Jays hit rock bottom in all round effort, ability and heart

Series finale. Toronto v Colorado.

Jays hoping for return of the missing bats. Cito changes the order today sitting Lewis and giving Bautista leadoff position. Jose 0-23 has been swinging and missing too much recent, perhaps leadoff will give him different perspective. Most of these slumps are mental which then affects the mechanics.

Toronto: Bautista, Hill, Lind, Wells, Gonzalez, Overbay, Buck, Encarnacion, Litsch.
Colorado: Herrera, Helton, Gonzalez, Hawpe, Spilborghs, Stewart, Iannetta, Barmes, Francis.

Pitching: Francis v Litsch. Great to see Jesse’s name at least in the lineup. Has to be better than Tallet. However we should not be expecting miracles from the guy today.

Top 1st: Bautista swings and misses at first pitch. There goes that theory. Strikes out missing way out of the zone, pulling off the ball and his head goes way up. Hill, lines it into the gap in right, a double for Aaron, nice hitting. One on one down for Lind. Look at this small crowd behind home plate huge gaps, first three rows are empty. Could be the weather. 2-2 count. Runners in scoring position the Jays Achilles heel all season long. High pop up to right, no chance for Hill to move to third. Two down now for Wells. 2-0 count. outside and Vernon does not chase. 3-0, Ball four. Two on for Gonzalez. Pops up (first pitch !) to left. This is after Francis has walked a guy on four pitches. No thought from these players when they go up there. 19 pitches for Francis even with that first pitch out on Gonzalez.
Bottom 1st: Jesse Litsch, first game in a year. No pressure Jesse but you had better give a scoreless game for your teammates because you may have noticed they are not scoring much these days. Herrera leading off. Takes a strike, 0-2, singles back up the middle. Helton 0-2, Full count. singles to Bautista in right, here comes the throw. Throw was there but safe. Two on for Gonzalez singles first pitch to right, here comes Herrera.1-0 Rockies. Hawpe, with two on and no outs. Pops it up to Wells in shallow centre, one down. Spilborghs, fly ball to Bautista in right corner, two down. Stewart, full count and walks him to load the bases. Iannetta, 0-2 count. singles to shallow centre, here comes Helton and Gonzalez, two runs score, 3-0 Rockies. Barmes doubles to left, here comes run number four. Now number nine the pitcher Francis. Has thirty hits in his career. Another full count. Lines it to Lind for third out. This does not look good though. Jays have not scored more than three runs for over a week !! 4-0 Rockies. Pitch count is already 36. He might last three innings today at this rate. Irony will be Tallet coming in and pitching scoreless innings.

Top 2nd: Jays uphill climb here to even get back to four. Overbay leading off. Francis now can cruise with this lead. Strikes out looking, Lyle thought it was ball four. It is going to be one of those days. Buck, doubles to left. Jays 3/29 with runners in scoring position. Vegas will not be betting on this one especially with Litsch on deck. Encarnacion, grounds it to short, throw to first two down. Litsch, grounds to first for the out. Jays 3/31 with runners in scoring position. That is disgusting. 36 pitches for Francis.
Bottom 2nd: Herrera, leading off. Pops up to Lind in left, one down, that at least is improvement on last inning. Helton, just misses here going out, just wide of foul pole. Strikes out swinging, two down. Gonzalez full count. Strikes out. That’s much better Jesse but you still need some run support and I don’t see any signs of Jays hitters waking up here. Make my day and prove me wrong. 53 pitches.

Top 3rd: Back to top of the order and Bautista on a 0/24 run. Off the glove of third, is that an error? Should be, he had it and ball went off his glove. Gives Bautista a hit, generous call there to the outfielder, but it is the home field scorer. That is why error totals don’t mean much. Hill, grounds to short, on to second over to first but throw wide and Hill safe at first. One down for Lind. Singles to left Hill to third Lind to second on the bobble by left fielder Spilborghs, he gets an error on that play. Two in scoring position for Wells. Grounds to shirt, throw to first for the out giving up the run to Hill. 4-1 Rockies for Gonzalez. Lind at second. Just misses on this one to left field.0-2 count. That’s better doubles it to the wall in right centre, here comes Lind, 4-2 Rockies. Gonzalez at second for Overbay. Singles into right, off the glove of Herrera at second, ball goes into centre field, here comes Gonzalez, 4-3 Rockies. Buck, grounds first pitch to third throw to second to get Gonzalez. Jays made my day and get three back to make this more of a game. However note that two of the runs were on error plays. They equal their highest score for this road series. 54 pitches now for Francis.
Bottom 3rd: Jesse has something to boost him here. Hawpe, pops up to Gonzalez at shirt, one down for Spilborghs, oh boy, fly ball to right and this one is out of here into Rockies bullpen, 5-3 Rockies. Stewart, 2-2 count. Full count and pops up right, Hill loses ball and it drops in. Poor Jesse not getting much help here. Iannetta with Stewart at first. Full count. Singles back up the middle Stewart to third. Here comes pitching coach. Tallet now up in the bullpen. Barmes, with two on and one down. 2-2 count. Inside ball three. Singles into left, here comes the runner. 6-3 Rockies. That’s it for Litsch. Not what he wanted but he really didn’t have it. Tallet now in. Francis with two in scoring position, fly ball to left, here comes the runner, 7-3 Rockies, Two down. Herrera, with runner at second, full count. Strikes out to end this one. Jays now have to get their big inning.

