Game two Jays v Rays. Tuesday August 31.
Sloppy fielding last night lost game for the Jays, I hope they smarten up tonight. Too much at stake now to just drift through the few remaining weeks. Jays record against Tampa much better this season 7-6, they are starting to be far more competitive against all but the Red Sox. Jays have won four of the last five games with Tampa.
Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Wise, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Hill, Snider, McDonald. Lots of speed at the top of this order. Would love to see the first two on base.
Rays: Upton, Bartlett, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Rodriguez, Shoppach, Zobrist, Johnson.
Pitching: Niemann v Romero.
Top 1st: Lewis leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Wise. Singles opposite field, into left field corner, Bautista 0-2 count, Wise running and safe at second as Bautista grounds to third, throws to first to get Bautista for second out. Wells, did not play last night, should be well rested. Wise in scoring position. 1-2 count, down and away, strikes out. Vernon can never resist but it is too bad he can never hit that pitch. Once he does they will stop striking him out on it. Pitch count 16.
Bottom 1st: Upton first pitch lines it to right, great diving catch by Wise what a great play. Bartlett, 0-2 count, grounds to McDonald at short, throw to Lind at first for second out. Crawford. Full count, don’t walk this guy Ricky. Grounds to Lind throw to Romero for the out. Pitch count 10. Very nice start Ricky.
Top 2nd: Lind leading off. Come on Adam first pitch lazy swing pops up to Longoria at third. Buck, bounces to Longoria, throw to first, two quick outs. Hill, the goat last night despite his home run, his error lead to Pena’s three run home run, that basically decided the game. Breaks his bat with pop up to centre. Not an impressive display of hitting by these three. Pitch count 22.
Bottom 2nd: Longoria grounds to Bautista at third, throw to Lind, one down for Pena. Shift right for Pena. He can just tap it to third for a single. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Rodriguez, grounds to McDonald at shirt, throw to Lind at first for third out. Nine pitch inning. Pitch count 19.
Top 3rd: Snider leading off, had a great game last night and saved some base hits with his glove. Starting to show what he can do if he is given some at bats. Has yet to show us his home run power though. 2-2 count. Strikes out looking. One down. Better than a first pitch out Travis. McDonald, YES YES Johnny Mc. turns on this one and into the seats in left, 1-0 Jays. Number five for Johnny Mc. this season. New career high. Lewis, grounds to Rodriguez at second, throw to first for the out. Wise, 1-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first. Pitch count 35. Jays lineup being embarrassed by Johnny Mc number nine hitter getting it done when they are all at sea.
Bottom 3rd: Shoppach first pitch high pop up to Snider in left. Zobrist, 3-0 count, and ball four, first walk for Romero. Johnson, VERY nice, great play by Hill Johnson grounds the ball to second; Hill knocks it down, throw to McDonald at second from his knees over to Lind double play ball. WOW, Aaron makes up for last night. Pitch count 25. Excellent for first nine outs.
Top 4th: Now can the hitters give Ricky some support here? Bautista leading off. full count, ball four, one on for Wells, long, long overdue for something dramatic e.g. a home run. 0-2 count, pops up to Upton in shallow centre, one down. Lind, 2-0 count, oh boy, grounds to first, throw to second, back to first double play ball. Lind continues his own futility. Pitch count 48.
Bottom 4th: Upton leading off. Full count, ball four, not good, speedy guy on bases. Bartlett, 1-2 count, grounds to Johnny Mc. to Hill over to Lind double play ball and clears the bases. Crawford grounds first pitch to Lind at first takes it himself for the out, three outs in two pitches; Ricky will take that any day. Defense playing well tonight. Pitch count 37.
Top 5th: Buck has been in his own mini slump. Grounds to short, throw to first, one down. Hill, 2-2 count, pops up to Crawford in left, two down for Snider. 3-1 count, ball four, good at bat Travis, patience. McDonald with two down one on. 2-0 count. Travis stealing and safe at second on the high throw. 3-1 count. Grounds to Longoria at third, throw to first for third out. Pitch count 66.
