hill also fumbles but recovers to throw out Aviles at first. But Jays are in a hole and hitters need to step it up to get back in this one and help Tallet out.
Top 4th: Lind and walks, good start. Rolen now takes ball one, he is listening, last game he swung in that situation. Long fly ball out to left.Overbay grounds to third, throw to second Lind out but throw no in time to get Overbay at first. Barajas with two down. pops it up to short. Not a good inning for the hitters.
Bottom 4th: Olivo lines to Scutaro nice leaping catch. One down for Crisp. His third at bat and only the fourth inning. Grounds to Rolen, no mistake this time and throw to Overbay for second out. Bloomquist 1-2 tonight, full count and walks. Teahen this one is out of here, home run to centre, two more runs. And Kansas up 6-2. Guillen 0-2 tonight. fly ball to Rios on right centre for thoird out.
Top 5th: Jays needs to get going here. Snider in his own slump. Strikes out, may be time Cito to get Millar or Bautista in and give Snider some time off. Scutaro fly ball out to Bloomquist in left. Hill singles into right. His second of the night. Rios with two down and one on. Alex is fine going the opposite way it is when he tries to pull he gets into trouble, Strikes out. A walk in the park for Greinke tonight so far, Jays are toothless.
Bottom 5th: Butler 2-2 HR and double, 3-3, another home run to left. 7-2 Kansas. He had no Home runs on the season before tonight now has two, go figure. Jacobs full count and now Camp is up in bullpen. A little late Cito. Jacobs walks. Callaspo doubles into right. Rios fumbles but no damage. Runners at second and third and Cito is out there beefing with the umpire. First base umpire called ball foul and then safe. Runners at second and third Aviles lines this one into right and Rios overruns it, misjudges that one as well. Alex has had all kinds of trouble in right field here in Kansas.Two runs score, 9-2 Kansas. Aviles at third. And that is it for Tallet. Camp now in. Jays need Cleveland to save them tonight to keep above Boston. Olivo grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the first out. Crisp passed ball and Olivo comes into score 10-2. Kansas. Crisp doubles into right. Bloomquist grounds back to Cap throw to Overbay, two down. Teahen grounds to Overbay flip to Camp for third out and this awful inning is finally over. Jays needs to hope that Greinke fell asleep. This took so long to complete.
Top 6th: Lots to make up, let’s see if the Jays have any spunk tonight. Wells to lead off by example ??? grounds to short, throw off the bag and Vernon safe. It’s a start. Lind nothing tonight so far. First pitch fly ball out to Guillen in right stays hitless. One down for Rolen, strikes out. Overbay 0-2 tonight. full count, Vernon can at least start to run. Called third strike. And that about sums up Jays feared lineup tonight.
Bottom 6th: White towel is thrown by Cito. A vote of confidence in his team. Bautista in for Wells in centre. Johnny Mc in for Scutaro. Guillen at bat, 3-1 count, grounds to Hill throw to first one down. Butler 3-3 tonight two hrs and a double. Full count here. singles into shallow right.4-4. Jacobs, doubles to centre. Runners at second and third. Callaspo 3-1 count. grounds to Hill throw to first for second out another run scores 11-2 Kansas. Runner at third two down. Aviles fly ball to Bautista, someone having pity on this team tonight. This is ugly, ugly Toronto baseball.
Top 7th: Pena at short, Maier in right, but no mercy for Jays from Kansas Grienke with 97 pitches still out there and why not, but I think Kansas giving far too much respect to this team tonight. Barajas first pitch fly ball to left. Rain is driving crowd out. Snider also nothing tonight. 0-2. Full count and long fly ball to center, two down. Johnny Mc. One hit this month. Full count at least here, fly ball to centre. Boston has won in the tenth so Jays are down again but tonight they do not merit first place.
Bottom 7th: Frasor pitching, have not seen him for a while. Only a few hundred fans stay to see the end of this one. Olivo at bat. grounds to Johnny Mc throw to Overbay for the out. Crisp still in there, 2-4 tonight. full count. fly ball out to Lind, two down for Bloomquist. Singles to Rios in right. Teahen high fly ball to Lind for third out. This is the first inning that Kansas has not scored since the first.
Top 8th: Six more outs for Jays how will they use them ? Greinke has gone 11 pitches, not quite sure why he pitched the seventh but still. Jamey Wright now pitching. Maier in centre DeJesus in right. Hill at bat perhaps the only Jay tonight to hold his head high tonight with his 2-3. Grounds to short but throw is wild at first and Aaron is safe. It’s a start. Rios now hitless and awful in the field tonight. Finally singles to right. Hill to third. Bautista for Wells grounds to third on to second for Rios out and to first for Bautista double play but Hill scores 11-3 ! Lind hitless also tonight, strikes out weakly. Jays were 1-5 tonight with runners in scoring position until Hill’s run.
Bottom 8th: Bill Murphy pitching, Guillen first pitch swinging fly ball out to Bautista. Butler, 4-4 tonight, no pinch hitter for him, fly ball out to Rios ruins his perfect evening. Two down. Jacobs pops up to Hill.
Top 9th: Juan Cruz finishing this one off. Rolen at bat, also hitless, but then by no means alone tonight. full count, gets a gimme. Single up the middle. Too little too late Scott. Overbay also hitless, fly ball out to left and remains hitless. Barajas loops one into shallow right, Rolen had to hold for possible catch and can only get to second, two on for Snider, also hitless and showing his rookie recently. Singles to second, Barajas out throw not in time to get Snider. Two down runners at corners for Johnny Mc. First pitch pop up to centre and that about sums up this one tonight.
All round hitting, fielding and pitching was awful by Jays with exception perhaps of Hill. Tomorrow they need a win just to tie this series let alone win it. I think they came into this series believing an easy four games and have a rude wakeup call.
Lineups: Toronto: same as last night. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Tallet pitching.
Kansas: Crisp, Bloomquist, Teahen, Guillen, Butler, Jacobs, Callaspo, Aviles, Oilivo and Greinke pitching.
Big game tonight, Greinke yet to give up an earned run in four starts this season. Probably number one pitcher right now. Will be interesting to see what Jays can do against him.
Top 1st:Scutaro doubles to right. Hill strikes out. Rios strikes out, Wells singles to centre, Scutaro scores 1-0 Jays and there goes Greinke invincibility after 29 scoreless innings. Lind strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Crisp struck out, catcher Barajas to first baseman Overbay. Bloomquist fly ball to Rios. Two down for Teahen grounds to Overbay flip to Tallet for the out. Good first inning for Tallet.
Top 2nd: Rolen strikes out. Overbay fly ball to Crisp in centre.Barajas doubkes to left. Snidre fly ball to Bloomquist in left.
Bottom 2nd: Guillen grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay, one down. Butler at bat, gets hold of this one, over Vernon’s head into centre right seats HR his first of the season. 1-1. Jacobs with one out, full count and walks, Callaspo, one on one down. fly ball out to Rios. Two down. Aviles, at first, doubles to right, Alex misjudges this one and ball bounces away on his dive.. Off his glove. Jacobs to third. Olivo strikes out. No further damage from Alex’s miscue.
Top 3rd: Scutaro to lead off. 1-1 with his first inning double. Marco walks as he has been doing all month. Hill now with one on again, lifts this one into shallow centre, Scutaro all the way to third on the play nice base running. Runners at the corners and no outs for Rios. Gotta bring one in Alex, grounds to Teahen at third on to Callaspo at second on to Butler at first, double play ball but concede the run to Scutaro. 2-1 Jays. Wells at bat two down. Grounds to Teahen at third for the out but Jays get another off Greinke.
Bottom 3rd: Crisp doubles first pitch over head of Snider in left. Bloomquist bunting a beauty up the first base line and safe on Tallet’s throw to first. Two on and no outs for Teahen, first pitch pops it up to Rolen, one down and both runners hold. Guillen first pitch pops it up shallow to Scutaro, no chance for run. Two down. Butler lines it past Rolen into left field corner two runs score 3-2 Kansas. Rolen was not on the bag there. Here comes Cito, just strategy talk. Butler at second. Jacobs at bat, two down, 3-0 count. singles into left, Butler scores 4-2 Kansas. Callaspo with Jacobs at first. Singles into left over Rolen’s glove, the hot corner this inning. Runers at second anfd third for Aviles. Grounds to Hill also fumbles but recovers to throw out Aviles at first. But Jays are in a hole and hitters need to step it up to get back in this one and help Tallet out.
Top 4th: Lind and walks, good start. Rolen now takes ball one, he is listening, last game he swung in that situation. Long fly ball out to left.Overbay grounds to third, throw to second Lind out but throw no in time to get Overbay at first. Barajas with two down. pops it up to short. Not a good inning for the hitters.
Bottom 4th: Olivo lines to Scutaro nice leaping catch. One down for Crisp. His third at bat and only the fourth inning. Grounds to Rolen, no mistake this time and throw to Overbay for second out. Bloomquist 1-2 tonight, full count and walks. Teahen this one is out of here, home run to centre, two more runs. And Kansas up 6-2. Guillen 0-2 tonight. fly ball to Rios on right centre for thoird out.
Top 5th: Jays needs to get going here. Snider in his own slump. Strikes out, may be time Cito to get Millar or Bautista in and give Snider some time off. Scutaro fly ball out to Bloomquist in left. Hill singles into right. His second of the night. Rios with two down and one on. Alex is fine going the opposite way it is when he tries to pull he gets into trouble, Strikes out. A walk in the park for Greinke tonight so far, Jays are toothless.
Bottom 5th: Butler 2-2 HR and double, 3-3, another home run to left. 7-2 Kansas. He had no Home runs on the season before tonight now has two, go figure. Jacobs full count and now Camp is up in bullpen. A little late Cito. Jacobs walks. Callaspo doubles into right. Rios fumbles but no damage. Runners at second and third and Cito is out there beefing with the umpire. First base umpire called ball foul and then safe. Runners at second and third Aviles lines this one into right and Rios overruns it, misjudges that one as well. Alex has had all kinds of trouble in right field here in Kansas.Two runs score, 9-2 Kansas. Aviles at third. And that is it for Tallet. Camp now in. Jays need Cleveland to save them tonight to keep above Boston. Olivo grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the first out. Crisp passed ball and Olivo comes into score 10-2. Kansas. Crisp doubles into right. Bloomquist grounds back to Cap throw to Overbay, two down. Teahen grounds to Overbay flip to Camp for third out and this awful inning is finally over. Jays needs to hope that Greinke fell asleep. This took so long to complete.
Top 6th: Lots to make up, let’s see if the Jays have any spunk tonight. Wells to lead off by example ??? grounds to short, throw off the bag and Vernon safe. It’s a start. Lind nothing tonight so far. First pitch fly ball out to Guillen in right stays hitless. One down for Rolen, strikes out. Overbay 0-2 tonight. full count, Vernon can at least start to run. Called third strike. And that about sums up Jays feared lineup tonight.
Bottom 6th: White towel is thrown by Cito. A vote of confidence in his team. Bautista in for Wells in centre. Johnny Mc in for Scutaro. Guillen at bat, 3-1 count, grounds to Hill throw to first one down. Butler 3-3 tonight two hrs and a double. Full count here. singles into shallow right.4-4. Jacobs, doubles to centre. Runners at second and third. Callaspo 3-1 count. grounds to Hill throw to first for second out another run scores 11-2 Kansas. Runner at third two down. Aviles fly ball to Bautista, someone having pity on this team tonight. This is ugly, ugly Toronto baseball.
Top 7th: Pena at short, Maier in right, but no mercy for Jays from Kansas Grienke with 97 pitches still out there and why not, but I think Kansas giving far too much respect to this team tonight. Barajas first pitch fly ball to left. Rain is driving crowd out. Snider also nothing tonight. 0-2. Full count and long fly ball to center, two down. Johnny Mc. One hit this month. Full count at least here, fly ball to centre. Boston has won in the tenth so Jays are down again but tonight they do not merit first place.
Bottom 7th: Frasor pitching, have not seen him for a while. Only a few hundred fans stay to see the end of this one. Olivo at bat. grounds to Johnny Mc throw to Overbay for the out. Crisp still in there, 2-4 tonight. full count. fly ball out to Lind, two down for Bloomquist. Singles to Rios in right. Teahen high fly ball to Lind for third out. This is the first inning that Kansas has not scored since the first.
Top 8th: Six more outs for Jays how will they use them ? Greinke has gone 11 pitches, not quite sure why he pitched the seventh but still. Jamey Wright now pitching. Maier in centre DeJesus in right. Hill at bat perhaps the only Jay tonight to hold his head high tonight with his 2-3. Grounds to short but throw is wild at first and Aaron is safe. It’s a start. Rios now hitless and awful in the field tonight. Finally singles to right. Hill to third. Bautista for Wells grounds to third on to second for Rios out and to first for Bautista double play but Hill scores 11-3 ! Lind hitless also tonight, strikes out weakly. Jays were 1-5 tonight with runners in scoring position until Hill’s run.
Bottom 8th: Bill Murphy pitching, Guillen first pitch swinging fly ball out to Bautista. Butler, 4-4 tonight, no pinch hitter for him, fly ball out to Rios ruins his perfect evening. Two down. Jacobs pops up to Hill.
Top 9th: Juan Cruz finishing this one off. Rolen at bat, also hitless, but then by no means alone tonight. full count, gets a gimme. Single up the middle. Too little too late Scott. Overbay also hitless, fly ball out to left and remains hitless. Barajas loops one into shallow right, Rolen had to hold for possible catch and can only get to second, two on for Snider, also hitless and showing his rookie recently. Singles to second, Barajas out throw not in time to get Snider. Two down runners at corners for Johnny Mc. First pitch pop up to centre and that about sums up this one tonight.
All round hitting, fielding and pitching was awful by Jays with exception perhaps of Hill. Tomorrow they need a win just to tie this series let alone win it. I think they came into this series believing an easy four games and have a rude wakeup call.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Jays bats boom in Kansas behind excellent Richmond.
Toronto v Kansas. Game two of four game series.
Lineups: Toronto same old same old. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Richmond pitching.
Kansas: Crisp, DeJesus, Teahean, Guillen, Jacobs, Callaspo, Buck, Aviles, Maier and Meche pitching.
Jays hoping to get one back tonight after that awful showing last night.
The very good: Richmond a great outing tonight. Wells three hits and robbed of a fourth by Crisp. Hill three hits and some good fielding apart from the error. Eight for seventeen with runners in scoring position, that is more like it. Fourteen hits and six walks meant that there was a lot of traffic on the bases tonight. 189 pitches by Royals pitchers tonight and only 133 by Jays, that says a lot.
The good: Multi hit games from Wells, Hill, Rolen and Barajas. Bullpen of Carlson and League supporting Richmond. The whole team showed far more patience tonight with walks and hitting.
The bad: Yes Aaron, your error, sorry that was a ball best left for Vernon running in.
Top 1st: Scutaro 4-0 and walks on four pitches. Marco making it a habit number twenty in eighty at bats this season.. Hill grounded into a double play, pitcher Meche to shortstop M.Aviles to first baseman Jacobs, Scutaro out. Rios grounds back to Meche throw to first base Jacobs.
Bottom 1st: Crisp fly ball to Snider, one down. DeJesus singles up the middle. Teahen grounds to Hill great stop throw to Overbay for first out over to Rolen for double play very nice plays.
Top 2nd: Vernon leading off with double to left corner. Lind at bat strikes out looking. Rolen with one on and one down, singles over the head of short into shallow left, Vernon had to hold but gets to third. Two on one down for Overbay fly ball out to DeJesus in left, Vernon tags and ball hits him in the back but he scores 1-0 Jays. Barajas with Rolen at second on the throw. Two down. 3-0 count and ball four. Barajas walks for Snider now with two on and two down and overdue for big hit. Wild pitch and both runners move up. Single here now should score both. Travis laying off those low pitches now, is adapting to his earlier weakness, full count, and walks, bases are loaded for Scutaro. Another full count. Meche over 40 pitches now, Scutaro grounds to short, throw to first for third out. Disappointing Jays could have blown this open with a hit. 46 pitches for Meche.
Bottom 2nd: Guillen strikes out, that’s a a good one for Richmond to get. Jacobs at bat strikes out. Callaspo 3-0 count, and walks on four. Buck pops it up to Overbay and a good inning for Richmond. 37 pitches.
Top 3rd: Hill to lead off 3-0 count ball four up and in and number four walk already for Meche. Rios now gets hold of this one but to the deepest part of the park and caught at the track by Crisp. Almost Alex. Vernon now, doubled in his first at bat. Oh boy, Vernon hits this over Crisp to the wall in centre and Crisp tracks it down banging up against the wall, great catch. That was at least a double. Vernon was robbed on that one. Lind with Hill still at first. Grounds back to Meche for the out but that was Crisp’s inning.
Bottom 3rd: Aviles, singles to right. Maier one on lifts it into shallow centre and Scutaro drops it, off his glove. Two on and no outs. Crisp is bunting and Richmond throws a strike to third to get Aviles. Manager out there but will not win this one. Two on and one down. DeJesus bounces one in front of plate and Richmond throws strike to Overbay for second out. Runners move up to second and third. Teahen 3-0 count here, come on Scott. Walks him and loads bases. Not good. Guillen now pops up first pitch to Barajas. The great escape.
Top 4th: Jays have been getting on base tonight but just cannot bring them in. Rolen 1-1 tonight. full count and strikes out. Overbay doubles in to right, interference call, ballboy picks it up thinking foul. One on for Barajas, doubles to the wall in left, Overbay scores. 2-0 Jays. Snider now grounds to Jacobs, throw to Meche for the out, Barajas at third but with two outs for Scutaro. Full count, and walks again after fouling several off. Second walk tonight for Marco and number 21 on season !!! Hill now with two on and two down. That’s will do it Aaron, lines it into right field and Barajas scores 3-0 Jays. Rios now with Scutaro at second and Hill at first and two down. Infield single behind third, Aviles nice save of a run but no chance on any throw bases are loaded for Vernon. Lines it up the middle Scutaro and Hil score 5-0 Jays. Vernon was robbed last at bat and deserved that one. Has hit it hard in all three at bats. Lind now with two on, can he come through here? That may be it for Meche, trainer and manager out there and call to bullpen, but Meche did not have it tonight and had been playing with fire every inning. Tejeda now pitching 3-0 count on Lind pops up ball four to Jacobs at first but Jays break this open.
Bottom 4th: Richmond has to shut them down here. Jacobs at bat, strikes out on three pitches. Number three for Richmond tonight. Callaspo up the middle for Scutaro throw to Overbay, two down. Buck fly ball to Rios for third out. Nice pitching Scott. Much bigger crowd tonight, rain must have scared them away last night, it is such a gorgeous stadium.
Top 5th: Rolen full count, lines this one hard down the left field line over the bag just fair and a double for Rolen to leadoff. Overbay now a double and sac fly tonight, full count for Lyle, walks, number six for Jays tonight same as last night, difference tonight is the hits and four more runs. Barajas doubles last at bat, not this time, high fly ball out to left. Runners hold. Snider now hitless so far tonight along with Lind and Scutaro. Grounds to Callaspo throw to Aviles at second and back to Jacobs double play ball. Yankees are having fun in Detroit just scored ten in the eighth inning to lead 10-0. Boston tied up seven apiece with Cleveland.
