Jays keep on slumping as they lose another home series.

Toronto v Tampa Game two of three.

Lineups Rays: Upton, Crawford, Aybar, Pena, Zobrist, Burrell, Gross, Bartlett, Navarro and Garza pitching.
Jays: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Overbay, Rios, Adams, Chavez and Richmond pitching.

Jays lots of hits but not when it counted. Same old story but this loss and losing series hurts bigtime. There are fifteen more against Rays and Jays do not even look as if they belong in same ballpark. They are playing very badly right now up and down the lineup, their defense is saving them from even larger blowouts, the pitching is in tatters, starters and bullpen. Problem is they have lots of games now against the top three in their division and have not beaten any of them convincingly yet. This could be a very ugly second half of the season.

The good: Nothing tonight for Jays at least. Well, Hill at least, two hits, the only double tonight by a Jay and a superb defensive play. Tomorrow at least the Jays fans can enjoy the fireworks after the game. Downs out since June 18 with a sore toe, threw off the bullpen mound and will try fielding drills in the coming days, manager Cito Gaston said. Downs is eligible to come off the DL on Friday when Jays open series in New York. ...The bad news of course is that unless they are winning he will not get chance to pitch or save !!! But at least one back…..

The bad: Far too much, poor situational hitting, terrible pitching, out managed, outhit, not much more left is there? Hill the only player with an extra base hit. Terrible. Richmond five walks. Carlson and League also joining the fun with one each. Tallet the other night six walks. This team will not win many games like that. Jays 0/7 with runners in scoring position but amazingly Rays were 0/6 so the Jays get a break !!! Another series lost at home and fighting tomorrow to avoid the sweep but I would imagine that Madden will give his first team a rest and put out the reserves. Toronto has scored just six runs in losing four in a row.

Top 1st: Upton, there she goes, first pitch, home run to left centre and Rays go out 1-0. Crawford strikes out. Aybar fly ball to Wells. Pena grounds to Hill throw to Overbay but Rays are off and running once more.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro fly ball to Upton in centre. Hill strikes out. Wells grounds to Aybar throw to Pena. Three up and down.

Top 2nd: Zobrist walks. Burrell full count and walks, Zobrist to second. Two leadoff walks ??? Richmond has a way to go yet to be ready for majors rotation. Zobrist now picked off by Richmond to Scutaro, Joe Maddon will not like that play. Zobrist out. Gross strikes out. Bartlett doubles to left, Burrell to third but that would have scored Zobrist. Navarro strikes out.
Bottom 2nd: Rolen singles to centre. His consecutive hit streak now eighteen games. Lind singles to centre, Rolen to third. Jays have something going for a change. Overbay grounds to Zobrist flip to Bartlett on to Pena double play.Rolen scores. 1-1 Rays. Rios singles to right but no one on base. Adams fly ball to Upton in centre. One run from three hits.

Top 3rd: Upton fly ball to Rios. Crawford there it goes another home run into right, what a great swing this guy has, he must love it here. 2-1 Rays. Jays cannot even enjoy tying that up last inning. Aybar grounds to Overbay flip to Richmond. Two down for Pena, strikes out.
Bottom 3rd: Chavez grounds out to short Bartlett throw to first base Pena. Scutaro walks. Hill singles to left, Scutaro to second. Scutaro walks, Hill singles to centre, two on one down for Wells. full count, pops up to shallow centre, runners have to hold, Two down for Rolen. Grounds to Bartlett at short throw to Zobrist at second to end this one.

Top 4th: Zobrist, singles to right. Burrell, pops up first pitch to Rolen. One down for Gross, grounds hard to right, Hill dives to his left rolls over and throws a strike, for second out. What a play!! That saved at run. Bartlett, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 4th: Lind lines hard to right, great catch by Pena at first, saves a double. One down for Overbay. Fly ball to Crawford. Rios, grounds to Bartlett, throw to Pena at first for third out.

Top 5th: Navarro, full count and Richmond walks the leadoff number none hitter. Upton strikes out. One down for Crawford. 3-0 count, Richmond ultra careful to the extreme, grounds to Overbay throw to Scutaro to tag out Navarro, double play ball.
Bottom 5th: Jays hitters are still not lighting up the scoreboard yet in this series. Two runs in 13 innings will not get them far in this division. Adams called third strike, gotta swing in the majors Russ. One down for Chavez, grounds to third, throw bounces but still gets Chavez, not much speed there. Certainly not compared to all the Rays speedsters. Two down and back to the real hitters. Scutaro, full count, and walks him, excellent at bat by Scutaro. Hill with one on and two down. Doubles into the gap in centre. Wells now with two in scoring position but two down. High fly ball to Crawford in centre, problem Vernon is that there are two outs and that makes three. Two more left in scoring position and once again Vernon is unable to cash in.

Top 6th: Aybar there it goes another home run to right into Rays bullpen. 3-1 Rays. always the way when Jays fail to capitalize in last inning when they had their chance. Rays now have hit 41 home runs in June a new team record. Pena grounds to Hill playing behind Overbay. One down. Zobrist. The other problem that Jays have with Rays is that they have to lay another 15 yes 15 more games against them. Rays can’t wait. Walks him. Burrell, with Zobrist at first. Now Richmond has to keep him at first, strikes out. Two down for Gross. 3-0 count. Richmond in trouble again. Walks on four pitches, two on and two down for Bartlett, the best two strike hitter in the majors, strikes out on three pitches. Now if he only had some run support. But that is what Halladay also said and most of the rotation recently. The bats have gone south, deep south, Two runs in 15 innings and counting. 93 pitches for Richmond.
Bottom 6th: Rolen, one to get it going if anyone can. Pops up to second Zobrist. Lind singles to right. Gross throw to Bartlett, Lind is out at second. One of those nights. Weeks…... Overbay strikes out.

Top 7th: Navarro grounds to Overbay. Upton grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Crawford grounds to short. Safe at first. Aybar, Crawford stealing, but out at second great throw by Chavez to Scutaro.
Bottom 7th: Rios grounds back to Garza throw to Zobrist on to Pena at first. Adams grounds to Zobrist throw to Pena. Two down for Chavez. Chavez singles to centre. One on two down for Scutaro, fly ball to Upton for third out.

Top 8th: Carlson pitching. Aybar singles to left. Pena doubles to right, Aybar to third.Two in scoring position for Zobrist, sac fly to Wells, Aybar scores, it is called execution Cito. We don’t see much of that around here from your team. 4-1 Rays. And the clincher for any comeback hopes. Carlson just not in this one either. Burrell intentional walk. Longoria pinch-hitting for Gross as if the Rays need more power !!! League now pitching. Longoria fly ball to Rios, Pena to third. Bartlett strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Kapler in at right field. Hill walks. They need base runners here. Bradford now pitching. Wells singles to centre, Hill to second. Two on and no outs, that run in last inning is huge now. Rolen fly ball to Upton, Hill to third. Choate now pitching.Maddon taking no chances here. Playing the percentages. Lind strikes out. Overbay fly ball to Crawford. Lyle is now 0-13 last at bats.

Top 9th: Navarro grounds to Overbay. Upton 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Cecil now pitching, his first career relief appearance. Upton at first, One down for Crawford, fly ball to Wells, Aybar with two down. Singles to left to Adams. Pena, fly ball to Adams for third out.
Bottom 9th: What can Jays bring to this now? Rios to start. Howell pitching, Alex his usual, waves weakly at ball outside. Grounds next one to second, throw to first. One down. Bautista pinch hitting. Full count, and walks, one on one down. Barajas, pinch hitting. It is not the score here you just know that no way will they even threaten, whereas in April May this team was never out of any game.. Fly ball to right two down. Scutaro with two down and one on. Grounds to Aybar. Throw to first and Jays lose this one 4-1. They have scored only two runs in eighteen innings. Not good at all. Are now three behind Rays in third place and eight behind Boston.

Garza now 4-2 with a 0.60 ERA in his past six starts against Jays. He is 2-2 with a 0.91 ERA in four career starts in Toronto. Somehow I think he has their number. Save number six for Howell.

Tampa v Toronto. Game one of three.

Lineups: Tampa: Upton, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Aybar, Burrell, Gross, Bartlett, Navarro and Neimann pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Overbay, Bautista, Barajas, Adams and Halladay pitching.

The unknown tonight, Halladay back from that groin pull, everyone hoping that he will be ok. Jays facing an unknown rookie pitcher Niemann and you know that always spells trouble for this side.
Plus Tampa on a five game win streak, a game ahead of Jays. Jays on two game losing slide and not playing well at all. Hard to play back to back series against both World Series teams !!! That must be a first. But Jays will get a measure of their own abilities and gaps from manager down. Joe Maddon is one of my top five Managers, I love his style, always managing and has amazing results from a young virtually unknown group since last season. And worse they appear to be getting going now after slow start. Jays are going in opposite direction.

The good: Halladay and Barajas both seemingly ok from their injuries. Rolen continues his hit streak to sixteen. Hill’s amazing defence, two Tampa players caught stealing, two double plays turned. This could have been very much worse than 4-1 tonight, but ominous signs for the rest of the season if Tampa continues to out pressure on every at bat. This team is young, very fast, full of good hitters and evidently has great pitching and Joe Maddon. I liked them last season and so far tonight I was very impressed with them. By comparison, Jays look flat and are playing uninspiring baseball.

The bad: Jays hitters all night long. Where is Cito? Tampa running all night, five steal attempt with three successful and two unsuccessful. Tampa now has major league-leading total 121. This will be a long series but Chavez’s arm may have better luck if he is playing tomorrow. Jays are not having much luck against any of the top three inn the division so far. Perhaps second half of the season will help.

Top 1st: Upton strikes out. Crawford singled to centre. Longoria at bat, Crawford stealing easily safe at second. Barajas, you will be having a long night with this running team they already have 100 stolen bases to go with their hundred home runs. Longoria walks. Halladay in trouble already. Two on and one down. Pena grounds to Hill throw to short Scutaro over to first base Overbay, double play gets Halladay out of this quickly.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro lined out to second baseman Aybar. Hill fouled out to first baseman Pena. Wells grounded out, third baseman Longoria to first baseman Pena, Three up and down for Neimann. He is one big guy. 6’ 9. And 280 lbs.

Top 2nd: Aybar strikes out. Burrell strikes out. Number three already for Halladay a good sign. Is using his cutter pitch for success so far. Gross singles to centre. Bartlett singles to centre. Gross to third. Navarro fouls out to Rolen.
Bottom 2nd: Rolen doubles to right. Now one on and no outs, surely they can bring him in here. Lind fly ball to centre field Upton. Overbay at bat, Rolen stealing third and safe. Overbay grounds to shortstop Bartlett throw to first base Pena. No chance for Rolen to come home. Bautista walks. Adams pops up to Upton. Jays same old season long inability to produce with runners in scoring position.
Top 3rd: Upton full count and walks. Upton going and safe on throw and ball sails into centre to allow Upton to move to third. Barajas' throwing error, Upton to third. Crawford at bat with one on, no doubt about this, one home run the minute it left the bat. Upton and Crawford score and Rays go out 2-0. Longoria strikes out. Pena strikes out. Aybar grounds to Overbay flip to Halladay.
Bottom 3rd: Barajas fouls out to catcher Navarro. Scutaro strikes out. Hill fly ball to left field Crawford.

Top 4th: Burrell grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. Gross singles to right and trying to make it two. Out on the throw by Bautista in right to Scutaro. Two down for Bartlett, strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Wells infield single to third. Rolen grounds to third base Longoria throw to second base Aybar on to first base Pena, double play. Lind fly ball to right field Gross.

