Toronto v Boston Night game of double header. Saturday September 13,2008.
Pitching: Colon (4-2 ) v Litsch (11-8 )
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Overbay, Lind, Rolen, Zaun, Snider and Litsch pitching.
Boston: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Youkilis, Kotsay, Bay, Lowrie, Cora, Cash and Colon pitching.
Result: Jays lose this one 7-5 and blowing a 5-2 lead.
The good: Snider, patience for walk in the second inning, and his defence with great catch in RF wall to take away a two run HR.
The bad: First inning Litsch Zaun mess for two runs. Cito almost blew the game in the 6th inning gambling first on Litsch and then on League. And finally leaving in Downs when he just didn’t have it tonight.
The very bad: Vernon Wells in 5th inning. First pitch out after a three pitch inning for first two outs, hitting into three double plays, two by Rios.
The game: Top 1st: Inglett, fly ball out to CF Ellsbury, one down for Scutaro, lines it hard back up the middle almost took head off Colon. Rios now with one down and one on. Pops it up to in shallow LF. Two down. Wells DH tonight, grounds to Cora at SS throw to for the out. 16 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Ellsbury, full count, and walks, Litsch does not need this to start. Pedroia, doubles into the RF corner. Two on and no outs, Litsch already in big trouble. Ortiz at bat, and strikes out. One down for Youkilis, oh man… wild pitch and Ellsbury scores and here comes Pedroia, TWO runs score on a ball that went six feet. 2-0 Boston. That is called aggressive Cito,but also lousy defense by Jays. error on Zaun. Youkilis walks. Kotsay now at bat, only one out. 3-1 count. Fly ball out to Rios playing in CF tonight. Two down now for Bay. Pops it up to Rolen. 30 pitches. At this rate Jesse will go three innings on his 100 pitch count.
Top 2nd: Jays have to answer here. Overbay at bat, fly ball out to LF Bay. Lind at bat, one down, singles up the middle. One on one down for Rolen, singles up the middle, Lind stops at 2B, two on for Zaun. Grounds it to 3B Lowrie but he kicks the ball, all runners safe, bases loaded and one out for guess who. Snider… 2-0 count. 3-1 count. Walks and a run. 2-1 Boston. Great at bat by Travis. Bases still loaded for Inglett doubles to LF, Rolen scores, Zaun scores, 3-2 Jays. Here comes those Jays. Snider moves to 3B. Scutaro hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Kotsay, Snider scores, 4-2 Jays. Inglett moves to 3B. Two down for Rios, singles to CF, Inglett scores. 5-2 Jays. Wells strikes out. 45 pitchers for Colon. Jays show Boston they are in for a fight.
Bottom 2nd: Jays are back in this one. Now to close Red Sox down. Lowrie fly ball out to LF Lind. Cora grounds to Inglett 2B throw to 1B Overbay. Cash last night’s hero. Patient at bat, would be no good playing for this Jays team, full count and walks. Ellsbury grounds out to 1B Overbay. Much better inning for Litsch.
Top 3rd: Overbay grounds to Cora at SS throw to Youkilis for first out. Lind at bat one down. Singles up the middle. Rolen, with one down, grounds to Lowrie, on to Pedroia for out on to Youkilis to get Rolen double play ball to end the inning. 55 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Pedroia at bat, grounds to Rolen, throw to Overbay for first out. Ortiz with right shift on. Bounces back to Litsch, throw to Overbay to get Ortiz. Two down, Youkilis at bat, full count. Strikes out. 61 pitches.
Top 4th: Zaun, 3-0 count now full count and pops it up to Cora, one down. Snider at bat, first pitch swinging here fly ball out to CF Ellsbury. Inglett at bat, 3-1 count. Fly ball out to CF Ellsbury. 66 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Kotsay at bat, lines out softly to Overbay for first out. Bay grounds it up the middle past diving Scutaro. One on, one down for Lowrie. Gets hold of this one, high fly ball to RF back to the wall catch by Snider. Two down. That was over that low wall in the visitors bullpen.. great catch by Travis in his first game in RF at Fenway. Pops it up to Inglett behind Overbay. 75 pitches.
Top 5th: Scutaro grounds first pitch to Cora throw to Youkilis for first out. Rios at bat, has not had a great series, one hit so far. Grounds back up the middle and ball hits Colon ‘s glove, throw to Youkilis for the out. He had turned his back to avoid the ball on the play. Wells, NO Vernon, that is one terrible at bat. First pitch, ground out to SS. Throw to Youkilis for the third out. FOUR pitch inning. That was bush league Vernon. And especiially agiainst a pitcher who has been going deep into the count.
Bottom 5th: Cash at bat, full count, more pitches than three Jays hitters in the last inning. Now walks him. Ellsbury grounds to Inglett throw to Scutaro on to Overbay, double play ball, two down for Pedroia, doubles it off the wall. If Alex’s throw had been on target he would have had him. Ortiz at bat, strikes him out for second time. 94 pitches however. What will Cito do here ?
Top 6th: Most of the good hitting has been from bottom of the order Rios and Wells have been invisible and not hitting well at all. Overbay at bat, more patient. Perhaps Cito should put him in front of Wells after Alex. But then Cito has no problem with the first pitch swing club. Lyle singles it into CF. One on for Lind, 2-2 tonight. Pops it very high to Youkilis at 1B. Rolen at bat one on, one down. Grounds (yes, first pitch) to 3B Lowrie on to 2B Pedroia on to 1B Youkilis double play ball. That is Rolen’s second double play this game. 80 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Litsch still out there but needs a quick one here. Youkilis 2-2 count. Doubles off the wall. Kostay at bat, Carlson up in the bullpen. 3-0 count, and walks on four pitches. Come on Cito. Bay at bat two on and no outs. Cito is gambling here bigtime. Singles up the middle but Youkilis is held at 3B respecting Rios arm there. Bases loaded and no outs. Cito still not out. Armsberg is out however. League also pitching with Carlson in bullpen. Lowrie at bat, high fly ball to RF Snider, one out but Youkilis scores. 5-3 Jays. Now Cito is out, a little late I am afraid. If Jesse was on a 100 pitch count he is well over (111 pitches) and maybe would have been better for someone else to start the inning. Now the game is on the line, this time Cito’s gamble backfired. Carlson now pitching with two on and one down. Lowell pinch hitting. Runners on the corners, soft liner to Inglett at 2B, both runners hold. Two down. Now Cito is out again. Give me a break. League now pitching. Crisp at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for third out.
Top 7th: Javier Lopez now pitching. Red Sox defence changes are Youkilis at 3B, Kotsay at 1B. Ellsbury in RF, Crisp in CF and Ross catching. Lowrie to SS. Zaun at bat, grounds to SS Lowrie throw to Kotsay for first out. Snider at bat, shows bunt, strikes out. Two down. Inglett grounds to Youkilis at 3B throw to Kotsay at 1B..
Bottom 7th: League still pitching, Ellsbury at bat, doubles to right centre. Pedroia grounds to Scutaro and throw to Overbay for first out. Ellsbury to 3B.Ortiz at bat, here comes Cito, and Downs on his way in from the bullpen. Lefty lefty matchup. 3-1 count. Full count and walks Ortiz. Two on for Youkilis. Grounds to Inglett throw to Scutaro, Ortiz out at 2B, no chance for double play as Ortiz takes out Scutaro. Run Ellsbury scores 5-4 Jays. Two down for Kotsay grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for third out.
Top 8th: Time for the top of the order Rios and Wells to show their hitting skills which have been missing tonight, Masterson pitching. Scutaro at bat, grounds hard to Youkilis at 3B knocks it down but cannot throw out Scutaro at 1B. Error on Youkilis. Now Rios. Here we go, no bets on this one. First pitch grounds to SS Lowrie on to 2B Pedroia to get Scutaro at 2B on to 1B Kotsay double play ball, 1-4 tonight and 1-12 !!!! in this series when the season is on the line. Wells fly ball out to CF Crisp. Vernon might as well have stayed at home tonight. I don’t believe that Alex has it in his makeup to come through in the clutch. I don’t think he chokes but he certainly does not perform on so many occasions. Blue Jays eighth.
Bottom 8th: Downs still pitching. Bay at bat, doubles high off the wall, Lowrie singles into CF. Bay scores 5-5. Downs doesn’t have it tonight. Is not fooling any of the hitters. Cito sits and folds those arms tighter. Ross sacrifice bunt and Downs throws him out at 1B Inglett. Lowrie moves to 2B. Crisp at bat, Papelbon up in Red Sox bullpen. Grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay two down for Ellsbury. Lowrie at 3B. Full count. Taps it in front and Downs falls over trying to get to the ball, Lowrie scores 6-5 Boston. Downs out of the game. Camp now pitching. Ellsbury at 1B. Pedroia at bat, singles into LF. Ellsbury to 2B.Two on, two down for Ortiz. Camp is all over the place nowhere near strike zone. Doubles off the wall. Ellsbury scores. 7-5 Boston. Pedroia to 3B. Youkilis at bat pops it up to Overbay, nice play Lyle. -
Top 9th: Do Jays want to give up their season here ? At least we will not see Rios and Wells at bat. Look at the positives. Varitek in catching. Papelbon pitching. 36 saves. Overbay to leadoff. Grounds (first pitch) to Pedroia for first out at 1B Kotsay . One down for Lind. 2-3 tonight, strikes out. Rolen at bat two down. Grounds to SS Lowrie throw to 1B Kotsay and Jays lose another. 7-5.
They gave this one away and letting Red Sox get back into it. Cito gambled and lost twice. Downs has lost something from his earlier season dominance and can no longer be relied upon to close hitters down in the eighth. The early first inning error cost them a run and hitting into the three ! double plays does not help the cause. Finally that reckless first pitch swinging has reache ridiculous stage when opposing pitcher takes four pitches to get through an inning and that was the top of the order. Sorry Cito even you would be ashamed of that performance.
Just a thought but I think when Vernon is DH he does not get into the game and his bat suffers as well.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Snider- Burnett show win one for Jays in Fenway
Toronto v Boston. First game of day–night double header. Saturday September 13, 2008.
Preview: After last night’s loss another must win for the Jays. Only have to say this fourteen more times (before the playoffs that is). Jays had a horrible night last night and are looking to bounce back today. Burnett is going on three days rest BUT is 3-0 on previous three day rest games… Today however Jays have to sharpen up the defence, no more sloppiness, improve the base running and score some runs. If they do that they have a chance but Boston meantime wants to get rid of this pesky mosquito messing up their win column and chances to catch Tampa. Rays rained out in New York last night also have a double header in New York today, lots of things in the AL could be different by the end of today.
Pitching: Byrd and Burnett. (17-10), Byrd, making his fourth start against Toronto since August 9, was tagged for 10 hits and five runs in five-plus innings. It could have been worse for Byrd. Burnett pitched seven shutout innings in his only other Fenway Park start this year, in a 3-0 win on May 1.
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Overbay, Lind, Barajas, Rolen, Snider and Burnett pitching.
Boston: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Lowell, Casey, Bay, Lowrie, Varitek, Crisp and Byrd pitching.
The result: Jays win going away 8-1, payback for last night.
The good: Snider and Burnett day at the ballpark. Snider’s five RBI game and Burnett one run seven inning win.
The bad: Some suspect base running by both Wells and Lind in the Inglett dropping ball on possible double play.
The game: Blue Jays first. Inglett singles to RF, that’s a good start. Scutaro first pitch lines out to CF Crisp. Hmmmm Marco…. Rios strikes out two down and Inglett still out there at 2B. Wells doubles to CF. That’s more like it Vernon. Inglett scores. 1-0 Jays. Overbay with two down but Vernon in scoring position, strikes out. But Jays are in front and already achieved more than they did last night.
Bottom 1st: Ellsbury singles to CF. Not quite what AJ wanted. Watch this guy AJ he can steal. There he goes Barajas cannot get ball out of glove and Ellsbury safe at 2B, he may had had a chance. Pedroia at bat to crowd chants of MVP. Another sold out crowd today. Pedroia fly ball out to RF Rios, Ellsbury moves to 3B. Red Sox want that run back quick. One down for the big guy Ortiz, strikes out. Lowell at bat two down one on, and strikes out. That’s the way AJ.
Top 2nd: Lind at bat, strikes out. Barajas fly ball out to CF Crisp. Two down for Rolen grounds to SS Lowrie throw to 1B Casey for third out. Three up and down for Byrd.
Bottom 2nd: Casey grounds to 2B Inglett throw to Overbay, one down. Bay grounds to, SS Scutaro throw to Overbay. Two down. Lowrie at bat strikes out. Three strikes outs for Burnett and looking good. Let’s get the hitters going here.
Top 3rd: Snider at bat, good to see him back in the lineup, grounds out to 1B Casey. Inglett bunting to 2B Pedroia throw to 1B Casey. Not this time Joe. Strange when he had single first at bat and there was no one on base. Sometimes I wonder about Joe’s head.I know he was obviously trying to surprise Red Sox there but …. Scutaro fly ball out to RF Ellsbury. Three up and down for Byrd .
Bottom 3rd: Varitek hit by a pitch. Crisp with one on bunting, back to Burnett throw to 1B Overbay for the out, one down but Varitek at 2B. Ellsbury grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B Overbay, Varitek moves to 3B but two down. Pedroia patient here or is it AJ pitching around him ? full count and walks. Ortiz with two on, Fenway crowd is excited ! grounds back to Burnett throw to Overbay and Ortiz leaves two on.
Top 4th: Rios lines out to CF Crisp. Wells doubles to CF. Overbay singles to LF. Wells is out on throw by Bay to 3B Lowell. That hurts.One down one on for Lind, doubles to LF, Overbay scores. 2-0 Jays. Lind is now out at 3B on the throw. What a messy inning by Jays runners. Crisp’s throw to cutoff Lowrie on to Varitek to Lowell at 3B. Heads up play by Varitek. Jays get another but could have been more that inning.
Bottom 4th: Lowell fly ball out to CF Wells. One down for Casey singles to right. Bay fly ball out to Wells.Two down. Lowrie grounds out to Overbay for third out. AJ is rolling along here.
Top 5th: Barajas singles to LF. Jays hitters have been sharp today. Rolen singles to LF, Barajas moves to 2B. Two on and no outs for Snider. YES Travis, there it goes, HR to RF Barajas scores, Rolen scores and here comes Travis 5-0 Jays. Snider’s second home run for the Jays. Still no outs, the bottom of the lineup has come through big here. Inglett fly ball out to LF Bay. One down for Scutaro, doubles to CF. One on for Rios, Alex grounds to 3B Lowell throw to 1B Casey. Scutaro stays at 2B. Wells pops it up to Varitek. Top of the order not clicking here this inning but Jays are ahead 5-0 for Burnett.
Bottom 5th: Varitek strikes out. Crisp lines out to Rios. Ellsbury singles to RF. Here we go again Ellsbury stealing and safe at 2B. Pedroia walks. Ortiz with two on for the second time, fly ball out to Wells. Crowd sits down again. AJ rolls the dice again and wins. Playing with fire though AJ.
Top 6th: Overbay singles to RF and that’s it for Byrd, Francona has seen enough of him today. Aardsma now pitching, one on no outs. Lind grounds to SS Lowrie, Overbay out at 2B on to 1B Casey, Overbay out, double play ball. Ouch. Two down for Barajas. Walks one on for Rolen doubles to LF, Barajas moves to 3B and two on again for guess who. Snider doubles to CF, Barajas scores, Rolen scores. Those two must love Travis. 7-0 Jays. Inglett at bat, two down and one on singles to LF, the beat goes on and Snider scores 8-0 Jays. Scutaro strikes out. But Jays are putting this one away. Snider 5RBIs today, Get him to buy a lottery ticket for me.
Bottom 6th: Lowell fly ball out to CF Wells. One down for Casey grounds back to Burnett throw to 1B Overbay. Two down. Bay full count and walks.Van Every now pinch-running for Bay. Lowrie strikes out.
Top 7th: Cora in at SS. Van Every in LF. Lowrie in 3B. Kottaras the Canadian in as catcher.
Hansack now pitching. Rios grounds to, 2B Pedroia throw to 1B Casey. Alex is hitless today.
Wells pop up to 2B Pedroia.Two down for Overbay fly ball out to CF Crisp.
Bottom 7th: Here’s some Canadian history. Kottaras from Markahm Milliken Highs School and on the Canadian national team first major league at bat. Strikes out but ball gets away from Barajas and safe on the wild pitch. Not a home run but Kottaras will take it. Crisp grounds to Scutaro flip to Inglett drops the ball…. that was double play ball Joe. Error to Inglett, Kottaras safe at 2B and that’s the end of Burnett, he was on a 100 pitch count anyway and that is 102. Carlson now pitching. Ellsbury grounds to 2B Inglett throw to SS Scutaro to get Crisp. Kottaras moves to 3B, one down for Cash pinch-hitting for Pedroia. Sacrifice fly to RF Rios, Kottaras scores. Gets his first major league run on a strikeout !!! he will remember that one. 8-1 Jays.
Bailey pinch-hitting for Ortiz, strikes out.
Top 8th: Wholesale changes here resting for tonight’s game. Carter in as left fielder. Cash in as third baseman. Bailey in as designated hitter. Cora in as second baseman. Van Every in as right fielder. Lowrie in as shortstop. Lind flied out to right fielder Van Every. Zaun at bat, pinch-hitting for Barajas. That’s interesting change if Zaun were playing tonight why come in now? unless Barajas is injured, he was limping earlier. Zaun strikes out. Bautista pinch-hitting for Rolen. Bautista strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Here come the reinforcements… to give the others an extra half hour nap. McDonald in at SS. Mench in RF. Zaun in as catcher.Bautista in at 3B. Tallet now pitching. ito knows it would be difficult even for Tallet to blow this one. Cora singles to CF. Casey lines out to SS McDonald. Van Every grounds out to Overbay, Cora moves to 2B. Tough to make that a double play as Cora was right on Overbay’s line to 2B. Lowrie fly ball out to RF Mench.
Top 9th: Giant killer Snider to lead off, what a game for him today and in Fenway in September. Not this time, grounds to 2B Cora throw to 1B Casey. One down for Inglett fly ball out to RF Van Every. McDonald with two down strikes out.
