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.
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