Perfect all -round performance by Jays support Litsch's no-hit complete game

Toronto v Minnesota, Series finale Thursday September 4,2008.

Preview: Jays going for sweep of series and the season against Twins. This is probably enough incentive for the Twins but will it be so for the season long inconsistent Jays in the middle of a great run right now. I think they have found the right lineups and the addition of Jose Bautista and Travis Snider has made a huge impact. I like Bautista batting number two, after either Scutaro or Inglett and in front of Rios. We shall see. Bullpen last night a little shaky but perhaps they are entitled to one bad game. Downs and Ryan were not sharp. For Ryan I think it might be that his surgery is finally catching up to him at the end of a long season. I hope I am wrong. League has been a pleasant surprise and today’s news that Jays might ask Downs to be a starter in 2009 may be a result of League’s resurgence. He could be that eighth inning set up for Ryan but of course we should also have Accardo back as well as Janssen so Jays management have an enviable task in the winter to set rotation plans for Dunedin. Looking forward to seeing whether or not Jesse Litsch can turn in another good outing as he did against Rays last week. If he can hold Twins to three runs that should be enough. BUT Gardenhire is an excellent Manager and will have some offensive plans for tonight. It is their final game on what must have been an exhausting fourteen game road trip. Minnesota started the trip one game back of Chicago in the division, and remain one game back after White Sox finished their own nine game road trip yesterday 4-5.

What they have been saying today:
Nathan "This will turn around," "We're not as bad as it has gone. As bad as our luck has gone, we're hoping it's going to turn and do just as good on the other end." Manager Ron Gardenhire "We're a game out of first place, we're in September and I think a lot of teams would like to be where we're at. A lot of people think the world is ending but it's not for this clubhouse. We'll be back and ready to play tomorrow."
Jesse Litsch on his last outing; "I made a couple mistake pitches."

Lineups: Minnesota: Span, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Young, Redmond, Tolbert, Punto and Slowey pitching.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Rolen, Snider and Litsch pitching.

Pitching: Litsch (9-8, 4.01) v Slowey 11-8, 3.70 ERA) is trying for his fifth consecutive winning decision after allowing two runs and six hits while striking out 10 in six innings of a 12-2 victory at Oakland on Friday. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA in two career starts versus Toronto, but is 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA over his last five games overall. Litsch is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three career starts versus the Twins and beat Slowey in a 5-3 Toronto victory on May 13.

Result: Jays win this one big 9-0 and sweep Twins and also their last nine against Twins.
The very good: Litsch and Snider both, supported by clutch hitting and great defence. This was a great all-round performance by Jays. HR Travis and three hits plus a walk, Litsch complete game shutout.
The good: double play first inning, Defence by Inglett and Scutaro. Multi-hit night for Inglett, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen along with Snider. Hits throughout the lineup. Seventeen hits for Jays hitters.

The bad: Not tonight.

The game: Top 1st: Span at bat, shows bunt, on first pitch. Singles into RF, one on. Look for small ball now. Gardenhire wants this one badly. Casilla, grounds to Overbay at 1B on to Scutaro at 2B back to Lyle double play two out. Jesse likes that one. Mauer at bat, walks him, for Morneau, 109 RBIs ! Would that he were in Toronto. Full count, don’t walk this guy Jesse. Fly ball out to Snider playing in LF tonight. 22 pitches though for Jesse, he won’t last long tonight like this.
Bottom 1st: Inglett lead off, hits him that’s one way to get on. Scutaro, great bunt, and safe on Tolbert’s throw to 1B, four pitches !! two on for Rios, no outs, double steal ??? dream on…. That’s Joe Maddon’s style not Cito. Grounds to Punto at SS, off his arm, cannot make a play, everyone safe. Bases loaded for Wells, no outs. Come on Vernon. High fly ball to Young in LF, Inglett tags and scores. 1-0 Jays. Other runners stay put. Lind with one down and two on at 1B and 2B. Full count, high fly ball to Young in LF corner, runners hold. This is the difference between Rays and Jays managers, double steal earlier would have had Scutaro at 3B and that would have been run number two. Barajas at bat, two down now, strikes out, Jays ahead BUT with bases loaded and no outs that is a moral victory for Twins. This is why Ray are number one in division and Jays are four. Aggressive at the plate but not on the bases. I don’t see it changing under Cito. 26 pitches for Slowey but this could and should have been much worse for him.

Top 2nd: Kubel at bat, fly ball out to Snider ion LF corner, one down. Young singles over Joe Inglett into right centre. Redmond one on one down. Fly ball out to Wells in CF. Two down. Tolbert grounds hard to Inglett, throw to Overbay for third out. Better inning for Litsch here. 35 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay at bat, strikes out, one down for Rolen, strikes out looking on three pitches. Snider gets nice ovation, singles to RF another hit for this young man. Inglett now two down and one on. lines out to Span in CF . Jays go quietly this time. 36 pitches for Slowey.

Top 3rd: Punto first at bat tonight, doubles into LF Snider cannot get there in time, top of Twins order, Span, is he bunting ? Yes, but fouls it off. Full count strikes out. One down for Casilla,grounds to Overbay, throw to Litsch for the second out at 1B. Punto moves to 3B. Mauer at bat, full count, walks him, here comes trouble for Jesse , Morneau. Grounds hard back up the middle right at Litsch, nice stop by Jesse and throw to Overbay to get out trouble, nice fielding Jesse.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro to lead off, Jays need more than one run to beat the Twins tonight, I hope they don’t sit on the one run and regret not executing in that first inning. Fouling a few pitches off here, lines out to Kubel in RF corner. One down for Rios, fly ball out to Kubel in RF corner. Wells at bat two down no one on base, fly ball out to CF Span. Three up and down for Jays. 54 pitches. Yankees getting beaten up by Rays 5-0 only in 2nd inning. Rasner is already out of the game, Manager Girardi is still serious about these games.