Bottom 9th: Kottaras his second major league at bat, just misses one here around foul pole in RF. That would have been something for the Canadian in his first game. Fly ball out to RF Mench. Crisp grounds to 3B Bautista throw to Overbay. Two down.Carter singles to RF to keep inning alive, Cash grounds to 3B Bautista throw to 2B Inglett to get Carter and end the game,.
Jays win this one 8-1 and has won 12 of 14 and moved within 6 1/2 games of AL wild card leader Boston. A few hours rest here and back out again.
What they are saying: Wells on the Jays chances: "Why not? I don't think there's anyone in this clubhouse that knows the odds aren't against us. We want to make a run at this thing. Having two guys like A.J. and Roy, we have to go on another run like we did the last two weeks."Burnett: "We had a little bump last night. We came in here just trying to make some noise." Byrd: "I know I've faced them a lot, but I just didn't make the pitches that I needed to make. Couldn't throw the ball away very well. It was up and then I just left some key pitches over the middle of the plate."
Cito Gaston: "We have managed to put ourselves in a situation where it's a 'must win,"'Boston manager Francona on Burnett: "He has such an easy (looking) velocity, 95, 96, and then he's got that breaking ball, It's almost like when you get runners in scoring position you have to pick one or another."
Preview: After last night’s loss another must win for the Jays. Only have to say this fourteen more times (before the playoffs that is). Jays had a horrible night last night and are looking to bounce back today. Burnett is going on three days rest BUT is 3-0 on previous three day rest games… Today however Jays have to sharpen up the defence, no more sloppiness, improve the base running and score some runs. If they do that they have a chance but Boston meantime wants to get rid of this pesky mosquito messing up their win column and chances to catch Tampa. Rays rained out in New York last night also have a double header in New York today, lots of things in the AL could be different by the end of today.
Pitching: Byrd and Burnett. (17-10), Byrd, making his fourth start against Toronto since August 9, was tagged for 10 hits and five runs in five-plus innings. It could have been worse for Byrd. Burnett pitched seven shutout innings in his only other Fenway Park start this year, in a 3-0 win on May 1.
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Overbay, Lind, Barajas, Rolen, Snider and Burnett pitching.
Boston: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Lowell, Casey, Bay, Lowrie, Varitek, Crisp and Byrd pitching.
The result: Jays win going away 8-1, payback for last night.
The good: Snider and Burnett day at the ballpark. Snider’s five RBI game and Burnett one run seven inning win.
The bad: Some suspect base running by both Wells and Lind in the Inglett dropping ball on possible double play.
The game: Blue Jays first. Inglett singles to RF, that’s a good start. Scutaro first pitch lines out to CF Crisp. Hmmmm Marco…. Rios strikes out two down and Inglett still out there at 2B. Wells doubles to CF. That’s more like it Vernon. Inglett scores. 1-0 Jays. Overbay with two down but Vernon in scoring position, strikes out. But Jays are in front and already achieved more than they did last night.
Bottom 1st: Ellsbury singles to CF. Not quite what AJ wanted. Watch this guy AJ he can steal. There he goes Barajas cannot get ball out of glove and Ellsbury safe at 2B, he may had had a chance. Pedroia at bat to crowd chants of MVP. Another sold out crowd today. Pedroia fly ball out to RF Rios, Ellsbury moves to 3B. Red Sox want that run back quick. One down for the big guy Ortiz, strikes out. Lowell at bat two down one on, and strikes out. That’s the way AJ.
Top 2nd: Lind at bat, strikes out. Barajas fly ball out to CF Crisp. Two down for Rolen grounds to SS Lowrie throw to 1B Casey for third out. Three up and down for Byrd.
Bottom 2nd: Casey grounds to 2B Inglett throw to Overbay, one down. Bay grounds to, SS Scutaro throw to Overbay. Two down. Lowrie at bat strikes out. Three strikes outs for Burnett and looking good. Let’s get the hitters going here.
Top 3rd: Snider at bat, good to see him back in the lineup, grounds out to 1B Casey. Inglett bunting to 2B Pedroia throw to 1B Casey. Not this time Joe. Strange when he had single first at bat and there was no one on base. Sometimes I wonder about Joe’s head.I know he was obviously trying to surprise Red Sox there but …. Scutaro fly ball out to RF Ellsbury. Three up and down for Byrd .
Bottom 3rd: Varitek hit by a pitch. Crisp with one on bunting, back to Burnett throw to 1B Overbay for the out, one down but Varitek at 2B. Ellsbury grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B Overbay, Varitek moves to 3B but two down. Pedroia patient here or is it AJ pitching around him ? full count and walks. Ortiz with two on, Fenway crowd is excited ! grounds back to Burnett throw to Overbay and Ortiz leaves two on.
Top 4th: Rios lines out to CF Crisp. Wells doubles to CF. Overbay singles to LF. Wells is out on throw by Bay to 3B Lowell. That hurts.One down one on for Lind, doubles to LF, Overbay scores. 2-0 Jays. Lind is now out at 3B on the throw. What a messy inning by Jays runners. Crisp’s throw to cutoff Lowrie on to Varitek to Lowell at 3B. Heads up play by Varitek. Jays get another but could have been more that inning.
Bottom 4th: Lowell fly ball out to CF Wells. One down for Casey singles to right. Bay fly ball out to Wells.Two down. Lowrie grounds out to Overbay for third out. AJ is rolling along here.
Top 5th: Barajas singles to LF. Jays hitters have been sharp today. Rolen singles to LF, Barajas moves to 2B. Two on and no outs for Snider. YES Travis, there it goes, HR to RF Barajas scores, Rolen scores and here comes Travis 5-0 Jays. Snider’s second home run for the Jays. Still no outs, the bottom of the lineup has come through big here. Inglett fly ball out to LF Bay. One down for Scutaro, doubles to CF. One on for Rios, Alex grounds to 3B Lowell throw to 1B Casey. Scutaro stays at 2B. Wells pops it up to Varitek. Top of the order not clicking here this inning but Jays are ahead 5-0 for Burnett.
Bottom 5th: Varitek strikes out. Crisp lines out to Rios. Ellsbury singles to RF. Here we go again Ellsbury stealing and safe at 2B. Pedroia walks. Ortiz with two on for the second time, fly ball out to Wells. Crowd sits down again. AJ rolls the dice again and wins. Playing with fire though AJ.
Top 6th: Overbay singles to RF and that’s it for Byrd, Francona has seen enough of him today. Aardsma now pitching, one on no outs. Lind grounds to SS Lowrie, Overbay out at 2B on to 1B Casey, Overbay out, double play ball. Ouch. Two down for Barajas. Walks one on for Rolen doubles to LF, Barajas moves to 3B and two on again for guess who. Snider doubles to CF, Barajas scores, Rolen scores. Those two must love Travis. 7-0 Jays. Inglett at bat, two down and one on singles to LF, the beat goes on and Snider scores 8-0 Jays. Scutaro strikes out. But Jays are putting this one away. Snider 5RBIs today, Get him to buy a lottery ticket for me.
Bottom 6th: Lowell fly ball out to CF Wells. One down for Casey grounds back to Burnett throw to 1B Overbay. Two down. Bay full count and walks.Van Every now pinch-running for Bay. Lowrie strikes out.
Top 7th: Cora in at SS. Van Every in LF. Lowrie in 3B. Kottaras the Canadian in as catcher.
Hansack now pitching. Rios grounds to, 2B Pedroia throw to 1B Casey. Alex is hitless today.
Wells pop up to 2B Pedroia.Two down for Overbay fly ball out to CF Crisp.
Bottom 7th: Here’s some Canadian history. Kottaras from Markahm Milliken Highs School and on the Canadian national team first major league at bat. Strikes out but ball gets away from Barajas and safe on the wild pitch. Not a home run but Kottaras will take it. Crisp grounds to Scutaro flip to Inglett drops the ball…. that was double play ball Joe. Error to Inglett, Kottaras safe at 2B and that’s the end of Burnett, he was on a 100 pitch count anyway and that is 102. Carlson now pitching. Ellsbury grounds to 2B Inglett throw to SS Scutaro to get Crisp. Kottaras moves to 3B, one down for Cash pinch-hitting for Pedroia. Sacrifice fly to RF Rios, Kottaras scores. Gets his first major league run on a strikeout !!! he will remember that one. 8-1 Jays.
Bailey pinch-hitting for Ortiz, strikes out.
Top 8th: Wholesale changes here resting for tonight’s game. Carter in as left fielder. Cash in as third baseman. Bailey in as designated hitter. Cora in as second baseman. Van Every in as right fielder. Lowrie in as shortstop. Lind flied out to right fielder Van Every. Zaun at bat, pinch-hitting for Barajas. That’s interesting change if Zaun were playing tonight why come in now? unless Barajas is injured, he was limping earlier. Zaun strikes out. Bautista pinch-hitting for Rolen. Bautista strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Here come the reinforcements… to give the others an extra half hour nap. McDonald in at SS. Mench in RF. Zaun in as catcher.Bautista in at 3B. Tallet now pitching. ito knows it would be difficult even for Tallet to blow this one. Cora singles to CF. Casey lines out to SS McDonald. Van Every grounds out to Overbay, Cora moves to 2B. Tough to make that a double play as Cora was right on Overbay’s line to 2B. Lowrie fly ball out to RF Mench.
Top 9th: Giant killer Snider to lead off, what a game for him today and in Fenway in September. Not this time, grounds to 2B Cora throw to 1B Casey. One down for Inglett fly ball out to RF Van Every. McDonald with two down strikes out.
Bottom 9th: Kottaras his second major league at bat, just misses one here around foul pole in RF. That would have been something for the Canadian in his first game. Fly ball out to RF Mench. Crisp grounds to 3B Bautista throw to Overbay. Two down.Carter singles to RF to keep inning alive, Cash grounds to 3B Bautista throw to 2B Inglett to get Carter and end the game,.
Jays win this one 8-1 and has won 12 of 14 and moved within 6 1/2 games of AL wild card leader Boston. A few hours rest here and back out again.
What they are saying: Wells on the Jays chances: "Why not? I don't think there's anyone in this clubhouse that knows the odds aren't against us. We want to make a run at this thing. Having two guys like A.J. and Roy, we have to go on another run like we did the last two weeks."Burnett: "We had a little bump last night. We came in here just trying to make some noise." Byrd: "I know I've faced them a lot, but I just didn't make the pitches that I needed to make. Couldn't throw the ball away very well. It was up and then I just left some key pitches over the middle of the plate."
Cito Gaston: "We have managed to put ourselves in a situation where it's a 'must win,"'Boston manager Francona on Burnett: "He has such an easy (looking) velocity, 95, 96, and then he's got that breaking ball, It's almost like when you get runners in scoring position you have to pick one or another."
Friday, September 12, 2008
No contest. Boston lays a shutout thrashing on awful Jays.
Toronto v Boston. Series opener. Friday September 12, 2008.
Preview: How many times have we said this in the last couple of weeks, this series is big…… This weekend really decides whether Jays have a chance at post-season play. They play Boston for four and are 6.5 behind. They win big and their chances are good. But on the other side Boston has a chance to knock out Jays and end the postseason hopes of their closest pursuers in the AL East. However Jays will still have a series in Toronto against Red Sox and you would be very sure that Jays would want revenge if they are out of it and make life miserable for Boston. Toronto has played well against Boston this season going 7-4 with three straight wins at Fenway. Boston had rough series against Tampa this week losing last two and one in fourteen innings where they used five relievers for the last eight innings. Jays hitters need to capitalize on this tonight and get to Wakefield early.
What they are saying: Sean Casey on Wakefield: "(Wakefield's) done a great job this season, and I think we've kind of blown a few of his leads, so I think his loss column is a little higher and he knows it. But he's really done a great job this year giving us innings and doing a good job."
Purcey : "It doesn't really matter what team you face, as long as you go out there and try to execute your pitches. That's the mentality that I'm going to take out there."
Pitching: Wakefield (8-10, 4.11 ERA), Purcey (3-5, 5.23 ERA).
Wakefield had shortest start of his season last time out. 1 2-3 innings against Texas giving up a season-high seven runs. Wakefield is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts versus Jays this season, and 15-11 with a 3.87 ERA in 37 starts and 10 relief appearances lifetime.
Purcey coming off the best start of his career, allowing six hits while striking out seven in eight innings as Toronto beat Tampa Bay 1-0 on Sunday. He gave up five runs in two of his previous three starts. This is his first appearance against Boston.
The result: Boston win this one easily. 7-0. No contest tonight.
The good: Nothing at all good tonight with this team. Poor fielding, non-existent hitting and poor pitching by Purcey, this was an awful game and at the worst time of the season. This was the one they had to win in the series.
The bad: Purcey pitching was the boy against the men tonight, outclassed for most of the game until his last two three up and down innings but far too late. The Jays hitters awful all round, no other word for it, defence terrible, Rolen and also Rios that lead to two runs. Frasor gives up three run home run from the number nine hitter to finish it off. Nothing went right tonight, A game to forget fast. Cito’s gamble leaving out Inglett, Lind and Snider did not pay off at all unless of course they all come through big time tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. Certainly Mench, Wilkerson and McDonald were invisible tonight. Jays 0-4 with runners in scoring position tonight.
Lineups: Toronto. Scutaro, Wilkerson, Rios, Wells, Overbay, Mench, Barajas, Rolen, McDonald, and Purcey pitching.
Boston: Crisp, Pedroia, Ortiz, Youkilis, Bay, Lowell, Kotsay, Lowrie, Cash and Wakefield pitching.
The game: Top 1st: Scutaro strikes out. Wilkerson fliy ball out to RF Kotsay. Rios pops out to 1B Youkilis. Not the best of starts here.
Bottom 1st: Crisp grounds to 3B Rolen, cannot handle it, error to Rolen. Pedroia at bat strikes out. One down. Ortiz fly ball out to Wells CF.Two down. Youkilis fly ball out to LF Wilkerson.
Top 2nd: Wells fly ball out to CF Crisp. One down for Overbay strikes out. Mench doubles to LF. Passed ball by Cash, Mench moves to 3B. Jays have something going here. Barajas fly ball out to Crisp.
Bottom 2nd: Bay 3-0 and walks on four pitches.Wild pitch by Purcey, Bay moves to 2B. Lowell singles to LF, Bay held at 3B. Two on no outs. Kotsay pops up to 2B Scutaro.One down two on. Lowrie fly ball out to Wells, Bay scores. 1-0 Boston. Cash strikes out. Purcey 44 pitches. Too many balls. Boston is not like the Jays, they are far more patient at bat.
Top 3rd: Time for Jays bats to get going here. Rolen leading off, not having a good game tonight in the rain, an error and a ball that he could not get, yes Scott, doubles high off the wall. McDonald at bat, another high ball to Bay in LF. Should he have bunted ? One down for Scutaro. Grounds first pitch to Lowell SS throw to 1B for the second out. Wilkerson grounds to 2B throw to Youkilis 1B for third out. What a waste. 38 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: We need a better inning here from Purcey. Not sharp at all tonight. Crisp at bat, fly ball out to Wells in CF, one down for Pedroia, doubles high off the wall. One on, one down. Ortiz at bat, 3-0 count, Purcey is way outside, pops it up to Wilkerson in shallow LF. Two down for Youkilis, full count. and strikes out. Much better inning David.
Top 4th: Rios grounds to 3B Lowell to first baseman Youkilis.
Wells fly ball out to LF Bay.Overbay two down, singles into LF. Mench at bat, fly ball out to Bay in LF leaves Lyle out there.
Bottom 4th: Purcey has three strikeouts but just cannot get consistent here plus and a big plus he needs run support tonight. Bay at bat, grounds it to Rolen, off his glove and off McDonald also safe at 1B. Error two for Rolen tonight. I think Purcey needs help in the field as well. Lowell at bat one on. Lines out to Rolen, one down. Kotsay grounds to Scutaro great play to get him at 1B, two down. Lowrie with Bay at 2B. 3-0 count. Full count. Doubles over head of Wilkerson to the wall, Bay scores 2-0 Boston. Cash at bat, 3-0 count, come on Purcey. Walks him, Cito get out there. 79 pitches.This is the last thing Jays want tonight to have to use their bullpen in first game with double header tomorrow. Pops it up to Overbay for third out. But Purcey is digging hole here.
Top 5th: 46 pitches ??? for Wakefield this is ridiculous. Hitters gone home again tonight, but they cannot wait until the eighth to appear, this is Boston they are playing and in Fenway. Barajas trying to pull Wakefield every pitch. Try going the other way Rod, grounds to 3B Lowell throw to Youkilis for the out. Rolen with one down. flailing away, grounds to Lowell throw to Youkilis for the out on a pitch he should have left alone. Two down for McDonald, same as Rolen, flailing away is the only way I can describe it, awful at bat, had no clue, pops it up to Youkilis for third out.Wakefield has not has such an easy time all season. 63 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Pedroia at bat, pops it up to Rolen at 3B one down. Ortiz with right shift on. Bounces one to Rolen playing behind 2B throw to Overbay for out number two. Youkilis strikes out, better inning but may be far too late tonight, his pitch count is high at 95 pitches and he is losing 2-0.
Top 6th: Top of the order. Let’s see what they have, so far tonight not much. Scutaro at bat, another fly ball out to Bay in LF. One down for Wilkerson. Full count. strikes out. Two down for Rios. Full count. Strikes out. This is like last night’s game in Chicago but don’t expect the same finish in Fenway. 78 pitches. Wakefield at this rate will finish the game, which Francona will love as Red Sox bullpen had a very long game this week losing in 14 innings, he would love his bullpen to get a rest on top of yesterday’s off day. Jays of course flew in early morning from Chicago so will be tired tonight but tomorrow they have a double header.
Bottom 6th: Purcey still out there, Cito wants to rest his own bullpen for the weekend but may have no choice soon. Bay at bat, strikes out. Lowell at bat, lines out to Rios in RF, two down. Kotsay at bat, pops up to Rolen, three up and down but Boston players want to get this one over and get out on the town tonight.
