Jays home run power and bullpen too much for Boston

Game two of three Red Sox v Jays. Saturday July 10, 2010

Jays need to rebound from that awful game last night. It is ok to blame poor pitching but it is the hitting that we should be concerned about right now. Jays bats need to get going again on a more consistent basis. That includes Hill, Wells and Lind who have been absent for far too long. The All-Star break may well be perfect time for everyone to get a few days to relax and return in a better focus. Essential for Hill and Lind to get on track this second half. Vernon has managed to cover his shortcomings with the hits and RBIs but is far form the leader and cleanup guy this team needs. Not sure about him in the HR derby either, that could really mess up his swing, we all remember what happened to Rios after he participated. On the other hand he has not been swinging has he? So perhaps it might to be his benefit. But on the same note I am glad that Bautista is not participating either, he is doing fine with his swing.

Lineups: Red Sox: Scutaro, Nava, Ortiz, Youkilis, Beltre, Drew, Cameron.
Jays: Lewis, Gonzalez, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Encarnacion, Molina.
Pitching: Lackey v Morrow.

Top 1st: Another huge crowd today even more than last night. Well over 30,000. Scutaro grounds to third, safe on error by Encarnacion. Nava with one on, grounds to Encarnacion throw to Hill, to get Scutaro lead runner. One down. Ortiz full count and walks, Nava to second. Youkilis singles to left, Nava to third, Ortiz to second.
Bases already loaded for Morrow, shades of last night. Beltre fly ball to Lewis in left for second out. Bases remain loaded for Drew. Full count and walks. Here comes Nava.
Boston 1-0. Cameron strikes out but Boston send seven to the plate in the first inning. Morrow needs to sharpen up here. Very lucky to escape with only one run. On the other hand he pitched out of the mess.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off doubles to right. Nice start. Gonzalez, doubles to left here comes Lewis and score is tied just like that. 1-1. Bautista 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Two on and no outs. Wells not swinging here, 3-0 count, ball four and he walks, bases are loaded. That’s unusual for Vernon. Gonzalez at third, Bautista at second. Lind back in the lineup today, yes Adam, singles to centre, here comes Gonzalez, 2-1 Jays. Bases still loaded for Hill. Grounds to Beltre at third, Wells out at third, Bautista comes home 3-1 Jays. First out for Lackey. Lind at second, Aaron at first for Overbay. Singles to left, bases loaded again for Encarnacion. Pops up to Youkilis at first, runners have to hold two down. Molina with bases loaded fly ball to Cameron in left for third out. Jays leave three but score three to take the lead here, Send nine to the plate. Both starting pitchers have early trouble. Could be a long game today.

Top 2nd: Hall leading off strikes out. One down for Molina singles to right. Scutaro singles to right, Molina to second. Two on one down for Nava. This is trouble. Doubles to centre, here comes Molina, here comes Scutaro and just like that this game is all tide up again. 3-3. Ortiz, doubles to centre here comes Nava 4-3 Boston. Red Sox fans are loving this. Cito is fuming with Morrow. Youkilis strikes out. Two down for Beltre, pops up to Encarnacion at third. Once again Morrow escapes more damage but has given up the two run lead.
Bottom 2nd: Lackey has a reprieve. Lewis leading off walks. Gonzalez strikes out. One down for Bautista, there goes Fred and safe at second. Good to see Jays using their speed what little they do have but Lewis should be an automatic base stealer to give pitchers more to worry about. Bautista with runner at second pops up to Youkilis at first, two down for Wells fly ball to Cameron in centre. Lewis left at second.

Top 3rd: Drew leading off, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay at first, one down. Cameron Morrow hits him. Definitely not Brandon’s day. Hall singles to left, Cameron to second.
Molina pops up to Hill, two down. Scutaro, singles to right, here comes Cameron, Hall has to hold at third. 5-3 Boston. Nava fly ball to Wells in centre to end this one but Boston have added another.
Bottom 3rd: Lind leading off grounds to third, safe at first. Hill grounds to Scutaro throw to second to get Lind. Jays just cannot move leadoff runners over. Overbay grounds to Hall throw to Lackey for the out at first. Encarnacion two down and one on walks. Molina with two on fly ball to Drew in right to end this one.

Top 4th: Ortiz singles to right, stretching it to two on Bautista, here comes the throw, nails him at second. When will runners get the message about Jose? But that’s ok he will keep nailing them with that great arm. I can see why Cito is in no hurry to get young Travis Snider back here, even though it sounds as if he is ready. One down for Youkilis strikes out. Beltre pops up to Overbay. That was Morrow’s best inning but his pitch count is over 100 could be his last.
Bottom 4th: Lewis full count and walks, he has been on base all three times today. Gonzalez, there goes Lewis again, and safe on the throw, not even close. I wish Fred would not look back though when he is running. Just get that head down Fred and run. Gonzalez with runner in scoring position, no doubt about this one lines it over into left field wall, here comes Lewis here comes Gonzalez and Jays have tied this up again 5-5 game. Still no outs for Bautista, grounds back to Lackey throw to Youkilis for the out. One down for Wells, fly ball to Drew in right, Vernon going the other way, they are just not giving him anything to pull. Two down for Lind, lines it hard to Cameron in centre for the third out. But Jays storm back to tie it up.

