Jays win comeback with power and great bullpen.

Toronto v Minnesota. Tuesday September 2, 2008.

Preview: Another must win series for Jays and Twins probably need it more than most as they are right in the wild card scenario. Minnesota (77-60) much bettr record than the Jays and Twins are hoping to stay in the AL Central race while playing 14 straight road games for the first time since August 1969, when they played 15 in a row in five cities.
September call ups today for Toronto include Richmond and Wolfe, Marcum has been recalled from AAA and will pitch on Saturday in place of Parrish, and Wilkerson comes off the disabled list. Twins are finished with the West Coast portion of their longest road trip in more than 39 years and now face the east. That is one tough road trip.

What they are saying: Gardenhire: "Toronto is probably playing the best baseball of all the teams we've faced other than Anaheim. So three games against a very tough team at the end of that many days on the road is not easy."
Gardenhire "Their pitching staff all year long has been very, very good. You don't get a break with their pitching staff."

Pitching: Purcey 2-5, 5.53 ERA v Perkins 12-3, 3.96 ERA looking to win his fifth straight start. Perkins is a very good pitcher and rookie eight shutout innings in two of his last four outings, compiling a 2.48 ERA overall during that span. Perkins has thrown at least six innings in each of his last 11 starts, going 8-1 with a 3.56 ERA. Purcey had a good outing in Tampa striking out 11 and walked none in eight innings but lost 1-0 on Pena’s HR.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Bautista, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, McDonald, and Purcey pitching.
Minnesota: Span, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Ruiz, Young, Buscher, Punto and Perkins pitching.

Result: Jays win 7-5 come from behind. And with some power bats for a change. Seventeen hits tonight and three HRs.

The good: Bautista two run HR. Alex back to back HR. I think Cito may have found the number two bat in Bautista. The way Jose is settling in makes sense to have in front of Rios and Wells. We will see if Cito agrees tomorrow. Both Jose and Alex go 4-5 tonight. Overbay HR. Bullpen closing it down after the fourth when Purcey leaves game.
The bad: Purcey awful tonight from first inning and escaped worse damage. May have pitched himself out of the rotation.

Top 1st: Span leadoff, fly ball out to Wells great catch by Vernon Casilla, hot on the foot by pitch. One on one down for Joe Mauer singles to CF, Casilla gets to 3B easily, Purcey in trouble already with only one out. Morneau at bat, pops it up into shallow LF and McDonald gets the out without Casilla advancing from 3B. Jason Kubel, full count. Grounds to left of Rolen, nice play by Scott and throw to Overbay for third out and Purcey out of trouble. 15 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro at bat long single to right centre, Bautista batting number two tonight, is he bunting ? No. grounds to SS Ounto flip to Casilla 2B and throw to Morneau. Double play. Ouch. Rios singles to LF. That double play even worse now. Wells at bat, weak ground out to Buscher, throw to Casilla at 2B to get Alex. 10 pitches.

Top 2nd: Ruiz, full count and walks him. Young at bat, strikes out. One down. Buscher 3-0 count and now walks on four pitches. Punto pops up to Scutaro at 2B. Two down for top of the order Span with two on. Span strikes out. Purcey really playing with fire for the second inning, he needs to tighten up here or his outing will be very short tonight. 44 pitches already as well.
Bottom 2nd: Barajas fly ball out to Span in CF. One down for Lind singles to LF, Rolen now fly ball to shallow RF for Kubel. Two down for Overbay singles to RF, Lind gets to 3B. McDonald. Full count and strikes out. 30 pitches.

Top 3rd: Casilla, singles up the middle, one on for Mauer, singles to RF, nice sliding save by Alex, Casilla to 3B. Purcey in trouble yet again he is not fooling anyone tonight. Morneau with two on and no outs, singles to LF scores Casilla. 1-0 Twins. Kubel at bat with two on and no outs. Grounds out to Overbay but gets his job done by moving both runners into scoring position. One down. Ruiz wild pitch and Mauer scores. 2-0 Twins. Morneau moves to 3B. No one yet up in Jays bullpen but it will not be long here, probably Tallet, 65 pitches already for Purcey. Another full count. Strikes out on ball four. Young at bat singles to LF Morneau scores, 3-0 Twins. Here comes Cito, now someone up in bullpen yes it is Tallet. This is Purcey’s last inning he has been awful all three innings. Buscher at bat, strikes out but damage is done bigtime. 74 pitches to get nine out. Not good David.You may have lost your rotation spot with that outing. There are eager arms in the bullpen now including Richmond, Marcum will be going on Saturday. This month may go a long way in sorting out the 2009 rotation.
Bottom 3rd: Perkins now has more than enough to close this one down. Scutaro grounds to Punto at SS. Throw to 1B Morneau for the out. One down. Bautista singles to LF. Rios now needs more than single here. Singles to LF, that’s ok Alex as long as someone behind you can bring someone in here, Vernon at bat two on one down. Singles up the middle, Scutaro scores and Rios thrown out at 3B. Great throw by Span but Alex hesitated just a split second there coming around 2B and that was the difference. Two down. 3-1 Twins. Vernon to 2B on the throw. Barajas at bat, grounds hard to 3B Buscher and throw to 1B Morneau gets Barajas for third out. Could have, should have been more…. Alex gambled this time and lost. 47 pitches. Jays have outhit Twins 7-5 but are still behind.