Top 5th: Navarro lines out to Hill. Oh my, what an incredible catch, Hill leaping high and appeared to have no chance with that one, but catches it. Crowd around me cannot believe they just saw that. Hill saved a double at least there for Halladay. Upton strikes out. Crawford grounds to third base Rolen throw to Overbay at first. Neimann having no problems with this Jays side tonight.
Bottom 5th: Overbay fly ball to Upton. Bautista fly ball to Gross. Adams grounds to Longoria throw to Pena.

Top 6th: Longoria fly ball to Bautista. Pena grounds to first base Overbay. Aybar lines out to first base Overbay.
Bottom 6th: Barajas fouls out to Longoria. Scutaro pops up to Aybar. Hill fly ball to Crawford. That was quick.

Top 7th: Accardo pitching. Is this intentional or does it mean that Halladay is injured yet again. Burrell, this is trouble, home run to left just over wall into Jays bullpen. 3-0 Tampa. Gross walks. Bartlett at bat, Gross is going, and out at second, great throw by Barajas to Hill, Gross out. Bartlett singles to centre. That hurts Tampa now.Navarro at bat, Bartlett stealing and safe at second. Navarro singles to right, Bartlett to third. Upton sac fly to Bautista, Bartlett scores, 4-0 Tampa. Navarro is going, and caught stealing, Barajas to Scutaro, Navarro out.
Bottom 7th: Wells pops up to Aybar. Rolen grounds to Longoria at third, throw to first base Pena. Lind singles to left.Two on and one out. Overbay grounds to second base Aybar to first base Pena.

Top 8th: BJ Ryan pitching. Crawford walks. Hello Cito ….. Longoria grounds to Hill to shortstop Scutaro to first base Overbay, Crawford out. Double play. Second timely double play for Jays at least. Pena grounds to Hill to throw to first base Overbay. BJ will reduce his ERA once again with that inning.
Bottom 8th: Bautista full count and walks. Adams grounds to first base Pena unassisted, Bautista to second. Barajas singles to right, here comes Bautista. 4-1 Tampa. Johnny Mc pinch-running for Barajas. Just be careful Johnny Mc. Wheeler now pitching. Scutaro fly ball to centre field Upton. Hill pops up to Aybar.

Top 9th: Chavez in as catcher. Camp pitching. Aybar fly ball to Bautista. Burrell strikes out. Gross fly ball to Bautista.
Bottom 9th: Zobrist in at second. Wells pops up to Upton. Rolen strikes out. Lind singles to center. Here comes Maddon, not going to let this one get away. I just realized that we have not seen Cito tonight !!! He has not been out of the dugout all game long. Such a contrast with Maddon. Every play is a chess move for him. Choate now pitching. Overbay fly ball to Crawford and that’s the game tonight. One the Jays certainly want to forget.

Jays lose the opener 4-1 and Tampa moves two up on them as they sink further in the standings.

Jays give one away, Hill the bright light today with two home runs.

Toronto v Phillies series finale.

Lineups: Philadelphia: Victorino, Werth, Utley, Howard, Mayberry, Feliz, Coste, Bruntlett, Ruiz, and Moyer pitching. Moyer 46 and still pitching out there. 5-6 this season. He beat Tampa in his last start on Tuesday.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Overbay, Bautista, Chavez, and Tallet pitching.

The very good: Hill with his first multi home run game of his career. Wells catch in the sixth to get Howard and also save a run.
The good: Rolen hit streak now sixteen games and he is 32-66 .485 since that streak started June 8.
The bad: If Cito has to rely on Adams to pinch hit for him with bases loaded and the game on the line then he is in deep trouble. I can’t believe that there is not a better bench player in Vegas. Either Coats .321 or Ruiz .322 would be better than this guy. Kyle Phillips has a .338 average. Give them a chance JP and Cito. He talks about experience but leaves Millar on the bench for Adams? Nine walks by Jays pitchers, a season high. You can see why Cito gets so mad with them, just throw strikes guys. Tallet walks six, a career high or should that be career low ? Besides Hill, Rolen, Bautista and Chavez the rest of Jays were hitless. Although Scutaro, Lind and Overbay did get on base. So I guess the culprits today were Vernon and Alex who did not even get to talk to Howard at first. Tallet far too many walks.


Top 1st: Great crowd here today, well over 30,000. Victorino strikes out. Werth full count and walks. Utley doubles to right, Werth to third. Tallet already in trouble, one down and two in scoring position. Howard strikes out. Mayberry fly ball to Rios.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro fly ball to Werth in right. Hill, yes Aaron, gets hold of this one and this one has gone, home run to left, just inside the foul pole but it counts, and Jays go out 1-0 Jays. Hill never ceases to amaze this season so far. Home run number 18 and a new team record for second base. Alomar hit 17 in 1993 and Hill tied the mark in 2007 so maybe it should not be unexpected. And of course Aaron missed most of last season with his concussion injury. Wells grounds to Feliz at third throw to first base Howard. Rolen grounds back to Moyer throw to Howard at first but Jays have the lead.

Top 2nd. Feliz strikes out. Coste 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Bruntlett fly ball to Wells. Two down for Ruiz, lines to Rolen.
Bottom 2nd: Lind grounds to short Bruntlett throw to Howard at first. One down for Rios fly ball to Victorino in centre, two down. Overbay full count and walks, we missed you yesterday Lyle. Bautista gets hold of this one to centre, home run Overbay scores, Bautista scores and Jays go out quickly here. 3-0 Jays. Chavez doubles to centre. Two down for Scutaro grounds to Feliz at third throw to Howard at first.

Top 3rd: Victorino singles to left. Werth 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Victorino to second. Utley strikes out. Howard, passed ball, both runners move up, Victorino to third, Werth to second. Howard grounds to Overbay, Victorino scores. 3-1 Jays. Werth to third. Mayberry, strikes out.
Bottom 3rd: Hill gets hold of another, first pitch, home run to left, just over the wall, his second of the game and 2-2. Number 19 on the season. There was a time when most players would love twenty in a season !!! 4-1 Jays. Hill is just unbelievable this season so far at least. Wells grounds to second base Utley throw to Howard at first. Rolen doubles to centre. Scott extends his hit streak to career high sixteen games. Lind 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Two on and one down for Rios. Strikes out. Overbay, strikes out. Jays keep giving up these great opportunities all season long.

Top 4th: Feliz singles to left. Coste full count and walks, Feliz to second. Bruntlett bunt single to third, Feliz to third, Coste to second. Ruiz grounds to Rolen throw to Hill to get Bruntlett but no double play here as Feliz scores. 4-2 Jays. Coste to third. Victorino sac fly to Wells, Coste scores two down. 4-3 Jays. Werth singles to left, Ruiz to second. Utley lashes this one to centre, off the wall and trouble. Ruiz scores, Werth scores a triple for Utley.5-4 Phillies. Howard with Utley at third grounds to Overbay flip to Tallet. But Phillies have gone ahead in this one as Jays give up yet another good lead.
Bottom 4th: Bautista fly ball to right field Werth. Chavez strikes out. Scutaro grounds to short Bruntlett throw to first base Howard.

Top 5th: Mayberry strikes out. Feliz grounds to Hill throw to Overbay. Coste singles to left. Bruntlett grounds to short Scutaro to second base Hill, Coste out.
Bottom 5th: Hill strikes out. Wells fly ball to left field Mayberry. Rolen hit by pitch. Lind grounds to Utley at second throw to first base Howard.

Top 6th: Ruiz grounds to third and beats throw. Victorino pops up Rolen. Werth full count and walks, Ruiz to second. Utley at bat, Ruiz stealing but out at third Chavez has good arm. Werth moves to second. Utley full count and walks. Howard lines this one to centre, a great catch by Wells over the shoulder, whoa highlight reel play Vernon. Ruiz out looks good now to Jays, that would have been sac fly and a run for Werth.
Bottom 6th: Park now pitching. Rios fly ball to Werth. Overbay lines to Werth in right. Two down for Bautista grounds to Utley at second throw to first base Howard for third out.

Top 7th: League now pitching. Mayberry strikes out. Feliz strikes out. Stairs pinch-hitting for Coste. A nice reception for this crowd, Toronto fans have not forgotten Matt. Singles to left. Bautista’s throw to Hill gets Stairs. One base too many Matt.
Bottom 7th: Stairs in as designated hitter. Chavez grounds to second base Utley throw to first base Howard. Scutaro strikes out. Hill grounds back to Park throw to Utley at second base throw to Howard at first. Park has done his job. Six consecutive outs.
Top 8th: Accardo pitching. Bruntlett grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay one down. Ruiz full count and walks. Victorino grounds back to Accardo throw to Overbay, Ruiz to second. Werth walks and has now been on base in ten straight plate appearances. Jays pitchers today just cannot throw strikes. Although I think they may be pitching around Werth today. Walk number four for Werth and eight for the game. Two on two down. Utley strikes out. Accardo keeps his ERA at .000.
Bottom 8th: Madson pitching. Wells grounds to second base Utley to Howard at first. Rolen singles to centre. One on one down. Lind grounds to Bruntlett, bobbles this one and Adam safe at first. Error to Bruntlett. Interesting trivia, that is Phillies error number 28 for the season, Jays now lead the majors with only 27 for the season, another major reason why they are still hanging around that wild card race. Rolen to second. Two on no outs for Rios. Alex grounds to Feliz at third throw to Howard at first to get Alex but runners move up and now two in scoring position for Overbay. Rolen to third, Lind to second. Rios 0-4 today. Overbay intentional walk to load the bases and get to Bautista. Adams ???? pinch-hitting for Bautista. Come on Cito you have to be joking. Adams pops up to third base Feliz. What did you expect Cito? A home run? That was one of Cito’s weird decisions.

Top 9th: Adams in at left field. Frasor now pitching. Howard singles to left. Mayberry lines to third base Rolen throw to first base Overbay, double play ball. Feliz full count and walks. Stairs fly ball to Wells.
Bottom 9th: Lidge now pitching. 13 of 20 saves opportunities this season but just back from DL last week. Chavez bunt single to third safe at first. McDonald pinch-running for Chavez. Scutaro full count and walks, McDonald to second. Jays have something going here. Hill chance for his third home run but only needs a double here. Pops up to second base Utley. Lidge turns here and McDonald off base now hung up between bases here, Lidge to third base Feliz to short Bruntlett back to third base Feliz, McDonald out on the rundown. That was a huge out especially with Vernon at the plate. Not a smart play at all by Johnny Mc. Two down for Wells, grounds to short Bruntlett to first base Howard. Vernon 0-5 today.

Phillies win this 5-4 but Jays gave it away with ball and bat. Sloppy game by the Jays. They had better smarten up for Tampa tomorrow. Jays go 0/6 with runners in scoring position today. But you have to question that call by Cito using Adams as pinch hitter with bases loaded. Add in all the walks by Jays pitchers and the base running error by McDonald and you get the result a sloppy game. One big inning by Phillies but that is enough for the World Champs today.
Attendance today: 36,379.

Phillies power sinks hapless Jays today.

Game two Phillies v Toronto.

Lineups:Philadelphia: Victorino, Werth, Utley, Howard, Mayberry, Feliz, Coste, Bruntlett, Ruiz and Happ pitching.
Toronto; Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Millar, Lind, Rios, Bautista, Chavez, McDonald and Mills pitching. Second team out there today. No Rolen, no Barajas, no Overbay.

