Tallet and Frasor blow this one bigtime and ruin fine all round effort

Final Game of four and second of the double header today. Sunday July 25.

Jays have the upper hand with that great win this afternoon and at worst will come away with a split but you know they will want more. Both bullpens will be hoping for lots if runs to save the closers. Tigers are really beaten up badly right now without Ordonez and Guillen and Damon only available to pinch hit. Jays have McCoy and McDonald unused in the series and should see some action tonight. I don’t think we will see Gregg though so it should be interesting to see if Cito will go to Frasor if needed to finish it off. They have Tallet and Purcey for relief and Janssen also has not pitched today.

Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Overbay, Buck, Lind, Encarnacion, Wise. McDonald. Cito listening re Hill and sitting him, way overdue. Lyle hitting cleanup, he has earned that. Remember when he was playing so very badly early in the season? However they may also be showcasing him here for the 31st trade deadline. Lots of speed in this lineup.
Tigers: Jackson, Rhymes, Damon, Cabrera, Boesch, Larish, Kelly, Avila, Worth.
Pitching: Bonderman v Litsch.

Top 1st: Lewis leading off 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. One down for Escobar, 1-2 count, grounds to third, throw not in time, this guy is fast. Beats the throw easily. Bautista, pitch almost hits him, way inside. Pops up to Damon in left. Two down for Overbay game winning home run this afternoon. Vernon getting a rest here. There goes Escobar, throw down gets him. Lyle does not swing, obviously didn’t see him with his back to first but he must/should have been aware that he might be going. I would still rather see Escobar trying to steal. 17 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Jackson leading off, major trouble for Jays this weekend, grounds to McDonald at second, throw to Overbay, one down. Rhymes, pops it up to Encarnacion at third into the crowd to make the catch. Whoa, second row as he makes great catch. Damon, with two down. grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay for third out. Good first inning by Litsch, helped by his defence. 8 pitches.

Top 2nd: Overbay continues, 0-2, grounds to Rhymes at second throw to Cabrera at first, one down. Buck first pitch swinging, fly ball to Jackson in centre, two down. Lind, good to see Cito has pushed him down the order. He needs to earn his way back up the way Lyle has done. That is good start as he singles back up the middle. Two down one on for Encarnacion, 0-2 nowhere near the pitch. 2-2, lines it into right corner just foul, count full. Great at bat as he strikes out, ten pitches to get him. Pitch count 36.
Bottom 2nd:Cabrera leading off. Lines to Wise in centre tonight for Vernon. Boesch, 2-2 count. Lines this back up the middle almost right through Litsch. Larish with one on and one down. runner going, strikes out, throw by Buck way into centre but Wise backing up holds the runner at second. Two down for Kelly, 3-1 count. Full count and ball four, two on two down for Avila. 1-2 count 2-2, strikes out looking. 32 pitch count.

Top 3rd: Wise leading off perfect bunt to third base. Bonderman going for it but no chance to get Wise. Speed again. McDonald grounds to Kelly at third, great throw to first just gets McDonald but he moves Wise to second. One down one on scoring position now for Lewis. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Escobar. Grounds to third Kelly another good throw to get Escobar at first. 44 pitch count.
Bottom 3rd: Worth leading off. Lines to Bautista in right, one down for Jackson. 1-2 count. Grounds to McDonald at second throw to Overbay two down. Rhymes, 2-0 count. Grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Overbay to end the inning. Very efficient for Litsch. Pitch count 43.
Top 4th: Bautista leading off. 0-1 count. 2-2, singles to Damon in left, sliding save and throw keeps Bautista at first. Overbay grounds to second throw to first for the out but did his job and Bautista moves to second on the play. Buck 0-2 count. strikes out. Buck reckons he foul tipped it. Two down. Lind first pitch grounds back to Bonderman throw to first for third out. Perhaps Lind should keep moving down the order. Pitch count 55.

Bottom 4th: Damon leading off. Lines it into right corner, Bautista throw, the Escobar tag on the leg but called safe, here comes Cito arguing but no change, Damon called safe. Cabrera with Damon at second, nobody out. 2-2 count. Full count, first base open. Great, Cabrera chases ball outside strikes out swinging. One down for Boesch. 2-1 count. 3-1, Litsch losing the sharpness from earlier. Ball four. Two on one down for Larish. Perfect, first pitch grounds to McDonald, over to Escobar at second, throw to Overbay double play ball. Pitch count 57.
Top 5th: Encarnacion leading off.0-1, 2-2, singles into left past diving short stop Worth. Wise with runner at first. Bunting but fouls off. 1-1 count. High, very high fly ball to Boesch in right to make the out. Just got under that pitch. McDonald 2-0 count, 2-2, strikes out swinging. Two down for Lewis. Shows bunt ? with two down. Way to go Fred, lines it to centre, over the head of Jackson to the wall, here comes Encarnacion, Lewis to third. 1-0 Jays. Escobar. 1-2 count. 2-2, Full count. Take or swing? Grounds to short, throw just gets Escobar at first. But Jays strike first. Pitch count 77.

Bottom 5th: Kelly leading off. 2-2 count. Full count and ball four. Not good Jesse. Avila with one on. WHOA !!! grounds to McDonald at second quick flip to Escobar jumps high in the air as Kelly slides into him and acrobatic throw gets to Overbay easily. Double play. Two down for Worth. 2-2 count. Grounds to McDonald at second throw to Overbay for third out. Excellent inning defensively. Pitch count 70.

