Cecil wins one but Jays hitters make it needlessly close.

Toronto v Seattle. Game one of three.
Mea culpa re Overbay and two home runs yesterday. Of course he only had one, it must have been that excitement.

Lineups: Toronto: Lewis, Hill, Lind, Wells, Overbay, Gonzalez, Bautista, Buck, Encarnacion.
Seattle: Suzuki, Figgins, Gutierrez, Sweeney, Lopez, Bradley, Kotchman, Bard, Wilson.

Pitching: Fister v Cecil.

Top 1st: Lewis grounds first pitch to Figgins at second, throw to first for the out. Hill. Pops it up to Gutierrez in centre, two down. Lind, grounds first pitch to Figgins at second, throw to first for the out. Very easy three up and down for Fister.
Bottom 1st: Which Cecil is here tonight? He pitches better on the road according to his record. Suzuki leading off. Lines to Encarnacion for the out. one down for Figgins showing bunt and fouls it off. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay at first for second out. Gutierrez pulls it to Lewis in left for a single. Sweeney with one on and two down. Grounds back to Cecil, throw to Overbay for the out. No damage done.

Top 2nd: Wells leading off pulls this one into the seats in left field corner, just foul Vernon. Nice shot though. Grounds to second, throw beats him out. Overbay, great day yesterday, is he for real though? Would love that average to get over .200. Strikes out this time. Gonzalez, with two down. Pops it up to short for third out. Fister mowing the Jays down so far.
Bottom 2nd: Lopez leading off strikes out. One down for Bradley. Full count. Strikes out. Kotchman, oh boy, grounds to Hill, throw to Cecil as Overbay had gone for that ball as well, but on the throw Cecil misses bag with his foot. Bard, lines it hard to right but Bautista tracks it down for the out.

Top 3rd: Bautista leading off. The beauty of this current Jays team is that the bottom third of the order is so potent nothing is los in power. Full count. Oh BOY. Lines this hard to left. Off the scoreboard, bounces back on to the field, and a double if that had been ten feet to the right it would have been over the wall and a home run. Tough. Buck, singles into right, too shallow for Jose to score and is held at third, Two on and nobody out for Encarnacion. Oooh lines it hard at third, great catch and Bautista almost doubled up but just safe at third. Lewis. One down two on. This should get one, fly ball to right Ichiro, here comes Jose for the run, throw is wild and up the line, but Buck stops here (could not resist) at second. Hill with two down and man in scoring position pops it up to right Ichiro for the out. Jays get one but could have been more. 1-0 Jays.
Bottom 3rd: Wilson, singles into right. One on for Ichiro. Bunting? No. Grounds to Hill, steps on second to get Wilson throw is wild of Overbay for the error on Hill. Not a good guy to give a base too Aaron. Figgins with Ichiro at first. Bunting and grounds to Cecil who throws to Overbay to make the out at first. Two down with Ichiro at second Gutierrez. Grounds to Encarnacion long throw to Overbay for the out. The error doesn’t hurt beyond letting Cecil throw a few more pitches of course.

Top 4th: Lind leading off, this is trouble (for Fister), lines it to left centre to the wall. Leadoff double for Adam. Wells, bring him in Vernon. Not like that, weak grounder to third throw to first for the out. No chance for Adam to move up. That was an awful swing Vernon. Overbay, his turn. Full count, but we need a hit Lyle. That’s better, lines it into right, for a single. Lind held up again at third. Could have, should have, he seemed to hesitate until the ball went through,…. Gonzalez with two on and one down. This will do it. Gonzalez singles to left. Here comes Lind, 2-0 Jays. Bautista, Runners at first and second, one out. 51 pitches for Fister. It would be perfect time to hit one out here Jose. 3-1 count. Walks him. Bases loaded for Buck. 2-0 count, Colome up in Seattle bullpen. Ouch, hits him, just below the elbow and here comes Overbay for the run. 3-0 Jays. Encarnacion bases still loaded. Strikes out on three pitches looking. Two down for Lewis. 0-2 without a swing, how can he do that? Fly ball to left for the out. Disappointing they had Fister down, and should have been far more aggressive with bases loaded.
Bottom 4th: Sweeney leading off pops it up to Encarnacion at third, one down for Lopez, high fly ball to Lewis in left, two down. Bradley,full count. Lofts it over the head of Gonzalez into centre, bat shatters and barrel flies to Encarnacion at third. One on for Kotchman. Strikes him out on 2-2 pitch, nice work by Cecil.

Top 5th: Hill leading off. Not a great game so far for Aaron. That’s a better swing but to Gutierrez right at the wall in centre. So far but a long out. One down for Lind, strikes out on three pitches. Two down for Wells who was awful last at bat. Not much better grounds to at short throw to first for the out.
Bottom 5th: Bard, doubles to the wall, Wilson bunting yes, but taken off and now 2-1 count. Full count. walks him. Not good here with top of the order coming up. Cecil in trouble for first time in the game. Suzuki, showing bunt. 2-0, don’t finesse with this guy Brett. That’s better pops it up to Gonzalez. One down two on for Figgins, bunting again but fouls it off. Fly ball to shallow right for Bautista, runners not going here. Two down for Gutierrez. Grounds to Gonzalez throw to Hill at second to get Wilson. To end this inning. Very nice pitching Brett to get out of that trouble with two on and no outs.