Top 7th: Wells, fly ball to Kotsay in RF, Vernon doesn’t like being out in the rain. Overbay grounds at first pitch throw to Youkilis for second out. Four pitchers two outs, what’s new ? Mench at bat, grounds to Pedroia six pitch inning that is so disgusting for a team that think they are playoff material, not tonight for this team for whatever the reason. I am sorry Cito but this is NOT good hitting. Most of the Boston hitters take six pitches in one at bat. 84 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Purcey still in there at 106 pitches, Cito has also given up on this one. Lowrie doubles off the wall, one in scoring position, Cash at bat, bunting ? misses, Cito leaving Purcey in to soak up the linings and the loss. Why waste the bullpen. Strikes him out, one down. Crisp and top of the order. Crips grounds to Scutaro nice save but no chance to make a play. Runners at the corners. Here comes Cito now. Leaving him in there telling him to soak it up for the team. Jays have not looked like scoring all game anyway. Pedroia pops it up to Wells in shallow CF, runner holds at 3B on the throw. Ortiz with two on and two down. Doubles to RF. Rios has problem and fumbles the ball allows the second run to score, 4-0 Boston. Cito out again a little TOO late Cito…120 pitches for Purcey, far too many balls. Frasor now pitching. One on two down. Yuokilis fly ball out to Rios. 99 pitches.
Top 8th: This is not like last night, Boston is not the team to give up a four run lead at Fenway, Bottom of the order. Barajas strikes out on a pitch two feet outside. Rolen, grounds to 3B throw to Youkilis two down. McDonald, grounds to SS Lowrie throw to 1B Youkilis for third easy out. Three up and down. I guess that is why they are hitting at the bottom of the lineup. Cito didn’t even put in pinch hitters. I can’t wait to see what he does in the top of the ninth. 94 pitches for Wakefield.
Bottom 8th: Bay at bat, Frasor still pitching, fly ball out to Wells in CF, one down. Lowell at bat, singles to LF. One on one down. Kotsay at bat, fly ball out to Wells, two down. Lowell stays at 1B. Lowrie at bat, full count and now walks him. Cash at bat, two on and two down. Sorry Jason no help you are it now for the duration. There it goes, over the wall, three run home run for the number nine hitter. That about sums up this game. 7-0 Boston. Crisp at bat, another full count but Frasor you are not getting any relief tonight. Walks him. Pedroia at bat two down one on. Grounds out to Overbay but I don’t think Frasor helped his case for promotion in the bullpen with Cito.
Top 9th: What will they do? Top of the order. Mail it in? or show some fight. Character in a losing cause. Do they have it tonight? Delcarmen pitching. Scutaro at bat, grounds to Pedroia throw to Youkilis one down. Wilkerson at bat, 0-3 tonight. Cito’s gamble did not pay off with this guy. Inglett might as well have been in the order, pops it up to Bay in LF, they are mailing it in. Here comes the ultimate mailman Rios. 0-3 tonight. Grounds to SS throw beats him at 1B and this terrible performance is over. And probably realistically any hope of play offs for the Jays.
Boston won big tonight.
Even if Jays win the next three they only gain two on the Red Sox instead of possible four and that is a huge difference unless major collapse by the Red Sox in the next two weeks. Jays also looked totally out if tired, listless, impatient at bat, and outplayed in every category.
Yankees and Rays rained out tonight, also Twins and Orioles.
Preview: How many times have we said this in the last couple of weeks, this series is big…… This weekend really decides whether Jays have a chance at post-season play. They play Boston for four and are 6.5 behind. They win big and their chances are good. But on the other side Boston has a chance to knock out Jays and end the postseason hopes of their closest pursuers in the AL East. However Jays will still have a series in Toronto against Red Sox and you would be very sure that Jays would want revenge if they are out of it and make life miserable for Boston. Toronto has played well against Boston this season going 7-4 with three straight wins at Fenway. Boston had rough series against Tampa this week losing last two and one in fourteen innings where they used five relievers for the last eight innings. Jays hitters need to capitalize on this tonight and get to Wakefield early.
What they are saying: Sean Casey on Wakefield: "(Wakefield's) done a great job this season, and I think we've kind of blown a few of his leads, so I think his loss column is a little higher and he knows it. But he's really done a great job this year giving us innings and doing a good job."
Purcey : "It doesn't really matter what team you face, as long as you go out there and try to execute your pitches. That's the mentality that I'm going to take out there."
Pitching: Wakefield (8-10, 4.11 ERA), Purcey (3-5, 5.23 ERA).
Wakefield had shortest start of his season last time out. 1 2-3 innings against Texas giving up a season-high seven runs. Wakefield is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts versus Jays this season, and 15-11 with a 3.87 ERA in 37 starts and 10 relief appearances lifetime.
Purcey coming off the best start of his career, allowing six hits while striking out seven in eight innings as Toronto beat Tampa Bay 1-0 on Sunday. He gave up five runs in two of his previous three starts. This is his first appearance against Boston.
The result: Boston win this one easily. 7-0. No contest tonight.
The good: Nothing at all good tonight with this team. Poor fielding, non-existent hitting and poor pitching by Purcey, this was an awful game and at the worst time of the season. This was the one they had to win in the series.
The bad: Purcey pitching was the boy against the men tonight, outclassed for most of the game until his last two three up and down innings but far too late. The Jays hitters awful all round, no other word for it, defence terrible, Rolen and also Rios that lead to two runs. Frasor gives up three run home run from the number nine hitter to finish it off. Nothing went right tonight, A game to forget fast. Cito’s gamble leaving out Inglett, Lind and Snider did not pay off at all unless of course they all come through big time tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. Certainly Mench, Wilkerson and McDonald were invisible tonight. Jays 0-4 with runners in scoring position tonight.
Lineups: Toronto. Scutaro, Wilkerson, Rios, Wells, Overbay, Mench, Barajas, Rolen, McDonald, and Purcey pitching.
Boston: Crisp, Pedroia, Ortiz, Youkilis, Bay, Lowell, Kotsay, Lowrie, Cash and Wakefield pitching.
The game: Top 1st: Scutaro strikes out. Wilkerson fliy ball out to RF Kotsay. Rios pops out to 1B Youkilis. Not the best of starts here.
Bottom 1st: Crisp grounds to 3B Rolen, cannot handle it, error to Rolen. Pedroia at bat strikes out. One down. Ortiz fly ball out to Wells CF.Two down. Youkilis fly ball out to LF Wilkerson.
Top 2nd: Wells fly ball out to CF Crisp. One down for Overbay strikes out. Mench doubles to LF. Passed ball by Cash, Mench moves to 3B. Jays have something going here. Barajas fly ball out to Crisp.
Bottom 2nd: Bay 3-0 and walks on four pitches.Wild pitch by Purcey, Bay moves to 2B. Lowell singles to LF, Bay held at 3B. Two on no outs. Kotsay pops up to 2B Scutaro.One down two on. Lowrie fly ball out to Wells, Bay scores. 1-0 Boston. Cash strikes out. Purcey 44 pitches. Too many balls. Boston is not like the Jays, they are far more patient at bat.
Top 3rd: Time for Jays bats to get going here. Rolen leading off, not having a good game tonight in the rain, an error and a ball that he could not get, yes Scott, doubles high off the wall. McDonald at bat, another high ball to Bay in LF. Should he have bunted ? One down for Scutaro. Grounds first pitch to Lowell SS throw to 1B for the second out. Wilkerson grounds to 2B throw to Youkilis 1B for third out. What a waste. 38 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: We need a better inning here from Purcey. Not sharp at all tonight. Crisp at bat, fly ball out to Wells in CF, one down for Pedroia, doubles high off the wall. One on, one down. Ortiz at bat, 3-0 count, Purcey is way outside, pops it up to Wilkerson in shallow LF. Two down for Youkilis, full count. and strikes out. Much better inning David.
Top 4th: Rios grounds to 3B Lowell to first baseman Youkilis.
Wells fly ball out to LF Bay.Overbay two down, singles into LF. Mench at bat, fly ball out to Bay in LF leaves Lyle out there.
Bottom 4th: Purcey has three strikeouts but just cannot get consistent here plus and a big plus he needs run support tonight. Bay at bat, grounds it to Rolen, off his glove and off McDonald also safe at 1B. Error two for Rolen tonight. I think Purcey needs help in the field as well. Lowell at bat one on. Lines out to Rolen, one down. Kotsay grounds to Scutaro great play to get him at 1B, two down. Lowrie with Bay at 2B. 3-0 count. Full count. Doubles over head of Wilkerson to the wall, Bay scores 2-0 Boston. Cash at bat, 3-0 count, come on Purcey. Walks him, Cito get out there. 79 pitches.This is the last thing Jays want tonight to have to use their bullpen in first game with double header tomorrow. Pops it up to Overbay for third out. But Purcey is digging hole here.
Top 5th: 46 pitches ??? for Wakefield this is ridiculous. Hitters gone home again tonight, but they cannot wait until the eighth to appear, this is Boston they are playing and in Fenway. Barajas trying to pull Wakefield every pitch. Try going the other way Rod, grounds to 3B Lowell throw to Youkilis for the out. Rolen with one down. flailing away, grounds to Lowell throw to Youkilis for the out on a pitch he should have left alone. Two down for McDonald, same as Rolen, flailing away is the only way I can describe it, awful at bat, had no clue, pops it up to Youkilis for third out.Wakefield has not has such an easy time all season. 63 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Pedroia at bat, pops it up to Rolen at 3B one down. Ortiz with right shift on. Bounces one to Rolen playing behind 2B throw to Overbay for out number two. Youkilis strikes out, better inning but may be far too late tonight, his pitch count is high at 95 pitches and he is losing 2-0.
Top 6th: Top of the order. Let’s see what they have, so far tonight not much. Scutaro at bat, another fly ball out to Bay in LF. One down for Wilkerson. Full count. strikes out. Two down for Rios. Full count. Strikes out. This is like last night’s game in Chicago but don’t expect the same finish in Fenway. 78 pitches. Wakefield at this rate will finish the game, which Francona will love as Red Sox bullpen had a very long game this week losing in 14 innings, he would love his bullpen to get a rest on top of yesterday’s off day. Jays of course flew in early morning from Chicago so will be tired tonight but tomorrow they have a double header.
Bottom 6th: Purcey still out there, Cito wants to rest his own bullpen for the weekend but may have no choice soon. Bay at bat, strikes out. Lowell at bat, lines out to Rios in RF, two down. Kotsay at bat, pops up to Rolen, three up and down but Boston players want to get this one over and get out on the town tonight.
Top 7th: Wells, fly ball to Kotsay in RF, Vernon doesn’t like being out in the rain. Overbay grounds at first pitch throw to Youkilis for second out. Four pitchers two outs, what’s new ? Mench at bat, grounds to Pedroia six pitch inning that is so disgusting for a team that think they are playoff material, not tonight for this team for whatever the reason. I am sorry Cito but this is NOT good hitting. Most of the Boston hitters take six pitches in one at bat. 84 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Purcey still in there at 106 pitches, Cito has also given up on this one. Lowrie doubles off the wall, one in scoring position, Cash at bat, bunting ? misses, Cito leaving Purcey in to soak up the linings and the loss. Why waste the bullpen. Strikes him out, one down. Crisp and top of the order. Crips grounds to Scutaro nice save but no chance to make a play. Runners at the corners. Here comes Cito now. Leaving him in there telling him to soak it up for the team. Jays have not looked like scoring all game anyway. Pedroia pops it up to Wells in shallow CF, runner holds at 3B on the throw. Ortiz with two on and two down. Doubles to RF. Rios has problem and fumbles the ball allows the second run to score, 4-0 Boston. Cito out again a little TOO late Cito…120 pitches for Purcey, far too many balls. Frasor now pitching. One on two down. Yuokilis fly ball out to Rios. 99 pitches.
Top 8th: This is not like last night, Boston is not the team to give up a four run lead at Fenway, Bottom of the order. Barajas strikes out on a pitch two feet outside. Rolen, grounds to 3B throw to Youkilis two down. McDonald, grounds to SS Lowrie throw to 1B Youkilis for third easy out. Three up and down. I guess that is why they are hitting at the bottom of the lineup. Cito didn’t even put in pinch hitters. I can’t wait to see what he does in the top of the ninth. 94 pitches for Wakefield.
Bottom 8th: Bay at bat, Frasor still pitching, fly ball out to Wells in CF, one down. Lowell at bat, singles to LF. One on one down. Kotsay at bat, fly ball out to Wells, two down. Lowell stays at 1B. Lowrie at bat, full count and now walks him. Cash at bat, two on and two down. Sorry Jason no help you are it now for the duration. There it goes, over the wall, three run home run for the number nine hitter. That about sums up this game. 7-0 Boston. Crisp at bat, another full count but Frasor you are not getting any relief tonight. Walks him. Pedroia at bat two down one on. Grounds out to Overbay but I don’t think Frasor helped his case for promotion in the bullpen with Cito.
Top 9th: What will they do? Top of the order. Mail it in? or show some fight. Character in a losing cause. Do they have it tonight? Delcarmen pitching. Scutaro at bat, grounds to Pedroia throw to Youkilis one down. Wilkerson at bat, 0-3 tonight. Cito’s gamble did not pay off with this guy. Inglett might as well have been in the order, pops it up to Bay in LF, they are mailing it in. Here comes the ultimate mailman Rios. 0-3 tonight. Grounds to SS throw beats him at 1B and this terrible performance is over. And probably realistically any hope of play offs for the Jays.
Boston won big tonight.
Even if Jays win the next three they only gain two on the Red Sox instead of possible four and that is a huge difference unless major collapse by the Red Sox in the next two weeks. Jays also looked totally out if tired, listless, impatient at bat, and outplayed in every category.
Yankees and Rays rained out tonight, also Twins and Orioles.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Marcum gem with run support in smore than enough to start the new win streak as Jays beat White Sox.
Toronto v White Sox. Series and season finale with Sox. Thursday September 11, 2008.
Preview: Jays hoping to rebound from last night loss and streak ending game. Twins have lost this afternoon to Kansas which helps wild card race IF Jays can win and gain a game. Jays almost pulled it off with last innings heroics and five runs after Buehrle had shut them out for seven. But Alex Rios leaves Scutaro at 3B when he struck out. That was not a good way to end the comeback.
For the record book though the 10-game win streak was against teams with winning record: Yankees, Twins, Rays and White Sox. That is very impressive. Only six other major league teams since 1900 have won 10 consecutive games against teams with winning records. The last to do so were the 2007 Rockies. One more would have been new ML record and they were one hit away in the bottom of the 9th. Jays fans will remember that as one of the highlights of this horribly inconsistent season.
Tonight’s game we may see more small ball from White Sox to make up for lack of power with Quentin and Konerko out of the lineup. (see Manager Guillen’s comment below). I don’t think we will see that from Jays, not Cito’s style. It would have been interesting though to see a suicide squeeze last night from Rios and Scutaro at 3B to tie the game up… We should see Overbay in the lineup to make up for last night’s experiment with Bautista which failed miserably. Cito said he was trying to add more power to the lineup ??? Obviously backfired bigtime with shutout for seven innings and the horrible errors at 1B. Marcum pitching tonight, I don’t think anyone knows what to expect but this is a game Jays really need to win. Not just for play off chances but it will also affect the pitching lineups for Fenway this weekend.
If Jays win, then Halladay will go again on three day’s rest on Sunday. If they don’t win, then expect to see Parrish and Richmond pitch the double header.
From the good side last night the fight back against Sox bullpen was impressive especially in the ninth against Bobby Jenks a very good closer. Downside was the mental side once again for many of the Jays. The base running goof by Vernon in the very first inning when it looked as if Jays might get to Buehrle. The three errors by Jays for a team that has played excellent defence for most of the two weeks prior to visiting Chicago. Jays are not a team that plays every pitch, every at bat with their heads. They have not done so all season and appear to be unable to concentrate now when these games are deciding play in October.
What they are saying :
Halladay: "It doesn't matter if you've won 10 or lost 10. But given how well we've been playing, yeah it's disappointing. But you have to get over it. ..."
Manager Ozzie Guillen: "If we don't have the guys who hit home runs in the lineup, we have to try to do something different,"
Konerko on his injury: "It's different if this happened in April or May," "You might wait until there was no pain. I'll just wait until I can function and if there is some pain, that's fine. ... We're fighting here for a spot in the playoffs, but you got to be able to function when you hit."
Pitching: Gavin Floyd (15-6, 3.72 ERA) v Shaun Marcum (8-6, 3.42) . Floyd has won his last five decisions, and Sox have won seven of his last eight starts during that stretch. He pitched seven innings Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels allowing five runs and seven hits in Chicago's 7-5, 15-inning win. Has had only one inning of work against the Jays and that was in 2007 and pitched a perfect inning of relief.
Marcum is 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA in his last five starts. He pitched seven scoreless innings Saturday against Tampa Bay allowing four hits while striking out seven before Toronto won 7-4 in 13 innings. He has pitched well against Chicago and is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in three starts against White Sox. He gave up two hits in 6 2-3 scoreless on May 2 in a 2-0 win.
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Overbay, Barajas, Rolen, Snider and Marcum pitching. First team playing tonight…. I bet Halladay wishes he had had this lineup last night.
Chicago: Cabrera, Wise, Dye, Thome, Ramirez, Pierzynski, Griffey, Swisher, Uribe, and Floyd pitching.
The result: Jays win this one 6-4.
The very good: Marcum. Excellent outing for seven. 106 pitches.
The good: Jays hitters coming though big in the eight for six runs. Everybody in the lineup getting at least one hit tonight. Inglett, Rios and Wells all now with averages over .300 plus Snider but he has limited at bats. Good defence by Jays apart from Rolen error.
The bad: Downs with two outs gives up four runs. BJ making it far too close again but gets the job done and who will know when they see the save? And we also have to look at Rolen’s error on a play he usually gets easily, that would have been the third out after BJ had struck out Griffey and Swisher. Am not being picky here but bases loaded in the ninth with one out big bats have to score. Rolen in the eighth out at 1B after rounding too far on his single. Jays hitters 6/14 with runners in scoring position.
The game: Top 1st: Jays must not look beyond tonight’s game, this is it every pitch, every at bat. Fenway series will still be there tomorrow. Focus tonight. Inglett, grounds to 3B Uribe to first baseman Swisher? Scutaro one down. more patient, full count, doubles to CF wall past Griffey, nice at bat Marco. One on one down for Rios. Can he make up for last night ninth inning? Also more patient, full count, and walks, two on one down for Wells. Patience Vernon…. Swings and misses first pitch, grounds to Uribe, throw to Ramirez gets Rios throw not in time to get Vernon at 1B, we have seen that before with Vernon. Two on the corners. Lind at bat, lines out to Cabrera SS and leaves two on. Adam is just not hitting well right now.
Bottom 1st: Marcum , Cabrera pops up to Inglett behind Overbay, one down. Wise at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for second out. Dye at bat, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for third out. Good inning for Shaun. Now let’s get those bats going.
