Poor all-round performance by Jays enables White Sox to avoid the sweep

Jays v White Sox. Final game of three game series. Jays going for the sweep but a very tough assignment for Alvarez. Two nights ago the top two of the order performed with eight hits, last night the bottom two with six hits. Maybe tonight the heart of the order? The bullpen at least should be well rested. Tonight Encarnacion still sitting and Gomes also sitting. Davis last minute scratch and McCoy playing, not quite as good a replacement for Rajai but let’s see if he has improved since last year. Alvarez needs major run support tonight. Lineup: Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Johnson, Cooper, Escobar, Arencibia, Vizquel, McCoy and Alvarez pitching. White Sox: De Aza, Beckham, Dunn, Konerko, Rios, Pierzynski, Viciedo, Ramirez, Hudson and Peavey pitching. Top 1st: Delay. Problem now with the lights not being turned on, how can that happen, not as if this is the first game under lights, someone did not get paid last night. Lawrie, first pitch fly ball to Rios in right, the downside to Lawrie leading off, one pitch one out. Rasmus, 2-2 count, pops it up to Beckham to make the catch behind the bag at first, two down for Bautista, full count, high ball four. One on two down for Johnson. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 19 which is not bad considering one out after first pitch. Bottom 1st: De Aza, fly ball to centre, Rasmus makes great running diving catch for first out, speed. Beckham, one down. Grounds back off the mound into left centre for a single. One on one down for Dunn, 2-0 count, grounds to Lawrie playing behind first, throw to Escobar over to Cooper, not in time two down for Konerko. 1-2 count, singles to Rasmus in centre. Two on two down for Rios. Grounds to third off glove of Lawrie into left and here comes Dunn to score, error to Lawrie. 1-0 White Sox. Pierzynski, two on two down. 2-2 count, bounces to Vizquel, throw to Cooper to end this inning but not a good start. 22 pitches thanks to Lawrie. Top 2nd: Cooper leading off. 2-2 count, goes down for this one and golfs it into right for leadoff single. One on for Escobar, just stay out of the double play Yunel. Full count, there goes Cooper and Escobar singles into right, Cooper all the way to third on the play. Arencibia, two on nobody out and runner at third. Have to bring him in somehow JP. Full count, there goes Escobar, ball four. Bases loaded. Vizquel. Takes strike one. 0-2, strikes out swinging. One down for McCoy. 1-2 count, trying to bunt, groan. 2-2 count, that’s better grounds to third and off the glove of Hudson, Cooper scores, here comes Escobar. 2-1 Jays Lawrie with two on, one down. 1-2 count, grounds up the middle drops the ball as throw to second, Arencibia scores 3-1 jays. Rasmus grounds to first throw to second bounces the ball back to Dunn at first, fumbles the ball and Rasmus safe. Two down. Lawrie at third, two on for Bautista. Fly ball to Rios in right for third out. Jose leaves two out there. 52 pitches. 33 pitch inning for Peavey thanks to his defensive team behind him. Bottom 2nd: Alvarez now with the lead. Viciedo, 1-2 count, takes strike three, nice breaking pitch, one down for Ramirez. 2-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper at first, two down for Hudson. 0-2 count, fly ball to McCoy in left for third out. 35 pitch count. Top 3rd: Peavey didn’t get much of a break there. Back out again. Johnson, grounds to Beckham at second, throw to Dunn at first one down. Cooper, pops it up to Hudson at third. Two down for Escobar, eight pitch inning, not good hitting by the Jays. 60 pitches for Peavey. Bottom 3rd: Alvarez turn to get back out there quickly. Top of the order De Aza, pops up to Lawrie at third, one down. Beckham, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper, two down for Dunn. Full count, strikes out swinging. Nice inning by Alvarez. Pitch count 47. Top 4th: Boston 6-0 and Tampa 5-1 both winning tonight, games still in progress. Arencibia leading off, full count, inside ball four, his second walk tonight. JP seems to be losing his aggressive attacking style of hitting. A walk is ok but he has to remember the bottom of the order is behind him. One on for Vizquel, bunting or swinging? Neither. Takes strike one. Pops it up to De Aza in centre, one down for McCoy. 2-2 count, pops it up to Rios in right for second out. Lawrie one on two down. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 78. Bottom 4th: Konerko leading off. 1-1 pops it up to Vizquel at second, one down for. Rios grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper for the second out. Pierzynski 3-1 count, grounds to Vizquel, to Cooper for third out. Three up and down, ten pitch inning for Alvarez 57 pitch count. Top 5th: Rasmus leading off. 1-2 count, singles to right, one on for Bautista. 0-1 inside and not a strike, interesting Jose does not argue that one, just looked and went back at it. 0-2 count. There goes Rasmus, he hesitated halfway and is out on the throw to at second, he who hesitates is lost. One down. 2-2 count, high very high pop up to Ramirez for second out. Johnson, full count, low ball four. One on two down for Cooper. Hits him on the thigh almost behind him with that pitch but David backed into it. Two on for Escobar. Pops it up to Rios in right. What a waste, and Farrell thinks this guy is an RBI guy. Not the one we watch. 