Bottom 5th: Aviles, pops up to Hill, one down Maier fly ball to Snider, two quick outs for Richmond. Crisp grounds to Scutaro great throw on the run but he will not get Crisp with his speed. Great play though Marco. DeJesus lines it over head of Rios in right, Alex misjudged that one, Crisp scores easily and DeJesus at second. 5-1 Jays. Teahen grounds to Hill throw to Overbay and Richmond limits the damage.
Top 6th: Top of the order Scutaro to lead off. High fly ball to left for first out. Hill fouling the off here, that is four in a row, full count singles into right, that was an excellent at bat for Aaron. Rios now with one down and one on. gets a life here with pop up down the right line but dropped foul ball. Another one, more difficult but catchable. Alex the cat with nine lives tonight. has fouled off six in seven pitches. strikes out there but had had more than his share of luck, interesting Alex trying to pull it on that strike three pitch where he has been going opposite field all night. Wells with two down and one on. Two hits tonight and hitting it very hard all night. Not on that pitch strikes out on a high ball. Hill left out there.
Bottom 6th: Could be Richmond’s last inning at 84 pitches, Guillen at bat strikes out swinging at pitch well outside. Jacobs at bat grounds hard to Hill throw to first for the second out. Callaspo at bat grounds to Hill same play but Hill makes it look easy. Another good quick inning form Richmond he may yet be out for start of another. 91 pitches.
Top 7th: Horacio Ramirez pitching, Lind at bat, strikes out still hitless tonight. Rolen 2-3 tonight. 3-0 count. lines it to Maier in right field corner two down for Overbay, full count, bounces it to second flip to Ramirez for the third out. Yankees have beaten Detroit 11-0 which means they are at .500 10-10 on the season. Boston tied with Cleveland in the eighth.
Bottom 7th: Richmond starting this one, Buck just misses home run, foul down left field. Strikes out, number five for Richmond tonight. Richmond has done a great job so far tonight keeping the ball down and away and Kansas hitters have been chasing it. Aviles grounds to Overbay flip to Richmond two down. Maier now 3-1 and walks. Richmond running out of gas at 102 pitches. Here comes Arnsberg to get bullpen ready. Crisp with two down and one on. Maier stealing Barajas bounces the throw, not in time. Crisp grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. Richmond has had a great game tonight. Cito will be very pleased with that.
Top 8th: Barajas at bat, Ramirez still pitching. singles into right. His second hit tonight. Snider now last chance for him. Bunting and great bunt on the right side as he draws out Jacobs at first and Ramirez slips covering so no one from Jacobs to throw to at first as Snider beats out any possible throw.. Snidersafe and Barajas at second, Scutaro now also hitless his last chance. He could probably bunt here now. Yes, Cito has same thought. showing bunt. 2-2 count, must be off ?? yes Marco, singles up the middle with infield drawn in. Barajas scores 6-1 Jays and still rwo on and no outs. That’s it for Ramirez. New pitcher Farsnworth who pitchesd last night. The more they use tonight the fewer they have for the next two games of the series, Lind at third and Scutaro at first. Hill lines it into left, Lind scores 7-1 Jays. How about Aaron three hits tonight? Still no outs with runners at first and second, Rios now strikes out. Wells with one down and two on. lines it into left, Scutaro scores from second 8-1 Jays. Lind 0-4 tonight with two on and only one out. Hill at second Vernon at first. Pops it up to short, Adam 0-5 ouch. Rolen with two on and two on, lines it hard right at third, That would have been two more if it had gone through but 8-1 is ok.
Bottom 8th: Carlson pitching DeJesus at bat grounds it to Hill throw to Overbay for the first out. Teahen doubles to left centre. Guillen, pops it up shallow centre, Hill calls off Wells and drops it, that was Vernon’s play Aaron. Error on play. Jacobs with two on. strikes out. Callaspo fly ball to Rios in foul right nice running catch by Alex at the wall.
Top 9th: Mahay now pitching number five pitcher for Royals tonight. Overbay leading off grounds to first, flip to Mahay for the first out. Barajas strikes out. Snider now with two down. takes third strike. Every game he is learning these pitchers.
Bottom 9th: League now pitching. Buck, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for the first out. Aviles strikes out, League is throwing very, very hard. Maier grounds to Hill throw to Overbay and this one is over. Jays get revenge for last night and add one. 8-1 Jays.
Ingoldisthorpe Jay, last night’s comment re patience was not so much about the six walks Jays hitters took but what they did when they had hitters on base after a walk. To swing at first pitch after a four pitch walk does not to me seem a smart idea, put the pressure on the pitcher by taking that first pitch. Ah well, much better tonight so they must have read the blog.
Lineups: Toronto same old same old. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Richmond pitching.
Kansas: Crisp, DeJesus, Teahean, Guillen, Jacobs, Callaspo, Buck, Aviles, Maier and Meche pitching.
Jays hoping to get one back tonight after that awful showing last night.
The very good: Richmond a great outing tonight. Wells three hits and robbed of a fourth by Crisp. Hill three hits and some good fielding apart from the error. Eight for seventeen with runners in scoring position, that is more like it. Fourteen hits and six walks meant that there was a lot of traffic on the bases tonight. 189 pitches by Royals pitchers tonight and only 133 by Jays, that says a lot.
The good: Multi hit games from Wells, Hill, Rolen and Barajas. Bullpen of Carlson and League supporting Richmond. The whole team showed far more patience tonight with walks and hitting.
The bad: Yes Aaron, your error, sorry that was a ball best left for Vernon running in.
Top 1st: Scutaro 4-0 and walks on four pitches. Marco making it a habit number twenty in eighty at bats this season.. Hill grounded into a double play, pitcher Meche to shortstop M.Aviles to first baseman Jacobs, Scutaro out. Rios grounds back to Meche throw to first base Jacobs.
Bottom 1st: Crisp fly ball to Snider, one down. DeJesus singles up the middle. Teahen grounds to Hill great stop throw to Overbay for first out over to Rolen for double play very nice plays.
Top 2nd: Vernon leading off with double to left corner. Lind at bat strikes out looking. Rolen with one on and one down, singles over the head of short into shallow left, Vernon had to hold but gets to third. Two on one down for Overbay fly ball out to DeJesus in left, Vernon tags and ball hits him in the back but he scores 1-0 Jays. Barajas with Rolen at second on the throw. Two down. 3-0 count and ball four. Barajas walks for Snider now with two on and two down and overdue for big hit. Wild pitch and both runners move up. Single here now should score both. Travis laying off those low pitches now, is adapting to his earlier weakness, full count, and walks, bases are loaded for Scutaro. Another full count. Meche over 40 pitches now, Scutaro grounds to short, throw to first for third out. Disappointing Jays could have blown this open with a hit. 46 pitches for Meche.
Bottom 2nd: Guillen strikes out, that’s a a good one for Richmond to get. Jacobs at bat strikes out. Callaspo 3-0 count, and walks on four. Buck pops it up to Overbay and a good inning for Richmond. 37 pitches.
Top 3rd: Hill to lead off 3-0 count ball four up and in and number four walk already for Meche. Rios now gets hold of this one but to the deepest part of the park and caught at the track by Crisp. Almost Alex. Vernon now, doubled in his first at bat. Oh boy, Vernon hits this over Crisp to the wall in centre and Crisp tracks it down banging up against the wall, great catch. That was at least a double. Vernon was robbed on that one. Lind with Hill still at first. Grounds back to Meche for the out but that was Crisp’s inning.
Bottom 3rd: Aviles, singles to right. Maier one on lifts it into shallow centre and Scutaro drops it, off his glove. Two on and no outs. Crisp is bunting and Richmond throws a strike to third to get Aviles. Manager out there but will not win this one. Two on and one down. DeJesus bounces one in front of plate and Richmond throws strike to Overbay for second out. Runners move up to second and third. Teahen 3-0 count here, come on Scott. Walks him and loads bases. Not good. Guillen now pops up first pitch to Barajas. The great escape.
Top 4th: Jays have been getting on base tonight but just cannot bring them in. Rolen 1-1 tonight. full count and strikes out. Overbay doubles in to right, interference call, ballboy picks it up thinking foul. One on for Barajas, doubles to the wall in left, Overbay scores. 2-0 Jays. Snider now grounds to Jacobs, throw to Meche for the out, Barajas at third but with two outs for Scutaro. Full count, and walks again after fouling several off. Second walk tonight for Marco and number 21 on season !!! Hill now with two on and two down. That’s will do it Aaron, lines it into right field and Barajas scores 3-0 Jays. Rios now with Scutaro at second and Hill at first and two down. Infield single behind third, Aviles nice save of a run but no chance on any throw bases are loaded for Vernon. Lines it up the middle Scutaro and Hil score 5-0 Jays. Vernon was robbed last at bat and deserved that one. Has hit it hard in all three at bats. Lind now with two on, can he come through here? That may be it for Meche, trainer and manager out there and call to bullpen, but Meche did not have it tonight and had been playing with fire every inning. Tejeda now pitching 3-0 count on Lind pops up ball four to Jacobs at first but Jays break this open.
Bottom 4th: Richmond has to shut them down here. Jacobs at bat, strikes out on three pitches. Number three for Richmond tonight. Callaspo up the middle for Scutaro throw to Overbay, two down. Buck fly ball to Rios for third out. Nice pitching Scott. Much bigger crowd tonight, rain must have scared them away last night, it is such a gorgeous stadium.
Top 5th: Rolen full count, lines this one hard down the left field line over the bag just fair and a double for Rolen to leadoff. Overbay now a double and sac fly tonight, full count for Lyle, walks, number six for Jays tonight same as last night, difference tonight is the hits and four more runs. Barajas doubles last at bat, not this time, high fly ball out to left. Runners hold. Snider now hitless so far tonight along with Lind and Scutaro. Grounds to Callaspo throw to Aviles at second and back to Jacobs double play ball. Yankees are having fun in Detroit just scored ten in the eighth inning to lead 10-0. Boston tied up seven apiece with Cleveland.
Bottom 5th: Aviles, pops up to Hill, one down Maier fly ball to Snider, two quick outs for Richmond. Crisp grounds to Scutaro great throw on the run but he will not get Crisp with his speed. Great play though Marco. DeJesus lines it over head of Rios in right, Alex misjudged that one, Crisp scores easily and DeJesus at second. 5-1 Jays. Teahen grounds to Hill throw to Overbay and Richmond limits the damage.
Top 6th: Top of the order Scutaro to lead off. High fly ball to left for first out. Hill fouling the off here, that is four in a row, full count singles into right, that was an excellent at bat for Aaron. Rios now with one down and one on. gets a life here with pop up down the right line but dropped foul ball. Another one, more difficult but catchable. Alex the cat with nine lives tonight. has fouled off six in seven pitches. strikes out there but had had more than his share of luck, interesting Alex trying to pull it on that strike three pitch where he has been going opposite field all night. Wells with two down and one on. Two hits tonight and hitting it very hard all night. Not on that pitch strikes out on a high ball. Hill left out there.
Bottom 6th: Could be Richmond’s last inning at 84 pitches, Guillen at bat strikes out swinging at pitch well outside. Jacobs at bat grounds hard to Hill throw to first for the second out. Callaspo at bat grounds to Hill same play but Hill makes it look easy. Another good quick inning form Richmond he may yet be out for start of another. 91 pitches.
Top 7th: Horacio Ramirez pitching, Lind at bat, strikes out still hitless tonight. Rolen 2-3 tonight. 3-0 count. lines it to Maier in right field corner two down for Overbay, full count, bounces it to second flip to Ramirez for the third out. Yankees have beaten Detroit 11-0 which means they are at .500 10-10 on the season. Boston tied with Cleveland in the eighth.
Bottom 7th: Richmond starting this one, Buck just misses home run, foul down left field. Strikes out, number five for Richmond tonight. Richmond has done a great job so far tonight keeping the ball down and away and Kansas hitters have been chasing it. Aviles grounds to Overbay flip to Richmond two down. Maier now 3-1 and walks. Richmond running out of gas at 102 pitches. Here comes Arnsberg to get bullpen ready. Crisp with two down and one on. Maier stealing Barajas bounces the throw, not in time. Crisp grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. Richmond has had a great game tonight. Cito will be very pleased with that.
Top 8th: Barajas at bat, Ramirez still pitching. singles into right. His second hit tonight. Snider now last chance for him. Bunting and great bunt on the right side as he draws out Jacobs at first and Ramirez slips covering so no one from Jacobs to throw to at first as Snider beats out any possible throw.. Snidersafe and Barajas at second, Scutaro now also hitless his last chance. He could probably bunt here now. Yes, Cito has same thought. showing bunt. 2-2 count, must be off ?? yes Marco, singles up the middle with infield drawn in. Barajas scores 6-1 Jays and still rwo on and no outs. That’s it for Ramirez. New pitcher Farsnworth who pitchesd last night. The more they use tonight the fewer they have for the next two games of the series, Lind at third and Scutaro at first. Hill lines it into left, Lind scores 7-1 Jays. How about Aaron three hits tonight? Still no outs with runners at first and second, Rios now strikes out. Wells with one down and two on. lines it into left, Scutaro scores from second 8-1 Jays. Lind 0-4 tonight with two on and only one out. Hill at second Vernon at first. Pops it up to short, Adam 0-5 ouch. Rolen with two on and two on, lines it hard right at third, That would have been two more if it had gone through but 8-1 is ok.
Bottom 8th: Carlson pitching DeJesus at bat grounds it to Hill throw to Overbay for the first out. Teahen doubles to left centre. Guillen, pops it up shallow centre, Hill calls off Wells and drops it, that was Vernon’s play Aaron. Error on play. Jacobs with two on. strikes out. Callaspo fly ball to Rios in foul right nice running catch by Alex at the wall.
Top 9th: Mahay now pitching number five pitcher for Royals tonight. Overbay leading off grounds to first, flip to Mahay for the first out. Barajas strikes out. Snider now with two down. takes third strike. Every game he is learning these pitchers.
Bottom 9th: League now pitching. Buck, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for the first out. Aviles strikes out, League is throwing very, very hard. Maier grounds to Hill throw to Overbay and this one is over. Jays get revenge for last night and add one. 8-1 Jays.
Ingoldisthorpe Jay, last night’s comment re patience was not so much about the six walks Jays hitters took but what they did when they had hitters on base after a walk. To swing at first pitch after a four pitch walk does not to me seem a smart idea, put the pressure on the pitcher by taking that first pitch. Ah well, much better tonight so they must have read the blog.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Jays are totally embarrassed in a gutless performance.
Toronto v Kansas.
Lineups: Kansas: Crisp, Bloomquist, Teahen, Guillen, Butler, Buck, Callaspo, Aviles, Olivo and Bannister pitching. Watch Canadian Mark Teahen tonight. He played for Canada against Jays in Dunedin and made two great plays.
Toronto: First team lineup tonight. Cito does not believe in changing a lineup if it is working and for once I do agree although I still have concerns about three and four consistency. Alex still has the lowest average at .244but tonight that is better than five of the Royals lineup if that means anything. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Purcey pitching.
Jays get embarassed on a two hitter and total lack of offence, this was by far their worst game of the season and Purcey showed that he is not yet ready for the majors.
The very good: Nothing tonight from the Jays this was by far their worst game of the season against a team they should be beating easily.
The good: Nothing.
The bad: Jays impatience when Bannister was walking hitter after hitter. Bannister walked six and still won this one easily on one hit.
The very bad: Rolen in the 3rd with two in scoring position out on first pitch. When Bannister had already walked two before him and five in the first three innings. Jays hitters one for seven with runners in scoring position tonight.
The awful: Purcey for every inning he pitched.
Bannister made his second start after being recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.
Top 1st: Scutaro walks, nice start Marco. Hill hitting .367 he has been the major difference to this side this season, lines out to Guillen in right, Scutaro tags on throw to second. Rios now what has Alex brought tonight? for the record does not swing at first pitch. 3-0 count. and walks on four, two on for Vernon. Grounds very hard to Teahen playing third gets Rios at second but too late to get Vernon at first, throw is high.. Two down two on for Lind. Alex at third on the play. Singles to right Scutaro scores on the play. 1-0 Jays. Vernon to third. Rolen now with two on and two down. Pops it up to left for third out but Jays strike first.
Bottom 1st: Coco Crisp leading off, 3-0 count Purcey wild to start, full count, fly ball to Rios in right running to his left. Bloomquist 3-0 count and walks on four, Teahen high fly ball out to Snider in left, two down for Guillen, Bloomquist stealing no throw. Gets hold of this one high and fair inside left field pole. 2-1 Royals. Guillen was hitting .176 with no home runs before that at bat. Butler another walk by Purcey, just not on target tonight, Buck with one on. Another full count. strikes out, but Purcey blows the lead and makes heavy weather of that inning. He will not last more than four innings with a pitch count like this.
Top 2nd: I think Jays will need lots of run support tonight with Purcey pitching like this. Overbay strikes out. Barajas fly ball to Crisp. Two down for Snider lines right at Teahen for third out.
Bottom 2nd: Callaspo lines it into left. Avile with one on, strikes out but not before a couple of weird pitches from Purcey one bounced six feet in front of the plate and another high and wide. One down and one out for Olivo pops it up to Rios in shallow right, two down. Crisp for his second at bat gets hold of this one to left, but high and foul, Purcey not fooling many tonight. Golfs this one to Lind in left for third out but this is an adventure tonight.
Top 3rd: Scutaro 3-0 count walks on four pitches for second time tonight. Hill full count, and walks, number four for Bannister tonight already. Two on no outs for Rios. Alex we really need a big one now from you. Gets the hit but high fly to left. Both runners move up on the play. Vernon now with two in scoring position. Strikes out. Not a good at bat for Vernon there. Lind now with two on and two down. Can he do it again? 3-0 count, and walks on four. Walk number five for Bannister but has escaped each time so far. Bases loaded for Rolen. Grounds very weakly to short first pitch (for the second time). Lousy at bat there for Rolen. Especially when Bannister has walked two already this inning. Take a couple Scott.
Bottom 3rd: Bloomquist, full count. walks. Purcey just doesn’t have it. Teahen one on no outs. Grounds to Hill throw to Scutaro on to Overbay, double play ball. If Purcey could get a few more ground balls he would be a lot happier tonight. Guillen, another full count, singles to Lind. Butler strikes out, no damage done in this one. Lets get those Jays bats going.
Top 4th: Overbay lashes one hard at second, what a great catch by Callaspo robbing Lyle of a double. Barajas, gets under another and high fly ball to left. Two quick outs for Bannister. Snider grounds to Callaspo to make third out at first.
Bottom 4th: Buck grounds ball to Scutaro on to Overbay one down, see how easy it is David when you put the ball in play, watch Halladay sometime. Callaspo lines it up the middle. Aviles with one down and one on, singles up the middle. Two on and only one out. Olivo gets hold of this one three run home run, from the number nine hitter. 5-1 Royals. Crisp grounds to Hill throw to Overbay, two down. Bloomquist triples to the wall over head of Vernon. Teahen lines it hard at Hill for third out. But I think it is no secret who will be on the plane to Triple AVegas when Jays get a pitcher healthy. Purcey is just not ready for this level and this is Kansas !
Top 5th: Do Jays have any fight tonight? Scutaro leading off, Bannister cruising now. Marco two walks tonight pops this one up to Crisp in centre, one down for Hill. Bannister working much quicker now he has a great lead. Grounds to Teahen at third, two down. Rios at bat, 3-0 count.and walks on four. Boston has just scored three in top of the ninth in Cleveland to break open scoreless game, they must be watching this game ! They will be leading division tonight. Wells first pitch, fly ball out to left. Answered my question.