Phillies team are dying to break 0-6 slump, rookie pitcher. Recipe for potential disaster. Manager Manuel held a 20-minute meeting after last night’s 6-1 defeat. First game in 97 games without an extra base hit.
"There comes a time when you wake people up," Manuel said. "Hopefully I got their attention the way I wanted to." We shall see.

Top 1st: Victorino full count and walks. Werth gets hold of this one, whoa, high into fifth deck just inside foul pole in left field. 2-0 Phillies. It is five years since that last happened and Vernon was the last player to do it September 2004. Utley fly ball to Wells. Howard singles to centre. Mayberry strikes out. Feliz with two out. Gets hold of this one, no question, home run to left two more score and Phillies are 4-0 and will be hard to catch in this mood. Coste fly ball to Rios. Jays in an early hole, you can hear the sigh of relief from Phillies bench after early chance to end this long losing streak. Happy Happ.

Bottom 1st: Scutaro grounds to short Bruntlett throw to Howard at first base. Hill strikes out. Wells fly ball to Mayberry in left.

Top 2nd: Bruntlett strikes out, Chavez throw down to Millar. Ruiz strikes out. Victorino strikes out. Maybe a little late? for this now Brad.
Bottom 2nd: Millar pops up to left field Mayberry. One down for Lind grounds to short Bruntlett throw to first base Howard. Two down for Rios. Lines to right field Werth.

Top 3rd: Werth singles to centre, now 2-2. Utley lines out to Wells. Howard strikes out. Mayberry strikes out. Mills again trying hard but….
Bottom 3rd: Bautista singles to left. First hit for Jays today. Chavez grounds to third base Feliz on to second base Utley on to first base Howard, double play ball. Even when they get a hit McDonald infield single to short. That double plays big now. Top of the order Scutaro fly ball to right field Werth. But Jays showing some life ? Two hits off Happ that inning.

Top 4th: Feliz fly ball to Bautista. Coste singles to right. Bruntlett fly ball to right fielder Rios. Two down. Ruiz doubles to centre. Coste scores 5-0 Phillies. Victorino strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Hill fly ball to left Mayberry. Wells pops up to catcher Ruiz. Millar strikes out.

Top 5th: Werth doubles to centre. This guy is in a groove. How come Alex or Vernon cannot do this ? Utley full count and walks. Two on and no outs, more trouble for Mills. Howard singles to right Werth scores. 6-0 Phillies. Utley at third. That’s it for Mills. Camp now pitching. Mayberry hit by a pitch, Howard to second. Bases loaded. Coste singles to centre, Utley scores 7-0 Phillies. Bases remain full. Howard to third and Mayberry to second. Bruntlett, sacrifice fly to Wells, Howard scores. 8-0 Phillies. Mayberry to third. Ruiz grounds to third, Mayberry scores 9-0 Phillies. Coste to second for Victorino fly ball to Wells as Jays
Bottom 5th: Lind singles to left. Rios pops up to first base Howard. One down. Bautista lines out to right field. Chavez grounds to third base Feliz throw to first base Howard.

Top 6th: My old friend B. J. Ryan pitching. Cito had forgotten him for a week but BJ has been getting that ERA down game after game. Werth needs a triple for the cycle, full count, don’t walk him BJ. Gets hold of this one and it is out of here, his second home run of the game. 10-0 Phillies.Utley lines out to Wells. Howard singles to centre. Mayberry grounds to Johnny Mc. On to Hill on to Millar. Double play ball to end the inning. Mayberry having the opposite night to Werth but his time will come, he is a very impressive hitter.
Bottom 6th: McDonald singles to left. His second hit of the afternoon. Scutaro grounds to third baseman Feliz to second base Utley to first baseman Howard, McDonald out. Hill doubles to left. Wells pops up to short Bruntlett.

Top 7th: Adams in as left field. Rios into centre. Bautista into right field. League now pitching. Anything can happen. Feliz doubles to left. Wild pitch by League, Feliz to third. League has great stuff if only he could be more accurate. Coste grounds to McDonald throw to Millar. One down. Bruntlett fly ball to Rios in centre. Ruiz grounds to McDonald throw to Millar.
Bottom 7th: Millar strikes out. Lind strikes out. Rios pops up to second base Utley. That was a quick submission.

Top 8th: Hayhurst pitching. Victorino singles to centre. Werth walks, Victorino to second. Utley grounds to Hill on to Millar for the out. Victorino to third, Werth to second. Howard intentional walk to load the bases. Mayberry strikes out. Feliz bases loaded two outs full count, pops up to Chavez to end the inning. Nice escape by Hayhurst.
Bottom 8th: Bautista, Chavez, and McDonald, that will put fear into any pitcher’s heart. Bautista grounds to third throw to first one down. Chavez grounds to Bruntlett at second, throw to first, two down this team wants to get out on the town. McDonald first pitch pops up to Bruntlett how many pitches was that ? Five ?? 93 Pathetic. Happ ready to pitch another game with this lot. And should have no problem with a complete game shut out. Free swinging top of the order.

Top 9th: Carlson pitching. Coste this is his sixth pitch ! one more than all three Jays last inning. Strikes out on the eighth pitch.Bruntlett, grounds to Hill another highlight reel play as he turns and nice play and throw to Millar, Ruiz pops up to McDonald.
Bottom 9th: Jays have only their pride to play for here. No pun intended. But this has not been a good three hours for the fans. Cito did not put out a strong team to start with, and also reckoned without the intense desire of Phillies to break that 0-6 slide. Intensity will win a lot of games in baseball. Cito will make excuses that Phillies pitched well, hit well, and deserved to win blah blah. Bottom line is that Jays hitters were terrible, Mills pitching even worse and shows the difference between a good rookie in the Minors and what happens when they get to the big show. Mills like Cecil before him is definitely not ready yet. Scutaro first pitch fly ball to left, Hill Adams to finish this off. Fly ball to left and Happ gets his complete game shutout, first of his career. Exactly 100 pitches. Does not seem that excited ! I guess he thought it was an easy game.

The good: Hmmmm. I didn’t see much. Maybe Hill’s fielding. League had the best pitching but not saying much.
The bad: Mills, could not produce when it was needed in that first inning. All of the Jays lineup tonight. But to be fair they were without three of the big guys. When Johnny Mc. has the only multi hit performance (2 hits) you know they had trouble today. Jays 0-1 !!! with runners in scoring position. That is terrible. Jays were doing their usual swinging without Rolen and Overbay to show them some discipline. Happ took advantage. "(Happ) stayed right with his game plan and they were swinging at him," Manuel said. "He did a good job, a super job."

Jays show power in beating Phillies behind a great outing by Romero and superb fielding.

Toronto v Philadelphia. Game one of three.
Phillies on five game losing streak right now and still smarting from the Jays sweep in Philadelphia. But this is a very good team and can turn it around very quickly so Jays had better not take them lightly tonight.

Lineups: Philadelphia: Victorino, Utley, Werth, Howard, Mayberry jr, Feliz, Coste, Bruntlett, Ruiz and Hamels pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Millar, Rios, Barajas, Bautista and Romero pitching.

Top 1st: Victorino strikes out. Utley grounds to Millar flip to R.Romero. Werth grounds to Rolen throw to first base Millar.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro pops up to Bruntlett at short. Hill pops up to Utley at second. Wells singles to right. Vernon does appear to hitting since he moved to third. Rolen grounds back to pitcher Hamels throw to Howard at first base.

Top 2nd: Howard grounds to Rolen throw to first base Millar. Mayberry strikes out, two down. Feliz grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar.
Bottom 2nd: Lind grounds to short Bruntlett throw to first base Howard. Millar strikes out. Rios full count and walks. Barajas singles to centre, but pulls up several steps into the run, he has pulled something, hobbles down to first where Cito and the trainer are now out. He is out of game as he walks back to dugout with. Rios to second. Chavez pinch-running for Barajas. That sounds strange as Chavez has to be one the slowest of the Jays. Bautista strikes out
.
Top 3rd: Chavez in as catcher for Barajas, hope that injury is not serious. Coste strikes out. Bruntlett grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar.Two down for Ruiz grounds back to Romero throw to Hill on to Millar.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro fly ball to left field Mayberry. Hill strikes out. Wells pops up to first base Howard. Three up and down for Hamels.

Top 4th: Victorino strikes out. Utley walks. Werth strikes out. Utley stealing and safe at second. Howard strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Rolen doubles to left. Great start but don’t expect sac bunt here. Lind grounds to second base Utley throw to first base Howard to get Lind but Rolen moves to third. Adam did his job. Millar strikes out. Two down for Rios, singles to centre, here comes Rolen and Jays get the lead. 1-0 Jays. Chavez pops up to Bruntlett at short.

Top 5th: Mayberry grounds to Rolen throw to Millar, one down. Feliz fly ball to left field Bautista. Coste pops up to Hill.
Bottom 5th: Bautista full count and walks, one on for Scutaro doubles to left, Bautista to third. Hill doubles to centre, Bautista scores, Scutaro just behind. Jays hitters are still alive. 3-0 Jays. Wells at bat, Hill stealing third and safe. Wells grounds to third base Feliz throw to first base Howard. Hill has to hold a third. Rolen that’s better Scott, high fly ball to centre, deep enough for Hill to score 4-0 Jays. Lind infield single to first. Millar singles to left, Lind to third. That is it for Hamels, not happy at all and arguing now with home plate umpire and he is out of here. Park now pitching. Rios grounds back to Park off his knee but throws to first base Howard for third out before he falls. Coaching staff working on Park where he fell..It obviously hurts.

Top 6th: Bruntlett grounds to Scutaro throw to first base Millar. Ruiz strikes out.
Victorino grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar.
Bottom 6th: Walker pitching. Park had a short four pitch outing before that shot off his knee.. Chavez grounds to third base Feliz throw to first base Howard. One down. Bautista fly ball to centre field Victorino. Scutaro with two down, fly ball centre field Victorino.

Top 7th: Utley singles to right. Werth grounds to Scutaro long throw safe at first, Utley to second.Howard grounds to Hill throw to shortstop Scutaro on to first base Millar, Utley to third, Werth out. Double play ball. Mayberry after Jumbotron shows 20 years ago tonight and great tribute to his father 20 years ago with seven rbis in a 24-10 win over Baltimore. Mayberry fly ball to Wells.
Bottom 7th: Hill fly ball to left field Mayberry. Wells grounds to shortstop Bruntlett throw to first base Howard. Two down for Rolen, grounds to second base Utley throw to first base Howard.

Top 8th: Accardo pitching. Feliz grounds to Scutaro on to Millar. Dobbs pinch-hitting for Coste.
Dobbs pops up to Scutaro. Bruntlett with two down fly ball to Bautista in left.
Bottom 8th: Dobbs in as designated hitter. Lidge pitching, Lind doubles to right. Millar full count and walks. Two on for Rios, wild pitch by Lidge, Lind to third. Overbay pinch-running for Millar.
Rios full count and walks, to load the bases for Chavez. Overbay to second and Lind at third.Chavez singles to centre, Lind scores 5-0 Jays. Overbay and Rios move up. Bautista grounds back to Lidge throw to catcher Ruiz, Overbay out coming home, Rios to third, Chavez to second. Bases still loaded. RC Romero now pitching. Scutaro walks, Rios scores, 6-0 Jays. Chavez to third, Bautista to second. Bases are loaded again. Hill grounds to shortstop Bruntlett throw to second base Utley throw to first base Howard.

