Jays give this one away. Rolen is missed already

Toronto v Oakland. Game one of three.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Toronto v Seattle. Game three.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Toronto v Seattle. Game two of three.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jays hitters come alive for hit parade in Seattle win behind Romero.

Toronto v Seattle. Game one of three.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Wells, Overbay, Rios, Barajas, Inglett and Romero pitching. No Bautista tonight, we have Inglett, just don’t ask him to bunt please Cito.
Seattle: Suzuki, Guttierrez, Griffey, Shelton, Hannahan, Johnson, Woodward, Saunders, Cedeno and Hernandez pitching.

Top eight in Jays lineup have more than 40 rbis. Seattle has one Gutierrez with 44 but that doesn’t mean much against Jays anything can and usually does happen when they play weaker teams.
Jays facing one of the best tonight in Felix Hernandez. 11-3 2.45ERA and 7-0 in the last 11 starts. Good news: Scott Richmond threw 5.1 innings in a rehab start for Vegas on Saturday. Richmond allowed one run on three hits and striking out five. He will be starting on Friday.

The very good: Hit parade for Jays, and get two home runs off Hernandez who has allowed only 3 home runs in 83 innings. Scutaro four hit night, home runs for Barajas in his three hit night and for Overbay. Jays 5/13 with runners in scoring position. That is huge for this team.
The good: The hitters tonight picked up Romero who as not as sharp as usual although he gets the win. Bullpen holds it. Jays pick up another on the Rays who lose tonight to the Yankees. Inglett gives two hits to get him going finally.
The bad: Nothing tonight to complain about.

Top 1st: Scutaro, singles to right. Hill, Scutaro has eight stolen bases but probably not going here. Singles to right and Scutaro to third. Jays have something going here early. Lind with two on and no outs. Grounds to first, where is Scutaro? not going on contact there. Too bad as Lind tagged out at first. Hill moves to second. Rolen with two in scoring position. Way to go Scott lines this one hard to left, almost out but caught by Saunders at the wall, Scutaro tags and scores. 1-0 Jays. Hill stays at second, Wells, grounds to short, throw to first and Hernandez escapes with only one run against him. Could have and should have been worse. 20 pitch inning though.
Bottom 1st: Suzuki going opposite way singles into left. Gutierrez, Suzuki has 21 stolen bases. No need here as Gutierrez singles into centre, Two on no outs for Griffey. Grounds to Overbay flip to Romero covering and one down at first. Runners move up. Two in scoring position one down for Shelton. Grounds to Scutaro, Suzuki scores no way is he standing around at third as Scutaro did, 1-1. Two down for Hannahan. Grounds back to Romero throw to Overbay for the third out, but Mariners have tied it up. 13 pitch inning for Romero. Yankees and Boston have already won their games. Tampa has lost but Jays have to win this thing to make any difference.

Top 2nd: Overbay leading off. 2-0 count, OH Lyle, gets hold of this one, that great smooth swing, and this one is home run way back in right centre, 2-1 Jays. Rios pops it up six feet down the line. If he could only keep his head down when he swings. Barajas one down, fly ball to Saunders in left. Two down for Inglett, hitting .167. Grounds first pitch back to Hernandez throw to Shelton at first and his average will get even lower. But Jays have another run. 34 pitches for Hernandez.
Bottom 2nd: Johnson, singles to left and Mariners have leadoff hitter on again. ex-Jay Chris Woodward, bunting, fly ball to Rios in right, one down. Johnson holds at first. Saunders grounds to Hill, flip to Scutaro over to Overbay at first double play ball. Perfect. Eight pitch inning for Romero.

Top 3rd: Top of the order again Scutaro leading off. 3-1 full count, Scutaro takes all the way. Lifts one gently over the infield into left. 2-2 tonight. Hill, huge swing and strikes out. Lind, grounds back to Hernandez, oh boy throws to Cedeno covering second and drops the ball, both runners safe, error on the play, that was easy double play. Rolen, ball gets away, not far enough for Scutaro, Hill is going but Scutaro is retreating to second, too late Aaron, thrown out at first, that was terrible. 2-0 on Rolen, strikes out. But not pretty base running by Jays there. 54 pitches for Hernandez. Jays 0/3 with runners in scoring position.
Bottom 3rd: Cedeno bunting but foul. Strikes out looking. Suzuki, fly ball to Inglett in left. Two down for Gutierrez, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. 38 pitches for Romero.

Top 4th: Wells, grounds to third, great play by Hannahan and throw to first for the out. Overbay, same play, grounds to Hannahan, throw to first for two quick outs, Rios, keep your head down Alex, grounds to Cedeno throw to first, easy inning for Hernandez. 65 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Griffey, singles to Rios in right. Shelton with one on, singles to left, two on and no outs, Romero in trouble again. Hannahan, grounds back to Romero throw to Scutaro at second gets Shelton, no chance for two, Griffey at third, Johnson with two on and only one down. 2-0, singles to left, Griffey scores and this game is tied up 2-2. But Mariners still threatening. Two on and one down for Woodward, need a ground ball here Ricky. 3-1 count in danger of loading bases. That will do lines it to Rolen, leaps high to get this one, throw to Hill to double up Hannahan. Gold glove play by Rolen to save Romero. That would have been at least one run. 56 pitches.

Top 5th: Barajas, WHOA Rod, first pitch lines this one into left field bullpen, a bullet, 3-2 Jays. Inglett, .161 average now, first pitch fly ball to left. Two pitches and two outs for Inglett tonight, Should have stayed at the hotel. Scutaro 20-2 and singles to left, 3-3 You should watch Scutaro, Joe. Hill with one on and one down. Ball gets away Scutaro running but perfect throw by Johnson to second just gets him. Two down. Grounds to Hannahan at third throw to first for third out but Jays get another. 75 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: Saunders, bunting perfect bunt to third, what a great bunt, textbook. No defence on that one, not even a throw by Rolen. Mariners have had leadoff guy on four of five innings. Cedeno, pops it up foul behind Overbay nice running catch by Hill. One down for Suzuki. Slaps it past Scutaro’s glove into left. Two on one down for Gutierrez, Romero leaves this one up in the middle of plate and Gutierrez singles to right, 3-3 game. Two on one down for Griffey. 2-2 count, Full count and loading them up ? no Griffey strikes out swinging. Two down for Shelton, singles to left Suzuki scores easily and Mariners go ahead 4-3. Here comes Cito, get your act together Ricky or you are going to Vegas AAA. Two on two out for Hannahan, 2-0 I guess the pep talk didn’t work Cito. There’s a strike. And another, bounces to Overbay flip to Romero at first. But damage is done as Mariners score twice to take the lead. 81 pitch count, a 25 pitch inning. Cito talking to Romero on the bench.