Top 6th: Bautista leading off. Way to go Jose, first pitch lines it into the Tigers bullpen. 2-0 Jays. Number 27 for Jose. Still leading the majors. Overbay, 1-1 count. Strikes out. One down for Buck, 1-2 count. Grounds back at Bonderman off his glove and barehanded throw by Rhymes not in time Buck safe at first. Lind, one down one on, 2-0 count. 3-0 that looked close, takes strike one. Tigers bullpen working. Full count. Pops up to Rhymes. Two down for Encarnacion. 2-1 count. 3-1, ball four high. Wise but here comes Manager Leyland. That’s it for Bonderman tonight. 99 pitches. Wise with two down and two on. Could break it open here. Brad Thomas lefty lefty match up. 1-2 count. Full count, runners going. Grounds to Cabrera throw to Thomas at first not in time Wise beats it out as Buck scores from second, 3-0 Jays. Speed again. That’s it for Thomas. Bonine pitching. McDonald singles up the middle. Here comes Encarnacion from second Wise going for third, hung up between second and third tag but not before runs scores. 4-0 Jays.
Bottom 6th: Litsch now with a big lead. Jackson no way, lines it to the wall in centre another triple. Jackson has feasted in the Jays this weekend. Tallet working in bullpen. Great play by Litsch, Rhymes grounds it right back at him and leaps high to snare it and throw to first for one down. Jackson had to hold at third, Damon 1-2 count. 2-2, grounds to Escobar, bobbles the ball and both runners safe as Jackson scores 4-1 Jays. One down. Cabrera singles to left centre, Damon to third here comes Cito. Litsch 81 pitches. Tallet now pitching with two on ??? Good luck. Boesch, left lefty matchup. First pitch fly ball to Wise in centre, here comes Damon, 4-2 Jays two down. Raburn pinch hitting Cabrera at first. 2-1 count. Pops up to Bautista in right.

Top 7th: Can Jays get those two back here? Jays have ten hits and Overbay the only one without. Lewis leading off. Lines it to Jackson in centre one down for Escobar. 2-1 count. 2-2, full count. Strikes out looking. Two down. Bautista to keep it going. 1-2 count. Fly ball to Boesch in right to end the inning.
Bottom 7th: Tallet still pitching. Sizemore leading off. Cito still has Casey Janssen, Purcey and Frasor. Fly ball to centre, Wise chases it down, great speed to get it that one. One down for Avila, pops up to shallow left for Escobar, two down for Worth. 1-1, grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 8th: Jays need more, Tigers are sending top of their order up in the bottom of this inning starting with Jackson who has been an almost automatic hit and with two triples today !!! can change a game with one hit. Phil Coke now pitching. Sizemore in the game at third for Kelly. Overbay leading off. Singles into centre. Everyone now has a hit tonight. Can Jays capitalize? Buck with one on. 0-2, singles into centre off the glove of Rhymes. Two on for Lind, don’t bet on him. 0-2 count. 2-2, grounds to Carbrera at first throw to Worth at second back to Cabrera double play ball, and so goes Lind’s season. Awful. Overbay at third, Encarnacion pops up to Cabrera at first. That was not good with first two hitters on base.
Bottom 8th: This is crucial inning starting with Jackson leading off How come this guy is always leading off in these situations? Tallet still out there, why Cito?. Jackson eight hits this series, 0-1, 0-2, 2-2, Purcey and Frasor working in bullpen. Singles to centre. One on, Santiago pinch hitting for Rhymes. 0-2 count. Hits him on the foot. Two on for Damon, 2-0 Tallet doing his usual meltdown, come on Cito. 2-2, pops it up to Escobar, one down. Cabrera with two on. Out comes Cito, three hitters too late Cito. Frasor to face Cabrera. This is the game here. 0-1, 0-2, doubles to right here comes Jackson. 4-3 Jays. Boesch with two in scoring position. Boesch intentional walk. Raburn, bases loaded. 1-2 count. Doubles to centre, three runs score 6-4 Tigers. Sizemore with one down and runner at second. stealing third and throw by Buck gets him. Two down. Strikes out.

Top 9th: Jays have to face Valverde again for second time today but this is all about momentum and Jays don’t have it let alone the crowd in full noise now. Wise, leading off. Oh DeWayne, gets hold of this one high fly ball to right field seats, home run Wise. 6-5 Tigers. Wells pinch hitting for McDonald. First pitch fly ball to Jackson. One down for Lewis strikes out on appeal to third. Two down. Escobar last chance here. 0-2, 2-2,strikes out swinging. Jays give this one away but get two of four in Detroit which is not bad. They have serious problems though with Tallet.

Good: Encarnacion play at third into the second row of crowd, double play ball McDonald and Escobar. Lewis the triple RBI to get it going. Great defense two double plays Escobar and McDonald. Bautista home run. Speed of Wise to enable Buck to score third run. Litsch had kept the Jays in this one and did enough to win.
The bad: How many times does Cito need to watch Tallet break down in crucial situations? And more to the point why does he send him out at all to start the 8th? Lind double play in the eighth with two on and nobody out. Frasor gives up the crucial three run double but Tallet had dug the deep hole.

Hard to win both games of a double header but a split of the four games in Detroit is good.
Jays have had a very long (successful) road trip and we have not seen them at home since before the All-Star game. Our first look at Escobar tomorrow in Toronto.