Yankees win this easily. Purcey not good enough and Jays bats missing

Yankees v Jays Wednesday August 21, 2008.

Preview: This is revenge night for the Yankees. They will not want to lose this one and go into tomorrow’s game with Halladay pitching for any sweep. Purcey could be the lamb to the slaughter for tonight. But games are also won with good hitting and Jays were very lucky last night to win with two runs. They will need far more tonight to support Purcey who spent most of this season in the minors. Give the guy a fifteen run game but with Pettite tonight, I doubt it.

Lineups: New York: Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Rodriguez, Giambi, Nady, Matsui, Cano, Molina and Pettite pitching.
Toronto: Eckstein, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Mench, McDonald and Purcey pitching.

Result: Yankees win this going away 5-1. Never a doubt from the first inning.

The good: Very little from Jays tonight, The bullpen were great and kept Yankees scoreless after the fourth but with hitters missing again this game was already over in the first inning as it turned out. In particular Tallet returning from the DL pitched very well and that is a good sign for the bullpen as if they needed strengthening.
The bad: Purcey to start with was awful and the rest of the team looked as if they had already given this one up before they started and were looking to Halladay tomorrow to win the series, nothing good about Jays hitters tonight.

Top 1st: Damon at bat, you know he wants to prove he belongs tonight and forget last night’s fielding. Singles to Lind in LF. A good start for him. Jeter grounds to SS but beats out the throw by Johnny Mc. Damon moves to 2B and Yankees are meaning business tonight. Abreu with two on and no outs, singles to Rios in RF, Damon tholds at 3B respecting arm of Alex here. Basis are loaded for A-Rod fly ball out to Rios in RF but too shallow for Damon to risk Alex’s arm. Bases still loaded for Giambi does his thing, fly ball out to Wells in CF. Damon scores easily and Jeter to 3B. 1-0 Yankees. That is good execution. Nady singles to RF, Jeter scores 2-0 Yankees. Abreu to 2B Nady at 1B. Matsui with two down and two on, fly ball out to Wells for third out but Yankees have given Pettite enough for him to work more easily.
Bottom 1st: Eckstein strikes out. Scutaro at bat first pitch grounds to Jeter throw to Giambi at 1B.Rios grounds to Cano at 2B throw to Giambi for third out and very feeble response by Jays hitters. Seven pitch inning for Pettite.

Top 2nd: Cano strikes out. Molina grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay at 1B. Two down. Here comes Damon again already ! Damon walks. Jeter singles to CF, 2-2 already. Damon to 3B. Abreu at bat grounds to Eckstein at 2B throw to Overbay for third out. Purcey escapes big damage here. However 50 pitches already in first two innings.
Bottom 2nd: Wells at bat, singles to LF on 0-2 pitch. Lind at bat one on. Strikes out looking. Barajas one on one down. Fly ball out to RF Abreu. Two down for Overbay. Grounds hard at 2B nice diving save by Cano throw to Giambi for third out, leaving lead off single by Wells on base. Jays hitters have got to do better than this to have a chance in this one. 24 pitches.

Top 3rd: A-Rod going for the fences on first pitch, but misses. Pops it up into 1B crowd by photographers bay, Overbay makes great catch leaning in there. One down. Giambi strikes out. Two down. Nady at bat, fly ball out to Wells in shallow CF. 64 pitches, Purcey’s best inning so far.
Bottom 3rd: Jays still have two hitters waiting for first at bat whereas Yankees are two thirds way through second time around. You give a team all those extra at bats and you are asking for trouble. Mench at bat, doesn’t get many opportunities and he needs to take them. Not like this, grounds to Cano at 2B, throw to Giambi for first out. McDonald his first at bat also. Grounds to Rodriguezat 3B throw to 1B almost pulls Giambi off the bag but manages to get Johnny Mc . out. Two down Eckstein grounds hard up the middle nice grab by Pettite to help himself. Throw to Giambi for third out. 34 pitches.

Top 4th: Matsui fly ball out to Wells. One down. Cano at bat. walks on four pitches. Molina one down one on. Hit and run on, singles to Rios in RF. Cano to 3B. More big trouble for Purcey, top of the order again for third time and it is only the fourth inning. You don’t need to give this lineup extra at bats. Bullpen working. This may be Purcey’s last inning, he is not at all effective tonight against this lineup. Damon grounds to Eckstein only one play to 2B to get Molina. Cano scores 3-0 Yankees. Two down. Jeter high fly ball into Yankees bullpen. RF corner, 5-0 Yankees. A-Rod fly ball out to Lind. But damage is already done. Purcey just doesn’t have the stuff. Cito should take him out of his misery. 79 pitches in only four innings,
Bottom 4th: Meantime Pettite just moves along quietly. This game is his already, he will be very happy after losing last two. Scutaro first pitch grounds out to SS throw to Giambi, a give away at bat by Scutaro, far too many by this guy. He never seems to be thinking in his at bats. Rios now grounds to A-Rod at 3B throw to Giambi for second out. Wells at bat, two down, fly ball out to Abreu in RF. Pettite 42 pitches for four innings !!! He will not need 90 with his hitting lineup tonight.