Bottom 5th: Longoria, 3-0 count, ball four, not good Ricky, come on concentrate here. Pena, 1-0 lost the strike zone. Lines it to Wells in right centre for the out, Longoria tags Wells throw off the base and safe at second, stays out of the double play as well. Rodriguez, one down, full count, ball four. Two on one down for Shoppach. 1-1 count. Pops up to Wise in right for the second out. Longoria at third. Zobrist, 2-1 count. Singles up the middle as Hill misses ball, here comes the run and first hit tonight for Rays. Error on Hill. Johnson, oh boy it’s like last night, lines it to right centre, two runs score but they have Johnson hung up and is tagged out. Once again Hill has been the goat for three runs here. That is so tough on Romero who had a no-hitter going there before that error which would have had him out of the inning. Pitch count 59. 3-1 Rays. Scorer takes the error away from Hill but he definitely could have had it.
Top 6th: Lewis, great bunt up the line and Lewis safe at first. One on for Wise, Lewis running and no throw 2-1, runner at second, nobody out. That’s the way DeWayne, singles into centre here comes Fred 3-2 Rays. Bautista with Wise at first. There goes Wise stealing, safe on the throw and Jays running wild tonight !!! 1-0 count, ouch hits Bautista could not get away from that one. Two on now for Wells, 1-1 count, YES Vernon, comes through double down the left field line and both runners score, throw is wild, and Jays take the lead again, 4-3 Jays still nobody out. Lind, Adam gets hold of this one doubles to the wall in centre, here comes Vernon, 5-3 Jays. Buck now nobody out. Conference on the mound. Cormier warming up. 79 pitch count. Yes John, doubles to the wall, and here comes Lind, 6-3 Jays. And that’s it for Niemann, Jays see him out of the game. Cormier now pitching and Hill at bat. 0-2 count. YES Aaron gets hold of this one and this one is into left field seats, 8-3 Jays. They love this score in New York. Snider, strikes out, first out of the inning. McDonald. One down, full count. Ball four and Johnny Mc. walks. Lewis pops up to Longoria at third. Wise, with two down and one on. 2-3 tonight, another player coming through the more he plays. 2-0 count. singles into right, Johnny Mc to third. Third hit tonight for Wise. Bautista now, payback for that hit by Niemann pitch. YES JOSE THAT will do for payback, lines this one into left seats, that is called payback with interest. 11-3 Jays. 102 RBIs. Wells, 2-1 count, doubles into left corner, second double of the inning !!! listen to those boos. Fun game friends. Lind, lines out to left centre for Upton. Ten runs inning. WOW !!! I can hear the cheers in New York. They might just break that deadlock at the top tonight for first time in eight games.
Bottom 6th: Upton grounds first pitch to Hill, throw to Lind at first for the out. Brignac pinch hitting for Bartlett. full count, strikes out swinging, two down. Joyce pinch hitting for Crawford. Good to see Crawford out of the game. 1-2 count. Strikes out. Perfect inning Ricky. Way to go. Now get those hitters out there and pummel these Rays. 70 pitches.
Top 7th: Jays have to continue the pressure here, no mercy, they are making a statement. Aybar in for Longoria at 3rd base. Joyce in left, Brignac at short. Sonnanstine pitching. Buck leading off. 2-0 count, lines it into left for Joyce to make running catch, one down for McCoy pinch hitting for Hill. 2-2 count, grounds to Aybar at third, throw to first, two down for Snider. Just cannot get his swing in a groove yet. Grounds to first flip to Sonnanstine for the out. Everyone has a hit except Travis.
Bottom 7th: Aybar leading off, grounds to McDonald at short throw to first for the out. Pena, with the big shift right. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Rodriguez, 1-2 count, bounces it back to Romero, leaps high to get this and throw to first for third out. Very athletic guy. Pitch count 82.