Top 5th: Morrow out of it. Not a great outing and his pitch count was way too high for only four innings. Camp now pitching. Drew singles to Wells in centre. Cameron with one on, strikes out. Hall with one on strikes out. Molina, there goes Drew and steals second. Molina strikes out.
Bottom 5th: Hill leading off doubles to left. Overbay full count and walks, Lyle being far more patient recently despite Cito not liking it. Encarnacion with two on strikes out. One down. Edwin could not move them over. Seems to one of his weaknesses. Molina with two on base and one down. Wild pitch here ball gets away and both runners move up.
Molina lines to Beltre at third, playing well of the line or that would have gone into left. Lewis with two down and two on, an excuse me hit here down third line into left, here comes Hill, here comes Overbay, a double for Lewis on a checked swing. Lewis is grinning, that’s ok Fred they all count. Ironic after Molina had been caught at third on a very hard hit by Molina. This one was not even intended as a hit and scores two. 7-5 Jays and that is the end of Lackey. Atchison now pitching. Gonzalez with runner Lewis in scoring position. Pops up to Youkilis at first.

Top 6th: Camp still out there. Scutaro leading off grounds to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay, one down. Nava doubles to centre. Ortiz lines to Wells, Nava moves to third. Youkilis with two down but runner at third, hit by a pitch. Two on and that’s it for Camp. Frasor now pitching. Cito really using his bullpen in first two days of this series. Beltre, there goes Youkilis safe at second. Molina does not miss many. Beltre grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay. Boston leave two out there.
Bottom 6th: Bautista leading off grounds to Beltre throw to Youkilis, one down. Wells pops up to Youkilis. Two down and Vernon remains hitless today. Richardson now pitching. Lind, 2-2 count, Adam gets hold of this one hammers it opposite field home run. 8-5 Jays. Hill fly ball to Drew in right to end this one but Jays get another important run here.

Top 7th: Frasor still pitching. Drew leading off strikes out one down. Cameron strikes out. Hall hit by a pitch. One on, two down. Patterson pinch-hitting for Molina. Patterson strikes out. Very nice inning by Frasor.
Bottom 7th: That’s it for Boston Molina. Cash in as catcher. McDonald in as center fielder. Overbay grounds to Hall at second throw to Youkilis, one down. Ramon Ramirez now pitching. Encarnacion singles to left going for two, here comes throw by Nava and Edwin out at second. Molina grounds to Beltre at third, throw to Youkilis at first for the out.

Top 8th: Rzepczynski pitching. Who knows what Cito is thinking, it could not be his day to pitch between starts as he is not starting. I would far rather he were pitching tomorrow in place of Litsch. Scutaro hit by a pitch. That’s a good start Marc. Nava with one on strikes out. That’s more like it. Ortiz strikes out. Two down for Youkilis. No here comes Cito. Gregg pitching. I think the sun has got to Cito today. Rzepczynski only 14 pitches. Unless Cito plans to bring him in again tomorrow in relief that could be the final outing for him for some time. Of course that assumes that Litsch remains in Toronto, we shall have a better grasp of that tomorrow. Youkilis fly ball to Wells in centre to end the inning and strand Scutaro.
Bottom 8th: Lewis grounds to Beltre at third, throw to Youkilis at first, one down. Gonzalez fly ball to Nava in left, two down for Bautista, YES Jose…. this one is out of here, home run to left. Jays go out ahead by four, 9-5 Jays. With only three more outs for those Red Sox. Wells, fly ball to McDonald in centre.

Top 9th: Gregg still out there. Beltre pops up to Hill. One down Drew doubles to left. Cash grounds back to Gregg bare hand the throw to Overbay for the out. Drew to third but two down for Hall. This should do it. Hall fly ball to Bautista. Jays win big today 9-5.

The very good: Adam Lind 3-4 today with that home run. Great to see him starting to get hot. Lewis 2-3 with two walks, and two stolen bases. The pitching of the bullpen, Camp, Frasor, Rzepczynski and Gregg providing scoreless ball for five innings. Eleven hits for Jays and spread amongst seven starters. Wells and Molina hitless. Crowd at 35,000. Good as many will see the entertaining play that this team can produce.

The bad: Wells another hitless game. Perhaps the All-Star game will get him going again. Jays 5/14 with runners in scoring position.

Post script:
Have to remember that April series in Boston. Red Sox swept the Jays but they won two of them by one run and the other by two runs. Hardly outplayed. In Boston they won two of three but again one of them was a one run game. So in six games three have been one run losses. Not really dominant except in two games 6-1 and the 14-3 last night. The 6-1 loss was to Dana Eveland remember him?
Not trying to be complacent here but Jays fans should be encouraged.