Bring back Denbo and Gibbons, Jays leave eight on base and go 1/5 with runners in scoring position.

Toronto v New York, Tuesday September 23, 2008.

Preview: Jays have chance for payback tonight to knock Yankees out of playoffs by winning. That would be sweet. Does not look like a big crowd tonight at the start, Mr Rogers would not like all those blue seats for a series with Yankees that normally sells 40,000 for each game, there must be under 30,000 tonight.

Pitchers: Litsch 12-8. v Mussina 18-9

Lineups: New York: Gardner, Damon, Abreu, Rodriguez, Giambi, Nady, Cano, Ransom, Molina and Mussina.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Overbay, Rolen, Zaun, Snider and Litsch pitching.

Result: Jays lose 3-1. Same old story, good pitching, lousy hitting with runners in scoring position, poor baserunning by Scutaro, poor fielding judgement by Inglett. Terrible hitting by Zaun. Six of the lineup gets hits but not at the right time, do Jays hitters choke ? One run now in the last two games. I think Cito and coaching staff had better get working on this, I thought they were supposed to improve the hitting? Does not look like it from my seat. Perhaps JP should hold on that contract extension for Cito for a few months..

The good: Litsch goes seven innings and kept them in the game. Bullpen also keeps it close. Overbay covering Inglett’s poor throw in the 8th and Lyle getting runner at 2B
The bad: Goats Scutaro, Inglett and Zaun but other hitters as well. Just a poor game all round hitting.

The game: Top 1st: Gardner grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B 1B Overbay. One down. Damon hitting in Jeter’s position, grounds out to 1B Overbay two down. Abreu grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B Overbay. Good first inning for Jesse.
Bottom 1st: Inglett fly ball out to CF Gardner. One down doe Scutaro, doubles to CF and is trying for triple. CF Gardner great throw to cut off 2B Cano on to 3B Rodriguez, Scutaro is out.That was a very poor call Marco. That should be one out and you in scoring position for the two big bats, even if we all have less confidence in Rios and Wells brining you in from 2B. Wild pitch here that would have put Scutaro at 3B. These errors do not show in the scorecard but figure huge. Rios strikes out.

Top 2nd: A-Rod grounds to SS Scutaro throw to 1B Overbay. Big out for Litsch. Giambi singles to CF. Nady doubles to CF, Giambi moves to 3B. Two on and no outs. Cano grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B Overbay, Giambi scores and, Nady moves to 3B. 1-0 Yankees. Good execution but I think Inglett could have been in closer to save the run, and as it happens that hit was not hard. Citop playing the percentages and give up a run for the out this early in the game. Ransom walks. Two on two down. Molina strikes out. Yankees strike first.
Bottom 2nd: Wells strikes out. Lind singles to LF. Overbay strikes out. Rolen strikes out. Mussina strikes out the side, Jays hitters do not like some of the calls. BUT it is the same for both teams.

Top 3rd: Gardner grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B Overbay. One down. Damon grounds out to 1B Overbay. Two down for Abreu, grounds to shortstop Scutaro throw to 1B Overbay. Amother good inning for Litsch.
Bottom 3rd: Zaun strikes out. Snider hits this one off Mussina’s elbow with the ball ricocheting into foul territory between home plate and 3B. Here come trainer Gene Monahan and manager Joe Girardi to check on him. Mussina says he is ok. He wants that number twenty win and if he doesn’t get win today he will not get chance for two more starts. One on for Inglett. Inglett grounds to 2B Cano throw to SS Ransom on to 1B Giambi. double play to end that one.

Top 4th: A-Rod grounds to 3B Rolen throw to 1B Overbay. A-Rod out for second time. Giambi no question with this one, this is out of here HR to CF and Yankees are 2-0. Nady strikes out.Cano pops up to SS Scutaro for third out.

Bottom 4th: Mussina out there so elbow must be ok. Wait until tomorrow. Scutaro grounds back to Mussina throw to 1B Giambi. Rios singles to CF. Wells grounds to SS Ransom throw to 2B Cano to 1B Giambi, Rios moves up to 2B. Another in scoring position here. Lind grounds out to Mussina.

