Jays lose a heartbreaker in extra innings, but find another great pitcher.

Toronto v Tampa. Game one of three.

Important series for Jays with Tampa above them and just coming off being swept in Texas and 0-4. But Jays have yet another rookie pitcher, to replace Mills who was replacing someone else??? Mills has bruised riubs. Well Iguess that is a change from shoulder and arm season ending injuries. Jays in a big mess right now with pitching and unless the hitters can come out of their own collective slumber for the last six games they will be sellers not buyers at the end of the month. Already JP is talking about Halladay for sake at the right price. Too bad he didn’t get rid of Rios last season. There will be no takers anymore for him.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Wells, Rios, Dellucci, Barajas and Rzepczynski pitching first major league start.
Tampa: Upton, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Zobrist, Burrell, Bartlett, Kapler, Navarro and Shields pitching.

The very good: Marc Rzepczynski, pitching first game held them to one run in seven innings, more than enough to get a win. We will remember his outing more than any of the hitters tonight. A great prospect. Seven strikeouts and kept his cool throughout. The walks hurt him but was obviously throwing enough strikes to get those seven strikeouts.

The good: Camp three scoreless relief innings. Role hit streak and coming through when it counted. Vernon, yes he did ok tonight with his hits.
The bad: Definitely the other hitters. 2/7 with runners in scoring position. Rios 0-5. Overbay 0-5. Poor base running. I am putting League in here, he should not pitch two innings, Cito should have pulled him when he saw that wildness. May also be time to send Dellucci back to Vegas and give left to Bautista.

Top 1st: Scutaro, singles to centre, one on for Hill, pops up to Zobrist at second. Lind, strikes out swinging, two down for Rolen on his 23 game hit streak. Not this at bat, grounds to Zobrist.
Bottom 1st: Upton, full count, strikes him out, nice going Marc. Crawford grounds to Hill, two down. Longoria, strikes out, very nice start here for Marc.

Top 2nd: Now Jays have to give Rzepczynski some run support here. Overbay, lines it to right field corner but Kapler runs it down. One down for Vernon, grounds it up the middle nice pay by Zobrist but Vernon just safe on throw. Rios now with one on. Two seasons ago Alex had 18 home runs by All-Star break, now he has 10. Pops up to Zobrist, two down for Dellucci, still looking for his first hit as a Jay. Throw over by Shields gets away down right field line and Vernon moves to third easily. Always put the pressure on the pitcher, you never know what will happen. Dellucci strikes out.
Bottom 2nd: Pena strikes out. Number three for Marc. Zobrist grounds to Scutaro first pitch throw to Overbay, two down. Burrell, full count and walks him. Bartlett, grounds to Rolen, throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 3rd: Barajas battling here fouling them off, finally grounds to Longoria third, throw to Pena at first, one down for Scutaro grounds to Bartlett, throw to Pena two down for Hill. 40 pitches for Shields. That’s better Aaron, singles into right. Lind doubles first pitch to centre wall, very nice Adam. Rolen with two in scoring position but two down. Rolen fly ball drives Upton back but not far enough and makes the third out.
Bottom 3rd: Kapler lines to left centre, Vernon makes the catch. Navarro, doubles to right centre. Upton with one on and on down. Full count, come on Marc. Yes, strikes him out. Two down for Crawford. Pops up to Wells for third out.

Top 4th: Overbay strikes out on three pitches. Wells, same again grounds up the middle but this time Zobrist throw gets him, good hustle Vernon. Rios, grounds to Longoria, throw to Pena for third out. Shields locking in here.
Bottom 4th: Longoria, fly ball to Rios, one down. Pena, 3-0 count, walks. Come on Marc, have to adjust second time through. Zobrist, need a ground ball here. Gets the ground ball but through the gap into right. Two on one down for Burrell. Lines it very hard to Dellucci in left, looked at first as if it might go out. Two down runners hold. Bartlett, pitch gets away from Barajas. Both runners move up. Full count and walks him to load bases. Kapler with two down, another full count. Just outside and walks him, first run scores. 1-0 Rays. Navarro bases still loaded. Grounds up the middle to Scutaro flip to Hill for the out. Can’t blame this kid, the offence should be helping him out with a few runs. A couple of weeks ago he was pitching AA ball. One ruun in four innings is fine and much better than Cecil’s pouting in New York

Top 5th: Where is Jays offence ? Lets have a big inning here. Dellucci how about starting it off? Strikes out. Maybe Adams was not a bad option after all…. Just kidding David, I hope. Barajas now with one down. Grounds back to Shields, throw to Pena two down. Scutaro, Awful, shows bunt and straight back to Shields. What is wrong with you? Marco you are definitely not in the same league as Damon.
Bottom 5th: Rzepczynski on his own here tonight. No help at all from the hitters. Top of the Rays order again, Upton full count, gets him for third time. Strikeout number three on Upton. Great pitch. Crawford showing bunt. grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, two down for Longoria, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay and third out. Very nice Marc, you have done more than enough tonight to get another shot.