Top 6th: Hitters are gong to have to ratchet it up a notch here as Romero obviously not on his game tonight. Lind leading off. Pops it up to Hannahan at third, One down for Rolen. Grounds to Hannahan throw to first two quick outs. Wells, up to you Vernon. Singles to left, that will do, now tell Lyle to give you time to steal second. Overbay, two down and one on. Lyle walks. Two on two down for Rios. Hitless tonight and not looking good at all in both at bats. That’s better Alex, singles to left, here comes Vernon, great slide beats a great throw by left field Saunders, Alex goes to second on the throw. 4-4 game. Barajas with two more in scoring position. Grounds to third but deflected it off glove here comes Lyle, 5-4 Jays. Barajas safe at first. Inglett, now .156 average, if ever a time for a hit it is now Joe. White up in Seattle bullpen. 3-1 count. Yes Joe you are redeemed singles to right, and Vernon scores. 6-4 Jays. Scutaro with two on. Keep it going Marco. Scutaro 3-3 tonight, singles to left down the line, off the glove of Hannahan at third, Barajas scores 7-4 Jays. Scutaro another four hit game 4-4, and a chance for five. That’s it for Hernandez 103 pitches. Two down for Hill with Scutaro at first, Inglett at third. White now pitching. Don’t look now but Jays are 4/7 with runners in scoring position tonight. Grounds to Hannahan throw to second for third out, but Jays have scored four to open this one up. Can Romero and bullpen hold it?
Bottom 6th: Johnson, 2-2, full count, walks him. Woodward, grounds to Overbay, throw to Scutaro back to first not in time, one down. Carlson up in bullpen. Saunders with runner at first, strikes out on three very good pitches. Keep it going Ricky one more. Cedeno, grounds to short but Rolen takes it in front of Scutaro, and throws to Overbay for the third out. 95 pitches.

Top 7th:Lind, fly ball to Gutierrez at the 405 sign in centre, he drops it !!!, Lind at third, looks as if his arm hit the wall as he went up for it, and ball goes off the glove. Error on the play. Jays will take it,,Rolen, this should do it. Fly ball to centre here comes the throw Lind beats it and Jays get another 8-4 Jays. Wells, with one down, doubles to the wall in left. Overbay with runner in scoring position and one down. Second hit for Vernon. Come on Lyle, bounces one to first, Vernon moves up to third. Rios, fly ball to Gutierrez in centre.
Bottom 7th: Suzuki but Carlson now pitching. He has been a little off recently, strike one, Ichiro slaps it opposite field into left, Jays should put the shift on there for this guy. One on for Gutierrez, you know he wants to redeem here, strikes out, great pitching Jesse. One down for Griffey, another lefty-lefty matchup. Fly ball to centre for Vernon, two down. Shelton, 3-0 count. Come on Jesse, there’s a strike. And another, full count, Ichiro will be running. Walks him. Two on for Hannahan, Camp up in bullpen. Strikes him out. Nice going Jesse.

Top 8th: White still pitching, Barajas leading off two hits tonight including the home run. There you go Rod, singles into left, earning his money tonight. One on for Inglett, his average up to .182 with that hit, singles another into right, He is hot hot now…. Scutaro with two on and no outs, Here comes Adair pitching coach, not happy with number eight and nine getting on base and now pitching to a 4-4 Scutaro. Fly ball to centre Guttierrez makes the catch this time. Runners hold. One down for Hill. Aaron just misses down the left field corner, that would have scored two. Full count, walks bases loaded for Lind and one down. Ball gets away and here comes Barajas, run scores 9-4 Jays. Runners move up into scoring position. Fly ball to Saunders in left, Inglett tags and scores 10-4 Jays. Two down. Rolen with Hill at second. 3-1 count. Doubles into left corner, Hill scores, 11-4 Jays. Wells, with Rolen at second. 2-4 tonight for Vernon, gets hold of this but not far enough fly ball to Saunders in left for third out. Jay 15 hit night so far but have also given up 11 which must be a concern for Cito.
Bottom 8th: Interesting, Downs now pitching. I agree with you Cito, Scott is a setup guy not a closer, Johnson at bat, I guess Frasor and/or League will be closing. Ground ball to Overbay, takes it himself one down. Woodward, strikes out on three pitches. Saunders with two down. strikes out. That will give Downs back his confidence back after those two very poor outings on the weekend.

Top 9th: Aardsma pitching, Overbay leading off, full count, Lyle’s specialty and walks. Rios, 1-4 tonight. strikes out looking on three pitches. One down for three hit Barajas, high pop up to Saunders in left, two down one on for Inglett, now with .206 average, see what a couple of hits will do Joe. Not this time pops up to second for Woodward.
Bottom 9th: Hayhurst, where has he been hiding the last weeks? Cito has not used him for a long time. Cedeno, fly ball to Rios in right one down. Suzuki, lines out to Inglett in left, two down for Gutierrez, singles to left. One on two down for Griffey. Pops it up to Hill for third out and Jays win big tonight.

Jays win consolattion prize behind excellent outing by Cecil.

Toronto v Tampa Game three to avoid sweep by Tampa.

When you have hot rock bottom like this team you can only go up but Jays have such a big hole to climb out of they need a run of two months the way they played April and May.
Let’s start with this one.

Lineups: Tampa: Upton, Crawford, Longoria, Zobrist, Burrell, Pena, Kapler, Navarro, Bartlett and Niemann pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Wells, Rios, Overbay, Barajas, Inglett and Cecil pitching. Cito I agree with you moving Overbay down, he has not been hitting well and if this is the punishment corner so be it. Would prefer to see Bautista in there and not Inglett, but I guess Jose has to take turns regardless of how well he performs as he did yesterday, that is certainly a great !! motivator Cito.

The very good: Cecil seven innings. League striking out the side and Frasor to save this one. AND have to highlight this one, Jays 4/8 with runners in scoring position, which is excellent for this team at least.
The good: 30,000 to support Jays despite the team losing so badly the first two games of the weekend. Quick 2 ½ hour game helps better to prepare for the trip west.
The bad: Another double play by Vernon although a run did score as a result.

Top 1st: Upton strikes out. Crawford grounds back to Cecil throw to Overbay. Two down for Longoria singles to centre. Zobrist singles to left, Longoria to second. Come on Cecil. Burrell grounds back to Cecil throw to Overbay for third out and leaving two on.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro strikes out. Hill grounds to second Zobrist throw to first base Pena two down for Lind. Lind full count and walks. Rolen grounds to shortstop Bartlett on to second base Zobrist, Lind out to end this inning at least.

Top 2nd: Pena fly ball to Rios. Kapler fly ball to Inglett. Navarro fly ball to Rios. One two three for Cecil, nice pitching.
Bottom 2nd: Wells leading off, fly ball to Upton. Rios fouls out to right field Kapler. Two down for Overbay grounds to third base Longoria throw to first base Pena. Jays go more than quietly.

Top 3rd: Bartlett grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay, one down for Upton. Upton pops up to Overbay. Crawford strikes out. Another three up and down.
Bottom 3rd: Barajas fly ball to Kapler. Inglett fly ball to Kapler. Scutaro fly ball to Upton

Top 4th: Longoria walks. Zobrist grounds to Scutaro to Hill to Overbay, double play ball. Burrell, strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Hill singles to right. Lind singles to right, Hill to second. Jays have something going here. Rolen at bat, YES Scotty, there she goes, Rolen gets hold of this one, home run to left. Jays leap out ahead 3-0. Wells, strikes out. Rios grounds back to pitcher Niemann throw to first base Pena. One down for Overbay, singles to left. Where was that yesterday? Barajas fly ball to Upton.

Top 5th: Pena strikes out. Kapler fly ball to Wells. Navarro fly ball to Inglett to end the inning, one two three for Cecil.
Bottom 5th: Inglett grounds to shortstop Bartlett throw to first Pena. One down for Scutaro, strikes out. Hill grounds to shortstop Bartlett throw to first base Pena.

Top 6th: Bartlett grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. One down for Upton, strikes out. Crawford, there she goes, Crawford connects on this one, and Alex can only watch this, home run to right. 3-1 Jays. Longoria doubles to right. Come on Brett, settle down. Zobrist 3-0 count and walks on four pitches. Two on two down for Burrell, strikes out.

Bottom 6th: Jays want to get this one back. Lind doubles to left. Rolen singles to left, Lind moves up to third. Wells grounds to Bartlett, throw to Zobrist at second, on to Pena double play ball but Vernon gets the run across. 4-1 Jays. Rios strikes out but that is an important run to get back.

