GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: TORONTO (40-43) at OAKLAND (43-40)

AL: TORONTO at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TORONTO 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 10 9 2
OAKLAND 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 7 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: TOR - DUSTIN MCGOWAN, JORDAN DEJONG (8TH), BRIAN TALLET (8TH) AND
GREGG ZAUN

OAK - JOE KENNEDY, SHANE KOMINE (1ST), JAY MARSHALL
(8TH) AND JASON KENDALL

HOME RUNS: TOR - MATT STAIRS (13) OFF SHANE KOMINE IN THE 3RD, 1 ON
VERNON WELLS (12) OFF SHANE KOMINE IN THE 6TH, 0 ON

OAK - NONE</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TORONTO 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 10 9 2
OAKLAND 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 7 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: TOR - DUSTIN MCGOWAN, JORDAN DEJONG (8TH), BRIAN TALLET (8TH) AND
GREGG ZAUN

OAK - JOE KENNEDY, SHANE KOMINE (1ST), JAY MARSHALL
(8TH) AND JASON KENDALL


WP - DUSTIN MCGOWAN (5-4)
LP - JOE KENNEDY (2-7)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: TOR - MATT STAIRS (13) OFF SHANE KOMINE IN THE 3RD, 1 ON
VERNON WELLS (12) OFF SHANE KOMINE IN THE 6TH, 0 ON

OAK - NONE


TIME: 2:54 ATT: 26,566

PROBABLES: SEA - MIGUEL BATISTA (8-6, 4.63)
OAK - CHAD GAUDIN (7-3, 2.92)

PROBABLES: CLE - CLIFF LEE (5-4, 4.90)
TOR - ROY HALLADAY (9-3, 4.27)</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">TORONTO (10) VS OAKLAND (3) - FINAL

TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
V Wells cf 4 2 2 1 1 0 0 .255
A Rios rf 3 1 2 3 1 0 1 .295
T Glaus 3b 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .277
H Clark 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .294
F Thomas dh 4 1 1 0 1 1 4 .247
A Hill 2b 4 2 0 1 1 0 4 .265
M Stairs lf 4 1 2 4 0 1 0 .297
A Lind lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .230
G Zaun c 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 .226
C Thigpen 1b 4 0 0 0 1 0 2 .286
R Clayton ss 3 2 0 0 1 0 3 .226

Totals 34 10 9 10 8 2 15

BATTING: 2B - M Stairs (9, J Kennedy); V Wells (22, S Komine); A Rios (21, J
Marshall). HR - M Stairs (13, 3rd inning off S Komine 1 on, 1 Out), V Wells
(12, 6th inning off S Komine 0 on, 1 Out). SF - G Zaun , A Rios. RBI - A Hill
(47), M Stairs 4 (33), G Zaun (20), A Rios 3 (50), V Wells (46). Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - F Thomas 1, R Clayton 1, A Hill 2. Team LOB - 8.


FIELDING: E - A Rios (5, fly ball); H Clark (1, throw). DP: 1 (A Hill-R
Clayton-C Thigpen).


OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Stewart lf 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 .305
M Kotsay cf 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .246
D Brown rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
N Swisher rf-cf 4 1 1 0 0 2 3 .267
J Cust dh 4 1 1 2 0 1 3 .280
E Chavez 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .249
D Murphy 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
D Johnson 1b 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 .269
M Ellis 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .270
B Crosby ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .232
J Kendall c 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .223

Totals 35 3 7 3 2 6 15

BATTING: 2B - E Chavez (21, D McGowan); N Swisher (19, J DeJong); J Cust (10, J
DeJong). RBI - J Cust 2 (41), D Johnson (36). 2-out RBI - D Johnson. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - J Cust 1, J Kendall 1, B Crosby 1. GIDP - J
Cust. Team LOB - 7.