96 pitch count though for Peavey. Jays hitters doing a good job on that at least. Bottom 5th: Viciedo, high pop up to Vizquel, one down for Ramirez. Full count, bounces to third, Lawrie in front of Escobar, that must drive Yunel crazy each time, but strong throw to Cooper for the out, two down. Hudson, 0-2 count, drives it into left. One on and watch this guy on the bases. De Aza, 3-0 count, Alvarez struggling here, out goes Arencibia to settle him. Ground ball here Henderson. Low ball four, two on two down for Beckham. Go ahead run at the plate. Low ball one, 1-1 count, pops it up to Lawrie in front of the dugout. Escapes this time, but not looking good out there. Pitch count though at 79. Top 6th: Arencibia leading off, two walks tonight. Need hits JP. 1-2 Pitch number 100 for Peavey. Takes strike three, time to get Mathis in that lineup John. Vizquel, now he is bunting. Foul. 2-2 count, goes after high ball and pops it up to Ramirez at short, two down for McCoy. Lines it to Rios in right, much too easy for Peavey there. 110 pitch count. Bottom 6th: Dunn lines it to second and great diving stop by Vizquel and throw to Cooper for the out, great play. Konerko singles to right. Alvarez tiring here, you could see it start last inning where he struggled. One on one down for Rios, wild pitch gets away from Arencibia to the wall, where is Mathis John? Dunn moves up to second, there it goes high fly ball over the wall in left, two runs score and this is all tied up 3-3. Pierzynski, 2-2 count, grounds to Cooper throw to Alvarez for out number two. Viciedo grounds to Cooper at first throw to Alvarez but too little too late here for Alvarez. Pitch count 94 but should be his last inning. Top 7th: Top of the order, amazing, Peavey still out there, wants the win I guess. Lawrie 2-2 count, now White Sox bullpen is working Thornton. Full count, outside ball four. One on for Rasmus, hope Lawrie can restrain himself here. Now the end of Peavey, different approach here. 117 pitch count. Matt Thornton now pitching. Lefty matchup but at the cost of Lawrie on base ? Bunting, fouls it off. 1-2 count, takes strike three on the corner, one down for Bautista, one on. 2-1 count, lines it hard to Hudson at third, Lawrie back to first. Two down for Johnson. 1-0 count, there we go singles into centre, Lawrie all the way to third on the play. Two on two down for Cooper. Lefty matchup but leaving him in there, lines first pitch to centre for De Aza to make the out. Maybe just maybe a pinch hitter might have been the call. Bottom 7th: You can feel this one slipping away here. Boston has already beaten the Orioles avoiding a sweep at Fenway. Tampa still winning in NY. Alvarez still pitching, Ramirez, 0-2 count fly ball to Bautista in right, one down for Hudson. Luis Perez now warming up in Jays bullpen, grounds to Cooper, throw to Alvarez for the second out. De Aza, 2-1 count, lines it into right, one on two down for Beckham. Farrell leaving him in there to get out of this himself. 2-2 count, there goes the runner, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper and Alvarez helps himself. Pitch count 108. Top 8th: Nate Jones pitching out there. Jays running out of chances to get ahead here, the bottom half of the order. Escobar, perfect lifts it over head of Dunn at first and bounces into foul ground, Yunel has stand up double to lead off. Arencibia who has disappointed once again with his bat. Grounds to second, throw to Dunn at first, one down as Escobar gets to third. But again bottom two of the order here. Vizquel, shows bunt, high. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. McCoy with Escobar at third. No, Gomes pinch hitting, finally. 2-1 count, grounds to third Escobar out at the plate, horrible hitting by the Jays. 1-10 with runners in scoring position, when oh when. Bottom 8th: Darren Oliver now pitching. Top part of the order. Dunn, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Konerko. That is it for Darren he did his job. Frasor now to face Konerko. 3-1 count, outside ball four, not quite what you were brought in to do Jason. One on one down for Rios, already with one home run. Jordan Danks pinch running at first for Konerko. Ball one, Frasor cannot find the strike zone, 2-2 count, I like it, lines it to Cooper, steps on first to double them up, great double play to end this. Frasor a lucky guy tonight. Top 9th: Addison Read now pitching. Lawrie grounds to Beckham at second, throw to first, one down. Rasmus pops it up to Hudson at third, two down. Bautista. There we go Jose, hammers it into left field corner, stand up double. Now someone please bring him in. Johnson, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Let’s see 1-11 with runners in scoring position, tells the story tonight. White Sox are 2-4. Bottom 9th: Cordero now pitching. Oh boy, here goes my heart medication. Pierzynski, grounds first pitch to Cooper for the out. One down for Viciedo, singles to Rasmus in centre, one on one down for Ramirez. Pitch gets away and once again runner to second on the play, this team must hold the major league record for wild pitches and Arencibia the culprit most of the time. Base hit will win this thing now. Full count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, Viciedo tags and gets to third on the throw up the line. Hudson with runner at third, no room for error here JP. Singles up the middle. Jays lose 4-3. Poor pitching, poor defense and lousy hitting with runners in scoring position an all round mess sums this one up. Jays lose a great chance to stay with the leader and going in to Atlanta will not be any easier. Not much good about this one. Even their runs were result of poor defensive plays by White Sox. The very bad: RISP 1-11 tells it all. Cordero, what can we say? Farrell keeps sending him out there.