Jays bullpen give another away to ruin Morow's great game

Final game of three game series. Toronto v New York. Sunday June 6, 2010

Jays have already won this series and going for the sweep today. Difficult to do against Yankees and Jays have not done that in ten years. If the bullpen had held up against Tampa they would be going for a 9-0 record home stand. So they have definitely played very well. Today will be icing on the cake. Big crowd again today but not as big as yesterday by my patented method of counting through the security locations.
Lineups: Yankees; Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Posada, Granderson, Cervelli, Gardner..
Jays: Lewis, Hill, Lind, Wells, Bautista, Gonzalez, Overbay, Reed, Molina.
Molina getting start for Buck who played all fourteen innings yesterday. His legs and knees must be awful today. Reed in right for Bautista playing at third for Encarnacion taking rest day.

Pitching: Morrow v Vasquez.

Top 1st: Jeter leading off strikes out, good start for Morrow. Swisher fly ball to Wells in centre two down. Teixeira fly ball to Reed in right. Good to get in the game quickly for Reed.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off, strikes out. One down for yesterday’s hero, Hill fly ball to Swisher in right. Lind 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Wells grounds to third base Rodriguez throw to Cano at second, Lind out at second.

Top 2nd: Rodriguez leading singles to third. Going to second and hesitates, that’s the way Jose a bullet to Hill at second, to get him. Jeers and boos for A-Rod, not sure what he was thinking there, seemed to get into two minds and the indecision cost him. One down for Cano, doubles to left. One down with runner in scoring position. Posada strikes out. Granderson strikes out. Very nice pitching by Morrow looking very strong here today.
Bottom 2nd: Bautista leading off, full count and walks. One on for Gonzalez fly ball to left. One down. Overbay, Vazquez wild pitch, Bautista to second. No matter, Overbay pops up to Cano at second for out number two. Reed strikes out.

Top 3rd: Cervelli leading off fly ball to Reed in right, one down for. Gardner triples to left. Can this guy ever run. problem for Morrow with runner at third and only one down, and top of the order up. Jeter strikes out. Swisher strikes out. Morrow escapes this one.
Bottom 3rd: Molina leading off and walks. Lewis with one on strikes out. Hill grounds to Jeter at short, throw to Cano, Molina out. Lind strikes out.

Top 4th: Teixeira leading off grounds to Overbay flip to Morrow covering first to get him, one down. Rodriguez strikes out. Jays crowd loves that and let A-Rod know…... Cano with two down, fly ball to Lewis in left.
Bottom 4th: Wells leading off pops up to catcher Cervelli. Bautista strikes out. Gonzalez strikes out. Vazquez matching Morrow pitch for pitch so far today.

Top 5th: Posada leading off grounds to Overbay flip to Morrow covering first to get him.
Granderson fly ball out Reed in right. Cervelli fly ball to Wells in centre.
Bottom 5th: Overbay strikes out. Reed grounds back to Vazquez throw to Teixeira at first two down. Molina strikes out. Is it my imagination or are the Jays less patient with Vazquez than they were yesterday?

Top 6th: Gardner leading off strikes out. Jeter grounds to Gonzalez throw to Overbay for the second out. Swisher pops up to Gonzalez. Three up and down here. Morrow still very strong and pitching well.
Bottom 6th: Lewis leading off grounds back to pitcher Vazquez throw to Teixeira. Hill fly bal to Gardner in left, two down. Lind full count and walks for Vernon. We need a hit, there it goes, Vernon does it again, home run into left bullpen. Here comes Lind, here comes Vernon. First hit off Vazquez, He will remember that one. Bautista strikes out.

Top 7th: Teixeira leading off grounds to Gonzalez throw to Overbay, one down. Rodriguez grounds to Bautista at third, throw to Overbay. Two down. Cano singles to right. Posada, wild pitch from Morrow, getting tired ? Cano to second. Posada full count and walks. Granderson strikes out for third out. Morrow still pitching very well and the third consecutive Jays pitcher to go into the eighth. That must be very encouraging to the Jays management.
Bottom 7th: Gonzalez leading off fly ball to Gardner in left. One down for Overbay fly ball to Granderson in centre, two down. Reed pops up to Jeter.

