Litsch loses one, Jays bats also disappear tonight

Tuesday June 4, 2008 Jays v Yankees
Second game of series after great win last night behind Halladay. The bats came alive and the pitching supported them.

Tonight Litsch 7-1 and 3.18 ERA v Mussina 8-4 and 4.26 ERA

Lineups Jays: same as last night, Stewart, Scutaro, Rios, Rolen, Stairs, Overbay, Barajas, Wilkerson, Eckstein and Litsch pitching.
Yankees: Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Rodriguez, Matsui, Betemit for Giambi, Cano, Molina, Cabrera and Mussina pitching.

The very good: Alex Rios 25 game hit streak best since 1935 against Yankees.
The good: Alex has great game on base three times with two hits and a walk. Benitez eighth inning. Overbay two hits. Rolen’s double. But that’s about it tonight.
The bad: Jays 0-8 with runners in scoring position.

The game: I don’t think they have 50,000 here tonight. Very small crowd.

Top 1st: Stewart fly ball to Abreu in RF. Scutaro singles to LF. Rios now, sigh…. They showed the comparison with same time last year three HR’s compared to thirteen same time last year. HEY what’s going on? Alex singles here to LF. That’s great Alex, we’ll take it. Scutaro moves up to 3B. Rolen now at bat, grounds to 2B double playball. Mussina escapes this time. Seven pitch inning.
Bottom 1st: Damon at bat. Singles to LF. Jeter at bat, strikes him out looking. One down for Abreu fly ball to Rios in CF. Rodriguez at bat two down, grounds to Eckstein, fielder’s choice Damon out at 2B. Good start Jesse. Pitch count at 16.

Top 2nd: Stairs at bat, full count, Matt has now doubled Mussina’s first inning pitch count, fly ball to Damon in LF corner but good at bat by Matt. Overbay now at bat. Mussina leaves one up here and Lyle singles up the middle into CF. Barajas now swings at pitch off the plate, strikes out. Wilkerson at bat fly ball to Damon in LF. Leaves another on base. 29 pitches. Jays have three hits.
Bottom 2nd: Matsui at bat full count here, singles to CF. Wilson Betemit, fly ball to Wilkerson in RF. One down. Rain is starting. Cano at bat grounds to Overbay throw to 2B back to Overbay double play ball. Jesse’s best friend here. 33 pitches. Needs a few shorter innings.

Top 3rd: Eckstein at bat, can he push up the pitch count here? Not this time, lines soft one out to Jeter. Stewart patience here, full count, grounds out to Rodriguez on ball four. Scutaro at bat, singled in first inning. Full count strikes out.
Bottom 3rd: Molina singles to CF, Cabrera at bat full count, pops this up to Rios in CF. One down. Damon with Molina at 1B. Jesse’s pitch count climbing here. 3-0 Damon, there’s a strike. Full count now. Singles to LF, Molina to 3B,two on for Jeter singles to RF 1-0 Yankees. Jeter 2,416 hits passes Mickey Mantle and now only behind Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in all time Yankees hits. Standing ovation. Abreu grounds to Eckstein double play here. Gets Jesse out of trouble leaving two on. 60 pitches.

Top 4th: Rios now. Great at bat here Alex doubles into the RF corner, vey nice stroke, stayed back nice hit Alex. Single and double already tonight! Rolen now will want to make up for double play in first inning. Hammers this one but right at Betemit, would have scored Alex. Rolen no luck tonight (yet). Stairs now looks at third strike. Crowd now much better looks almosy full, I guess they are like Toronto fans. Arrive by the third inning. Overbay two strikes, the moos are growing…. Strikes out. 61 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Rodriguez fly ball to Rios in CF. Matsui grounds back to Litsch two down. Betemit. That one has gone. RF HR. 2-0 Yankees. Cano doubles to RF corner. Molina at bat with one on and two down walks him. Two on. Cabrera at bat. Doubles to RF Cano run scores. 3-0 Yankees. 75 pitches for Jesse tonight. Eight hits already. Runners in 2B and 3B. Damon grounds back to Jesse. Tough inning but time for Jays bats to get going here.