Top 7th: Pena 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Kapler strikes out. One down for Navarro fly ball to left field Inglett. Bartlett fly ball to Rios. Cecil stays out of trouble here but probably his last hitter.
Bottom 7th: Overbay, hitless today, there he goes doubles to right. Barajas struck out. Inglett singles to centre, Overbay to third for Scutaro, singles to left, Overbay scores, Inglett to second and Jay are ahead 5-1 Jays, but as every Jays player knows by now, no lead is safe enough from this Rays team. Hill strikes out. Choate now pitching. Inglett stealing third and safe. Lind fly ball to left field Crawford.

Top 8th: League now pitching. Cecil gave another good outing and also saved a very tired bullpen. Upton doubles to right. Crawford strikes out. Longoria strikes out. Zobrist strikes out.

Bottom 8th. Thayer pitching. Rolen grounds to Longoria throw to first base Pena. One down for Wells, singles to centre. Vernon on base for Rios, Alex strikes out. Nelson now pitching. Overbay fly ball down the foul territory in left for Crawford to make the catch and end the inning.
Top 9th: No Downs today, Jays stand a chance here. Frasor pitching. I think we might well see him again in this situation, don’t let me down here Jason. Burrell fly ball to Rios. One down for Pena pops up to Hill in foul ground. Two down. Gross pinch-hitting for Kapler, strikes out to end this one.

Jays win consolation prize here but will fly west thinking of what could have been but for meltdown and poor closing by Downs and lack of clutch hitting.
This team could easily have swept the Rays this weekend, and THAT would have been something to celebrate, but once again fans are teased with what could be with this team if they played to their potential. Meantime let’s celebrate the second win this season against the Rays.

Downs blows another but Cito also in this meltdown as Jays give away eight run lead

Toronto v Tampa Game two of three.

This one is very hard to write about. Four and half hour game.
This is probably one of the very worst games I have paid money to watch the Jays in more than thirty years. Really three games in one this afternoon. The first five innings where Jays hitters feasted on both Price and Cormier to go up 9-1. Everything went right for them and it was fun to watch and to think of what could be with this team. The second half where Rays score eight and Jays are scoreless and then the disasterous conclusion.
I said last night that Downs was not pitching like a closer and he proved it yet again in blowing this one with not one but two home runs in the ninth. If that had been BJ Ryan, Cito would have had him out of there on the first, let alone the second.

Lineups: Tampa: Upton, Crawford, Longoria, Zobrist, Burrell, Pena, Kapler, Aybar, Bartlett, Navarro and Price pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Millar, Wells, Rios, Bautista, Chavez and Tallet pitching. Two things I like about this lineup. Overbay out after several poor games, of course he is out lefty, lefty but he is out, and Bautista in left is perfect for me, Inglett messed up badly last night, he is a poor replacement for Bautista or even Lind.

The good: Not much in this one. Tallet for five and what I liked was the fact that there were no walks in five. Hill of course with two home runs but Hill was also a goat striking out with bases loaded in bottom of the twelfth. Bautista and Cito note to yourself, put Bautista in left and alternate with Lind for the rest of the season, forget Dellucci and Inglett. Bautista had a great game with bat and glove and would probably have had that bunt down last night as well making that catch that Inglett bungled.

The bad: Cito, sorry for his fans but he gambled in the sixth when Tallet had clearly hit the wall and loaded the bases, he should never have faced Pena in that situation, every fan around me at least was calling for the same and if we could see it why not Cito? He obviously wanted him to work it out and never expected Rays to comeback like that. Jays have lost yet another series at home regardless of tomorrow’s outcome and right now it looks like a Rays sweep.

The very bad: An incredible 2/14 with runners in scoring position. Downs has to be number one for second day in a row and the question for Cito is what does he do with him? Put him as setup ? or just use him in blowouts and with today’s experience blowouts Jaysspeak must be at least ten runs. Of course we all know that Cito will say he will “trot him out again” and as soon as possible. But seriously Jays have a closer issue. Frasor ? League ? Probably right now the best is Frasor. League is too erratic.

For my friends in NY State, one for you, before game starts, a nice presentation to Jim Fanning for his 60 years in baseball. He also threw out first pitch. Evidently Cito was a Braves farmhand when Jim was in Atlanta and long before he spent so many years in Montreal.

Top 1st: Upton lines to left field Bautista. This guy at least knows what he is doing in left. Crawford fly ball to left Bautista. Two down and a dangerous one at that. Longoria pops up to Hill at second for third out. Nice inning Brian and no walks.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro singles to left. Hill fly ball to right field Kapler. One down one on for Lind, way to go Adam, doubles to centre, here comes Marco. Jays go out 1-0. Rolen with Lind at second, Scott singles to centre, Lind is held up at third. Two on one down. Jays hitters have come out to play today. Something wring with Price, trainer and pitching coach out there, looks like finger on his pitching hand, says he is ok. Millar, grounds to Zobrist at short, throw to Aybar to get Rolen at second Lind comes home on contact. 2-0 Jays. Millar at first. Wells singles to left, Millar to second. Price does not have much here in the first inning at least. Rios with two on and two down, keep it going here Alex, fly ball to centre field Upton. Jays hitters rough up Price here.

Top 2nd: Meantime Tallet has to hold them here. Zobrist fly ball to left field Bautista. Busy guy out there. Burrell pops to right field Rios. Two down for Pena, strikes out. Another good inning for Tallet. This is supposed to be his last start before he goes into bullpen again in long relief. Bullpen definitely needs him.
Bottom 2nd: Bautista, YES Jose, first pitch this one is out of here in centre, 3-0 Jays. You see what I mean Cito ?? Forget Dellucci and Inglett. Number nine Chavez, pops up to first base Pena. One down for Scutaro, strikes out. Two down, Hill. YES Aaron, another home run into left of course. Jays are ahead 4-0 and Price is looking very ordinary here. Lind, can he join in this fun? Fly ball to left field Crawford.

Top 3rd: Kapler singles to centre. First hit off Tallet. Aybar fly ball to Bautista. Navarro fly ball to Wells. Two down for Upton, grounds to Rolen throw to Hill, Kapler out at second. Tallet enjoying the lead. Wjat would Halladay have given for this last night?
Bottom 3rd: Rolen fly ball to right field Kapler. One down for Millar, pops up to third base Longoria. Two down for Wells, doubles to left. One on two down for Rios, OH BOY, Alex gets hold of this one another home run, first pitch swing to centre, Vernon and Alex score and Jays are out 6-0. And still only one down. Bautista singles to right. Another hit. Chavez grounds to third base Longoria throw to second for Aybar, to get Bautista. But Jays are ahead 6-0 in first three innings.

Top 4th: Crawford singles to centre. You don’t need this Brian, watch this guy. Longoria grounds to Scutaro throw to Hill on to Millar, perfect double play, the baseball gods are with Jays here. Zobrist with two down, strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Cormier now pitching. Price had a terrible three innings. Scutaro leading off singles to right. Hill, full count, WHOA Aaron. Another home run, Scutaro scores, and Jays blow this one open 8-0. Lind grounds to Pena. One down. Rolen strikes out. Millar grounds to Longoria throw to first base Pena. But Jays have two more.

Top 5th: Burrell grounds back to Tallet throw to Millar. Pena grounds to Millar, two down. Kapler lines to Wells.
Bottom 5th: Wells pops up to second base Aybar. One down for Rios, singles to left. Bautista, Alex not stealing lines to Aybar at second throw to Pena at first double play ball. This is first inning Jays have not scored.