Top 2nd: Overbay, he was missed last night defensively. Grounds to Ramirez throw to Swisher for first out. Barajas at bat pops up first pitch to Uribe. Two down for Rolen. Grounds to Cabrera SS throw high and pulls Swisher off the bag at 1B, Scott escapes there. Error to Cabrera. One on and two down for Snider. Pops up to Ramirez at 2B. Jays go much too quietly here.
Bottom 2nd: Thome at bat, strikes out on three pitches, very nice Shaun. One down for Ramirez, singles up the middle, Scutaro gets glove on it to slow it down but safe at 1B. Pierzynski with one on.fly ball out to Wells in CF, two down. Griffey at bat, Ramirez stealing, Barajas throw wild of 2B but great dive by Scutaro to save base there. Griffey walks. Two on , two down for Swisher grounds to Inglett, dive to stop and throw to Overbay,for third out. Great defence so far tonight for Jays.
Top 3rd: Top of the order now. Inglett at bat, grounds to 2B Ramirez throw to Swisher, one down. Scutaro, shows bunt, grounds to SS Cabrera throw to Swisher for second out. Rios now grounds down the line to Uribe, throw not in time and Alex safe at 1B. Swisher pulled off the bag. Error to Swisher. Perhaps it is the White Sox tonight to get the errors. Wells now with one on and two down. Pops it up to Cabrera.
Bottom 3rd: Uribe at bat, strikes out on three pitches. Cabrera strikes out but not before loud hit just wide of foul pole in LF. That was very close. Wise with two down high fly ball out to Wells in CF. Sox hitting Marcum hard but so far fortunately no damage.
Top 4th: Are Jays bats ever going to get going here ? Lind at bat, this is one that is in need of a hit. High fly ball out to Wise in LF, one down for Overbay fly ball out to Wise in LF. Barajas, grounds to 3B Uribe throw to Swisher for third out. Three up and down. Jays look awfully flat tonight, no spirit in their at bats. They are making Floyd look like Cy Young here.
Bottom 4th: Dye at bat, singles to Wells in CF. One on for Thome. Full count. Not good Shaun, be careful here. Strike three. Gets him looking, nice pitch Shaun. Ramirez at bat, strikes out great pitch. Strikeout number five for Marcum tonight. Pierzynski, pops it up to Scutaro on first pitch.
Top 5th: Jays bats have gone home tonight. Rolen strikes out swinging. Jays hitters are all trying to pull the ball tonight. Snider pops it up to 3B Uribe for second out. Inglett 0-2 tonight. Grounds to Ramirez throw to Floyd for third out. Jays have one hit tonight.
Bottom 5th: Griffey at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for first down. Swisher pops it up to Overbay, two down for Uribe. Doubles down the 3B line. One on two down. Cabrera grounds a bullet to Overbay, great play for third out. Where were you last night Lyle ?
Top 6th: Jays have to snap out of this hitting fog here. No use waiting for Fenway it won’t matter at this rate. Top of the order. Scutaro at bat, not swinging at close pitches here full count and singles into RF, his second hit tonight and the only two Jays hits. Very good at bat for Marco. Rios now can he earn his money tonight ? NO grounds to SS throw to 2B Scutaro out at 2B and Ramirez throw not in to time to get Rios, Swisher says he tagged him umpire disagrees and calls Alex safe. One down. Wells goes after pitch out of zone, now grounds to SS Cabrera, throw to Ramirez at 2B gets Alex throw to Swisher and Vernon is out, double play. This is so frustrating, this is like the Jays of early season not the last month. Cito MUST start to play small ball, start those runners at 1B especially when it is Rios. I would rather see Alex thrown out at 2B than the double play. Jays hitters seem asleep tonight. 68 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Wise at bat, fly ball out to Snider in LF at the wall. Dye at bat, pops it up to Rolen at 3B two down for Thome. Grounds to Scutaro playing at 2B with shift right on for Thome. Three up and down for Marcum. He is doing a great job here so far.75 pitches.
Top 7th: Lind hitless tonight, that’s better Adam, turns on this one and doubles off RF wall. Lyle bring him in here please. Not this time, grounds weakly to SS Cabrera throw to Swisher for the out. Lind holds at 2B. Barajas at bat, strikes out on three pitches, this is what I mean Cito, move the guy over anyway you can. Rolen at bat, grounds to Uribe and throw to Swisher for third out. Lind double is wasted.
Bottom 7th: Ramirez grounds first pitch to Inglett throw to Overbay for first out. Pierzynski grounds to Overbay, throw to Marcum for second out. Griffey at bat, two down, full count, golfs this one gently to Rios running in from RF. Three up and down for Marcum again. 86 pitches.
Top 8th: Let’s see what Jays can do here. Snider, 0-2 tonight. That’s the way Travis. Doubles to right CF wall. Once again Jays have leadoff at 2B. Inglett now he can bunt. Wilkerson pinch running for Snider. That’s the way Joe… nice bunt moves Wilkerson easily to 3B. One down one at 3B. for Scutaro. Another bunt ? No, but this will do, singles to RF. Wilkerson scores 1-0 Jays. 3-3 tonight for Scutaro. Rios now, has to come through here yes he does, singles to RF. Two on one down for Wells. Vernon singles to LF and loads the bases for Lind. That’s it for Floyd. He pitched very well for seven. Thornton now pitching, this guy is good. I would try a bunt here Adam. 3-1 count, what are you doing Adam, swing or take? Takes it, strike two, he thought it was ball four. Strikes him out. Overbay now with two down and bases still loaded. Singles up the middle, Scutaro scores, Rios scores and Vernon moves to 3B. 3-0 Jays. Great clutch hitting by Lyle there. That’s it for Thornton. Wasserman now pitching. Barajas great chance to break his slump. YES Rod. Doubles down the line into LF corner, Vernon scores 4-0 Jays. Two on two down for Rolen. Yes he does singles down the line into LF corner, Overbay scores, Barajas scores, but now Rolen thrown out at 1B came too far off the bag. 6-0 Jays. Finally the bats wake up tonight and in a big way for six runs.
Bottom 8th: Marcum still in there, Wilkerson in LF for Lind. Swisher at bat, strikes out. Uribe at bat, 3-0 count. Singles over Inglett into right center, that’s it for Shaun here is Cito. No, he is staying in there. 99 pitch count. Cabrera at bat, Downs is up in Jays bullpen with League. Full count, if he loses this one he is finished for the night. Singles into LF, sorry Shaun that is it this time. Two on one down and Downs now pitching. Brian Anderson pinch hitting for Wise, 3-1 count. Whoa…. Gets hold of this one high fly ball to RF corner Rios gets this one right against the wall. Almost out of here. Two down, both runners move up into scoring position for Dye. 3-1 count again. Lines a double to the wall over the head of Rios. Two runs score. 6-2 Jays. Here comes Thome, two down and Dye in scoring position. There it goes. Thome gets hold of this one and no question, HR to CF, Vernon watches it go, two run HR. 6-4 Jays. That’s it for Downs. His last few outings have not been good…… Four runs with two outs. Cito bringing in Brandon League here. Bases empty two down. Ramirez grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out.
Top 9th: Jays need to get at least one back here. Horacio Ramirez pitching. Wilkerson first at bat tonight. Grounds to Ramirez 2B throw to Swisher for the out ay 1B. One down for Inglett singles this one down the 3B line. One on, one down for Scutaro 3-4 tonight. That’s it for Ramirez. D.J. Carrasco pitching. Pitch out but Joe is not going. 2-0 count. 3-0, walks him on four pitches. Rios now, could not do it last night in the ninth, perhaps tonight, Singles into RF off glove of Ramirez. Bases loaded for Vernon…. One down. Takes ball one, lifts this one to Ramirez for the out in shallow right, not good Vernon. Lind can you show them how Adam ? Two down bases stuill loaded. That’s it for Carrasco. Captain Hook has nothing on Guillen. This is his whole bullpen. Boone Logan now pitching for final out. Strikes out, leaving bases loaded.
Bottom 9th: Here we go, BJ Ryan for the save with a two run lead….Hang on to your seat belts friends. Pierzynski at bat, hits him. How many times has BJ done that recently? Pinch runner Jason Borgeous. Griffey now at bat strikes out. One down, Swisher at bat, full count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Uribe. Singles into LF corner through Rolen. Error to Rolen here, this could be huge. Borgeous moves to 3B. Cabrera top of the order two down two on, 2-2 count, strikes him out, loosen those seat belts friends.
Jays win this one 6-4 Marcum gets the well deserved win and save number 29 for Ryan.
This win is huge for many, many reasons. One to get back into winning streak after last night. Win series against Chicago, gain a game in wild card race with Twins losing. Going into Fenway on a winning high, you don’t think Boston players were not watching this one. Hits from the guys who had been silent recently. Barajas and Rolen coming through. Scutaro getting very hot at the right time. Marcum backing up Halladay and Burnett.
Preview: Jays hoping to rebound from last night loss and streak ending game. Twins have lost this afternoon to Kansas which helps wild card race IF Jays can win and gain a game. Jays almost pulled it off with last innings heroics and five runs after Buehrle had shut them out for seven. But Alex Rios leaves Scutaro at 3B when he struck out. That was not a good way to end the comeback.
For the record book though the 10-game win streak was against teams with winning record: Yankees, Twins, Rays and White Sox. That is very impressive. Only six other major league teams since 1900 have won 10 consecutive games against teams with winning records. The last to do so were the 2007 Rockies. One more would have been new ML record and they were one hit away in the bottom of the 9th. Jays fans will remember that as one of the highlights of this horribly inconsistent season.
Tonight’s game we may see more small ball from White Sox to make up for lack of power with Quentin and Konerko out of the lineup. (see Manager Guillen’s comment below). I don’t think we will see that from Jays, not Cito’s style. It would have been interesting though to see a suicide squeeze last night from Rios and Scutaro at 3B to tie the game up… We should see Overbay in the lineup to make up for last night’s experiment with Bautista which failed miserably. Cito said he was trying to add more power to the lineup ??? Obviously backfired bigtime with shutout for seven innings and the horrible errors at 1B. Marcum pitching tonight, I don’t think anyone knows what to expect but this is a game Jays really need to win. Not just for play off chances but it will also affect the pitching lineups for Fenway this weekend.
If Jays win, then Halladay will go again on three day’s rest on Sunday. If they don’t win, then expect to see Parrish and Richmond pitch the double header.
From the good side last night the fight back against Sox bullpen was impressive especially in the ninth against Bobby Jenks a very good closer. Downside was the mental side once again for many of the Jays. The base running goof by Vernon in the very first inning when it looked as if Jays might get to Buehrle. The three errors by Jays for a team that has played excellent defence for most of the two weeks prior to visiting Chicago. Jays are not a team that plays every pitch, every at bat with their heads. They have not done so all season and appear to be unable to concentrate now when these games are deciding play in October.
What they are saying :
Halladay: "It doesn't matter if you've won 10 or lost 10. But given how well we've been playing, yeah it's disappointing. But you have to get over it. ..."
Manager Ozzie Guillen: "If we don't have the guys who hit home runs in the lineup, we have to try to do something different,"
Konerko on his injury: "It's different if this happened in April or May," "You might wait until there was no pain. I'll just wait until I can function and if there is some pain, that's fine. ... We're fighting here for a spot in the playoffs, but you got to be able to function when you hit."
Pitching: Gavin Floyd (15-6, 3.72 ERA) v Shaun Marcum (8-6, 3.42) . Floyd has won his last five decisions, and Sox have won seven of his last eight starts during that stretch. He pitched seven innings Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels allowing five runs and seven hits in Chicago's 7-5, 15-inning win. Has had only one inning of work against the Jays and that was in 2007 and pitched a perfect inning of relief.
Marcum is 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA in his last five starts. He pitched seven scoreless innings Saturday against Tampa Bay allowing four hits while striking out seven before Toronto won 7-4 in 13 innings. He has pitched well against Chicago and is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in three starts against White Sox. He gave up two hits in 6 2-3 scoreless on May 2 in a 2-0 win.
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Overbay, Barajas, Rolen, Snider and Marcum pitching. First team playing tonight…. I bet Halladay wishes he had had this lineup last night.
Chicago: Cabrera, Wise, Dye, Thome, Ramirez, Pierzynski, Griffey, Swisher, Uribe, and Floyd pitching.
The result: Jays win this one 6-4.
The very good: Marcum. Excellent outing for seven. 106 pitches.
The good: Jays hitters coming though big in the eight for six runs. Everybody in the lineup getting at least one hit tonight. Inglett, Rios and Wells all now with averages over .300 plus Snider but he has limited at bats. Good defence by Jays apart from Rolen error.
The bad: Downs with two outs gives up four runs. BJ making it far too close again but gets the job done and who will know when they see the save? And we also have to look at Rolen’s error on a play he usually gets easily, that would have been the third out after BJ had struck out Griffey and Swisher. Am not being picky here but bases loaded in the ninth with one out big bats have to score. Rolen in the eighth out at 1B after rounding too far on his single. Jays hitters 6/14 with runners in scoring position.
The game: Top 1st: Jays must not look beyond tonight’s game, this is it every pitch, every at bat. Fenway series will still be there tomorrow. Focus tonight. Inglett, grounds to 3B Uribe to first baseman Swisher? Scutaro one down. more patient, full count, doubles to CF wall past Griffey, nice at bat Marco. One on one down for Rios. Can he make up for last night ninth inning? Also more patient, full count, and walks, two on one down for Wells. Patience Vernon…. Swings and misses first pitch, grounds to Uribe, throw to Ramirez gets Rios throw not in time to get Vernon at 1B, we have seen that before with Vernon. Two on the corners. Lind at bat, lines out to Cabrera SS and leaves two on. Adam is just not hitting well right now.
Bottom 1st: Marcum , Cabrera pops up to Inglett behind Overbay, one down. Wise at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for second out. Dye at bat, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for third out. Good inning for Shaun. Now let’s get those bats going.
Top 2nd: Overbay, he was missed last night defensively. Grounds to Ramirez throw to Swisher for first out. Barajas at bat pops up first pitch to Uribe. Two down for Rolen. Grounds to Cabrera SS throw high and pulls Swisher off the bag at 1B, Scott escapes there. Error to Cabrera. One on and two down for Snider. Pops up to Ramirez at 2B. Jays go much too quietly here.
Bottom 2nd: Thome at bat, strikes out on three pitches, very nice Shaun. One down for Ramirez, singles up the middle, Scutaro gets glove on it to slow it down but safe at 1B. Pierzynski with one on.fly ball out to Wells in CF, two down. Griffey at bat, Ramirez stealing, Barajas throw wild of 2B but great dive by Scutaro to save base there. Griffey walks. Two on , two down for Swisher grounds to Inglett, dive to stop and throw to Overbay,for third out. Great defence so far tonight for Jays.
Top 3rd: Top of the order now. Inglett at bat, grounds to 2B Ramirez throw to Swisher, one down. Scutaro, shows bunt, grounds to SS Cabrera throw to Swisher for second out. Rios now grounds down the line to Uribe, throw not in time and Alex safe at 1B. Swisher pulled off the bag. Error to Swisher. Perhaps it is the White Sox tonight to get the errors. Wells now with one on and two down. Pops it up to Cabrera.
Bottom 3rd: Uribe at bat, strikes out on three pitches. Cabrera strikes out but not before loud hit just wide of foul pole in LF. That was very close. Wise with two down high fly ball out to Wells in CF. Sox hitting Marcum hard but so far fortunately no damage.
Top 4th: Are Jays bats ever going to get going here ? Lind at bat, this is one that is in need of a hit. High fly ball out to Wise in LF, one down for Overbay fly ball out to Wise in LF. Barajas, grounds to 3B Uribe throw to Swisher for third out. Three up and down. Jays look awfully flat tonight, no spirit in their at bats. They are making Floyd look like Cy Young here.
Bottom 4th: Dye at bat, singles to Wells in CF. One on for Thome. Full count. Not good Shaun, be careful here. Strike three. Gets him looking, nice pitch Shaun. Ramirez at bat, strikes out great pitch. Strikeout number five for Marcum tonight. Pierzynski, pops it up to Scutaro on first pitch.
Top 5th: Jays bats have gone home tonight. Rolen strikes out swinging. Jays hitters are all trying to pull the ball tonight. Snider pops it up to 3B Uribe for second out. Inglett 0-2 tonight. Grounds to Ramirez throw to Floyd for third out. Jays have one hit tonight.
Bottom 5th: Griffey at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for first down. Swisher pops it up to Overbay, two down for Uribe. Doubles down the 3B line. One on two down. Cabrera grounds a bullet to Overbay, great play for third out. Where were you last night Lyle ?
Top 6th: Jays have to snap out of this hitting fog here. No use waiting for Fenway it won’t matter at this rate. Top of the order. Scutaro at bat, not swinging at close pitches here full count and singles into RF, his second hit tonight and the only two Jays hits. Very good at bat for Marco. Rios now can he earn his money tonight ? NO grounds to SS throw to 2B Scutaro out at 2B and Ramirez throw not in to time to get Rios, Swisher says he tagged him umpire disagrees and calls Alex safe. One down. Wells goes after pitch out of zone, now grounds to SS Cabrera, throw to Ramirez at 2B gets Alex throw to Swisher and Vernon is out, double play. This is so frustrating, this is like the Jays of early season not the last month. Cito MUST start to play small ball, start those runners at 1B especially when it is Rios. I would rather see Alex thrown out at 2B than the double play. Jays hitters seem asleep tonight. 68 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Wise at bat, fly ball out to Snider in LF at the wall. Dye at bat, pops it up to Rolen at 3B two down for Thome. Grounds to Scutaro playing at 2B with shift right on for Thome. Three up and down for Marcum. He is doing a great job here so far.75 pitches.
Top 7th: Lind hitless tonight, that’s better Adam, turns on this one and doubles off RF wall. Lyle bring him in here please. Not this time, grounds weakly to SS Cabrera throw to Swisher for the out. Lind holds at 2B. Barajas at bat, strikes out on three pitches, this is what I mean Cito, move the guy over anyway you can. Rolen at bat, grounds to Uribe and throw to Swisher for third out. Lind double is wasted.
Bottom 7th: Ramirez grounds first pitch to Inglett throw to Overbay for first out. Pierzynski grounds to Overbay, throw to Marcum for second out. Griffey at bat, two down, full count, golfs this one gently to Rios running in from RF. Three up and down for Marcum again. 86 pitches.