----------------------------------------------------
TORONTO - 402 101 020 -- 10
OAKLAND - 000 000 030 -- 3
----------------------------------------------------

TORONTO ip h r er bb so hr era
D McGowan (W, 5-4) 7 4 0 0 2 4 0 4.65
J DeJong 2/3 3 3 1 0 0 0 6.75
B Tallet 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.89

OAKLAND ip h r er bb so hr era
J Kennedy (L, 2-7) 2/3 2 4 4 4 0 0 4.28
S Komine 6 1/3 6 4 4 1 1 2 5.68
J Marshall 2 1 2 2 3 1 0 5.83

HBP - R Clayton (by S Komine). Pitches-strikes: D McGowan 101-62; J DeJong
30-18; B Tallet 21-13; J Kennedy 36-17; S Komine 96-56; J Marshall 51-26.
Ground balls-fly balls: D McGowan 8-9; J DeJong 0-2; B Tallet 1-1; J Kennedy
0-2; S Komine 10-8; J Marshall 3-2. Batters faced: D McGowan 27; J DeJong 6; B
Tallet 4; J Kennedy 8; S Komine 27; J Marshall 10.

UMPIRES: HP--Larry Vanover. 1B--Greg Gibson. 2B--Tony Randazzo. 3B--Charlie
Reliford.

T--2:54. Att--26,566.
Weather: 70 degrees, sunny. Wind: 8 mph, in from
center.</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
TORONTO 10
OAKLAND 3 FINAL</div>

 

Stairs, Blue Jays crush Athletics in rubber match

<h3>OAKLAND 10, TORONTO 3</h3>OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Canadian Matt Stairs gaveCanada's only major league team a lift on Independence Day.

Stairs drove in four runs and homered and Dustin McGowan pitchedseven scoreless innings as the Toronto Blue Jays cruised to a10-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the finale of athree-game series on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Stairs hit a two-run double as part of afour-run opening frame and added a two-run homer in the third.

After Alex Rios singled, Athletics starter Joe Kennedy (2-7)issued three straight walks to set the stage for Stairs, whohammered a double to deep left and Gregg Zaun followed with anRBI sacrifice fly to give the Blue Jays an early 4-0 advantage.

A native of St. John, New Brunswick, Stairs sent Oaklandreliever Shane Komine's 2-0 offering just over the left fieldwall to open up a 6-0 lead in the third inning. The formerAthletic has 13 home runs on the season.

McGowan (5-4) surrendered just four hits and two walks with fourstrikeouts.

After giving up back-to-back singles to Shannon Stewart and MarkKotsay in the third, the 25-year-old McGowan retired 10 of thenext 11 batters before Eric Chavez led off the seventh with aground-rule double.

Vernon Wells added a solo home run in the sixth inning to givethe Blue Jays an 8-0 lead.

Toronto extended its advantage to 10-0 in the eighth on atwo-run double by Rios, who was 6-for-11 with five RBI in theseries.

Kennedy had his shortest outing of his career as a starter,surrendering four runs and two hits with four walks over just2/3 innings. It was also the shortest outing by an Oaklandstarter since Joe Blanton went one-third of an inning againstthe Tampa Bay Devil Rays on May 25, 2005.

Oakland ended Toronto's shutout bid in the eighth when Jack Custhit a two-run double to right field to cut the deficit to 10-2.

 

AL: TORONTO at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TORONTO (10) AT OAKLAND (3) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TORONTO 1ST: V Wells flied out to right. A Rios singled to center.
T Glaus walked, A Rios to second. F Thomas walked, A Rios to third, T Glaus to
second. A Hill walked, A Rios scored, T Glaus to third, F Thomas to second.
M Stairs doubled to left, T Glaus and F Thomas scored, A Hill to third. G Zaun
hit sacrifice fly to left, A Hill scored. C Thigpen walked. S Komine relieved
J Kennedy. R Clayton grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, C Thigpen out
at second. (4 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 4, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 3RD: F Thomas singled to left. A Hill grounded into fielder's
choice to shortstop, F Thomas out at second. M Stairs homered to left, A Hill
scored. G Zaun grounded out to second. C Thigpen flied out to right. (2 Runs,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 6, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 4TH: R Clayton hit by pitch. V Wells doubled to deep left,
R Clayton to third. A Rios hit sacrifice fly to left, R Clayton scored.
H Clark grounded out to first, V Wells to third. F Thomas popped out to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 7, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 6TH: R Clayton flied out to center. V Wells homered to left.
A Rios walked. H Clark singled to left, A Rios to second. F Thomas lined out
to center. A Hill flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8,
OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 8TH: J Marshall relieved S Komine. D Murphy at third base.
R Clayton walked. V Wells walked, R Clayton to second. A Rios doubled to deep
center, R Clayton and V Wells scored. H Clark grounded out to pitcher, A Rios
to third. F Thomas struck out swinging. A Hill flied out to center. (2 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 10, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 8TH: J DeJong relieved D McGowan. A Lind in left field. S Stewart
safe at first on throwing error by third baseman H Clark. D Brown flied out to
center. N Swisher doubled to deep right, S Stewart to third. J Cust doubled
to deep right, S Stewart and N Swisher scored. D Murphy flied out to left.
D Johnson singled to right, J Cust scored. B Tallet relieved J DeJong. M Ellis
flied out to right. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) TORONTO 10, OAKLAND 3.</div>