Top 6th: Aybar grounds back to Tallet throw to Millar. One down for Navarro, doubles to left. Upton singles to left, Navarro scores, Upton going for two and thrown out by Bautista to Hill, but Rays are on the board 8-1 Jays. Pena getting the bird from those fans behind the Rays dugout. Crawford fly ball to Bautista.
Bottom 6th: Chavez singles to centre and the hits keep on coming. Scutaro fly ball to Upton. Hill singles to centre, Chavez to third. Lind grounds to second, Zobrist tangles up at second and ball gets away, Lind safe and Chavez scores 9-1 Jays. That should have been double play but I think Hill upset Zobrist. That’s it for Cormier. Thayer now pitching. Rolen fly ball to Upton. Millar fly ball to Kapler but Jays have another.

Top 7th: Longoria singles to centre. Zobrist doubles to left, Longoria to third. Come on Brian, don’t ease up here. Burrell full count and walks. Bases loaded and no outs, Tallet is wavering badly. That is his first walk today which is great but Cito you have to stop this, Tallet has hit the wall, 86 pitches but he is laboring. Nothing from Cito, Pena, here we go, you could see this coming a mile away, triples into the left field corner. Three runs score and Rays are back in this one. Now here comes Cito, a wag behind me says “a little late Cito” and he is 100% right. 9-4 game. League now pitching. Kapler strikes out. Aybar, grounds to Hill throw to Millar but Pena scores and 9-5 game, this whole game has changed on that Pena triple. Two down for Navarro grounds to Hill throw to Millar.
Bottom 7th: Balfour pitching. Wells strikes out. Rios strikes out. Bautista full count and walks. Chavez strikes out. Balfour very efficient here throwing nothing but strikes.

Top 8th: Accardo now pitching. Have to hold this for Downs Jeremy. Upton grounds to second but safe at first. Upton stealing, but great bullet from Chavez to Scutaro, Upton out. Chavez has a 39% success ratio catching runners. Crawford grounds to Hill throw to Millar. Two down. Longoria singles to centre. Zobrist full count and walks, Longoria to second. Come on Jeremy don’t let them get back anymore in this. Passed ball, Longoria to third, Zobrist to second. Burell, oh no, I can’t believe this singles to left, Longoria scores, Zobrist scores Burrell is out at second another throw by Bautista to Hill, Burrell out. But this game is a two run game 9-7 Jays. Rays have scored six with no reply from Jays hitters.
Bottom 8th: Scutaro, there you go Marco, doubles to centre. Give Downs another. Hill grounds to short Zobrist throw to Pena, Scutaro moves to third with only one down. Choate pitching. Lefty match up with Lind, grounds to Aybar throw to Pena. Scutaro is held. Wheeler now pitching. Rolen strikes out. Another great opportunity wasted by Lind and Rolen.

Top 9th: Overbay in at first base. Downs now pitching two run game. Pena, who had the triple, oh no, home run to centre and this game is a one run game 9-8. Kapler grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. That’s more like it. One down for Aybar, OH MY!!!! This one is out home run to centre, first pitch and this game is unbelievably tied up, 9-9 the crowd is stunned. Navarro strikes out. Upton doubles to left. Crawford grounds to Hill throw to Overbay, to end this but incredible. And worse this is the second game in a row that Downs has blown it. Well Scotty you know what happened to BJ. but to be fair you are not a closer, you don’t have the right killer temperament for it. But then who does on this pitching team right now?
Bottom 9th: Jays have to reply here, we had a bad extra innings game yesterday. Not two in a row please. Loads of people have left, streaming out. Wheeler still pitching. Zobrist at second. Bartlett at short. Overbay leading off, strikes out. Wells fly ball to Crawford. Two down for Rios pops up to second base Zobrist and we are going into extra innings for second game in a row. Even more fans are leaving.

Top 10th: Frasor now pitching. Longoria strikes out. Zobrist singles to right. One on for Burrell fly ball to Rios. Two down for Pena, strikes out. Good inning by Frasor he has done his job, now for the hitters.
Bottom 10th: Bautista singles to left. Am so glad he is playing today. Chavez bunting back to pitcher Wheeler throw to Zobrist covering first, Bautista to second. Howell now pitching. Scutaro strikes out.Hill with first base open, intentional walk. Lind fouls out to first base Pena. They leave Bautista stranded out there.

Top 11th: Camp now pitching. Gross pinch-hitting for Kapler. Gross walks.That’s good Camp. Bartlett bunting back to Camp throw to Overbay for the out but Gross to second. In scoring position for Navarro singles to left, Gross to third. One down. Upton pops up to Overbay, Gross has to hold. Crawford walks, Navarro moves to second. Bases loaded for Longoria, strikes out. Camp escapes this one.
Bottom 11th: Gross in at right. Rolen leading off, grounds to pitcher Howell throw to first base Pena. One down. Overbay grounds to Zobrist throw to first base Pena. Two down for Wells strikes out. More boos Vernon.

Top 12th: Camp still out there. Zobrist singles to centre. Burrell fly ball to Wells. One down one on for Pena, fly ball to Bautista.Two down. Gross 3-0 and walks on four pitches, Zobrist to second. Bartlett, there it goes, doubles down the line in left, Zobrist scores, Gross to third. Rays go out ahead 10-9 who would have though this in the fifth inning. Navarro with two down and two more in scoring position. Navarro fly ball to Wells. What an incredible meltdown by Jays.
Bottom 12th: Nelson now pitching. Number eight for Maddon today. Rios full count and walks. Great start Alex, now are you stealing ? Bautista sacrifice bunt back to Nelson on to Pena, Rios to second. I hope Inglett is watching that. Barajas now pinch-hitting for Chavez. Barajas walks.Two on and one down. Scutaro full count and walks the bases loaded with one out. Hill, with Rios at third, terrible at bat, strikes out looking. Aaron huge mistake, surely you have to swing with bases loaded and two strikes and game on the line. Or how about a squeeze play here Cito? Where is Mondesi when we need him? Jays will never try that whilst Cito is manager. Down to our last hope now with Lind who has not had a great game either as DH. Lind grounds to second Zobrist throw to first Pena.

This nightmare is over, my friends who are left around me are in shock, this was rock bottom for even this team and Cito.

Perhaps trading half of the lineup will be the best, bring in some new blood who know how to bunt, how to bring runners in from second, have a baseball brain. The trip out west tomorrow evening will come at a perfect time because fans here are getting ugly about this team and Cito. His honeymoon is long over and he has to start managing this team a lot differently, 1992-3 was the last century Cito and your methods are not working any longer.Not that I am suggesting you take all the blame here, there is more than enough to go around most of the team today but something has to change and the guy in charge is usually the one to make sure it does.

Downs blows this one but miserable hitting and no support for superb Halladay

Toronto v Tampa. Game one of three.

Another big series for Jays with Tampa just above them, they need to make a dent in that gap before they head out west. Of course tonight another ! final game by Halladay. I feel sorry for him having to deal with this distraction for the last couple of weeks. Cannot be helpful for a guy like him who is a perfectionist in his preparation. Other news Dellucci out of his misery and sent down and back comes Joe Inglett who has been burning it up in Vegas with .370 average. He can’t be worse than Dellucci.

Lineups: Tampa: Ever dangerous speedy lineup and one that Halladay has lost to twice already this season. Will it be third time lucky? Upton, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Zobrist, Burrell, Gross, Hernandez, Bartlett, and Garza pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Wells, Rios, Barajas, Inglett and Halladay pitching first team tonight Cito for Halladay ?