Top 9th: Overbay in at first for Millar. Hayhurst pitching. Ruiz grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay.Victorino full count and walks. Utley singles to centre, Victorino to third. Werth at bat, Utley stealing second uncontested, Werth sac fly to Rios, Victorino scores, 6-2 Jays. Utley to third with Howard at bat, strikes out.

Jays win another. 6-2 tonight.

The very good: Romero for seven and hitless for six. Hill outstanding play to start double play.
The good: Some aggression in stolen bases. After throwing a bullpen session, Halladay ready to come off the 15-day DL and start Monday against Tampa Bay. Everyone in the lineup gets a hit except for Bautista but he had an important walk. Four extra base hits from Scutaro, Hill, Rolen, Lind. Accardo scoreless inning coming of the injury list.
The bad: Losing Barajas in the second when he injured his right hamstring running to first on a single.

Rolen and Hill's All-Star performances not enough to offset Cecil and Votto.

Toronto v Cincinatti Series finale and Jays going for a sweep.

Lineups: Cincinnatti: Taveras, Hairston, Phillips, Votto, Gomes, Hernandez, Bruce, Janish, Dickerson and Cueto pitching.
Toronto: The usual…Cito not changing a wining team. Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Overbay, Barajas, Adams and Cecil pitching.

Top 1st: Taveras, doubles into right, Rios ambling over, how about some hustle here Alex ? He may have had that with some real effort. Some of us remember Barfield, Reed Johnson and Mondesi to name just three hustling predecessors in right field. Hairston bunting, but foul, lines it hard but right at Overbay, one down. Phillips, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay , two down Taveras moves to third. Votto doubles into left and Taveras scores to make it early 1-0 lead for the Reds. Lind also tentative on that. Gomes doubles off the wall in right centre, Votto scores. 2-0 Reds. Cecil not fooling anyone so far tonight. Hernandez with Gomes at second, full count, Gomes running. Walks him. Bruce with two on and two down. Here comes Arnsberg. Cecil is listening not talking. Doubles into left Lind totally misjudges it and two more runs score 4-0 Reds. Janish number eight in lineup. Strikes out but Cecil has dug huge hole already for his hitters. 32 pitches so at least he will not be out there for long at this rate. Could be a bullpen issue by the fourth.
Bottom 1st: Cueto pitching, Scutaro,fly ball to Dickerson in left, one down. Hill no way Aaron, homerun to left off the wall into the Jays bullpen, 17 on the season a career high already !!!! 4-1 Reds. Ties Jay team HR record for second base with Alomar. More than half the season to go. Wells, singles into centre, nine game hit streak. Rolen with one on. Grounds to Janish at short flip to Phillips at second but Vernon in his face and no way to get two. Rolen safe at first. Two down for Lind. Full count and walks, two on two down for Rios. What has he brought tonight? Here comes Reds pitching coach. Man I can’t believe the guy, swings at ball three feet off the plate. 0-2. Same again as he strikes out. The scouting report is easy on Alex, just throw down and away and soon enough he will swing three times. He has NO baseball head and I will argue that for the rest of his career. Has loads of talent but he just does not think.23 pitches.

Top 2nd: Has Cecil learned anything sitting on the bench? Dickerson singles to left. Top of the order again. Tavares with one on. 2-2, strikes out, One down. Hairston singles into left, two on for Phillips, pops up to Rios in shallow right, two down two on for Votto, full count. Singles to Rios in right, Henderson scores. 5-1 Reds. Gomes 3-1 and walks. Bases loaded. Camp is up in bullpen. Cecil is awful get him out of there Cito. Barajas coming out to give more time for Camp. Don’t forget Camp in his last outing could not throw strikes and walked bases loaded himself. Lucky, lucky, Hernandez pops it up to Barajas to end the agony for Cecil for a while at least. 60 pitches. Not good for two innings work.
Bottom 2nd: Cueto can cruise now. Overbay at bat. Full count, strikes out. Barajas fly ball to Taveras in centre, two down. Adams, still in Toronto. Singles to Votto and Jays go meekly here. Question is who will be pitching in the third?

Top 3rd: Still Cecil, I guess Cito is looking at Phillies series now tomorrow, will not waste the bullpen tonight. Bruce grounds to Hill throw to Overbay one down. Janish singles up the middle. Dickerson full count again, lots of those tonight, fly ball to Wells in centre. Taveras for third time tonight and only the third inning!!! bunting to third, perfect and no chance for throw by Cecil. Two on two down for Hairston, 3-0 count, and walks him on four pitches, Bases loaded. Phillips. 0-2 count, grounds to Scutaro throw to Hill for third out. Cecil off the hook for now at least but very high pitch count. 96 !!! Hard to do in only three innings.
Bottom 3rd: Meantime Cueto on only 40 pitches. Scutaro fly ball to right field Bruce. Hill grounds to third base Hairston Jr. good throw to first base Votto to just get Hill. Wells with two down. pops it up to shallow left for third out.
Top 4th: That’s it for Cecil. Camp had better have learned from his last outing when he could not throw strikes. Votto at bat, singles into centre just past diving Hill. Votto 3-3 tonight. Hit number 10 for Reds. Gomes grounds to Rolen throw to Hill, on to Overbay double play ball, Perfect. Hernandez with two down. Grounds to short but Rolen running in nice throw to Overbay to get him. Very nice highlight reel play by Rolen. Reds are scoreless, something to celebrate at least. But also Camp throwing strikes is good to celebrate. Only one ball out of eight pitches in that inning.
Bottom 4th: Rolen nice ovation. Grounds to third past Hairston but Janish backing up makes nice play and throw to get him at first. Lind, hit in back, Jays will take any way tonight to get on base. Rios grounds to Phillips throw to Janish at second to get Lind on to Votto at first, double play by Rios, he can’t do anything right this season, or last… Jays have two hits so far tonight. Reds have ten. 56 pitch count for Cueto.

Top 5th: Bruce fly ball to right to Rios. One down. Janish lines at Overbay, two down for Dickerson. Strikes out, Camp has still thrown only two balls in two innings 17 pitches 15 strikes. He definitely learned from his last outing.
Bottom 5th: Overbay leading off, has been quiet this week. Full count, and walks. Good start. Barajas fly ball to left one down. Adams with one on and one down. Prove me wrong here Russ just get on base anyway you can. Good boy, singles into left. Overbay at second. Scutaro now with two on. Fly ball to Bruce in right, runners hold. Two down, two on for Hill. 3-0 count and walks on four. Bases loaded for Vernon. 2-0 count. Way to go Vernon, doubles into left, two runs score 5-3 Reds. Rolen with two more in scoring position and two down. Just a single here Scott, going the other way on first pitch just foul at right field foul pole. Very close there. Just puts bat on ball and up the middle, Hill and Wells score and this game is all tied up 5-5. Rolen with 14 game hit streak ties his career high. He is doing everything right now with glove and bat. Lind with Rolen at first lines out to Henderson in left. 83 pitches for Cueto as Jays get four back.

Top 6th: Camp still pitching Taveras leading off, strikes out looking on three pitches. Hairston grounds to third, Rolen dives to his right and make outstanding throw form one knee. WOW. He is HOT HOT HOT… Two down for Philips grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for third out. Rolen in a higher zone…. Camp has throw only three balls in 25 pitches in three innings.
Bottom 6th: Rios what zone is Alex in, sometimes another planet I think. Strikes out head in air swinging away. Cito for the hundredth time this season, you have to do something about this kid. Overbay lines out to centre wall. Taveras bangs up hard against the wall to make the catch and save a double. Barajas strikes out. 95 pitches.

Top 7th: Votto, 3-3 tonight, ooops 4-4 as he gets hold of this one high into right centre, home run into the Reds bullpen. 6-5 Reds. Gomes singles into centre. May be too much for Camp now Cito. Hernandez grounds to Scutaro on to Hill on to Overbay, double play ball. Two down for Bruce, Grounds up the middle Hill makes a great save and throw to get him at first. Where would this team be without their infield defense? 31 pitches 28 strikes, that is amazing turn around from his last outing.
Bottom 7th: Adams leading off. Massett now pitching. Adams fly ball to centre for first out. Scutaro 3-1 count. Takes a strike. Strikes out looking. Hill grounds to Janish at short throw to Votto at first for third out.

Top 8th: League pitching. Janish, 3-1 count. doubles into left. Dickerson with one on. bunting and Barajas throws him out (just) at first. These Reds certainly know how to bunt. Janish at third one down. Tavares, pitch out ? expecting steal home? League way outside but great save by Barajas to save a run. Here comes Janish, Tavares bunts back to League, and tries to throw to first no one there, and runner safe. Big mistake there by Overbay. 7-5 Reds. Excellent small ball and execution. You very rarely see that from Cito and Jays hitters. Hairston, Tavares takes second, wild pitch and Tavares moves to third, this is unraveling here. It does not help with League being so wild after Camp’s excellent three innings. Full count strikes him out. Two down but still not out of this mess yet. Phillips grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay to just beat out Phillips.
Bottom 8th: Weathers now pitching. Wells leading off. 2-3 tonight, Pops it up to third. Rolen, an amazing night for him but he will not be happy unless Jays win here, gets hold of it high fly ball back to left back to the wall to make the catch in front of Jays bullpen. Lind grounds to second throw to first for third out. Jays will see Reds closer Cordero in the 9th for the first time.

Top 9th: Votto 4-4 can he make it perfect night for himself? Carlson pitching. Strikes out on three pitches. Gomes grounds to Scutaro falls over and makes the throw to Overbay sitting down! amazing play. Hernandez doubles into left. Bruce fouling them off here. Full count. Strikes him out.
Bottom 9th: Rios leading off. Hitless again tonight, last chance to be a hero Alex Unless Cito pinch hits for him? No chance. Fly ball to Taveras in centre. 0-4 night for Rios. Overbay, full count, how many of those in a season for Lyle? Walks. Good eye as always Lyle. Barajas tying run, pops up to Phillips. Adams last chance, come on Russ. Fly ball to Dickerson in left and Reds with this one. 7-5. Cecil put Jays in too deep a hole. May be on the plane to Vegas now as Halladay is back in rotation on Monday.

The very good: Scott Rolen night definitely. Amazing defense and also helped with his bat. 14 game hit streak tying his career best, and his at bat in the fifth just putting bat on ball to send it up the middle to score tying run. Hill tying club record with Alomar for most home runs by second base and don't forget Hill's glove and also that of Scutaro to provide some amazing defense tonight.
The good: Camp two innings at least threw nothing but strikes to keep the team in it. Three innings just too much. Wells another multi-hit night.
The bad: Rios gets the vote again. Just has not a clue at bat right now. Cecil also gets poor grade he didn’t have it all night and put Jays four down before they even hit. Although Camp gets the loss and pitched far better than Cecil.
But don’t forget Votto who was almost perfect all night. Good to see him do so well but Jays are glad to see his back for a year at least.

Jays display power and defence behind solid pitching by Richmond to win another.

Cincinatti v Toronto Game two of three.

Jays showed some power last night can they repeat tonight? these are games they have to win to stay with Yankees and Boston.

Lineups: Cincinatti: Dickerson, Hairston jr, Votto, Phillips, Nix, Gomes, Bruce, Hernandez, Richar and Arroyo pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro,Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Overbay, Barajas, Adams, and Richmond pitching.


