Jays bats continue their eruption. McGowan wins another.

Friday May 30th 2008. Toronto v Angels.

Jays want to start this series well. To keep momentum going. McGowan has to keep that pitch count down.

Jays: Stewart, Scutaro, Rios, Rolen, Stairs, Overbay, Barajas, Willkerson, Eckstein and McGowan pitching.
Angels: Izturis, Mathews. Guerrero, Anderson, Hunter, Kotchman, Kendrick, Wood, Napoli and Weaver pitching.

Result: Jays win 10-4.

The good: 5th inning with four runs scoring great situational hitting four times. Overbay two Home Runs. The bats up and down lineup. Bullpen pitching. Jays now 31-26 and also 16-15 on the road the only team in the East with winning record on the road.
The bad: Wild throw to 1B by McGowan in 4th resulting in Angels run.

Top 1st: Stewart at bat singles in front of Guerrero in RF. Scutaro at bat flies out to Guerreo in the RF corner. Rios now, fouling pitch after pitch here, ten pitch at bat for Alex. Strikes out, Two down. Rolen grounds hard at Wood at 3B. Cannot handle it and both runners safe. Two on two out for Stairs, rolls this one to Kotchman at 1B. Two left on bases but Weaver’s pitch count already 23.
Bottom 1st: McGowan pitching tonight. Izturis full count, fly ball to Rios in CF. Mathews at bat, strikes out, great curve there for Dustin. Now Guerrero, be careful here Dustin shatters his bat as he grounds out to Rolen at 3B. Nice pitching Dustin. 14 pitches.

Top 2nd: Overbay, 0-11 right now. Full count. He gets hold of this one. THERE she goes, Lyle has HR deep into RF corner. 1-0 Jays and Lyle break his slump. Barajas at bat, lines one into shallow CF. Wilkerson at bat with one on. Grounds to Kotchman gets Barajas at 2B but cannot get Wilkerson. Eckstein getting a standing ovation here from fans. Pops up to Kotchman. Two down. Stewart at bat wild pitch here Wilkerson breaks for 2B. Fly ball to Guerrero. Weaver almost at 50 pitches already. Jays four hits.
Bottom 2nd: Anderson at bat lines one to LF. Hunter lines it past Overbay for double. Two on in scoring position with Kotchman at bat. Fly ball to Rios in shallow CF. Anderson not running on Alex. One down. Kendrick fly ball to Wilkerson this one scores Anderson. 1-1. Two down. Wood with Hunter now at 3B. Full count. Strikes him out and escapes with minimal damage one run. 34 pitches. Rays have already won tonight. Yankees winning and Boston tied up in extra innings.

Top 3rd: Bats need a few more to give Dustin some room. Scutaro at bat fly ball to Guerrero in RF. Rios at bat singles one here to CF Hunter traps it. Alex at 1B. Will he be going? Rolen at bat now, hits this high to LF just misses HR ball hits wall Rios was running and scores easily, Rolen into 3B. 2-1 Jays. Stairs at bat with one down and Rolen at 3B. Singles into shallow centre, Rolen scores 3-1 Jays. Stairs at 1B Overbay now at bat strikes him out swinging at pitch outside. Barajas grounds it to Kotchman at 1B. Weaver now at 78 pitches. Jays seven hits.
Bottom 3rd: Napoli at bat strikes him out. Third of the night for McGowan. Izturis at bat 3-0 now. Walks him. This is Dustin’s Achilles heel. Leadoff hitter on for Mathews. Bunts to 1B. McGowan wild throw up base line and Izturis scores but Wilkerson’s throw gets Mathews at 3B poor base running there. Error to McGowan. 3-2 Jays Guerrero at bat with two down. Strikes him out. Could have been worse again. 46 pitches for McGowan. Yankees have won. Boston still fighting Baltimore bottom of 12th.

Top 4th: Wilkerson grounds to Kendrick, throw to Kotchman gets Wilkerson. Eckstein with one down. Fly ball to Mathews in LF. Stewart at bat. Grounds this one to Wood at 3B. Three up and down for Weaver. 90 pitches. Baltimore had bases loaded in bottom of 12th but could not score. Game in 13th.
Bottom 4th: Anderson high fly ball to Rios in front of 400’ sign. One down. Hunter at bat. Drives this one to CF. Kotchman at bat, Hunter running on this pitch gets to 3B Singles to RF. Hunter scores. 3-3. Kendrick fly ball to Wilkerson in RF, nice running catch. Two down. Wood at bat fly ball to Rios in CF. McGowan 61 pitches.

