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.

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