The excellent: Roy Halladay in probably his last game for Jays nine innings, ten strikeouts and 115 pitches in a losing cause. Poor guy, he must weep as much as we do.
The good: Nothing much else for this team tonight. Maybe Scutaro and Hill for their rbis.
The awful: Downs, walking two in the tenth but starting with number eight hitter, and blowing this one bigtime, is he closer material? Maybe Jays have another problem. Up and down the lineup tonight, awful, wild uncontrolled at bats. Gave Garza an easy time swinging and getting out on first pitches. Inglett bunt, surely someone on the bench better than this guy but with a .370 average why did Cito make him? 1/7 with runners in scoring position. They get leadoff at second over and over and over again and cannot bring him in. Season long problem.

Top 1st: Upton, grounds back to Halladay throw to Overbay for first out. Crawford grounds it up the middle. Longoria, Crawford will not be long at first. Pitch out, not going. 3-0 now he may. Walks him totally distracted by Crawford. Pena, 0-2. Strikes out, two down for Zobrist. Fly ball to Wells for third out.
Bottom 1st: Now, have Jays hitters brought their bats tonight? More importantly what has Garza brought? In a personal slump right now. Scutaro, also in trade rumours, he would be big loss to this team. Full count, fly ball to Crawford in left, one down for Hill. There’s a life, on popup to dugout that Hernandez catcher could not handle. That was catchable. Full count, called third strike. Two down for Lind. Thirteen game hit streak on the line for Adam, strikes out.

Top 2nd: Burrell, first pitch fly ball to Rios, one down. Gross, 0-2, strikes out on low one there umpire, but obviously Halladay gets those. Hernandez, grounds to Overbay and seven pitch inning for Roy. He will take that anyday.
Bottom 2nd: Rolen leading off. First pitch… grounds to short throw to first one down. Overbay in the doghouse after yesterday’s performance. Taking strike three in bottom of the ninth with two out and tying run at third. Grounds to Zobrist at second throw to Pena at first for second out. Wells, with two down. Pulls it to Longoria at third, throw to Pena and Jays go very meekly here. Halladay will not get much support from this lot tonight.

Top 3rd: Bartlett, full count, and walks him two tonight. Upton, this is trouble, doubles to centre, two on no outs for Crawford. Fly ball to Wells, runs scores. Perfect execution by Joe Maddon’s team he demands and expects nothing else. Therein a huge dfference between these two Managers and their teams. 1-0 Rays. Longoria with runner at second, one down. Halladay not getting that call on the outside corner now. Pitch gets away and Upton to third. Halladay getting rattled. Longoria lines one to Inglett in left, run scores, is there a pattern here? 2-0 Rays, that should be enough tonight. Two down for Pena. Strikes out but 21 pitch inning and realistically I don’t see Jays hitters getting three against Rays tonight. They don’t even have a hit yet. 45 pitches for Roy.
Bottom 3rd: Rios leading off. Grounds to Longoria, long throw bounces gets away from Pena at first and Rios to second. But the problem is will he watch the rest of the inning from second? Barajas pops up to shallow centre !!! Upton, holds Rios at second. One down for Inglett, great chance for you Joe, fly ball to Gross in right, at least he moves Rios to third, but with two down…. Scutaro that’s the way Marco, singles to left and Jays finally produce a run, but why is it always like pulling teeth when they get leadoff guy at second? 2-1 Rays. Hill with two down and Scutaro at first. Oh lucky Aaron, long fly ball to centre, long run for Upton but off his glove and here comes Scutaro to tie game up. 2-2. Lind with Hill at second, bounces to Bartlett at short, throw to Pena at first but Jays have tied this up for Halladay. 46 pitches for Garza.

Top 4th: Zobrist, strikes out. One down for Burrell, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for second out. Gross, strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Can Jays pad this lead now and let Halladay cruise? Rolen, has seen one pitch in the first seventy minutes of this game. Takes the first one here. that’s better Scotty doubles to left into the cortner. Here we go again with runner at second. Overbay first pitch fly ball to Crawford in left, makes nice catch. Lyle next time just try a bunt OK ? One down and Rolen still standing out there. Wells, can he do any better? 2-0 count, 3-0, making Garza work at least which is more than Overbay did. Full count. Jays 1/5 tonight with runners in scoring position. Vernon hanging tough here fouling them off. Fooled here on curve ball strike. Rios, last chance to bring in leadoff double. 2-0 count, oh boy, excuse me hit, off his bat as he pulls it back, grounds to first for third out. Jays futility with runners in scoring position, that would make me want a trade Roy if I were you. 64 pitches for Garza.

Top 5th: Hernandez, fly ball to Rios in right, one down for Bartlett, strikes out, number six tonight for Roy. Two down for Upton, lines to Rios in right for one, two, three inning.
Bottom 5th: Barajas, strikes out trying to check swing at ball outside. Inglett, one down. lines it at Longoria for out number two. Scutaro got it started last time. Not this time, first pitch ! pop up to Crawford and Halladay hardly had time to sit down.

Top 6th: Crawford leading off. Grounds back to Halladay nice grab Roy, throw to Overbay for first and very big out. Longoria, full count, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, two down for Pena. Lines first pitch to Hill, nice catch Aaron. 77 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Boston and Yankees both winning 2-1 but it is this game important right now. Hill leading off. 2-0 count, Garza doing a lot of those counts if Jays hitters let him. Pulls it to Longoria at third, long throw to Pena for first out. Lind, pops it up to Hernandez, two very quick outs for Rolen. Don’t believe it, first pitch grounds to second. What is wrong this group tonight? 78 pitches.

Top 7th: Zobrist, however it is now contagious and lines first pitch to Wells in centre, one down for Burrell, grounds up the middle to Scutaro throw to Overbay, two down. Gross, 3-0 count and grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for third out. Halladay doing his part but all to no good if the hitters cannot do something beyond get out on first pitch and leaving the ones they do get on base out there at second. 88 pitches for Halladay.
Bottom 7th: Overbay, another bad night at the plate so far. Must be yesterday’s goof weighing on his conscience. Strikes out. One down for Wells, hitless fly ball (first pitch) to Upton, two down. This has been far too easy for Garza tonight, Jays hitters getting themselves out with wild clueless at bats. Rios, strikes out.

Top 8th: Hernandez, strikes out on three pitches. Bartlett, Roy leaves one up here and doubles to left corner, he didn’t want to do that. Upton now runner at second, Rays don’t mess these chances up. Fly ball to Wells but too shallow for Bartlett to tag. Two down for Crawford, why is it always this guy? Whoa Roy, strikes him out on three pitches. That is why this guy should NEVER leave Toronto. Wow. Great pitching. If only his hitters could do something.
Bottom 8th: Barajas leading off. That will do leadoff single to centre. Inglett now, bunting ??? Probably. Johnny Mc pinch running. Yes, if anything Cito is predictable. Oh boy, Inglett pops bunt up, and caught by Garza throw to first and doubles up Johnny Mc already at second. Cito rolled the wrong dice again. Inglett has a .370 average Cito, he can hit. Scutaro now with two down. 0-2, now full count. Fly ball to Upton.

Top 9th: Longoria with Halladay still out there, if this is his last game he is going out with a bang. Chavez now catching. Full count. Ball four, does not get that strike on the outside corner. Now is Maddon bunting? Pena no way, not with 24 home runs. Gets him strikes him out great pitch. One down for Zobrist, 0-2 strikes out looking on three pitches number ten for Roy tonight. Burell loops one into shallow centre. Longoria to third, Gross, with two on and two down grounds to Overbay, steps on first for third out. You can’t ask for more from a pitcher. Now can Roy’s teammates give him a well deserved win? Top of the lineup.
Bottom 9th: Hill leading off. Garza 100 pitches. Hill too anxious here going after low balls. Strikes out. One down for Lind who has done nothing all night. Perfect timing Adam here. Full count, please don’t take third strike Adam. Of course he does. Strikes out looking. Awful. Rolen, with two down looking at extra innings now and no win for Halladay. 3-0 count. Takes a strike. Full count. Strikes out swinging. Here comes Downs and Wheeler is up in Rays bullpen but another chance for Halladay win has gone and probably added support to his leaving this club. He deserves a winner. Nine innings, ten strikeouts and 115 pitches.