Top 8th: Let’s see what Jays can do here. Snider, 0-2 tonight. That’s the way Travis. Doubles to right CF wall. Once again Jays have leadoff at 2B. Inglett now he can bunt. Wilkerson pinch running for Snider. That’s the way Joe… nice bunt moves Wilkerson easily to 3B. One down one at 3B. for Scutaro. Another bunt ? No, but this will do, singles to RF. Wilkerson scores 1-0 Jays. 3-3 tonight for Scutaro. Rios now, has to come through here yes he does, singles to RF. Two on one down for Wells. Vernon singles to LF and loads the bases for Lind. That’s it for Floyd. He pitched very well for seven. Thornton now pitching, this guy is good. I would try a bunt here Adam. 3-1 count, what are you doing Adam, swing or take? Takes it, strike two, he thought it was ball four. Strikes him out. Overbay now with two down and bases still loaded. Singles up the middle, Scutaro scores, Rios scores and Vernon moves to 3B. 3-0 Jays. Great clutch hitting by Lyle there. That’s it for Thornton. Wasserman now pitching. Barajas great chance to break his slump. YES Rod. Doubles down the line into LF corner, Vernon scores 4-0 Jays. Two on two down for Rolen. Yes he does singles down the line into LF corner, Overbay scores, Barajas scores, but now Rolen thrown out at 1B came too far off the bag. 6-0 Jays. Finally the bats wake up tonight and in a big way for six runs.
Bottom 8th: Marcum still in there, Wilkerson in LF for Lind. Swisher at bat, strikes out. Uribe at bat, 3-0 count. Singles over Inglett into right center, that’s it for Shaun here is Cito. No, he is staying in there. 99 pitch count. Cabrera at bat, Downs is up in Jays bullpen with League. Full count, if he loses this one he is finished for the night. Singles into LF, sorry Shaun that is it this time. Two on one down and Downs now pitching. Brian Anderson pinch hitting for Wise, 3-1 count. Whoa…. Gets hold of this one high fly ball to RF corner Rios gets this one right against the wall. Almost out of here. Two down, both runners move up into scoring position for Dye. 3-1 count again. Lines a double to the wall over the head of Rios. Two runs score. 6-2 Jays. Here comes Thome, two down and Dye in scoring position. There it goes. Thome gets hold of this one and no question, HR to CF, Vernon watches it go, two run HR. 6-4 Jays. That’s it for Downs. His last few outings have not been good…… Four runs with two outs. Cito bringing in Brandon League here. Bases empty two down. Ramirez grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out.
Top 9th: Jays need to get at least one back here. Horacio Ramirez pitching. Wilkerson first at bat tonight. Grounds to Ramirez 2B throw to Swisher for the out ay 1B. One down for Inglett singles this one down the 3B line. One on, one down for Scutaro 3-4 tonight. That’s it for Ramirez. D.J. Carrasco pitching. Pitch out but Joe is not going. 2-0 count. 3-0, walks him on four pitches. Rios now, could not do it last night in the ninth, perhaps tonight, Singles into RF off glove of Ramirez. Bases loaded for Vernon…. One down. Takes ball one, lifts this one to Ramirez for the out in shallow right, not good Vernon. Lind can you show them how Adam ? Two down bases stuill loaded. That’s it for Carrasco. Captain Hook has nothing on Guillen. This is his whole bullpen. Boone Logan now pitching for final out. Strikes out, leaving bases loaded.
Bottom 9th: Here we go, BJ Ryan for the save with a two run lead….Hang on to your seat belts friends. Pierzynski at bat, hits him. How many times has BJ done that recently? Pinch runner Jason Borgeous. Griffey now at bat strikes out. One down, Swisher at bat, full count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Uribe. Singles into LF corner through Rolen. Error to Rolen here, this could be huge. Borgeous moves to 3B. Cabrera top of the order two down two on, 2-2 count, strikes him out, loosen those seat belts friends.
Jays win this one 6-4 Marcum gets the well deserved win and save number 29 for Ryan.
This win is huge for many, many reasons. One to get back into winning streak after last night. Win series against Chicago, gain a game in wild card race with Twins losing. Going into Fenway on a winning high, you don’t think Boston players were not watching this one. Hits from the guys who had been silent recently. Barajas and Rolen coming through. Scutaro getting very hot at the right time. Marcum backing up Halladay and Burnett.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Jays lose close one in the ninth but give it away early.
Toronto v Chicago White Sox. Game three of four. Wednesday September 10, 2008.
Preview: Ten in a row and counting. Jays are getting lots of people upset and nervous, especially in Fenway….. Of course they are still a huge long shot but they are very entertaining giving it their all right now. Halladay tonight BUT you know that he is NOT taking this game lightly. White Sox are in a close race themselves and hold the one game lead over the Twins right now. Halladay or not White Sox will be fighting every pitch and every at bat all the way and of course Jays still have to score runs to win a game. And they have to cut out these cheap errors that are creeping into their game recently after going for more than two weeks without an error.
Jays have their longest win streak in ten years. They won 11 in a row Aug. 27-Sept. 7, 1998. White Sox have to play without two of their big bats Quentin already out with wrist surgery last week was joined by Konerko last night with a mildly sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
A win would lift Halladay's record to 19-9 and get him his next start on three days of rest in Boston on Sunday instead of the usual four.
Halladay has started on three days of rest just five times in his career and has responded by going 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA.
For Halladay to get that start Sunday, the Jays will have to continue their winning ways both in Chicago and Boston.
The 10-game win streak has been fueled by terrific starting pitching.
Including Tuesday's sweep, the Toronto starters have allowed just three earned runs over the past six games -- 45 innings -- for a 0.60 ERA.
What are they saying: Manager Ozzie Guillen on their own play off situation: "I still believe they can do it,"
Halladay "I've always felt fine (pitching on three days of rest). You just change your work in between."
Jesse Litsch: "We've got to keep it rolling. We're in a race."
Konerko on his injury: "When I first came out, with what the doctor was doing with my leg, he felt real confident about it," "That it was just a nice little sprain. That I kinda pushed it past where it should go and that's it. I think the MRI is more for peace of mind."
Jays winning streak matches a franchise high set in 1998 and 1987, are seven games behind Boston for the AL wild card and playing Tampa at Fenway tonight.
Pitching: Buehrle (12-11, 3.98 ERA) v Halladay (18-9, 2.64 ERA)
Buehrle has won four of his last five decisions. He pitched six scoreless innings Friday against the Angels allowing three hits while striking out seven in a 10-2 win. 9-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 15 home starts. He's won his last six decisions at home, where Chicago has won his last seven starts. Buehrle is 3-3 with a 2.79 ERA in 10 starts and one relief appearance against the Jays. He pitched a five-hitter and did not allow an earned run against them on May 2 in Toronto, but suffered a 2-0 defeat.
Halladay is looking to win his sixth consecutive start. The right-hander has a 2.25 ERA in his last five starts. He pitched seven innings on Friday against Tampa Bay, allowing three runs - one earned - while striking out seven in a 6-4 victory.
Halladay is 3-3 with a 3.06 ERA in nine starts and three relief appearances against the White Sox. On May 4, he allowed three runs - one earned - and three hits in 7 1-3 innings of a 4-3 win. BUT U.S. Cellular Field is the only current AL park Halladay has never won in - he's 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA in three starts here.
Yankees have already lost on the west coast. Jays will be relying on them now to sweep Tampa in New York this weekend in an ideal world. If Jays can get past Chicago.
Footnote : You think Jays are awful with runners in scoring position ? How about Tampa last night in Fenway. They left thirteen on base and went 1/17 with runners in scoring position. OUCH…. (But they still won the game)
The lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Bautista, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Mench, Rolen, McDonald, and Halladay pitching.
Chicago: Cabrera, Wise, Dye, Thome, Ramirez, Pierzynski, Swisher, Uribe, Owens and Buehrle pitching.
The Result: White Sox win 6-5.
The good: Defence by Lind, Scutaro and Rolen. Scutaro bat, Rios HR, pinch hitting by Overbay and Inglett in the ninth to make it very close. The fight back in the ninth was good to see. Jays were losing 5-0 in the 8th.
The bad: Defence by Bautista twice and McDonald. 3 errors tonight for Jays. My impression was that Jays were too loose at the beginning of the game. Bautista should probably not have played at 1B it cost the Jays tonight. I don’t blame Halladay he had no run support and the defence and poor hitting provided too much distraction for him to settle into his own groove. You get the impression that Jays hitters relax when Halladay is pitching and rely on him alone to win the game.
The game: Top 1st: Scutaro, singles into RF centre. Bautista at bat one on is he bunting? No but grounds to 1B Swisher, steps on bag and tags out Scutaro for double play, ouch. Rios at bat, Alex singles into LF. Eleven game hit streak. Wells now with one and two down. Good no first pitch swing here. Singles into RF and stretching for two is thrown out by Dye at 2B with Alex all the way to 3B that was far too aggressive Vernon. Not good with Alex at 3B. Jays have to get it together tonight. Think with every at bat and hit. They are not very good at that.
Bottom 1st: Cabrera grounds hard to Rolen at 3B, great diving save to throw to Overbay for out at 1B. Wise singles into right centre. One on one down. Dye at bat, throw over to Bautista gets away and Wise moves to 2B. Error on Halladay. Full count. and walks him to face Thome, two on and one down. Singles into CF. Wise scores, 1-0 White Sox and Dye to 3B. Two on for Ramirez, strikes out. Two down. Pierzynski singles up the middle and Dye scores, 2-0 White Sox. Swisher with two on. Strikes out leaving two on. 29 pitch inning though.
Top 2nd: Can Jays hitters get one back for Roy here? Barajas at bat, pops up to Uribe at 3B, one down. Lind at bat, strikes out looking on three pitches. Two down, Mench singles into LF. One on two down for Rolen, pops it up in foul ground to Swisher at 1B. Jays go quietly and Buerhle is closing the door.
Bottom 2nd: Uribe lines up the middle BUT GREAT catch by Scutaro diving to his right, one down. Owens at bat fly ball out to Lind another good catch running to his right. Cabrera at bat fly ball out to Wells in CF, good inning for Halladay and helps get that pitch count back to normal. 37 pitches.
Top 3rd: McDonald at bat, pops it up to Ramirez at 2B, one down for Scutaro, full count and now walks, Scutaro not sure there of the count. One on on down. Bautista goes around on strike three. Rios at bat with two down and one on. Fly ball out to Owens in CF.
Bottom 3rd: Wise at bat, bunting and ball hits him, Barajas calls it and Wise is out. One down for Dye. Strikes out. Thome now with two down, strikes out on great Halladay curve. 46 pitches.
Top 4th: Jays bats need to get going here, Buerhle is shutting them out. Wells at bat, drives it over Ramirez head but great jump there to get Vernon. That was a two base hit. Barajas at bat one down. Fly ball out to Dye in RF. Two down for Lind. Full count. Strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Ramirez leading off, singles into LF. Pierzynski grounds to Scutaro great play, throw to McDonald steps on 2B to get Ramirez throw to Bautista but drops the ball. Pierzynski gets to 2B one down. Error on McDonald, I think that was more like Bautista’s fault. That was a double play ball. Swisher strikes out. Uribe with two down. One on, pops it up to Bautista for third out. Halladay recovers and no damage.
Top 5th: Come on the hitters….Mench first pitch swing and dribbles one to Buerhle throw to Swisher for first out. Rolen now, pops it up to Ramirez two down. McDonald, singles through legs of Buehrle into CF. Scutaro now with one on singles into CF. just past Cabrera. Two on now for Bautista don’t be a hero Jose, just a hit here. Strikes out swinging. 72 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Owens grounds to Scutaro but Bautista late to the bag and throw not in time and safe. That was very bad. Cabrera at bat, fly ball out to Mench one down. Wise at bat, Owens stealing and throw gets away from McDonald into CF and gets to 3B and strikes out on great curve. Two down for Dye. Pops up first pitch to Barajas and Halladay escapes damage, but it was his own defence that put him in trouble. Resting Overbay is not a good idea tonight Cito. Time for rest days when they wrap this one up. 71 pitches.
Top 6th: Rios now gets hold of this one but under it and high fly out to Owens at the track in left centre. Wells grounds it to Uribe at 3B a trickler compared to his drive last at bat but gets on base this time. One down one on for Barajas, high fly ball out to Wise, just misses this one going out as did Alex. Someone please line one out. Lind at bat two down one on. Strikes out swinging. I think that Lind has lost much of his earlier season form, he has not impressed the way he did earlier. 85 pitches. Jays have outhit Sox 7-5 but all singles.
Bottom 6th: Thome singles into LF. Ramirez doubles to the wall in right centre. Thome is held at 3B. Pierzynski at bat two on and no outs, doubles it into RF corner and both runs score 4-0 White Sox. Swisher at bat strikes out on three pitches. One down for Uribe singles it over head of McDonald but Pierzynski has to wait and now gets to 3B. Owens with two at the corners, Squeeze bunt and Pierzynski scores Halladay throws to 1B for second out. 5-0 White Sox. Cabrera strikes out on three pitches. You cannot win games without runs and Jays offence and defence has let Halladay down tonight, from the first inning their heads were not in this one and Bautista has been a disaster tonight at 1B.
Top 7th: Let’s see what the Jays are made of. Mench at bat grounds to Cabrera at SS throw to Swisher at 1B one down. Rolen grounds to Ramirez first pitch throw to Swisher for easy second out. McDonald at bat 0-2 count. Looks at strike three on three pitches. That was some mediocre performance by Jays hitters.
Bottom 7th: That’s it for Halladay tonight. Frasor pitching ?? why not. Cito has conceded this one. Wise grounds to McDonald first pitch throw to Bautista for first out. Dye singles into RF Mench. One on one down for Thome pops it up to Barajas, two down. Ramirez at bat, Frasor really slows down the game especially with a guy on base. Lines it to Rolen for third out.
Top 8th: Who is ready to get out of the park and get out on the town here? Jays have six outs left. Can they do it ? of course BUT they need their mental game tonight and they have not had that tonight from the top of the first inning. Scutaro at bat, 2-2 one of the few who has had a good game all round hitting and defence. Grounds to Uribe at 3B strong throw to Swisher for first out. Bautista at bat, full count and walks, his only contribution tonight. Here comes the Manager and Buehrle is out of game. Octavio Dotel pitching Rios at bat one on and one down. YES Alex this time it gets out of here hammers it into left centre, two runs score 5-2 Sox. Wells at bat, 2-3 tonight. Singles into LF. Vernon now 3-3 tonight. Barajas with one on and one down. Grounds to SS Cabrera throw to 2B Ramirez gets Vernon, on to Swisher for Barajas, double play ball to end the inning. Jays will have to face Jenks in the ninth and pray that he is shaky.
Bottom 8th: Zaun now catching, too bad he didn’t bat for Barajas. Tallet pitching. Snider in LF for Lind. Pierzynski strikes out on three pitches. Swisher at bat, doubles off LF wall. Uribe full count and now strikes out. Two down for Brian Anderson pinch hitting for Owens. Singles into LF, Swisher is running on the hit and scores on throw. 6-2 Sox. Cabrera at bat, Anderson steals 2B. Interesting play with a four run lead ? A little too much respect for the Jays here. Now they walk Cabrera with 1B open. Wise at bat, grounds to Scutaro for third out.
Top 9th: Bobby Jenks now pitching 28 saves this season. One of the best. Zaun leading off in Lind’s position, strikes out on great curve ball. Inglett at bat, for Mench singles into RF. Rolen with one on and one down. Full count for Scott and walks him, two on for Overbay. Singles into Right center Inglett scores 6-3 Sox. Two on one down for Scutaro, doubles into RF corner and Rolen scores 6-4 Sox. Bautista with two in scoring position and one down. Overbay at 3B and Scutaro at 2B grounds to 3B and Overbay scores 6-5 Sox with two down now. Jays are making it interesting here at least. Scutaro at 3B. Rios at bat. 0-2 count, strikes out with tie run at 3B. Almost but not quite good enough tonight. Jays lose this one in first inning and then again in the eighth with Tallet’s run.
Now they have to start another run tomorrow to stay in the hunt. Boston and Tampa are tied up in the extra innings let’s hope it is a very long game tonight and exhausts both teams for the rest of the week.
Preview: Ten in a row and counting. Jays are getting lots of people upset and nervous, especially in Fenway….. Of course they are still a huge long shot but they are very entertaining giving it their all right now. Halladay tonight BUT you know that he is NOT taking this game lightly. White Sox are in a close race themselves and hold the one game lead over the Twins right now. Halladay or not White Sox will be fighting every pitch and every at bat all the way and of course Jays still have to score runs to win a game. And they have to cut out these cheap errors that are creeping into their game recently after going for more than two weeks without an error.
Jays have their longest win streak in ten years. They won 11 in a row Aug. 27-Sept. 7, 1998. White Sox have to play without two of their big bats Quentin already out with wrist surgery last week was joined by Konerko last night with a mildly sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
A win would lift Halladay's record to 19-9 and get him his next start on three days of rest in Boston on Sunday instead of the usual four.
Halladay has started on three days of rest just five times in his career and has responded by going 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA.
For Halladay to get that start Sunday, the Jays will have to continue their winning ways both in Chicago and Boston.
The 10-game win streak has been fueled by terrific starting pitching.
Including Tuesday's sweep, the Toronto starters have allowed just three earned runs over the past six games -- 45 innings -- for a 0.60 ERA.
What are they saying: Manager Ozzie Guillen on their own play off situation: "I still believe they can do it,"
Halladay "I've always felt fine (pitching on three days of rest). You just change your work in between."
Jesse Litsch: "We've got to keep it rolling. We're in a race."
Konerko on his injury: "When I first came out, with what the doctor was doing with my leg, he felt real confident about it," "That it was just a nice little sprain. That I kinda pushed it past where it should go and that's it. I think the MRI is more for peace of mind."
Jays winning streak matches a franchise high set in 1998 and 1987, are seven games behind Boston for the AL wild card and playing Tampa at Fenway tonight.
Pitching: Buehrle (12-11, 3.98 ERA) v Halladay (18-9, 2.64 ERA)
Buehrle has won four of his last five decisions. He pitched six scoreless innings Friday against the Angels allowing three hits while striking out seven in a 10-2 win. 9-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 15 home starts. He's won his last six decisions at home, where Chicago has won his last seven starts. Buehrle is 3-3 with a 2.79 ERA in 10 starts and one relief appearance against the Jays. He pitched a five-hitter and did not allow an earned run against them on May 2 in Toronto, but suffered a 2-0 defeat.
