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.