Top 5th: Ransom strikes out. Molina fly ball out to CF Wells. Gardner triples to CF. Damon strikes out. Jesse pitches himself out of trouble leaving runner at 3B.

Bottom 5th: Overbay grounds to SS Ransom throw to 1B Giambi for one out. Rolen fly ball out to RF Abreu. Zaun strikes out again looking for second time.

Top 6th: Abreu strikes out. A-Rod strikes out. Giambi strikes out. Jesse strikes out the side and three very good hitters.

Bottom 6th: Coke now pitching. Mussina has done enough innings for a win so why not get that elbow into some ice. Snider singles to RF. Inglett strikes out. One down for Scutaro. Here comes the manager. Bruney now pitching. Scutaro strikes out. Rios strikes out.

Top 7th: Nady pops up to 1B Overbay. One down for Cano doubles to CF. Wild pitch Cano moves up to 3B. Zaun passed ball, and here comes Cano and looks as if Jesse gets him but umpire calls him safe and run scores, 3-0 Yankees. Jesse is furious here comes Cito. No luck changing the call. Guy two rows in front of me shows everyone his digital photograph, Litsch did get Cano, umpire made bad call. Interesting that the fans have this technology but umpires still rely on sight. One day perhaps. Ransom lines out to SS Scutaro. Molina strikes out. But damage is done and it is worse knowing that he was out at home plate and that it should still be 2-0 but Jays are getting nothing tonight.

Bottom 7th: Wells grounds to SS Ransom throw to 1B Giambi. One down. Another pitching change ! Girardi is another Captain Hook. Marte now pitching. Lind singles to CF. One on one down for Overbay patient at bat !! full count and walks, Lind moves to 2B. That’s it for Marte, third pitcher of the inning. Chamberlain now pitching. Rolen singles to CF, Lind scores, Overbay moves to 2B. Zaun strikes out for third time tonight. Wild pitch, Overbay tmoves to 3B and Rolen to 2B. Two now in scoring position for Snider, strikes out. Yet again great opportunity lost.

Top 8th:
Tallet now pitching. Litsch had very good outing, too bad he cannot hit as well. He is getting nothing much from his hitters tonight, Gardner singles to 2B Inglett, Inglett tries to throw him out at 1B and overthrows, there was no way he could have got him, poor judgement Joe. Gardner going to 2B but Lyle great recovery and throw to Scutaro to get him. Joe is very lucky there.
Damon fly ball out to RF Rios. Abreu singles to CF. A-Rod strikes out. Crowd loves that.


Bottom 8th: Inglett grounds to 2B Cano throw to 1B Giambi. Scutaro grounds to SS Ransom throw to 1B Giambi. Two down. Rios beats out infield single to SS. Wells infield single to 3B Rios moves to 2B. Some speed now from Jays hitters. On Ransom's error, both runners move up and into scoring position. Lind now intentional walk to load bases. Wilkerson pinch-running for Lind. Overbay strikes out. Looking !!!! no Lyle. Full count you have to protect the plate surely. Some very poor at bats by Jays hitters tonight.

Top 9th: Wilkerson in as left fielder. Giambi pops up to SS Scutaro. Nady lined softly out to SS Scutaro. Cano pop up to 3B Rolen. Good inning from Tallett.

Bottom 9th: Rivera now pitching. Cabrera in at LF. Jeter in at SS. Ransom moves to 1B for Giambi. Rolen grounds to 2B Cano throw to 1B Ransom. Zaun strikes out for the fourth time and he has been looking three of those times. Of all the players he knows what strike zone umpire has tonight, he has been out there behind the plate all game, and yet he is taking strike three that is not smart ball Gregg. Snider strikes out. And that’s the game. Another that Jays could have and should have won.

Not enough for Yankees to stay in contention for playoffs as Boston have just won their game so Yankees are out of the playoffs for the first time since 1993 !!! would the Jays had that problem.