Barajas and Burnett win this one big.

Saturday May 17th 2008. Toronto v Philadelphia

Jays need a win tonight. Yankees have already lost. Burnett 3-4, 4.94 ERA. Had no run support against Cleveland in his last start. Eaton pitching for Phillies 0-1, 5.40 and looking for first win since last September.

Result: Jays win this one 6-3.

The very good: Barajas two HR’s, grand slam and one in the 8th 5RBI night. He must have felt good about his return to Philadelphia. A J Burnett second game in a row.
The good: Bullpen Downs and Ryan. Contributions all round Rolen, Inglett, Stewart, Wilkerson,Rios.
The bad: Running game tonight with three thrown out at home plate.

Lineups: Jays: Wilkerson, Inglett, Rios, Rolen, Stairs, Overbay, Scutaro, Barajas, Burnett pitching.
Phillies: Rollins, Werth, Utley, Howard, Burrell, Jenkins, Dobbs, Coste, Eaton pitching.
Inglett in the lineup, Hill night off.
Werth after last night has moved way up the order tonight for the big bats behind him.

Top 1st: Wilkerson pops up to 3B. Inglett at bat singles to 2B. Rios now who has started to come around with his bat. Patience Alex 3-1 count fly ball to RF. Rolen again to the boos from home crowd. Doubles to LF, Inglett to 3B. Stairs at bat, Inglett out at plate trying to score. Great relay by Burrell to Rollins to Coste. Eaton 14 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Burnett pitching. Phillies will find him just a little different from Purcey last night I hope. Rollins, lines out to Overbay at 1B. Werth last night’s hero promoted in the order for his efforts, gets nice applause from crowd. Strikes out. Jays will like that one. Utley grounds to Overbay. 11 pitches for AJ. Nice inning.

Top 2nd: Stairs now at bat. Hits him. Overbay at bat. Lines softly into LF. Two on for Scutaro singles to RF. Bases loaded. Barajas ex-Philly crowd not that positive !!! Let’s see how he responds with bases loaded and no outs. YES BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! Houston we have lift-off to RF stands. GRAND SLAM 4-0 Jays…. Burnett at bat. Strikes out that’s ok AJ. Wilkerson again one down. Fly ball shallow CF Rollins get sit backpedalling. Now Inglett strikes out looking. Eaton 38 pitches. Jays five hits now.
Bottom 2nd: AJ with good lead now. Can he just relax and pitch now. Howard at bat. Strikes out. Burrell grounds out to Scutaro. Jenkins fly ball first pitch to Wilkerson. 24 pitches for AJ.

Top 3rd: Alex now, first pitch hard hit up the middle diving catch by Utley, Alex robbed but great hit. Boos again must be Scott Rolen walks still gets boos. Stairs aims for the moon misses first pitch. Next pitch right on his knee but Matt gets out of way. Strikes out. Overbay lines one to RF but great play by Jenkins running in. Great defence by Phillies saves Eaton this inning. 50 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Dobbs grounder up 1B line, AJ gets it and throws him out. Coste pops up to Barajas, two down. Eaton now at bat. Walks him. Rollins singles to right centre. Eaton at 3B. Now Jaysen Werth. Rollins steals. Walks him. Utley at bat with bases loaded. The hottest NL hitter with 14 HR’s. Trouble city AJ. Ground balls to Overbay. Burnett escapes trouble. 46 pitches.

Top 4th: How will Eaton do now having been on base for last ten minutes. Scutaro at bat. 3-0 Marco is very patient. Walks on full count. More boos must be Barajas again. High pop up to 2B. Burnett again looking at bunt. Gets it down on third attempt. Scutaro at 2B. Wilkerson now. Full count. Scutaro ready to run singles to RF off glove of 2B. Scutaro called safe at home plate by umpire but goes back and is caught on second attempt. Weird play. Scutaro should have watched umpire first time. Second Jay tonight out at home plate. 73 pitches for Eaton.
Bottom 4th: Howard full count, strikes out. Burrell grounds out to Inglett at 2B. Jenkins lines single into LF. Dobbs wild pitch but Jenkins holds at 1B. Doubles to left centre. Jenkins scores. 4-1 Jays. Coste strikes him out. Burnett 62 pitches count is good so far for AJ.