Top 5th: Tallet now pitching. Should be interesting just off the DL. Rodriguez for his third at bat, strikes out. Giambi at bat, grounds right at Eckstein playing the shift behind Overbay, throw to Lyle for the out, two down for Nady. Pops it in foul ground shallow RF but Rios ambling over in his own sweet time cannot get there. Does anyone remember Mondesi ambling over on any play? Matsui grounds hard at Eckstein throw to Overbay for third out. Tallet at least stops the bleeding here. Now time for someone on Jays lineup to get hitting.
Bottom 5th: Lind at bat strikes out on three pitches, Pettite is locking this one up. Barajas, with one down. Here’s a hit finally, lofts one softly into shallow CF. Overbay at bat, grounds to Rodriguez at 3B strong throw to get Overbay at 1B. Barajas at 2B in scoring position at least. Mench at bat, not making a very strong case to be the regular DH yet. With Stairs struggling Mench should be trying very hard 0-2 lines out to Rodriguez at 3B for the third out. 56 pitches.

Top 6th: Cano at bat, strikes out. Molina strikes out, two down. Damon for his fourth at bat in six innings singles up the middle. One on two down for Jeter 3-3 already. Not this time, grounds up the middle ut Eckstein takes it and steps on 2B bag to get Damon. Tallet is pitching well. The difference between a rookie AAA pitcher and a veteran. Cito may be regretting starting Purcey.
Bottom 6th: McDonald is just getting his second at bat grounds to Rodriguez, throw to Giambi for the out. Top of the order Eckstein with one down but so far Pettite is in complete cruise control with this one. Eckstein singles up the middle, through legs of Pettite. Scutaro now bounces first pitch up the middle, two on with one out for the big guys maybe? Rios at bat 0-2 count singles up the middle and here comes Eckstein for first Jays run. 5-1 Yankees. Three consecutive hits up the middle. Vernon turns on one here hard but foul. Strikes out swinging. Lind now with two on and two down. Hitless tonight, and remains with this at bat, pops up to Nady in shallow LF. Jays threaten but leave two on. 70 pitches.

Top 7th: Carlson now pitching, bullpen committee tonight. They should be fresh though with last Monday as off day and only BJ Ryan last night. Abreu at bat, full count, fly ball out to Lind in LF, one down. Rodriguez grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay for second out. Giambi grounds out to Overbay. Good inning by Carlson but is it too late for Jays hitters? Three runs in the last eighteen innings after the fifteen on Sunday. Would drive any Manager crazy, The other maddening news is that both Boston and Tampa are losing it would have been a great time to gain one tonight.
Bottom 7th: Yankees bullpen working, but I don’t think they will need them tonight unless they need the work. Barajas grounds to Rodriguez throw to Giambi for the tag at 1B. Overbay fly ball out to Damon no problem with this one, two down. Mench hitless tonight. 3-0 count, takes one down the middle. Pops this one up to Giambi for third out. A very easy inning for Pettite. 83 pitches.

Top 8th: This game is not even two hours old, most of the time has been spent on field by Yankees hitters tonight. Frasor now pitching. Let’s hope that he is better than last outing. Nady fly ball out to RF and this time Rios does make a good effort to run it down. Why is he so indifferent most of the time? With his speed he should get to many more. Matsui at bat one down, doubles this one to the wall in CF. Cano at bat with runner in scoring position. Game is crawling along now that Frasor is in there and with one on. Cano lines one to a leaping Overbay, great catch and now doubles up Matsui off bat at 2B double play ball to rescue Frasor here.
Bottom 8th: Last chances for Jays before Rivera inning. They need to score big to keep him sitting. BUT don’t bet anything on this happening. Pettite out, Brian Bruney pitching. McDonald at bat, Cody Ransom at 1B for Giambi. Grounds to Rodriguez throw to Ransom for one down. Eckstein at bat first pitch swing and pp up to SS two down. Jays hitters want to get out on the town tonight. Scutaro lines out to RF was that a six pitch inning? Taxis are waiting for Jays. They just don’t have that killer instinct and ability to grind it out in games that really matter so far. It will be interesting to see how Rios and Wells react in bottom of the ninth.

Top 9th: Frasor still in there. Molina at bat grounds back to Frasor throw to Overbay for first out. Damon grounds back to Frasor throw to Overbay for second out. Yankees are showing some mercy here. Jeter at bat, 3-4 tonight. Strikes out looking. A good inning from Frasor but unfortunately he cannot bat as well.
Bottom 9th: This will show how much this team wants to win. Rios, Wells and Lind. Bruney still in there, they don’t need Rivera tonight. But Bruney only threw six pitches last inning. Rivera IS warming up, That’s giving the Jays loads more respect than they deserve. Full count at bat for Alex pops this one up to Ransom at 1B. Wells now, pops it up Ransom diving into seats for this just missing it. That is effort with capital E. Alex are you watching? Vernon strikes out on ball three in the dirt. Two down. Lind now not a good night for him tonight, grounds to Ransom throw to Bruney and Yankees win this one easily, little doubt from the very first inning.

Boston losing 11-5 in Baltimore and Tampa losing 4-3 at home to Angels. IF that holds, Jays will not lose any ground to the top two, but it was a great chance to gain one. Tomorrow Halladay and a must win for Jays.