Top 1st: Dickerson pops up to Scutaro. One down for Hairston Jr fly ball to Rios. Votto full count and walks. Phillips pops up to Hill. 15 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro full count and walks. Hill first pitch swing and this one is out of here into left field bullpen. 2-0 Jays. Wells another first pitch swing and this one is out in a hurry again left field seats. Home run for Vernon. More like a line drive into the left field seats for Vernon. 3-0 Jays. Back to back here. Rolen first pitch singles to center. Jays are locking into that first pitch by Arroyo. Lind does not hit first pitch. 3-1 and this one is out of here into left field seats. Third home run of the inning and two more runs as Rolen scorers. 5-0 Jays. Rios grounds to Hairston Jr at short throw to first base Votto. Overbay with one down, grounds back to Arroyo throw to first two down for Barajas. Grounds to short. Throw to first for final out and Arroyo can relax !! 33 pitch inning to start though. Great start by Jays hitters.

Top 2nd: Richmond needs to relax here and just throw his normal stuff with this lead. Nix, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the first out. Gomes, gets hold of this one high into Jays bullpen in left. 5-1 Jays. We saw last night that 6-0 lead was almost not enough, don’t let it get away Richmond. Bruce, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay two down. Hernandez with two down. High fly ball to Wells in centre.
Bottom 2nd: Adams with his batting average sinking fast from his 1,000 yesterday to .250 by the end of the game. Grounds here to Votto, nice diving save and flip to Arroyo one down. Scutaro doubles into right field corner. On for the second time in two innings. Hill bounces back to Arroyo throw to Votto at first for second out. Scutaro stays at second, Wells is he starting to get hot ? Everyone would love to see him do that. Full count. Pulls it into left for a double and another rbi as Scutaro scores easily. 6-1 Jays. Rolen with Vernon in scoring position. Grounds to shirt, throw to Votto for third out. 55 pitches. Top five in Jays order have all the six hits.

Top 3rd: Richar first pitch pops it very high to Rolen one down. Poor guy last night pinch hit and the scoreboard could not find his details in time. Dickerson, Full count and walks him. Come on Scott. 46 pitches. Hairston with one on and one down. Passed ball and Dickerson to second, full count. Singles to left, Dickerson scores easily. 6-2 Jays. Richmond not anywhere near his form tonight. Cito will not leave him in there if he doesn’t start to pitch. Votto with one on and one down. Almost 60 pitches for Richmond. Might last five if he is lucky. Another passed ball, crazy, as Votto strikes out, two down. Phillips strikes out but not a good inning for Richmond. 66 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Lind, doubles down the left line, just fair, Adam has to get out faster there a little late watching that one. Rios with runner on second, grounds to second throw to Votto, Lind to third. Alex does his job I guess. Overbay strikes out, two down for Barajas, strikes out, not good there leaving Lind at third golden opportunity, have to take advantage these count. 74 pitches.

Top 4th: Nix high pop up to Wells calls off Scutaro. One down for Gomes, strikes out. Two down for Bruce grounds to Hill throw to Overbay, good inning for Richmond. 76 pitches though.
Bottom 4th: Adams bounces to Phillips. Ball hops at the end and Phillips throw not in time, very good hustle by Adams. Scutaro now with one on and he will not be bunting. Grounds to Hairston at short throw to Philips at second gets sliding Adams. Hill 3-0 count. Aaron showing patience here, full count, walks on low ball four. Two on one down for Vernon. 2-2 tonight. Reonicke up in Reds bullpen. 85 pitches for Arroyo. Grounds to third throw to Philips off the bag and everyone safe, bases loaded for Rolen. Grounds to short throw to second on to Votto not in time. Scutaro scores 7-2 Jays. Arroyo not getting any breaks this inning. Two down for Lind. Hill at third. Walks him to load them up again. Here comes Dusty Baker enough tonight, tough breaks though in this inning for him. 93 pitches. Roenicke pitching. Bases loaded for Rios has a chance here to really break it open. Swings at first pitch down and away ..(no bets allowed) and at the second. Up and in that pitch not even Alex would swing at that one. Fly ball to left Nix makes sliding catch and once again Rios comes up empty. Leaves bases loaded. Jays are giving up chance after chance. 1/9 with runners in scoring position. Rios another 0-3 night.

Top 5th: Hernandez pops up to Rolen, almost collides with Scutaro who was also shouting for it. Richar grounds up the middle backhand play by Hill to and throw to Overbay for the out. Highlight reel play. Dickerson grounds straight at Hill throw to Overbay for third out. Good inning for Richmond but also great backup defence to help him.
Bottom 5th: Overbay singles hard to centre, too bad you were not batting in front of Rios Lyle that would have been at least two runs last inning. Barajas with one on. Fly ball to Nix in left one down for Adams. 3-1 count and walks on ball four. Scutaro with two on and one down. Nice play, grounds to second tags Adams as he goes past throw to first base Votto to get Scutaro, double play to get out of the inning.

Top 6th: Hairston Jr fly ball to Wells.One down for Votto lines out to Wells. Busy guy. Phillips with two down. grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. 91 pitches. Is that it for Richmond tonight ?
Bottom 6th: Hill strikes out looking. Wells up and in very high, nasty pitch. Vernon walks. One on for Rolen, Bounces one up the middle Hairston throw to Votto to get Rolen. Vernon at second with two down and Lind at bat grounds to Votto flip to Roenicke for third out.

Top 7th: Richmond still out there. Nix leading off. Full count. Fly ball to Wells in centre. Gomes grounds first pitch back to Richmond throw to Overbay two down. Bruce, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 7th: Fisher pitching. Rios at bat. Alex and Rod Barajas the only two without a hit in the nine hit attack tonight. Alex strikes out 0-4 tonight. He was getting boos last night from fans in my area, will be getting lot more tonight. Fans have had enough of Alex. It is not so much his slump that bothers fans but the way he approaches each at bat and swings away at poor pitches, usually down and away Overbay grounds to Phillips second throw to Votto for second out. Barajas with two down, gets a good swing on this one but lines out to Nix in left.

Top 8th: Richmond back out ? not with 104 pitches. Hayhurst now pitching. Hernandez walks. Not good Dirk, Cito hates that especially leading off the inning, just throw strikes and get ball in play. Richar with one on. Singles up the middle, Dickerson with two on and no outs. déjà vu last night’s game seventh inning. Great pitch to strike him out. One down for Hairston, lines it to left fantastic play by Rolen leaping high full stretch to get that, Hairston can’t believe that. Gold Glove play. Votto with two down and two on. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay and end of inning. Hayhurst escaped damage but 26 pitch inning.
Bottom 8th: Fisher still pitching. Adams singles up the middle. Scutaro with one on. Pops it up to Dickerson in centre. Hill with one down and one on. Ball gets away and Adams moves up to second singles up the middle and Adams scores easily from second, 8-2 Jays. We might see BJ in the ninth with this lead. Wells has had a good two hit night but not this time strikes out. Rolen with two down and one on, full count. and walks, two on two down for Lind. Pops it up to shallow right for third out. 2/12 with runners in scoring position.

Top 9th: Ryan, Frasor, Accardo ? Not a save so someone to waste an inning. Hayhurst it is. Phillips leading off. High fly ball to Lind, one down for Nix. Griunds first pitch to Scutaro throw to Overbay two down. Gomes full count, singles to left. Not over yet. Bruce with one on and two down. Gomes takes second free. 3-0 count, come on Dirk. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay and that’s it.

Jays win 8-2.

The very good: Jays leading off first inning three home runs by Hill, Wells and Lind. Defence again Hill and Rolen. Highlight reel plays. Vernon home run and a double.
The good: Richmond, not perfect, struggled at times especially in first few innings but hung in there and gave seven good innings despite high pitch count after two. 11 hits and six walks for Jays tonight.
The bad: 2/12 with runners in scoring position. Rios another 0-4 night. Not much Cito can do with him beyond benching him, I would have no problem with that and bring up Coats to play outfield. Cito will persevere, he likes Alex.

Jays win one with power for Tallet despite Camp trying to give it away,

Cincinatti v Toronto. Game one of three.

The good news is that Cito does not have to use pitchers in the lineup for the final six games against National League. Not sure why Russ Adams is in the lineup, but then am not sure why Cito even brought him up from Vegas. I am not a big Adams fan but that bias aside there are at least two others right now more deserving and ahead of him in Vegas. Ruiz and Coats both with ERAs over .325. Ah well he will probably hit a grand slam tonight. These teams met in Spring training so are well aware of each other. Looks like a huge crowd tonight for a Tuesday. Must be the $1 hot dogs. Loads of young people so the noise should be a factor if Jays can get the crowd excited.

Lineups: Cincinatti: Taveras, Hairston, Votto, Philips,Gomes, Hernandez, Bruce. Rosales, Dickerson and Owings pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Overbay, Barajas, Adams and Tallet pitching

The good: HR’s by Rolen, Barajas and Scutaro, Stolen bases three tonight by Wells and Rios. Definitely good to see especially from Vernon and Alex struggling elsewhere they should be using their speed to more advantage. Everybody on lineup except Adams has a hit tonight.
The bad: Has to be Camp tonight loading the bases with no outs which lead to the first four runs. Throws 17 pitches to load them. Can’t blame Carlson, he threw 13 pitches 12 of them were strikes. That is what Cito wanted and yet one double and two sac fly balls were all that was needed plus execution. Speaking of which, Jays were 3/12 with runners in scoring position tonight.

Top 1st: Taveras strikes out. Hairston Jr strikes out. Votto getting a nice ovation on his return to Toronto and just off disabled list, strikes out. Tallet strikes out the side, great start. The last time Votto was here was for the Canada/ USA WBC game where he was the hero.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro lines out to third base Rosales. Hill fly ball to centre field Taveras. Two down for Wells, strikes out.

Top 2nd: Phillips grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay, one down. Gomes grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Hernandez grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. First inning three strikeouts here three groundouts.
Bottom 2nd: Rolen, gets hold of this one and it is out of here Home run to centre. 1-0 Jays. Lind grounds back to pitcher Owings, third base Rosales throw to Votto at first. Rios singles to right. Overbay, Alex stealing and safe at second. Good to see that from Alex, should go more often. Overbay full count and walks. Barajas, there goes Alex again and safe at third. He really is aggressive tonight. Barajas grounds to Hairston jr, and safe at first on the error, Alex scores from third and Overbay moves to second. 2-0 Jays. Those stolen bases now huge. Adams grounds first base Votto throw to Hairston Jr, Barajas out at second, Overbay to third. Two down for Scutaro pops up to first base Votto. Jays are off and running.

Top 3rd: Bruce pops up to Hill. Rosales grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Two down for Dickerson, singles to left. Taveras grounds to Scutaro throw to Hill at second baseman Dickerson out at second.
Bottom 3rd: Hill doubles to centre. Wells fly ball to Bruce in right. Rolen singles to left, Hill to third. Lind, singles to right, Hill scores 3-0 Jays. Rolen to third. Rios grounds ed into a double play, third baseman Rosales to second baseman Phillips to first baseman Votto, Lind out.

Top 4th: Hairston Jr bunting very nice single to first. Overbay and Hill go for it leaving no one at first. Hill should have gone to first as Overbay was closer to ball. Hairston safe. Votto singles to centre, Hairston Jr to second. Tallet in trouble for first time. Phillips grounds to Hill throw to Overbay double play ball. Hairston Jr to third. Gomes full count and walks, two on for Hernandez pops to Hill.
Bottom 4th: Overbay fly ball to left field Dickerson. One down for Barajas, yes Rod, very nice hit, home run to left. 4-0 Jays. Adams grounds to first base Votto flip to Owings for the out. Scutaro fly ball to right field Bruce.

