Halladay and Jays win final game and series at old Yankee Stadium

Series finale Toronto v NewYork. Sunday August 31,2008.

Both teams need this one. Yankees in a spiral out of play offs and Jays clinging to a faint thread of hope. It should be an excellent pitching matchup today between Halladay and Pettite. This is the last game in Yankees Stadium.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Eckstein, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Bautista, Rolen, McDonald and Halladay pitching. Interesting lineupo to keep Bautista in and give Rolen chance.
New York: Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Rodriguez, Giambi, Nady, Matsui, Cano, Molina and Pettite pitching.

Pitching: Pettite 13-10 4.37 ERA v Halladay 16-9 2.69 ERA. Pettitte, won 5-1 at Toronto on Aug. 20.

The result: Jays win this one and the series 6-2.

The good: Halladay for his win number seventeen, the hitters ! for once executing in first inning to get the game off to a good start for Halladay. Halladay became the first pitcher to beat New York four times in a season since Chuck Finley went 4-0 for the Angels in 1996. Good execution by Jays hitters. Jays take two of three in this series to finish 100-124 at the old Yankee Stadium, their most wins at any venue outside Toronto. They also set a club record by completing their twelfth consecutive game without an error, the longest streak by a major league team this season.
The bad: Nothing today, am focusing on the good.

The game: Top 1st: Scutaro, full count and now walks, nice start. Eckstein, is he bunting? Yes he is, back to Pettite throw to Giambi at 1B for first out but Scutaro at 2B. small ball today for Cito ??? Rios at bat, can he execute ? yes sort of, singles to LF , Scutaro at 3B. Two on here for Vernon and only one out. Yes Vernon, singles to RF, Scutaro scores, Jays go out ahead 1-0 and great execution by Jays already. Rios at 2B Vernon at 1B. One down for Barajas today moving up and Lind down a slot in lineup. Barajas doubles to LF, Rios scores, here comes Vernon he scores from 1B, terrible throw in misses cut off. Nady really messed up the hit by Barajas misjudged it and goes to wall over his head. Maybe he could have caught that. He took two steps in before trying to retreat, and it was too late. But bottom line two runs score and Jays are out of the gate 3-0 Jays. And more to the point executing well so far. Lind at bat, batting sixth today I agree with Cito on this one, Adam has been struggling behind Vernon. Strikes out. Bautista at bat Jose had a great day yesterday and appears to have found his rhythm and Cito has him playing at 1B with Rolen at 3B today to get his bat in lineup. Jose strikes out here but Jays are off and running for Halladay.
Bottom 1st: Damon strikes out, one down for Jeter, fly ball out to Rios in RF. Two down. Abreu singles to RF. One on for A-Rod, lines out to McDonald at SS. Halladay did what he wanted and that was to hold Yankees scoreless.

Top 2nd: Rolen lead off and gets hold of this one that is out of here, Scott HR to LF and Jays are 4-0 ahead. Number eight for Rolen this season. Johnny Mc. grounds to Jeter throw to Giambi. One down for Scutaro, fly ball out to Abreu in RF. Eckstein at bat grounds to Giambi throw to Pettitte covering and this inning is over but Jays get another run for Halladay. Bottom 2nd: Giambi fly ball out to Wells in CF. One down for Nady, straight away doubles to LF. Matsui grounds to Halladay throw to Bautista at 1B for second out. Cano at bat grounds to Scutaro throw to Bautista at 1B for third out.

Top 3rd: Rios again, Alex lifts this one but not high enough and fly ball out to Abreu in RF. One down for Wells singles to LF. Barajas grounds to Jeter flip to Cano at 2B on to Giambi, double play ball and inning is over.
Bottom 3rd: Molina grounds to Rolen throw to Bautista. One down for Damon infield single to 3B. Jeter grounds to Scutaro throw to shortstop McDonald, Damon is out. Abreu grounds out to Bautista. 58 pitches for Pettite.

