Jays walk off comeback win, Alex and Vernon firing on all cylinders.

Game opener July 8, 2008. Jays

McGowan v Cabrera pitching
Lineups: Orioles: Roberts, Markakis, Huff, Millar, Scott, Mora, Hernandez, Jones, Fahey and Cabrera pitching.
Jays: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Stairs, Rolen, Barajas, Overbay, Lind and McGowan pitching

The result: Jays win 7-6

The very good: Alex in the seventh three run triple followed by Vernon’s RBI single to tie ball game. Scutaro walk in the seventh and speed to cash in third run from 1B. Scutaro glove in eighth and ninth innings two great plays. Alex in the ninth to steal 2B and go to 3B on throw and score winning run.
The good: Tallet two innings of shutout and that’s it. Inglett two hits but not when it counted in the seventh. Vernon’s bat two hits 2RBIs. The good comeback from four down to score five. The first walk off win this season.
Not good news department: McGowan left game with shoulder soreness and will have MRI tomorrow.
The bad: Cabrera threw over 100 pitches almost half of them balls and Jays hitters could not take advantage. Double play in third inning, number 98 this season, league leading of course. Inning four with bases loaded, number 99. I don’t often fault the pitching this season but Frasor’s outing was awful, one third of an inning and twenty pitches to put two in scoring position. Both runners score to make it 6-2. Inglett last two at bats first pitch swinging pop ups. His head was his weakness in Spring training.

The game:
Top 1st: Roberts at bat, keep this guy off bases please, Markakis pops up to Rolen one down grounds to Inglett, flip to Overbay two down. Huff at bat this one has gone, right centre HR for Huff, number eighteen. 1-0 Orioles. Millar at bat lines out to Inglett.14 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Inglett, singles to LF. Scutaro at bat one on, grounds to SS Fahey, throw to Millar tags Scutaro, Inglett at 2B. Rios now at bat. how does he feel tonight ? just a single Alex is enough strikes out. Two down for Vernon. That’s it Vernon, singles to LF, scores Inglett from 2B. 1-1. Jays batting .500 tonight with runners in scoring position !!! Stairs now also in personal slump.

Top 2nd: Scott swings over that one to strike out. Mora at bat, one down. High chopper to Scutaro two down. Hernandez at bat, fly ball out to Rios in RF. 28 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Rolen, at bat, another in a slump but that’s not fair they all are, 3-0 count. Walks, that’s ok Scott, bases count. Barajas at bat, seven ! home runs… power for this lineup.. Pops this one to Mora at 3B, Overbay at bat one down one on. Rolen has four stolen bases. Full count to Lyle. Scott running here Lyle strikes out, throw not in time to get Rolen at 2B. Two down. Lind with Rolen in scoring position at 2B. Strikes out.

Top 3rd: Jones grounds to Rolen, off his glove, error on Rolen, Jones at 2B. Fahey at bat bunts to McGowan Jones at 3B, wild pitch ! scores Jones. 2-1 Orioles. Rolen owes the side tonight. Roberts at bat, 3-1 count, don’t walk him Dustin. Ball four. Markakis now at bat with Roberts at 1B for the moment at least. There he goes, good throw but not in time. Singles to RF Inglett knocks it down. Roberts at 3B, Markakis at 1B. One down more big trouble for McGowan. Huff at bat. Fly ball to Wells, 3-1 Orioles, it is called execution Jays hitters. Two down. Millar at bat grounds to Scutaro throw to 2B gets Markakis BUT Rolen error, and wild pitch are giveaways to a better Baltimore team. 46 pitches. McGowan at this rate will be out of there by the 6th.
Bottom 3rd: Top of the order again for Jays playing catch up once more. Inglett another single this time to RF. 2-2 tonight. How come the rookies can hit far better than the $65 million men? It is the same pitcher. Scutaro at bat grounds to Mora throw to 2B gets Inglett on to 1B double play. Don’t ask me why Cito had not sent Joe earlier. Rios now at bat two down. Fly ball out to CF Jones, Jays go meekly. Crowd is telling the team and management a message here tonight, the infield seats are very empty. 44 pitches.

Top 4th: Scott at bat, strikes out. Number two for McGowan. Mora singles to RF. Hernandez at bat pops up to Overbay at 1B. Two down. Jones at bat doubles to RF corner, Mora scores easily, 4-1 Orioles. Fahey at bat grounds to Inglett. 53 pitches but Tallet warming up in bullpen.
Bottom 4th: Wells at bat. 3-0 count. Walks on four pitches. Stairs now, come on Matt if ever we need a big one it is now. Cabrera has thrown seven balls in a row Stairs swung at one here’s another, 3-1 count. Walks Stairs back to back. Rolen now. Scotty this is your moment to make up for that error which cost Jays earlier. Ugh. Pops it up to 2B Roberts, one down. Barajas at bat another three balls but Barajas swung at one. Cabrera is wild, YES this time Rod gets it, lines it into LF corner, Wells scores 4-2. Overbay with Stairs at 2B. 3-1 count again. Cabrera has thrown more balls than strikes, walks him to load bases. Lind at bat, a single will be fine Adam, grounds to SS throw to 2B on to 1B, you guessed it double play ball. 75 pitches for Cabrera.