Top 5th: Bruce pops up to Scutaro. Rosales strikes out. Dickerson strikes out. Tallet is mowing them down.
Bottom 5th: Hill infield single to third beats out the throw. Wells fly ball to Taveras in centre, Hill tags and moves to second. Rolen lines to Taveras in centre field. Lind intentional walk. Manager Dusty Baker rolling the dice here to get to Rios. Safe bet, Alex pops up to second base Phillips.

Top 6th: Taveras strikes out. Hairston Jr fly ball to Rios. Votto strikes out. Career high for Tallet in strikeouts. Not bad for a guy who pitched three days ago.
Bottom 6th: Overbay grounds to Votto flip to Owings. Barajas grounds to third beats out the throw. Adams pops up to second base Phillips. Scutaro with Barajas at first. Home run to left, just gets over the wall into the Jays bullpen but they all count and Scutaro’s first hit tonight.Two runs score and Jays are 6-0 .That’s it for Owings.. Fisher now pitching. Hill grounds to third base Rosales throw to first base Votto but Jays are building up a good lead..

Top Reds 7th: Camp now pitching. Phillips singles to centre. Gomes walks, Phillips to second.Hernandez full count and walks bases loaded and no one out. Phillips to third, Gomes to second. That’s it for Camp. Tried his best to blow this one, still not out of the woods yet, Carlson pitching. Bruce doubles to left two runs score Phillips and Gomes, 6-2 Jays. Rosales sac fly to Rios, Hernandez scores 6-3 Jays. Bruce moves to third still with only one out. Dickerson sac fly to Wells and Reds are back in this one, thanks Camp. 6-4 Jays. Taveras fly ball to Rios. Damage is done.

Bottom 7th: Wells doubles to left. The only way to answer all that. Rolen at bat and there goes Vernon, same as Alex stealing third and safe. Rolen lines out to shortstop Hairston Jr. That’s it for Owings, Herrera now pitching. Lind singles to centre, Wells scores. 7-4 Jays. Rios pops up to second base Phillips. Overbay singles to left, Lind to second. Burton now pitching.Barajas strikes out.

Top 8th: League pitching.Hairston Jr walked.Hairston Jr stole second.Votto grounded out, shortstop Scutaro to first baseman Overbay, Hairston Jr to third. Philips grounds to Overbay flip to League covering and Hairston jr scores.Gomes hit by a pitch. Hernandez fly ball to Rios.
Bottom 8th: Cito not going with pinch hitter for Adams here despite his 0-3 tonight, Adams pops up to third base Rosales. I rest my case re Adams. Scutaro strikes out. Hill pops up to first base Votto.

Top 9th: Frasor now pitching. Bruce fly ball to Rios. One down. Nix pinch-hitting for Rosales. strikes out. Dickerson singles to left. Richar pinch-hitting for Taveras. Richar grounds out, to Hill throw to Overbay.

Jays win this one 7-5, but could have been a nasty one when they (Camp) lets the lead go from 6-0 to 6-4.

Crowd announced at over 30,000, that is one of the largest week games not including Boston or the Yankees.

Jays salvage some pride with power display lead by Overbay 5 RBIs

Toronto v Washington. Series finale.

Jays looking to avoid a most embarrassing sweep against the worst team in baseball.But up against yet another rookie pitcher Martis who won his first five games of the season. Nationals looking to extend win streak to five.
As to be expected and long overdue Inglett was returned to Vegas but up comes Russ Adams. Sorry I just don’t get that. Have you seen his Vegas stats ?

Lineups:Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Overbay, Barajas and Romero hitting and pitching today.
Washington: Guzman, Johnson, Zimmerman, Dunn, Kearns, Gonzaklez, Harris, Bard and Martis hitting and pitching.

The very good: Overbay three hits and 5 RBIs. And a great Home run. We would all love Lyle to get hot now.
The good: Four run first inning. Good three run ninth inning, not so good in between. Definitely Romero, not fantastic but more than enough for Washington hitters and going into the eighth gave that bullpen much needed rest. Day off tomorrow also will help. Wells and Rios with the ir bats, can we dare to hope that they have turned the corner? I for one hope so. Fans have suffered long enough with both of them. Scutaro three hits, And I have to menton this one Jays hitters 4-6 with runners in scoring position.
The bad: Yes the bad today. Defence. And specifically infield Hill and Rolen but they can’t be perfect all the time. Problem is they are so good usually that when they do make errors we notice them. Also news re Accardo. Martis was 62 pitches after two innings and yet he hung in there for five. Jays should have hammered him out of the game earlier to get into that bullpen. Quibbling now.

Top 1st: Scutaro singles to centre. Good start. Hill lined into a double play, third base Zimmerman throw to first base Johnson doubles up Scutaro. Vernon with two down. full count and walks. Rolen 3-0. Martis having a rough first inning. Singles to centre. Two on two down for Lind. Another full count as Lind takes it all the way. Walks the bases loaded for Alex the Rios. here comes the coach….settle down it’s only Alex. Takes ball one at least. That’s better Alex, goes the opposite way and doubles into right. Wells scores, Rolen sliding, safe at home just beats the tag, 2-0 Jays. Overbay with two in scoring position, chance to break it open Lyle. That’s the way Lyle solid single into centre and Jay go up 4-0. Barajas with Lyle at first, two down fly ball into left corner to end this. Eight to the plate. That’s more like it and how it should have been all weekend in my opinion. 38 pitches for Martis, ouch. Jays 20-2 with runners in scoring position, I have to note that.
Bottom 1st: Romero pitching, Guzman leadoff. Ricky need to help yourself here. Singles into centre. Johnson 3-1 count. Come on Ricky. Ball four way outside. Ricky playing with fire here. Zimmerman, strikes out on pitch in the dirt. One down for Dunn. Still lots of fire Ricky. How about a ground ball? Strikes out swinging Dunn arguing so is Manager says he hit it. Ha Ha… nice try Dunn. Two down two on for Kearns lines out to Rios in right. 22 pitch inning though and now he has to bat.

Top 2nd: Romero leading off. Strikes out looking but it takes five pitches. Now he can sit. Scutaro, singles to second, diving stop by Gonzalez, throw from his knees not in time to get Scutaro at first. Hill fly ball to right, two down for Vernon. Doubles first pitch to left field corner. Scutaro scores from first easily. 5-0 Jays. Rolen, hit batter. Martis getting rattled here. Lind fly ball to Dunn in left. 54 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Romero needs to settle now and get those Jays hot bats out there again. Gonzalez, grounds to third, off Rolen’s glove, safe at first error not given on Rolen but that was a safe play for him usually.. Harris Doubles to right, Two on and in scoring position and nobody out. That error is big now. Romero needs to ratchet it up a notch here. Bard full count. Need an out here with Martis on deck. Grounds it at Hill, he now messes it up, two runs score 5-2 Jays. the infield is ruining this for Romero. He should be out of the inning. Martis bunting. Romero hesitating only on out now at first. Guzman, strikes out. Romero will have to do it himself with his infield so bad today. Johnson grounds to Rolen throw to Overay for third out. But Washington back in this one and not Romero’s fault, Rolen and Hioll owe him big.

Top 3rd: Rios, first pitch swing, high pop to Guzman, Alex back to normal. Overbay WHOA Lyle. NO question about that one, second deck right field. Home run Lyle. And Jays get one back for Romero 6-2 Jays. Barajas, another high pop up to second for Gonzalez. Romero grounds to second throw to Johnson. 64 pitches.

Bottom 3rd: Zimmerman bunting pops up to Romero, one down. Dunn singles into right. Kearns hits him on the foot. Didn’t even try to get out of the way. With his average .193 I can see why he would want to get on anyway he can. Two on one down. Careful here Ricky. Gonzalez, grounds back to Romero no one at second has to wait to throw then no chance for two, Boy this infield today is making it very tough for Romero. Harris now with runners at first and third. That’s much better grounds to Hill, diving save and from his knees makes the throw to Overbay. That’s much more like it.

Top 4th: Scutaro singles first pitch to left, 3-3 today. Hill 0-2 pops it up to Johnson. Wells, double and a walk, fly ball to Harris in centre, two down. Rolen, pops up to Johnson. Scutaro left at first. Not good hitting by Jays there. Martis at 76 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Bard, lines very hard to left but Lind has it up against the wall. One down Martis grounds first pitch to Overbay flip to Romero, two down. Guzman grounds to Hill, but Overbay also going, Overbay gets it and throw to first Romero covering for the out. Good quick three up and down inning for Romero. Needs to close this one down for a few now and let those bats get a few more.67 pitches for Romero.

Top 5th: Lind grounds to first great save by Johnson flip to Martis for the out. Rios grounds it hard to Guzman at short, throw to Johnson. Two down for Overbay, grounds to Johnson at first, bobbles it, very lucky to hang on to it, but manages throw to Martis covering at first for the out. 89 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Johnson doubles to left. Zimmerman grounds to Scutaro. Johnson has to hold at second. Dunn full count and walks, two on one down for Kearns, another full count. Ball four to load the bases. Here comes Arnsberg to settle Romero down. Gonzalez at bat, PERFECT grounds to Scutaro, flip to Hill on to Overbay double play ball. 86 pitches.

Top 6th: Colome now pitching, his third game in a row. Barajas grounds to Guzman at short. Will it be Romero ? Yes. Cito has learned from the first two games, he needs his starter for one more or is it that everyone is bushed in the bullpen? Grounds to Johnson at first, two down for Scutaro. 3-3 today. Making Colome work here, strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Harris leading off, could be last inning for Romero. Full count and strikes out. One down. Bard singles into right, just stuck his bat out to protect the plate. It all counts though. Pinch hitter Belliard, Very nice. Grounds to Rolen, throw to Hill on to Overbay double play ball. Now his infield is helping him. That might be the end of his day at 101 pitches. He did well without being dominant.

Top 7th: Kip Wells pitching, Hill not a good day at the office today with his bat, 0-3. That’s better Aaron, singles into right, nice shot. Wells against Wells, full count after being 0-2. Strikes out swinging at ball four. Rolen, slow roller to third, Zimmerman quick throw to second gets Hill but relay to first not in time for Rolen. Two down for Lind, full count, is he taking this one ? Yes ball four down and outside. Rios again chance for heroics. Just need a single here Alex. Head up and swings over it. Fouls this one off his foot, that hurts him. Takes third strike.
Bottom 7th: Romero still out there, second game in a week over 100 pitches. Guzman at bat, grounds hard at Rolen, nice stop and throw to Overbay for first out. Johnson, grounds to Hill, diving but off his glove into centre. Would have been highlight reel save. Zimmerman with one on and one down, Carlson and Accardo up in bullpen. Nice pitch slow curve freezes Zimmerman. Two down for Dunn. 0-2, in the dirt here Ricky. That’s it right on the corner freezes Dunn. Didn’t take his bat off his shoulder.

Top 8th: Wells (Kip) pitching Overbay, grounds to Gonzalez second throw to Johnson, one down. Barajas will we see Russ Adams for Romero here? Grounds to second throw to first two down. Yes we are. Jays secret weapon ! Not my choice for call up. Singles up the middle. Top of the order again, Scutaro. 3-4 today, not this time, fly ball to Harris in centre for third out.
Bottom 8th: Kearns at bat, Accardo in 3-0 count there’s a strike. Lines it softly to Hill, one down. Oh boy, here comes trainer for Accardo, and Cito calls for League, Accardo yet another Jays pitcher down? Gonzalez strikes out on three pitches. Two down for Harris first pitch fly bal to Lind.