Top 4th: Purcey still in there ??? but for how long? 74 pitches. Punto at bat, full count. singles to LF, come on Cito. Top of the order again for Span. Punto stealing, throw high and way off bag. Punto safe easily. full count. Span singles up the middle Punto scores 4-1 Twins. Great throw by Vernon but Punto can run and beats tag by Barajas. Span to 2B. Finally Purcey is out of here, a little late Cito. Purcey had nothing at all from first inning and was lucky to escape all innings without big damage, Have you left him in too long now for hitters to come back in this one? Tallet now pitching. No outs and Span now stealing 3B, throw not in time. Twins running at will tonight. Casilla pops up to Overbay in foul ground. One down. Mauer fly ball to Wells and Span tags and scores fifth run. 5-1 Twins. Morneau at bat two down and no outs, bounces one to McDonald throw to Overbay for the third out. Twins are giving Jays hitters lesson on how to do it, running and hitting, perfect execution.
Bottom 4th: Lots of game left but you have to have heart to come back and this team ???? we shall see. Interestingly Twins still only have seven runs the same as Jays but have four runs more ??? Lind at bat singles to RF. Rolen now with one on. high fly ball to Span in CF, one down. Lind holds at 1B. Overbay with one on. Bounces one to Casilla at 2B cannot turn two but gets Overbay at 1B. Johnny Mc. first pitch swing, fly ball to Young in LF for the third out. Perkins is closing the door shut friends. 60 pitches.

Top 5th: Kubel at bat singles one to Rios in RF. Ruiz at bat fly ball out to Wells in CF. One down. Young at bat singles to Rios in RF and Kubel moves to 3B. Buscher at bat with two on. grounds to Scutaro at 2B throw to Johnny MC at 2B on to Overbay at 1B, yes friends double play ball and Tallet escapes damage this time. But we still need runs to win this one.
Bottom 5th: Top of the order at least to get things going. Scutaro 3-0 count here, patience by Marco. Walks. Bautista still does not have a home run for Jays despite the twelve in Pittsburgh. Carlson up in bullpen. Full count to Bautista, THERE IT GOES…. I must take up a new career. Lines it hard into LF seats. 5-3 Jays. Rios now with no one on and no outs. YES ALEX, no question gets hold of this one. back to back here. 5-4 Jays. Very nice swing Alex off the LF facing on second deck above Jays bullpen. That is hit number three for Alex, tonight is he finally getting his stroke back ??? Better late than never Alex. Now Vernon, three in a row ???? No, not this time, pops it up to Punto SS for first out. Barajas at bat, fly ball out to Kubel in RF two down. Lind now, can he keep this line moving ? grounds to SS throw to Morneau for the third out. 88 pitches for Perkins.

Top 6th: Carlson has to hold the Twins here. Punto at bat, fly ball out to Rios in RF. One down for top of the order, Span, lines first pitch hard back at Jesse nice stop and throw to Overbay for the out. Two down. Casilla fly ball out to Lind in LF corner. Very nice Jesse and exactly what you had to do here.
Bottom 6th: No more Perkins. Boof Bonser pitching. 32 walks and 83 strikeouts in 36 games. Rolen at bat 3-1 count. Walks him. Overbay at bat one on, YES Lyle, this one has gone….. HR to Lyle into Twins bullpen. Two runs score, and Jays lead this one 6-5 Jays. McDonald grounds to Punto, throw to Morneau for the out. Scutaro at bat grounds to Punto throw to Morneau for second out. Bautista 3-1 count. doubles to the wall in right centre, his third hit tonight. Alex now chance to get another run here. Not this time. Strikes out.

Top 7th: Mauer hammers this one to Scutaro, great stop and throw to Overbay for the first out. One down for Morneau. Bounces this one to Rolen and throw to Overbay for second out. Kubel at bat, fly ball out to Rios in RF.
Bottom 7th: Jesse Crain pitching. Wells missing out do far on the fireworks tonight. Grounds to Buscher at 3B, nice stop but his throw bounces and Vernon safe at 1B. No complaints from Twins dugout but looked out on replay. Barajas high fly ball out to Span in CF. Lind at bat, singles up the middle, third hit tonight. Vernon moves to 2B. Rolen at bat with two on. Can he blow this one open here? Wilkerson now pinch running for Lind. Denis Reyes up in bullpen for Twins. Downs up in Jays bullpen. Fly ball out to Kubel in RF, Vernon tags and moves to 3B on the throw. Two down for Overbay. That’s it for Crain and Reyes now in to get Lyle. And gets Lyle on three pitches. Yankees beating Tampa 6-1 and Boston hammering Baltimore 11-1 in six.

Top 8th: Downs now pitching. Wilkerson in LF defensively for Lind. Ruiz at bat, grounds to Johnny Mc throw to Overbay for the out. One down for Young. Grounds one slowly to Scutaro at 2B throw to Overbay, two down. Matt Macri pinch hitting for Buscher, strikes him out on great curve ball. Downs does it again. Nice inning Scott. 10 pitches.
Bottom 8th: Matt Gierrier pitching, McDonald at bat, grounds to Macri playing at 3B now, throw to Morneau for the first out. Scutaro at bat, singles to RF, Bautista hitting for the cycle needs a triple but he will be happy with a base hit. Singles to shallow CF and Scutaro gets to 3B on the throw easily. Bautista 4-5 tonight. Rios at bat one out. This will do it Alex, doubles a scorcher down the 3B line into LF corner, he hot that so hard, Scutaro scores, Bautista to 3B and Alex at 2B, 7-5 Jays. Alex like Jose 4-5 tonight. Wells at bat intentional walk. Bases loaded for Barajas Strikes out hitless tonight in five at bats. New pitcher Craig Breslow number six tonight for Twins, Wilkerson at bat. Bases still loaded. Would love to get a hit here first game back off the DL. Strikes out. Here comes BJ Ryan.

Top 9th: Ryan pitching. Punto at bat, strikes him out swinging. One down for Span, strikes out, two down for Casilla, pops it up to Scutaro at 2B for third out and the win.
Jays win third in a row. Save number 26 for BJ Ryan. Great comeback win against a tough playoff contending team.