Jays finally beat Tampa behind great outing by Cecil.

Game three. Tampa v Toronto. Thursday June 10.

Tampa looking at sweep of this hapless Jays team. Jays in a “June swoon” as one correspondent puts it. Hitting has totally and I mean totally disappeared, one run in the last eighteen innings in Tampa.
The only good news today is that Tallet IS moving into the bullpen to make room for Jesse Litsch will pitch on Sunday. Even though Jesse is no Cy Young he is far, far better than Tallet who should never have been in the rotation in my book. Going into the bullpen gives Cito another long relief guy with Purcey plus two more options for an emergency starter if needed.
This is a tough assignment for young Cecil. Trying to stop the rot here but without run support he can throw a one hitter and still lose. It is the hitters that need some dynamite under them.

Lineup:
Toronto: Same old, same old but Gonzalez is back, which at least strengthens the lineup. Lewis, Lind, Hill, Wells, Bautista, Gonzalez, Overbay, Buck, Encarnacion.
Tampa: Upton, Rodriguez, Longoria, Aybar, Zobrist, Pena, Kapler, Jaso, Brignac.
Joe Maddon giving Jays some break here by resting Crawford !! He obviously feels they don’t need him and is probably right.

Pitching: Cecil v Davis.

Looks like another 12,000 crowd tonight. What does it take to get Tampa people out to support this division leading team?

Top 1st: Lewis leading off, strikes out on three pitches, Hill, fly ball to right Zobrist makes the catch, two down for Lind, fly ball to Upton in left centre. Three up and down. 10 !! pitches.
Bottom 1st: Upton showing bunt, 3-0 to Cecil, oh dear. There’s a strike. Walks him. One on and watch for the steal. Rodriguez, 2-0 Cecil cannot find the zone here, shows bunt 2-2 count. There goes Upton, no problem, steals second, throw not in time, full count. Lines it right at Hill great diving catch but cannot double up Upton. One down for Longoria. Perfect grounds to Gonzalez at short, looks Upton back to second, throws to Overbay for second out. Aybar, grounds to Gonzalez at short, throws to Overbay for third out. Nice pitching by Cecil although used up a lot of pitches. 22 pitches. But it is runs support he needs here. Can Jays hitters come through?

Top 2nd: Wells, high fly ball to the wall in centre for Upton, one down. Bautista, pops it up to Upton in shallow centre, two down. Gonzalez, there we go, gets hold of this one into left field seats, great quick swing, home run Alex, Whoa…long time since we saw one of those. 1-0 Jays. Perhaps that will get this lot moving. Overbay now what can he do here? Strikes out. Perhaps all of these hitters should take a few days off and come back like Gonzalez. 25 pitches for Davis.
Bottom 2nd: Zobrist leading off, full count. Lines it to Wells in centre, one down. Pena, this one has gone, hammers it to centre over head of Vernon, 1-1. Ah well Jays had the lead for five minutes. Kapler, grounds to Hill throw to first Kapler out by twenty feet. Two down for Jaso. Grounds to Overbay, flip to Cecil, for third out. 40 pitches for Cecil.

Top 3rd: Cecil doing his part keeping it close, it is the big bats that are silent here in Tampa. Buck leading off, that’s the way John, singles first pitch up the middle. Encarnacion, way outside with a couple of pitches here by Davis, another one way outside, full count and all three balls are way off the plate. Strikes out on (what would have been) ball four. Lewis swinging away. Same again 0-2. Strikes out, two down. Buck still at first. Davis does not even bother to throw over. I wish Jays runners would at least move around there and make pitcher throw over, anything to break up their rhythm. You watch Upton and Crawford on base, they are constantly moving and getting attention of pitcher to distract him even if they don’t go. Davis is like a robot here. Hill with two down and one on. Singles to left, two on two down for Lind. Adam your time is nigh. 0-2. That’s better Buck moving and forces Davis to throw to second, anything to break his concentration. Full count. That’s the way guys, Buck running and Lind singles to centre here comes Buck 2-1 Jays. Hill to second. Two on two down for Wells, Now can Vernon do something here? Oh boy, grounds to short (first pitch of course) throw to second to get Lind. Sometimes I wonder about Vernon’s head, whether he is even in the game. 47 pitches for Davis.
Bottom 3rd: Jays have double the number of runs in three innings that they had in two games. That is improvement. Brignac bunting, pops up to Encarnacion. One down. I think that is the third !! Rays player to bunt already tonight. Totally different approach to the game by Maddon and one that I personally enjoy. Cito will argue that he does not have the speed that Rays have. Upton. 3-1 count. No Brett, walks him. Not a good idea. Rodriguez with one down and one on. Bunting, 0-2 count, that’s MUCH better Rodriguez grounds to Gonzalez, flip to Hill at second on to Overbay double play ball. Very nice. Cecil on 50 pitches now.

