Extra innings win for Jays with clutch hitting.

Toronto v Minnesota. Wednesday September 2, 2008.

Preview: This is the type of game that has so much hype that the unexpected happens. Gardenhire is too good a Manager to let them roll over for Burnett tonight. Look for small ball. Jays have to take advantage of Twins though at the end of in their very long road trip, get an early lead and the advantage.

Lineups: Twins: Soan, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Buscher, Punto, Tolbert, Gomez and Blackburn pitching.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Rolen, Snider and Burnett pitching.

Pitching: Burnett v Blackburn.

The good: Johnny Mc game winning hit. Rolen lead off double in the eleventh. Inglett HR in third inning to get them going. Burnett third Jays pitcher to get 200 strikeouts in a season, Clemens and Halladay the other two with Clemens twice. Snider to tie it up in the bottom of ninth inning off Nathan. Rolen defence top of tenth to get third out from his knees after Gold glove save. League and Carlson innings.

The bad: Inglett leadoff first inning first pitch out. Has not played since Sunday, take a couple of pitches Joe get your timing. Rolen double play ball in 2nd. Downs and Ryan shaky tonight. Not a big supporter of this aggression with first pitch swinging.

The game: Top 1st: Span strikes out, Casilla fouls out to Rolen. Mauer two down singles up the middle, Morneau at bat, bounces high to Rolen at 3B no chance for throw. Two on for Kubel, strikes out but too many pitches AJ.
Bottom 1st: Inglett first pitch, (why not ?) grounds to 3B throw to 1B one down, thank you Joe that was a very good at bat. Scutaro has to take next pitch and of course right down the middle for a strike. Lines out to Punto at SS, two down. Rios at bat, doubles to LF corner. One on two down for Wells. Strikes out on three pitches. Nothing here for the Jays but unfortunately the leadoff guy Inglett set the tone.

Top 2nd: Buscher at bat, strikes out. Punto at bat, grounds down the line to Overbay, flip to Burnett for second out. Tolbert at bat, walks number eight hitter. Not good AJ Carlos Gomez now , runner going and Tolbert steals 2B without a throw. Full count, strikes him out. Number four for Burnett tonight.
Bottom 2nd: Lind at bat, lines it off Blackburn to Casilla but not in time for a throw, Lind safe at 1B. Barajas with one on, trying to pull it to LF try driving it Rod. Strikes out . Overbay at bat one down and one on. No Lyle, first pitch grounder to Tolbert at 3B on to Casilla, on to Morneau double play ball. Horrible. I guess that is the new aggression that new coaches want. No thanks.29 pitches.

Top 3rd: Span singles up the middle past Inglett. AJ you don’t need this guy on base. He will be going. Casilla at bat, there he goes but Barajas great throw to get him at 2B. Perfect throw. Mauer grounds to Rolen at 3B throw to Overbay for second out. Morneau strikes out.
Bottom 3rd: Rolen at bat, full count, strikes out but thought that was ball four. Snider now one down. patience here and now singles to LF. Nice at bat, he can teach Inglett something. Now Inglett at bat, will he take a couple this time, yes, and now golfs this one, there it goes, HR Inglett into RF corner. 2-0 Jays. Scutaro at bat fly ball out to CF Gomez. Two down for Rios. Strikes out but Jays get the early lead which is what they need tonight.

Top 4th: Burnett has to close it down here. Morneau at bat, walks not the start AJ wanted. Kubel one on no outs. Grounds to Scutaro at 2B, Scutaro goes himself to 2B and throws wild at 1B. Morneau out but Kubel safe, maybe should have given Inglett this one and better chance for double play. Buscher at bat, fly ball out to Lind ? Punto at bat, two down and one on. Grounds this one to Inglett at 2B. Throw to Overbay for third out, no damage. 53 pitches though.
Bottom 4th: Wells grounds to Tolbert at 3B throw to Morneau at 1B, one down. Lind at bat, strikes out swinging. Barajas at bat, strikes out and Jays go quietly this inning.

Top 5th: Tolbert lines this one over head of Wells to the wall and triples easily. Vernon misjudged that one. Twins have one on 3B and no outs. Gomez at bat, full count and strikes out. One down. Top of the order now though. Span at bat, strikes out swinging. Two down. Now can he finish them off here ? Casilla at bat, two down and one at 3B. Grounds out to Overbay for third out. Yes AJ, very nice pitching. 76 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Overbay drives it into RF, again first pitch. Rolen with one on. Chops it in front of home plate and Overbay safe at 2B Rolen thrown out at 1B. One down. Snider now with Overbay at 2B. Grounds out to Morneau at 1B two down, Overbay at 3B. Inglett at bat, grounds to Tolbert at 3B throw to Morneau at 1B for the third out. 63 pitches.

Top 6th: Mauer grounds to Inglett, throw to Overbay one down. Morneau grounds first pitch to Inglett throw to Overbay for second out. Kubel dribbler halfway to Rolen but no play on that ball. Buscher with one on and two down. Pops up to Rolen in foul territory, roof is closing, rain on the way…..
Bottom 6th: Scutaro lines out to Kubel in LF, Rios first pitch fly ball out to CF Gomez. Two down on three pitches. Wells now at bat 0-2 tonight, lines out to Kubel in LF, six pitch inning. Don’t tell me that Jays pitchers like this aggression by the hitters, AJ hardly had time to sit.