Top 9th: Hanrahan pitching, Hill leading off. Grounds to Guzman, throw to Johnson for first out. Wells, high pop up to Guzman, two down for Rolen, That’s what Vernon should have done to that second pitch instead of pulling, singles up the middle. One on for Lind, time for a big one Adam. Wild pitch and Rolen moves to second. Full count, ball four. Two on for Mr. Rios. Hitless since the first inning. Chance for glory Alex. Full count. Perfect Alex, doubles to left centre up the middle, Wells scores when did we last have that combination? 3 rbi day for Mr. Rios. 7-2 Jays. Overbay with two in scoring position, 3-0 count single s to right, two more as Rolen and Rios score. 9-2 Jays. Where was all this power all weekend ? and the clutch two-out hitting and with runners in scoring position, welcome back… . Barajas grounds to second, but Jays will take the three extra runs.
Bottom 9th: That has emptied the stadium. Carlson now pitching. Bard doubles over head of Lind in left. Willingham pinch hitting, doubles off wall in left Bard scores 9-3 Jays. Guzman still no outs and runner at second. Singles into left. Here comes Arnsberg, I think his message will be short and sweet. Frasor up in bullpen. Johnson, two on and still no outs. Fly ball to Lind in shallow left too shallow to tag and score. One down for Zimmerman, pops it up to Overbay, two down and much too shallow to tag and score. Dunn with two down and two on. Singles into right, run Willingham scores 9-4 Jays. Guzman at third, Dunn at first. That’s it for Jesse today, they were locked into him. Here comes Frasor with two on and two down. Dukes pinch hitting, fly ball to Wells and Jays win one.

They return to Toronto 4-2 on the road trip but….. could have, should have….. been so much better and even a 6-0 trip. However after their last 0-9 road trip Cito will think he is the World series. Now he has to worry about Accardo.

Jays embarrass themselves losing this one and the series

Toronto v Washington Game two of three.

You know that Jays are going to make heavy weather of the rookie Detwiler tonight but they should have the bats to counter that. Cecil pitching again but who knows what he will bring.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Millar, Chavez, and Cecil pitching and hitting tonight.
Washington: Guzman, Johnson, Zimmerman, Dunn, Dukes, Gonzalez, Harries, Nieves, Detwiler pitching and hitting.

The good: Pitching. Cecil and Camp in particular. Nothing else although Vernon did finally get a home run but that should not be extraordinary news, unfortunately it is.

The bad: Where do we start? Up and down the lineup. This team is flat, and right now playing very badly. Forget Philadelphia, they are in Washington playing the very worst team in the majors and losing badly and could easily get swept tomorrow. That would be season bottom if that does happen. Forget the 0-9 losing streak, this is far worse. Cito has major problems with his hitters not his pitching. Even if they were to win tomorrow Nationals have won their second successive series.
Wells and Rios grounding into double plays but did Cito finally have enough with Rios and bench him ?

Top 1st: Scutaro fly ball to right field Dukes. Hill walks. Wells strikes out. Rolen fly ball to right field Dukes. Easy first inning for the rookie.
Bottom 1st: Guzman grounds to third and beats out the throw. Johnson full count and walks two on and no outs, this could be a long night for Cecil. Zimmerman grounds to Scutaro to second baseman on to Hill throw to Millar, double play ball. Dunn fly ball to Lind.

Top 2nd: Lind grounds to second base Gonzalez throw to Johnson at first. Rios grounds to third base Zimmerman throw to Johnson. Millar grounds to short Guzman throw to Johnson. Johnson a busy guy. Easy three up and down for Detwiler.
Bottom 2nd: Dukes grounds to third, safe at first. Gonzalez pops up to Millar. Harris strikes out. Dukes stealing, great throw by Chavez to get third out.

Top 3rd: Chavez singles to right. Cecil at bat, wild pitch by Detwiler, Chavez to second. That saves Cecil doing the bunt. Cecil strikes out. Scutaro pops up to first base Johnson. Hill grounds to Guzman at shirt, throw to Johnson.
Bottom 3rd: Nieves grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar. Detwiler grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar. Guzman grounds to Rolen throw to Millar. Three up and down for Cecil.

Top 4th: Wells leading off fly ball to Harris i centre field.. Rolen singles to centre. One on one down. Lind singles to left, Rolen to second. Finally starting to get to Detwiler. Rios at bat with two on and one down. Oh boy here we go, grounds to second base Gonzalez throw to Guzman on to first base Johnson, double play. Alex back to his old tricks.
Bottom 4th: Johnson singles to right. Zimmerman strikes out. Dunn strikes out. Dukes grounds to Rolen on to Hill, Johnson out.

Top 5th: Millar singles to left. Chavez lines out to centre field Harris. Cecil strikes out. Two down one on. Scutaro lines to Dunn in left. Jays just cannot fathom this rookie out.
Bottom 5th: Gonzalez grounds to Hill throw to Millar. One down for Harris, doubles to left. Harris stealing third and safe. Nieves sacrifice fly to Lind, and Harris scores 1-0 Washington. That’s the way it is done Cito. Execution. At this rate that will be the wining run. Jays hitters have scored one run in 14 innings against the worst team in the majors. I would say that is a slump. 0-4 with runners in scoring position tonight.

Top 6th: Detwiler has outpitched Jays tonight. The hitters have gone cold in Washington. Whatever it is they had better snap out of it. Hill flied out to right field Dukes. Finally Vernon gets hold of this one home run for Vernon, when was the last one ? 150 ? at bats, that is a quarter of a season. I guess even the number nine will do that eventually. That is an average of four per season ??? Anyway this game is all tied up 1-1. Now get those bats unloaded and stop the embarrassment. Rolen lines out to first base Johnson. Lind fly ball to Harris in centre
Bottom 6th: Guzman doubles to left. Not what Jays wanted. Cecil needs to shut them down here not let them get back in it. Johnson doubles to centre, Guzman scores, just like that Washington ahead again 2-1 Washington. Cecil still in trouble. Zimmerman fly ball to Rios. One down. Dunn grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar, Johnson to third. Two down. Dukes doubles to centre, Johnson scores 3-1 Washington. Dukes heading to third throw from Wells to Scutaro great relay on to Rolen to get Dukes but damage is done and the way Jays hitters are going this could be it.

Top 7th: Rios hitless tonight lines to second base Gonzalez. Alex 0-3 on the night. Millar fly ball to Dukes in right. Chavez fly ball to Harris in centre.
Bottom 7th: Gonzalez singles to left. Harris grounds to Hill on to Scutaro double play. Nieves grounds to Hill throw to Millar. Cecil goes seven and 104 pitches, very good outing but needed some run support.

Top 8th: Bautista pinch hitting for Cecil. Detwiler dominant Cy Young tonight over the hapless, hitless apathetic Jays. There’s a hit singles to right, but they need a lot more than that to pull this one out. That’s it for the rookie, great pitching gets a huge standing ovation and deservedly so. 99 pitches, wow. Jays would love that Kip Wells now pitching. Perhaps Jays will have better luck against him, but don’t bet on it tonight. One run in 17 innings by these Jays hitters that is disgusting against the worst team in the majors ???? Scutaro what can he do ? Not much tonight. 0-3. Scutaro bunting and Bautista safe at second. One down for Hill. Also hitless tonight, but then most of them are.. Jays 0-4 with runners in scoring position. Finally Hill singles to left, Bautista beats the poor throw to score 3-2 and Hill gets to second. Wells pitching to Wells, ball gets away and Hill to third. Fly ball will do it Vernon, pops up to short. Two down. Rolen, change of pitcher. Will be interesting to see who Cito brings in bottom of the inning. Should be Ryan but….. never know with Cito. Hanrahan pitching. Need a single here Scott. Thank you thank you, finally, singles to left, and Hill scores this game is tied up 3-3. Lind swinging for the White House here. Singles off the body of Hernandez at second Lind safe at first, Rolen safe at second. Here’s Alex, good news is that he can’t hit into a double play here. But can he get a single to bring in Rolen? Head in the air swinging over that one. Full count. He won’t take one here, but yes he does and takes third strike looking. What a lousy at bat. Alex you are paid big bucks to hit.
Bottom 8th: Hang on friends. Heart pills time. Here’s BJ.. Willingham, pinch hitting. 3-1 don’t walk him please BJ. Ball four. Walks the leadoff. Guzman Ball one, Nationals hitters not biting, Guzman bunting, Ryan throw to Millar for the out. Willingham to second. Johnson with one on and one down. Grounds to Scxutaro throw to Millar two down and Willingham at third. Zimmerman, here comes Cito ?? Inglett ? in for Rios, what’s up there? Perhaps Cito was as mad as we were about Rios at bat last inning. That would be a change. Camp now pitching. We can’t see BJ’s expression. First pitch fly ball to Wells. Nice job and BJ’s ERA will also drop further. From 5.71 ERA to 5.50.

Top 9th: MacDougall pitching 12 walks to 9 strikeouts ratio, be patient here guys. Millar to leadoff. 1-3 tonight. Grounds to Guzman short throw to Johnson at first for first out. Chavez not Barajas… a real night off. Grounds to Guzman throw to Johnson, two down. Inglett grounds to second throw to Johnson and Jays go very quietly. Three up and down. Boston has already won their game against Atlanta
Bottom 9th: Camp pitching. Dunn at bat. Full count, strikes out looking. Dukes strikes out. Two down for Gonzalez, singles to left. One on two down for Harris 3-0 count. Come on Camp. Walks him. Two on for Hernandez. 0-2 great pitch. Grounds back to Camp flip to Millar and we have another extra innings game. Will the Jays hitters show up this time?

Top 10th: Top of the order. Scutaro, Hitless but sacrificed last at bat. MacDougal still pitching. Need base runners Marco. 3-1 count, takes this one, high and ball four. Leadoff guy on. Hill now has to get him over. Not bunting. Not with 70 odd hits. Grounds to third Zimmerman throw to second but poor throw pulls Gonzalez off the bag and cannot get two. Scutaro out at second. Not a good throw. Wells.with one on. No Vernon. Grounds to short throw to second on to first double play ball. Ugly inning for Jays after Scutaro was on.
Bottom 10th: Who’s pitching for Jays ? Camp still out there. Kearns pinch hitting grounds to Rolen, bobble it but still gets good throw to Millar, one down. Guzman grounds to Millar flip to Camp, two down. That’s was a sprint. Johnson grounds to Camp takes it in himself to first for third out. Nice pitching by Camp. But once again time for the hitters to show up.

Top 11th: Colome again. Rolen at bat. 2-4 tonight. Strikes out on high ball. Lind also 2-4 tonight. He was watching that at bat, full count and ball four. Lind is on with one down for Overbay pinch hitter in Rios position. Alex has to sit and watch this one. Training staff is out Colome has a problem. He is out of game. Tavarez pitching. Overbay takes third strike. Two down for Millar, Lind still out on first. Kevin has really tanked after great start. Full count, don’t take this one Kevin, too many called third strikes tonight by Jays hitters, outside so he has no choice. Two on two down for Chavez, would love a hit here, not like that, wild swing at first pitch outside. Fly ball to centre. Jays leave two more on.
Bottom 11th: Scott Richmond pitching. Cito anticipating a long stint here? Can’t blame him the way his hitters have been silent in last two games. Overbay at first for Millar. Zimmerman, strikes out looking. One down for Dunn, gets under it and high, very high fly ball to Inglett, that was almost out of here. Had the distance, the problem was it was vertical straight up. Hang time was forever. Dukes with two down. Grounds to Rolen long throw to Overbay. Nice pitching by Richmond.