Bottom 5th: Purcey still out there ??? Cito wants him to eat this one. Guillen another home run, to left, 6-1 Royals. Embarassing but only for Purcey. Butler almost out in right but Alex gets it in the corner, one down. Buck, Royals hitters are swinging away now whilst Purcey is still out there, grounds to Scutaro, throw to Overbay, two down. Callaspo at bat, Purcey bounces another six feet in front of the plate, another high fly ball to Rios in right for the out. Yankees have lost in Detroit.
Top 6th: Lind full count, pops it up to catcher Olivo for first out. Rolen, does NOT swing. Well not on first pitch, grounds second pitch to Teahen, throw to first for second out. Overbay, fly ball to left. Jays have ONE hit tonight (from Lind) and five walks. This is against a Triple A player in his second game in majors. Has the bubble finally burst?
Bottom 6th: Purcey is out of there and our agony watching him is over, he had nothing tonight. Murphy now pitching Aviles at bat and walks, one on no outs. Olivo 3-0 count, Cito is seething. Walks. Two on no outs, numbers eight and nine. Crisp grounds to Rolen throw to Hill to get Olivo no chance for double play. One down but runners at first and thjrd. Rain is coming miugh save us further, Bloomquist fly ball to Rios throw up the line and another run scores Aviles from third on the sacrifice 7-1 Royals two out. Teahen wild pitch and Crisp moves to second, full count. walks, the third one for Murphy this inning. Guillen at bat pops it up to Rios to end another horrible pitching inning.
Top 7th: Maier in right, Crowd on their way home already. Barajas grounds to Aviles at short, one down. Snider 0-2 tonight, grounds to Callaspo at second throw to first for the second out. Scutaro fly ball to Maier in right and Jays hitters toothless tonight. The worst of this is that Bannister has thrown more balls than strikes and is still Cy Young to these Jays hitters tonight.
Bottom 7th: Chavez now batting and pinch hitting, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for one out. Buck 3-0 count on another wild pitch. Walks. Murphy’s fourth in 1 and 1/3 innings. Callaspo grounds back to Murphy throw to Scutaro on to Overbay double play ball.
Top 8th: Bannister is out of there, Jays have a chance !!! Jamey Wright pitching. Hill at bat after that hit streak, last chance Aaron, no, fly ball to right centre for the out. Rios grounds first ball to second, throw to first for second out. Wells takes first two for strikes. Strikes out looking.
Bottom 8th: Bullington pitching. Aviles a nubber in front of plate and Chavez now catching great throw to first to get him by a step. Olivo first pitch grounds to Rolen throw to first for second out. Crisp walks, Bloomquist grounds to Hill throw to first for third out. Nice stop by Hill but that’s all he can take home tonight.
Top 9th: Final chance for Jays hitters to avoid total embarrassment tonight. Lind with the only Jays hit tonight, Kyle Farnsworth pitching fly ball to Maier in right one down. Rolen awful tonight, full count, singles into right, too little too late. Overbay another underachiever tonight, full count, strikes out. Two down for Chavez first at bat, wild pitch and Rolen to second, wild swing at ball way outside. Pops it up to third to end our anguish.
Jays lose big tonight and also their position at the top of the division. It looked as if Jays took the Royals far too easily and a pitcher barely out of Triple A. They could not score DESPITE Bannister walking six. Bannister in his 103 pitches had only 53 strikes but more than enough tonight. It was not that he pitched brilliantly but that Jays hitters were so bad. This was against a team that they had beaten the last five games.
Perhaps a wakeup call to a club that might have been getting a little too cocky ? Let’s see how they play tomorrow night but now they are chasing the Red Sox who continue their 11 win streak in Cleveland.
Lineups: Kansas: Crisp, Bloomquist, Teahen, Guillen, Butler, Buck, Callaspo, Aviles, Olivo and Bannister pitching. Watch Canadian Mark Teahen tonight. He played for Canada against Jays in Dunedin and made two great plays.
Toronto: First team lineup tonight. Cito does not believe in changing a lineup if it is working and for once I do agree although I still have concerns about three and four consistency. Alex still has the lowest average at .244but tonight that is better than five of the Royals lineup if that means anything. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Purcey pitching.
Jays get embarassed on a two hitter and total lack of offence, this was by far their worst game of the season and Purcey showed that he is not yet ready for the majors.
The very good: Nothing tonight from the Jays this was by far their worst game of the season against a team they should be beating easily.
The good: Nothing.
The bad: Jays impatience when Bannister was walking hitter after hitter. Bannister walked six and still won this one easily on one hit.
The very bad: Rolen in the 3rd with two in scoring position out on first pitch. When Bannister had already walked two before him and five in the first three innings. Jays hitters one for seven with runners in scoring position tonight.
The awful: Purcey for every inning he pitched.
Bannister made his second start after being recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.
Top 1st: Scutaro walks, nice start Marco. Hill hitting .367 he has been the major difference to this side this season, lines out to Guillen in right, Scutaro tags on throw to second. Rios now what has Alex brought tonight? for the record does not swing at first pitch. 3-0 count. and walks on four, two on for Vernon. Grounds very hard to Teahen playing third gets Rios at second but too late to get Vernon at first, throw is high.. Two down two on for Lind. Alex at third on the play. Singles to right Scutaro scores on the play. 1-0 Jays. Vernon to third. Rolen now with two on and two down. Pops it up to left for third out but Jays strike first.
Bottom 1st: Coco Crisp leading off, 3-0 count Purcey wild to start, full count, fly ball to Rios in right running to his left. Bloomquist 3-0 count and walks on four, Teahen high fly ball out to Snider in left, two down for Guillen, Bloomquist stealing no throw. Gets hold of this one high and fair inside left field pole. 2-1 Royals. Guillen was hitting .176 with no home runs before that at bat. Butler another walk by Purcey, just not on target tonight, Buck with one on. Another full count. strikes out, but Purcey blows the lead and makes heavy weather of that inning. He will not last more than four innings with a pitch count like this.
Top 2nd: I think Jays will need lots of run support tonight with Purcey pitching like this. Overbay strikes out. Barajas fly ball to Crisp. Two down for Snider lines right at Teahen for third out.
Bottom 2nd: Callaspo lines it into left. Avile with one on, strikes out but not before a couple of weird pitches from Purcey one bounced six feet in front of the plate and another high and wide. One down and one out for Olivo pops it up to Rios in shallow right, two down. Crisp for his second at bat gets hold of this one to left, but high and foul, Purcey not fooling many tonight. Golfs this one to Lind in left for third out but this is an adventure tonight.
Top 3rd: Scutaro 3-0 count walks on four pitches for second time tonight. Hill full count, and walks, number four for Bannister tonight already. Two on no outs for Rios. Alex we really need a big one now from you. Gets the hit but high fly to left. Both runners move up on the play. Vernon now with two in scoring position. Strikes out. Not a good at bat for Vernon there. Lind now with two on and two down. Can he do it again? 3-0 count, and walks on four. Walk number five for Bannister but has escaped each time so far. Bases loaded for Rolen. Grounds very weakly to short first pitch (for the second time). Lousy at bat there for Rolen. Especially when Bannister has walked two already this inning. Take a couple Scott.
Bottom 3rd: Bloomquist, full count. walks. Purcey just doesn’t have it. Teahen one on no outs. Grounds to Hill throw to Scutaro on to Overbay, double play ball. If Purcey could get a few more ground balls he would be a lot happier tonight. Guillen, another full count, singles to Lind. Butler strikes out, no damage done in this one. Lets get those Jays bats going.
Top 4th: Overbay lashes one hard at second, what a great catch by Callaspo robbing Lyle of a double. Barajas, gets under another and high fly ball to left. Two quick outs for Bannister. Snider grounds to Callaspo to make third out at first.
Bottom 4th: Buck grounds ball to Scutaro on to Overbay one down, see how easy it is David when you put the ball in play, watch Halladay sometime. Callaspo lines it up the middle. Aviles with one down and one on, singles up the middle. Two on and only one out. Olivo gets hold of this one three run home run, from the number nine hitter. 5-1 Royals. Crisp grounds to Hill throw to Overbay, two down. Bloomquist triples to the wall over head of Vernon. Teahen lines it hard at Hill for third out. But I think it is no secret who will be on the plane to Triple AVegas when Jays get a pitcher healthy. Purcey is just not ready for this level and this is Kansas !
Top 5th: Do Jays have any fight tonight? Scutaro leading off, Bannister cruising now. Marco two walks tonight pops this one up to Crisp in centre, one down for Hill. Bannister working much quicker now he has a great lead. Grounds to Teahen at third, two down. Rios at bat, 3-0 count.and walks on four. Boston has just scored three in top of the ninth in Cleveland to break open scoreless game, they must be watching this game ! They will be leading division tonight. Wells first pitch, fly ball out to left. Answered my question.
Bottom 5th: Purcey still out there ??? Cito wants him to eat this one. Guillen another home run, to left, 6-1 Royals. Embarassing but only for Purcey. Butler almost out in right but Alex gets it in the corner, one down. Buck, Royals hitters are swinging away now whilst Purcey is still out there, grounds to Scutaro, throw to Overbay, two down. Callaspo at bat, Purcey bounces another six feet in front of the plate, another high fly ball to Rios in right for the out. Yankees have lost in Detroit.
Top 6th: Lind full count, pops it up to catcher Olivo for first out. Rolen, does NOT swing. Well not on first pitch, grounds second pitch to Teahen, throw to first for second out. Overbay, fly ball to left. Jays have ONE hit tonight (from Lind) and five walks. This is against a Triple A player in his second game in majors. Has the bubble finally burst?
Bottom 6th: Purcey is out of there and our agony watching him is over, he had nothing tonight. Murphy now pitching Aviles at bat and walks, one on no outs. Olivo 3-0 count, Cito is seething. Walks. Two on no outs, numbers eight and nine. Crisp grounds to Rolen throw to Hill to get Olivo no chance for double play. One down but runners at first and thjrd. Rain is coming miugh save us further, Bloomquist fly ball to Rios throw up the line and another run scores Aviles from third on the sacrifice 7-1 Royals two out. Teahen wild pitch and Crisp moves to second, full count. walks, the third one for Murphy this inning. Guillen at bat pops it up to Rios to end another horrible pitching inning.
Top 7th: Maier in right, Crowd on their way home already. Barajas grounds to Aviles at short, one down. Snider 0-2 tonight, grounds to Callaspo at second throw to first for the second out. Scutaro fly ball to Maier in right and Jays hitters toothless tonight. The worst of this is that Bannister has thrown more balls than strikes and is still Cy Young to these Jays hitters tonight.
Bottom 7th: Chavez now batting and pinch hitting, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for one out. Buck 3-0 count on another wild pitch. Walks. Murphy’s fourth in 1 and 1/3 innings. Callaspo grounds back to Murphy throw to Scutaro on to Overbay double play ball.
Top 8th: Bannister is out of there, Jays have a chance !!! Jamey Wright pitching. Hill at bat after that hit streak, last chance Aaron, no, fly ball to right centre for the out. Rios grounds first ball to second, throw to first for second out. Wells takes first two for strikes. Strikes out looking.
Bottom 8th: Bullington pitching. Aviles a nubber in front of plate and Chavez now catching great throw to first to get him by a step. Olivo first pitch grounds to Rolen throw to first for second out. Crisp walks, Bloomquist grounds to Hill throw to first for third out. Nice stop by Hill but that’s all he can take home tonight.
Top 9th: Final chance for Jays hitters to avoid total embarrassment tonight. Lind with the only Jays hit tonight, Kyle Farnsworth pitching fly ball to Maier in right one down. Rolen awful tonight, full count, singles into right, too little too late. Overbay another underachiever tonight, full count, strikes out. Two down for Chavez first at bat, wild pitch and Rolen to second, wild swing at ball way outside. Pops it up to third to end our anguish.
Jays lose big tonight and also their position at the top of the division. It looked as if Jays took the Royals far too easily and a pitcher barely out of Triple A. They could not score DESPITE Bannister walking six. Bannister in his 103 pitches had only 53 strikes but more than enough tonight. It was not that he pitched brilliantly but that Jays hitters were so bad. This was against a team that they had beaten the last five games.
Perhaps a wakeup call to a club that might have been getting a little too cocky ? Let’s see how they play tomorrow night but now they are chasing the Red Sox who continue their 11 win streak in Cleveland.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Jays make it difficult but win for Halladay and take another series
Toronto v Chicago. Series closer.
Lineups: Toronto: the first team for Halladay today. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Halladay pitching.
Chicago: Lillibridge, Fields, Quentin, Thome, Dye, Konerko, Pierzynski, Anderson, Ramirez and Contreras pitching.
The very good: Halladay as always. Not his best but gives 110% to keep it close. Barajas 3-4, Carlson four pitch two outs Thome and Dye in the eighth. Downs save in the ninth. Frasor and Carlson perfect.
The bad: the very bad, Rios and Wells back to their old faults making outs on first pitch swinging. Redeem themselves in the end but. Contreras had forthy pitches after two but Jays could not get rid of him as a resul of this first pitch swinging.
Top 1st : Scutaro fly ball out to left. One down for Hill.376 average I would say that is hot. 3-0 count. lines it up the middle. Rios with his new “upright stance” ! (Cito) fly ball to opposite field for Dye. Two down for Vernon. Breaks his bat lifting ball into shallow right, Hill to third. Two on for Lind. 3-0 takes it all the way for strike. Doubles it to right and Hills scores, Vernon chugging around from first 2-0 Jays. Rolen with Lind at second first pitch swinging to centre for the third out but Jays have given Halladay a start. Interesting both Alex and Vernon go opposite way today. Lind also into right field.
Bottom 1st: Lillibridge doubles to centre, Fields, singles to right, Lillibridge scores 2-1 Jays. Quentin singles to left, still no outs, need a ground ball Roy, gets it Thome grounds to Hill but fumbles it and only one play to first, should have been easy double play. No error given but…. One down two in scoring position for Dye. Strikes out. Two down for Konerko lines to Hill throw to Overbay for third out. No further damage.
Top 2nd: Overbay full count. grounds to second throw to Konerko for first out. Barajas 3-0 count, singles to left. Snider strikes out. Scutaro with one and two down. Singles into centre. Two on for Hill, first pitch fly ball to shallow centre for third out. 40 pitches for Contreras.
Bottom 2nd: Pierzynski grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for first out. Anderson lifts it just over head of Hill into shallow right, Ramirez shows bunt, ball gets away from Barajas, Anderson to second. Ramirez nubber in front of him, Halladay throws to first for second out, Anderson to third. Lillibridge grounds to Scutaro over to Overbay for third out. 30 pitches for Halladay.
Top 3rd: Rios to leadoff. Lines it hard to third but right at Fields, throw to Konerko for first out. Wells, exactly the same play and on first pitch, come on friends Halladay will not be pleased with this. He has hardly sat down. Lind now has to take a few, full count, and walks him. Rolen, swung at first pitch his first time up. Drives it hard to centre but Anderson makes the catch. 51 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Fields 3-0 count, walks on full count. Sox hitters more patient than Jays today. Quentin lines out to Rios, nice catch but cannot double up Fields at first. One down for Thome singles into left, Snider fumbles and Fields goes to third on the play. Dye now needs a sac fly, doesn’t get it, a nubber in front of plate Halladay gets it and throws out Dye at first, two down. Konerko with runners at second and third, lines it into left corner two runs score and Sox are ahead 3-2. Pierzynski strikes out but Halladay is not his usual sharp self today and will need hitters to get their bats moving. His fielders are not helping him with both Hill and Snider giving up extras.56 pitches
Top 4th: Overbay full count, fly ball to right for the out, pushed Contreras pitch count up by eight at least. Barajas doubles into left centre, 2-2 today. Snider, has he learned from last at bat ? singles to second, infield hit for Travis. Barajas to third on play. Scutaro now can he bring him in? grounds back to Contreras fumbles ball and Barajas scores 3-3 game, Snider stays at second, two down for Hill. Grounds to Ramirez throw to first for third out. 70 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Anderson, full count, grounds hard to Scutaro fumbles the ball and throw not in time, this is the third such play for Roy’s defence. That was also an eight pitch at bat. Ramirez showing bunt. pops it up to Barajas right at the plate. One down. Lillibridge, Anderson running but great throw by Barajas to get him easily, nice throw Rod. Two down. Lillibirdge fly ball to Rios in shallow right. No damage done but pitch count into the seventies for Roy. He needs a couple of quick innings to get back on track or he may be gone by the seventh but this White Sox side is very patient, unlike the Jays. 75 pitches.
Top 5th: Rios, yes first pitch out grounds to third. Alex back to his old tricks. Wells now takes the first two at least, grounds to second, throw to Konerko for the second out. Four pitches two outs. Halladay must cry. Lind grounds to second, throw to first. Six pitch inning pathetic. 76 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Fields strikes out but six pitches. Quentin full count but that looked like third strike. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay but another six pitches. Two down for Thome takes third strike on three pitches. Roy up to 90 pitches.
Top 6th: Now can Jays hitters show some discipline this inning? Rolen no, first pitch ground ball to third for the out. Overbay first pitch swinging fly ball out to Dye. Two pitches two outs. Barajas 2-2 and singles into centre (four pitches). Snider now I hope he has not been watching Rios, Wells and Rolen. Two pitch out. Grounds to second, flip to Ramirez for the out. Eight pitch inning to go with the six pitch previous inning. This is probably the most undisciplined hitting that Jays have shown all season. Contreras should be out of the game by now. Instead he has 86 pitch count.
Bottom 6th: Dye lines to Hill again not a clean stop but managed to just get Dye at first. One down for Konerko this could be Halladay’s last inning with pitch count over 90. Fly ball to Rios. Two down for Pierzynski, lines out to Scutaro. Roy is doing more than his share, but where are the bats today ? this weekend ? 101 pitches.
Top 7th: Scutaro grounds to third throw to first for the out. Hill 1-3 today, strikes out. Two down for Rios. 0-3 today and deservedly so, he has no discipline at all. Pops it up to Ramirez. This team does not deserve to win this one today.
Bottom 7th: Halladay starting this one, he wants to win even if the rest of his team doesn’t. Anderson, grounds to Overbay flip to Halladay for the out. Ramirez singles up the middle, Lillibridge, strikes out two down. Fields pitchout but terrible throw as Ramirez steals. Roy has to do it himself and strikes him out number six today.
Top 8th: Can the hitters win this for Halladay who has pitched his heart out even without his best stuff today and not helped by some sloppy fielding and far worse hitting. Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen and Overbay two hits between them today. New pitcher for Chicago Linebrink pitching to Wells. That’s much better Vernon, doubles into left. Lind can he keep it going? Will Vernon steal third ? 3-1 count and now walks Lind. Two on, no outs for Rolen, long, long overdue. Yes singles into left, Wells scores, Lind to third but Rolen out trying to stretch this one out to a double. 4-3 Jays and puts Roy back in win option. Overbay intentional walk, Barajas 3-3 today. Strikes out.Snider another one overdue for a big hit. Big hit to centre but fly ball out, we needed that the last at bat by Barajas.
Bottom 8th: Jays have the lead, can they hold it for Halladay? Frasor pitching, Quentin at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the out. One down for Thome, Carlson to pitch to Thome. Lines first pitch hard to Hill, two down for Dye three pitch strike out, Carlson blew him away.
