Jays swept but blame the hitters with 2/10 runners in scoring position.

Game three Toronto v Tampa. Jays trying to avoid the sweep.

Cito has the second team out today, I never understand this guy. Jays desperately need to win this one, put everyone out there Cito. No Rolen, No Scutaro. If I were Halladay I would be furious, and more to the point why now ? The All-Star break is on Monday, surely they can carry on for the last four games. How does Rolen feel about his streak being interrupted ? He is in a great groove right now. Sure it does not affect statistically but he is in a hot streak, play him.
Tampa has their best out there, Joe Maddon wants to win. This one, and the Championship. Cito ?? who knows ?

Lineups: Toronto: Bautista, Hill, Lind, Millar, Overbay, Wells, Rios, Barajas, McDonald and Halladay pitching.
Tampa: Upton, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Zobrist, Burrell, Gross, Bartlett, Hernandez, and Price pitching.

The good: Not much today. Halladay kept the side in it but had no run support. McDonald two hits. Some great defense from Bautista and Hill. Two hits each from Lind and Rios.
The bad: Cito putting out this lineup for Halladay. Cito for lack of aggressive play throughout the game. The hitters 2/10 with runners in scoring position. Get them moving Cito, try it canlt be worse than this. Barajas throwing error which lead to first run in first inning to set the tone today.

Top 1st: Bautista fly ball to right field Gross. Hill hit by a pitch. One on, one down for Lind strikes out. Millar, hitting cleanup today ! fly ball to Upton in centre.
Bottom 1st: Upton pops up to Barajas. Crawford, singles into left. Longoria, Crawford stealing first pitch throw by Barajas sails into centre and Crawford to third. Error to Barajas. Longoria loops it into shallow centre and Crawford scores 1-0 Rays. Pena, bunts up third base line and safe at first, Longoria to second. Zobrist, strikes out, two down. Burrell, fly ball to Rios for third out. Leaving two on. Jays hitters had better get going here. They cannot leave it all to Halladay here.

Top 2nd: Wells first pitch lines it into left. Rios, long overdue for him to get it going but I doubt it, probably thinking about the days off next week. Way to go Alex ! classic… grounds to third on to second on to first, Alex’s usual double play. Overbay now with bases empty.When !! is Cito ever going to something about this guy.? When is HE going to sit? Overbay strikes out and that’s it. Pathetic.
Bottom 2nd: Gross, strikes out. Bartlett, full count, singles into left. Hernandez, loops it softly to Hill, for second out. Upton, for second time already…. full count. blows it past him for strike out. But Roys pitch count getting high already at 46. The Rays are being patient today and pushing him up.

Top 3rd: Barajas leading off, grounds to Bartlett throw to first one down. McDonald, lines first pitch to Upton, two down. Halladay must be weeping and looking forward to a trade to get away from this type of undisciplined hitting. It makes it even worse when we see the results of the Maddon approach across the way. Bautista full count. Lines to third, throw to first, three up and down.
Bottom 3rd: Looks who is leading off? Crawford. Already a one man wrecking crew. Lines this one hard at Hill, makes a great play to get rid of him. One down. Longoria fly ball to Wells. Two down for Pena, 0-2 and strikes out, does not like the call but Halladay is going to get those,63 pitches.

Top 4th: Hill lines this one hard to the centre left wall, that weird park, ball hits the wall above the yellow line and comes back in that should be home run but he gets a double. Lind now can he bring him in? 2-2 strikes out on ball three out of the zone. One down for Millar. Pops it up to Upton in shallow centre. Hill has to hold. Wells, grounds to Bartlett throw to first for third out. And there’s the difference between these two teams. Cito style and Maddon style. If that had been a Rays leadoff double, you know it would have been bunt followed by sac fly to score that run. With Cito, sit back and hope someone gets a hit. One old school the other a modern manager. And if I were Halladay sitting in dugout watching that, I know what I would be doing at the end of this season.
Bottom 4th: Zobrist, bounces one to McDonald throw to Millar not in time. Jays getting nothing today. Burrell, strikes out. One down for Gross. Burrell stealing, Barajas cannot get ball out of his glove. Not a good day for him either. Gross bounces to Hill that would have been double play ball, instead throw to first for second out but Burrell at third. Bartlett,fly ball to Rios for third out. But 77 pitches for Roy. Meantime 58 for Price.

Top 5th: Rios, singles into left. Will be he be stealing here? Overbay, in his own little slump. There goes Alex but Lyle fouls it off. Price is a different pitcher with runners on. Slows right down. Overbay strikes out. Barajas, Alex great jump and beats the throw. Number 14 for season. I think Crawford has 42. Now Alex get Price concerned here and distracted, dance around. Barajas strikes out. McDonald. HEY Johnny Mc. Lines first pitch into left and bounces into the foul pole seats. Ground rule double and Alex scores 1-1 Game. Bautista with Johnny Mc at second and two down. Walks him for Hill. Two on two down. Here comes pitching coach. Grounds it hard back to Price off his glove to second, throw to first, still gets Hill. Jays leave two more out there.
Bottom 5th: Hernandez singles over head of McDonald into left. Upton, singles first pitch into left. Two on no outs for Crawford. Bunting ??? No, Oh very nice play, pops it up and long run by Bautista sliding to catch it right in front of dugout barrier, Huge play. Longoria. Singles into right, Bases loaded here. Pena, this is trouble, doubles down left field line and two runs score, 3-1 Rays. Zobrist with two more in scoring position and only one out. Whoa another great play, lines it to the left of Bautista who dives to make the catch, Runners hold two down. Burrell, swings and misses, strike three but Rays are out ahead again. But then again one run does not win many games even with Halladay pitching. Hitters have to step it up now.