Top 4th: Can Jays hitters add to this lead here? Bautista leading off. Stretched something there ?? I hope it was not his groin. Pops it up to Jason behind home plate. One down. Gonzalez, strikes out, two down. Overbay, 3-1 count, swings at ball four. Having a green light does not mean you have to swing Lyle. Full count, walks on this one. Buck with two down and one on. Davis is off the plate a lot tonight, Jays hitters need to lay off more of them. 2-2 count. Full count, did not swing at that one, Overbay will be running. Pops it up to first to end this one. 73 pitches for Davis. Perhaps Jays can see the end of him next inning.
Bottom 4th: Cecil not getting much help tonight. Longoria leading off. Doubles into left field corner, one on for Aybar, grounds to Gonzalez, throw to Overbay for first out. Zobrist, Perfect, pops it up to Buck, two down, no chance for Upton to come home. Pena, not the guy Cecil wants to see, five home runs in the last four games. 2-2 count. Grounds to second. Gonzalez on the shift right, throw to Overbay and strands Longoria at third. Nice going Brett. 66 pitches.

Top 5th: Encarnacion first pitch lines it to left for the first out. Lewis singles to Upton in centre right. One on one down. Hill, good Fred is making Davis throw over, that’s two throws, distract him Fred. Hill pops it lazily into shallow centre, awful at bat.Two down for Lind. 0-2, pitch out, Fred not going. Another throw over, Davis is really getting paranoid here. Lind strikes out swinging. 82 pitches for Davis.
Bottom 5th: Cito has Downs and Gregg ready tonight, he has not needed either yet in this series. Kapler leading off. Breaks his bat grounds to Encarnacion at third throw to Overbay for the out. Jaso, pops up to Wells in shallow centre, two down for Brignac. 2-2 count. Strikes out looking very nice pitch Brett, he is doing more than his share tonight, give him some run support. 80 pitches for Cecil.

Top 6th: Wells leading off. Any bets on first pitch swing? Takes it low. Pops up second pitch to right, one down. Vernon 0-3 again. Bautista, pops it up to Jaso, two down. Gonzalez, 2-0 count. Grounds to shirt, throw to first for third out. Three up and down for Jays hitters. Three runs in the last 24 innings, surely one day they will break out ? Nine pitch inning for Davis, he must love pitching against this team. 91 pitch count.
Bottom 6th: Upton, singles to left, same old, same old. Who will take the seventh? Casey Janssen my bet. Rodriguez, Upton will be going. Not this time. A nubber in front of the plate Buck throw to first to get Rodriguez, Upton to second, He will be going to third. One down for Longoria, there goes Upton Buck throw and gets him great play John. Two down, 3-0 count. Walks him on four pitches. Maybe a little semi-intentional there. Aybar, with two down. 3-1 come on Brett, careful here. Full count. Grounds to third, Encarnacion throw to Overbay for third out. That is probably it for Cecil tonight. 101 pitches. A great job. Now it is up the bullpen and maybe even a run or two?