Top 10th: Downs facing Hernandez 0-2, full count, you can feel this game slipping away here, walks number eight hitter, oh boy. Kapler pinch running, Bartlett lines it to Scutaro throw to Overbay almost gets away, Lyle earns his money for a change. One down for Upton, 2-0 don’t get to Crawford Scott. Grounds to Hill throw to Scutaro to get Kapler but no chance to double up Upton. Here comes Crawford with two down and one on. 2-0, Downs distracted by Upton on first. 3-0, don’t walk him Scott. Ball four. Longoria and now he also has to worry about double steal, Maddon has done this before, aggressive manager. But with 73 RBIs maybe not. Ball one, 2-2, full count, runners on the move. Doubles to left and Upton and Crawford score easily. 4-2 Rays, and fans start to leave. Pena grounds to Hill throw to Overbay but Downs has ruined Halladay’s last night. You can’t walk leadoff guy number eight and then another walk.
Bottom 10th: JP Howell now to close this one out. Overbay, I can’t watch this guy anymore takes first two pitches for strikes, takes another but low, has not moved his bat off his shoulder yet. Ball two. Swings at this and strikes out JP you can trade this guy. Wells, strikes out. All down to you Alex to be the hero. Lines first pitch to second. Jays give another one away and now the trading sounds a very good idea.

Toronto has now lost six times to Rays out of seven games, three with Halladay pitching. They have eleven, yes eleven more to play against Rays…… O me miserum..

Jays blow this one and the series.

Toronto v Cleveland. Series finale.
Jays need this one to win series and make up some ground before Tampa arrives tomorrow.

Cleveland: Sizemore, Cabrera, Choo, Martinez, Peralta, Garko, Francisco, Carroll, Giminez and Huff pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Millar, Wells, Rios, Bautista, Barajas, McDonald and Rzepczynski pitching. Probably not the team you want out there to make a statement by winning this series but Cito old school and “resting” Overbay (lefty pitcher) and Rolen, (forget the off day two days ago) and with a rookie pitcher out there ?? He would never do that with Halladay starting.

The good: Rzepczynski had a good outing but no run support. Hill and Millar with their home runs to make it close. And today Alex gets the gold start as well, a couple of stolen bases and taking third in the ninth, heads up play runied by Overbay.
The bad: Let’s start with Overbay and runner at third and full count in bottom of the ninth and taking the strike three. That was rock bottom bad Lyle. Jays all round were very flat today, a great crowd and yet they cannot feed off that support and come through. Lose a series to Cleveland at home is pretty bad baseball.
Cito, well the usual, poor lineup, not taking the game seriously enough, and not settling down Rzepczynski, poor calls in the ninth, no bunt with Alex at second. In other words the usual Cito game. Playing for 2010 evidently according to the media.

Top 1st: Rzepczynski facing Sizemore leadoff. Grounds to Hill throw to Millar for first out. Cabrera, long fly ball out to Rios in right. Two down for Choo, strikes him out, better start than Romero had last night.
Bottom 1st: Can Jays hitters continue from where they left off last night? They really need to get back into that groove. Scutaro playing DH ?? today leading off. Will be interesting to see how Marco adjusts to not being in the flow of the game and trotting out every hour for a hit. I don’t agree with this at all. Lines first pitch to Sizemore in centre. Hill, grounds to second throw to first for second out. Lind on career high twelve game hit streak. Full count and walks. One on two down for Millar. First pitch ! grounds to short Cabrera. Throw to Garko at first for third out. These guys want to go out on the town tonight.

Top 2nd: Martinez, strikes out in two minds on that and guessed wrong Victor, Peralta, full count and walks, come on Marc. Garko, with one on and one down. Very nice, grounds to short , Johnny Mc great sliding save, turning, throw to Hill on to Millar double play ball. Typical Johnny Mc play there to turn a base hit into two outs. .
Bottom 2nd: Wells, grounds to third throw to Garko for first out. (pulling Vernon?) Rios, doubles in to left corner, great stroke, Alex has stepped it up this week. Bautista, can he bring him in ? 3-0 count, there’s a strike, Alex getting antsy is he stealing? Yes, there he goes throw high, and safe at third. Grounds to second, Alex holding, and Bautista out at first. Two down. Barajas, grounds to third, throw to first for third out and Alex left out there. Not good execution. Alex should have been going on contact and would have scored easily. He has no base running smarts.

Top 3rd: Francisco fly ball to Rios in right centre. Carroll, walks, second walk by Rzepcynski today. Giminez, strikes out, two down for Sizemore. Carroll stealing they have him picked off but Millar’s throw, not in time and high. Grounds to Millar takes it himself for third out.
Bottom 3rd: Johnny Mc. Leading off. Grounds to third, throw to first one down. Scutaro has faced one pitch in the last hour. Takes the first two here. Grounds to second Carroll throw to Garko for the out. Hill, awful swing, pops it up to Martinez. Not good so far today.

Top 4th: Great crowd today, looks like all the campers are in the fifth deck. Sections are filled to the foul poles. With the lousy weather outside probably a lot of walkup tourists as well. Cabrera lines first pitch up the middle to Wells, One on for Choo, bunting ?? No. Hits him in the back, come on Marc, you are in trouble here, two on and no outs for Martinez, 2-0 count, settle him down someone, 3-1 danger of loading them up. Ball four. Bases loaded. I don’t understand why no one went out to calm him down, he is just a young kid rookie, Now they do, a bit late. Peralta, full count. Strikes him out, great battle there with Peralta fouling off pitch after pitch. Not out of it yet though Marc. Here comes Garko, need a ground ball Marc. Yes strikes him out on appeal to first base umpire. Two down. Francisco, another 3-1 count. Ball four and walks in the run. 1-0 Indians. He finally ran out of luck. Here comes Arnsberg, after the horse is out of the stable Brad ??? far too late to give advice now. Carroll with bases loaded. Strikes out. Strikes the side out and with bases loaded with no outs, one run is not a bad ending.

Bottom 4th: Can the hitters give this kid some support here? Lind, leading off on twelve game hit streak, lines this one to the wall in centre, leadoff double and thirteen game hit streak. Millar, move him over Kevin. 3-1 count. That will do perfectly, doubles into left corner Lind scores and Kevin at second. 1-1 game. Pops it up to second, one down for Rios. Fouling them off here, pitch after pitch. Can’t resist going after that one head high pitch and strikes out. Two down and Millar getting tired out at second. Bautista, another terrible swing, pops it up to second for third out Jays get one back but could have and should have been more. Now 1/6 with runners in scoring position. Same old, same old.