Top 6th: Hill, grounds to Bartlett at short, throw to Pena, one down for Lind, fly ball to right, two down for Rolen running out of chances for that hit streak. Lines it hard back at Shields glove for third out. I think we can see how this one is going to end. Jays are just flat after New York and don’t even look like getting on base let alone scoring. This is probably last inning for Rzepczynski with his pitch count at 94.
Bottom 6th: Pena very nice Marc, strikes him out, on three pitches number six tonight. Wow. Zobrist, strikes out on 101 pitch. Two down for Burrell. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. That was a great outing tonight Marc. If you were pitching for Boston or Yankees you would be winning this game.

Top 7th: Overbay, grounds to Zobrist, Lyle not hustling down to first there, come on Lyle move yourself. Wells with one down. Full count. Grounds off body of Shields, now that is hustle Lyle. Beats this one out. Will we see some steal here? Rios, come on Alex hit this thing out of here. Hitless tonight. No high fly ball to Upton in centre, two down. No chance for Vernon to move up. Dellucci again, don’t bet on this guy. Vernon will probably go. Walks him, well I guess that is better than strikeout. Two on now for Barajas. Fly ball to Crawford for third out.,
Bottom 7th: Camp now pitching. Bartlett at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Gross pinch-hitting for Kapler, fly ball to Wells. Two down. Navarro lines out to Overbay. Jays pitching is ok tonight just no run support.

Top 8th: Gross in at right field. Scutaro singles to right. One on for Hill, 103 pitches for Shields. May see a change here soon. Hill singles into centre, Scutaro to third. That’s it for Shields. Choate now in. Lind fly ball to Upton, Scutaro hesitates, too late now. Throw was up the line, have to go there Marco. That’s it for Choate. One down two on the corners Hill didn’t tag on the throw either, was caught half way. Poor base running is costing Jays this season. Rolen last chance for that hit streak. Bradford now pitching. Yes Scott, singled to centre, Scutaro scores this game is tied up 1-1 Scott’s hit streak continues 24 games. Great timing for that hit. That’s it for Bradford. Howell, fourth pitcher this inning. Overbay, with Hill at second, Rolen at first and one down. Pops up to Bartlett, runners have to hold. Lyle has not had a good game tonight. Two down for Vernon with two on, two hits tonight but now it will count bigtime Vernon. Wells singles to centre Hill to third, Rolen to second. Here comes throw by Upton and gets Hill. Took a perfect throw to Navarro. BUT should he have held at third? Vernon did his job.
Bottom 8th: Camp still in there. Upton fly ball to Wells, one down. Crawford fly ball to Wells, Longoria fly ball to Wells. Camp does a great job. Back to the hitters.

Top 9th: Jays do not want another extra innings game after New York. Win this one here. Bottom of the order though. Rios leading off, strikes out, and that is why you are number seven Alex. Dellucci, if ever a time to get a hit David this is it. No, not Dellucci this time. Bautista, pinch hitting singles to left. Bautista putting in a claim for that left field job. Barajas, two down. Pops up to Pena. Scutaro with one on and two down. Grounds to third throw to Pena for third out.
Bottom 9th: Camp still in there. Pena, Bautista in left field. Pena grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Zobrist 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Not a good time for that Shawn. Burrell, fly ball to Rios.Two down for Bartlett, strikes out. This game is going to extra innings. Camp great two innings.

Top 10th: Wheeler pitching, Hill at bat. .Hill fly ball to right field Gross. Lind grounds to second base Zobrist throw to Pena at first. Rolen fly ball to Upton in centre.
Bottom 10th: League pitching. Gross at bat, singles into right centre. Navarro, bunting ? pops up to League, that’s better, one down one on. Upton, showing bunt also, fouls back. Fly ball to Rios in right, two down. Gross holds at first. Crawford, strikes out swinging at one in the dirt. Jays get another shot at this.

Top 11th: Overbay leading off, time Lyle did something tonight. 0-4 not even a walk. Full count, high fly ball to Upton in centre. One down for Wells, four hits tonight, not this time fly ball first pitch to right. Are these guys in a hurry to go somewhere? Rios 0-4 , two down fly ball to Upton. Alex 0-5, Cito can’t put him much lower can he? As Cito said these situations just follow them around wherever he puts them. Hopeless. The (Jays) pitchers must weep.
Bottom 11th: Longoria to lead off. League again, does not usually have fun or luck his second inning. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay, one down. Pena, oh boy, League wild pitch half way to third (almost). That’s better Brandon, ground ball to Hill, two down. Zobrist, 2-2 another crazy pitch, Barajas out to settle him down or words to that effect. Full count. Walks him and he had him 0-2. That’s what I mean about League. He is either untouchable or wild. Burrell at bat with one on. Zobrist going on first pitch throw not in time, safe at second. There it goes home run to left, Rays win this one 3-1. Jays outhit them 10-4 and lose.

Note to Cito, please don’t give League two innings.
Both Boston and Yankees winning so Jays will lose ground on top three.