Top 7th: Punto at bat, Richmond now up in Jays bullpen. Full count, walks him. Tolbert at bat one on. 3-1 count. 100 pitches. Full count, lines out to Rios in RF, one down. Young pinch hitting for Gomez. Ground rule double off glove of Rios in RF. Twp in scoring position though. Span at bat, Pridie pinch running at 2B. Downs up in Jays bullpen. Span strikes out. Two down. Casilla at bat, two down two on, 3-0 count. Walks him on four pitches, That’s it for AJ, 113 pitches. Downs now with bases loaded. Mauer at bat, 3-0 count. Gets hold of this one, drives it to the left centre wall, three runs score 3-2 Twins. Morneau 3-0 count walks on four. Kubel at bat two down two on, grounds it to Inglett at 2B throw to Overbay for third out but Twins are ahead.
Bottom 7th: The hitters now have to earn their money instead of six-pitch innings and early night on the town. Lind at bat, no first pitch swinging and grounds to Morneau for the out. Barajas at bat, 0-10 slump, singles into shallow RF. 1-11. Overbay at bat, Mench pinch running for Barajas, dribbler in front of home plate, Lyle out at 1B but Mench is in scoring position at 2B with two down. Scott Rolen, would love a big one here Scott. Grounds to Punto at SS fumbled and into shallow left and Mench scores easily from 2B this game is tied 3-3. Snider now at bat, grounds to 3B Tolbert throw wild over head of Morneau into crowd, two now in scoring position, this is huge now for Inglett, that’s it for Blackburn not his fault, two consecutive errors hurts him here, he was cruising and with very low pitch count thanks to the over aggressive Jays hitters. Reyes now pitching, he is one tough cookie. Inglett has to think about this at bat. This could be the game with Rolen at 3B and Snider at 2B. Bautista now pinch hitting for Inglett, intentional walk to load bases, they don’t want Bautista facing Reyes. Scutaro at bat, Reyes out and right handed pitcher to face Scutaro. Guerrier pitching, Scutaro fly ball out to Span in CF. Leaves bases loaded but Jays have at least tied it up and AJ does not lose this one.

Top 8th: Downs still in there. Harris pinch hitting for Buscher at bat McDonald at SS Scutaro at 2B and Zaun catching. Harris grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay at 1B one down. Punto at bat, singles to right centre, one on one down. Tolbert at bat, strikes out, two down. Pridie at bat, full count. Walks him. Two on, two down for Span. Bounces it to Downs who takes ball himself for the out at 1B. No damage for Downs although not his best outing at all tonight.
Bottom 8th: Big bats for Jays now, Rios to leadoff. Grounds to Punto at SS, good throw to Morneau to get Alex. One down for Vernon 0-3 tonight, not a good night for him at bat. Same play to Punto throw to Morneau for second out. Lind now can he do anything here? Full count, grounds to Casilla at 2B, throw to Morneau for third out. Jays go quietly.

Top 9th: BJ Ryan in, not League who was up in bullpen earlier. Casilla at bat, pops up to Overbay at the wall for the catch. Very nice play. Mauer at bat, high fly ball out to Wells in CF, right at the wall, almost out. Morneau at bat, doubles to the CF wall. Kubel at bat, two down, 3-0 count. Walks on four pitches. Harris at bat, wild pitch and both runners move up. Full count now. Harris grounds to Scutaro throw to 1B but Harris safe at 1B. Morneau scores 4-3 Twins. Punto fly ball out to Wells but damage is done.
Bottom 9th: Nathan pitching, Zaun at bat, walks him, good at bat Gregg. Overbay now first pitch swing high fly ball out to Span in CF. Thigpen pinch running for Zaun. Rolen with one on and one down. Lines this one hard right at Tolbert at 3B. Two down. Snider at bat, full count, very patient at bat here by Snider, drives this one to right centre, Pridie fumbles this ball bounces away. Error on play. Thigpen scores, this game it tied up 4-4. Travis at 2B. Johnny Mc at bat, full count strikes out but this game is extra innings.

Top 10th: League pitching. Thigpen catching. Tolbert at bat, full count. Singles up the middle. Pridie bunts to Rolen throw to 1B one down. Tolbert to 2B. Span at bat, grounds out to Overbay at 1B, two down for Casilla. Tolbert moves to 3B. Whoa, grounds to Rolen, a really great diving save and throw from his knees to Overbay to get third out.
Bottom 10th: Top of the order Scutaro at bat, Nathan still pitching. Fly ball out to Pridie in RF corner, one down. Rios at bat, hammers this one, just misses HR here, off the wall in LF corner, a triple. One down for Vernon here, intentional walk. Not pitching to Vernon. Lind at bat, walking him, intentional also to load bases. Thigpen at bat, they cannot walk Curtis. Patient at bat, full count, strikes out. On ball four. Tough one to take. Overbay at bat, two down bases loaded but Alex is the important one at 3B. Horrible first pitch ! swing and fly ball out to Pridie in RF. Cito you are going to have to teach this group how to get a guy in from 3B. Same old…..

Top 11th: Carlson pitching. Mauer at bat, grounds to Scutaro at 2B throw to Overbay one down. Morneau pops up to Overbay for second out. Kubel with two down, fly ball out to Wells in CF, nice inning Jesse.
Bottom 11th: Eddie Guardado pitching. Rolen at bat, YES Scott, doubles very hard to CF wall. Nice at bat, Travis Snider again 2-4 tonight. Tough situation for Travis, singles to LF, Rolen has to hold that could have been caught by Kubel. Rolen at 3B Snider at 1B, no outs. Boof Bonser pitching, McDonald at bat, will he bunt? NO but he does hit this one HIGH over head of CF Gomez playing shallow CF, this game is over, Rolen scores, Jays win this one 5-4.