Top 8th: McDonald leading off. Singles into left, one on for Lewis, full count, singles into centre off glove of Sonnanstine, that might have been double play ball. Johnny Mc stays at second. Two on nobody out for Wise, three hit night so far, wild pitch both runners move up, runners at second and third. Grounds to second McDonald scores 12-3 Jays. Wise out at first. One down for Bautista, Lewis at third, 1-1 count. Singles into right, here comes Lewis, 13-3 Jays. Wells with one down and one on. Two hit night, pops up to Pena at first, two down Lind, 2-2 count, lines it to Brignac for third out.
Bottom 8th: Shoppach leading off, 1-2 count, strikes out looking one down. Zobrist, 2-2 count, grounds to McDonald, throw to first and gets away from Lind, Zobrist to second. Error to McDonald. Johnson, Casey Janssen warming up, full count. Ball four. Two on for Upton, 0-2 count, singles into left to load the bases. Here comes Cito, that’s it for Romero, great outing. Janssen now pitching, Brignac, with bases loaded. 0-2 count. Loops it into right, here comes two runners, 13-5 Jays. Two on for Joyce, full count, don’t load them up again Casey. Strikes out swinging, two down. Frasor now warming up. Aybar, 3-1 count, not sharp at all, this could be your last hitter Casey. Ball four, bases loaded again. Cito sitting but smoke coming out of his ears. Pena. Bruce Walton now out there. 1-1 count. Phew… Pena grounds to Hill at second, throw to Lind for third out. Janssen escapes but not a good outing.
Top 9th: Buck leading off. Zobrist in centre, Johnson in left, Buck 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for McCoy, pops up to Rodriguez behind first, and two down. Snider with two down, Travis hitless. 1-2 count, there we go Travis, lines this on to right off the top of the wall. Just misses going out. Stand up double for Travis. Bring him in Johnny Mc. 1-2 count, grounds up the middle, Brignac throw to first to get McDonald.
Bottom 9th: Frasor pitching. Rodriguez leading off. 2-1 count, grounds to McCoy, throw to Lind one down. Shoppach, doubles down the line into left. Zobrist, first pitch pop up to Wells in shallow centre. Johnson with two down. 2-2 count, strikes out. Jays win big tonight 13-5.
Last six games between these two teams Rays have only won one. Boston loses to Baltimore, Yankees win. Jays pick up on Boston and Tampa.
The stolen bases in the 6th HUGE
The excellent: Romero eight innings and would have had no hitter if Hill had had that ball in the 5th.
Good: Johnny Mc. home run. Bautista number 43, Hill home run, and the hitting explosion in the sixth to knock Niemann out of the game. The three stolen bases.
Defense: Wise in first inning great catch. Hill and the double play in the 3rd.
The bad: Have to mention this one as Hill’s miss not called an error, sure. Ruined the no hitter and lead to Rays three runs. More worrying is that this was two nights in a row. This time his home run did bring them in but we wonder how far Romero would have gone with the no hitter.
Looking ahead to New York series, Jays could have some weather problems. The big storm is due to hit NY in Friday, if it does then Jays have to double up one day probably Sunday. These games are more important to NY than Jays.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Cecil excellent game ruined by his infield Hill, McCoy and McDonald
Jays v Tampa. Game one Monday August 30.
Lineups: Jays: Lewis, McCoy, Bautista, Buck, Lind, Hill, Wise, McDonald, Snider.
Not sure it is a great time to give Vernon a day off, with three of the starting lineup injured, but that is the way Cito does it. I like Travis playing at number nine, no pressure on him and he will perform there if he can play regularly for rest of the month.
Tampa: Upton, Bartlett, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Rodriguez, Zobrist, Aybar, Shoppach.
Pitching: Davis v Cecil.