Halladay is looking to win his sixth consecutive start. The right-hander has a 2.25 ERA in his last five starts. He pitched seven innings on Friday against Tampa Bay, allowing three runs - one earned - while striking out seven in a 6-4 victory.
Halladay is 3-3 with a 3.06 ERA in nine starts and three relief appearances against the White Sox. On May 4, he allowed three runs - one earned - and three hits in 7 1-3 innings of a 4-3 win. BUT U.S. Cellular Field is the only current AL park Halladay has never won in - he's 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA in three starts here.
Yankees have already lost on the west coast. Jays will be relying on them now to sweep Tampa in New York this weekend in an ideal world. If Jays can get past Chicago.
Footnote : You think Jays are awful with runners in scoring position ? How about Tampa last night in Fenway. They left thirteen on base and went 1/17 with runners in scoring position. OUCH…. (But they still won the game)
The lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Bautista, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Mench, Rolen, McDonald, and Halladay pitching.
Chicago: Cabrera, Wise, Dye, Thome, Ramirez, Pierzynski, Swisher, Uribe, Owens and Buehrle pitching.
The Result: White Sox win 6-5.
The good: Defence by Lind, Scutaro and Rolen. Scutaro bat, Rios HR, pinch hitting by Overbay and Inglett in the ninth to make it very close. The fight back in the ninth was good to see. Jays were losing 5-0 in the 8th.
The bad: Defence by Bautista twice and McDonald. 3 errors tonight for Jays. My impression was that Jays were too loose at the beginning of the game. Bautista should probably not have played at 1B it cost the Jays tonight. I don’t blame Halladay he had no run support and the defence and poor hitting provided too much distraction for him to settle into his own groove. You get the impression that Jays hitters relax when Halladay is pitching and rely on him alone to win the game.
The game: Top 1st: Scutaro, singles into RF centre. Bautista at bat one on is he bunting? No but grounds to 1B Swisher, steps on bag and tags out Scutaro for double play, ouch. Rios at bat, Alex singles into LF. Eleven game hit streak. Wells now with one and two down. Good no first pitch swing here. Singles into RF and stretching for two is thrown out by Dye at 2B with Alex all the way to 3B that was far too aggressive Vernon. Not good with Alex at 3B. Jays have to get it together tonight. Think with every at bat and hit. They are not very good at that.
Bottom 1st: Cabrera grounds hard to Rolen at 3B, great diving save to throw to Overbay for out at 1B. Wise singles into right centre. One on one down. Dye at bat, throw over to Bautista gets away and Wise moves to 2B. Error on Halladay. Full count. and walks him to face Thome, two on and one down. Singles into CF. Wise scores, 1-0 White Sox and Dye to 3B. Two on for Ramirez, strikes out. Two down. Pierzynski singles up the middle and Dye scores, 2-0 White Sox. Swisher with two on. Strikes out leaving two on. 29 pitch inning though.
Top 2nd: Can Jays hitters get one back for Roy here? Barajas at bat, pops up to Uribe at 3B, one down. Lind at bat, strikes out looking on three pitches. Two down, Mench singles into LF. One on two down for Rolen, pops it up in foul ground to Swisher at 1B. Jays go quietly and Buerhle is closing the door.
Bottom 2nd: Uribe lines up the middle BUT GREAT catch by Scutaro diving to his right, one down. Owens at bat fly ball out to Lind another good catch running to his right. Cabrera at bat fly ball out to Wells in CF, good inning for Halladay and helps get that pitch count back to normal. 37 pitches.
Top 3rd: McDonald at bat, pops it up to Ramirez at 2B, one down for Scutaro, full count and now walks, Scutaro not sure there of the count. One on on down. Bautista goes around on strike three. Rios at bat with two down and one on. Fly ball out to Owens in CF.
Bottom 3rd: Wise at bat, bunting and ball hits him, Barajas calls it and Wise is out. One down for Dye. Strikes out. Thome now with two down, strikes out on great Halladay curve. 46 pitches.
Top 4th: Jays bats need to get going here, Buerhle is shutting them out. Wells at bat, drives it over Ramirez head but great jump there to get Vernon. That was a two base hit. Barajas at bat one down. Fly ball out to Dye in RF. Two down for Lind. Full count. Strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Ramirez leading off, singles into LF. Pierzynski grounds to Scutaro great play, throw to McDonald steps on 2B to get Ramirez throw to Bautista but drops the ball. Pierzynski gets to 2B one down. Error on McDonald, I think that was more like Bautista’s fault. That was a double play ball. Swisher strikes out. Uribe with two down. One on, pops it up to Bautista for third out. Halladay recovers and no damage.
Top 5th: Come on the hitters….Mench first pitch swing and dribbles one to Buerhle throw to Swisher for first out. Rolen now, pops it up to Ramirez two down. McDonald, singles through legs of Buehrle into CF. Scutaro now with one on singles into CF. just past Cabrera. Two on now for Bautista don’t be a hero Jose, just a hit here. Strikes out swinging. 72 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Owens grounds to Scutaro but Bautista late to the bag and throw not in time and safe. That was very bad. Cabrera at bat, fly ball out to Mench one down. Wise at bat, Owens stealing and throw gets away from McDonald into CF and gets to 3B and strikes out on great curve. Two down for Dye. Pops up first pitch to Barajas and Halladay escapes damage, but it was his own defence that put him in trouble. Resting Overbay is not a good idea tonight Cito. Time for rest days when they wrap this one up. 71 pitches.
Top 6th: Rios now gets hold of this one but under it and high fly out to Owens at the track in left centre. Wells grounds it to Uribe at 3B a trickler compared to his drive last at bat but gets on base this time. One down one on for Barajas, high fly ball out to Wise, just misses this one going out as did Alex. Someone please line one out. Lind at bat two down one on. Strikes out swinging. I think that Lind has lost much of his earlier season form, he has not impressed the way he did earlier. 85 pitches. Jays have outhit Sox 7-5 but all singles.
Bottom 6th: Thome singles into LF. Ramirez doubles to the wall in right centre. Thome is held at 3B. Pierzynski at bat two on and no outs, doubles it into RF corner and both runs score 4-0 White Sox. Swisher at bat strikes out on three pitches. One down for Uribe singles it over head of McDonald but Pierzynski has to wait and now gets to 3B. Owens with two at the corners, Squeeze bunt and Pierzynski scores Halladay throws to 1B for second out. 5-0 White Sox. Cabrera strikes out on three pitches. You cannot win games without runs and Jays offence and defence has let Halladay down tonight, from the first inning their heads were not in this one and Bautista has been a disaster tonight at 1B.
Top 7th: Let’s see what the Jays are made of. Mench at bat grounds to Cabrera at SS throw to Swisher at 1B one down. Rolen grounds to Ramirez first pitch throw to Swisher for easy second out. McDonald at bat 0-2 count. Looks at strike three on three pitches. That was some mediocre performance by Jays hitters.
Bottom 7th: That’s it for Halladay tonight. Frasor pitching ?? why not. Cito has conceded this one. Wise grounds to McDonald first pitch throw to Bautista for first out. Dye singles into RF Mench. One on one down for Thome pops it up to Barajas, two down. Ramirez at bat, Frasor really slows down the game especially with a guy on base. Lines it to Rolen for third out.
Top 8th: Who is ready to get out of the park and get out on the town here? Jays have six outs left. Can they do it ? of course BUT they need their mental game tonight and they have not had that tonight from the top of the first inning. Scutaro at bat, 2-2 one of the few who has had a good game all round hitting and defence. Grounds to Uribe at 3B strong throw to Swisher for first out. Bautista at bat, full count and walks, his only contribution tonight. Here comes the Manager and Buehrle is out of game. Octavio Dotel pitching Rios at bat one on and one down. YES Alex this time it gets out of here hammers it into left centre, two runs score 5-2 Sox. Wells at bat, 2-3 tonight. Singles into LF. Vernon now 3-3 tonight. Barajas with one on and one down. Grounds to SS Cabrera throw to 2B Ramirez gets Vernon, on to Swisher for Barajas, double play ball to end the inning. Jays will have to face Jenks in the ninth and pray that he is shaky.
Bottom 8th: Zaun now catching, too bad he didn’t bat for Barajas. Tallet pitching. Snider in LF for Lind. Pierzynski strikes out on three pitches. Swisher at bat, doubles off LF wall. Uribe full count and now strikes out. Two down for Brian Anderson pinch hitting for Owens. Singles into LF, Swisher is running on the hit and scores on throw. 6-2 Sox. Cabrera at bat, Anderson steals 2B. Interesting play with a four run lead ? A little too much respect for the Jays here. Now they walk Cabrera with 1B open. Wise at bat, grounds to Scutaro for third out.
Top 9th: Bobby Jenks now pitching 28 saves this season. One of the best. Zaun leading off in Lind’s position, strikes out on great curve ball. Inglett at bat, for Mench singles into RF. Rolen with one on and one down. Full count for Scott and walks him, two on for Overbay. Singles into Right center Inglett scores 6-3 Sox. Two on one down for Scutaro, doubles into RF corner and Rolen scores 6-4 Sox. Bautista with two in scoring position and one down. Overbay at 3B and Scutaro at 2B grounds to 3B and Overbay scores 6-5 Sox with two down now. Jays are making it interesting here at least. Scutaro at 3B. Rios at bat. 0-2 count, strikes out with tie run at 3B. Almost but not quite good enough tonight. Jays lose this one in first inning and then again in the eighth with Tallet’s run.
Now they have to start another run tomorrow to stay in the hunt. Boston and Tampa are tied up in the extra innings let’s hope it is a very long game tonight and exhausts both teams for the rest of the week.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Jays win number ten bigtime 8-2 behind great hitting and Litsch.
Toronto Jays v Chicago White Sox. Game number two of double header.Tuesday September 9, 2008.
Preview: Second game of the double header. Jays now nine wins in a row and giving Boston and Tampa headaches looking over their shoulders. Jays are really turning up the heat and need to keep on going. This one is very difficult, the night game of a double header and Litsch pitching to this very powerful hitting White Sox lineup. He will need to be spot on tonight with his control. However whatever the outcome Jays are giving their fans something to cheer about after a miserable underachieving season. Their longest winning streak since taking a franchise-record 11 in a row in from Aug. 27-Sept. 7, 1998.
What they said: Manager Cito Gaston "I hope it doesn't stop," said. "I hope we keep rolling. It's a good streak. Hey, win as many as we can before it stops."
Burnett . "We're on a good run right now, and I just wanted to come in here and make sure I got the first game of the doubleheader and get things off on the right foot."
Burnett on his bid for his second career no-hitter : "It happens. I wasn't thinking about it. You see no hits up there, but you've got a long way to go even if it's the sixth inning."
Gaston "That ball was hit pretty hard. Maybe on turf, Rolen probably catches that ball, but it was hit pretty hard. I would say it's a hit."
Konerko on Burnett: "He's relentless. He challenges you. It's not like he's scared. ... He comes right at you, makes you hit."
Pierzynski: "It's frustrating because we had a couple chances. Things happen, you've got to move on."
Pitching: Clayton Richards (2-3, 6.39 ERA ) v Jesse Litsch (10-8, 3.76 ERA). Looks good on paper BUT Jays always have problems with the unknown pitchers. This guy is a rookie tonight but then Litsch is not far off rookie status.
Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Bautista, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Mench, Rolen, McDonald and Litsch pitching. I like Bautista in there.
Chicago: Cabrera, Wise, Dye, Thome, Konerko, Griffey Jr, Ramirez, Uribe, Hall and Clayton pitching.
The Result: Jays win 8-2. Number ten win in a row. And the double header today.
The very good: HR power, Scutaro, Rolen, Wells. Alex and Vernon five hits tonight.
The good: Bautista two sac bunts. Jays have fourteen hits. Litsch wins number nine. Johnny Mc. has two hits.
The bad: To be very picky Jays went 5/13 with runners in scoring position.
The game: Top 1st: Scutaro leading off this time. YES MARCO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gets hold of this one lead off HR to LF corner. WOW, what a great start. 1-0 Jays. Bautista fly ball out to RF Dye. One down for Rios. Alex doubles off LF wall. They are going after Richards here. Wells at bat, one down one on. grounds to SS Cabrera throw to Ramirez at 2B Rios out. Wells safe at 1B. Barajas grounds to Ramirez at 2B throw to Cabrera SS for the out. Jays have the lead although looked for a moment that it might be more. 19 pitches.
Bottom 1st:Cabrera walks on four pitches. Wise singles to CF, Cabrera to second.
Dye grounds to Rolen on to 2B Scutaro, Wise out at 2B. Cabrera moves to 3B, Dye at 1B, Thome at bat, 3-0 count. and walks him. Konerko with bases loaded. And one down. Jesse in major trouble here first inning. NOT the start Cito wanted. OH MY…. Grounds to Rolen, on to Scutaro on to Bautista DOUBLE play ball… Litsch escapes bigtime. 26 pitches.
Top 2nd: Lind at bat, sort of in a mini-slump for him, high fly ball to Griffey at the wall in CF one down, Mench he has not started for a long time, full count here, grounds to Uribe throw to Konerko for the out. Two down for Rolen. Looks at third strike and an easy inning for Richards. 28 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Let’s hope Jesse has settled here. Griffey Jr. grounds to McDonald at 2B with the shift right on, throw to Bautista for the out. One down for Ramirez, strikes out. Two down for Uribe fly ball out to Rios playing in CF this game. 38 pitches for Litsch however. I think Jays bullpen will be in this one tonight.
Top 3rd: McDonald at bat, gets hold of this one to the wall but Wise runs it down in LF on the track. Scutaro now same play high fly ball to Wise in LF on the track, Jays are hitting it hard tonight. Bautista first pitch, this is a Jays disease, grounds to ??? and Richards has a very easy three up and down inning. 35 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Toby Hall at bat, grounds to Rolen, throw to Bautista for the first out. Cabrera lines it over McDonald into LF. Wise with one on and one down, doubles to the CF wall, Cabrera holds at 3B. Dye, with two in scoring position, Litsch is fooling no one tonight. Doubles into LF corner and two runs score easily. 2-1 White Sox. Thome at bat, Cito you had better get someone up in bullpen. Grounds back at Litsch throw to Bautista for the second out. Dye holds at 2B. Konerko at bat. Grounds to Scutaro at 2B throw to Bautista for third out. 59 pitches already in three innings.
Top 4th: Rios first pitch swing, grounds to SS Cabrera throw to Konerko for the out. Wells pops first pitch up, Ramirez drops the ball, and Vernon gets to 2B. That could have been two outs on two pitches. Vernon escapes here. Barajas should make them pay here, surprise first pitch swing and grounds to 2B for the out at 1B and Wells moves to 3B. Adam Lind at bat two down. swings at first pitch. Lines hard out at Konerko at 1B for the third out, BUT that has to be rock bottom inning for this free swinging team. That could have been a three pitch inning and no one, not even Cito, can convince me that that is good hitting baseball. 44 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Griffey at bat, singles into LF, Griffey had more pitches than the four previous Jays hitters. Ramirez pops it up to Rolen for first out. Uribe at bat singles to Lind in LF. Two on one out for Hall. Fly ball out to Mench in RF, nice running catch. Runners hold. Two down two on for Cabrera. Lines hard to Scutaro leaps to make the catch at 2B. for third out and Litsch escaoes one again. 78 pitches though in four innings. 44 for the rookie Richards !
Top 5th: Mench 3-0 count and walks on four pitches. Rolen YES Scotty, he really tags this one. And it is a rocket out of here in RF. Mench and Rolen score. 3-2 Jays. McDonald lifts single softly into shallow right. One on for Scutaro bunting down the line and Richards misses the tag, safe at 1B. Two on for Bautista but that is it for Richards poor guy he had pitched well up until this inning, Jesse Litsch should be lucky he doesn’t pitch for the White Sox. This Manager has a very quick hook. in Chicago Carrasco pitching. great bunt here just down the 3B line. Bautista almost beats out the throw. Two in scoring position now for big bat Alex. Singles into RF McDonald scores and now Alex is hung up between bases and is tagged asouut as he dives back.now out. 4-2 Jays. With Scutaro at 3B. Konerko is injured though, looks like his knee as he is carried off field. That is not good. Swisher in as replacement. Two down for Wells with Scutaro at 3B, Vernon doubles hard into LF and off glove of Wise 5-2 Jays. Barajas strikes out but Jays get going.
Bottom 5th: Litsch now has to settle with this lead. Wise at bat, strikes out, Dye at bat, strikes out. Two down. Thome strikes out and Jesse strikes out the side but he is on 92 pitches, he might just get one more inning which is a shame, but he only has himself to blame. He has to settle earlier.
Top 6th: Lind at bat, full count, good patience here Adam. Singles into CF. Mench at bat one on. wild pitch and Lind moves to 2B. Lifts it into RF great running stretching catch by Dye. That would have been run number six. Rolen intentional walk to get to Johnny Mc. One down two on, grounds to 3B Uribe steps on 3B to get Lind and throw to Swisher to get Johnny Mc for third out double play but nice fielding by Uribe. Two left on base.
Bottom 6th: Litsch still in there. Swisher at bat, strikes out, four in a row for Litsch. Shift right on for Griffey. Pops up to Rolen for the second out. Ramirez at bat, with two down. First pitch swing high fly ball out to Rios in CF. Another good inning for Jesse but now over the 100 pitches and that may be his last.
Top 7th: Adam Russell pitching. Scutaro to lead off. 2-3 tonight, walks. And on base for third time tonight. Bautista bunts again and Scutaro to 2B. His second successful bunt tonight, Rios at bat that should do it, doubles into LF. Scutaro scores 6-2 Jays. Good execution by Bautista and Rios. Wells now lifts it into shallow right and great catch by Ramirez. Alex has to get all the way back to avoid doubling up. Two down for Barajas fly ball out to Ramirez in shallow left centre for third out. But Jays have added one and Bautista once again has shown his value, I would love to see him play more. Spell off Rolen. Tampa beating Boston in bottom of the 8th in Fenway.
Bottom 7th: Litsch still pitching, Overbay in at 1B. Uribe strikes out. Hall at bat, one down. Lifts it to McDonald shallow left centre. Two down. Cabrera high fly ball out to Mench in RF. Another quick inning for Jesse. 112 pitches, will he start the 8th?
