Nothing changes as Jays unable to hit and continue to lose .

Toronto v Boston Game one of three.

First game after the All-Star break but the odds are stacked against Jays tonight. On a steep decline and slump, facing a rookie pitcher and facing Boston. I would not be surprised if Jays get swept here this weekend even with Halladay pitching on Sunday.

Lineups: Boston: Drew, Pedrioa, Youkilis, Ortiz, Bay, Lowell, Varitek, Baldelli, Green and Buchholz a rookie pitching major league debut and you know how the Jays lose to rookies.
Toronto: Second team tonight with Dellucci and Bautista. Where is Vernon? Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, Rios, Bautista, Barajas, Dellucci and Romero pitching.

The good: Sorry nothing much here tonight, Romero eight strikeouts but with five walks does not last long. Overbay 3-4 but the one out was when it mattered most with guy in scoring position.
The bad: Same old Jays, pulling off the ball instead of going opposite field, poor base running by Lind today. Leaving runners in scoring position. 0/5 tonight.

Disappointing but not unexpected. It also helps JP and Beeston finalise decision re Halladay, this team desperately needs hitters and Phillies have some to swap for Halladay. Pat Gillick in the crowd tonight along with Gord Ash. The vultures are here to pick Jays bones clean. It will be interesting to see how the ownership will try to sell the rebuilding strategy... That should sell a lot more tickets in 2010.

Top 1st: Drew full count and walks. Pedroia grounds to Rolen throw to Hill to get Drew, Pedroia to first, Youkilis there it goes, home run to left Pedroia scores, Youkilis scores and Boston out quickly 2-0. Boston. Ortiz grounds to second and safe at first. Bay strikes out. Lowell grounds back to. Romero throw to Overbay to end the inning but Jays already behind.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro grounds to short Green throw to first Youkilis. Hill grounds to short Green throw to first Youkilis. Lind grounds to short Green throw to first Youkilis. That was an easy first inning for Buchholz.

Top 2nd: Varitek full count and walks. Same as first inning. Baldelli strikes out. Green strikes out. Drew strikes out. So Ricky which is the real Romero ?
Bottom 2nd: Rolen grounds to, third base Lowell throw to Youkilis. Overbay singles to centre. Rios strikes out. When will Alex learn to go the opposite field, instead of constant pulling off the ball ? Bautista grounds to third, safe at first on throwing error by Lowell, bounced the throw which enabled Bautuista to beat the throw. Overbay to second. Runner in scoring position, here we go.. Barajas strikes out. Nothing changes does it?

Top 3rd: Pedroia singles to centre. Youkilis strikes out. Ortiz strikes out. Bay strikes out. Number seven for Romero out of nine.
Bottom 3rd: Dellucci, why is this guy still in Toronto? Cito has a real soft spot for this guy, who is nothing but a giveaway bat. Prove me wrong David. Fly ball to left. One down for Scutaro 2-2. Full count. and walks. One on one down for Hill. Grounds to Pedroia throw to first double play.

Top 4th: Lowell singles to left corner. Boston leadoff guy has been on all four innings. Varitek, two on no outs. Baldelli grounds to Scutaro on to Hill on to Overbay double play ball. Green at bat, with Lowell at third and two down. Hits him on the hand, that hurts. No hit the bat but stung the hand I guess. Strikes out. Number eight for Romero but no good at all if his hitters cannot solve Buchholz.
Bottom 4th: Lind, finally, doubles to centre, off the wall. Leadoff guy in scoring position, now what happens? Rolen, grounds back to Buchholz throw to third gets Lind at third. Not great baserunning there by Adam. Overbay doubles to the wall, Rolen scores, no is pulled back ground rule double. Man that hurts after Lind mistake. Rios fly ball to centre, Rolen tags and scores, Overbay tags and goes to third but two down. 2-1 Boston. Bautista lines it at Pedroia for third out but that could have been a bigger inning for Jays with a bit of luck. 66 pitches for Buchholz.