 

AL: TORONTO at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TORONTO (10) AT OAKLAND (3) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toronto Starting Lineups -- V Wells CF, A Rios RF, T Glaus 3B, F Thomas DH,
A Hill 2B, M Stairs LF, G Zaun C, C Thigpen 1B, R Clayton SS, D McGowan RHP.

Oakland Starting Lineups -- S Stewart LF, M Kotsay CF, N Swisher RF, J Cust DH,
E Chavez 3B, D Johnson 1B, M Ellis 2B, B Crosby SS, J Kendall C, J Kennedy LHP.

Umpires -- Larry Vanover (HP), Greg Gibson (1B), Tony Randazzo (2B),
Charlie Reliford (3B).

Gametime Weather: 70 degrees, Sunny, wind in from center at 8 mph.


TORONTO 1ST: V Wells flied out to right. A Rios singled to center.
T Glaus walked, A Rios to second. F Thomas walked, A Rios to third, T Glaus to
second. A Hill walked, A Rios scored, T Glaus to third, F Thomas to second.
M Stairs doubled to left, T Glaus and F Thomas scored, A Hill to third. G Zaun
hit sacrifice fly to left, A Hill scored. C Thigpen walked. S Komine relieved
J Kennedy. R Clayton grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, C Thigpen out
at second. (4 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 4, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 1ST: S Stewart flied out to right. M Kotsay lined out to center.
N Swisher flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 4, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 2ND: V Wells grounded out to shortstop. A Rios grounded out to
shortstop. T Glaus popped out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 4,
OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 2ND: J Cust struck out swinging. E Chavez flied out to left.
D Johnson safe at second on error by right fielder A Rios. M Ellis walked.
B Crosby grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) TORONTO 4,
OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 3RD: F Thomas singled to left. A Hill grounded into fielder's
choice to shortstop, F Thomas out at second. M Stairs homered to left, A Hill
scored. G Zaun grounded out to second. C Thigpen flied out to right. (2 Runs,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 6, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 3RD: H Clark at third base. J Kendall flied out to center.
S Stewart reached on infield single to shortstop. M Kotsay singled to right,
S Stewart to second. N Swisher struck out swinging. J Cust lined out to center.
(0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 6, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 4TH: R Clayton hit by pitch. V Wells doubled to deep left,
R Clayton to third. A Rios hit sacrifice fly to left, R Clayton scored.
H Clark grounded out to first, V Wells to third. F Thomas popped out to second.
(1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 7, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 4TH: E Chavez grounded out to second. D Johnson struck out
swinging. M Ellis grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TORONTO 7, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 5TH: A Hill flied out to right. M Stairs struck out swinging.
G Zaun singled to right center. C Thigpen grounded into fielder's choice to
third, G Zaun out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 7, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 5TH: B Crosby grounded out to second. J Kendall popped out to
second. S Stewart grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TORONTO 7, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 6TH: R Clayton flied out to center. V Wells homered to left.
A Rios walked. H Clark singled to left, A Rios to second. F Thomas lined out to
center. A Hill flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8,
OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 6TH: M Kotsay walked. N Swisher struck out swinging. J Cust
grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, M Kotsay out at
second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 7TH: D Brown in right field. N Swisher in center field. M Stairs
grounded out to second. G Zaun grounded out to shortstop. C Thigpen grounded
out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 7TH: E Chavez hit a ground rule double to deep left. D Johnson
flied out to right. M Ellis grounded out to pitcher. B Crosby singled to
left, E Chavez to third. J Kendall popped out to second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) TORONTO 8, OAKLAND 0.