Top 8th: Russell still pitching Lind at bat, singles up the middle. 2-4 tonight for Adam, that is good to see. Mench at bat, singles into RF. Two on for Rolen. Grounds to Cabrera great throw on the run but Mench safe at 2B. Bases loaded for McDonald. Singles into LF, Lind scores 7-2 Jays. Bases still loaded for Scutaro no outs. Grounds to Ramirez, diving save and very nice throw from his knees to get Mench at home plate one down but bases still loaded. That’s it for Russell. Boone Logan pitching. Overbay first at bat tonight. Grounds to Ramirez, throw to Cabrera at 2B and back to Swisher at 1B double play ball to end this inning, thanks Lyle.But Jays get another.
Bottom 8th: Carlson now pitching. Wise hard grounder at Scutaro, throw to Overbay at 1B one down for Dye. Turns on this one and doubles off the wall in LF, that was catchable by Lind he just misjudged the power of the hit. Thome at bat one down one on. Jerry Owens pinch runner for Dye. Full count and Thome walks. Swisher at bat with two on. Parrish and League working in Jays bullpen, fly ball out to Rios in CF. Owens tags and moves to 3B. Griffey at bat, first pitch gets under the hit and high fly ball out to Mench in RF for third out. Always heart in mouth with Griffey and two on base.
Top 9th: Lance Broadway pitching. Rios at bat 3-4 tonight. Pops this one up to Swisher in front of Jays dugout. Wells at bat, YES Vernon, gets hold of this one HR to RF. 8-2 Jays. Barajas strikes out. Two down for Lind, 2-4 tonight. Grounds to Ramirez at 2B throw to Swisher for the third out, but Jays have another.
Bottom 9th: League pitching, Ramirez grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for first out Uribe at bat, broken bat single into shallow LF. Hall singles into RF. Two on one down for Cabrera grounds hard to Scutaro throw to 2B to get Hall. Two down with runners at corners, Dye at bat 3-1 count. Full count.Grounds to Johnny Mc and throw to Overbay for third out.Jays win this one going away 8-2.
Preview: Second game of the double header. Jays now nine wins in a row and giving Boston and Tampa headaches looking over their shoulders. Jays are really turning up the heat and need to keep on going. This one is very difficult, the night game of a double header and Litsch pitching to this very powerful hitting White Sox lineup. He will need to be spot on tonight with his control. However whatever the outcome Jays are giving their fans something to cheer about after a miserable underachieving season. Their longest winning streak since taking a franchise-record 11 in a row in from Aug. 27-Sept. 7, 1998.
What they said: Manager Cito Gaston "I hope it doesn't stop," said. "I hope we keep rolling. It's a good streak. Hey, win as many as we can before it stops."
Burnett . "We're on a good run right now, and I just wanted to come in here and make sure I got the first game of the doubleheader and get things off on the right foot."
Burnett on his bid for his second career no-hitter : "It happens. I wasn't thinking about it. You see no hits up there, but you've got a long way to go even if it's the sixth inning."
Gaston "That ball was hit pretty hard. Maybe on turf, Rolen probably catches that ball, but it was hit pretty hard. I would say it's a hit."
Konerko on Burnett: "He's relentless. He challenges you. It's not like he's scared. ... He comes right at you, makes you hit."
Pierzynski: "It's frustrating because we had a couple chances. Things happen, you've got to move on."
Pitching: Clayton Richards (2-3, 6.39 ERA ) v Jesse Litsch (10-8, 3.76 ERA). Looks good on paper BUT Jays always have problems with the unknown pitchers. This guy is a rookie tonight but then Litsch is not far off rookie status.
Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Bautista, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Mench, Rolen, McDonald and Litsch pitching. I like Bautista in there.
Chicago: Cabrera, Wise, Dye, Thome, Konerko, Griffey Jr, Ramirez, Uribe, Hall and Clayton pitching.
The Result: Jays win 8-2. Number ten win in a row. And the double header today.
The very good: HR power, Scutaro, Rolen, Wells. Alex and Vernon five hits tonight.
The good: Bautista two sac bunts. Jays have fourteen hits. Litsch wins number nine. Johnny Mc. has two hits.
The bad: To be very picky Jays went 5/13 with runners in scoring position.
The game: Top 1st: Scutaro leading off this time. YES MARCO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gets hold of this one lead off HR to LF corner. WOW, what a great start. 1-0 Jays. Bautista fly ball out to RF Dye. One down for Rios. Alex doubles off LF wall. They are going after Richards here. Wells at bat, one down one on. grounds to SS Cabrera throw to Ramirez at 2B Rios out. Wells safe at 1B. Barajas grounds to Ramirez at 2B throw to Cabrera SS for the out. Jays have the lead although looked for a moment that it might be more. 19 pitches.
Bottom 1st:Cabrera walks on four pitches. Wise singles to CF, Cabrera to second.
Dye grounds to Rolen on to 2B Scutaro, Wise out at 2B. Cabrera moves to 3B, Dye at 1B, Thome at bat, 3-0 count. and walks him. Konerko with bases loaded. And one down. Jesse in major trouble here first inning. NOT the start Cito wanted. OH MY…. Grounds to Rolen, on to Scutaro on to Bautista DOUBLE play ball… Litsch escapes bigtime. 26 pitches.
Top 2nd: Lind at bat, sort of in a mini-slump for him, high fly ball to Griffey at the wall in CF one down, Mench he has not started for a long time, full count here, grounds to Uribe throw to Konerko for the out. Two down for Rolen. Looks at third strike and an easy inning for Richards. 28 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Let’s hope Jesse has settled here. Griffey Jr. grounds to McDonald at 2B with the shift right on, throw to Bautista for the out. One down for Ramirez, strikes out. Two down for Uribe fly ball out to Rios playing in CF this game. 38 pitches for Litsch however. I think Jays bullpen will be in this one tonight.
Top 3rd: McDonald at bat, gets hold of this one to the wall but Wise runs it down in LF on the track. Scutaro now same play high fly ball to Wise in LF on the track, Jays are hitting it hard tonight. Bautista first pitch, this is a Jays disease, grounds to ??? and Richards has a very easy three up and down inning. 35 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Toby Hall at bat, grounds to Rolen, throw to Bautista for the first out. Cabrera lines it over McDonald into LF. Wise with one on and one down, doubles to the CF wall, Cabrera holds at 3B. Dye, with two in scoring position, Litsch is fooling no one tonight. Doubles into LF corner and two runs score easily. 2-1 White Sox. Thome at bat, Cito you had better get someone up in bullpen. Grounds back at Litsch throw to Bautista for the second out. Dye holds at 2B. Konerko at bat. Grounds to Scutaro at 2B throw to Bautista for third out. 59 pitches already in three innings.
Top 4th: Rios first pitch swing, grounds to SS Cabrera throw to Konerko for the out. Wells pops first pitch up, Ramirez drops the ball, and Vernon gets to 2B. That could have been two outs on two pitches. Vernon escapes here. Barajas should make them pay here, surprise first pitch swing and grounds to 2B for the out at 1B and Wells moves to 3B. Adam Lind at bat two down. swings at first pitch. Lines hard out at Konerko at 1B for the third out, BUT that has to be rock bottom inning for this free swinging team. That could have been a three pitch inning and no one, not even Cito, can convince me that that is good hitting baseball. 44 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Griffey at bat, singles into LF, Griffey had more pitches than the four previous Jays hitters. Ramirez pops it up to Rolen for first out. Uribe at bat singles to Lind in LF. Two on one out for Hall. Fly ball out to Mench in RF, nice running catch. Runners hold. Two down two on for Cabrera. Lines hard to Scutaro leaps to make the catch at 2B. for third out and Litsch escaoes one again. 78 pitches though in four innings. 44 for the rookie Richards !
Top 5th: Mench 3-0 count and walks on four pitches. Rolen YES Scotty, he really tags this one. And it is a rocket out of here in RF. Mench and Rolen score. 3-2 Jays. McDonald lifts single softly into shallow right. One on for Scutaro bunting down the line and Richards misses the tag, safe at 1B. Two on for Bautista but that is it for Richards poor guy he had pitched well up until this inning, Jesse Litsch should be lucky he doesn’t pitch for the White Sox. This Manager has a very quick hook. in Chicago Carrasco pitching. great bunt here just down the 3B line. Bautista almost beats out the throw. Two in scoring position now for big bat Alex. Singles into RF McDonald scores and now Alex is hung up between bases and is tagged asouut as he dives back.now out. 4-2 Jays. With Scutaro at 3B. Konerko is injured though, looks like his knee as he is carried off field. That is not good. Swisher in as replacement. Two down for Wells with Scutaro at 3B, Vernon doubles hard into LF and off glove of Wise 5-2 Jays. Barajas strikes out but Jays get going.
Bottom 5th: Litsch now has to settle with this lead. Wise at bat, strikes out, Dye at bat, strikes out. Two down. Thome strikes out and Jesse strikes out the side but he is on 92 pitches, he might just get one more inning which is a shame, but he only has himself to blame. He has to settle earlier.
Top 6th: Lind at bat, full count, good patience here Adam. Singles into CF. Mench at bat one on. wild pitch and Lind moves to 2B. Lifts it into RF great running stretching catch by Dye. That would have been run number six. Rolen intentional walk to get to Johnny Mc. One down two on, grounds to 3B Uribe steps on 3B to get Lind and throw to Swisher to get Johnny Mc for third out double play but nice fielding by Uribe. Two left on base.
Bottom 6th: Litsch still in there. Swisher at bat, strikes out, four in a row for Litsch. Shift right on for Griffey. Pops up to Rolen for the second out. Ramirez at bat, with two down. First pitch swing high fly ball out to Rios in CF. Another good inning for Jesse but now over the 100 pitches and that may be his last.
Top 7th: Adam Russell pitching. Scutaro to lead off. 2-3 tonight, walks. And on base for third time tonight. Bautista bunts again and Scutaro to 2B. His second successful bunt tonight, Rios at bat that should do it, doubles into LF. Scutaro scores 6-2 Jays. Good execution by Bautista and Rios. Wells now lifts it into shallow right and great catch by Ramirez. Alex has to get all the way back to avoid doubling up. Two down for Barajas fly ball out to Ramirez in shallow left centre for third out. But Jays have added one and Bautista once again has shown his value, I would love to see him play more. Spell off Rolen. Tampa beating Boston in bottom of the 8th in Fenway.
Bottom 7th: Litsch still pitching, Overbay in at 1B. Uribe strikes out. Hall at bat, one down. Lifts it to McDonald shallow left centre. Two down. Cabrera high fly ball out to Mench in RF. Another quick inning for Jesse. 112 pitches, will he start the 8th?
Top 8th: Russell still pitching Lind at bat, singles up the middle. 2-4 tonight for Adam, that is good to see. Mench at bat, singles into RF. Two on for Rolen. Grounds to Cabrera great throw on the run but Mench safe at 2B. Bases loaded for McDonald. Singles into LF, Lind scores 7-2 Jays. Bases still loaded for Scutaro no outs. Grounds to Ramirez, diving save and very nice throw from his knees to get Mench at home plate one down but bases still loaded. That’s it for Russell. Boone Logan pitching. Overbay first at bat tonight. Grounds to Ramirez, throw to Cabrera at 2B and back to Swisher at 1B double play ball to end this inning, thanks Lyle.But Jays get another.
Bottom 8th: Carlson now pitching. Wise hard grounder at Scutaro, throw to Overbay at 1B one down for Dye. Turns on this one and doubles off the wall in LF, that was catchable by Lind he just misjudged the power of the hit. Thome at bat one down one on. Jerry Owens pinch runner for Dye. Full count and Thome walks. Swisher at bat with two on. Parrish and League working in Jays bullpen, fly ball out to Rios in CF. Owens tags and moves to 3B. Griffey at bat, first pitch gets under the hit and high fly ball out to Mench in RF for third out. Always heart in mouth with Griffey and two on base.
Top 9th: Lance Broadway pitching. Rios at bat 3-4 tonight. Pops this one up to Swisher in front of Jays dugout. Wells at bat, YES Vernon, gets hold of this one HR to RF. 8-2 Jays. Barajas strikes out. Two down for Lind, 2-4 tonight. Grounds to Ramirez at 2B throw to Swisher for the third out, but Jays have another.
Bottom 9th: League pitching, Ramirez grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for first out Uribe at bat, broken bat single into shallow LF. Hall singles into RF. Two on one down for Cabrera grounds hard to Scutaro throw to 2B to get Hall. Two down with runners at corners, Dye at bat 3-1 count. Full count.Grounds to Johnny Mc and throw to Overbay for third out.Jays win this one going away 8-2.
Masterful Burnett wins number seventeen and Jays streak hits nine.
Toronto Jays v Chicago White Sox. Tuesday September 8, 2008.
Preview: It does not get much better than this for the fans in September. Jays are really hot and this series could be very important for the AL East race. Now in third spot Jays need to stay there. Yankees lost again in Seattle last night. It will be tough of course for the Jays as White Sox are leading their division but not impossible for this lineup right now. A good start this afternoon will be huge impetus for the Jays. Jays are looking for ninth win for first time in ten years since reeling off 11 straight Aug. 27-Sept. 7, 1998. Eight games behind wild-card leading Boston but they have to play them six times. But as the cliché goes one game at a time and that is the only way to approach this. It is unreasonable to expect Jays to win the play off spot BUT they have a very good chance of upsetting he race in most of their series left in September. The magic number remains at 12 thanks to the sweep of Twins and Rays and Rays los in Fenway last night. The Rays have a very, very tough road trip after Toronto. Fenway now for three and then Yankees Stadium and even if Yankees get swept by the Angels this week you know they will be fired up for Tampa at the weekend.
The Jays swept a four-game home series from White Sox May 2-5. Outscoring them 12-5 in their series in May, posting two shutouts. BUT that was the month that they went 20-10… Toronto has not won five straight over Chicago in a single season since winning seven in a row May 28-Sept. 6, 1989.
White Sox have lost star Quentin for surgery on his broken wrist and have a 2.5 game lead over the Twins.
What they said: Barajas "We have something fun going here," If we would've had a little better first half, we'd be in a lot better situation." (Rod you don’t have to remind all the Jays fans of that.)
Pitching: Javier Vazquez (11-12, 4.34), v A.J Burnett (16-10, 4.47 ERA) his first start of the season against Chicago. Burnett is 1-2 with a 3.55 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.
Vazquez has pitched well at home lately, but he has not received much help from his offense. In his last five starts at U.S. Cellular Field, Vazquez is 1-4 with a 3.55 ERA, as he's been backed by eight total runs of support in those four losses. Vazquez also pitched well in his only start of the season against Toronto on May 5, but again didn't get much help. At Rogers Centre, the right-hander allowed one run and eight hits with nine strikeouts in 7 2-3 innings of a 1-0 loss. He is 2-2 with a 1.15 ERA in his last four starts versus the Jays.
Game is now game one of double header on Tuesday,
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, McDonald, Rios, Wells, Lind, Overbay, Rolen, Zaun, Snider and Burnett pitching.
Chicago: Cabrera, Pierzynski, Dye, Thome, Konerko, Griffey jr, Ramirez, Swisher, Uribe and Vazquez pitching.
The Result: Jays win another heart stopper with BJ. 3-1 but Burnett was masterful.
The very good: Burnett today was masterful today and but for McDonald’s two errors might have gone eight innings. One hit in seven innings work and deserves win number seventeen.
The good: Overbay two more hits including two run double and Inglett’s single in the ninth to make it three. Ryan recovering from walking first two hitters in the ninth to save the game.
The bad: McDonald without a doubt today on his play in the sixth which lead to a run instead of getting Burnett out of the inning. And a second error in the seventh BUT redeems himself with a more typical play in the eighth to start double play.
The game: Top 1st: Inglett leading off, grounds to 2B Ramirez, one down. McDonald at bat, I am not a big fan of putting Johnny Mc. in second, Cito is gambling that Inglett can get on for bunt, didn’t work last game but I guess Cito is playing the percentages, full count, Johnny Mc. walks. Rios at bat, AL player of the week, singles into LF, two on for Wells, now please Vernon not first pitch swing. Vazquez has already walked one, takes first pitch. Grounds back to Vazquez throw to Cabrera at 2B to get Alex but not in time to get Vernon. Two on at the corners. Lind grounds first pitch to 1B Konerko for third out. A little hasty there Adam. 17 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Konerko grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay for first out. Pierzynski, grounds out to Overbay at 1B. Dye at bat two down, strikes out on great breaking ball.18 pitches.
Top 2nd: Overbay at bat, full count, see Adam? Strikes out this time. Rolen still playing every game? Fly ball in shallow right centre Ramirez takes it. Zaun first pitch pop up to Uribe. That was pretty bad at bat Gregg. I don’t think you will be second game today. Vazquez has had at least three full counts so far so come on take a couple of pitches. 27 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: I feel sorry for AJ not getting chance to sit let alone relax the way this team hits some days. Thome at bat, gets under this one fortunately, high fly ball out to Wells in CF. Konerko at bat one down, strikes out this time. Griffey Jr. we saw this guy in Dunedin but in Reds uniform, high fly ball out to Wells in CF. Three up and down for AJ, nice inning. 28 pitches.
Top 3rd: Snider at bat, will be interesting to see if he has been watching Vazquez from the bench, strikes out but takes a couple. Inglett with one down, full count, grounds back to Vazquez throw to Konerko for second out. McDonald at bat, strikes out. 42 pitches.Burnett is not getting much help yet from his hitters.
Bottom 3rd: Ramirez dropping bunt here but foul. Hit on the elbow. One on for Swisher, number eight guy with 24 HRs, ??? grounds to Inglett flip to Burnett drops the ball. Error to AJ. Two on, no outs for Uribe. Trying bunt here. strikes out, That is good. One down for top of the order again. Cabrera at bat, strikes out on great breaking ball in the dirt. Two down for Pierzynski grounds hard to Johnny Mc. throw to Overbay for the out. AJ escapes his own trouble but pitch count climbing. 48 pitches.