Top 9th: Can Jays pad this lead for Downs to finish off? Bobby Jenks now pitching.Guillen wanst to hold this right here. Scutaro leading off, strikes out. Hill grounds to second. Now only Rios left, has had a horrible game 0-4 will it be 0-5 ? Not today, Alex doubles into right centre. Vernon can he keep it going ? or bring in Alex ? No grounds to Ramirez, throw to Konerko for the third out.
Bottom 9th: Downs the new closer. Konerko at bat, no room for error Scott. Gorunds to Overbay flip to Downs for the first out. Pierzynski grounds first pitch to Scutaro throw to Overbay, two down. Anderson singles to centre, Vernon saves a double. Owens pinch running. Ramirez fly ball out to Snider. Jays win the series number six.
Halladay wins his fourth and Jays stay on top of division. They did it the hard way but it is a win and also the sixth consecutive series win. I'll take it.
Lineups: Toronto: the first team for Halladay today. Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Halladay pitching.
Chicago: Lillibridge, Fields, Quentin, Thome, Dye, Konerko, Pierzynski, Anderson, Ramirez and Contreras pitching.
The very good: Halladay as always. Not his best but gives 110% to keep it close. Barajas 3-4, Carlson four pitch two outs Thome and Dye in the eighth. Downs save in the ninth. Frasor and Carlson perfect.
The bad: the very bad, Rios and Wells back to their old faults making outs on first pitch swinging. Redeem themselves in the end but. Contreras had forthy pitches after two but Jays could not get rid of him as a resul of this first pitch swinging.
Top 1st : Scutaro fly ball out to left. One down for Hill.376 average I would say that is hot. 3-0 count. lines it up the middle. Rios with his new “upright stance” ! (Cito) fly ball to opposite field for Dye. Two down for Vernon. Breaks his bat lifting ball into shallow right, Hill to third. Two on for Lind. 3-0 takes it all the way for strike. Doubles it to right and Hills scores, Vernon chugging around from first 2-0 Jays. Rolen with Lind at second first pitch swinging to centre for the third out but Jays have given Halladay a start. Interesting both Alex and Vernon go opposite way today. Lind also into right field.
Bottom 1st: Lillibridge doubles to centre, Fields, singles to right, Lillibridge scores 2-1 Jays. Quentin singles to left, still no outs, need a ground ball Roy, gets it Thome grounds to Hill but fumbles it and only one play to first, should have been easy double play. No error given but…. One down two in scoring position for Dye. Strikes out. Two down for Konerko lines to Hill throw to Overbay for third out. No further damage.
Top 2nd: Overbay full count. grounds to second throw to Konerko for first out. Barajas 3-0 count, singles to left. Snider strikes out. Scutaro with one and two down. Singles into centre. Two on for Hill, first pitch fly ball to shallow centre for third out. 40 pitches for Contreras.
Bottom 2nd: Pierzynski grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for first out. Anderson lifts it just over head of Hill into shallow right, Ramirez shows bunt, ball gets away from Barajas, Anderson to second. Ramirez nubber in front of him, Halladay throws to first for second out, Anderson to third. Lillibridge grounds to Scutaro over to Overbay for third out. 30 pitches for Halladay.
Top 3rd: Rios to leadoff. Lines it hard to third but right at Fields, throw to Konerko for first out. Wells, exactly the same play and on first pitch, come on friends Halladay will not be pleased with this. He has hardly sat down. Lind now has to take a few, full count, and walks him. Rolen, swung at first pitch his first time up. Drives it hard to centre but Anderson makes the catch. 51 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Fields 3-0 count, walks on full count. Sox hitters more patient than Jays today. Quentin lines out to Rios, nice catch but cannot double up Fields at first. One down for Thome singles into left, Snider fumbles and Fields goes to third on the play. Dye now needs a sac fly, doesn’t get it, a nubber in front of plate Halladay gets it and throws out Dye at first, two down. Konerko with runners at second and third, lines it into left corner two runs score and Sox are ahead 3-2. Pierzynski strikes out but Halladay is not his usual sharp self today and will need hitters to get their bats moving. His fielders are not helping him with both Hill and Snider giving up extras.56 pitches
Top 4th: Overbay full count, fly ball to right for the out, pushed Contreras pitch count up by eight at least. Barajas doubles into left centre, 2-2 today. Snider, has he learned from last at bat ? singles to second, infield hit for Travis. Barajas to third on play. Scutaro now can he bring him in? grounds back to Contreras fumbles ball and Barajas scores 3-3 game, Snider stays at second, two down for Hill. Grounds to Ramirez throw to first for third out. 70 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Anderson, full count, grounds hard to Scutaro fumbles the ball and throw not in time, this is the third such play for Roy’s defence. That was also an eight pitch at bat. Ramirez showing bunt. pops it up to Barajas right at the plate. One down. Lillibridge, Anderson running but great throw by Barajas to get him easily, nice throw Rod. Two down. Lillibirdge fly ball to Rios in shallow right. No damage done but pitch count into the seventies for Roy. He needs a couple of quick innings to get back on track or he may be gone by the seventh but this White Sox side is very patient, unlike the Jays. 75 pitches.
Top 5th: Rios, yes first pitch out grounds to third. Alex back to his old tricks. Wells now takes the first two at least, grounds to second, throw to Konerko for the second out. Four pitches two outs. Halladay must cry. Lind grounds to second, throw to first. Six pitch inning pathetic. 76 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Fields strikes out but six pitches. Quentin full count but that looked like third strike. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay but another six pitches. Two down for Thome takes third strike on three pitches. Roy up to 90 pitches.
Top 6th: Now can Jays hitters show some discipline this inning? Rolen no, first pitch ground ball to third for the out. Overbay first pitch swinging fly ball out to Dye. Two pitches two outs. Barajas 2-2 and singles into centre (four pitches). Snider now I hope he has not been watching Rios, Wells and Rolen. Two pitch out. Grounds to second, flip to Ramirez for the out. Eight pitch inning to go with the six pitch previous inning. This is probably the most undisciplined hitting that Jays have shown all season. Contreras should be out of the game by now. Instead he has 86 pitch count.
Bottom 6th: Dye lines to Hill again not a clean stop but managed to just get Dye at first. One down for Konerko this could be Halladay’s last inning with pitch count over 90. Fly ball to Rios. Two down for Pierzynski, lines out to Scutaro. Roy is doing more than his share, but where are the bats today ? this weekend ? 101 pitches.
Top 7th: Scutaro grounds to third throw to first for the out. Hill 1-3 today, strikes out. Two down for Rios. 0-3 today and deservedly so, he has no discipline at all. Pops it up to Ramirez. This team does not deserve to win this one today.
Bottom 7th: Halladay starting this one, he wants to win even if the rest of his team doesn’t. Anderson, grounds to Overbay flip to Halladay for the out. Ramirez singles up the middle, Lillibridge, strikes out two down. Fields pitchout but terrible throw as Ramirez steals. Roy has to do it himself and strikes him out number six today.
Top 8th: Can the hitters win this for Halladay who has pitched his heart out even without his best stuff today and not helped by some sloppy fielding and far worse hitting. Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen and Overbay two hits between them today. New pitcher for Chicago Linebrink pitching to Wells. That’s much better Vernon, doubles into left. Lind can he keep it going? Will Vernon steal third ? 3-1 count and now walks Lind. Two on, no outs for Rolen, long, long overdue. Yes singles into left, Wells scores, Lind to third but Rolen out trying to stretch this one out to a double. 4-3 Jays and puts Roy back in win option. Overbay intentional walk, Barajas 3-3 today. Strikes out.Snider another one overdue for a big hit. Big hit to centre but fly ball out, we needed that the last at bat by Barajas.
Bottom 8th: Jays have the lead, can they hold it for Halladay? Frasor pitching, Quentin at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the out. One down for Thome, Carlson to pitch to Thome. Lines first pitch hard to Hill, two down for Dye three pitch strike out, Carlson blew him away.
Top 9th: Can Jays pad this lead for Downs to finish off? Bobby Jenks now pitching.Guillen wanst to hold this right here. Scutaro leading off, strikes out. Hill grounds to second. Now only Rios left, has had a horrible game 0-4 will it be 0-5 ? Not today, Alex doubles into right centre. Vernon can he keep it going ? or bring in Alex ? No grounds to Ramirez, throw to Konerko for the third out.
Bottom 9th: Downs the new closer. Konerko at bat, no room for error Scott. Gorunds to Overbay flip to Downs for the first out. Pierzynski grounds first pitch to Scutaro throw to Overbay, two down. Anderson singles to centre, Vernon saves a double. Owens pinch running. Ramirez fly ball out to Snider. Jays win the series number six.
Halladay wins his fourth and Jays stay on top of division. They did it the hard way but it is a win and also the sixth consecutive series win. I'll take it.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Jays hitters fail to support Burres and blown out 10-2
Toronto v Chicago
This will be tough one with Burres pitching. Could be a blowout as he has not been pitching well in Triple A Vegas. It will be interesting to see how far he can go tonight but with Halladay tomorrow Cito should be able to use most of his bullpen.
Lineups: Chicago: Lillibridge, Fields, Quentin, Dye, Konerko, Miller, Anderson, Ramirez, Owens and Buehrle pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Millar, Bautista, Chavez and Burres pitching.
Jays lose this one 10-2. Not unexpected with Burres pitching. Chicago much too good a team to send out Triple A pitcher.
The good: Not much in this one for Jays. I think Burres managed to hold the score down for five which was probably as much as we could expect from him, but given the Jays offence he could still give them a chance in the game. Bullington strikes out Konerko and Miller with bases loaded in the eighth.
The bad: Cito giving up in the sixth inning. Down 10-2. Throws in the towel. Not good Cito. You would be no good managing in Fenway, score tonight is 16-11. Not only that I think it also sends negative message to his team that he does not believe they can come back, thanks Cito for the vote of confidence.
Top 1st: Scutaro strikes out.Hill singles to left. Rios singles to centre.Hill to second. Wells fly ball to center fielder Owens. Lind grounds to second base Lillibridge on to first base Konerko for third out.
Bottom 1st: Lillibridge strikes out. Fields fly ball to Wells. Quentin fly ball to Wells.
Top 2nd: Rolen full count and walks.Millar singles to right, Rolen to third. Bautista singles to centre, Rolen scores, 1-0 Jays. Millar to second. Chavez bunting to Konerko on to Lillibridge for the out. Millar to third, Bautista to second. Scutaro with two on and one down sac fly to Quentin in left field. Millar scores 2-0 Jays. Hill full count and walks, two on for Rios. Lines out to Fields at third.
Bottom 2nd: Dye strikes out. Konerko singles to left. Miller doubles to left, Konerko to third. Anderson singles to centre, Konerko scores, 2-1 Jays. Miller to third. Ramirez singles to left, Miller scores, 2-2. Anderson to second. Owens flies out to Rolen. Lillibridge lines out to Rios. This is what I expected with Burres tonight, but if he can keep it close then hitters could make the difference but do they have anything left after last night?
Top 3rd: Wells grounds to Buehrle on to Lillibridge to Konerko for the out. Lind strikes out. Rolen fly ball to Anderson in right.
Bottom 3rd: Fields singles to left. Quentin fly ball to Bautista. Dye pops up to Hill. Konerko full count and walks, Fields to second. Miller grounds out to Rolen steps on the bag for the thord out.
Top 4th: Millar strikes out. Bautista walks on four pitches. Chavez lines out to right field Anderson. Scutaro singles to right, J.Bautista to second.
- A.Hill grounded out, second baseman Lillibridge to first baseman Konerko.
Bottom 4th: Anderson grounds to Rolen, throw to Millar one down. Ramirez fly ball to Lind, two down. Owens singles to Rios. Lillibridge grounds to Burres throw to Millar for third out. That's a better inning for Burres, could be settling down.
Top 5th: Rios strikes out. Wells lines to left centre Owens makes an incredible highlight reel catch to rob Vernon of at least a double. Great catch running hard and diving full length to get it on the track. Wow… Lind pops up to Ramirez.
Bottom 5th: Fields walks Quentin with one on, grounds to Burres throw to Millar for the out. Dye, walks on four pitches. Konerko with two on and one down. grounds it up the middle Fields scores 3-2 White Sox. Miller with two on, walks him bases loaded and that’s it for Burres. Camp now pitching. Cito can use his bullpen now Halladay is pitching tomorrow. Anderson singles just through the infield past Rolen run scores 4-2 Sox. Ramirez with bases loaded. Full count. There it goes high into left field corner, grand slam and Sox break it open 8-2. Owens strikes out. Lillibridge two down, grounds to Hill throw to Millar for third out. Jays hitters have to start getting going.
Top 6th: Rolen that’s the way singles to right. Millar grounds back to Buehrle on to Konerko for the first out, Rolen to second. Bautista grounds to Ramirez on to Konerko, Rolen to third. Two down for Chavez fly ball to Anderson in right leaving Rolen at third. Have to do better than that to get back into this one.
Bottom 6th: Can Camp hold them here? Fields leading off grounds to Scutaro on to Millar, one down. Quentin,grounds to Rolen error on throw by Scott and safe at first. Dye gets hold of this one into left field HR, two runs score and Jays are facing a blowout, 10-2 White Sox
Top 7th: We shall see what Jays hitters can do now with backs to the wall. That is as important as being on the other side. Dotel now pitching Scutaro full count and walks. Johnny Mc pinch hitting for Hill, Cito has already given up. That is too bad, sending the wrong signal Cito. This is a team that can score six in an inning remember. Johnny Mc strikes out. Rios fly ball to right field Anderson. Wells grounds to Ramirez on to second Lillibridge to get Scutaro for third out.
Bottom 7th: Scutaro at second for Hill. McDonald at short. Snider in left for Bautista. Bautista in at third for Rolen. League pitching. Anderson full count and walks. Ramirez grounds to Scutaro on to Johnny Mc for the out. Ramirez at first.
Top 8th: Thornton pitching. Lind strikes out. Snider flied out to left fielder Quentin. Millar at bat two down. Singles to centre, someone is still fighting Cito you will never get Kevin rolling over until the very last at bat. Bautista strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Bullington pitching, Lillibridge singles to centre. Fields at bat with one on strikes out. Quentin at bat singles to left, two on for Dye. 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Bases loaded for Konerko strikes out, Miller strikes out. Very nice Bullington.
Top 9th: Linebrink pitching, Chavez at bat lines out to Owens. Scutaro at bat, pops it up to Konerko. Johnny Mc with two down, pops it up to Anderson in shallow right for third out.
Jays lose this one 10-2. Remain one ahead of Boston who have won the slugging contest with Yankees in Fenway 16-11.
The good news: Marcum scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday. That would be very good to get him back.
This will be tough one with Burres pitching. Could be a blowout as he has not been pitching well in Triple A Vegas. It will be interesting to see how far he can go tonight but with Halladay tomorrow Cito should be able to use most of his bullpen.
Lineups: Chicago: Lillibridge, Fields, Quentin, Dye, Konerko, Miller, Anderson, Ramirez, Owens and Buehrle pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Millar, Bautista, Chavez and Burres pitching.
Jays lose this one 10-2. Not unexpected with Burres pitching. Chicago much too good a team to send out Triple A pitcher.
The good: Not much in this one for Jays. I think Burres managed to hold the score down for five which was probably as much as we could expect from him, but given the Jays offence he could still give them a chance in the game. Bullington strikes out Konerko and Miller with bases loaded in the eighth.
The bad: Cito giving up in the sixth inning. Down 10-2. Throws in the towel. Not good Cito. You would be no good managing in Fenway, score tonight is 16-11. Not only that I think it also sends negative message to his team that he does not believe they can come back, thanks Cito for the vote of confidence.
Top 1st: Scutaro strikes out.Hill singles to left. Rios singles to centre.Hill to second. Wells fly ball to center fielder Owens. Lind grounds to second base Lillibridge on to first base Konerko for third out.
Bottom 1st: Lillibridge strikes out. Fields fly ball to Wells. Quentin fly ball to Wells.
Top 2nd: Rolen full count and walks.Millar singles to right, Rolen to third. Bautista singles to centre, Rolen scores, 1-0 Jays. Millar to second. Chavez bunting to Konerko on to Lillibridge for the out. Millar to third, Bautista to second. Scutaro with two on and one down sac fly to Quentin in left field. Millar scores 2-0 Jays. Hill full count and walks, two on for Rios. Lines out to Fields at third.
Bottom 2nd: Dye strikes out. Konerko singles to left. Miller doubles to left, Konerko to third. Anderson singles to centre, Konerko scores, 2-1 Jays. Miller to third. Ramirez singles to left, Miller scores, 2-2. Anderson to second. Owens flies out to Rolen. Lillibridge lines out to Rios. This is what I expected with Burres tonight, but if he can keep it close then hitters could make the difference but do they have anything left after last night?
Top 3rd: Wells grounds to Buehrle on to Lillibridge to Konerko for the out. Lind strikes out. Rolen fly ball to Anderson in right.
Bottom 3rd: Fields singles to left. Quentin fly ball to Bautista. Dye pops up to Hill. Konerko full count and walks, Fields to second. Miller grounds out to Rolen steps on the bag for the thord out.
Top 4th: Millar strikes out. Bautista walks on four pitches. Chavez lines out to right field Anderson. Scutaro singles to right, J.Bautista to second.
- A.Hill grounded out, second baseman Lillibridge to first baseman Konerko.
Bottom 4th: Anderson grounds to Rolen, throw to Millar one down. Ramirez fly ball to Lind, two down. Owens singles to Rios. Lillibridge grounds to Burres throw to Millar for third out. That's a better inning for Burres, could be settling down.
Top 5th: Rios strikes out. Wells lines to left centre Owens makes an incredible highlight reel catch to rob Vernon of at least a double. Great catch running hard and diving full length to get it on the track. Wow… Lind pops up to Ramirez.
Bottom 5th: Fields walks Quentin with one on, grounds to Burres throw to Millar for the out. Dye, walks on four pitches. Konerko with two on and one down. grounds it up the middle Fields scores 3-2 White Sox. Miller with two on, walks him bases loaded and that’s it for Burres. Camp now pitching. Cito can use his bullpen now Halladay is pitching tomorrow. Anderson singles just through the infield past Rolen run scores 4-2 Sox. Ramirez with bases loaded. Full count. There it goes high into left field corner, grand slam and Sox break it open 8-2. Owens strikes out. Lillibridge two down, grounds to Hill throw to Millar for third out. Jays hitters have to start getting going.
Top 6th: Rolen that’s the way singles to right. Millar grounds back to Buehrle on to Konerko for the first out, Rolen to second. Bautista grounds to Ramirez on to Konerko, Rolen to third. Two down for Chavez fly ball to Anderson in right leaving Rolen at third. Have to do better than that to get back into this one.
Bottom 6th: Can Camp hold them here? Fields leading off grounds to Scutaro on to Millar, one down. Quentin,grounds to Rolen error on throw by Scott and safe at first. Dye gets hold of this one into left field HR, two runs score and Jays are facing a blowout, 10-2 White Sox
Top 7th: We shall see what Jays hitters can do now with backs to the wall. That is as important as being on the other side. Dotel now pitching Scutaro full count and walks. Johnny Mc pinch hitting for Hill, Cito has already given up. That is too bad, sending the wrong signal Cito. This is a team that can score six in an inning remember. Johnny Mc strikes out. Rios fly ball to right field Anderson. Wells grounds to Ramirez on to second Lillibridge to get Scutaro for third out.
Bottom 7th: Scutaro at second for Hill. McDonald at short. Snider in left for Bautista. Bautista in at third for Rolen. League pitching. Anderson full count and walks. Ramirez grounds to Scutaro on to Johnny Mc for the out. Ramirez at first.