Top 5th: Scutaro at bat. Singles up the middle. Rios at bat singles to RF. Alex 2-3 tonight. Two on now for Rolen singles to LF Scutaro scores. 4-3 Jays. Stairs now with two one. That’s it for Weaver 95 pitches. Darren Oliver now pitching to Stairs. Rios at 2B and Rolen at 1B. Strikes him out on three pitches. One down. Overbay singles to LF. Alex scores. 5-3 Jays. Nice at bat by Lyle. Barajas now with two on and one out. Wild pitch and both runners move up into scoring position. Grounds to 2B. Rolen scores. 6-3 Jays. Two down now with Overbay at 3B. Wilkerson singles to LF. Overbay scores. 7-3 Jays. Eckstein with two on now. Grounds out to SS. I think the main message in this inning was the Jays bats scoring with runners in scoring position three times. Compare that to earlier in the season.
Bottom 5th: Now McGowan has a great lead, shut the door Dustin. Napoli grounds to Eckstein. One down. Izturis full count after 0-2 here, lines out to Eckstein leaping catch two down. Mathews grounds to Scutaro. Three up and down for McGowan. 76 pitches. Baltimore loses to Boston in 13 innings.

Top 6th: Stewart at bat grounds back to Oliver. Scutaro good hit to right centre but Guerrero runs it down at the wall and robs him of a double. Two down for Rios who is 2-3 tonight. Jays have twelve hits tonight. Alex grounds out to SS. Three up and down for Oliver.
Bottom 6th: Now the ever dangerous Guerrero McGowan has to pitch with care here. Strikes him out swinging. Anderson at bat fly ball to shallow RF Wilkerson. Two outs. Hunter at bat with two down. Singles past Eckstein 3-3 tonight. Kotchman 3-0 come on Dustin don’t walk him. Hunter stealing. Kotchman now singles up the middle Hunter scores. 7-4. Kendrick strikes out. 98 pitches, that is probably it for him tonight. Frasor is warming up. Neither Downs nor BJ Ryan pitched last night.

Top 7th: Ex-Jay Justin Speier pitching now. Rolen at bat. 3-3 tonight. First pitch swinging fly ball to Guerrero. Stairs now at bat grounds out to 2B. Overbay 2-3 tonight. Lyle gets hold of this one. OUT OF HERE…. Over the wall in RF corner. 8-4 Jays. Two HRs tonight for Lyle. 13 hits for Jays. Barajas strikes out.
Bottom 7th: McGowan finished Jason Frasor now pitching. Reggie Willis pinch hitting for Wood, walks him. Get Frasor out of here please. Napoli now at bat. Willis steals 2B. No throw. Napoli strikes out. One down. Here comes Captain Hook he can’t stand this suspense either. Brian Tallet now pitching. Izturis grounds to Eckstein great throw to get Izturis. Two down. Willis holds at 2B. Mathews strikes out. Big out for Tallet he didn’t want to lose Mathews and bring Guerrero out there with two on.

Top 8th: Wilkerson at bat. Quinlan at 3B for Wood. Chris Bootcheck pitching. Great bunt single by Wilkerson. Eckstein now only one without a hit. Wilkerson running and Eckstein bounces it to 2B thrown out at 1B. Stewart now at bat with runner in scoring position. Stewart fly ball to Guerrero in RF. Wilkerson holds. Scutaro now at bat, 3-0 count, doubles down RF line. Wilkerson scores. 9-4 Jays. Rios now at bat with Scutaro in scoring position, full count grounds out to Kendrick at 2B.
Bottom 8th: Benitez now pitching. Inglett in LF for Stewart. Guerrero at bat strikes out third time tonight. Anderson at bat strikes out. Hunter at bat strikes him out. Benitez strikes out the heart of the Angels big bats. Great pitching. What an acquisition to have coming out of bullpen. Good hire JP.

Top 9th: Rivera in RF for Guerrero. Valddy hit one off his left knee earlier and may be stiff tonight. Rolen at bat 3-4 tonight. Strikes out this time. Stairs at bat, huge swing, going for the fence there Matt? Walks this time. Overbay now, can he get three ? Not tonight strikes out looking. Barajas full count here. Walks, Two on two down for Wilkerson. Singles to CF, good throw by Hunter, Napoli doesn’t have ball and Stairs scores 10-4 Jays. Sixteen hits tonight for Jays. Eckstein now the only one without a hit, come on David. Full count. Walks him to load bases. Joe Inglett now for Stewart, chance for Joe to get something here. Not this time. Grounds out to 2B. Jays scored in six of the nine innings tonight.
Bottom 9th: Shawn Camp now pitching. Kotchman grounds out to Eckstein. One down. Kendrick at bat. Fly ball to Wilkerson in RF. Quinlan at bat strikes out. Jays win this one.

Jays continue winning on the road. McGowan not the sharpest tonight but gets the job done. Story of tonight is the bats though with runners in scoring position, hit after hit. Overbay of course gets the ring with his two home runs.