Phillies v Jays. Game one. Friday June 25.

Of course it is not the first time they have seen Halladay since he left. Jays hitters hit him around in Dunedin at Bright House Field ( see blog March 31 ) Doc was losing 4-0 by the end of the first.This is payback time for Halladay.
Lineups: Phillies: Rollins, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth,Ibanez, Victorino, Gload, Schneider.
Jays: Lewis, Gonzalez, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Buck, Hoffpauir.
Pitching: Litsch v Halladay.

Top 1st: Rollins full count and walks. Not the start Jesse wanted. Polanco grounds to Gonzalez throw to Hill on to Overbay at first, Double play ball. Utley pops up to Gonzalez at short to end the inning.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off, strikes out. Gonzalez pops up to Utley at second. Bautista pops up to Rollins at short.

Top 2nd: Howard lines to Wells in centre for first out. Werth lines this to the wall in right centre. Lewis misjudges the bounce off the wall, back into the outfield. Werth heading for third, just beats the throw at third, that would have been embarrassing. Ibanez with one down and one on, grounds back to Litsch, throw to Overbay, no chance for EWerth to come in. Victorino walks.Gload singles to left, here comes Werth, 1-0 Phillies. Vicotorino all the way to third. Schneider grounds back to pitcher Litsch throw to Overbay for third out..
Bottom 2nd: Wells fly ball to Werth in right for the out. Lind pops to Utley at second, two down. Hill same play, pops to Utley for third out.

Top 3rd: Rollins 3-0 count and walks on four pitches. Polanco grounds to Hill throw to Gonzalez on to Overbay, Another double play to rescue Litsch. Utley grounds to Overbay for the third out.
Bottom 3rd:.Overbay leading off singles to right. Buck one on grounds to Utley at second throw to first baseman Gload, double play ball. Hoffpauir grounds to Rollins throw to first base Gload.

Top 4th: Howard leading off, fly ball to Lind in left, one down. Werth singles to left.One on one down for Ibanez, singles to right, Werth moves up to third. Victorino, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for the second out. Werth scores 2-0 Phillies. Gload fly ball to Lewis in right.
Bottom 4th: Lewis leading off, strikes out. One down for Gonzalez, grounds Rollins at shirt, throw to first Gload. Two down. Bautista doubles to centre. One on for Wells, fly ball to Werth in right. 50 pitches for Halladay.

Top 5th: Schneider leading off, singles to right. Rollins 3-0 count and walks on four pitches, Schneider moves up to second. Litsch in trouble again. Polanco grounds to short, safe at first to load the bases, Schneider moves to third, Rollins to second. Utley with bases loaded and nobody out. Utley singles to Wells. Here comes Schneider followed by Rollins. Two runs score, 4-0 Phillies.That’s it for Litsch. Purcey now pitching still no one out and Howard at bat. That is TOUGH. 1-2 count. singles to centre, run scores 5-0 Phillies. Werth 2-2 tonight, full count. Ball four. Bases loaded again. Ibanez. lifts it to Hoffpauir, easy out, one down. Victorino. Pops it up to Wells in shallow centre, runner holds. Wise guy. Two down for Gload. Long fly ball off glove of Wells, three runs score, 8-0 Phillies. That is tough for Purcey. Schneider, with two down. 2-2 count. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for the out. Don’t blame Purcey there. Vernon just overran that ball. One he should have had and out of the inning at 5. Now Jays have major catch up to do.
Bottom 5th: Lind leading off, lines it to third, one down. Hill, that’s the way Aaron, lines it to left, dropped by Ibanez at the wall, no error given (home scorer) Overbay, with runner at second. Singles to left, Hill to third. Two on for pinch runner ????? for Lyle ,. Come on Cito. Your team will just love you for that gesture. What message is that sending? And to the fans. Wise at first. Buck, with two on. Wise takes second. Full count. Strikes out. Hoffpauir, another full count, Halladay not really dominating here. Grounds to first for the out.