Top 8th: Thornton pitching. Lind strikes out. Snider flied out to left fielder Quentin. Millar at bat two down. Singles to centre, someone is still fighting Cito you will never get Kevin rolling over until the very last at bat. Bautista strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Bullington pitching, Lillibridge singles to centre. Fields at bat with one on strikes out. Quentin at bat singles to left, two on for Dye. 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Bases loaded for Konerko strikes out, Miller strikes out. Very nice Bullington.
Top 9th: Linebrink pitching, Chavez at bat lines out to Owens. Scutaro at bat, pops it up to Konerko. Johnny Mc with two down, pops it up to Anderson in shallow right for third out.
Jays lose this one 10-2. Remain one ahead of Boston who have won the slugging contest with Yankees in Fenway 16-11.
The good news: Marcum scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday. That would be very good to get him back.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Jays power tonight with great pitching win this one
Toronto v Chicago in Chicago.
Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Tallet pitching.
Chicago: Getz, Fields, Quentin, Thome, Dye, Konerko, Pierzynski, Ramirez, Anderson and Floyd pitching.
Battle of division leaders. It will be a tough series for Jays, White Sox have a good team and have similar start to the Jays but are at home and outdoors which Jays have not had for most of April. And Jays pitching staff badly beaten up right now. Cito will be hoping for continued run support this weekend.
The very good: Tallet, Lind three doubles, Wells 3-4 single, double and triple.
The good: The rest of the Jays lineup a collective gold star tonight. Three stolen bases. If this is a change by Cito I am all in favour. Rios and Wells should be going far more. The bench Johnny Mc defence and Bautista home run.
The bad: The wind swirling around all night.
Jays win 14-0 on a 21 hit attack but only one home run ! Aided by two werrors and some sloppy fielding and pitching.
Top 1st: It is very windy out here tonight, will be interesting to see how this affects the game. Scutaro full count and walks. Hill at bat grounds to short safe at first on fielding error by shortstop Ramirez, Scutaro to third.
Rios strikes out one down. Wells doubles to centre, Scutaro and Hill both score and Jays take early lead here 2-0 Jays. Lind at bat Vernon stealing third. Lind doubles to right Vernon scores and Jays are running 3-0 Jays. Rolen with Lind at second strikes out. Overbay with two down and one on lines out to Dye in right field. But Jays draw first blood.
Bottom 1st: Getz singles to left. Fields strikes out.Quentin strikes out. Thome grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for third out.
Top 2nd: Barajas singles to centre. Snider strikes out. Scutaro singles to left, Barajas to second.
Hill grounds to shortstop Ramirez on to Getz and Konerko, double play ball.
Bottom 2nd: Dye strikes out. Konerko fly ball to Wells. Pierzynski two down and walks. Ramirez fly ball out to Snider in left.
Top 3rd: Rios doubles to left. Alex has really come alive this week, great to see after such a long drought. Wells strikes out. Lind at bat Rios stealing third. Jays are running tonight. Good to see that as well. Lind grounds to Konerko for the out. Overbay at bat with Alex at third, intentional walk. Barajas grounds to Ramirez throw to second to get Overbay.
Bottom 3rd: Anderson doubles to right, Getz singles to right, two on for Fields no outs. Strikes him out. Quentin with two on Anderson at third. Full count walks him and loads bases for Thome, very nice Brian, strikes him out on three pitches. Two down for Dye grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for the third out. Excellent pitching, that could have been very nasty.
Top 4th: Snider strikes out for second time tonight. Scutaro singles up the middle, third time on base tonight, two hits and a walk. Hill hitless tonight but reached on the error in the first and scored, showing bunt, now lines into left and Quentin good sliding catch. Rios 1-2, double last at bat, Scutaro running but ball four. Two on two down for Wells. 3-0 count, full count, walks on high pitch and loads the bases for Lind. Egbert up in bullpen. Lind grounds to Getz at second throw to Konerko at first for the out. Missed opportunity there to blow this one open.
Bottom 4th: Konerko grounds hard to Rolen, throw to Overbay for first out. Pierzynski, grounds down to Overbay, backhand stop and throw to Tallet for second out. Ramirez lines it to left centre, Anderson long fly ball to Wells, no damage done.
Top 5th: Rolen at bat doubles to centre, off glove of Anderson, error on play, now a wild pitch and Rolen moves to third. Overbay grounds to Ramirez throw to first for the out. Rolen has to hold. Barajas 1-2 tonight. 3-1 count. Another wild pitch and in comes Rolen to score run number five. Also ball four Barajas at first. Error and two wild pitches, that’s ok. 5-0 Jays. Snider now and one down singles to right, his first hit tonight. Here comes manager Guillen, that’s it for Floyd 97 pitches. Egbert pitching two on and one down. Scutaro 2-2 and a walk grounds back to Egbert throw to second but Ramirez is disrupted by Snider sliding in and drops ball. Scutaro safe at first Barajas at third. Hill high chopper off the mound and Ramirez unable to get to it cleanly, Barajas scores. 6-0 Jays. Scutaro moves to second. Rios at bat with two on and two down. Full count grounds to pitcher and throw to Konerko for third out. But this inning Jays make White Sox pay for wild pitches, the error and sloppy fielding. Bottom 5th: Tallet still out there Getz at bat pops it up, Scutaro settles under but this wind blows it to Rolen. One down. Fields at bat, pops it up to right to Rios, two down. Quentin at bat grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. Another good tight inning for Tallet. 77 pitches.
Top 6th: Wells singles into right centre, Lind is he bunting ? no, doubles into left field corner, Vernon to third. No outs and two in scoring position for Rolen, 2-3 tonight. Grounds to third, throw to first no chance for Vernon to score. One down for Overbay. Intentional walk to load them up, set up double play and get to Barajas. Show them Rod. Singles through the infield into shallow left, Vernon scores 7-0 Jays and bases still loaded. Snider singles into right 8-0 Jays. Bases still loaded with one out. Scutaro at bat grounds to Ramirez short drops the ball and Overbay scores 9-0 Jays. Hill with bases loaded. This one down the right field line into corner. Barasa and Snider score 11-0 Jays. Rios now with two in scoring position. High fly ball to centre Scutaro tags and scores 12-0 Jays. Hill at third for Wells with two down, grounds to Ramirez throw to Konerko for third out. Crowd sarcastic cheers. Jays bat around and score six in the process.
Bottom 6th: Tallet has been sitting a long time. Bautista now at third, McDonald at short. playing shift on Thome. Murphy in bullpen. Thome walks. Lillibridge pinch hitting for Dye fly ball to Lind in left. One down. Konerko lines out into centre to Wells two down. That’s it for Tallet 92 pitches. Bill Murphy pitching, Pierzynski at bat with two down and one on at first grounds it up the middle but Johnny Mc. is there to show his usual great play and get Thome at second. He makes it look so easy. Great play saves a base hit.
Top 7th: Clayton Richard pitching Lind at bat, 2-4 tonight. another double down the line into left field corner, his third tonight. Bautista grounds it to second Lind to third for Overbay. The only Jay without a hit. Not this time either, bounces one back to Richard throw to first for the second out. Barajas doubles off the wall in left centre, just missed going out. Lind scores 13-0 Jays. Snider 2-4 full count and walks. Two on and two down for Johnny Mc. Grounds to third, throw to first for third out. 18 hits tonight for the Jays.
Bottom 7th: Ramirez 3-0 count and walks on four pitches, Cito will not like that. Anderson 3-0 count again grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay one down. Ramirez to second. Getz, grounds to Overbay throw to Murphy for second out, Ramirez to third. Fields grounds to Overbay throw to Murphy for third out.
Top 8th: Hill fly ball to Quentin in left for first out. Rios fly ball to Anderson now playing in right two down. Wells lines it into left under the glove of Quentin, trying to make a diving play and Vernon has a triple. Lind with two down grounds to Konerko at first. No damage done.
Bottom 8th: Murphy still out there, Owens walks. Thome strikes out. One down. Lillibridge strikes out. Konerko full count, walks. Two on two down for Corky Miller pinch hitting for Pierzynski, wild pitch and both runners move up. Lines it vey hard down the third base line Bautista great catch diving to his right. Jays have had excellent defence tonight.
Top 9th: Bautista this one has gone, home run into left field 14-0 Jays 20 hit attack but first home run tonight. Overbay grounds it to Getz throw to first for the out. Barajas strikes out looking. Two down for Snider singles first pitch up the middle. Third hit tonight. McDonald fly ball out to right.
Bottom 9th: Bryan Bullington pitching, his Jays debut. Called up from AAAVegas to replace BJ Ryan on roster. Ramirez strikes out. Anderson full count. Loops one into shallow right. One on one down for top of White Sox order. Getz fly ball to Snider in left. Two down for Fields. Singles to Wells in centre. Two on two down. Ramirez at second, Owens at bat, full count, and walks him. Bases loaded for Thome, this should be interesting. Not quite the guy you want to see in this situation strikes him out. Great pitching Bryan. Bullington has great movement on ball and works very fast.
Jays win 14-0. No contest tonight. Jays 21 hit attack. Boston comes from 4-2 down to beat Yankees in bottom of eleventh at Fenway to stay two behind Jays.
The Toronto Blue Jays called up Burres on Friday from Triple-A Las Vegas to start on Saturday. That's a tough assignment.
Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Tallet pitching.
Chicago: Getz, Fields, Quentin, Thome, Dye, Konerko, Pierzynski, Ramirez, Anderson and Floyd pitching.
Battle of division leaders. It will be a tough series for Jays, White Sox have a good team and have similar start to the Jays but are at home and outdoors which Jays have not had for most of April. And Jays pitching staff badly beaten up right now. Cito will be hoping for continued run support this weekend.
The very good: Tallet, Lind three doubles, Wells 3-4 single, double and triple.
The good: The rest of the Jays lineup a collective gold star tonight. Three stolen bases. If this is a change by Cito I am all in favour. Rios and Wells should be going far more. The bench Johnny Mc defence and Bautista home run.
The bad: The wind swirling around all night.
Jays win 14-0 on a 21 hit attack but only one home run ! Aided by two werrors and some sloppy fielding and pitching.
Top 1st: It is very windy out here tonight, will be interesting to see how this affects the game. Scutaro full count and walks. Hill at bat grounds to short safe at first on fielding error by shortstop Ramirez, Scutaro to third.
Rios strikes out one down. Wells doubles to centre, Scutaro and Hill both score and Jays take early lead here 2-0 Jays. Lind at bat Vernon stealing third. Lind doubles to right Vernon scores and Jays are running 3-0 Jays. Rolen with Lind at second strikes out. Overbay with two down and one on lines out to Dye in right field. But Jays draw first blood.
Bottom 1st: Getz singles to left. Fields strikes out.Quentin strikes out. Thome grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for third out.
Top 2nd: Barajas singles to centre. Snider strikes out. Scutaro singles to left, Barajas to second.
Hill grounds to shortstop Ramirez on to Getz and Konerko, double play ball.
Bottom 2nd: Dye strikes out. Konerko fly ball to Wells. Pierzynski two down and walks. Ramirez fly ball out to Snider in left.
Top 3rd: Rios doubles to left. Alex has really come alive this week, great to see after such a long drought. Wells strikes out. Lind at bat Rios stealing third. Jays are running tonight. Good to see that as well. Lind grounds to Konerko for the out. Overbay at bat with Alex at third, intentional walk. Barajas grounds to Ramirez throw to second to get Overbay.
Bottom 3rd: Anderson doubles to right, Getz singles to right, two on for Fields no outs. Strikes him out. Quentin with two on Anderson at third. Full count walks him and loads bases for Thome, very nice Brian, strikes him out on three pitches. Two down for Dye grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for the third out. Excellent pitching, that could have been very nasty.
Top 4th: Snider strikes out for second time tonight. Scutaro singles up the middle, third time on base tonight, two hits and a walk. Hill hitless tonight but reached on the error in the first and scored, showing bunt, now lines into left and Quentin good sliding catch. Rios 1-2, double last at bat, Scutaro running but ball four. Two on two down for Wells. 3-0 count, full count, walks on high pitch and loads the bases for Lind. Egbert up in bullpen. Lind grounds to Getz at second throw to Konerko at first for the out. Missed opportunity there to blow this one open.
Bottom 4th: Konerko grounds hard to Rolen, throw to Overbay for first out. Pierzynski, grounds down to Overbay, backhand stop and throw to Tallet for second out. Ramirez lines it to left centre, Anderson long fly ball to Wells, no damage done.
Top 5th: Rolen at bat doubles to centre, off glove of Anderson, error on play, now a wild pitch and Rolen moves to third. Overbay grounds to Ramirez throw to first for the out. Rolen has to hold. Barajas 1-2 tonight. 3-1 count. Another wild pitch and in comes Rolen to score run number five. Also ball four Barajas at first. Error and two wild pitches, that’s ok. 5-0 Jays. Snider now and one down singles to right, his first hit tonight. Here comes manager Guillen, that’s it for Floyd 97 pitches. Egbert pitching two on and one down. Scutaro 2-2 and a walk grounds back to Egbert throw to second but Ramirez is disrupted by Snider sliding in and drops ball. Scutaro safe at first Barajas at third. Hill high chopper off the mound and Ramirez unable to get to it cleanly, Barajas scores. 6-0 Jays. Scutaro moves to second. Rios at bat with two on and two down. Full count grounds to pitcher and throw to Konerko for third out. But this inning Jays make White Sox pay for wild pitches, the error and sloppy fielding. Bottom 5th: Tallet still out there Getz at bat pops it up, Scutaro settles under but this wind blows it to Rolen. One down. Fields at bat, pops it up to right to Rios, two down. Quentin at bat grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. Another good tight inning for Tallet. 77 pitches.
Top 6th: Wells singles into right centre, Lind is he bunting ? no, doubles into left field corner, Vernon to third. No outs and two in scoring position for Rolen, 2-3 tonight. Grounds to third, throw to first no chance for Vernon to score. One down for Overbay. Intentional walk to load them up, set up double play and get to Barajas. Show them Rod. Singles through the infield into shallow left, Vernon scores 7-0 Jays and bases still loaded. Snider singles into right 8-0 Jays. Bases still loaded with one out. Scutaro at bat grounds to Ramirez short drops the ball and Overbay scores 9-0 Jays. Hill with bases loaded. This one down the right field line into corner. Barasa and Snider score 11-0 Jays. Rios now with two in scoring position. High fly ball to centre Scutaro tags and scores 12-0 Jays. Hill at third for Wells with two down, grounds to Ramirez throw to Konerko for third out. Crowd sarcastic cheers. Jays bat around and score six in the process.
Bottom 6th: Tallet has been sitting a long time. Bautista now at third, McDonald at short. playing shift on Thome. Murphy in bullpen. Thome walks. Lillibridge pinch hitting for Dye fly ball to Lind in left. One down. Konerko lines out into centre to Wells two down. That’s it for Tallet 92 pitches. Bill Murphy pitching, Pierzynski at bat with two down and one on at first grounds it up the middle but Johnny Mc. is there to show his usual great play and get Thome at second. He makes it look so easy. Great play saves a base hit.
Top 7th: Clayton Richard pitching Lind at bat, 2-4 tonight. another double down the line into left field corner, his third tonight. Bautista grounds it to second Lind to third for Overbay. The only Jay without a hit. Not this time either, bounces one back to Richard throw to first for the second out. Barajas doubles off the wall in left centre, just missed going out. Lind scores 13-0 Jays. Snider 2-4 full count and walks. Two on and two down for Johnny Mc. Grounds to third, throw to first for third out. 18 hits tonight for the Jays.
Bottom 7th: Ramirez 3-0 count and walks on four pitches, Cito will not like that. Anderson 3-0 count again grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay one down. Ramirez to second. Getz, grounds to Overbay throw to Murphy for second out, Ramirez to third. Fields grounds to Overbay throw to Murphy for third out.
Top 8th: Hill fly ball to Quentin in left for first out. Rios fly ball to Anderson now playing in right two down. Wells lines it into left under the glove of Quentin, trying to make a diving play and Vernon has a triple. Lind with two down grounds to Konerko at first. No damage done.
Bottom 8th: Murphy still out there, Owens walks. Thome strikes out. One down. Lillibridge strikes out. Konerko full count, walks. Two on two down for Corky Miller pinch hitting for Pierzynski, wild pitch and both runners move up. Lines it vey hard down the third base line Bautista great catch diving to his right. Jays have had excellent defence tonight.
Top 9th: Bautista this one has gone, home run into left field 14-0 Jays 20 hit attack but first home run tonight. Overbay grounds it to Getz throw to first for the out. Barajas strikes out looking. Two down for Snider singles first pitch up the middle. Third hit tonight. McDonald fly ball out to right.
Bottom 9th: Bryan Bullington pitching, his Jays debut. Called up from AAAVegas to replace BJ Ryan on roster. Ramirez strikes out. Anderson full count. Loops one into shallow right. One on one down for top of White Sox order. Getz fly ball to Snider in left. Two down for Fields. Singles to Wells in centre. Two on two down. Ramirez at second, Owens at bat, full count, and walks him. Bases loaded for Thome, this should be interesting. Not quite the guy you want to see in this situation strikes him out. Great pitching Bryan. Bullington has great movement on ball and works very fast.
Jays win 14-0. No contest tonight. Jays 21 hit attack. Boston comes from 4-2 down to beat Yankees in bottom of eleventh at Fenway to stay two behind Jays.
The Toronto Blue Jays called up Burres on Friday from Triple-A Las Vegas to start on Saturday. That's a tough assignment.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Jays win this one with power and great pitching.
Toronto v Texas Series finale.
Lineups: Texas: Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Blalock, Cruz, Davis, Murphy, Teagarden, Andrus and Millwood pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Richmond pitching.
No play by play tonight. Traffic from the game plus highway construction too much.
Jays win this 5-2 and take another series. They have won all five to start the season. They stay on top of the division and pick up half a game on Boston and the Yankees idle tonight before they match up tomorrow in Boston. Baltimore wins at home against Chicago and Rays lose on the road in Seattle.
Richmond had excellent outing had the Texas hitters for the most part totally confused and this is a very good hitting team. From where I sat at the game his curve and off speed pitches were exceptional. He seemed in control no matter what he threw including his fastball and finished with eight strikeouts but had Texas hitters off balance all night. The bullpen took over and carried this one to the end with Downs excellent ninth.
Rios, Wells and Overbay home runs. Rios a two run shot and Wells and Overbay single shots in the same inning. Scott Rolen had the other rbi in the eighth inning and another two hit night for him.
Tonight Hill did not miss the ground ball play in the ninth. Hill also had another two hit night including a double when the throw by Andrus goes into the luxury seats (next to Curtis Joseph ) turning a possible out into a two baser. Jays could have done a lot more damage with bases loaded in the eighth but it was enough tonight.
Jays lose BJ Ryan and Ricky Romero before the game even starts. Romero a freak chest muscle injury sneezing ! and BJ a muscle in his neck and back. Cito unkind I felt with BJ today, if Hill had had that double play ball in the ninth they would not be all over Ryan the way they are. I didn’t see Cito’s concern with Alex and Vernon for the first 60 at bats this season. If it had been a pitcher he would have been sent to minors two weeks ago. Cito is a hitters manager, no doubt on that.
