Opening day 2008 in Yankee land.

April 1. 2008. Opening day at Yankee Stadium. The last one in current stadium.

Lineups:

Jays: Eckstein, Stewart, Rios, Wells, Thomas, Overbay, Hill, Scutaro, Zaun and Halladay pitching.

NYY: Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Rodriguez, Giambi, Cano, Posada, Matsui, Cabrera ,Wang pitching.

The good: Halladay 7 innings and and Downs relief inning. Double plays, two stolen bases by Scutaro, and one for Rios. Jeter caught stealing by Zaun.

Bad: the first pitch swinging, Wells of course and Thomas but at least he had an excuse he was exhausted after being on bases for so long last at bat.

Ugly: Jays 1-12 Runners in scoring position…. Déjà vu 2007. And of course the big guys.

The game: Top of 1^st. Eckstein grounds to SS, Stewart base hit down 3B line, Rios lines to LF, two on, Wells shatters bat with hit up the middle, great catch by second base and doubles up Rios.

Bottom of 1^st. Damon strikes out on 3 pitches, Jeter grounds to 1B, Abreu single to RF, Rodriguez double to CF scores Abreu. NYY 1-0. Giambi flies to CF.

Top of 2^nd. Thomas single to LF, Overbay down 3B line Rodriguez could only get glove on play, Thomas to 2B, Hill flies to RF Thomas moves to 3B, Scutaro grounds to Giambi, Thomas scores 1-1, Lyle moves to 2B. Zaun at bat Scutaro steals 2B, Zaun up the middle Jeter throws to 2B.

Bottom of 2^nd. Cano single to LF off Scutaro’s glove, Posada grounds into double play. Matsui grounds to Hill at 2B.

Top of 3^rd. Eckstein strikes out, Stewart lines to 2B on first pitch, catching disease from Wells, Rios walks, Wells first pitch swinging, wow… grounds to SS.

Bottom of 3^rd. Cabrera grounds to 1B, Damon grounds to 3B, Jeter single to RF, Abreu at bat, Jeter running Zaun good throw to get him… Jays have really improved catching runners this year.

Top of 4^th Thomas first pitch ( he is tired after all) grounds to Jeter, one down. Overbay high fly ball to Right centre field Cabrera great catch up against the wall, saves at least a double, Hill lines hard into right centre gap, Cabrera again great diving catch to his right saves a double and catches the highlight reel tonight.

Bottom of 4^th. Abreu single to RF, Rodriguez to SS double play ball, Giambi grounds back to Halladay. Another sharp inning by Halladay getting those ground ball outs.

Top of 5^th. Scutaro walks, this guy uses his brain and has great patience, perhaps it will rub off on the first pitch swinging club, Zaun at bat Scutaro steals second, his second steal of the game, Zaun single to RF Scutaro to 3B, Eckstein grounds to 1B, Scutaro holds, Stewart grounds to 3B, Scutaro scores, two down 2-1 Jays. Rios strikes out.

Bottom of 5^th. Canoe flies to RF, Posada strikes out, Matsui up the middle, Eckstein great play to throw him out. Yankees have such depth in their lineup… Matsui batting eighth tonight had 100rbis in 2007.

Top of 6^th. Wells dribbler to 3B, Thomas grounds to SS, Overbay breaks bat with grounder to 2B. The heart of the order… hmmmm.

Bottom of 6^th. Cabrera the hero with his fielding tonight, and a HR to RF makes him a legend, just creeps over a leaping Rios in the corner but it counts…. 2-2. Damon grounds to 1B, Jeter grounds back to Hallady, Abreu grounds to 2B. Halladay pitching very well but so is Wang and Jays bats once again are letting Halladay down.

Top of 7^th. Hill tries again and this time successful, a double to same location as before but this time Cabrera cannot snare it, Hill is still hot from Spring. Scutaro lines head high to Giambi who is playing well in anticipating bunt, Zaun ground ball to Jeter Hill to 3B, Eckstein grounds to 3B. Jays tonight are 1-11 with runners in scoring position. Ouch bigtime. I feel sorry for Halladay.

Bottom of 7^th. Rodriguez single to CF, shift on for Giambi, Rodriguez running, Giambi walks, Posada walks, bases loaded, Matsui grounds to 2B, run scores, 3-2 NYY. Abreu strikes out three pitches.

Top of 8^th. Chamberlain pitching, Stewart grounds out to 2B, Rios walks, Wells at bat, Rios steals, Wells strikes out, Thomas strikes out, Thomas strikes out. Jays 1-12 with runners in scoring position. Halladay must be seething.

Bottom of 8^th. Halladay’s numbers. 7 innings, 7 hits, 3earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 95 pitches.

Downs pitching, Damon lead-off triple to CF, Wells foolishly tries to do a Cabrera and dives for an impossible catch, ball goes to the wall, some on Vernon, use your head, in a one run game ??? Jeter bounces to Downs looks Damon back and throws Jeter out at 1B. Abreu grounds to Overbay, maybe Downs can escape trouble. Rodriguez intentionally walked, Giambi grounds to Hill at 2B. Very nice pitching from Downs.

Top of 9^th. Rivera pitching. Overbay strikes out, Hill fly ball to LF, Scutaro grounds to 2B.

This was a very winnable game for the Jays that they let get away.