Top 4th: Encarnacion, just misses foul here in left. Fly ball to left for the out. Tallet, grounds back to Francis throw to first for second out. Bautista broke his drought last at bat is he back in the groove? 3-1 count. Whoa, Francis outside with that pitch when catcher set up inside. Bautista walks, two down one on for Hill. First pitch lines to centre for third out. Jays go quickly and quietly here, no fight back this inning.
Bottom 4th: Helton, high fly ball to Wells for first out. Gonzalez strikes out looking on three pitches. Hawpe, first pitch (Rockies players want this one over) fly ball to Lind for third out. Rockies have a comfortable lead and starting to relax and just swing away.

Top 5th: Interesting that with reputation for altitude helping the home runs in Denver, why have the Jays big hitters leading the majors not scored big here? Lind, strikes out swinging. Wells, first pitch grounds to Francis throw to first for out number two. Vernon his usual minimal pitch taking. Gonzalez, grounds to short throw to first at least it took four pitches but this Jays lineup has rolled over in this one. They will go into San Diego 1-5 on this road trip and sinking fast. Cito will need to rattle a few hitter cages, this lethargy is getting pretty bad to watch.
Bottom 5th: Spilborghs leading off. Lines it over Wells goes to third easily on the throw, leadoff triple. Rockies are going to miss the Jays pitching when they leave town today. Stewart, full count, strikes out, one down for Iannetta strikes out, two down for Barmes, intentional walk to get to Francis. Two on two down. Grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for the out. It took weight pitches to get Francis but that is ok, that will tire his arms. He now has to pitch. Francis already on 79 pitches. Can Jays take advantage and hit him around?

Top 6th: Overbay first pitch fly ball to right, one down. Buck, high fly ball to centre, two down. Morales warming up in Rockies bullpen. Encarnacion, fly ball to centre or third out. Three up and down.
Bottom 6th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Tallet good relief. Herrera, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, one down for Helton. Singles to right. One on, one down for Gonzalez, this one has gone high over the scoreboard into right field seats, two run home run, Rockies 9-3. Hawpe, strikes out, two down for Spilborghs. Twelve hits for Rockies. Full count. Same place same result another home run, 10-3. Stewart, 3-1 count. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay to end this agony.

Top 7th: Let’s see what this team is made of. Do they have any pride? So far they have not shown much here or on the road trip. Down by seven, will they try? Janssen leading off. I guess that might say something especially when Lewis was swinging last inning. Francis still pitching as well. Not getting a break. Casey strikes out swinging. Bautista first pitch grounds to third, throw to first and two down. Hill, 3-0 count. Grounds to third throw to first and Jays go meekly and without a fight. In the last six games the opposition has scored nine, ten and ten. 100 pitches for Francis, he will be finished.
Bottom 7th: DeWayne Wise now in centre for Wells who has been awful, good decision Cito. At least Wise shows all out effort which has been missing from Wells and a few others for a long time. Iannetta leading off. Janssen still out there. Pops it up Hill drops it in foul territory, nothing going right for this team. Strikes out swinging. One down for Barmes. Strikes out but ball bounces away and gets to first. Smith, with one down and one on. strikes out swinging. Two down for Herrera, his fifth at bat today. Grounds to Overbay at first to end this inning.

Top 8th: New pitcher Morales, can Jays get going? Lind leading off. Fly ball to left, one down. Lind average going below .200 any time now. Wise getting a chance in place of Wells, grounds to short throw to first for the out, but good to see someone taking a pitch. Two down for Gonzalez, full count. Doubles down the left field line. Is that the first hit since the third inning ? It certainly seems like it. Overbay with runner in scoring position art second. Jays 1/7 in that category today. Count full. Lyle pops it up to left. Jays 1/8 RISP.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. McCoy in at second for Hill. Helton leading off singles to left. Gonzalez pops up to Encarnacion at third, one down. Hawpe full count, ball four, two one one down, Helton to second. Spilborghs lines out to Encarnacion at third, two down. Stewart fly ball to Wise in centre.

Top 9th: Jays need seven to tie! Belisle pitching. Buck leading off strikes out. One down for Encarnacion full count, ball four. One on one down for McCoy singles to centre, Encarnacion to second. Bautista pops up to Herrera at second. Reed pinch-hitting for Frasor. Has not had a hit yet in his three pinch hitting appearances. Not sure why he is still with the team. Wild pitch by be lisle, Incarnation to third. First time a Jays hitter has been at third since the third inning that is how bad they have been today. McCoy to second defensive indifference. Two in scoring position for Reed, another opportunity for Reed. Strikes out. Completely out of his depth at this level so far.
Jays get swept and are now winless in six here. Now 1/5 on this road trip and facing another tough team in San Diego.

The good: Nothing much today for the nine innings. Their only runs were result of two fielding errors. It is not the losing but the lack of effort that this team is showing right now. That hurts. The only good news I see is the fact that Tampa lost this afternoon but Jays are sinking, not treading water.

The bad: This game was over in the first inning when Rockies took a four run lead. No fight at all in this team. They look awful and are playing as badly as they have all season. Bautista bat has gone cold and no one has stepped up.
The poor season that Lind, Hill, and Overbay is having has been glossed over whilst the others were hitting. Now that has dried up the deficiencies of this lineup are being highlighted.

Litsch, just not ready for the return. But then again perhaps we are expecting too much from him after a year away. 80 pitches, seven runs. The big bats again not coming through.