But enough, both Vernon and Alex alive tonight with their home runs. Alex’ s first !!! since mid September 2008. However it doesn’t matter if they are both now hot. I hope it continues into Chicago for the next series tomorrow. Overbay is hot as well with an eight game hit streak. Tallet starts again on Friday. Brian Bullington is the AAA call up to replace BJ.
Rogers Centre continue to upscale the food…. Harder to find junk now… and more changes coming.
Also found tonight the soccer louts are starting to filter into the games. The group baying tonight behind the Texas dugout were exceptionally boorish. Rogers Centre will have to watch this trend. The security staff were no match.
Lineups: Texas: Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Blalock, Cruz, Davis, Murphy, Teagarden, Andrus and Millwood pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Richmond pitching.
No play by play tonight. Traffic from the game plus highway construction too much.
Jays win this 5-2 and take another series. They have won all five to start the season. They stay on top of the division and pick up half a game on Boston and the Yankees idle tonight before they match up tomorrow in Boston. Baltimore wins at home against Chicago and Rays lose on the road in Seattle.
Richmond had excellent outing had the Texas hitters for the most part totally confused and this is a very good hitting team. From where I sat at the game his curve and off speed pitches were exceptional. He seemed in control no matter what he threw including his fastball and finished with eight strikeouts but had Texas hitters off balance all night. The bullpen took over and carried this one to the end with Downs excellent ninth.
Rios, Wells and Overbay home runs. Rios a two run shot and Wells and Overbay single shots in the same inning. Scott Rolen had the other rbi in the eighth inning and another two hit night for him.
Tonight Hill did not miss the ground ball play in the ninth. Hill also had another two hit night including a double when the throw by Andrus goes into the luxury seats (next to Curtis Joseph ) turning a possible out into a two baser. Jays could have done a lot more damage with bases loaded in the eighth but it was enough tonight.
Jays lose BJ Ryan and Ricky Romero before the game even starts. Romero a freak chest muscle injury sneezing ! and BJ a muscle in his neck and back. Cito unkind I felt with BJ today, if Hill had had that double play ball in the ninth they would not be all over Ryan the way they are. I didn’t see Cito’s concern with Alex and Vernon for the first 60 at bats this season. If it had been a pitcher he would have been sent to minors two weeks ago. Cito is a hitters manager, no doubt on that.
But enough, both Vernon and Alex alive tonight with their home runs. Alex’ s first !!! since mid September 2008. However it doesn’t matter if they are both now hot. I hope it continues into Chicago for the next series tomorrow. Overbay is hot as well with an eight game hit streak. Tallet starts again on Friday. Brian Bullington is the AAA call up to replace BJ.
Rogers Centre continue to upscale the food…. Harder to find junk now… and more changes coming.
Also found tonight the soccer louts are starting to filter into the games. The group baying tonight behind the Texas dugout were exceptionally boorish. Rogers Centre will have to watch this trend. The security staff were no match.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Jays win this one in extra innings.
Toronto v Texas
Lineups: Texas: Kinsler, Vizquel, Young, Jones, Blalock, Byrd, Cruz, Davis, Saltalamacchia and Harrison pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Millar, Barajas, Baurtista and Purcey pitching.
The very good: Barajas two two run home runs. 17 hit attack. Millar bottom of the eleventh winning run.
The good: Rios 3-5 breakout night. Purcey held Jays in this one for six. Millar three hit night, Bautista 3-4.
The bad: Not turning the double play twice in the ninth to help Ryan save this one.
Top 1st: Kinsler strikes out. Vizquel flies out to Wells. Young strikes out. Good tart for Purcey.
Bottom 1st: Harrison pitching. Scutaro full count and walks. Hill lines out to Byrd in centre. Rios fouls out to Davis at first. Wells grounds to Young at third throw to Davis for third out.
Top 2nd: Jones fly ball out to Bautista. Blalock pops up to Scutaro. Byrd grounds to Scutaro to throw Millar for third out. 28 pitches.
Bottom 2nd Lind bounces to Harrison throw to first for the out. Rolen grounds hard to third out at first. Millar loops it into shallow left. I believe that Millar should be in lineup every day. Barajas gets hold of this one into left field seats two run home run. 2-0 Jays. Bautista doubles into opposite field right centre. Scutaro again full count, and walks him for the second time tonight. Hill with two down and two on.grounds to the throw to second to get Scutaro.44 pitches for Harrison.
Top 3rd: Cruz singles to right centre, there goes the no hitter. Davis doubles to the wall in left. Cruz stops at third. Two on no outs and Purcey in trouble Saltalmacchia singles into centre and just like that the lead has gone 2-2. Three consecutive hits and no outs, Kinsler full count, Purcey is fooling no one this inning, Kinsler strikes out. Vizquel lines it into left. Two on one out for Young. Grounds to Scutaro on to Hill and Overbay double play ball, number twenty for Jays this season already. Purcey escapes this one.
Bottom 3rd: Rios at bat. Golfs this one into left. Wells guess what, grounds to third Young, Kinsler at second and Davis at first double play ball. How many this season Vernon ???? But then perhaps Alex should have been stealing right from first pitch. Lind fly ball out to centre.
Top 4th: Jones strikes out. Blalock fly ball to Bautista. Byrd singles to centre. Cruz walks, Byrd to second. Davis strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Rolen grounds to Kinsler on to.Davis one down. Millar doubles to left. 2-2 tonight. Barajas does it again, this one high ball into left and over the wall. Second home run. Millar scores and Jays are in front 4-2. Bautista singles to left. Scutaro strikes out, two down. Hill singles to centre Bautista to third. Rios, singles to centre Bautista scores 5-2 Jays and Alex has an rbi. Wells with two on fly ball to Jones in left field.
Top 5th: Saltalamacchia fly ball to Rios. Kinsler grounds to Scutaro over to Millar two down. Vizquel singles to center. Young doubles to the wall and Vizquel scores 5-3 Jays. Young fly ball out to Wells.
Bottom 5th: Feldman now pitching. Lind at bat. Strikes out. Rolen pops up to Davis, two down for Millar fly ball to shallow centre for the out.
Top 6th: Blalock strikes out. One down for Byrd, full count, walks him. That’s it for Purcey, here comes Cito. Camp taking over. Cruz with one on and one down 3-0 count but lines out to Scutaro. Two down. Camp only in for one hitter. Here comes Carlson. Davis grounds hard to Millar bounces off his glove to Hill throws out Davis. Good recovery.
Bottom 6th: Barajas 2-2 two home runs and four rbis. Pops up this time to Kinsler, one down for Bautista grounds it to Viquel playing deep at short but beats out the throw. Scutaro grounds it to Young at third out at first n the throw. Bautista at second. Hill 3-0 count and walks on four pitches. Two on and two down for Rios. 2-3 tonight, breaking out. Whoa Alex… singles into left scores Bautista from second and Alex goes 3-4 tonight. This is his night. 6-3 Jays. Wells now with two on and two down. Hill at second. 3-0 count on Vernon. And walks on four pitches to load them up for Lind. Here comes Washington, pitching change. Holland rookie, majorleague debut, spent last season in minors. Lind grounds hard to Young at third great diving play by Young to get it but his throw up the line. Hill scores 7-3 Jays. Rolen with bases loaded. Pops it up to Vizquel.
Top 7th: Carlson still in there, Saltalamachia fly ball to Wells, one down. Kinsler pops up first pitch to Wells two down. Vizquel strikes out looking. Another very good inning from Carlson.
Bottom 7th: Millar grounds to Young throw to Davis who tags Millar up the line sliding under. One down for Barajas,full count and pops it up to Byrd in shallow centre. Bautista 3-3 tonight, lines out to Byrd on first pitch. Bottom third of the order, Millar, Barajas and Bautista have seven of twelve Jays hits tonight.
Top 8th: Downs now in for the eighth. Young doubles into right corner to Rios. Bounces it in forn to plate Downs gets there but throw to Millar low and Millar takes evasive action to avoid accident with Jones as he stumbles over Millar. Two on Young to third. Blalock strikes out. One down. Byrd grounds to Rolen on to Hill and Millar not in time and run scores 7-4 . Jones out at second. Two down for Cruz with runner at first. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar for third out.
Bottom 8th: Murphy in left field for Jones. Scutaro at bat. Pops it up to Cruz in shallow right. Hill at bat one down, strikes out. Rios singles into left, 4-5 tonight. Major breakout for Alex compared to rest of season. Good to see finally and long may it last. Wells now, Holland throws away at first, and Rios gets to second. Error on rookie. Strike three Vernon looking.Time for him also to have a breakout night saving it for Boston and Yankees.
Top 9th: Ryan now pitching. Davis hit on the hand. One on for Saltalamachia 3-0 here control BJ. There’s a strike, NO walks him. Not good. Kinsler with two on and no outs, grounds to Scutaro flip to Hill throw to Millar wide and runner safe at first. Run scores one down. 7-5. Hamilton pinch hitting for Vizquel, Kinsler steals third. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar for the second out but runs scores 7-6. That was a double play for Aaron. Young at bat two down. There it goes HR to centre. 7-7 game. Murphy strikes out. BUT friends you can’t blame BJ on this one, Hill not turning two chances at double play lead to this.
Bottom 9th: Lind singles into right. One on for Rolen 0-4 tonight. Here comes Washington. Another change Willie Eyre pitching. Snider pinch running for Lind. Rolen lines out hard to right. One down for Millar. 3-0 count. Grounds it to short, on to second on to first, double play ball. That’s was the play Jays defence couldn’t give BJ.This is going to extra innings.
Top 10th: Frasor pitching. Blalock at bat, pops it up shallow right to Scutaro. One down for Byrd grounds to Scutaro long throw to Millar to get him. Two down for Cruz, lines out to Rios at the wall in right.
Bottom 10th: Bottom of Jays order, can they do it again here? Barajas 2-1 count and Eyre is hurt, calls trainer and walks off mound. Wilson now pitching was in last night’s game. I told you Washington might regret using all those pitchers last night. Barajas strikes out. One down. Bautista singles up the middle. One on one down. Scutaro strikes out. Two down for Hill. Grounds to short, throw not in time and two on for Alex, is he the man tonight? 4-5 tonight. Gets a life as he grounds just foul at third. Grounds to second throw to first for the out. Not the hero tonight Alex.
Top 11th: Frasor still out there. Davis strikes out. Saltalamacchia, strikes out, two down for Kinsler. Pops it up high to Hill for third out.
Bottom 11th: Chance here for Vernon, hitless tonight 0-4. No double play to worry about. Just get on base. Full count and walks. That will do Vernon. Funny how no one looks to Vernon anymore to lead this team. Snider at bat, bunting, what a waste. Gets it down and Wells to second but…. Rolen now intentional walk. Millar but that’s it for Wilson. New pitcher Darren O’ Day claimed off waivers from the Mets has only just arrived at stadium from landing at airport at 9.45. Most of he players have not even met him. Wearing Gabbard’s uniform as there is not one for him. Millar golfs this one over the head of Murphy in left field, way to go Kevin… Wells scores Jays win this one 8-7.
I feel sorry for O’Day, what a welcome. Strange manager Washington. BUT as I said last night he was flirting with trouble using that many pitchers in first game of the series and it came back to bite him tonight.
Lineups: Texas: Kinsler, Vizquel, Young, Jones, Blalock, Byrd, Cruz, Davis, Saltalamacchia and Harrison pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Millar, Barajas, Baurtista and Purcey pitching.
The very good: Barajas two two run home runs. 17 hit attack. Millar bottom of the eleventh winning run.
The good: Rios 3-5 breakout night. Purcey held Jays in this one for six. Millar three hit night, Bautista 3-4.
The bad: Not turning the double play twice in the ninth to help Ryan save this one.
Top 1st: Kinsler strikes out. Vizquel flies out to Wells. Young strikes out. Good tart for Purcey.
Bottom 1st: Harrison pitching. Scutaro full count and walks. Hill lines out to Byrd in centre. Rios fouls out to Davis at first. Wells grounds to Young at third throw to Davis for third out.
Top 2nd: Jones fly ball out to Bautista. Blalock pops up to Scutaro. Byrd grounds to Scutaro to throw Millar for third out. 28 pitches.
Bottom 2nd Lind bounces to Harrison throw to first for the out. Rolen grounds hard to third out at first. Millar loops it into shallow left. I believe that Millar should be in lineup every day. Barajas gets hold of this one into left field seats two run home run. 2-0 Jays. Bautista doubles into opposite field right centre. Scutaro again full count, and walks him for the second time tonight. Hill with two down and two on.grounds to the throw to second to get Scutaro.44 pitches for Harrison.
Top 3rd: Cruz singles to right centre, there goes the no hitter. Davis doubles to the wall in left. Cruz stops at third. Two on no outs and Purcey in trouble Saltalmacchia singles into centre and just like that the lead has gone 2-2. Three consecutive hits and no outs, Kinsler full count, Purcey is fooling no one this inning, Kinsler strikes out. Vizquel lines it into left. Two on one out for Young. Grounds to Scutaro on to Hill and Overbay double play ball, number twenty for Jays this season already. Purcey escapes this one.
Bottom 3rd: Rios at bat. Golfs this one into left. Wells guess what, grounds to third Young, Kinsler at second and Davis at first double play ball. How many this season Vernon ???? But then perhaps Alex should have been stealing right from first pitch. Lind fly ball out to centre.
Top 4th: Jones strikes out. Blalock fly ball to Bautista. Byrd singles to centre. Cruz walks, Byrd to second. Davis strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Rolen grounds to Kinsler on to.Davis one down. Millar doubles to left. 2-2 tonight. Barajas does it again, this one high ball into left and over the wall. Second home run. Millar scores and Jays are in front 4-2. Bautista singles to left. Scutaro strikes out, two down. Hill singles to centre Bautista to third. Rios, singles to centre Bautista scores 5-2 Jays and Alex has an rbi. Wells with two on fly ball to Jones in left field.
Top 5th: Saltalamacchia fly ball to Rios. Kinsler grounds to Scutaro over to Millar two down. Vizquel singles to center. Young doubles to the wall and Vizquel scores 5-3 Jays. Young fly ball out to Wells.
Bottom 5th: Feldman now pitching. Lind at bat. Strikes out. Rolen pops up to Davis, two down for Millar fly ball to shallow centre for the out.
Top 6th: Blalock strikes out. One down for Byrd, full count, walks him. That’s it for Purcey, here comes Cito. Camp taking over. Cruz with one on and one down 3-0 count but lines out to Scutaro. Two down. Camp only in for one hitter. Here comes Carlson. Davis grounds hard to Millar bounces off his glove to Hill throws out Davis. Good recovery.
Bottom 6th: Barajas 2-2 two home runs and four rbis. Pops up this time to Kinsler, one down for Bautista grounds it to Viquel playing deep at short but beats out the throw. Scutaro grounds it to Young at third out at first n the throw. Bautista at second. Hill 3-0 count and walks on four pitches. Two on and two down for Rios. 2-3 tonight, breaking out. Whoa Alex… singles into left scores Bautista from second and Alex goes 3-4 tonight. This is his night. 6-3 Jays. Wells now with two on and two down. Hill at second. 3-0 count on Vernon. And walks on four pitches to load them up for Lind. Here comes Washington, pitching change. Holland rookie, majorleague debut, spent last season in minors. Lind grounds hard to Young at third great diving play by Young to get it but his throw up the line. Hill scores 7-3 Jays. Rolen with bases loaded. Pops it up to Vizquel.
Top 7th: Carlson still in there, Saltalamachia fly ball to Wells, one down. Kinsler pops up first pitch to Wells two down. Vizquel strikes out looking. Another very good inning from Carlson.
Bottom 7th: Millar grounds to Young throw to Davis who tags Millar up the line sliding under. One down for Barajas,full count and pops it up to Byrd in shallow centre. Bautista 3-3 tonight, lines out to Byrd on first pitch. Bottom third of the order, Millar, Barajas and Bautista have seven of twelve Jays hits tonight.
Top 8th: Downs now in for the eighth. Young doubles into right corner to Rios. Bounces it in forn to plate Downs gets there but throw to Millar low and Millar takes evasive action to avoid accident with Jones as he stumbles over Millar. Two on Young to third. Blalock strikes out. One down. Byrd grounds to Rolen on to Hill and Millar not in time and run scores 7-4 . Jones out at second. Two down for Cruz with runner at first. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar for third out.
Bottom 8th: Murphy in left field for Jones. Scutaro at bat. Pops it up to Cruz in shallow right. Hill at bat one down, strikes out. Rios singles into left, 4-5 tonight. Major breakout for Alex compared to rest of season. Good to see finally and long may it last. Wells now, Holland throws away at first, and Rios gets to second. Error on rookie. Strike three Vernon looking.Time for him also to have a breakout night saving it for Boston and Yankees.
Top 9th: Ryan now pitching. Davis hit on the hand. One on for Saltalamachia 3-0 here control BJ. There’s a strike, NO walks him. Not good. Kinsler with two on and no outs, grounds to Scutaro flip to Hill throw to Millar wide and runner safe at first. Run scores one down. 7-5. Hamilton pinch hitting for Vizquel, Kinsler steals third. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar for the second out but runs scores 7-6. That was a double play for Aaron. Young at bat two down. There it goes HR to centre. 7-7 game. Murphy strikes out. BUT friends you can’t blame BJ on this one, Hill not turning two chances at double play lead to this.
Bottom 9th: Lind singles into right. One on for Rolen 0-4 tonight. Here comes Washington. Another change Willie Eyre pitching. Snider pinch running for Lind. Rolen lines out hard to right. One down for Millar. 3-0 count. Grounds it to short, on to second on to first, double play ball. That’s was the play Jays defence couldn’t give BJ.This is going to extra innings.
Top 10th: Frasor pitching. Blalock at bat, pops it up shallow right to Scutaro. One down for Byrd grounds to Scutaro long throw to Millar to get him. Two down for Cruz, lines out to Rios at the wall in right.
Bottom 10th: Bottom of Jays order, can they do it again here? Barajas 2-1 count and Eyre is hurt, calls trainer and walks off mound. Wilson now pitching was in last night’s game. I told you Washington might regret using all those pitchers last night. Barajas strikes out. One down. Bautista singles up the middle. One on one down. Scutaro strikes out. Two down for Hill. Grounds to short, throw not in time and two on for Alex, is he the man tonight? 4-5 tonight. Gets a life as he grounds just foul at third. Grounds to second throw to first for the out. Not the hero tonight Alex.
Top 11th: Frasor still out there. Davis strikes out. Saltalamacchia, strikes out, two down for Kinsler. Pops it up high to Hill for third out.
Bottom 11th: Chance here for Vernon, hitless tonight 0-4. No double play to worry about. Just get on base. Full count and walks. That will do Vernon. Funny how no one looks to Vernon anymore to lead this team. Snider at bat, bunting, what a waste. Gets it down and Wells to second but…. Rolen now intentional walk. Millar but that’s it for Wilson. New pitcher Darren O’ Day claimed off waivers from the Mets has only just arrived at stadium from landing at airport at 9.45. Most of he players have not even met him. Wearing Gabbard’s uniform as there is not one for him. Millar golfs this one over the head of Murphy in left field, way to go Kevin… Wells scores Jays win this one 8-7.
I feel sorry for O’Day, what a welcome. Strange manager Washington. BUT as I said last night he was flirting with trouble using that many pitchers in first game of the series and it came back to bite him tonight.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Jays lose a sloppy one 5-4 to Texas.
Toronto v Texas. Series opener.
Lineups: Texas: Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Blalock, Byrd, Cruz, Davis, Saltalamacchia , Andrus and McCarthy pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and pitching Halladay.