Top 6th: Overbay leading off. Off the end of his bat thrown out by catcher. I wish Cito would move him down the order. One down. Gonzalez, strikes out tried to check the swing. Bautista, with two down. Jays hitters have let Fister off the hook this game. They have had their chances to blow the game open and get into the bullpen. Full count. Pops it up to second. Three up and down this time.
Bottom 6th: Sweeney leading off. Full count. Come on Brett. Strikes him out. Nice pitch. One down for Lopez grounds to Encarnacion behind third a bullet to Overbay at first; this guy has one heck of an arm. Two down, Cecil still throwing at 93mph. Bradley lines it at Gonzalez, great catch by Alex for the third out. Jays infield now at short and third at least is so strong. Perhaps when Hill and Overbay can get their bats going they too will be shining out there.

Top 7th: Buck leading off. Grounds to short throw to first one down. Encarnacion, first pitch ground to third, throw to first and two very quick outs here for Fister. Lewis, oh boy, grounds first pitch to first steps on bag for third our. Two pitches two outs. I hate that. Was that a four pitch inning ? No excuse for that. Cecil had not sat down.
Bottom 7th: Kotchman leading off. Lines it into centre. One on for Bard, Camp now working in bullpen. Grounds to Gonzalez flip to Hill to get Kotchman one but Hill for some reason unable to throw to first, he had lots of time there. One down for Wilson. Singles to right, two on one down. Suzuki, oh dear. Singles up the middle, run scores 3-1 Jays and that’s it for Cecil, 101 pitches and four strikeouts but he pitched so very well tonight but was let down by reckless swinging and outs by his teammates. To name but a few, Buck, Encarnacion, Lewis, and Wells. Fister should by rights not be still in the game. Camp now to try and salvage this. Two on at first and second and only one out and the top of the order. Figgins, singles to centre right and here comes run two. 3-2 Jays. Runners at first and third and one down. Gutierrez, 2-0 count. Figgins stealing throw in time Hill drops the ball. He is having one lousy season. Two in scoring position now. Full count. Strikes out on ball four. Two down. Sweeney, 0-2 count. Pops it up to Hill makes the catch with two hands. He is not dropping this one.

Top 8th: Now Jays hitters owe young Cecil. Can they repay him? Top of the order. Hill to lead off. 0-3 tonight. Full count more pitches than his there colleagues the previous inning. Pops it up to second, throw to first for the out. Lind, pops first pitch up but Bradley cannot make the catch in foul territory right in the left corner against the wall, difficult chance maybe. Grounds to second throw to first for second out. Wells, also 0-3 and a lousy night at the plate at least. Grounds ball to second throw to first and another very quick inning for Fister, three up and down and Jays hitters look half asleep and just going through the motions. 108 pitches for Fister, he should have been out of the game long, long ago.
Bottom 8th: Downs now pitching, Lopez leading off grounds to Gonzalez, throw to Overbay, one down. Bradley, full count, come on Scott. Bounces one off plate to Encarnacion racing in behind Downs to get this one but no chance for throw. Nice speed Edwin but Bradley safe at first. Tuiasosopo fly ball to Bautista in right two down. Bard, 3-1 count, yes, fly ball to Lewis in left for third out. I guess we will be seeing Gregg in the ninth unless the bats can wake up here.

Top 9th: Top four in the lineup have one hit between them tonight. Aardsma now pitching. 9/11 save opportunities. Overbay leading off. .193 with his one hit tonight. There you go Lyle, sweet swing to right centre off the wall, Ichiro gets it at the wall but unable to catch it, that was definitely catchable. Now guys bring him in here. 3/8 tonight with runners in scoring position. Gonzalez grounds to short throw to first to get Alex but Lyle is at third with only one out. Bautista, knocked down with the pitch and then strikes him out on the next. Nasty guy this Aardsma. Two down. for Buck, another high and inside pitch. Strikes out. Jays waste yet another opportunity.3/10 with runners in scoring position tonight.
Bottom 9th: Gregg pitching. Griffey pinch hitting for Wilson, crowd loves it they are on their feet already, pops it up to Hill, makes the catch with two hands again. Suzuki, not the guy we want to see in this situation. High fly ball to Bautista in right, two down for Figgins. 3-1 count, come on Kevin. There’s a strike, full count, walks him. One on for Gutierrez. Figgins will be running. Concentrate on this guy Gutierrez Kevin. Throw down to first that was a risky shot Buck. Oh boy, Gutierrez singles into left, two on and two down. Sweeney, tie run at second. 2-0 count. Swings over this one. and this one, 2-2 count. Will he do it three times? No outside. Full count. Don’t load them up Kevin. Runners going, fly ball to the wall in left Lewis has it. Gregg has save number twelve. Jays win 3-2.

The very good: Cecil wins and deservedly so.
The good: Early hitting but then Jays hitters sleepwalked through the game.
Yankees lose again tonight to Tampa, Boston wins but gain nothing on the Jays. Jays are a little closer to second now. Can we believe it?

The bad: Runners in scoring position 3/10 tonight, and farewell to Ruiz. With Snider returning someone had to go but Randy Ruiz never got much of a chance to show what he could do.The usual wild swinging but tonight with no results.

The big question Lyle’s average… .199… almost there Lyle. Tomorrow.
Meantime Hill is nose diving to .168 another 0-4 night and horrible glove. Vernon also 0-4 tonight.