Where are the fans in Tampa? This place is empty bigtime. Very sad. What will the attendance be in 2011 when this team is dismantled ? They should be able to get wild card and that might be it for many years, Crawford is the heart of the team.
Top 1st: Lewis pops up to Longoria at third. McCoy playing short for Escobar, fly ball to Crawford in left. Bautista with two down pops up to Bartlett at short. Quick three up and down.
Bottom 1st: Upton singles to centre. Bartlett sac bunt back to Cecil. Throw to first Lind playing first, Upton to second. Crawford, doubles to centre, here comes Upton, 1-0 Tampa. Just like that. Longoria singles to left, Crawford to third. Pena lines it to Snider in left great catch by Travis, but deep enough for Crawford to tag and make it 2-0 Rays. But great catch Travis. Rodriguez lines out to McCoy at short. to end this one. Not a great start by Cecil. Pitch count 19.
Top 2nd: Buck grounds to third, throw to first one down for Lind. Grounds to first, steps on the bag two down. Hill goes the other way, doubles to right centre. We don’t often see Aaron hitting to right, but if gets a double every time it is fine with me. There goes the no hitter for Davis. Wise, with two down and one on. 0-2 count. Wild pitch and Hill to third. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 26.
Bottom 2nd: Zobrist leading off. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Aybar, full count, strikes out swinging, two down, grounds to McDonald at third; throw to first for third out. Much better inning for Cecil. Pitch count 33.
Top 3rd: McDonald leading off, full count, I like this at bat by Johnny Mc. Lines this one off the wall in left off the wall, that was almost out of here. Johnny Mc. stand up triple for. Now Travis bring him in here. That’s the way Travis, high chopper bounces to short, and here comes McDonald, 2-1 Rays. Lewis now with one down. 0-2 and strike three looking, come on Fred, two down for McCoy. 0-2 and weak attempt at swing here, come on Mike, give it a rip. Two poor at bats by Lewis and McCoy. Pitch count 40.
Bottom 3rd: Upton fly ball to Snider in left, one down. Bartlett, 2-2 count, OH WOW !!!! what an incredible catch. Johnny Mc makes incredible diving catch in front of McCoy at short, that ball looked closer to McCoy than third base, two down for Crawford. Cito keep Johnny Mc. at third until the end of the season as far as I am concerned. Far better fielder than Encarnacion. 2-2 count, grounds to Hill gets his glove on it but trying to rush the play, no chance to get Crawford. Safe at first, error to Aaron. Longoria, oh boy, lines it off glove of McCoy. That should have been an out. Cecil not being helped by these two so far. Two on two down. Infield not helping Cecil tonight. Pena with two down and two on. 1-2 count, oh boy lines this one over the fence in left, three run home run, now 5-1 but blame this one on Hill and McCoy. Rodriguez, full count. Ball four. Zobrist with one on and two down. Pops up to Snider in left. Hill and McCoy owe Cecil and his teammates big right now. Pitch count 59 for Cecil should have been at least 15 fewer.
Top 4th: Bautista leading off. Full count, grounds to third, throw to first for the out. One down. Buck, lines to Zobrist in right, two down. Lind, two down, 1-1 count, bounces one up the first base line, Davis takes it himself for the out at first. Jays are rolling over here. Need some spine. Pitch count 51.
Bottom 4th: Aybar leading off, full count, grounds to McCoy does not mess it up this time, throw to first for the out. Shoppach lines this to the wall in left, GREAT catch by Travis bangs into the wall, way to go Travis. Can you see Rios going into the wall like that? No way. Travis is fearless. Two down. Upton, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 72.
Top 5th. Hill leading off, needs to redeem himself for that error last inning. Taking pitches here, 3-1 count. That will do Aaron, lines this to deep left home run, Aaron, a good start two more runs to go. 5-2 Rays. Wise, bounces back to Davis, throw to first one down. 1-2 count, grounds to Bartlett to short, throw just gets Johnny Mc. Two down for Snider, pumped from that great play in left. Pops up to Bartlett for third out. Pitch count 67.