Jays lose this one 5-4.
Some very poor hitting by Jays tonight chief culprits Rios and Wells (again). You cannot have numbers three and four playing the way they are. Vernon at least is fielding his position but Rios again drops a ball. Jays had their chances and this could have been a win for Halladay but….hitting discipline was definitely missing tonight.
The good: Hill with bat and glove tonight. Team leading home run and highlight reel saves. Halladay was hot and cold but lasted eight innings striking out nine. League was excellent in relief. Overbay’s bat.
The bad: The bases loaded with one out in eighth and unable to score. Very poor pitch selection by Rios, Wells swinging away at first pitches throughout the game but they were not alone in this tonight and one reason why McCarthy lasted as long as he did. Alex’s glove.
Top 1st: Kinsler hit. Young at bat one on. strikes out, Hamilton grounds to Hill only one play to first. Blalock strikes out. Nice inning for Halladay.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro singles into left, he has been a great leadoff so far for Jays. Hill also great there’s one up and in knocks Hill down. Lines this one into right field corner seats, nice catch by Cruz in the front rows. Rios first pitch swinging and why not, nothing else is going right for him, fly ball out centre. Wells with two down, this is a disease, swings at first pitch, fly ball out to centre. Two players who should be sitting. They have no baseball brain. Two pitches two outs ? Cito any explanation?
Top 2nd: Byrd, lines it into right, Rios once again drops this one. Misjudged it, can he do anything right ? Byrd gets to second. Cruz at bat, there it goes left field seats 2-0 just like that. That dropped ball by Rios costs. Davis strikes out on three pitches, Saltalamacchia strikes out on three pitches. Andrus first pitch grounds back to Halladay for third out at first. 27 pitches. Halladay knows he has to do it all himself tonight, Rios and Wells have not brought their game. By the way no error given to Rios for that dropped catch. Toronto scorer.
Bottom 2nd: Lind 3-0 count, grounds to Kinsler flip to Davis for the out at first. Rolen at bat, long fly ball out to centre, two down for Overbay, singles into right corner. Lyle has started to get going. Barajas at bat two down one on, first pitch disease, high fly ball out to centre, nice running catch by Hamilton for the out. Three of the first six Jays outs have swung at first pitch. 29 pitch count not surprising.
Top 3rd: Kinsler, fly ball to Wells, one down. Young grounds to Hill flip to Overbay, two down. Hamilton strikes him out. Number five for Halladay.
Bottom 3rd: Snider at bat, doubles into shallow left, Byrd misjudges. One on for Scutaro. High and in and walks Marco. Two on no outs for Hill. Lines out to right field Snider tags and comes to third. Oh no, here comes Rios. Lines one into centre, dropped by Hamilton and off centre field wall. Was off his glove. Snider scores. 2-1. No error given. Alex wants his hit. Rios at second and Scutaro at first, Wells fly ball to right Scutaro tags and scores 2-2. Lind with Rios at third and two down, strikes out.
Top 4th: Blalock doubles to left. Byrd fly ball to Rios, Blalock to third. Cruz strikes out. Davis singles to centre, Blalock scores. 3-2 Texas. Saltalamacchia grounds to Hill flip to Overbay.
Bottom 4th: Rolen pops up to Kinsler. Overbay doubles to centre. Barajas strikes out. Snider grounds to Kinsler throw to first.
Top 5th: Andrus lines out to Scutaro. Breaks bat and umpire hit in the head and goes down unconscious. Not good, taken to hospital but is conscious as he leaves stadium. Kinsler grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay. Young strikes out.
Bottom 5th: Scutaro pops up to Cruz.Hill at bat one down, gets hold of this one and into left field seats behind bullpen. 3-3 game. Rios lines out to Cruz. Wells grounds to short Andrus to Davis at first.
Top 6th: Hamilton grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay. Blalock pops up to Scutaro.
Byrd infield single to second. Cruz strikes out. 79 pitches for Halladay.
Bottom 6th: Lind fly ball out to left. Rolen fly ball to centre. Overbay 2-2 tonight. two down, full count and walks. Barajas grounds to Young at third flip to second to get Overbay.
Top 7th: Davis at bat, full count and strikes out number nine for Halladay. Saltalamacchia Doubles in to right corner bunting, Barajas throws to first for the out. Runner moves to third. Kinsler this one is out, two run home run over Rios head, 5-3 Texas. Young at bat, two down. grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the third out.
Bottom 7th: That’s it for McCarthy Eddie Guardado pitching Snider at bat, pops up to Davis at third, One down for Scutaro. Eddie did his job, pitching change. Jason Jennings Scutaro pops it up to shallow centre. Hill 1-3 tonight but solo home run. Pops up first pitch to shallow centre.
Top 8th: Hamilton singles over Scutaro head Blalock lines it to Hill throw to Overbay, double play. Byrd grounds it past Hill makes great diving stop and throws to Overbay for the out. Great highlight reel play by Hill. 106 pitches for Halladay.
Bottom 8th: Rios singles to Andrus, high throw by shortstop and Rios safe at first. Error on play. Wells with one on. grounds to third throw to first to get Vernon, Alex safe at second. That’s it for Jennings. Wilson now pitching. Lind at bat with Alex in scoring position. Singles into right centre and Rios scores. 5-4 Texas. Bautista pinch running for Lind. Rolen now, here comes Texas manager Washington, he uses up his bullpen fast ! Number five pitcher tonight. This is only the first game of series. Frank Francisco pitching to Rolen 0-3 tonight. Singles into centre, Bautista to third. Overbay with runner at third. 3-0 count, walks and bases loaded for Barajas. Lines hard to third good catch by Young. Snider now with bases loaded. First pitch and pops it up to centre. Oh boy.
Top 9th: League now pitching. Cruz fly ball out to Wells in centre, one down. Davis strikes out. Saltalamacchia with two down and strikes out. Nice inning by League.
Bottom 9th: And top of Jays order. Francisco still pitching Scutaro at bat, fly ball to Byrd in left one down. Hill now doubles into left corner. Rios at bat. Don’t bet on this one. First pitch grounds to short. I saved you some money at least. Hill to third but two are out. Wells at bat, takes first two strikes and pops it up to shallow left. Jays lose this one and Halladay is not impressed with Rios and Wells again tonight. This is one Jays should have won, Texas have their first away win.
Interesting piece online today.
Exposing what's real and what isn't after 2 weeks by Dayn Perry
Dayn Perry is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com and author of the blog Spolitical, which explores the relationship between sports and politics. He's presently at work on his second book, a biography of Reggie Jackson.
“We're merely toe-deep into the 2009 season, so it's unwise to make any lasting judgments based on what's transpired to date.
With that said, it's now time to make some lasting judgments based on what's transpired to date. Specifically, we're looking at hot starts — both on the team and individual level. Which of those players and teams enjoying the hot starts are likely to sustain, and which are primed to come hurtling back to earth? Let's find out “...
Back to Earth Toronto Blue Jays
Statistical Absurdity: They're on pace for 116 wins.
“At present, the Jays lead the brutal AL East, and, in a related matter, they're on pace to score more than 1,000 runs this season and out-slug their opponents by more than 100 points. It won't last.
This is a team that lost A.J. Burnett to free agency and Dustin McGowan and Shawn Marcum to injury, and while the offense should improve with young bats like Travis Snider and Adam Lind getting regular duty it's by no means an elite attack. At best, the Jays are a third-place team. Given time, they'll start playing like the good-but-not-great team that they are.”
Lineups: Texas: Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Blalock, Byrd, Cruz, Davis, Saltalamacchia , Andrus and McCarthy pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and pitching Halladay.
Jays lose this one 5-4.
Some very poor hitting by Jays tonight chief culprits Rios and Wells (again). You cannot have numbers three and four playing the way they are. Vernon at least is fielding his position but Rios again drops a ball. Jays had their chances and this could have been a win for Halladay but….hitting discipline was definitely missing tonight.
The good: Hill with bat and glove tonight. Team leading home run and highlight reel saves. Halladay was hot and cold but lasted eight innings striking out nine. League was excellent in relief. Overbay’s bat.
The bad: The bases loaded with one out in eighth and unable to score. Very poor pitch selection by Rios, Wells swinging away at first pitches throughout the game but they were not alone in this tonight and one reason why McCarthy lasted as long as he did. Alex’s glove.
Top 1st: Kinsler hit. Young at bat one on. strikes out, Hamilton grounds to Hill only one play to first. Blalock strikes out. Nice inning for Halladay.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro singles into left, he has been a great leadoff so far for Jays. Hill also great there’s one up and in knocks Hill down. Lines this one into right field corner seats, nice catch by Cruz in the front rows. Rios first pitch swinging and why not, nothing else is going right for him, fly ball out centre. Wells with two down, this is a disease, swings at first pitch, fly ball out to centre. Two players who should be sitting. They have no baseball brain. Two pitches two outs ? Cito any explanation?
Top 2nd: Byrd, lines it into right, Rios once again drops this one. Misjudged it, can he do anything right ? Byrd gets to second. Cruz at bat, there it goes left field seats 2-0 just like that. That dropped ball by Rios costs. Davis strikes out on three pitches, Saltalamacchia strikes out on three pitches. Andrus first pitch grounds back to Halladay for third out at first. 27 pitches. Halladay knows he has to do it all himself tonight, Rios and Wells have not brought their game. By the way no error given to Rios for that dropped catch. Toronto scorer.
Bottom 2nd: Lind 3-0 count, grounds to Kinsler flip to Davis for the out at first. Rolen at bat, long fly ball out to centre, two down for Overbay, singles into right corner. Lyle has started to get going. Barajas at bat two down one on, first pitch disease, high fly ball out to centre, nice running catch by Hamilton for the out. Three of the first six Jays outs have swung at first pitch. 29 pitch count not surprising.
Top 3rd: Kinsler, fly ball to Wells, one down. Young grounds to Hill flip to Overbay, two down. Hamilton strikes him out. Number five for Halladay.
Bottom 3rd: Snider at bat, doubles into shallow left, Byrd misjudges. One on for Scutaro. High and in and walks Marco. Two on no outs for Hill. Lines out to right field Snider tags and comes to third. Oh no, here comes Rios. Lines one into centre, dropped by Hamilton and off centre field wall. Was off his glove. Snider scores. 2-1. No error given. Alex wants his hit. Rios at second and Scutaro at first, Wells fly ball to right Scutaro tags and scores 2-2. Lind with Rios at third and two down, strikes out.
Top 4th: Blalock doubles to left. Byrd fly ball to Rios, Blalock to third. Cruz strikes out. Davis singles to centre, Blalock scores. 3-2 Texas. Saltalamacchia grounds to Hill flip to Overbay.
Bottom 4th: Rolen pops up to Kinsler. Overbay doubles to centre. Barajas strikes out. Snider grounds to Kinsler throw to first.
Top 5th: Andrus lines out to Scutaro. Breaks bat and umpire hit in the head and goes down unconscious. Not good, taken to hospital but is conscious as he leaves stadium. Kinsler grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay. Young strikes out.
Bottom 5th: Scutaro pops up to Cruz.Hill at bat one down, gets hold of this one and into left field seats behind bullpen. 3-3 game. Rios lines out to Cruz. Wells grounds to short Andrus to Davis at first.
Top 6th: Hamilton grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay. Blalock pops up to Scutaro.
Byrd infield single to second. Cruz strikes out. 79 pitches for Halladay.
Bottom 6th: Lind fly ball out to left. Rolen fly ball to centre. Overbay 2-2 tonight. two down, full count and walks. Barajas grounds to Young at third flip to second to get Overbay.
Top 7th: Davis at bat, full count and strikes out number nine for Halladay. Saltalamacchia Doubles in to right corner bunting, Barajas throws to first for the out. Runner moves to third. Kinsler this one is out, two run home run over Rios head, 5-3 Texas. Young at bat, two down. grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the third out.
Bottom 7th: That’s it for McCarthy Eddie Guardado pitching Snider at bat, pops up to Davis at third, One down for Scutaro. Eddie did his job, pitching change. Jason Jennings Scutaro pops it up to shallow centre. Hill 1-3 tonight but solo home run. Pops up first pitch to shallow centre.
Top 8th: Hamilton singles over Scutaro head Blalock lines it to Hill throw to Overbay, double play. Byrd grounds it past Hill makes great diving stop and throws to Overbay for the out. Great highlight reel play by Hill. 106 pitches for Halladay.
Bottom 8th: Rios singles to Andrus, high throw by shortstop and Rios safe at first. Error on play. Wells with one on. grounds to third throw to first to get Vernon, Alex safe at second. That’s it for Jennings. Wilson now pitching. Lind at bat with Alex in scoring position. Singles into right centre and Rios scores. 5-4 Texas. Bautista pinch running for Lind. Rolen now, here comes Texas manager Washington, he uses up his bullpen fast ! Number five pitcher tonight. This is only the first game of series. Frank Francisco pitching to Rolen 0-3 tonight. Singles into centre, Bautista to third. Overbay with runner at third. 3-0 count, walks and bases loaded for Barajas. Lines hard to third good catch by Young. Snider now with bases loaded. First pitch and pops it up to centre. Oh boy.
Top 9th: League now pitching. Cruz fly ball out to Wells in centre, one down. Davis strikes out. Saltalamacchia with two down and strikes out. Nice inning by League.
Bottom 9th: And top of Jays order. Francisco still pitching Scutaro at bat, fly ball to Byrd in left one down. Hill now doubles into left corner. Rios at bat. Don’t bet on this one. First pitch grounds to short. I saved you some money at least. Hill to third but two are out. Wells at bat, takes first two strikes and pops it up to shallow left. Jays lose this one and Halladay is not impressed with Rios and Wells again tonight. This is one Jays should have won, Texas have their first away win.
Interesting piece online today.
Exposing what's real and what isn't after 2 weeks by Dayn Perry
Dayn Perry is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com and author of the blog Spolitical, which explores the relationship between sports and politics. He's presently at work on his second book, a biography of Reggie Jackson.
“We're merely toe-deep into the 2009 season, so it's unwise to make any lasting judgments based on what's transpired to date.
With that said, it's now time to make some lasting judgments based on what's transpired to date. Specifically, we're looking at hot starts — both on the team and individual level. Which of those players and teams enjoying the hot starts are likely to sustain, and which are primed to come hurtling back to earth? Let's find out “...
Back to Earth Toronto Blue Jays
Statistical Absurdity: They're on pace for 116 wins.
“At present, the Jays lead the brutal AL East, and, in a related matter, they're on pace to score more than 1,000 runs this season and out-slug their opponents by more than 100 points. It won't last.
This is a team that lost A.J. Burnett to free agency and Dustin McGowan and Shawn Marcum to injury, and while the offense should improve with young bats like Travis Snider and Adam Lind getting regular duty it's by no means an elite attack. At best, the Jays are a third-place team. Given time, they'll start playing like the good-but-not-great team that they are.”
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Jays win a close one with excellent pitching.
Toronto v Oakland series finale.
Lineups: Oakland: Sweeney, Cabrera, Giambi, Holliday, Cust, Chavez, Suzuki, Ellis, Powell and Braden pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios (still in there), Wells, Rolen, Millar, Overbay, Chavez, Snider and Romero pitching. This lineup has five of the first six with .300 plus averages. The one exception of course is Rios at .204 almost 100 points lower than the rest of the first five. You don’t realize how bad this guy is until you see the stats. Not many managers would persevere but Cito can be very stubborn at times.
Interesting sight as Romero is warming up first inning, Holliday in front of us is timing Romero with his swing. He is number four in the lineup! That's impressive preparation.
The good: Romero definitely. Overbay for the winning run and bullpen of Downs and Ryan for closing this one down. Not too many hits today only five per team. Great play by Wells, Hill and Chavez in 3rd to save run.
The bad: Rios on the field and at bat.
Top 1st: Sweeney pops up to Scutaro. Cabrera grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay. Crowd all over Giambi, he looks half the size he used to. Giambi lines out to Rios in right and Alex drops the ball. An easy catch. Don’t tell me his (lack of) hitting is not affecting his fielding. Giambi safe on the error. Holliday with one on strikes out but that is an additional six pitches for Romero. Hope that doesn’t hurt later.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro strikes out. Hill flied out to left fielder Holliday. Rios off the glove of Cabrera. Scorer very generous to Alex giving him a hit here, that was an error from here. But hard to see Alex’s average dip below .200 with his next at bat. Wells grounds back to pitcher Braden throw to Powell at first.
Top 2nd: Cust lines to Scutaro. Chavez strikes out. Suzuki strikes out.
Bottom 2nd: Millar walks on four pitches. Rolen pops up Ellis at second base. Braden wild pitch, and Millar moves to second. Overbay singles to centre, Millar in to score and Jay go ahead 1-0.
Chavez up from Vegas AAA for Barrett who could be out for several weeks pops up to Braden.Snider strikes out.
Top 3rd: Ellis singles to centre. Powell fly ball to Wells. Sweeney doubles to centre, Ellis to third and coming home but out on the relay from Hill to Chavez, nice play all round. Cabrera fly ball to Snider. That hurts now, if Ellis had held at third he would have scored on that fly ball.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro lines it at Cabrera, there’s an error given this time and Scutaro safe. Hill singles to right, Scutaro to second. Rios with two on and no outs but don’t bet on a sacrifice here. Alex fly ball to Sweeney. Wells fly ball to Holliday. Millar fly ball to Sweeney. Leaving the two hitters on base. If Alex could have sacrificed them over, at least one run would have scored from the three sacrifice flies. Little things at the time but let’s hope it doesn’t matter in the ninth.
Top 4th: Boos again must be Giambi, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. One down. Holliday strikes out. Cust strikes out. Romero continues to impress although pitch count getting high.
Bottom 4th: Rolen singles to right. Overbay strikes out. Chavez grounds to Ellis to Cabrera to Powell, double play ball. Romero not getting much run support today.
Top 5th: Chavez grounds to Scutaro to Overbay for the out.. Suzuki infield single to second. Ellis fly ball to Rios. He catches it this time and gets the sarcastic cheers. Powell full count and walks Suzuki to second. Two on two down for Sweeney, fly ball to Wells.
Bottom 5th:.Snider fly ball to Sweeney. Scutaro grounds to Cabrera on to Powell. Two down. Hill fly ball to Sweeney.
Top 6th: Cabrera fly ball to right fielder Rios. Giambi grounded out, shortstop Scutaro to first baseman Overbay. Holliday singles to centre. Cust strikes out.
Both pitchers are quick pitching. This game is humming along.
Bottom 6th: Rios pops up to Ellis.at second base. Wells walks. Millar grounds to Chavez on to Ellis and Powell, double play. That was a very quick inning.
Top 7th: Chavez grounds to Hill on to Overbay one down for Suzuki. Walks. Ellis grounds to Hill on to Scutaro and Overbay. Jays have their own double play.. Romero over the 100 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Rolen fly ball to Sweeney. Overbay fly ball out to Holliday. Chavez singles to right, Snider strikes out.
Crowd has been enjoiyng watching Yanklees losing again but now the video and sight of AJ Burnett giving up th two home runs is received with great applause... Aj donlt expect a great rceeption in May.
Top 8th: Downs now pitching. Powell strikes out. Everyone gets pizza Jays have seven strikeouts today.Sweeney strikes out.Cabrera grounds to Rolen on to Overbay.
Bottom 8th: Scutaro fly ball to left fielder Holliday. Hill walks on four pitches. Springer pitching. Rios flies out to Cust. Wells strikes out.
