Game 133 – Leaving Bats on the Bench

Another night in St. Petersburg and another 1-run loss. The Jays outscored the Rays 8 to 6 in the series yet only won one game. In the 6 games at the Trop they outscored the Rays 22 to 18 but went 2 – 4. Even if you include the sweep in Orlando the Jays were only outscored 34 to 32 and yet went 2 - 7.

The Jays had some chances throughout the game but went just 2 for 9 w/RISP. The Jays had at least 1 runner on in every inning but the 7th and 9th. Their best chance came in the 6th when they had 1st and 3rd none out but couldn’t score. They finally broke through in the 8th w/a pair of runs but PR Eckstein was left standing at 2nd.

It seemed like nothing would drop in for the Jays. Jackson only struck out 2 batters and he retired 15 in the air (10 by the OF) versus 3 on the ground. It started right from the get go as Hinske made a great diving grab on a bloop down the left field line to start the game.

I would have had Stairs PH for Barajas in the 8th. However, since Cito stuck w/Barajas and he ended up getting a 2B, then why didn’t he use Stairs for Bautista to follow. At the very least use Zaun for Bautista since at that point you only needed a 1B to tie it.

Litsch pitched ok in this game giving up 3 runs in 6.2 innings. He gave up 10 hits but what really did him in was a pair of solo homers. Litsch was able to avoid further runs scoring thanks to the Rays going just 1 for 6 w/RISP.

I can’t believe Cito actually used the hit and run in the game. It is just too bad that Scutaro swung through the pitch and Inglett was thrown out. I wouldn’t say it was the ideal place to try it though. Scutaro isn’t my favourite hitter to use but the bigger issue is doing it against Jackson after he just issued a walk. Jackson seems to be realizing his potential this season but he still struggles w/control sometimes. Plus he has good movement on his pitches, which I think is part of his control problem, so it is harder to get a good pitch to make contact with even if you expect a strike.

Jose Bautista had a tough game going 0 for 4. 3 times he came up w/a RISP and he struck out 2 of the 3 times.

Onto the stats:
Adv: Wells (4)
P-Adv: Bradford
Adv+: Lind (4), Upton
P-Adv+: Litsch (2), Jackson
WG: McDonald (11), Hinske