Top 5th: 81 pitches for Rzepczynski, four walks and six strikeouts will do that for you Marc. Try some grounds balls and get that pitch count down. Giminez, leadoff single into left. This is probably Marc’s last inning. Where is Camp Cito? Sizemore fly ball to Lind in left, one down. Cabrera, now Camp gets up, Cito was listening. Tallet is no longer available in long relief as he makes his last start for a while at least on Saturday and will then ho back to bullpen. Camp is it for a couple of innings. Doubles to left, through Bautista, no Rolen out there today, he would have had that one and probably turned two. Giminez held at third. Choo with two in scoring position. This is big trouble, triples to the wall in left and both runners score. 3-1 Indians. Choo at third. But that’s it for Marc, played with fire all afternoon and was getting no help at all from the hitters. Can’t blame the kid, this team has had chances to get three or four runs on the board already. Martinez with Choo at third, and only one out. Camp pitching. grounds to Hill , Choo running on t he play and scores. 4-1 Indians. Martinez out at first. Two down for Peralta, strikes out but lack of runs has hurt them today.
Bottom 5th: Huff can cruise the rest of the way now the way Jays hitters have been so far today. Barajas leading off, strikes out. McDonald, pops it up nice running over shoulder catch by Cabrera at short, these guys are fired up now to win, you can see it in their energy level compared to the very flat and lethargic Jays. Scutaro, poor guy, has spent two minutes out there today, don’t tell me that does not affect his at bats. There you go Marco get to run a bit, doubles to left corner. Hill with runner in scoring position but with two down, Oh YES ! MY ! Aaron another home run. That is awesome. In to left field seats. Number 22. Wow and 4-3 Cleveland game. That gets the kids screaming. Lind, chance to tie this up. Not like that though, strikes out.

Top 6th: We have a game again. Camp still in there facing Garko to leadoff. I don’t believe it hits him on the elbow. Come on Shawn. Bear down. Francisco singles into left, two on no outs, can you believe it ? Carroll at bat, bunting, 2-0, great play by Millar playing way in and throws to third to get Garko. Millar was in front of Camp when he made that play. One down. No no no…. Camp throw to second gets away into centre, both runners move up. This is awful. Second error by Jays today, Giminez bounces one back to camp runners scores from third. 5-3 Indians. Two down. Runner at third again for Sizemore. 3-0 count. Accardo up in bullpen. . full count and strikes him out. But Camp should not be pleased with that, he messed up badly that inning and was lucky to get away with only one run.
Bottom 6th: Jays hitters have to get that one back. Millar, Huff still out there on 79 pitches, Millar lifts it softly over head of Huff but great play by Cabrera to get him at first. Now the big guys, Vernon going the other way, I told you Vernon, opposite field hitting, and ground rule double into the crowd in right field corner, we need more of that Vernon. Rios, first pitch of course, grounds back to Huff throw to Garko for the out. Bautista two down. pops it up to shallow right, Jays are missing Rolen and Overbay today bigtime. Cito please note.

Top 7th: Accardo, Cabrera leading off. Fly ball to Wells, one down for Choo, two rbis last at bat, not this time grounds to Bautista at third, throw to Millar for the second out. Martinez grounds to Johnny Mc throw to Millar, low but Kevin gets it.
Bottom 7th: Can Jays hitters retrieve this one? Barajas, grounds to third base Peralta throw to first base Garko. one down McDonald grounds to short beats out the throw great hustle Johnny Mc. Scutaro, grounds to second throw to back to Garko double play ball.

Top 8th: Peralta, Accardo still out there singles into right. Garko, swings at pitch way outside, one down for Francisco. There we go, grounds to Hill, over to Johnny Mc to Millar double play ball to end the inning.
Bottom 8th: Jays need to get ahead here if they want Downs out there, Huff on 95 pitches, going the distance at this rate. Hill, grounds to second throw to first one down for Lind. Oh boy, strikes out on three pitches, horrible at bat for Lind. Millar, that’s the way Kevin my boy, home run Millar into left field Jays bullpen. 5-4 game. And that’s the end of Huff. Wells at bat, can Vernon and Alex do some magic here? Joe Smith pitching. One run game. Off the end of bat for Vernon throw by Smith to get him at first. Don’t go away here.

Top 9th: Frasor out there second day in a row. Cito rolling the dice or is JP showcasing him for trade? Carroll, grounds to Bautista throw to Millar, one down. Gimenez fly ball to Rios in right, two down for Sizemore, singles to centre, one on two down for Cabrera, 0-2 count, grounds to Hill, throw to Millar. Nice pitching Jason but can your hitters pull this one off?
Bottom 9th: Rios leading off, don’t try to be a hero Alex, base runners here. Kerry Wood pitching 12/16 saves/opportunities. Oh man, hits him on the helmet, nasty. Right behind the left ear, that got away from Wood. Alex is ok. Bautista now with one on. Alex running and throw hits him in the back. Can’t get away form the ball today Alex… !!! Fly ball to shallow right, not enough for Alex to get to third. Barajas, Overbay on deck for McDonald. Pops it up to Garko, pretty bad hitting here by both Bautista and Barajas, have to wonder why Bautista did not bunt with Alex at second. Overbay will they walk him? No, Alex takes third anyway. Full count to Lyle, don’t take this one. Come on Lyle that was pretty bad, takes strike three !!!!! with tie run at third ????

Scutaro leads Jays power with two home runs and Jays win this one 10-6

Toronto v Cleveland. Game two of three.
Jays need to smarten up in this one. This is a series they should have swept Cleveland. Should not have lost last night.

Lineups: Cleveland: Sizemore, Cabrera, Martinez, Hafner, Peralta, Garko, Francisco, Valbueno, Giminez and Pavano pitching.
Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Wells, Rios, Dellucci, Chavez and Romero pitching.Lind at last back in lineup but also Dellucci in place of Bautista, come on Cito. Almost the second team with Chavez and Dellucci.

The very good: Scutaro with two home runs and four RBIs. Cleveland outhit Jays 10-8 but seven of Jays hits are extra base hits five of them home runs, a season high.

The good: Romero not that great but managed to get through 5 2/3. For me at least also seeing Alex and Vernon going to opposite field at bats instead of pulling to left. Alex far more disciplined tonight. Top of the order Scutaro and Hill back on track, they lead this team.
The bad: Romero too many walks five and getting pitch count so high so early. Just not sharp at all tonight from walk on four pitches to leadoff Sizemore in the first.

Top 1st: Sizemore, 3.0 come on Ricky settle down here. Walks on four pitches, Cabrera, bunting ? what do you think Cito? No need if Romero continues to pitch like this, they can sit back and wait. Five out of first six pitches a ball. Doubles to right corner, Sizemore easily into third. Martinez two on no outs and two in scoring position. Lines it to Rolen at third, very nice grab Scott. one down for Hafner. Doesn’t get that call, but Ricky when you are as wild as this you are not getting any breaks tonight. 3-1 count. Grounds up the middle to Hill, run scores throw to first for second out. 1-0 Cleveland. Peralta with runner at third, grounds to Rolen throw to first but Jays already one down. Not good Ricky, get your head in the game and fast.
Bottom 1st: Pavano pitching, already with a lead. Scutaro, fly ball out to Sizemore. One down for Hill showing signs of waking from his slump, lines out to a jumping Adrubal at short, two down. Lind back in lineup. Full count and strikes out on ball four. Easy one two three for Pavano .

Top 2nd: Garko, singles first pitch into left. One on for Francisco, another full count. Ball four. Romero not long for this game tonight, two on and no outs, Valbuena that’s better grounds to Scutaro on to Hill on to Overbay, double play, Garko to third, two down for number nine, Giminez playing in right field. Grounds to Scutaro long throw to Overbay for third out, and Romero escapes.
Bottom 2nd: Rolen, blasts this one to the track in centre, almost but not quite out. Overbay last night’s goat needs to redeem himself tonight. Full count, looked like a strike from here, this guy has a great eye strikes out on this one. Wells back down the lineup but lets this one go and home run drive over wall in left corner. 1-1. That’s the way to move back up Vernon. Rios, first pitch blast to right, but caught at the wall, what’s with the opposite field Alex ? Did same last night but great to see. Someone must be working on him.