Top 5th: Inglett at bat full count. Fly ball to LF. Rios at bat grounds to SS. Rolen more boos. Another base hit, this time single to CF he will take all the boos. Stairs singles to right center. Two on now for Overbay chops it to 2B. That’s it. Leaves two on. 90 pitches for Eaton.
Bottom 5th: Taguchi now pinch hitting for Eaton. Grounds to Inglett nice play. Rollins strikes out. Werth at bat. Walks him for second time. Utley now at bat. Werth steals. Full count now. Werth will be running. Strikes him out. 84 pitches though for AJ.

Top 6th: Ryan Madson now pitching. Scutaro at bat 3-1 count, walks. Barajas more boos, long fly ball to CF. Scutaro tags but thrown out at 2B. Burnett now, grounds out to SS.
Bottom 6th: Howard strikes him out for third time tonight. Burrell fly ball out to Rios in front of scoreboard in CF. Jenkins strikes him out. Number eight tonight.

Top 7th: Top of order for Jays now. Can they put this one away ? Burnett is close to end now. Wilkerson at bat lines one to LF Burrell good catch. Inglett grounds in hole at 3B. Rollins gets him. Rios now, come on Alex, not this time soft grounder to 3B. Three up and down for Jays.
Bottom 7th: Burnett now at 100 pitches. How long will he go? Do we see Carlson, Downs and Ryan to end this one? My call. Dobbs at bat. Singles to LF. Coste Benitez throwing. Coste pop up to Overbay. One down. Victorino to pinch hit for Madson. Here comes Captain Hook. That’s it for AJ but this time Armando Benitez coming in. One down one on. Dobbs stealing, throw wrong side to bag. Walks Victorino. Rollins now at bat. Double to RF corner, two runs score. 4-3 Jays. Werth now with Rollins at 2B. Wild pitch. Rollins moves up to 3B. Strikes HIM out. Big strikeout. Here comes Captain Hook. Downs now pitching plus Hill comes in for Inglett and will take Burnett’s place in lineup. Utley at bat. Hits him on hand. Two on now for Howard. Gets hold of it and hard liner to RF but right at Stairs. Breathe again friends. That was much too close.

Top 8th: Big bats.. Need to come through this inning and give some more breathing room for pitchers. J.C. Romero pitching Rolen at bat. Fly ball to RF Jenkins. Stewart now at bat for Stairs. Off the wall in LF a double for Shannon. Overbay grounds to SS. Overbay out, Stewart moves to 3B. Charlie Manuel out, Romero is out of game. Tom Gordon now pitching. Scutaro at bat. Grounds to 2B.
Bottom 8th: Downs pitching. Burrell at bat grounds out to Scutaro, one down. Bruntlett pinch hitting for Jenkins first pitch swinging fly ball to RF corner, good catch by Wilkerson at the wall in foul ground. Dobbs strikes out. Three up and down for Scott Downs.

Top 9th: Come on friends we need some more runs here. Barajas at bat. Rockets away !!!!! Huge HR to LF. No question about that one. 5 RBIs now for Barajas. 5-3 Jays. Hill grounds to SS Hill beats out Rollins throw. Wilkerson at bat. Hill steals 2B. Wilkerson pops up to 3B in foul ground. One down. Hector Luna pinch hitting for pitcher’s place in lineup. Hector we just need a hit, don’t be a hero. Luna lines it to SS, Rollins throws it away at 1B. Hill scores. 6-3 Jays. Error to Howard at 1B. Alex now, this is your turn, singles to LF that’s good. Luna to 2B. Charlie Manuel out now for new pitcher. Two on one out. Rudy Seanez. Rolen now at bat. Payback time Scott. Not today. Huge fly ball out to right centre. Hill tags and moves to 3B.Two down for Stewart. NO. What was on there ? Seanez fakes throw to 3B turns to 1B but Rios stealing but Utley throws home and gets Luna. Third time tonight Jays caught at home plate.
Bottom 9th: B.J. Ryan now pitching Coste at bat pops up to Hill. Victorino fly ball to Stewart in LF nice running catch. Two down now. Rollins at bat doubles to LF corner. Feliz pinch hitting. Rollins takes 3B defensive indifference. Strikes him out. Eighth save for BJ. Win for Burnett. 6-3 Jays a very good win on the road against a tough side.

Player news: Eckstein down to Dunedin for rehab. Purcey last night as most of bullpen had pitched on Thursday. Litsch on his bullpen night also, so was available. Jays really need someone in bullpen who can eat three or four innings. No Wolfe available right now.

Yankees and Tampa have both lost today. Boston and Orioles win. Jays move ahead of Yankees and pull one back from Tampa.