Top 7th:Overbay leading off. Takes strike three, oh come on Lyle. Man swing. Buck, 0-2 count, Choate warming up for Rays, grounds to third, Longoria throw way over first base into the crowd, Buck at second. Error on Longoria. Can Jays capitalize? Encarnacion. Pops it up to first, two down for Lewis, Buck stays at second. Grounds to first flip to Davis for third out.
Bottom 7th: Cecil still out there, Cito rolling the dice. Zobrist, bunting, foul, strikes out one down. The advantage of having a bunting option is that it can compensate when the hits are not coming, add in the speed that Rays have and Jays are one-dimensional in comparision and when the hits are not coming they have nothing. Pena, with right shift on grounds to Gonzalez again throw to Overbay, two down for Kapler no here comes Cito. Casey Janssen now pitching. 109 pitches for Cecil. Blalock pinch hitting. Jays bullpen has a lot riding on this game, they have to show the last few games this week are a blip. Blalock pops it up to Gonzalez in shallow left for third out.

Top 8th: I would be so much happier if this team could get a few runs before the ninth. Three runs in 25 innings are not good enough in any book. Hill leading off singles to left centre. Lind with one on, that’s it for Davis. Here comes Maddon. Choate now pitching. Grounds to second throw to the bag to get Hill. Another reason to have players who can steal in that situation. That’s it for Choate, Wheeler coming in to face Wells. DeWayne Wise pinch running for Lind. At least Cito has some speed out there. Vernon hammers this to the wall, oh no ball bounces over the wall, Wise has to go back to third that would have been a run he can run. Vernon to second, Bautista intentional walk, to load them up. Strategy talk at the mound. Gonzalez, with bases loaded. This should do it, fly ball to shallow centre right here, Wise tags here comes the throw, and Wise scores sliding under the tag. 3-1 Jays. Nice play by Wise. Another pitching change. Benoit. Two down two on. Overbay grounds first pitch of course to second throw to first for the third out. Overbay having a terrible game.
Bottom 8th: Downs now pitching. Has a lot to prove tonight he has been in a lousy stretch. Jaso leading off. 0-2 count. Pops it back wide of Downs but great leaping jump to get it. That could have been infield single. One down. Shoppach pinch hitting. Camp warming up in bullpen. Singles to left. One on one down for Upton. Here comes Cito. Camp pitching to Upton. Also has something to prove. Perfect Shawn Upton grounds to Gonzalez throw to Hill over to Overbay double play ball. Nice pitching Shawn.

Top 9th: Can Jays get another insurance run (or two) here? It would make a lot of fans with weak hearts a lot happier. Benoit still pitching, Buck leading off 2-2 count. Full count, way to go John, singles to left, his third hit tonight. If he can do it how about the big guys? Gregg warming up. Encarnacion, strikes out swinging. One down for Lewis, as they say long overdue for a big hit. Strikes out swinging over one in the dirt. Hill now. Time to earn his big money. Lines it to right nice catch by Blalock. Jays leading with one inning to go. Yankees have already lost to Baltimore.
Bottom 8th: Gregg, which Kevin will we see tonight? You have to have ice cold veins to be a closer, it is bad enough watching. Hang on to your chairs. Rodriguez, leading off, oh boy, there it goes home run into left field seats. 3-2 Jays. Longoria, grounds first pitch to Gonzalez throw to Overbay for first out. Aybar, 3-1 count. Singles to left. Kevin needs a ground ball here. Crawford pinch running. Jays bullpen working. Frasor and Tallet.1-2 count, pops it up to Gonzalez in shallow left, two down for Pena. There goes Crawford, throw late and steals second. 1-1 count. Two down, runner at second. 3-1 count. Walks him semi-intentional I would say. Two on for Blalock. Strike one, strike two, strikes him out swinging over it. Perfect pitch down and inside. Jays win one. Another save for Gregg. Outhit Rays 9-6. Big win for Jays.
They go happy to the Rockies now but out of the frying pan, Romero pitching against Jiminez 11-1 this season with an ERA of.093 . Whoa….

But for tonight let’s enjoy the win.

The good: Cecil pitched into the eighth. Gonzalez home run first at bat after missing a few games, Vernon his ground rule double sets up the winning run. Wise in his first game heads up play at the plate to score. The bullpen Janssen, Downs and Campo scoreless pitching. Gregg save number 15. The other good: Yankees (and AJ Burnett) lose to Baltimore, and Boston losing top of the eighth. Jays have a chance to pick up a full win on all three above them. That would feel very good. .
The bad: Poor hitting by the big bats. They really need to get going again. Perhaps the high altitude will do it.

Attendance 13,600.