Top 3rd: Top of order but Romero is back to even. 33 pitches. Sizemore, strikes out looking. Does not like that call. Cabrera, doubled in first, goes to bunt but ball one low. Full count, grounds slowly to Rolen throw not in time, third base umpire Gerry Davis calls it back, foul ball, Romero gets a break. Walks but after ten pitches, great at bat by Cabrera. Martinez with one on and one down. Grounds slowly to Hill flip to Scutaro but unable to turn two. Two down for Hafner with Martinez at first. Over 50 pitches and not through three, not good. Ricky will not last six tonight at this rate. Grounds to Hill flip to Overbay for third out but he has to get that pitch count down to last here. 58 pitches, ouch ouch, but three walks will do that to you Ricky. Pavano on 28.
Bottom 3rd: Where are hitters where are the hitters? When was the last big inning from this team? Very frustrating. Dellucci to lead off fly ball to Sizemore in centre. One down. Chavez, fly ball to left, two down. Scutaro lines it to Giminez diving in right, nice catch. Three up and down easy for Pavano tonight so far. Only 36 pitches.

Top 4th: Peralta fly ball to Rios in right. One down for Garko, this is trouble, doubles into left field corner. One down and one in scoring position for Francisco, perfect grounds to Scutaro at short, looks Garko back to second and throw to Overbay for second out. Valbuena, 2-2, grounds to Overbay for third out, better inning for Romero but long way to go. 69 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Hill, Yes Aaron, gets hold of this one, into left field seats, home run number 21. Crazy numbers when you look at Vernon with 10 and Alex with 10. After an 0-19 run he broke out last night with two hits and now this to get Jays on the lead 2-1. Lind, fly ball to left, one down for Rolen, strikes out. Overbay with two down. Another full count to Lyle, struck out last time though on this count. Takes it and ball four. Wells with one on and two down. Grounds to third throw to second to get Lyle but Jays at least have taken the lead.

Top 5th: Giminez, 3-0 don’t walk number nine hitter Ricky. Full count, walks him and another seven pitches, control not there tonight. Sizemore, bunting ? Not with those numbers. Grounds to Hill throw to Scutaro on to Overbay not in time. Sizemore can run. One down Cabrera, fly ball to Rios, two down Sizemore holds at first. Martinez, another 3-0 count, Romero flirting with big trouble here, singles to left. Two on two down for Hafner, lines first pitch to Rios to get out of this mess, but five walks and your pitch count is 85, you might just squeeze one more inning Ricky and no one but to blame but yourself. 55 for Pavano.
Bottom 5th: Rios leading off. Yes Alex, this might just do it. Home run to dead centre, when was the last game that Vernon AND Alex had home runs number 11 for Alex. And Jays are out 3-1 all home runs. Dellucci, I don’t think Pavano has to worry about this guy hitting one out. 1-24. Full count, grounds to first 1-25. He was worth bringing up from Vegas Cito ???? Chavez, strikes out on three pitches. Top of lineup with two down, Scutaro. Oh Marco, horrible swing at pitch way outside. That’s more like it, gets hold of this one and another home run just inside foul pole in left,. 4-1 Jays and all four on home runs. Hill, with two down. full count, walks him. One on two down for Lind, now Adam you can break this one open here. Here comes Willis pitching coach, settle down here. That will do fine Adam, doubles to the wall in centre, Hill scores from first 5-1 Jays. Rolen, perfect Scott, soft liner into shallow centre, Lind scores 6-1 Jays. Veras up in bullpen. Overbay, with Rolen at first and two down. Another full count to Lyle, his third in three at bats, wow. Keeps the line going here, doubles to right centre Rolen scores 7-1 Jays. And that’s it for Pavano, too bad as he had pitched well up until this inning. but five runs will do that to you. Jose Veras, Wells with two down and Lyle at second. 3-1 count, Lines it to Giminez in right? Vernon ? Someone has been working with both Vernon and Alex hitting opposite field, anyway third out. But Jays have some hits for a change. Everyone except Dellucci and Chavez with hits tonight.

Top 6th: Peralta, strikes out, Garko singles to left. One on one down for Francisco, full count and walks, number five !! come on Ricky, you are not long for this game, Two on and one down for Valbuena. Carlson up in bullpen. Wild pitch and both runners move up, another full count and probably Romero’s last hitter. Cito getting his shoes on, there it goes, home run to right, number eight hitter ??? how to give this one up, three runs score 7-4 Jays. Romero struggled all night but that was horrible. 104 pitches anyway but was left in this one an inning too long Cito. Carlson facing Giminez still only one out. Grounds to Scutaro long, long throw to Overbay for second out. Sizemore, grounds to Rolen, throw to Overbay for third out but Romero has opened the door here for Indians.
Bottom 6th: Rios leading off, interesting night for Alex, opposite field hit first at bat, home run to centre second time up, whatever the reason for this it is good to see. Full count and walks on ball down and away his strikeout pitch ! Is this really Alex ?? Here comes Dellucci, hitless and 1-24, just give Alex a few pitches and time to get to second, 3-0 count, walks, well that’s an improvement I guess. Chavez also hitless tonight but has power. Let’s get those three runs back here Raul. Bunting ??? but a good one and both runners move up for Scutaro. One down. Pressure Marco. That’s was the pitch, right down the middle and he takes it. OH MARCO !!! gets hold of this one fly ball to to left just over the wall into Jays bullpen and Jays back with that six run lead and second home run for Scutaro tonight, 10-4 Jays. Hill shatters his bat grounding to Cabrera at short throw to first for two down. Lind, starting to rain in the dome !!! someone goofed on weather forecast? roof now closing mid-inning. Lind grounds to first, throw to Veras for out at first, but Jays hitters have broken this one wide open. Very interesting stat, Jays are 2/3 with runners in scoring position tonight.

Top 7th: Carlson still in there. Cabrera lines to Dellucci in left, one down for Martinez, Jesse a little wild here, full count, strikes out, two down. Hafner, singles into centre. Peralta, doubles into left corner, Hafner scores, 10-5 Jays. Garko, that’s it for Jesse, here comes Cito and here comes League. That’s great Brandon hits him on first pitch, two on for Francisco. Singles into left, Peralta scores 10-6 Jays don’t go away friends. Valbuena with two on and two down strikes out looking but not before Cleveland gets two back.
Bottom 7th: Chris Perez now pitching, Rolen, grounds to Cabrera throw to Garko at first tags Rolen out. One down for Overbay, walks on 3-1. Vernon, fouling them off here, strikes out. Alex with two down and one on. High pop up to shallow centre for third out.

Top 8th: Don’t go away, here comes League again. Bautista in left for Dellucci. Giminez to leadoff, strikes out on three pitches. That’s how it should be Brandon with number nine guy. Sizemore now, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay, two down for Cabrera grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. We have said it before, when League is on he is very, very good. But when he is wild….
Bottom 8th: Mike Gosling pitching, Bautista leading off. Pops it up to Sizemore in shallow centre, one down for Chavez. Full count, and walks. Home run hero Scutaro with one on and one down. 3-0 count. and walks him on five pitches. Hill with two one and one down. Gets hold of it but high fly ball to left. runners hold. Two down for Lind, grounds up the middle to Cabrera throw to first just gets Lind for third out.

Top 9th: Where the Jays got into trouble last night, can they hold a four run lead tonight? Frasor pitching. Martinez leading off. Singles to left. Hafner, pops it up to Chavez, one down for Peralta, that’s the play, grounds to role, flip to Hill on to Overbay double play. Jays win this one with power that we have not seen for a long time.