Cecil wins a beauty but Frasor and Cito try hard to blow it.

Jays v Rays. Friday April 23.

I like this lineup, although might put in Molina for the running stealers on this team. But for the first time Cito has one through nine hitters with power potential.

Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Hill, Lind, Wells, Overbay, Gonzalez, Bautista, Buck, Snider
Rays: Bartlett, Crawford, Zobrist, Longoria, Pena, Upton, Aybar, Navarro, Kapler

Pitching: Cecil v Garza. Cecil recalled from AAA Vegas for Tallet. I like young Cecil, he could make a strong bid to stay up here this time in the rotation. He narrowly missed out coming north from Dunedin.

Top 1st: Lewis full count and walks. Hill fly ball to centre field Upton. One down, Lind full count and walks, Lewis to second. Wells with two on. Vernon doubles to left, Lewis scores easily, Lind to third. Jays get out early here 1-0 Jays. Overbay with two runners in scoring position strikes out. Poor Lyle. Gonzalez, here we go, singles to centre, here comes Lind, here comes Vernon, 3-0 Jays. Gonzalez moves up to second on the throw. Bautista doubles to centre, Gonzalez scores 4-0 Jays, they are all over Garza here early. Buck hit by a pitch. Snider lines out to right field Kapler. But Jays take big early lead for young Cecil.
Bottom 1st: Bartlett strikes out. Crawford fly ball to centre field Wells. Zobrist strikes out. That's the way to do it Brett, close them down quickly and get those hot hitters out there again. Don't give Garza a chance to relax.

Top 2nd: Lewis singles to left. On base for the second time, he might like that leadoff spot. Hill fouls out to Pena at first. Lind 3-0 and walks on four pitches, Lewis to second. Repeat of first inning. One down two on for Vernon. Fly ball to centre field Upton. Overbay, wild pitch by Garza, Lewis to third, Lind to second. Two in scoring position. Overbay full count and walks. Bases loaded. Gonzalez grounds to short Bartlett on to Zobrist at second base. Overbay out. Jays leave bases loaded, I hope they don’t regret that. They have to pile on the runs against this team.
Bottom. 2nd: Longoria singles to left. Pena, balk by Cecil, Longoria to second. Pena strikes out. Upton, fly ball to Wells, two down. Aybar pops up to Overbay, another nice inning by Cecil. All the pressure is on Garza.

Top 3rd: Bautista doubles to centre, off the glove of Upton. Buck, with one on. Strikes out, just waves at that one. Snider with runner at second one down. grounds to short, Bautista running on the play and out at third. Two down. Lewis, high fly ball to Upton, just gets under that one otherwise that would have been high into the seats, very nice swing Fred, your time will come.
Bottom 3rd: Navarro, lines out to Lewis in left, looks as if he almost lost that in the lights. One down for Kapler, pops up first pitch to Bautista at third. Two down. Bartlett strikes out.

Top 4th: Hill leading off strikes out pulling, come on Aaron the other way. Lind, two walks tonight, we need some hits Adam, grounds to second, throw to Pena at first two down for Wells, Vernon, singles into right, Lyle Overbay, there we go Lyle, sweet swing to double to right centre and Vernon scores 5-0 Jays. Gonzalez, two down and Overbay at second, strikes put looking on three pitches but Lyle has added another here.
Bottom 4th: Crawford grounds to Hill at second throw to Overbay, one down. Zobrist, strikes out, that was ball four. Longoria, with two down and no one on. The best way to see him, minimize his damage strikes out, very nice pitching by Cecil.

Top 5th: Garza on 87 pitches already. This could be his last inning. Bautista doubles over the head of Upton to the wall in centre, Jays hitters hot tonight. Buck with one in scoring position. Jays 3/10 with runners in scoring position tonight already, not good. Rays bullpen working. Buck strikes out. Mound conference here. Snider, 3-0 patience tonight. Pops it up shallow left to Crawford no chance for Jose to move up, two down for Lewis who just missed one last at bat. Bautista stealing third, just in. Risky Jose. Takes strike three, not good Fred with runner at third. Gotta give him a chance. Jays waste that leadoff double. 102 pitch count for Garza though.
Bottom 5th: Pena leading off strikes out on three pitches, seven strikeouts for Cecil tonight, not bad for replacement but in my book he is better starter than Tallet anyway. Upton, fly ball to Snider in right. Two down. Aybar, oh no, gets hold of this pitch into left field seats. 5-1 Jays. Navarro does not like that call, grounds back to Cecil throw to Overbay for the out and end of inning. 62 pitches. Very economical.

Top 6th: Get this one back team. Balfour now pitching for Rays. Hill, way to go Aaron where have you been? pulls this one into left field seats. No doubt about it alt all. Home run Aaron. 6-1 Jays. Lind, Navarro ejected. Whoa excitement here. Navarro had not liked the call at his previous at bat and did not like the ball count on Lind. But you don’t argue those with the umpire he knows that. John Jaso replacing Navarro. Poor Adam on a 2-2 count and now strikes out after that long wait. One down for Vernon 2-3 with a double and a single. Not this time grounds to short, throw to first beats Vernon. Two down for Lyle, strikes out here on three pitches but Aaron got the run back for Cecil.
Bottom 6th: Kapler 3-0 here, full count and walks. One on for Bartlett, fly ball to Lewis in left, one down. Crawford, long fly ball first pitch to Wells in centre, two down. doubles into the gap in left, Kapler scores 6-2 Jays. Longoria, grounds to third, Bautista cannot handle it Rays safe all round. Pena, with two on, nubber in front of the plate off the end of his bat, Buck throws to Overbay for third out, no more damage. 81 pitches for Cecil.