Bottom 5th: Can Cecil get into the 6th? Bartlett, 2-2 count. Pops up to Snider in left, one down. Crawford, last month here in Tampa, my bet is he will be a Yankee in 2011.2-2 count, grounds to Hill, throw to first two down. Longoria, grounds to McDonald at third throw to first for the final out. Cecil doing his job, now up to the hitters on this team to get to Davis. But we have no Overbay, no Wells, no Escobar tonight. Pitch count 86. Those extra pitches in the third hurts him here.
Top 6th: Lewis leading off, broken bat but ball to Pena at first for the out, one down, McCoy showing bunt, pops up to centre for second out, two quick outs. Bautista, 2-0 count, singles into left, one on two down for Buck, oh boy, first pitch swinging, pops up to shallow right for the out. Not a good at bat by Buck, in fact he has been awful the last two weeks. Pitch count 75.
Bottom 6th: Could be the last inning for Cecil. Not his fault, Aaron and McCoy are the goats tonight. They cost Cecil an extra 12 pitches which could have been another inning here. Pena leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out, Pena showing some attitude here but no good. Rodriguez, 1-2 count, pops up to Wise in centre at the track, two down. Zobrist, pops up to McDonald. Pitch count 98 for Cecil. Oh to get that 3rd inning back.
Top 7th: Lind leading off. Hill one down 2-0 count, pops up to Zobrist in right. Two down for Wise, first pitch lines to centre, five pitches. Jays hitters have already rolled over in this one. Very poor showing. Pitch count 80. Davis will go the distance tonight.
Bottom 7th: Aybar leading off. First pitch grounds to third, throw to first one down, Rays want to get out on the town. Shoppach 0-2 count, Camp warming up. Strikes out on three pitches. Upton 2-2 count, pops up to Wise for third out. Cecil a victim of his infield tonight.
Top 8th: Jays running out of time here. Reckless first pitch swinging has played into the hands of Davis tonight. McDonald fly ball (first pitch) to left for the out, Snider one down, singles into right, one on for Lewis, hitless tonight 0-3. Qualls warming up in bullpen for Rays, Lewis pops up to Longoria, Lewis 0-4, could not even move Travis over to second. McCoy definitely owes Cecil one tonight. Two down, also hitless tonight 0-3. That will (almost) do, singles into right. Bautista with two on. Here comes Joe Maddon. Qualls now pitching. Jose would love to get that 100th RBI here. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays have outhit the Rays tonight 6-5 but that doesn’t count does it?
Bottom 8th: Camp now pitching, Bartlett leading off1-2 count, grounds to third. Johnny Mc throw too high off glove of Lind, error on the pay as Bartlett goes to second. Two error play. Ouch. Crawford, grounds to Hill throw to Lind, one down but he did his job moving Bartlett to third, one down for Longoria, this is good enough fly ball to Snider in left Bartlett tags and scores 6-2 game. Pena with two down. Cito puts the exaggerated shift in right. He still has 17 hits to left, Cito gambling here. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging.
Top 9th: Qualls finishing Jays off. Last chance for Jays here, will they fight or fold? Buck has been one of the worst offenders, hitless tonight, 2-2 count. Pops up to Rodriguez one down for Lind. That’s it for Qualls. Choate now. lefty-lefty match up for Maddon. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Hill, 2-1 count, grounds weakly to Bartlett at short throw to first and this game is over. Jays gave this one away.
Review: Story of this one was the 3rd inning and maybe not a good idea to rest Wells tonight.
The excellent: Cecil pitched very well, with support he could have easily won this one.Johnny Mc. with that catch of Bartlett in the 3rd. Snider with two great plays in left. What I really like about Travis is that he will run through that wall, the way Mondesi used to do. Two hit night for Hill but it was his glove that let him down bigtime tonight.