Top 5th: Drew grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for first out, first time Jays have retired leadoff this game. Pedroia, full count, and walks him. One on one down for Youkilis. Been here before. 3-0 count, come on Ricky don’t give in to this guy. Walks him. Two on for Ortiz, playing with fire Ricky. Also pushing your pitch count up over 80. Full count. Doubles off the wall in left, two score, 4-1 Boston. Just like that. You can’t give this team free walks Ricky. Bay with Ortiz at second. And that’s it for Ricky, 93 pitches, here comes Cito. Eight strike outs but five walks. I guess nothing much has changed. Camp now pitching. Grounds to Rolen looks Ortiz back and throw to Overbay to get Bay, two down for Lowell. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out, But Jays face uphill battle now and the odds are definitely against them.
Bottom 5th: Barajas, grounds to Lowell going after a pitch way outside. Throw to first for one down. Dellucci, grounds to Pedrioa throw to first for second down and Dellucci’s futility continues. When will they take pity on this guy? It is not helping him at all to go hitless game after game after game after game. Scutaro with two down. Walks. Hill also hitless, strikes out at pitch way outside. I tell you Hill is in a slump. NO way would he be swinging at that pitch a month ago.

Top 6th: Varitek, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, shatters bat and almost hits Camp as he goes after the ball. One down for Baldelli. Lines it to Dellucci in left, nice catch, two down for Green. Pops it up to Bautiusta in shallow right. First quick inning for Jays tonight but they are too far behind this team to catch them tonight.
Bottom 6th: Lind with Buchholz at 82 pitches. This will be his last inning. Lind grounds to Youkilis takes it himself for the out at first. One down for Rolen. Hitless tonight. Pops it up to Pedroia for second out Overbay the only Jay to get to Buchholz tonight 2-2. 3-0 count. Full count. Lyle takes it back up the middle almost takes head off Buchholz. Lyle 3-3 tonight. One on two down for Rios. Don’t get excited here. Walks, semi-intentional I think. Here comes Francona. Buchholz is the new Cy Young but he should know it was only the Jays tonight, don’t get too carried away here. Bautista with two on and another in scoring position. Jays are their usual 0/3 with runners in scoring position tonight. Bard now pitching, 2-2 count, strikes out, 0/4 with runners in scoring position. The break was not long enough for the fans.

Top 7th: Drew leading off. Grounds up first base line Overbay takes it for the out. One down for Pedroia. Lines it to left, nice running grab by Dellucci. At least he has a glove. But that doesn’t make up for 1-22. Youkilis with two down. Fly ball to Rios in centre.
Bottom 7th: Time running out for Jays tonight, it will be lights out with Papelbon in the ninth, they have two more innings to do something. But bottom of the order for this inning. Barajas golfs this one to centre right for ? Here comes Dellucci, will that defensive play have fired him up to get a hit? Hitless tonight. Oh boy he gets worse, ball hits him on the foot, strikes out and stays at the plate whilst ball bounces away. Varitek runs it down and throws to first. Dellucci is out on the appeal to third base umpire who riles he swung at the pitch. awful, two down for Scutaro, 0-2. Strikes out. Boston must love playing Toronto.

Top 8th: Accardo for an inning. Downs at least will get another day rest. Ortiz, strikes out looking, Ortiz does not agree. Bay, McDonald now coming into left for Dellucci, why not? Something wrong with him?? Bay strikes out. Two down for Lowell. Singles first pitch into centre. Varitek with one on and two down. Grounds to Scutaro flip to Hill for out at second.
Bottom 8th: Time running out for Jays tonight. but they have not looked sharp all night and definitely not challenged Boston pitchers apart from one flurry in the fifth. Okajima pitching to Hill, Aaron hitless in three tonight. Fly ball to right. 0-4 for Aaron. Lind, grounds to Pedroia, throw to Youkilis two down for Rolen. Also hitless tonight. 0-3. There you go Scott, doubles into the left field corner. The bad news is that there are two out and also he is in scoring position where Jays have come up shooting blanks tonight. Overbay however 3-3. Grounds to Youkilis at first. When it counts, this team is unable to come through. Now 0-4 with runners in scoring position and the odds are not good scoring against Papelbon in the ninth, let alone three to tie it up.

Top 9th: League now pitching. Baldelli, strikes out but I don’t think Boston dugout is too concerned. Green, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for second out. Drew, strikes out on four pitches, Red Sox want out on the town.
Bottom 9th: Bottom of the order for Jays against the best reliever in baseball, anyone betting on this outcome? Papelbon 23/25 saves this season. Rios to leadoff. This will be interesting. Fly ball to Drew in right, one down. Bautista pops it up to Drew in shallow right. Two down for Barajas, grounds first pitch to short throw to Youkilis for third out. Not even close this one. I think Jays are in for a long depressing weekend