Cubs lose a close one at the Rogers Centre, 3-2 to the Blue Jays

The Chicago Cubs, in a low scoring game by their standards, lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in a close one by the score of 3-2.

Coming into the game, the Cubs were 19 games over .500 at 43-24, while the Jays were at an even .500 at 34-34. The Cubs, with the best record in baseball, were at the beginning of an interleague play stint that will include the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Chicago White Sox. Starters for the game were Sean Gallagher of the Cubs and A.J. Burnett of the Blue Jays.

Both starters had trouble putting their batters away during the game, and both averaged about 20 pitches per inning during their five innings of work.

Early on, Ryan Theriot got his 13th steal of the year, and the Cubs had a runner in scoring position with no one out. However, with the bases loaded, they were unable to capitalize as Geovany Soto flew out to left to end the inning.

The Jays got into a similar situation with a leadoff double by Alex Rios, and were also unable to score the runner.

In the next inning, the Cubs were retired in order and the Jays also went down without scoring.

The Jays struck first in the third inning, with another double by Rios followed by back-to-back jacks by Matt Stairs and Scott Rolen. These runs would prove to be the difference in the game. By the end of the inning, Gallagher had thrown 65 pitches and was well on his way to his final count of 98.

The Cubs were unable to respond and went down in order. However, they managed to milk 59 pitches out of Burnett on his way to his final count of 111.

In the following inning, the Cubs struck back with authority. Following a base hit by Kosuke Fukudome, Jim Edmonds hit a monster double to right center, scoring Fukudome and bringing the score to 3-1. Mark DeRosa struck out in the following at bat, ending the inning for the Cubs.

Gallagher retired the side after a leadoff walk to Joe Inglett, and the Cubs escaped the inning unscathed.

Neither team managed to do much in the 5th, with both pitchers shutting the door on their opposition in what would be their final innings of work.

In the 6th, the Cubs struck again with yet another base hit by Fukudome and an unexpected RBI from Eric Patterson, who was batting .077 at the beginning of the game. A 6-4-3 double play followed, thus ending the inning.

In the bottom half, Patterson made a terrific play on a single to left following a base hit and a sacrifice bunt moving the runner into scoring position, giving Patterson his first assist of the year and saving the Cubs a run. The Cubs got out of the inning with no score.

The Cubs and Jays went through the rest of the game with no scoring. B.J Ryan got the save for the Jays.

The Cubs play next on Saturday, June 14 at 11:30.