The poor: Jays 0-3 with runners in scoring position and Rays 3-4. Major difference.
The goats tonight: Hill and McCoy ruined this one in the 3rd. Two out error caused three runs. And Johnny Mc in the 8th with two errors on the same play.
Lineups: Jays: Lewis, McCoy, Bautista, Buck, Lind, Hill, Wise, McDonald, Snider.
Not sure it is a great time to give Vernon a day off, with three of the starting lineup injured, but that is the way Cito does it. I like Travis playing at number nine, no pressure on him and he will perform there if he can play regularly for rest of the month.
Tampa: Upton, Bartlett, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Rodriguez, Zobrist, Aybar, Shoppach.
Pitching: Davis v Cecil.
Where are the fans in Tampa? This place is empty bigtime. Very sad. What will the attendance be in 2011 when this team is dismantled ? They should be able to get wild card and that might be it for many years, Crawford is the heart of the team.
Top 1st: Lewis pops up to Longoria at third. McCoy playing short for Escobar, fly ball to Crawford in left. Bautista with two down pops up to Bartlett at short. Quick three up and down.
Bottom 1st: Upton singles to centre. Bartlett sac bunt back to Cecil. Throw to first Lind playing first, Upton to second. Crawford, doubles to centre, here comes Upton, 1-0 Tampa. Just like that. Longoria singles to left, Crawford to third. Pena lines it to Snider in left great catch by Travis, but deep enough for Crawford to tag and make it 2-0 Rays. But great catch Travis. Rodriguez lines out to McCoy at short. to end this one. Not a great start by Cecil. Pitch count 19.
Top 2nd: Buck grounds to third, throw to first one down for Lind. Grounds to first, steps on the bag two down. Hill goes the other way, doubles to right centre. We don’t often see Aaron hitting to right, but if gets a double every time it is fine with me. There goes the no hitter for Davis. Wise, with two down and one on. 0-2 count. Wild pitch and Hill to third. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 26.
Bottom 2nd: Zobrist leading off. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Aybar, full count, strikes out swinging, two down, grounds to McDonald at third; throw to first for third out. Much better inning for Cecil. Pitch count 33.
Top 3rd: McDonald leading off, full count, I like this at bat by Johnny Mc. Lines this one off the wall in left off the wall, that was almost out of here. Johnny Mc. stand up triple for. Now Travis bring him in here. That’s the way Travis, high chopper bounces to short, and here comes McDonald, 2-1 Rays. Lewis now with one down. 0-2 and strike three looking, come on Fred, two down for McCoy. 0-2 and weak attempt at swing here, come on Mike, give it a rip. Two poor at bats by Lewis and McCoy. Pitch count 40.
Bottom 3rd: Upton fly ball to Snider in left, one down. Bartlett, 2-2 count, OH WOW !!!! what an incredible catch. Johnny Mc makes incredible diving catch in front of McCoy at short, that ball looked closer to McCoy than third base, two down for Crawford. Cito keep Johnny Mc. at third until the end of the season as far as I am concerned. Far better fielder than Encarnacion. 2-2 count, grounds to Hill gets his glove on it but trying to rush the play, no chance to get Crawford. Safe at first, error to Aaron. Longoria, oh boy, lines it off glove of McCoy. That should have been an out. Cecil not being helped by these two so far. Two on two down. Infield not helping Cecil tonight. Pena with two down and two on. 1-2 count, oh boy lines this one over the fence in left, three run home run, now 5-1 but blame this one on Hill and McCoy. Rodriguez, full count. Ball four. Zobrist with one on and two down. Pops up to Snider in left. Hill and McCoy owe Cecil and his teammates big right now. Pitch count 59 for Cecil should have been at least 15 fewer.
Top 4th: Bautista leading off. Full count, grounds to third, throw to first for the out. One down. Buck, lines to Zobrist in right, two down. Lind, two down, 1-1 count, bounces one up the first base line, Davis takes it himself for the out at first. Jays are rolling over here. Need some spine. Pitch count 51.