Top 12th: Inglett fly ball to right one down. Scutaro called third strike, what’s wrong with these guys tonight? Hill with two down come on Aaron get a hit here. I bet Washington wish the Jays were in their division. Lines it right at Zimmerman at third.
Bottom 12th: Gonzalez first pitch singles to centre. One on for Harris showing bunt, full count, there it goes Home run into right field bullpen Nationals win this one 5-3 and going for a sweep of the Jay tomorrow and the way Jays are playing here it could be so.

Pitchers, pinch htting and problems.

Preview: Toronto v Washington series. Game two of three.

Cito has a problem, and that is the handling of the pitching staff. This is evidently made worse now in this stretch against National League.
There are eight more games v National League teams and Cito has to work out how he will use his pitchers in that number nine position. In the last two games he has used seven pitchers in both games, working around that pinch hitting and to avoid getting his pitchers injured. But the problem is that he can’t keep trotting out every pitcher in the bullpen every game, that is a sure recipe for arm and shoulder problems. Unlike hitters Cito your pitchers need to give those shoulders and arms a rest for a day.
Last night he pulled Tallet for a pinch hitter when he had at least 30 more pitches left in him. That is a couple of innings which would have been more than enough to give two or three in the bullpen a night off.
Joe Inglett is not a Vernon Wells. Jays are a good hitting side and should be more than enough to handle the Nationals. If he is concerned about injury, just let them take a couple or token swing. Pinch hit in the ninth when game is on the line. Tonight Brett Cecil back up again and Jays face another unknown rookie.If Cecil cannot go more than three or four Jays have a problem tonight. Good signs re Vernon getting it back and Rolen. Let’s see how the next eight games go but I for one am concerned about the pitching staff long term collective health. There are many other ways Cito to get runs. Scutaro has been demonstrating with his excellent base running. Of course then there is Alex with his base running or lack of.

Jays give this one away with non-existent hitting.

Toronto v Washington. Game one of three.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Overbay, Barajas and Tallet pitching.
Washington: Guzman, Johnson, Zimmerman, Dunn, Dukes, Bard, Harris, Hernandez and Zimmerman pitching.

Jays fresh off that great sweep in Philadelphia but you know that they could just as easily get swept by Washington, Just no consistency and more important this is team at bottom of the league that should be beaten up by the Jays. However Nationals on their own high after taking series with Yankees in New York.

The good: Scutaro hustle in the 11th to get to second. Five walks with Overbay taking three of them. Not much else her I am afraid. Same old errors.
The bad: Hitters all night. Cito uses 18 to get through this one. I can see future problems here. Cito has to get this team more aggressive tomorrow, they should be sweeping the Nationals. Taking them too easy and it never works at least not with the Jays. 13 left on base and 1/7 with runners in scoring position. That will get them nowhere.

Top 1st: Scutaro grounds back to pitcher Jordan Zimmermann throw to first base Johnson. Hill strikes out. Wells singles to centre. Rolen fly ball to centre field Harris.
Bottom 1st: Guzman pops up to Scutaro. Johnson 3-0 count and walks on four pitches. Zimmerman fly ball to Lind. Dunn singles to centre, Johnson to third. Dukes fly ball to Rios.

Top 2nd: Lind strikes out. Rios pops up to second base Hernandez. Two down. Overbay full count and walks. Barajas pops up to first base Johnson for third out.
Bottom 2nd: Bard grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. One down for Harris, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay. Hernandez singles to right. Zimmermann grounds to Tallet throw to Overbay.

Top 3rd: Tallet strikes out. Scutaro lines out to second base Hernandez. Two down. Hill grounds to short safe at first. Wells with one on two down, singles to centre, Hill to second. Rolen lines out to right field Dukes.
Bottom 3rd: Guzman fly ball to Lind. Johnson singles to right. Zimmerman lines out to Rios. Dunn grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay.

Top 4th: Lind grounds to Hernandez at second throw to Johnson at first. Rios awful swing at ball way outside. Pops up to Guzman at short, two down for Overbay grounds to Hernandez drops the ball error to Hernandez. Lyle safe at first. Barajas with two down and one on. Full count and walks. Tallet with two down and two on. Chops it to Guzman at short throw to first base Johnson.
Bottom 4th: Dukes one down for Bard 3-0 coiunt and waks on four pitches. Second walk by Tallet. Harris this is trouble, doubles to right. Throw gets away but runners hold. Could have scored there. Intentional walk to Hernandez to get to Zimmerman. Tallet with bases loaded. Big chance for Zimmerman. Grounds to Hill, throw to second on to Overbay safe at first. Zimmerman can run. 1-0 Washington. Runners at the corners two down for Johnson, pops it up to Barajas.

Top 5th: Scutaro at bat, Zimmerman at 77 pitches. Grounds to Zimmerman at third, throw to Johnson at first one down. Hill fly ball to Dukes in right. Wells 3-0 count, pops it up to Zimmerman behind third base and Jays go quietly again. They can’t seem to solve Zimmerman tonight.
Bottom 5th: Johnson, singles to left. Zimmerman 3-1 count, lines out to Wells, nice running catch to his right by Vernon. One down one on for Dunn. Pops it up to Rolen playing the shift, he had to run for that from short to third. Dukes grounds to Rolen throw to Hill for third out.

Top 6th: Rolen singles to left, Lind with one on. fouling them off here, fly ball to Dunn in left, Rolen holds at first. Rios 0-3. first pitch fly ball out to Harris in centre. Overbay Wells up in Nationals bullpen, Overbay walks. Two on two down for Barajas. Here comes pitching coach, buying time. Zimmerman at 102 pitches. Make him pay Rod. Tallet on deck. Camp up in Jays bullpen just in case Barajas gets on and Cito needs pinch hitter. That’s the way Rod, singles over leaping second base Hernandez, Rolen scores this game is all tied up 1-1. Here comes Super Joe…That’s it for Tallet. Two on and two down. That’s it for Zimmerman 106 pitches. Carlson also up in Jays bullpen. Kip Wells now pitching. Inglett first pitch fly ball to left. That was worth waiting for. Please, please send this guy back to Vegas. He has no idea at all.Cito just lost Tallet for another inning. He was only on 70 odd pitches. Atlanta all over Boston and Dice-K winning 6-0. Would be good to see Boston swept in that series.
Bottom 6th: Carlson pitching. Bard at bat, Full count on Bard could not check that swing. Harris at bat. Full count and walks. Hernandez 3-0 count, Carlson missing badly here. Harris stealing, great throw by Barajas to get him at second. Two down. Full count to Hernandez. Way outside. Walks him. Kearns pinch hitting. Long fly ball right to the wall but Vernon is there for third out.

Top 7th: Tavarez pitching. Top of the order, Scutaro. 0-3 tonight. Grounds weakly to Zimmerman at third, throw to Johnson at first for the out. Hill, 1-3.Lines out to Dunn in left, two down for Wells 2-3 tonight. Knocks hm down with this one.Nasty pitch, up and inside just misses his head, not good. Not intentional, pitch got away, next pitch is down and away and misses. Full count as Vernon swings and misses. Swings at ball outside down and away, come on Vernon, that was ball four. Jays go quietly again.
Bottom 7th: Hayhurst pitching. Guzman at bat, grounds to Overbay throw not in time to Hayhurst. Gotta get over there faster than that Dirk. Cito does not agree and is out there. Not much luck but at least Cito gets the exercise. One on for Johnson, gets hold of this one off the wall in centre, runners at second and third and no outs trouble here for Hayhurst. Zimmerman at bat. Full count. Strikes out looking, huge strike. Dunn now with two on one down. Intentional walk. Dukes now here comes Cito. Camp pitching. bases loaded Dukes strikes out. Bard strikes out. Very nice pitching by Camp.

Top 8th: Rolen grounds to short bobbled by Guzman and Rolen safe at first on the error. Villone pitching. Lind pops up right field Dukes. Rios doubles to right, Rolen to third. Overbay full count and walks. Double switch here Patterson in as right field and Hanrahan pitching. Bases loaded with one out. Barajas grounds to third base Zimmerman coming home and Rolen out. Throw to first by Bard, Barajas safe at first, Rios to third, Overbay to second. Bases loaded, two down.
Millar pinch-hitting for Camp, fly ball to centre field Harris.
Bottom 8th: Accardo pitching. Harris strikes out. Hernandez bunting, back to Accardo throw to Overbay. Two down. Patterson singles to left. Guzman, Patterson stealing, safe at second. Throw was there but not on target. Guzman chance to amend for that error strikes out.

Top 9th: Scutaro grounds to Guzman throw to first base Johnson. One down for Hill, same again first pitch grounds to Guzman at short throw to first base Johnson. Two down and not a good at bat by Hill. Wells another two hit night, hammers this one to centre field, what a great running and full stretch grab by Harris. Robs Vernon of at least a double.
Bottom 9th: Zimmerman, strikes out. Dunn with one on and one down, full count, strikes him out,,, huge strikeout there. Jeremy. Dukes grounds back to Accardo, flip to Overbay.This game is extra innings. Boston has lost to Atlanta at Fenway, Jays need to pick up another here. Yankees have beaten the Marlins in Florida.

Top 10th: Beemel pitching, the Jays big guys now, Rolen at bat 1-4 tonight. Grounds to Johnson at first one down. Lind, overdue here Adam, 0-4 tonight. Full count. Pops it up to Zimmerman at third. Lind 0-5. Rios now, last chance Alex. 3-1 count, does not swing and walks on that pitch, good at bat Alex. Now don’t mess up on the bases. Overbay fly ball to Dunn in left for third out.
Bottom 10th: League out there. Bard pops first pitch up to Lind in shallow left. Harris shows bunt, strikes out on three. Hernandez full count on a wild pitch. Settle down here Brandon. That’s better, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 11th: Crowd has really thinned out. Belliard at second.Colome now pitching, Nationals bullpen has been very good up to now at least. Barajas leading off, can he repeat yesterday’s heroics? Gives it a try, opposite field fly ball into the right field corner for Patterson. Pinch hitter Bautista strikes out, two down for Scutaro who has had a lousy night at bat so far. 0-5. Ouch. You know Marco does not want to go 0-6. Patience here, 3-0 count. Takes two to make it full. There you go Marco, singles to left and stretching it into two on Dunn’s fumble in left and throw which gets away from second. Hustle again by Scutaro on the bases. Hill now can he bring him in here? Balk, wow that’s a piece of luck, Scutaro to third. Here comes Manager Acta but to settle Colome down, shouts at him and goes back to dugout. Hill fly ball to centre wastes that great effort by Scutaro. Hill having a bad night 1-6 and some lousy at bats.
Bottom 11th: Frasor now pitching, Cito running out of options here. Patterson leading off. Bunting but foul. Grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, one down for Bard lines it hard right back at Frasor and knocks his glove off, Patterson safe at first. Johnson with one on and one down, full count, come on Jason. Walks him. Winning run in scoring position. Zimmerman 0-5 tonight. Two on but Patterson at second is the guy to worry about. 2-0 count, Frasor rattled. 3-0. Walks him on four pitches. This is the game here. Bases loaded one down for the last guy you want to see, Adam Dunn. Have to pitch to him Jason. 0-2 count, lines it past Overbay in right field. Washington wins this one 2-1.

You could see this coming all game. Jays were flat all night. A huge letdown after Philadelphia. This is a series they should have swept and bigtime.
Cecil back tomorrow for another shot at the team. I fear another seven pitcher game if hitters cannot help out.