Top 4th: Lind grounds to Pettitte throw to Giambi. One down for Bautista doubles to LF. Jose really is in the groove. Rolen strikes out. McDonald with two down, fly ball out to Abreu in RF.
Bottom 4th: Halladay looking comfortable with a 4-0 lead, he doesn’t get that very often. A- Rod homers to CF. 4-1 Jays. That is HR number 547 for A-Rod and moves him to within one of Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for twelfth place on the career list. Giambi fly ball out to Rios in RF. One down for Nady singles to LF. Matsui at bat one on one down, singles to RF, Nady to 2B. Cano strikes out. Wild pitch, Nady to 3B, Matsui to 2B. Molina pops up to Bautista for third out but Yankees get one back.

Top 5th: Scutaro strikes out. One down for Eckstein, singles to LF. Rios ground to Jeter throw to Giambi, Eckstein to 2B. Wells with another in scoring position. Fly ball out to Abreu in RF and Jays do not score this time.
Bottom 5th: Damon lead off, singles to LF. Jeter grounds back to Halladay throw to Bautista,for the first out but Damon moves up to 2B. One down for Abreu fly ball out to Lind in LF. Two down for A-Rod grounds to Rolen throw to Bautista and Halladay keeps on rolling.

Top 6th: Barajas fly ball out to Damon in CF. One down for Lind, lines out to Cano. Bautista grounds to Cano throw on to Giambi for third out..
Bottom 6th: Giambi lead off gets hold of this one, no doubt at all, HR to RF and Yankees get another 4-2 and now this score is getting too close for comfort. Nady grounds to Scutaro throw to Bautista. One down for Matsui pops up to McDonald. Two down for Cano grounds to Scutaro throw to Bautista for third out.

Top 7th: Rolen pops up to Jeter, one down for McDonald, singles to RF. One on one down, Scutaro doubles to RF, McDonald to 3B, Jays are back in business here. Eckstein at bat singles to LF, McDonald scores, Scutaro to 3B. 5-2 Jays. That is it for Pettite. Here comes Girardi. Veras now pitching. Wild pitch Scutaro scores, Eckstein to 2B. 6-2 Jays. Still only one down with Eckstein in scoring position at 2B for Alex. Rios strikes out. Wells now an intentional walk with 1B open. Two on two down for Barajas, strikes out but Jays get that four run lead back.
Bottom 7th: Overbay in at 1B for Bautista. Remember this was Jose’s first start at 1B. He is a 3B player. Molina at bat strikes out. One down for Damon, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the second out. Jeter grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. Three up and down and a good inning for Halladay although pitch count is high.

Top 8th: Aceves now pitching and making his major league start. This could be interesting. Lind fly ball out to Nady, one down for Overbay who strikes out. Rolen with two down, fly ball out to Damon in CF. It will be interesting to see if Scott keeps playing alternate days at 3B now that Bautista has shown what he can do this weekend. Why not shut Rolen down now for season especially with September call-up tomorrow
Bottom 8th: Inglett in defensively for Lind in LF. Halladay is done for the day, 103 pitches, no sense in him doing another 120 pitching game. Plus it is an off day tomorrow and bullpen has not been used that much in New York. Downs pitching. Abreu grounds to Overbay throw to Downs covering 1B for first out. One down for A-Rod, hit by a pitch. That was not intentional by Downs. Giambi at bat now also hit by a pitch, two on and one out, A-R to 2B.
Nady grounds to Rolen steps on 3B for second out. Giambi to 2B but two down. Matsui at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay and that is it for Yankees in this inning at least.

Top 9th: Johnny Mc. fouls out to Molina behind home plate, one down for Scutaro who strikes out. Two down for Eckstein who now strikes out. No chance for any additional runs this is it now.
Bottom 9th: League now pitching. Not a save situation for BJ but also a chance to see League pitching the ninth, may be a future role ??? Cano fly ball out to center fielder Wells. One down for Betemit pinch-hitting for Molina. Betemit grounds out to Scutaro throw to Overbay for second out. Damon fly ball out to Inglett now in LF. And the Jays win another from Yankees, they win the last game to be played by these two teams in the Stadium and also win the series as well as moving up a game on Yankees.

Halladay, 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA against the Yankees is now tied with Jim Clancy for second place in Toronto history with his 128th win. Dave Stieb had 175.
Yankees now go on a four-city, 10-day road trip Monday with a makeup game at Detroit which provides Jays with more incentives to close the gap between the two teams and maybe get that third position in the Division.