Bottom 4th: Aybar leading off, full count, grounds to McCoy does not mess it up this time, throw to first for the out. Shoppach lines this to the wall in left, GREAT catch by Travis bangs into the wall, way to go Travis. Can you see Rios going into the wall like that? No way. Travis is fearless. Two down. Upton, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 72.
Top 5th. Hill leading off, needs to redeem himself for that error last inning. Taking pitches here, 3-1 count. That will do Aaron, lines this to deep left home run, Aaron, a good start two more runs to go. 5-2 Rays. Wise, bounces back to Davis, throw to first one down. 1-2 count, grounds to Bartlett to short, throw just gets Johnny Mc. Two down for Snider, pumped from that great play in left. Pops up to Bartlett for third out. Pitch count 67.
Bottom 5th: Can Cecil get into the 6th? Bartlett, 2-2 count. Pops up to Snider in left, one down. Crawford, last month here in Tampa, my bet is he will be a Yankee in 2011.2-2 count, grounds to Hill, throw to first two down. Longoria, grounds to McDonald at third throw to first for the final out. Cecil doing his job, now up to the hitters on this team to get to Davis. But we have no Overbay, no Wells, no Escobar tonight. Pitch count 86. Those extra pitches in the third hurts him here.
Top 6th: Lewis leading off, broken bat but ball to Pena at first for the out, one down, McCoy showing bunt, pops up to centre for second out, two quick outs. Bautista, 2-0 count, singles into left, one on two down for Buck, oh boy, first pitch swinging, pops up to shallow right for the out. Not a good at bat by Buck, in fact he has been awful the last two weeks. Pitch count 75.
Bottom 6th: Could be the last inning for Cecil. Not his fault, Aaron and McCoy are the goats tonight. They cost Cecil an extra 12 pitches which could have been another inning here. Pena leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out, Pena showing some attitude here but no good. Rodriguez, 1-2 count, pops up to Wise in centre at the track, two down. Zobrist, pops up to McDonald. Pitch count 98 for Cecil. Oh to get that 3rd inning back.
Top 7th: Lind leading off. Hill one down 2-0 count, pops up to Zobrist in right. Two down for Wise, first pitch lines to centre, five pitches. Jays hitters have already rolled over in this one. Very poor showing. Pitch count 80. Davis will go the distance tonight.
Bottom 7th: Aybar leading off. First pitch grounds to third, throw to first one down, Rays want to get out on the town. Shoppach 0-2 count, Camp warming up. Strikes out on three pitches. Upton 2-2 count, pops up to Wise for third out. Cecil a victim of his infield tonight.
Top 8th: Jays running out of time here. Reckless first pitch swinging has played into the hands of Davis tonight. McDonald fly ball (first pitch) to left for the out, Snider one down, singles into right, one on for Lewis, hitless tonight 0-3. Qualls warming up in bullpen for Rays, Lewis pops up to Longoria, Lewis 0-4, could not even move Travis over to second. McCoy definitely owes Cecil one tonight. Two down, also hitless tonight 0-3. That will (almost) do, singles into right. Bautista with two on. Here comes Joe Maddon. Qualls now pitching. Jose would love to get that 100th RBI here. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays have outhit the Rays tonight 6-5 but that doesn’t count does it?
Bottom 8th: Camp now pitching, Bartlett leading off1-2 count, grounds to third. Johnny Mc throw too high off glove of Lind, error on the pay as Bartlett goes to second. Two error play. Ouch. Crawford, grounds to Hill throw to Lind, one down but he did his job moving Bartlett to third, one down for Longoria, this is good enough fly ball to Snider in left Bartlett tags and scores 6-2 game. Pena with two down. Cito puts the exaggerated shift in right. He still has 17 hits to left, Cito gambling here. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging.