TORONTO 8TH: J Marshall relieved S Komine. D Murphy at third base.
R Clayton walked. V Wells walked, R Clayton to second. A Rios doubled to deep
center, R Clayton and V Wells scored. H Clark grounded out to pitcher, A Rios
to third. F Thomas struck out swinging. A Hill flied out to center. (2 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 10, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 8TH: J DeJong relieved D McGowan. A Lind in left field. S Stewart
safe at first on throwing error by third baseman H Clark. D Brown flied out to
center. N Swisher doubled to deep right, S Stewart to third. J Cust doubled
to deep right, S Stewart and N Swisher scored. D Murphy flied out to left.
D Johnson singled to right, J Cust scored. B Tallet relieved J DeJong. M Ellis
flied out to right. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) TORONTO 10, OAKLAND 3.

TORONTO 9TH: A Lind grounded out to first. G Zaun walked. C Thigpen flied
out to right. R Clayton grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TORONTO 10, OAKLAND 3.

OAKLAND 9TH: B Crosby struck out looking. J Kendall grounded out to third.
S Stewart struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 10, OAKLAND 3.</div>

 

Stairs, Blue Jays crush Athletics in rubber match

<h3>OAKLAND 10, TORONTO 3</h3>OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Canadian Matt Stairs gaveCanada's only major league team a lift on Independence Day.

Stairs drove in four runs and homered and Dustin McGowan pitchedseven scoreless innings as the Toronto Blue Jays cruised to a10-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the finale of athree-game series on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Stairs hit a two-run double as part of afour-run opening frame and added a two-run homer in the third.

"Winning this series is huge," Stairs said. "After losing lastnight it was nice to get the momentum back with a win today. Itmakes it easier with the off-day tomorrow, and the long flight,to hopefully keep up the momentum for the next series."

After Alex Rios singled, Athletics starter Joe Kennedy (2-7)issued three straight walks to set the stage for Stairs, whohammered a double to deep left and Gregg Zaun followed with anRBI sacrifice fly to give the Blue Jays an early 4-0 advantage.

"He was having trouble throwing strikes," Stairs said. "It wasone of those things where we were playing A's baseball by beingpatient and taking a lot of pitches. We were able to get theruns early and keep it going."

A native of St. John, New Brunswick, Stairs sent Oaklandreliever Shane Komine's 2-0 offering just over the left fieldwall to open up a 6-0 lead in the third inning. The formerAthletic has 13 home runs on the season.

"He's still a very good player and hasn't lost much," Blue Jaysmanager John Gibbons said. "He has a knack for getting the bighit. That's what he does."

McGowan (5-4) surrendered just four hits and two walks with fourstrikeouts.

"When we hit like that we're tough to beat," McGowan said."When you have a lead like that it makes it easier to pitch, butyou still have to be able to pound the zone. Early on I wasn'table to do that, but once I settled down I was able keep theball down and still go after their hitters."

"It makes it easier to pitch when you have a lead like that,"Gibbons said. "It makes it easier to get away with mistakes.The way he's been pitching lately, you don't even worry aboutthat."

After giving up back-to-back singles to Shannon Stewart and MarkKotsay in the third, the 25-year-old McGowan retired 10 of thenext 11 batters before Eric Chavez led off the seventh with aground-rule double.

Vernon Wells added a solo home run in the sixth inning to givethe Blue Jays an 8-0 lead.

Toronto extended its advantage to 10-0 in the eighth on atwo-run double by Rios, who was 6-for-11 with five RBI in theseries.

The only negative for the Blue Jays was a foot injury sufferedby third baseman Troy Glaus in the second inning.

Glaus fouled a ball of his left foot and was replaced in thefield by Howie Clark in the third.

"They took some X-rays and they were inconclusive," Gibbonssaid. "He'll get checked out tomorrow. We'll know more then."

Kennedy had his shortest outing of his career as a starter,surrendering four runs and two hits with four walks over just2/3 innings. It was also the shortest outing by an Oaklandstarter since Joe Blanton went one-third of an inning againstthe Tampa Bay Devil Rays on May 25, 2005.

"He had trouble throwing strikes early," Athletics manager BobGeren said. "He threw 36 pitches in the first inning and afterlast night, I knew we had some bullpen to work with. I thoughtwe might be able to salvage it by bringing Shane (Komine) in."

"You're going to have outings like that," Oakland catcher JasonKendall said. "You just have to move on and go at them againthe next time."

Oakland ended Toronto's shutout bid in the eighth when Jack Custhit a two-run double to right field to cut the deficit to 10-2.