Top 7th: Dan Wheeler now pitching. Gonzalez grounds to short long throw safe, just. Bautista 3-3 all doubles tonight. Choate working in Rays bullpen, high fly ball to right. One down. Buck, high fly ball to the wall in centre, Upton over the shoulder catch right at the wall. Gonzalez should have been tagging there but didn’t think he would get it and has to retreat to first. Choate now pitching with two down and one at first. Snider lefty lefty matchup, poor Travis never gets a break but the good is that it messes up Rays bullpen. Not good Travis don’t wave at them like that. Strikes out.
Bottom 7th: Getting into bullpen territory for Cecil. No pressure now Brett relax. Upton lines it to Bautista first pitch. One down. Aybar, singles into left. Downs warming up. Jaso, first at bat tonight. Strikes out, number eight for Cecil tonight, two down. Kapler, this could be Cecil’s last hitter. 3-0 count. Full count, Oh no….. Home run to left. Two runs score 6-4 Jays. That’s it for young Cecil here’s Cito. Just one pitch he would like back but should not be upset with that outing. Far, far better than Tallet would do. Now the bullpen to hold two runs. Downs in to face Bartlett. Singles into centre. Crawford two down and one on. No, Frasor warming up, no Cito don’t do that to us. Yeah, Crawford grounds to Hill at second, throw to Overbay for the out. Now can the hitters get a couple back here for Cecil ?

Top 8th: Top of the Jays order, Lewis long overdue for a big hit. Choate still pitching, Fred doubles inside the first base bag into the corner. Now bring him in guys. Hill putting him on, intentional walk for Lind, ok Adam make them pay. Two on no outs. Strikes out, that was lousy at bat Adam trying to pull every pitch. Go up the middle a huge gap there or opposite field. Or bunt if you can’t do that. Here comes for Vernon. Cormier pitching. Oh Vernon, gets under first pitch fly ball to centre, two down for Overbay. Grounds first pitch to first. Not good friends at all. Two on and no outs and the big bats cannot even move them over?
Bottom 8th: Back to the bullpen to hold the Rays here. Zobrist, Oh man, get the heart pills out, Frasor pitching. Cito what are you doing to us? Downs had five pitches ! Zobrist full count. Walks him. And you wonder why most of us have problems with Frasor. Longoria, Zobrist stealing and safe on the throw which almost goes into centre field. Fly ball to left, one down, runner holds at second. Pena. Grounds first pitch to Hill throw to Overbay for second out but Zobrist moves to third on the play. Upton, no room for error here. Singles to right, run scores 6-5. Frasor does it again but have to fault Cito here for brining him in especially when Downs had only five pitches. Aybar, Upton steals second. Molina much better catcher in these situations, he should probably play this whole series against this Rays running team. Walks him, two on two down. Now here comes Cito long overdue in this one. I feel so sorry for Cecil to have to watch Frasor blow this one for him. Gregg now pitching, Cito dealing all the pack here. Rodriguez pinch running for Aybar. Fly ball to Wells in centre.

Top 9th: Can Jays get one more here? Soriano pitching, perfect this season 4/4 saves. Jays have an uphill battle here. Gonzalez, strikes out swinging. One down for Bautista. Fly ball to centre Upton, two down for Buck who has done nothing tonight with either bat or glove. Strikes out. Tomorrow Cito please, please put Molina behind the plate.
Bottom 9th: Up to Gregg now and not much room for error thanks to Frasor. Kapler, grounds up the line to Overbay for the out, one down for top of the order now. Bartlett fouling them off here, struck him out looking, very nice pitch Kevin. Two down for the most dangerous player on this team Carl Crawford. Ground rule double into right field corner seats. Zobrist, with runner in scoring position, 3-1 count, full strikes him out looking, this guy Gregg is a cool cat. Very nice pitching under pressure.

Jays win big tonight. Rays were back home flying after 9-1 road trip. To beat them here is excellent for the Jays. With Hill back and this lineup (with maybe just one change at catcher) they will be competitive. Anyone one of the lineup can put one out. Cecil showed just maybe he should be staying put in the rotation. Let’s see another start, probably against Boston next week but this one was a gem.

The excellent: Cecil tonight. 6 2/3 innings and eight strikeouts only one walk. Have to also give a medal to Bautista tonight with three doubles. Gregg save under huge pressure.
The very good: Vernon, Aaron first game back and a home run. We have missed that guy.
Jays eleven hits and five walks. Always had someone on base.
Five hits between Gonzalez and Bautista at number 5 and 6 in the order. Look to see Lyle drop down. Maybe.

The bad: Frasor almost blowing Cecil’s great outing.

The very bad Jays 3/16 with runners in scoring position. If only Jays hitters could improve on this they would be very difficult to beat.

In the “I don’t get it” category tonight: Cito replacing Scott Downs after five pitches and then adding insult to injury bringing in Frasor.