Excellent pitching, excellent hitting equals great win for Jays

Game three of series. Cardinals v Jays. Thursday June 24.

Cardinals going for the sweep and have excellent chance with Wainright another excellent pitcher 10-4. On the other hand Morrow has been pitching so very well but with little run support.

Lineups: Cardinals: Lopez, Holiday, Pujols, Rasmus, Freese, Winn, Molina, Schumaker, Miles.
Jays: Cito shakes the order up, Lewis, Gonzalez (!) Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Hoffpauir, Molina.

I would have preferred to see Gonzalez move down but at least Cito has moved Hill and Lind. And to my mind, Vernon gets far better protection with Lind behind him. Let’s see how all three will perform tonight. Interesting to compare the two lineups with LaRussa playing Holliday and Pujols his two best hitters at two and three. Makes sense to give them maximum at bats.

Pitching: Wainright v Morrow.

Top 1st: Lopez leading off strikes out. Holliday walks. Pujols one on one down fly ball to Lewis in left, two down for Rasmus. Strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off, strikes out. One down for Gonzalez fly ball to Winn in right Two down. Bautista singles to left. One on for Wells, Yes Vernon, gets hold of this one, No doubt about it, second deck shot in left field for Vernon, here comes Bautista here comes Vernon, 2-0 Jays. Lind, full count, Oh yes indeed, same area, first deck home run for Lind. 3-0 Jays. Getting to Wainright immediately. Hill, strikes out but Jays hitters are in flight which is great news for Morrow and Cito’s new lineup !

Top 2nd: Morrow now with a good lead to work with. Freese grounds to Hill at second, throw to Overbay at first for the out. Winn, same play, grounds to Hill at second, throw to Overbay at first for the second. Molina with two down, grounds to Hoffpauir at third, throw to Overbay for third out. 32 pitches for Morrow.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay leading off full count, bounces one to second Miles knocks it down but no throw. Lyle safe at first error on the play. Hoffpauir, pops it up to Miles at second for the out. Molina, hammers this to left off the wall, a double for Molina, Lyle held up at third. Lewis now with one out and two in scoring position. Fred you have to bring them in here. 0-2 count. This will do, lines it to Winn in right, here comes Lyle and scores 4-0 Jays two down. Molina also tags to come to third on the throw. Gonzalez, 0-2 on the count. Strikes out leaving Molina at third. Why is this guy hitting number two Cito ?

Top 3rd: Morrow has a 4-0 lead now. Could have should have been more but at least they get one more. Schumaker singles first pitch to right. Miles, Schumaker going on first pitch stealing throw by Molina gets him at second. Miles pops it up two down on two pitches, great. Lopez, strikes out. Very nice inning for Morrow. 41 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Bautista, leading off gets hold of this one high into left just misses foul pole. Wells, gets hold of this one, high into left second home run third deck. 5-0 Jays. Great catch by a small boy, he will love that ball, the day he caught Vernon Wells home run. Lind singles to right. Hill shatters bat which goes flying to Wainright and the ball with it, throws to second to get Lind. Overbay, full count, strikes out looking. 67 pitches.

Top 4th: Holliday leading off. Bounces one back to Morrow, throw to Overbay for first out. Pujols, high, very high, pop up to Hoffpauir at third, two down. Rasmus, strikes out to end the inning, three up and down. 52 pitches for Morrow.
Bottom 4th: Hoffpauir, grounds to short, throw to first one down. Molina, strikes out. Lewis with two down, lines it to Holliday for third out. 75 pitches. Six strikeouts for Wainright.

Top 5th: Freese leading off. Singles to Bautista in right field. Cardinals bullpen working, Salas. Winn, 2-2 count, strikes out. Molina, lines it to Wells in centre, two down. Schumaker, grounds to Hoffpauir at third, throw to Overbay for third out. 68 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: Wainright is finished. Salas now pitching, Gonzalez leading off. Hammers this one, doubles off the wall in centre. Bautista, runner in scoring position. 3-1 count. Ball four. Two on for Vernon 2-2 tonight. Strikes out this time. One down for Lind. Also 2-2 tonight. Grounds to second throw to first to get Lind. Both runners move up. Hill with two in scoring position. Gets hold of this one but long out to Rasmus at centre. Nice try Aaron hit it very hard. Just not getting that one up in the air enough.

Top 6th: Miles, pops it up to Gonzalez in shallow centre. One down for Lopez. Grounds to Overbay at first, two down. Holliday, doubles into left field corner. Pujols, lines it to Hoffpauir, off his glove and both runners safe. Rasmus, two runners on, two down. strikes out. Morrow now with six strikeouts. 87 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Overbay leading off. Lines it to left centre but Rasmus chases it down, nice catch to rob Lyle of a double. Hoffpauir, How does Molina do that split ? his right leg is parallel to the ground. Hoffpauir grounds it to second throw to first two down. Jarrett not having much luck yet in the big leagues. Molina, two down. That’s better singles into left field. One on two down for Lewis. Singles into right. Molina stops at second. Gonzalez, with two on and two down. Pops it up to first. Sorry Cito, I don’t believe Gonzalez should be that high in the order.

Top 7th: Time to get Camp and Downs warming up? that will help pitch count. Freese grounds first pitch to Gonzalez, throw to Overbay one down. Winn, strikes out. Number seven. Two down for Jason LaRue now in for Molina. Grounds to Gonzalez, throw to Overbay for the third out. Good inning for Morrow he might yet get another. Or at least start the eighth. 97 pitch count.
Bottom 7th: Mitchell Boggs now pitching, Bautista leading off. Grounds it hard to third, off the glove of Freese, Jose safe at first, error on play. Wells, no Vernon, first pitch pops up to first. One down. Lind, 2-3 tonight. Strikes out on three pitches outside. Scouts have Adam’s number for now at least, he will adjust. Two down for Hill grounds to Freese throw to first NOT in time. Aaron beats it out, way to go with that hustle. Johnny Mc. pinch runner for Hill. Overbay now, 3-0 count. Walks him to load the bases. Hoffpauir now LONG overdue for a hit Jarrett. Grounds to first flip to Boggs for third out.

Top 8th: Schumaker leading off. Strikes out, number eight. Miles with one down. Grounds to Hoffpauir nice throw to Overbay to get him. Two down, Lopez doubles to the left centre wall. Holliday, that pitch gets the umpire, this is not good he went straight down, hit collar bone area. Staying in the game. Tough guy. Grounds to Gonzalez, throw to Overbay for third out. 112 pitches, that should be it for Morrow, great outing, this is a very tough lineup.
Bottom 8th: Dennys Reyes pitching, Molina leading off, 2-3 tonight. Not this time, grounds to Freese at third throw to first for the out. Lewis, 2-2 count. Grounds to Miles at second throw to first, one down. Gonzalez, 1-4 tonight, pops it up to Winn in shallow right.

Top 9th: Here comes Camp. Needs to close this one out. Pujols leading off. Grounds first pitch to Hoffpauir, throw to Overbay one down. Rasmus, long fly ball to Lewis in left at the wall. Two down two pitches. Freese, 1-2 count. Strikes out. Jays win this one 5-0 and shuts out this very good hitting lineup.

Excellent: Morrow very definitely, followed closely by Vernon finally connecting and for two tonight. Lind also back to back home run with Vernon to get this one going early for Jays.
The good: I think it has to be the Jays series with the Cardinals. Last night’s loss could have gone either way and Jays would have won the series. Jays have had a tough month against excellent teams and pitching and they have held their own. For a team that is rebuilding I think they have overachieved.
The bad: No nothing tonight. Let’s enjoy the win. Tough series against the Phillies this weekend.