Top 4th: Kubel at bat, grounds to Inglett at 2B throw to Overbay for first out. Young at bat, grounds to SS Scutaro, throw to Overbay for second out. Redmond at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. Jesse’s best inning so far, three quick up and down. But we still need some hits here to win a game. 68 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Lind at bat, DH tonight. Singles into shallow LF. One on for Barajas grounds it to Tolbert at 3B on to Casilla on to Morneau for double play. Overbay at bat, lines it hard to off Tolbert’s but off his glove cannot make a throw Overbay safe at 1B. Rolen first pitch grounds it to Punto flip to Casilla at 2B for the third out. Maybe Bautista will be at 3B tomorrow ???

Top 5th: Tolbert high fly ball out to Rios, great running catch by Alex. I believe he should use his speed more often in the field. He is fine going right but not left (I think). Punto at bat lines out to Rios in RF right at him this time. Two down. Span at bat singles into LF. Casilla at bat, two down one on. grounds to Scutaro throw to Inglett at 2B Span called out on very close play as Inglett sprawls over the bag. 79 pitches for Jesse though, he may not get into seven tonight.
Bottom 5th: Snider at bat WOW Travis…. He really gets hold of this one, HR to CF. up on the black backdrop, deepest part of the ballpark. 2-0 Jays. First major league HR. This kid has POWER. Inglett lines it off glove of Slowey, no chance for Casilla to make play at 1B. Scutaro bunts again, Inglett safe at 2B. One down. Rios now chance to get further ahead. Bounces to Casilla at 2B Inglett moves to 3B but Alex out at 1B. Wells at bat two down. Grounds to Punto as SS, throw to 1B for third out. 82 pitches.

Top 6th: Mauer at bat, grounds to Scutaro at SS throw to Overbay for the first out. Morneau at bat, grounds hard to Inglett, throw to Overbay for second out. Grounds first pitch to Overbay flip to Litsch for third out only six pitch inning. He needed a quick one here. 85 pitches, enough for another inning.
Bottom 6th: Jays hitters need to break this one open now and break the spirit of Twins. I didn’t see that intensity in Alex and Vernon last inning in their at bats. Two runs is not enough against this team. Lind at bat, full count, grounds it hard off the glove of Tolbert at 3B, no chance on that one for Tolbert. Adam safe at 1B. Barajas at bat, just misses one here, high foul ball in LF corner just misses foul pole. Now high fly ball out to Kubel in RF corner. Overbay first pitch swing, and fly ball out to LF. 91 Rolen now , yes Scott singles to CF and Adam gets to 3B easily. Craig Breslow up in Twins bullpen. Snider 2-2 tonight with two on here, yes Travis, does it again, singles up the middle, Lind scores 3-0 Jays. Snider 3-3 tonight. That’s it for Slowey, Breslow now pitching. Rolen goes to 3B on that hit. Top of the order for Jays. Inglett at bat, strikes out.

Top 7th: Yankees now losing 6-0 in the 5th. Jays can pull one up on them if they hold this one tonight. Young grounds hard to SS Scutaro great play by Marco throws Young out at 1B, great play. One down. Redmond at bat, bounces back to Jesse, throw to Overbay for second out. Tolbert at bat, two down, strikes him out. Very nice Jesse. 98 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Jesse Crain pitching. Scutaro at bat, strikes out. Rios at bat, fly ball out to Kubel in shallow RF. Two down for Wells. Vernon was waiting for that pitch, too many curve balls there Jesse, and Vernon gets this one into the seats above the Jays bullpen in LF. 4-0 Jays. Number sixteen for Vernon this season. That’s it for Crain. Reyes now pitching. Lind at bat with two down. Grounds to Casilla, throw to Morneau at 1B for third out.

Top 8th: Litsch still in there but may be on a short leash if he gets into trouble. Punto at bat, pops it up to Scutaro in shallow LF. One down for Span, grounds back to Litsch, nice grab by Jesse throw to Overbay for the second out. Casilla at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out, very quick inning one, two, three for Litsch here.
Bottom 8th: Bobby Korecky pitching. Barajas at bat, has hit ball hard tonight but no luck so far. Successful this time, singles into LF. Overbay at bat, long fly ball out to Span in CF. One down for Rolen, singles up the middle, two on, one down, guess who is at bat? Snider again 3-3 tonight can he make it four? I do like his patience at bat. Full count, and walks. Bases loaded, very nice at bat Travis. Inglett at bat one down, gets hold of this one over Jukbls head bounces off right centre wall, Barajas and Rolen score, 6-0 Jays. Snider at 3B and Inglett at 2B one down. Scutaro at bat, new pitcher, Phillip Humber. Bounces to Punto throw to Morneau for the second out. No chance for Snider to come home. Rios at bat singles into shallow CF, Snider and Inglett score. 8-0 Jays. Wells at bat Alex at 1B and two down. Singles very hard into RF, two on and two down. Lind at bat doubles off the RF wall, Rios scores, 9-0 Jays. Barajas with two in scoring position, batting for second time this inning, lines out to Morneau at 1B. I hope Rays are watching the scoreboard tonight in Tampa and getting nervous about their trip to the cold North….

Top 9th: Litsch still out there 106 pitches. Matt Macri pinch hitting for Mauer, fly ball out to Vernon in CF. One down for Ruiz pinch hitting for Morneau, strikes out, two down for Jason Pridie lines it hard to Inglett great diving catch to end this one. Highlight reel catch and Jays win this one going away 9-0.

Litsch gets complete game shutout and Jays sweep Twins with all round performance. Now for those Rays this weekend.