Halladay wins one but thanks to the Canuck grand slam

Wednesday. May 14th, 2008. Jays v Twins.

Toronto going for third in a row on the road.

Jays win this one 6-5.

Lineups. Jays: Wilkerson, Hill, Rios, Rolen, Stairs, Overbay, Stewart, Zaun, Scutaro and Halladay pitching.
Twins: Gomez, Tolbert, Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel, Young, Lamb, Casilla and Bonser pitching

The very good: Stairs grand slam first inning. Zaun defence in 4th to get over-aggressive Young.
The good: Halladay but gave away a four run lead, not his usual style. Strikes out nine but much fewer ground balls. Downs nice save. Rolen steal in eighth almost a bad mistake but ends up as the winning run and the luck changes for the Jays.
The bad: Rios 0-4 tonight although two good hits. Needs to get it going his average is sinking fast but I think a couple of hits will get him back on track and they really need him with Wells out.

Top 1st: Bonser pitching. Wilkerson infield single. Hill singles to CF. Wilkerson to 3B Hill at 1B. Rios strikes out . Rolen at bat with two on, walks. Stairs at bat bases loaded.
Stairs first pitch YES GRAND SLAM……to RF same place as last night same deck. 4-0.Jays WOWEEEE#E……Frank who ????? Overbay at bat, grounds to 2B. Stewart lines hard to LF but great catch at 3B. I think Halladay will take a 4-0 lead before he even pitches 1st inning. 28 pitches for Bonser.
Bottom 1st: Gomez strikes out. Rookie Matt Tolbert lines it up the middle off Halladay’s leg. Mauer fly ball to Stewart in LF. Two down. Morneau HR to CF. 4-2. Not good…. This is Canada Day eh ! Cuddyer at bat two down, high chopper off home plate no chance to get him at 1B. Kubel at bat. Doubles to right centre scores Cuddyer, 4-3. Young with Kubel at 2B. strikes out. 4-3 I guess Jays can find any way to make a game interesting after being staked to 4-0 lead in first inning. Hallady 25 pitches.

Top 2nd: Zaun first pitch fly ball to LF. Scutaro grounds to Casilla at SS. Wilkerson now for second time tonight walks here. Hill now. Pops up to 2B.
Bottom 2nd: Can Halladay settle down now ? Lamb at bat. Strikes out. Second for Halladay. Casilla tries to bunt, strikes out, now three consecutively. Gomez strikes out. Four now for Roy much better inning.

Top 3rd: Rios first pitch, great swing but fly ball to LF. Just missed it Alex. Rolen full count but pops up to 3B. Two down for Stairs. Full count. Just gets under it fly ball to CF.
Bottom 3rd: Tolbert singles to CF. Mauer singles to RF. Wilkerson throw to 3B doesn’t get him, back to 2B. safe. Two on now in scoring position. Morneau at bat. No outs. This is NOT good. Strikes him out very good Roy. Cuddyer now grounds to SS run scores this game is tied 4-4. Cuddyer out at 1B. Two down. Mauer at 2B. Kubel lines back catch to Scutaro. What are the odds of staking Halladay to 4-0 lead in first inning and losing it all by the 3rd? Perhaps Jays bats have been right, he pitches better with no lead, certainly way off tonight. Halladay has six strikeouts.

Top 4th: Bonser, 55 pitches so far. Overbay at bat. Lines out to Lamb at 3B. One down. Stewart 3-0 count, walks on four pitches. Zaun pops up shallow CF. Two down. Scutaro singles to RF. Stewart to 2B. Top of the order again Wilkerson singles to LG, Stewart scores, 5-4 Jays. Scutaro to 3B. Wilkerson two hits tonight. Bullpen now working. Hill now, keep the line moving along Aaron. 76 pitches now for Bonser. Fly ball to RF.
Bottom 4th: OK Roy you have the lead back. Smarten up. Young fly ball to RF, singles to RF but too far around bag, Zaun gets behind him at 1B. Wilkerson nice throw to Zaun to get Young. One down. Lamb strikes him out, number seven. Casilla at bat, strikes him out. 59 pitches. Eight strikeouts.

Top 5th: Rios grounds to SS. Rolen grounds to 3B Stairs strikes out. Not the best of innings for Toronto.
Bottom 5th: Gomez at at grounds to Overbay. One down. Tolbert pops up to Rolen at 3B. Mauer grounds to SS. 84 pitches for Halladay. Two more innings max… and will BJ Ryan be available to night after two consecutive nights ?

Top 6th: This should be his last inning. 95 pitches for Bonser. Overbay first pitch fly ball to LF. Come on Lyle. Stewart grounds to 2B. This is too easy for Bonser. Make him pitch a few. Zaun strikes out, Not good at bats by Toronto.
Bottom 6th: Morneau lines to Rolen playing off base, great catch. Cuddyer grounds under glove of Rolen into LF. Error to Rolen. Kubel also first pitch swing, pops up to SS. Young singles to RF. Cuddyer to 3B. Lamb fly ball to Wilkerson Halladay 91 pitches.

Top 7th: New pitcher Rincon. Scutaro lines this one hard. Lamb great catch, should have been at least a double to LF. Wilkerson grounds to Lamb. Hill grounds to SS, fumbles it but great throw to get Hill in very close bang bang play. Toronto has met two hot defensive teams this week in Cleveland and Minnesota who have taken away many, many great hits and multiple bases.
Bottom 7th: Casilla fouls out to Rolen on bunt attempt. Gomez grounds to SS. Scutaro hurries throw wild into foul ground. Gomez gets to 2B. Error to Scutaro. Tolbert back to Halladay throws to Rolen tags out Gomez. Tolbert at 1B. Captain Hook for Halladay at 105 pitches. Jesse Carlson in. Mauer at bat. Fly ball to Stewart.

Top 8th: Jesse Crain now pitching. Now Alex young man… time to step up, relax, and hit the cover off that ball. Well, you tried Alex, long fly ball into RF corner on the track BUT still a zero tonight. Rolen doubles to CF. Stairs at bat, now Rolen stealing, caught between bases. Crain throws it away down right field line, Rolen to 3B but Marty Pevey waving him in and Rolen scores. 6-4 Jays. WOW… Another weird play. Error to Crain. Stairs pops out to 3B. Overbay 3-0 count and walks. Stewart first pitch swing grounds to 3B.
Bottom 8th: Carlson still pitching. Morneau at bat singles to RF. That’s it for Jesse. Camp now pitching Cuddyer at bat. Strikes out at ball wide. Kubel doubles to LF wall. Morneau scores 6-5. Young grounds to Scutaro gets Young at 1B. Two down. Kubel to 3B. Gibbons out again, that’s it for Camp. Tallet now pitching. Harris pinch hitting for Lamb full count now, strikes out. Breathe again Toronto fans and Halladay.

Top 9th: Minnesota closer Joe Nathan now pitching. Zaun strikes out on high ball. Scutaro lines to Tolbert at 3B. Wilkerson two singles and a walk tonight. Strikes out another high ball.
Bottom 9th: Downs pitching for third night in a row. Monroe pinch hitting for Casilla. Jays have Mench in for Stewart. Fly ball to Rios in LF one down. Gomez grounds to Scutaro throws him out this time at 1B. Tolbert fly ball to RF nice running catch by Wilkerson.
Jays win this one 6-5. Halladay win and Downs save.

Three in a row now for Jays and Halladay win even though he almost gives it away. A couple of strange plays and some good fortune for a change for Toronto.