Top 5th: McGowan is done. 66 pitches. This is the second start that Cito has pulled McGowan early, last time McGowan was not pleased. Tallet in. Roberts at bat. Grounds to Scutaro, throw to Overbay one down. Markakis at bat, pops out to Scutaro, two down. Huff grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay. Nine pitch inning for Tallet, nice pitching Brian.
Bottom 5th: Inglett 2-2, grounds out this time to Millar at 1B. Scutaro at bat pops up to Scott in shallow LF. Rios nothing to show tonight so far apart from a fat pay cheque for turning up. Grounds to Roberts at 2B. 84 pitches.

Top 6th: Yankees beating Rays, for once I hope they win. Boston losing to Minnesota. Millar fly ball out to Rios in RF. Scott grounds to Inglett, throw to Overbay two down. Mora at bat grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay, another great inning from Tallet.
Bottom 6th: The big guys, Wells, Stairs and Rolen. what can they do ? How about back to back to back HR’s ? we can dream. Wells at bat, almost Vernon, just hits one foul in upper deck. Grounds to Mora at 3B throw to Millar one down. Stairs pops up to Roberts. Rolen at bat, grounds to Roberts, throw to Millar. Three up and down, this team is so listless, lethargic, not entertaining to watch at all. 93 pitches.

Top 7th: Frasor now pitching. Cito likes this guy for some reason. Hernandez at bat, 3-0 count. Walks on four pitches. As I said, I do not know why Cito likes this guy. He is even worse with runners on now. Jones at bat, good news, Downs is up in bullpen. Plus I may not have to see him pitch tomorrow. Frasor rushes back to the mound for his next pitch, just joking. I wonder if anyone times this guy? Reminds me of Juan Guzman. Strikes him out. Jones had fallen asleep. One down. Fahey at bat full count. Lines it for double over Rios’ head, that’s it for Frasor with one down. 20 pitch ten minute one third inning. I hope Cito takes note. Downs now pitching Hernandez at 3B Fahey at 2B.Roberts and top of the order. Intentional walk to Roberts. I guess Cito thought that even that was too much for Frasor. Bases loaded one down. Markakis singles to Lind in shallow LF, two runs score Hernandez and Fahey. 6-2 Orioles, that will empty the crowd out. Huff at bat, two on. One down. Strikes him out. Millar with two down, grounds to Scutaro, throw to Overbay.
Bottom 7th: Barajas lines it to CF. Overbay first pitch fly ball out to Scott at the LF wall. Lind at bat singles to shallow RF, too bad that was not his last at bat, this game would have been very different. That’s it for Cabrera, he pitched badly tonight but more than enough for this Jays team. Dennis Sarfate pitching first pitch fly ball out to Scott in LF. Not good Joe. Where is your head? Two down. Scutaro 3-1 count, now walks him, nice at bat Marco, Joe are you watching that? Bases loaded for Alex. Big time big money man. 2-0 count. 2-2. 3-2 full count now. YES Alex, gets hold of this one, triples to LF wall three runs score. That’s the way Alex. 6-5 Baltimore for Vernon now with Alex at 3B. YES Vernon, grounds to SS. off the glove Alex scores 6-6 now and poor Cabrera sitting in dugout is not very happy seeing his win vanish. The big guys do come through this inning and all with two outs. Four runs. That’s it for Sarfite. Stairs at bat facing new pitcher Alberto Castillo singles hard up the middle Vernon to 2B. Rolen now his turn with two on. Hits him on the foot, Bases loaded again for Barajas. Another pitching change, Chad Bradford pitching, this guy throws off the ground almost scraping his elbow. Barajas 2-3 tonight but big at bat here. Grounds to Fahey throw to 2B to get Rolen.

Top 8th Downs now with game tied. Luke Scott at bat. High chopper to Scutaro great throw to get him at 1B. One down for Mora grounds first pitch to Inglett throw to Overbay gets Mora. Two down. Hernandez at bat grounds to Rolen, spins and throws great play to get Hernandez at 1B. The difference between Frasor and Downs pitching. Quick pitching to keep fielders in the game.
Bottom 8th: Can the hitters put this one away here? Jim Johnson pitching fifth pitcher for Orioles. Overbay at bat fly ball out to Scott in LF. Lind at bat one down. Wants to put that double play out of his memory. Gets hold of this one but Jones runs it down at the track in left centre. Two down for Inglett another first pitch fly ball out. His second in last two at bats. Inglett is losing his focus here.

Top 9th: BJ Ryan now pitching. Wilkerson in defensively for Lind in LF. Jones at bat fly ball out to Vernon in CF. One down. Payton pinch hitting, big swing at first pitch grounds back to Ryan throw to Overbay two down. Roberts at bat, Frasor should watch BJ at work. Give me the ball, throw. Grounds hard to SS, Scutaro great play, stops, spins and throws gets Roberts at 1B. Scutaro has done it all tonight.
Bottom 9th: Scutaro at bat strikes out. Rios the 7th inning hero can he do it again? Full count. Walks him. Will he steal ? Vernon at bat. 2-3 tonight. Alex running fouled off by Vernon. Vernon strikes out Alex running again gets 2B, throw wild and advances to 3B. Two down with Alex at 3B. Stairs at bat intentional walk to get to Rolen. Scott would love to bring Alex him in. YESYESYESYES Scott singles to LF. Alex scores 7-6 Jays. Under the glove of Bynum at SS in for Fahey but Jays will take it. Error on play. First walk off win for Jays this season !!!
Everyone is very happy….
Jays win this one 7-6 and comeback from four runs down plus gain one on the Orioles and Rays losing in New York. Boston comes back to beat Minnesota.