Top 5th: Barajas grounds to Rodriguez at 3B. Wilkerson at bat. Strikes him out looking. Jays bats have to go for those on the corner, Stairs did same thing last inning. Eckstein now, David we need a big at bat here, not this time fly ball to Damon. Three up and down. Mussina five strike outs.
Bottom 5th: Jeter at bat. Litsch still out there. Jeter grounds out to Eckstein and throw up the line but Overbay tags out Jeter. Abreu grounds to Rolen at 3B. Two down. Rodriguez first pitch doubles into the right center gap to the wall. I think that was catchable ball by Wells if he had been out there. Alex looked tentative going for that ball. Matsui intentional walk. Betemit at bat. Fly ball here to Wilkerson. Percentage play worked this time.

Top 6th: Top of the order. Stewart at bat. Full count here for Shannon. Grounds this one to Jeter. One down. Scutaro at bat. Mussina consistently getting that low pitch away tonight. Full count here, don’t look at one Marco. He doesn’t. Slices this one just foul in RF corner. Looks at that one, strike three. Gotta swing Marco. Rios now with two hits tonight. Huge curve on that one. Full count. Walks Alex, great at bat. Perhaps….. he has turned corner… Will he be stealing also? Rolen at bat. 94 pitches that was the one to hit Scott. 0-2. Just misses this one. And this one.not getting that corner call now. YES YES,YES Scott, gets hold of that one, doubles to the left centre wall. Alex scores. 3-1 Yankees. 100 pitches. Stairs now with Rolen at 2B. Come on Matt forget the hockey just for now. Another pitch not called on the corner here, 2-0 count grounds it to 2B.
Bottom 6th: Need a good inning here to give Jays bats chance with Yankees bullpen. Thigpen now catching for Barajas lower back problem. Injury not good we don’t want to lose Barajas. Litsch still in there. Cano grounds out to Scutaro at 2B. Molina at bat, doubles to left centre gap. Pitch 99 for Jesse and that’s it. Captain Hook is bringing in Shawn Camp. Cabrera at bat. Jesse 59 strikes - 40 balls. Grounds to Rolen out at 12B. Two down. Damon at bat, Molina at 3B. Singles to RF. Molina scores. 4-1 Yankees. Damon third single tonight. Jeter at bat grounds out to Scutaro.

Top 7th: Overbay at bat, Ross Ohlendorf pitching Lyle singles up the middle. Thigpen at bat, will he be bunting? No. wild pitch gets away and Overbay to 2B. Now in scoring position, swing away Curtis. Grounds to Rodriguez. Lyle cannot advance. Wilkerson full count here, good at bat so far. Grounds out to 2B. Overbay at 3B. Eckstein now lines hard shot but right at Rodriguez saves the run.
Bottom 7th: Camp pitching Abreu at bat the only Yankee without a hit tonight. Yankees have eleven tonight. Jays only six. Full count. Walks Abreu. Rodriguez at bat. Hit and run on, Abreu running, A-Rod grounds out to Eckstein, out at 1B. Captain Hook out Camp is finished and Scott Downs now pitching. Matsui at bat. Singles up the middle, Abreu scores with no throw by Rios. 5-1 Yankees. Betemit at bat grounds to Rolen, double play ball helps Downs here.

Top 8th: Top of the order for Jays, need to show their strength here. Kyle Farnsworth pitching Stewart at bat. Lines to Jeter for shoestring catch. Scutaro grounds back to Farnsworth. Alex now on base three times, can he finish his good night with another hit? No this time strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Benitez now pitching. Cano at bat. Fly ball to Rios in CF. Molina grounds down the line to Overbay at 1B. Cabrera strikes out. Very nice inning three up and down by Benitez. That is the third consecutive good outing from him. First three up and down inning for Jays pitchers tonight.

Top 9th: Rivera now pitching. Not a save situation but they badly need the win. Rolen now looks at strike three. Stairs looks at strike three yet again. Matt is ina slump right now compared to earlier in the season. Overbay now at bat, 2-3 tonight with two singles. Full count here Lyle. Please don’t look at one. Grounds this one to 1B. Yankees win one and break three game losing streak.

Series decider tomorrow and we hope Jays bats arrive at the stadium. Boston and Baltimore winning,Rays losing to Boston.


Footnotes:
Zaun (elbow injury) played catch on Tuesday for the first time since going on the DL and also took batting practice.could be back up by the 11th but if Barajas continues his hot streak it will not be a given for him.
Hill (concussion) took batting practice before Tuesday's game, but sat out for the fourth game in a row.
Posada threw out two runners trying to steal second in an extended spring training game Tuesday, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the plan is to have him catch Thursday against Toronto. Posada was sitting in the dugout tonight.