Top 4th: Rios at bat, interesting goes 0-2 and then takes three pitches down and away, very different from earlier in the season when he would swing and miss at that pitch every time, walks here, very good at bat Alex. Vernon we need a big one here now, not this time grounds to Konerko throw to Ramirez back to 1B and double play. You have to start wondering why Cito does not start Alex in these situations. Lind now with two down, takes first two pitches! strikes out swinging. Four strikeouts for each pitcher. 56 pitches and in a double header the count may be important for the team that gets into the other’s bullpen earliest, this is a four game series but two today.
Bottom 4th: Dye grounds to Inglett, throw to Overbay for out number one. Thome at bat, high fly ball out to Snider this time, right at the wall. Burnett escapes a second time with Thome. Konerko with two down. 3-0 count and walks him on four pitches. Griffey Jr. with one on and two down. Full count.60 strikes him out, that was huge. 61 pitches.
Top 5th: Overbay at bat, yes Lyle, gets hold of this one, doubles over the head of LF Swisher and off the wall in LF, Rolen now with runner at 2B. strikes out swinging. Zaun at bat, full count. walks him. Nice at bat Gregg. Snider now with two on and one down. Pops it up to Cabrera behind 2B. two down. Inglett now with two on and two down. Pops it up to SS and Jays leave Overbay lead off double stranded. No one could move him 90 feet ? Cito may have to start thinking some strategy instead of waiting for a hit. Get runners moving? 79 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Ramirez at bat, didn’t like that strike call. Full count after 0-2. Grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for first out. Swisher another full count. Breaks his bat pops up to Rolen. Two down for Uribe. pops up to Inglett, nice play Joe running to his left behind Overbay. 80 pitches.
Top 6th: McDonald at bat, high fly ball out to LF Swisher. Rios, high fly ball out to Griffey in CF. two down. Wells now with two down. Grounds to Cabrera cannot get Wells at 1B on the throw. Lind now with one on and two down. Long time since Adam came through, perhaps today?? This might be it singles to right centre and Vernon gets to 3B , first time for a Jays hitter to get there today. Overbay now with runner at 3B, another full count. Adam has head start. YES LYLE, hard drive off the wall in RF corner. Wells scores Lind scores, 2-0 Jays. Rolen at bat with Overbay at 2B and two down. Can he bring him in here? Pops it up first pitch, Ramirez at 2B doesn’t even have to move. Don’t tell me that is good hitting. I hope Cito moves Rolen out for Bautista for the second game.99 pitches.
Bottom 6th: AJ has the lead for the first time in this game. Can he shut Sox down here? Cabrera at bat, singles off the glove of Rolen at 3B first hit today for Sox. Pierzynski, bunts in front of plate and Zaun throw to McDonald 2B is good to get Cabrera. Great throw Gregg. One down for Dye. Grounds to McDonald messes up this one bigtime. Tries to rush it himself and misses the bal. Error to McDonald. Both runners safe that was a double play ball easily. Poor AJ. Thome now. Wild pitch and both runners move up. 3-0 count. Thome at bat, fly ball to Snider in LF, Pierzynski, tags and scores on the throw. Two down but 2-1 Jays. Konerko with Dye at 2B. Full count. High fly ball out to Wells in CF. Johnny Mc. owes AJ bigtime. That error not only caused a run but probably also cost AJ another inning of work. 98 pitches. Hitters have to get it back for Burnett here.
Top 7th: Horacio Ramirez pitching to Zaun as leadoff. Full count, lines this one hard to LF Swisher. Snider now at bat, one down, full count, and walks, nice at bat Travis. Inglett and top of the order now to bring him in here with one down. Fly ball out to Swisher in LF. Two down. McDonald ? That’s it for Ramirez, Ehren Wasserman now pitching. Johnny Mc. owes Burnett a hit here. Grounds to Cabrera at SS throw to 2B gets Snider.
Bottom 7th: Burnett still pitching Griffey at bat, shift on for Griffey right and grounds to McDonald behind Overbay flip to Lyle for the first out. Ramirez hard grounder out to McDonald, bounces off him, another error on him, second today. Swisher at bat, Ramirez stealing and Zaun’s throw not in time and into shallow CF. strikes out. Two down. Cito is out but AJ says he is ok. Uribe at bat, League and Carlson up in bullpen. Ramirez stealing but Uribe strikes out on three pitches. 112 pitches for Burnett but could have been a lot fewer but for McDonald’s errors today.
Top 8th: Wasserman still pitching. Rios grounds to Uribe at 3B throw to Konerko for the out. Wells at bat, fly ball out to Dye in RF. Two down. Lind at bat, that’s it for Wasserman. Matt Thornton pitching, three pitch strike out, but Lind blind swinging at them. Not a good at bat by Lind. Cito may need to drop him down the order for a couple games to get his confidence and stroke back.
Bottom 8th: Barajas catching. Downs now pitching. Cabrera at bat, 3-0 count, not what Cito wanted. Now walks him. Pierzynski at bat with one on. Downs in early trouble here. Bunting Downs throw to Inglett gets Cabrera. Spikes were high there going into Inglett. One down. Jerry Owen pinch running. Dye at bat, singles up the middle.Two on one down. Thome at bat. Grounds to McDonald throw to Inglett at 2B on to Overbay. DOUBLE PLAY ball. Finally Johnny Mc. comes through big time. That was huge in that situation and it was atypical of Johnny Mc. Going to his right, backhand play and spinning for the throw to 2B.
Top 9th: Can Jays hitters get another or two? Overbay at bat, strikes out, Thornton is just pouring in the strikes. But that’s it for him, Guillen is out to make change. Pitcher number five is Mike MacDougal called up in September from AAA. Rolen at bat, 3-0 count. Grounds to Uribe 3B throw to Konerko for the second out. That was ball four Scott. Barajas at bat, singles into LF. One on two down for Snider hitless today. Singles into RF, Barajas moves to 3B, nice at bat Travis. Inglett now, two down singles into RF Barajas scores and Snider to 2B. 3-1 Jays. McDonald at bat, two on and two down, strikes out looking, not his best day today. Here comes BJ Ryan, hold on to your seatbelts friends.
Bottom 9th: Konerko at bat, 3-1 count, walks him. Here comes Griffey. Jason Bourgeous pinch runner for Konerko another 3-1 count. Another walk, two on, no outs. Here comes Arnsberg. Brian Anderson pinch runner for Griffey. Now the bunt? Ramirez at bat, bunting and misses twice now strikes him out swinging. Swisher at bat, strikes out on three pitches. Two down for Uribe taps it back to Ryan, throw to Overbay for the out. Jays win 3-1. Number nine in a row. Heart stopping by BJ….. but he gets it done. Burnett win number seventeen. BJ Ryan save number twenty eight.
Is Boston getting anxious ? They should be.
Preview: It does not get much better than this for the fans in September. Jays are really hot and this series could be very important for the AL East race. Now in third spot Jays need to stay there. Yankees lost again in Seattle last night. It will be tough of course for the Jays as White Sox are leading their division but not impossible for this lineup right now. A good start this afternoon will be huge impetus for the Jays. Jays are looking for ninth win for first time in ten years since reeling off 11 straight Aug. 27-Sept. 7, 1998. Eight games behind wild-card leading Boston but they have to play them six times. But as the cliché goes one game at a time and that is the only way to approach this. It is unreasonable to expect Jays to win the play off spot BUT they have a very good chance of upsetting he race in most of their series left in September. The magic number remains at 12 thanks to the sweep of Twins and Rays and Rays los in Fenway last night. The Rays have a very, very tough road trip after Toronto. Fenway now for three and then Yankees Stadium and even if Yankees get swept by the Angels this week you know they will be fired up for Tampa at the weekend.
The Jays swept a four-game home series from White Sox May 2-5. Outscoring them 12-5 in their series in May, posting two shutouts. BUT that was the month that they went 20-10… Toronto has not won five straight over Chicago in a single season since winning seven in a row May 28-Sept. 6, 1989.
White Sox have lost star Quentin for surgery on his broken wrist and have a 2.5 game lead over the Twins.
What they said: Barajas "We have something fun going here," If we would've had a little better first half, we'd be in a lot better situation." (Rod you don’t have to remind all the Jays fans of that.)
Pitching: Javier Vazquez (11-12, 4.34), v A.J Burnett (16-10, 4.47 ERA) his first start of the season against Chicago. Burnett is 1-2 with a 3.55 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.
Vazquez has pitched well at home lately, but he has not received much help from his offense. In his last five starts at U.S. Cellular Field, Vazquez is 1-4 with a 3.55 ERA, as he's been backed by eight total runs of support in those four losses. Vazquez also pitched well in his only start of the season against Toronto on May 5, but again didn't get much help. At Rogers Centre, the right-hander allowed one run and eight hits with nine strikeouts in 7 2-3 innings of a 1-0 loss. He is 2-2 with a 1.15 ERA in his last four starts versus the Jays.
Game is now game one of double header on Tuesday,
Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, McDonald, Rios, Wells, Lind, Overbay, Rolen, Zaun, Snider and Burnett pitching.
Chicago: Cabrera, Pierzynski, Dye, Thome, Konerko, Griffey jr, Ramirez, Swisher, Uribe and Vazquez pitching.
The Result: Jays win another heart stopper with BJ. 3-1 but Burnett was masterful.
The very good: Burnett today was masterful today and but for McDonald’s two errors might have gone eight innings. One hit in seven innings work and deserves win number seventeen.
The good: Overbay two more hits including two run double and Inglett’s single in the ninth to make it three. Ryan recovering from walking first two hitters in the ninth to save the game.
The bad: McDonald without a doubt today on his play in the sixth which lead to a run instead of getting Burnett out of the inning. And a second error in the seventh BUT redeems himself with a more typical play in the eighth to start double play.
The game: Top 1st: Inglett leading off, grounds to 2B Ramirez, one down. McDonald at bat, I am not a big fan of putting Johnny Mc. in second, Cito is gambling that Inglett can get on for bunt, didn’t work last game but I guess Cito is playing the percentages, full count, Johnny Mc. walks. Rios at bat, AL player of the week, singles into LF, two on for Wells, now please Vernon not first pitch swing. Vazquez has already walked one, takes first pitch. Grounds back to Vazquez throw to Cabrera at 2B to get Alex but not in time to get Vernon. Two on at the corners. Lind grounds first pitch to 1B Konerko for third out. A little hasty there Adam. 17 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Konerko grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay for first out. Pierzynski, grounds out to Overbay at 1B. Dye at bat two down, strikes out on great breaking ball.18 pitches.
Top 2nd: Overbay at bat, full count, see Adam? Strikes out this time. Rolen still playing every game? Fly ball in shallow right centre Ramirez takes it. Zaun first pitch pop up to Uribe. That was pretty bad at bat Gregg. I don’t think you will be second game today. Vazquez has had at least three full counts so far so come on take a couple of pitches. 27 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: I feel sorry for AJ not getting chance to sit let alone relax the way this team hits some days. Thome at bat, gets under this one fortunately, high fly ball out to Wells in CF. Konerko at bat one down, strikes out this time. Griffey Jr. we saw this guy in Dunedin but in Reds uniform, high fly ball out to Wells in CF. Three up and down for AJ, nice inning. 28 pitches.
Top 3rd: Snider at bat, will be interesting to see if he has been watching Vazquez from the bench, strikes out but takes a couple. Inglett with one down, full count, grounds back to Vazquez throw to Konerko for second out. McDonald at bat, strikes out. 42 pitches.Burnett is not getting much help yet from his hitters.
Bottom 3rd: Ramirez dropping bunt here but foul. Hit on the elbow. One on for Swisher, number eight guy with 24 HRs, ??? grounds to Inglett flip to Burnett drops the ball. Error to AJ. Two on, no outs for Uribe. Trying bunt here. strikes out, That is good. One down for top of the order again. Cabrera at bat, strikes out on great breaking ball in the dirt. Two down for Pierzynski grounds hard to Johnny Mc. throw to Overbay for the out. AJ escapes his own trouble but pitch count climbing. 48 pitches.
Top 4th: Rios at bat, interesting goes 0-2 and then takes three pitches down and away, very different from earlier in the season when he would swing and miss at that pitch every time, walks here, very good at bat Alex. Vernon we need a big one here now, not this time grounds to Konerko throw to Ramirez back to 1B and double play. You have to start wondering why Cito does not start Alex in these situations. Lind now with two down, takes first two pitches! strikes out swinging. Four strikeouts for each pitcher. 56 pitches and in a double header the count may be important for the team that gets into the other’s bullpen earliest, this is a four game series but two today.
Bottom 4th: Dye grounds to Inglett, throw to Overbay for out number one. Thome at bat, high fly ball out to Snider this time, right at the wall. Burnett escapes a second time with Thome. Konerko with two down. 3-0 count and walks him on four pitches. Griffey Jr. with one on and two down. Full count.60 strikes him out, that was huge. 61 pitches.
Top 5th: Overbay at bat, yes Lyle, gets hold of this one, doubles over the head of LF Swisher and off the wall in LF, Rolen now with runner at 2B. strikes out swinging. Zaun at bat, full count. walks him. Nice at bat Gregg. Snider now with two on and one down. Pops it up to Cabrera behind 2B. two down. Inglett now with two on and two down. Pops it up to SS and Jays leave Overbay lead off double stranded. No one could move him 90 feet ? Cito may have to start thinking some strategy instead of waiting for a hit. Get runners moving? 79 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Ramirez at bat, didn’t like that strike call. Full count after 0-2. Grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for first out. Swisher another full count. Breaks his bat pops up to Rolen. Two down for Uribe. pops up to Inglett, nice play Joe running to his left behind Overbay. 80 pitches.
Top 6th: McDonald at bat, high fly ball out to LF Swisher. Rios, high fly ball out to Griffey in CF. two down. Wells now with two down. Grounds to Cabrera cannot get Wells at 1B on the throw. Lind now with one on and two down. Long time since Adam came through, perhaps today?? This might be it singles to right centre and Vernon gets to 3B , first time for a Jays hitter to get there today. Overbay now with runner at 3B, another full count. Adam has head start. YES LYLE, hard drive off the wall in RF corner. Wells scores Lind scores, 2-0 Jays. Rolen at bat with Overbay at 2B and two down. Can he bring him in here? Pops it up first pitch, Ramirez at 2B doesn’t even have to move. Don’t tell me that is good hitting. I hope Cito moves Rolen out for Bautista for the second game.99 pitches.
Bottom 6th: AJ has the lead for the first time in this game. Can he shut Sox down here? Cabrera at bat, singles off the glove of Rolen at 3B first hit today for Sox. Pierzynski, bunts in front of plate and Zaun throw to McDonald 2B is good to get Cabrera. Great throw Gregg. One down for Dye. Grounds to McDonald messes up this one bigtime. Tries to rush it himself and misses the bal. Error to McDonald. Both runners safe that was a double play ball easily. Poor AJ. Thome now. Wild pitch and both runners move up. 3-0 count. Thome at bat, fly ball to Snider in LF, Pierzynski, tags and scores on the throw. Two down but 2-1 Jays. Konerko with Dye at 2B. Full count. High fly ball out to Wells in CF. Johnny Mc. owes AJ bigtime. That error not only caused a run but probably also cost AJ another inning of work. 98 pitches. Hitters have to get it back for Burnett here.
Top 7th: Horacio Ramirez pitching to Zaun as leadoff. Full count, lines this one hard to LF Swisher. Snider now at bat, one down, full count, and walks, nice at bat Travis. Inglett and top of the order now to bring him in here with one down. Fly ball out to Swisher in LF. Two down. McDonald ? That’s it for Ramirez, Ehren Wasserman now pitching. Johnny Mc. owes Burnett a hit here. Grounds to Cabrera at SS throw to 2B gets Snider.
Bottom 7th: Burnett still pitching Griffey at bat, shift on for Griffey right and grounds to McDonald behind Overbay flip to Lyle for the first out. Ramirez hard grounder out to McDonald, bounces off him, another error on him, second today. Swisher at bat, Ramirez stealing and Zaun’s throw not in time and into shallow CF. strikes out. Two down. Cito is out but AJ says he is ok. Uribe at bat, League and Carlson up in bullpen. Ramirez stealing but Uribe strikes out on three pitches. 112 pitches for Burnett but could have been a lot fewer but for McDonald’s errors today.
Top 8th: Wasserman still pitching. Rios grounds to Uribe at 3B throw to Konerko for the out. Wells at bat, fly ball out to Dye in RF. Two down. Lind at bat, that’s it for Wasserman. Matt Thornton pitching, three pitch strike out, but Lind blind swinging at them. Not a good at bat by Lind. Cito may need to drop him down the order for a couple games to get his confidence and stroke back.
Bottom 8th: Barajas catching. Downs now pitching. Cabrera at bat, 3-0 count, not what Cito wanted. Now walks him. Pierzynski at bat with one on. Downs in early trouble here. Bunting Downs throw to Inglett gets Cabrera. Spikes were high there going into Inglett. One down. Jerry Owen pinch running. Dye at bat, singles up the middle.Two on one down. Thome at bat. Grounds to McDonald throw to Inglett at 2B on to Overbay. DOUBLE PLAY ball. Finally Johnny Mc. comes through big time. That was huge in that situation and it was atypical of Johnny Mc. Going to his right, backhand play and spinning for the throw to 2B.
Top 9th: Can Jays hitters get another or two? Overbay at bat, strikes out, Thornton is just pouring in the strikes. But that’s it for him, Guillen is out to make change. Pitcher number five is Mike MacDougal called up in September from AAA. Rolen at bat, 3-0 count. Grounds to Uribe 3B throw to Konerko for the second out. That was ball four Scott. Barajas at bat, singles into LF. One on two down for Snider hitless today. Singles into RF, Barajas moves to 3B, nice at bat Travis. Inglett now, two down singles into RF Barajas scores and Snider to 2B. 3-1 Jays. McDonald at bat, two on and two down, strikes out looking, not his best day today. Here comes BJ Ryan, hold on to your seatbelts friends.
Bottom 9th: Konerko at bat, 3-1 count, walks him. Here comes Griffey. Jason Bourgeous pinch runner for Konerko another 3-1 count. Another walk, two on, no outs. Here comes Arnsberg. Brian Anderson pinch runner for Griffey. Now the bunt? Ramirez at bat, bunting and misses twice now strikes him out swinging. Swisher at bat, strikes out on three pitches. Two down for Uribe taps it back to Ryan, throw to Overbay for the out. Jays win 3-1. Number nine in a row. Heart stopping by BJ….. but he gets it done. Burnett win number seventeen. BJ Ryan save number twenty eight.
Is Boston getting anxious ? They should be.
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