Top 8th: Morrow still out there, Cervelli leading off hit by a pitch. Here comes Cito, hmmmm…. Downs now pitching. Morrow 109 pitches and eight strikeouts, maybe one more out ? No, Scotty, Gardner hit by a pitch, Cervelli to second. Two on for Jeter, he does not miss much, doubles to right, here comes Cervelli, Gardner held at third, no need to risk it, two in scoring position with no outs. 2-1 Jays. That’s it for Downs, here comes Frasor. Another percentage play but I would argue Frasor is no good coming in with runners on, his best work seems to be when he starts an inning. We will see. Swisher strikes out. One down. Gardner still at third and Jeter at second. Teixeira intentional walk. I don’t get that, for the double play ball but bases now loaded and this is the Yankees. No Jason, wild pitch here comes the run. Another percentage play backfiring big time. Game all tied up 2-2, and Jays bullpen unraveling once again. Jeter at third, Teixeira at second. Rodriguez strikes out. Two down, crowd gives him his last jeer of the day. Cano with two down, singles to left, here comes Jeter here comes Teixeira and Yankees are blowing this wide open, four runs this inning to make score 4-2 Yankees. Cano takes second. Posada another intentional walk. Let’s hope it is not as disasterous as the last one to Teixeira. That’s it for Frasor, a miserable outing but not unexpected in that situation. Bring him in at the beginning of the eighth and it would have been different pitcher. Rommie Lewis now pitching. Jays need one more out. Granderson full count and walks, bases loaded, not quite what Cito had in mind Rommie. Cano to third, Posada to second. Cervelli fly ball to Reed in right. Yankees score four and have two run lead.

Bottom 8th: Chamberlain pitching. Molina leading off doubles to centre. That’s the way to answer Yankees score Jose. Lewis runner in scoring position, hitless tonight, singles to centre here comes Molina and Jays get one back 4-3 Jays. Hill grounds to second base Cano over to Jeter at short, throw to Teixeira at first to get Lewis. Cito out there, arguing about something, sending Rivera back and bringing in Marte. Marte now pitching. Manager must have put up his left hand when he came out. Would make more sense lefty-lefty matchup. Lind strikes out.

Top 9th: Rommie Lewis still out there. Gardner leading off and walks. Come on Rommie we don’t want another inning like the eighth. Jeter grounds to Hill throw to Overbay, Gardner to second. Runner in scoring position with one down. Swisher strikes out. Teixeira fly ball to Reed in right, will that be the last time we see Reed in Toronto until September. I hope so as that will mean Travis Snider will be back and fit.
Bottom 9th: Pena in at third base. Rivera now pitching. - Wells leading off grounds to Pena at third, throw to Teixeira at first, one down. Bautista lines it hard right at second base Cano. Two down, Jays down to their final out. Gonzalez grounds Pena at third, throw to Teixeira at first, and that’s it for this game and series. Jays lose this one but win the series and two good games.
Concern again for the bullpen, but dissect it further. Maybe Frasor should not have given intentional walks.

The very good: Has to be Morrow, really deserved a win today and was oh so close. Vernon also for getting it going with the two run home run, and keeping that hit streak alive now at fourteen.
Attendance 33,000.

“Ozzie Jay” complaining today about vendor service. Stood in line throughout an inning only to be told that pizza sold out. I told her to write to Beeston, no good writing to the vendors.
Plus of course the pizza company has huge commercial interest in Rogers Stadium and the food semi-monopoly. But I do tend to agree with her, the service can be terrible even an hour before games start. I have frequently been told that the pizza is not ready !!! and this is at the start of the game which of course raises the question why are they not ready when gates open? The customer service has also been awful with the staff standing around.
Day off tomorrow and perfect timing, Jays need to regroup but should not be ashamed of this one. The 6-3 homestand was very successful and the three games they lost in the nine game homestand were all lost after the beginning of the eighth.