Jays win a crazy one tonight despite Rios rookie error and Cito gambling.

Jays v (World Champs and Division leaders) Phillies. Game 1 of 3.

Both sides know each other from playing many times in Dunedin. On paper a total mismatch. This could be a long three days for Jays’ underachieving hitters and pitchers.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Wells, Rolen, Lind, Rios, Millar, Barajas, Romero pitching and hitting tonight.
Phillies: Rollins, Utley, Werth, Howard, Ibanez, Victorino, Feliz, Ruiz, and Hamels pitching and hitting.

Jays win this one in extra innings 8-3 in one of the strangest games this season. Cito uses eighteen players tonight. Jays outhit Phillies 13-8.

The very good: Romero seven innings with nine strikeouts. and the bullpen.
The good: Overbay his eye in walking in tying run in the ninth. Lind home run. Jays hitters apart from leaving bases loaded al game long. Wells with two hits tonight breaking an 0-20 slump. 45,000 attendance.
The bad: Definitely Rios in an unbelievable and unforgiveable brain spasm error in the ninth.
Also Cito tonight gambling and leaving Romero to hit in the sixth with bases loaded and one out. Jays hitters 4/19 with runners in scoring position. Leave 16 on base.

Top 1st: Scutaro,strikes out. Hill. High fly ball to left Ibanez. Wells, .238 average ouch bigtime Vernnon. That is horrible apart from total embarrassment. Fly ball to Obanez. 0-18. At least he didn’t strike out swinging or ground to third. 11 pitches for Hamels.
Bottom 1st: Romero pitching. Rollins, average worse than Vernon !!! but then he is leadoff guy. Doubles into left field corner past diving Rolen, Phillies crowd love that on Rolen. One in scoring position for Utley doubles to Wells in centre, Rollins scores 1-0 Phillies. Ex Jay Werth. Cito out not sure why, goes back. Werth grounds to Scutaro fumbles but throws Werth out at first but he does his job as Utley moves to third. Howard strikes out. Ibanez two down full count, strikes out on a great curve, could have been much worse for Romero. He did well to get out of that with only one run. 24 pitches.

Top 2nd: Ex- Philly Rolen full count and walks. Lind grounds to Howard throw to Rollins is wild throw off glove of Rollins and Rolen all the way to third. Rios two on and no outs. Pulling ball and grounds to third, Rolen moving on the hit and out in rundown. Alex unable to go opposite field or get a fly ball, that is why he is number six in lineup..Millar with Lind at second and Rios at first. One down. Millar strikes out. Barajas intentional walk and both runners move up. Bases loaded. Romero strikes out but don’t blame Ricky. Blame is on Alex Rios. 34 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Victorino 3-0 count and walks on four, Feliz bounces one to Hill throw to Millar, Why didn’t he step on second ?? Ruiz, with Victorino at second, full count. pop up to Scutaro in shallow centre, two down for Hamels he has an average…. Two hits and an rbi. Fly ball to Lind. 41 pitches.

Top 3rd: Scutaro grounds to Utley, throw to Howard one down for Hill fly ball to Ibanez in left, two quick outs for Wells, fly ball to Werth in right. Jays go down whimpering. Wells 0-19 and hitting below his weight now
Bottom 3rd: Rollins, bounces to Scutaro throw to Millar for the out. Utley singles to Wells, one on one down for Werth. High fly ball to 409 sign, deepest part of ground, Wells great catch. Romero thought that one was out. Howard, strikes out on three pitches. Romero has had some very good pitches tonight. But same old story from these sinking Jays no one can hit.

Top 4th: Rolen, full count, good at bat fouling off a few, grounds to Rollins throw to Howard for the first out. Lind, this one is out of here, the moment it left the bat. 1-1. Rios, going the opposite way, which bothers me about that at bat in the second. Singles to left. Millar doubles to left corner, Rios scores. 2-1 Jays. When were they last ahead of anyone ? Barajas walks but misjudges count ooops… full count singles to centre, Millar caught mid base and scrambles back to third to beat the throw. Romero with one down what is he doing? bunting ?? .trying to…strikes out. Up to Scutaro now. Millar still at third and Barajas at first. First pitch grounds to third. Throw to Howard. Marco not very smart with that at bat, Hamels was in a jam there, put some pressure on him Marco. Ah well Jays have a lead and that is worth celebrating if only for an inning.
Bottom 4th: Ibanez strikes out, number four for Romero.. One down for Victorino fly ball to Wells, two down. Feliz grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar for third out.