Top 6th: Lind now at first. Casey Janssen pitching. Rollins leading off. Strikes him out swinging very nice Casey, you have not given up. Polanco, grounds to Hill, throw to Lind at first, for out number two. Utley, with two down. grounds to Lind at first, easy pickings for Casey here. Three up and down and nothing out of the infield.
Bottom 6th: Lewis, grounds first pitch back to Halladay. One down. Gonzalez 0-2 tonight Singles into centre. Bautista, Oh boy here we go again with Cito, Johnny Mc. now pinch running for Gonzalez, pops it up to first, two down, Wells, 0-2 tonight. Full count, watch this one Vernon down and away? Yes but he leaves it alone, nice job Vernon. Lind with two on. Grounds back to Halladay throw to first for the out.

Top 7th: I wonder if Manuel will pull Halladay now? Casey still out there, Howard. Grunds to Lind throw to Janssen for the out. Werth, hamers this one to centre great running catch by Vernon bangs into the wall but hangs on to it. Highlight reel. Gload, two down. Grounds back up the middle great play by Hill to get to it and throw him out at first. Jays defense dominating here and Casey making short work on the last six Phillies.
Bottom 7th: No, Halladay still out there, he has a manager who plays to win, even with90 pitches, Hill strikes out. Wise, grounds to first, for the second out. Buck, singles to left. Hoffpauir, one on two down. Grounds to third throw to second to get Buck.106 pitches for Halladay.

Top 8th: Oh no, Tallet out there now. Cito really has given up. Hang on here. Victorino, here we go home run to left. 9-0 Phillies. Gload grounds to Hill great play but throw not in time, he could not have done better than that. Schneider, Grounds to Hill throw to second for one but throw wild at first Lind is at first. Runner safe at first. Rollins, full count. Ball four, two on one down for Polanco. Pinch runner Wilson Valdez, for Rollins, the first sign from Manuel that he has the game in order. Polanco grounds to Hoffpauir on to Hill over to Lind that’s a double play.
Bottom 8th: That is it for Halladay. No easy night for him, Manuel keeps him out there for seven. Contreras now pitching. Lewis, lots of blue seats out there, crowd have emptied out there now that Halladay has finished. Long single to centre, one on for Johnny Mc. grounds to third, on to second on to first double play ball. Cito did not start the runner or even try to steal and that was Lewis at first.……. Bautista, lines it to short for the out.

Top 9th: Tallet still out there, Groan. Utley leading off. Full count, pops it up to Johnny Mc. at short, one down. Howard, strikes out swinging, two down. Werth, 3-0, Ball four. Ibanez, needs to make up for that error in left. Strikes out.
Bottom 9th: Herndon pitching, Wells grounds to short, throw to first for the out. Lind, 0-3 tonight. Grounds to second throw to first two down. Hill, lines it to centre for third out.

Jays lose this one 9-0 but it was by no means a lopsided affair. 5-0 would have been better score and take out the three from the dropped catch by Wells and Tallet’s effort it would have indeed been five.

Two totally different style of managing on show tonight and I know which one I like. Jerry Manuel never gives an inch and his best players are out there even in the ninth despite leading 9-0. Cito on the other hand, gives up after five, pulling his starters and not giving his team much support here. Without a running game the double plays continue to add for this team, we can but hope that the new manager will have a different perspective.
Tomorrow another “home” game in Philadelphia with Marcum pitching against Hamels. Does not get easier for Jays hitters.
The good: Janssen, defense by Vernon and Hill. To make a couple of great plays
Bad: Besides Litsch, Cito pinch running for Overbay in the 5th ! Showing the white flag far too early, and sending a horrible message to the team. Hard for him to criticise a player for not running out first when his manager gives up half way through the game. A player gets benched or sent to AAA for lack of effort, no such luck for Cito, not until September at least. Bringing in Tallet ? who responds by giving up home run to the first hitter.