Top 6th: Lind hitless today. There you go young Adam 0-2 count and singles into left. One on for Millar, come on Kevin. A big one here. Interesting shot Lind and Pena together at first competing for the last All-Star spot Lind is grinning, Pena said you need more than a single to beat me. Millar strikes out on a ball outside, mad with himself. Wells with one on and one down. Nelson up in Rays bullpen. Lines on to centre right, Upton’s speed gets him there. Two down for Rios, can he do it twice in a row? Yes, singles into right, waking up Alex ? Two on two down for Overbay hitless for ever, or so it seems. Full count, Price on 100 pitches. Crunch time. Lyle takes strike three. One to swing at there Lyle. Jays 1/7 with runners in scoring position. Lyle’s average is .250… Whoa…..that is bad.
Bottom 6th: Gross grounds first pitch to Bautista, throw to Millar one down for Bartlett, strikes out. Hernandez great curve ball, pops it up to McDonald. Seven pitch inning, you can see it in Halladay’s eyes, no way is he coming out. Just get me some runs.

Top 7th: Barajas to face Nelson, Price leaves with the lead. Barajas connects on first pitch but gets under it and high fly ball to Crawford in left. McDonald, another hit for Johnny MC. Whoa… singles up the middle. 2-3 today and add on the home run don’t forget yesterday. Bautista singles first pitch into right, two on one down for Hill. That gets Choate scurrying in the bullpen and here comes pitching coach Hickey, not a happy camper. Come on umpire break it up. Come on Aaron stop trying to pull it, go opposite way. Balfour joins Choate. Full count to Hill. Come on Aaron show them why you are an All-Star here. Ball gets away and bases are loaded up for Adam (wants to be an All-Star) Lind. Here comes Mr. very unhappy Maddon. Not what he was looking for. Randy Choate now pitching. Bases loaded one down. 2-0 count. Way to go Adam singles into left Johnny Mc. scores 3-2 Rays and bases stay loaded. Here comes Joe, goodbye Mr. Choate. Balfour now pitching to Millar with bases still loaded. Here’s your chance Kevin. Pops it up to right but much too shallow to tag here. Two down bases loaded for Vernon. 0-2 on Vernon. Two wild pitches here by Balfour, one high over the head and another bouncing to plate. Fly ball to centre for the third out. Jays leave bases loaded again. 2/10 with runners in scoring position. The season litany for this team. Cito don’t complain to me about the pitching staff. Will Halladay be out here ?
Bottom 7th: Power delay here on the game. Probably sabotage to keep Halladay from coming out again. 20 minutes delay. It was a sib-station hit by lightening. Yes, Halladay IS out there 102 pitches, top of the order, Upton. Strikes him out. Upton argues again. Crawford, full count. Fly ball to Lind, goodbye Carl, hopefully for the rest of the game. Longoria with two down. grounds to Bautista at third throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 8th: Can Jays hitters get it going here? Rios leading off. Big chance Alex. Balfour still out there. Alex 2-3 today. Accardo up in Jays bullpen. Full count. Takes third strike, come on Alex. Overbay 0-3, with one down. Need to get that .250 average up Lyle. Man, how can he take that pitch ? very close and full count. Gets hold of this one but not hard enough, long fly ball out to Upton in centre. Here comes Hickey again they spend half the time out there. Games must be long here. Barajas with two down. First pitch of course, fly ball to Gross in right. I think right now Chavez is hitting better than Barajas. Maybe time to give him more games.
Bottom 8th: Halladay will not get any win but may still get a loss. Accardo now pitching and Pena at bat. Strikes out swinging over ball inside, nice pitch Jeremy. One down for Zobrist, strikes out looking. Burrell, 3-1 count. Walks him. Gross, Kapler pinch running for Burrell at first. Two down. Lines it at third, Bautista knocks it down but cannot make play, saves a run maybe though. Two on two down for Bartlett, Aybar on deck if they need him. Whoa Jeremy, very nice pitch strikes him out and the side. We forget sometimes that Accardo was the closer when BJ had his surgery year.

Top 9th: Jays last chance and against Wheeler trying to save it here. Scoreless in his last 13 appearances. Interesting stat to wave at these Jays. Does Cito bring in Rolen for one at bat? messing up his 25 game hit streak ?? Interesting scenario. Johnny Mc. to lead off Cito not rolling the dice and Mc has had a good afternoon but asking for a three hit game is a bit much. Lines it to left nice hit but it is Crawford out there, and no problem running it down in the corner. Bautista with one down. Strikes out. Hill, you are the All-Star Aaron don’t let this guy get you. Oh man, off the end of his bat to first, it just hit his bat he didn’t even move it.

Rays sweep the Jays and they crawl out of here without anything. And if they think Baltimore will be easy I don’t think so. Uphill struggle for this team right now, close but no cigar, One run games extra innings none of them going Jays way though. This trip could have been two in New York and all three here. Some very strange managing decisions today though did not help Halladay. Where was the pinch hitter for McDonald ? Why did Cito “rest” ! Scutaro and Rolen today? why did he put Rios after Vernon again? Why was Overbay in there with his .250 average?

Bottom line though, Jays hitters had their chances 2/10 with runners in scoring position is not good. And Joe Maddon once again outmanaged Cito the whole series.