Top 5th: Hill grounds to Rollins at shirt throw to first base Howard. Wells fouls out to Feliz at third.0-3 tonight and 0-20. Rolen two down. strikes out. 89 pitches for Hamels.
Bottom 5th: Ruiz strikes out. Five for Romero. Hamels strikes out on three pitches. Rollins with two down. Pops up to Hill, nice over shoulder catch. 75 pitches.

Top 6th: Lind, singles past Rollins into left. Lind hits both sides, why can’t Vernon ? but then Vernon would take anyway at all right now. Rios grounds to Rollins difficult play going to his right ad no way will he get either Lind or Rios. Two on for Millar single up the middle knocked down by Rollins but no play there. Bases loaded for Barajas will Cito pinch hit for Romero? Pops it up to Rollins one down for Romero. Bases still loaded. I wonder if he will bunt? No. Cito gambling here. Strikes out. Scutaro with two down. Full count, fly ball to in centre. Cito gambled and lost bigtime. Let’s hope that does not come around to hurt. Romero may only have one more inning anyway. I guess Cito has no faith in either pinch hitters or in bullpen.110 pitches for Hamels, his last inning. Jays 2-10 with runners in scoring position. Same old, same old.
Bottom 6th: Utley, full count and walks. Werth, Utley stealing second and safe. Doesn’t really matter this one is out of here two run home run for Werth. 3-2 Phillies and Cito’s decision last inning really hurts now. You don’t mess around with this Phillies team, they are not the hitless Jays Cito. You take every chance you get. Bases loaded one out, you hit and hit. Another major difference also between Jays and Red Sox, they also make you pay for any chances given. Howard strikes out. Ibanez strikes out. Victorino singles up the middle off glove of Romero. Feliz fly ball to shallow centre, nice sliding catch by Rios. But Jays behind again.

Top 7th: Durbin now pitching, Hill 0-3 tonight. Strikes out. Wells 0-3 and 0-20… Does he need reminding? Fly ball to left centre, good running catch by Victorino. Rolen, has been pressing all night without any luck. You know he wants to do well here against his former team. Walks for second time tonight. Lind with one on and one down. 2-3 tonight. Boston hammering the Marlins in Fenway. Not the same patsies as Jays in Toronto. Full count on Lind. Strikes out.
Bottom 7th: Tampa also beating up on the Rockies 5-0 in the second. Boston 8-2 in the seventh and Yankees losing to Washington 3-2 in the seventh. Romero still out there at 98 pitches. Ruiz at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Millar one down. Bruntlett pinch hitting grounds to Rolen throw to Millar for second out. Rollins bunting to third, no chance for Rolen, Utley, throw over to first gets away from Millar, Rollins to second. Where is Overbay Cito ??? Ah well not his night. Utley grounds to Millar for third out. 112 pitches for Romero and you have to ask why ? Day off yesterday bullpen is fresh. Last thing Jays needs is another pitcher on DL.

Top 8th: Not much time left for Jays to do something. They have outhit Phillies but not out managed. JC Romero now pitching for Phillies. Rios 2-3 tonight. Must like that number six spot. 3-0 count. Walks. One on for Millar. Will Alex steal? Yes and safe at second without a throw. Full count and walks. Two on for Barajas. Inglett pinch running for Millar. Bunting ? oh boy. Chance for Alex to steal third as third base Feliz is in for the bunt. Bunt is off and pops up to Utley. Lost your chance there Alex. Bautista now for Romero. Why not earlier Cito? Wild pitch but walk anyway. Bases loaded for Scutaro, another chance here for you Marco.That will do it lines to left. Where is Rios ????? stands there, the moves then starts to run then realizes he has not tagged and goes back too late. That was bush league Alex. I don’t believe I actually saw that from a major leaguer. That was a run and the tying run. Hill with two down and bases still loaded. Grounds to Rollins flip to second for the out. Cito should bench the guy for that. But of course he won’t.We have seen Alex make stupid base running errors before, perhaps he does have a weak spot here.