Top 9th: BJ Ryan now pitching. Everyone very nervous in the seats around me at least. One hit can tie this one up. Giambi leading off and with usual fan greetings grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Holliday singles to Rios. Cust strikes out. BJ is throwing high percentage of strikes and location so far great. Chavez grounds back to BJ soft throw to Overbay for final out and Jays have won another. Great pitching in this one from both starters but Romero deserved this one and so good to see BJ finish it off.
Day off tomorrow and then back again with Texas and Halladay pitching.
Lineups: Oakland: Sweeney, Cabrera, Giambi, Holliday, Cust, Chavez, Suzuki, Ellis, Powell and Braden pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios (still in there), Wells, Rolen, Millar, Overbay, Chavez, Snider and Romero pitching. This lineup has five of the first six with .300 plus averages. The one exception of course is Rios at .204 almost 100 points lower than the rest of the first five. You don’t realize how bad this guy is until you see the stats. Not many managers would persevere but Cito can be very stubborn at times.
Interesting sight as Romero is warming up first inning, Holliday in front of us is timing Romero with his swing. He is number four in the lineup! That's impressive preparation.
The good: Romero definitely. Overbay for the winning run and bullpen of Downs and Ryan for closing this one down. Not too many hits today only five per team. Great play by Wells, Hill and Chavez in 3rd to save run.
The bad: Rios on the field and at bat.
Top 1st: Sweeney pops up to Scutaro. Cabrera grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay. Crowd all over Giambi, he looks half the size he used to. Giambi lines out to Rios in right and Alex drops the ball. An easy catch. Don’t tell me his (lack of) hitting is not affecting his fielding. Giambi safe on the error. Holliday with one on strikes out but that is an additional six pitches for Romero. Hope that doesn’t hurt later.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro strikes out. Hill flied out to left fielder Holliday. Rios off the glove of Cabrera. Scorer very generous to Alex giving him a hit here, that was an error from here. But hard to see Alex’s average dip below .200 with his next at bat. Wells grounds back to pitcher Braden throw to Powell at first.
Top 2nd: Cust lines to Scutaro. Chavez strikes out. Suzuki strikes out.
Bottom 2nd: Millar walks on four pitches. Rolen pops up Ellis at second base. Braden wild pitch, and Millar moves to second. Overbay singles to centre, Millar in to score and Jay go ahead 1-0.
Chavez up from Vegas AAA for Barrett who could be out for several weeks pops up to Braden.Snider strikes out.
Top 3rd: Ellis singles to centre. Powell fly ball to Wells. Sweeney doubles to centre, Ellis to third and coming home but out on the relay from Hill to Chavez, nice play all round. Cabrera fly ball to Snider. That hurts now, if Ellis had held at third he would have scored on that fly ball.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro lines it at Cabrera, there’s an error given this time and Scutaro safe. Hill singles to right, Scutaro to second. Rios with two on and no outs but don’t bet on a sacrifice here. Alex fly ball to Sweeney. Wells fly ball to Holliday. Millar fly ball to Sweeney. Leaving the two hitters on base. If Alex could have sacrificed them over, at least one run would have scored from the three sacrifice flies. Little things at the time but let’s hope it doesn’t matter in the ninth.
Top 4th: Boos again must be Giambi, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. One down. Holliday strikes out. Cust strikes out. Romero continues to impress although pitch count getting high.
Bottom 4th: Rolen singles to right. Overbay strikes out. Chavez grounds to Ellis to Cabrera to Powell, double play ball. Romero not getting much run support today.
Top 5th: Chavez grounds to Scutaro to Overbay for the out.. Suzuki infield single to second. Ellis fly ball to Rios. He catches it this time and gets the sarcastic cheers. Powell full count and walks Suzuki to second. Two on two down for Sweeney, fly ball to Wells.
Bottom 5th:.Snider fly ball to Sweeney. Scutaro grounds to Cabrera on to Powell. Two down. Hill fly ball to Sweeney.
Top 6th: Cabrera fly ball to right fielder Rios. Giambi grounded out, shortstop Scutaro to first baseman Overbay. Holliday singles to centre. Cust strikes out.
Both pitchers are quick pitching. This game is humming along.
Bottom 6th: Rios pops up to Ellis.at second base. Wells walks. Millar grounds to Chavez on to Ellis and Powell, double play. That was a very quick inning.
Top 7th: Chavez grounds to Hill on to Overbay one down for Suzuki. Walks. Ellis grounds to Hill on to Scutaro and Overbay. Jays have their own double play.. Romero over the 100 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Rolen fly ball to Sweeney. Overbay fly ball out to Holliday. Chavez singles to right, Snider strikes out.
Crowd has been enjoiyng watching Yanklees losing again but now the video and sight of AJ Burnett giving up th two home runs is received with great applause... Aj donlt expect a great rceeption in May.
Top 8th: Downs now pitching. Powell strikes out. Everyone gets pizza Jays have seven strikeouts today.Sweeney strikes out.Cabrera grounds to Rolen on to Overbay.
Bottom 8th: Scutaro fly ball to left fielder Holliday. Hill walks on four pitches. Springer pitching. Rios flies out to Cust. Wells strikes out.
Top 9th: BJ Ryan now pitching. Everyone very nervous in the seats around me at least. One hit can tie this one up. Giambi leading off and with usual fan greetings grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Holliday singles to Rios. Cust strikes out. BJ is throwing high percentage of strikes and location so far great. Chavez grounds back to BJ soft throw to Overbay for final out and Jays have won another. Great pitching in this one from both starters but Romero deserved this one and so good to see BJ finish it off.
Day off tomorrow and then back again with Texas and Halladay pitching.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Jays win 4-2 in extra innings.
Toronto v Oakland
Lineups: Oakland: Sweeney, Cabrera, Giambi, Holliday, Cust, Suzuki, Ellis, Crosby, Davis, and Cahill pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Bautista, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Tallet pitching.
The only surprise here is why is Rios still in the lineup? Bite the bullet Cito and sit this guy. You have very good bats sitting on the bench. He obviously thinks that he can hide Alex in a lineup that has Snider hitting number nine.
Jays win this one in extra innings. Tallet does his job to keep it close but the bullpen is getting mighty tired. Rios continues slump but does have one hit but the 1-20 is hardly a number three production.
The good: Tallet 5 1/3 innings and keeping Jays in this one. Bullpen of Camp. Downs, Ryan, Carlson and Frasor scoreless 6 2/3 relief. BUT Cito these guys are getting far too much work this early in the season. Overbay two hit game including great walk off home run to win this one. Scutaro stolen base. Barajas getting one stealing. BJ getting pickoff and Davis caught stealing. Downs and Camp still have 0.00 ERAs. BJ is getting his down each outing.
The bad: Rios again. Winning run on third in the ninth but could not bring it in.
Top 1st: Sweeney lines one off Tallet’s hand. Tallet wild throw and Sweeney now moves to third. Error on Tallet. Cabrera grounds to Hill on to Overbay. Giambi grounds to DScutaro throw to Overbay for the out Sweeney scores and 1-0 Oakland. Holliday grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro grounds to third base Crosby on to first base Giambi. Hill grounds to short Cabrera on to Giambi. Two down for Alex. Rios grounds to third base Crosby on to Giambi and Alex continues where he has left off in last three games.
Top 2nd: Cust doubles to left. Suzuki strikes out one down. Ellis pops out to Overbay. Crosby fly ball to Rios. No damage done and Tallet eating up the innings.
Bottom 2nd: Wells grounds to Cahill on to Giambi. One down for Lind, singles to left and keeps his hot bat going. Alex you should borrow one. Bautista grounds to Cabrera on to Giambi, Two down. Lind to second. Overbay walks. Barajas lines out to Cabrera.
Top 3rd: Davis grounds back to Tallet on to Overbay, one down. Sweeney walks. Cabrera grounds to Hill out at first, Sweeney to second. Giambi pops up to Scutaro.
Bottom 3rd: Snider grounds to Ellis on to Giambi, one down. Scutaro full count and walks. Hill lines out to Crosby. Rios (finally) beats out the infield single to third, Scutaro to second. Wells grounds back to Cahill on to Giambi for third out and leaves two on.
Top 4th: Holliday fly ball to Snider. Cust fly ball Lind. Suzuki fly ball to Rios. That’s the way to go friends, put that ball in play.
Bottom 4th: Lind walks. Bautista sacrificing, pitcher to Giambi, Lind to second. One down for Overbay another walk. Barajas full count and third walk of inning to load them up. Lind to third, Overbay to second. Snider with bases loaded grounds to Giambi throw to second to get Barajas. Lind scores. 1-1. Overbay to third. Scutaro hit by pitch, bases loaded again. Snider to second. Hill at bat with bases loaded grounds to Cabrera great throw to Giambi to get Aaron. This could have been much better for Jays.
Top 5th: Ellis fly ball to Rios. Crosby grounds to Bautista on to Overbay two down. Davis pops up to Hill.
Bottom 5th: Rios grounds to Cabrera on to Giambi for first out. Alex still struggling. Wells doubles to left. Lind strikes out. Bautista fly ball to Sweeney. Vernon left out there.
Top 6th: Sweeney doubles to centre. Cabrera fouls out to Snider, Sweeney to third. Giambi doubles to right Sweeney scores easily. 2-1 Oakland. Passed ball to Barajas, Giambi to third. That’s it for Tallet today, he has done a nice job holding Oakland today. Camp now pitching. Holliday lines out to Scutaro. Two down. Cust strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Overbay doubles to centre. Barajas sacrificing to Giambi flip to Ellis for the out but Overbay to third with one out and Snider once again. Singles to rght Overbay scires 2-2 game. Snider does it again.That’s it for Cahill. Wuertz now pitching. Scutaro fly ball to Holliday. Hill infield single to third, Snider to second. Rios with two on strikes out.
Top 7th: Suzuki grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay. Ellis strikes out. Crosby full count and walks. Davis singles to right, Crosby to second. That’s it for Camp. Downs now pitching. Sweeney grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 7th: Springer pitching. Wells pops up to Ellis. Lind lines out to Sweeney in right. Bautista strikes out.
Top 8th: Cabrera safe on Hill's error. Giambi pops up Scutaro. Cabrera has to hold. Holliday strikes out. Two down. Cabrera stealing and Barajas nails him to end this inning.
Bottom 8th: Casilla now pitching. Overbay grounds to Ellis on to Giambi. One down for Barajas pops up to Ellis. Snider pops up to Sweeney.
Top 9th: Cust grounds back to Downs on to Overbay. Suzuki grounds to Overbay flip to Downs. Two down. Ellis fly ball to Snider. Good inning for Downs.
Bottom 9th: Scutaro full count and walks. Hill fly ball to Davis, Scutaro moves to second. Alex at bat at least he cannot ground into double play. Scutaro to third. Rios, not swinging here, full count and walks.Two on and only one down for Vernon. Wells grounds to Ellis throw to catcher Suzuki to get Scutaro in a run down, Rios to second. Lind strikes out. This is extra innings, Jays had golden chance there.
Top 10th: Ryan now pitching. Crosby fly ball to Rios. Davis full count and walks. Sweeney strikes out. Two down. Davis stealing, Ryan to Overbay to shortstop Scutaro, Davis out.
Bottom 10th: Giese now pitching, has just been recalled from AAA. Bautista full count and walks. Overbay grounds Ellis on to shortstop Cabrera, Bautista out. Barajas fly ball to Holliday. Snider fly ball to Sweeney. No one wants to win this one.
Top 11th: - Carlson pitching. He seems to be in every game. Cito you are playing with fire with this relief. Cabrera fly ball to Rios. Giambi grounds back to Carlson on to Overbay. Holliday grounds to Bautista on to Overbay for third out. Carlson has done his job, Jays get second chance to win this one.
Bottom 11th: Scutaro fly ball to right Sweeney. Hill fly ball to Holliday. Two down for Alex, grounds to Cabrera on to Giambi. And we go to the twelfth.
Top 12th: Cust strikes out. That’s it for Carlson. Frasor now pitching. Suzuki lines out to Rios. Ellis fouls out to Overbay. Jays get another chance to wrap this one up.
Bottom 12th: Wells fly ball to Davis. Lind grounds to Ellis on to Giambi at first. Two down for Bautista, walks. One on for Overbay. Now not a time to be hesitant Lyle, that’s better, gets hold of this one in big way huge home run to right and this game is over.
Walk off home run and Jays win this one 4-2 No better way to win a game and send crowd home happy.
Chavez has been recalled from AAA to replace Barrett injured last night. I like Chavez and his defence, great arm.
Lineups: Oakland: Sweeney, Cabrera, Giambi, Holliday, Cust, Suzuki, Ellis, Crosby, Davis, and Cahill pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Bautista, Overbay, Barajas, Snider and Tallet pitching.
The only surprise here is why is Rios still in the lineup? Bite the bullet Cito and sit this guy. You have very good bats sitting on the bench. He obviously thinks that he can hide Alex in a lineup that has Snider hitting number nine.
Jays win this one in extra innings. Tallet does his job to keep it close but the bullpen is getting mighty tired. Rios continues slump but does have one hit but the 1-20 is hardly a number three production.
The good: Tallet 5 1/3 innings and keeping Jays in this one. Bullpen of Camp. Downs, Ryan, Carlson and Frasor scoreless 6 2/3 relief. BUT Cito these guys are getting far too much work this early in the season. Overbay two hit game including great walk off home run to win this one. Scutaro stolen base. Barajas getting one stealing. BJ getting pickoff and Davis caught stealing. Downs and Camp still have 0.00 ERAs. BJ is getting his down each outing.
The bad: Rios again. Winning run on third in the ninth but could not bring it in.
Top 1st: Sweeney lines one off Tallet’s hand. Tallet wild throw and Sweeney now moves to third. Error on Tallet. Cabrera grounds to Hill on to Overbay. Giambi grounds to DScutaro throw to Overbay for the out Sweeney scores and 1-0 Oakland. Holliday grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro grounds to third base Crosby on to first base Giambi. Hill grounds to short Cabrera on to Giambi. Two down for Alex. Rios grounds to third base Crosby on to Giambi and Alex continues where he has left off in last three games.
Top 2nd: Cust doubles to left. Suzuki strikes out one down. Ellis pops out to Overbay. Crosby fly ball to Rios. No damage done and Tallet eating up the innings.
Bottom 2nd: Wells grounds to Cahill on to Giambi. One down for Lind, singles to left and keeps his hot bat going. Alex you should borrow one. Bautista grounds to Cabrera on to Giambi, Two down. Lind to second. Overbay walks. Barajas lines out to Cabrera.
Top 3rd: Davis grounds back to Tallet on to Overbay, one down. Sweeney walks. Cabrera grounds to Hill out at first, Sweeney to second. Giambi pops up to Scutaro.
Bottom 3rd: Snider grounds to Ellis on to Giambi, one down. Scutaro full count and walks. Hill lines out to Crosby. Rios (finally) beats out the infield single to third, Scutaro to second. Wells grounds back to Cahill on to Giambi for third out and leaves two on.
Top 4th: Holliday fly ball to Snider. Cust fly ball Lind. Suzuki fly ball to Rios. That’s the way to go friends, put that ball in play.
Bottom 4th: Lind walks. Bautista sacrificing, pitcher to Giambi, Lind to second. One down for Overbay another walk. Barajas full count and third walk of inning to load them up. Lind to third, Overbay to second. Snider with bases loaded grounds to Giambi throw to second to get Barajas. Lind scores. 1-1. Overbay to third. Scutaro hit by pitch, bases loaded again. Snider to second. Hill at bat with bases loaded grounds to Cabrera great throw to Giambi to get Aaron. This could have been much better for Jays.
Top 5th: Ellis fly ball to Rios. Crosby grounds to Bautista on to Overbay two down. Davis pops up to Hill.
Bottom 5th: Rios grounds to Cabrera on to Giambi for first out. Alex still struggling. Wells doubles to left. Lind strikes out. Bautista fly ball to Sweeney. Vernon left out there.
Top 6th: Sweeney doubles to centre. Cabrera fouls out to Snider, Sweeney to third. Giambi doubles to right Sweeney scores easily. 2-1 Oakland. Passed ball to Barajas, Giambi to third. That’s it for Tallet today, he has done a nice job holding Oakland today. Camp now pitching. Holliday lines out to Scutaro. Two down. Cust strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Overbay doubles to centre. Barajas sacrificing to Giambi flip to Ellis for the out but Overbay to third with one out and Snider once again. Singles to rght Overbay scires 2-2 game. Snider does it again.That’s it for Cahill. Wuertz now pitching. Scutaro fly ball to Holliday. Hill infield single to third, Snider to second. Rios with two on strikes out.
Top 7th: Suzuki grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay. Ellis strikes out. Crosby full count and walks. Davis singles to right, Crosby to second. That’s it for Camp. Downs now pitching. Sweeney grounds to Scutaro on to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 7th: Springer pitching. Wells pops up to Ellis. Lind lines out to Sweeney in right. Bautista strikes out.
Top 8th: Cabrera safe on Hill's error. Giambi pops up Scutaro. Cabrera has to hold. Holliday strikes out. Two down. Cabrera stealing and Barajas nails him to end this inning.
Bottom 8th: Casilla now pitching. Overbay grounds to Ellis on to Giambi. One down for Barajas pops up to Ellis. Snider pops up to Sweeney.
Top 9th: Cust grounds back to Downs on to Overbay. Suzuki grounds to Overbay flip to Downs. Two down. Ellis fly ball to Snider. Good inning for Downs.
Bottom 9th: Scutaro full count and walks. Hill fly ball to Davis, Scutaro moves to second. Alex at bat at least he cannot ground into double play. Scutaro to third. Rios, not swinging here, full count and walks.Two on and only one down for Vernon. Wells grounds to Ellis throw to catcher Suzuki to get Scutaro in a run down, Rios to second. Lind strikes out. This is extra innings, Jays had golden chance there.
Top 10th: Ryan now pitching. Crosby fly ball to Rios. Davis full count and walks. Sweeney strikes out. Two down. Davis stealing, Ryan to Overbay to shortstop Scutaro, Davis out.
Bottom 10th: Giese now pitching, has just been recalled from AAA. Bautista full count and walks. Overbay grounds Ellis on to shortstop Cabrera, Bautista out. Barajas fly ball to Holliday. Snider fly ball to Sweeney. No one wants to win this one.
Top 11th: - Carlson pitching. He seems to be in every game. Cito you are playing with fire with this relief. Cabrera fly ball to Rios. Giambi grounds back to Carlson on to Overbay. Holliday grounds to Bautista on to Overbay for third out. Carlson has done his job, Jays get second chance to win this one.
Bottom 11th: Scutaro fly ball to right Sweeney. Hill fly ball to Holliday. Two down for Alex, grounds to Cabrera on to Giambi. And we go to the twelfth.
Top 12th: Cust strikes out. That’s it for Carlson. Frasor now pitching. Suzuki lines out to Rios. Ellis fouls out to Overbay. Jays get another chance to wrap this one up.
Bottom 12th: Wells fly ball to Davis. Lind grounds to Ellis on to Giambi at first. Two down for Bautista, walks. One on for Overbay. Now not a time to be hesitant Lyle, that’s better, gets hold of this one in big way huge home run to right and this game is over.
Walk off home run and Jays win this one 4-2 No better way to win a game and send crowd home happy.
Chavez has been recalled from AAA to replace Barrett injured last night. I like Chavez and his defence, great arm.
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