game 75 - 36 - 39 - Jays are striking out too much and it was hurting the run production

Jo Jo Reyes went back to Atlanta and stepped onto the mound he had started on for years and like may times before he lost the game and it was the two homers he gave up who his 5 hits and his 2 walks that cost him as he gave 4 earned runs as Dan Uggla hit his 10th homer of the season a two-run shot in the second and Brain McCann hit his 13th homer of the season also a two-run shot in the third. After pitching 5.1 innings the Jays went to their bullpen and Shawn Camp got the final 2 outs in the sixth inning and then Jon Rauch came in and faced pinch hitter Brooks Conrad with one out and Conrad hit a ball deep originally it was called foul but the Umpires went back into the club house to look at it on TV and the call was overturned and was called a homer and it was Conrad's third of the season and Jon Rauch got the next two batters out and Luis Perez pitched the eighth and gave up a single to Brian McCann and that was it 2.2 innings pitched a run on 2 hits for the bullpen.

So U think that the Jays bats were asleep again if the Braves won 5-1 and the only offense to show for it was Jose Bautista second homer of June and 22 on the season but in reality the Jays had 6 hits and 4 walks (almost half of what they had in the prior 5 games) for 10 runners reaching base while the Braves had 7 hits and 2 walks for 9 runners reaching base so the Jays were on base more often. It was the timely hitting Yunel Escobar singles to open the game and steals second and Patterson, Bautista, and Lind with a runner in scoring position all strike out swinging. In the second Juan Rivera singled and Arron Hill walked around a J.P. fly out to center field so U have runners on first and second with one out and Jayson Nix and Jo Jo Reyes both strike out swinging. In the seventh inning with one out Rajai Davis gets a single and Jose Bautista and then after Adam Lind grounds out Juan Rivera walks to load the bases but the n J.P. struck out swinging. Which means that the Jays were not very patient at the plate as Braves starter Brandon Beachy in his 6 innings pitched had 11 Ks and the bullpen had 2 more and the Jays have struck out 65 times in last 7 games which means they need to be more selective of the pitches they take and the pitches they swing at because whatever they are doing it is not working especially when they have RBI opportunities.

Now the Jays head for St. Louis and the good news is that they will not face Albert Pujols but the bad news is that thwy are still 40-34

Tom Mehegan