Bottom 8th: Camp pitching. Werth lines hard back at Camp, throw to Overbay at first. Oh no, here comes Cito. And here comes BJ. And then we wonder why these arms give out in Jays land. Howard a little golf shot to centre. Ibanez great leaping catch by Scutaro as it is lined hard at him, two down for Victorino, walks him. Here comes Cito of course. Frasor now pitching. Feliz grounds first pitch to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 9th: Jays last chance. Good luck against Ryan Madson. Wells leading off, chance to be a hero here Vernon. Grounds off the end of his bat, Madson cannot get there in time and throws away at first Vernon is on base. Welcome to first Vernon. Long time no see. Rolen now. Just foul down the right field line, that would have scored Vernon. Doubles to left, Vernon hustling to third and no outs. Lind intentional walk to load them up for guess who….the goat of the night. Rios., his chance to be a hero. Nick Leyva explaining to Vernon at third why Alex messed up. Swings at first two. Called third strike looking. I guess Alex wishes he had stayed at home tonight. One down for Overbay Jays are 0-7 with bases loaded tonight, full count and walks, Lyle Overbay has THE best eye on this Jays team, that took some doing to take that pitch. This game is all tied up at 3-3 and bases still loaded for Barajas Pops it up to Rolins at short. Two down. That fiasco by Rios in the eighth is huge now. McDonald pinch hitting. Cito could have used him earlier in game for the bunting miscues. Takes ball one. Strikes out. Jays 2-16 with runners in scoring position tonight. Hill and Scutaro both 0-5, will they get another at bat to make amends?
Bottom 9th: Downs pitching. Ruiz lines it softly to Scutaro, one down for pinch hitter Coste strikes out, two down. Rollins 2-4 tonight grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay and this game is going to extra innings and Scutaro and Hill will get a chance to break that o-fer.

Top 10th: Clay Condrey pitching. Scutaro hitless in five. Takes first two for strikes. Grounds to Rollins throw to first, Marco is 0-6 tonight, ouch. But here comes Hill also 0-5. Grounds to Rollins but beats out the throw at first. Great off balance throw but not in time. Wells 1-5, is he on a roll? We would all love him to hit one out here. That will do fine Vernon, lines it hard up the middle past a diving Utley for his second hit tonight, Two on for Rolen, runners at first and second. Full count, Scott singles into shallow right, Hill just beats the throw and Jay go back out ahead. 4-3. Lind can break it open here. Two on one out, another full count and walks. Bases loaded yet again with only one out. How many more chances do Jays need to make Phillies pay? Look who is here? Mr. Rios himself. Chance for redemption Alex. Just don’t take that third strike, full count. Way outside and ball four. Vernon comes in for a run. His first in far too many, many games. 5-3 Jays and bases still loaded. Manager Manuel has seen enough of Condrey. Tyler Walker new pitcher. Overbay at bat fly ball to Victorino in right on first pitch. Lind scores. 6-3 Jays. Rolen to third on the throw. Two down for Barajas A lot of empty seats now. This will do it, fly ball to the wall deepest part of park in left centre, two runs score, Lind and Rios. 8-3 Jays. Downs with Barajas at second grounds to short, throw to first. Oh no… Downs is limping. Our worst nightmare. Did he twist his ankle or spike himself when he came out of the box? Carlson is coming in. Downs could have just swung the bat and struck out, game was not on the line. You can bet Cito will be telling them this tomorrow, not worth sacrificing to injury..
Bottom 10th: This is not over yet although Phillies fans have emptied the stadium. Carlson is given lots of time to warm up here. Utley singles into right. One on for Werth, lines hard to leaping Scutaro one down. Second highlight reel catch for Marco. Makes up for his 0-6 night. Howard with one on and one down. Full count. Fly ball to Vernon in centre. Two down. Ibanez Pops it up to Scutaro and Downs and Jays win one. And win big against World Champs in Philadelphia. This should be a huge morale booster as long as Downs is ok.