Top 9th: Qualls finishing Jays off. Last chance for Jays here, will they fight or fold? Buck has been one of the worst offenders, hitless tonight, 2-2 count. Pops up to Rodriguez one down for Lind. That’s it for Qualls. Choate now. lefty-lefty match up for Maddon. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Hill, 2-1 count, grounds weakly to Bartlett at short throw to first and this game is over. Jays gave this one away.
Review: Story of this one was the 3rd inning and maybe not a good idea to rest Wells tonight.
The excellent: Cecil pitched very well, with support he could have easily won this one.Johnny Mc. with that catch of Bartlett in the 3rd. Snider with two great plays in left. What I really like about Travis is that he will run through that wall, the way Mondesi used to do. Two hit night for Hill but it was his glove that let him down bigtime tonight.
The poor: Jays 0-3 with runners in scoring position and Rays 3-4. Major difference.
The goats tonight: Hill and McCoy ruined this one in the 3rd. Two out error caused three runs. And Johnny Mc in the 8th with two errors on the same play.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Jays end with a bang but lose big with Carlson and Tallet the major reason
Tigers v Jays. Series finale. Sunday August 29.
Pregame: Encarnacion injured and on DL so that gives Cito chance to put out the first team in my mind anyway. Lewis and Snider in the outfield, Bautista at third and Johnny Mc. giving Escobar day off. Overbay still out so Lind is at first. Mike McCoy has been recalled from Vegas and will probably stay up now even when Encarnacion is back in lineup.
Lineups: Tigers: Jackson, Rhymes, Raburn, Cabrera, Peralta, Inge, Boesch, Wells, Avila.
Jays: Lewis, McDonald, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Hill, Snider, Molina. Unusual to see both Buck and Molina in lineup.
Pitching: Rzepczynski v Porcello. Jays big weakness number five pitcher. Not sure this guy has it by any means. This is one game Tigers definitely have the edge.
Top 1st: Jackson leading off, grounds first pitch to Johnny Mc. throw to Lind, one down. Rhymes, 3-1 count, ball four, here we go. Raburn, need a ground ball here Marc. If Jackson gives him long enough without stealing. Wild pitch to the wall, Jackson to second, this is how games get out of hand. 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Cabrera, with one on two down, doubles to right corner, off the wall and here comes run number one. 1-0 Tigers. Peralta, 1-2 count, strikes out. Pitch count 18 though and by no means a good inning.
Bottom 1st: Jays need to score double figures today I think. Lewis grounds to Inge at third, throw to Cabrera at first, one down. Johnny Mc. strikes out. Bautista pops up Inge at third.
Top 2nd: Inge leading off, strikes out. One down for Boesch, fly ball to Snider in right.Casper Wells lines out to Bautista at third. 28 pitches. Much better inning.
Bottom 2nd: Wells leading off grounds to Peralta at short, throw to Cabrera at first
Lind, fly ball to Raburn in left. Two down for Buck, full count. Strikes out swinging. Porcello in fine form this afternoon. Jays have long day ahead. 23 pitch for two innings. Hmmm.
Top 3rd: Number nine Avila leading off. Singles to left, Jackson 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, one down. Rhymes, 2-2 count, grounds to Lind, throw to McDonald for one back to Lind drops the ball. Error on the play. Two down for Raburn, full count. strikes out swinging. Pitch count 45.
Bottom 3rd: Hill, 2-2 count. High pop up to right centre for first out. Snider, 2-2 count, grounds back to Porcello throw to Cabrera at first for the out, eight up and down to date. Molina with two down. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, pitch count 40 and a hitless game for Porcello to date. Nine up, nine down. A mere 40 pitches.
Top 4th: Cabrera leading off. Lines first pitch to Snider in right for the out. Peralta, full count, ball four, NO NO, pops up to shallow right, Hill calls off Snider and drops over the shoulder ball, that was Travis’ ball. Two on one down for Boesch, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, Two down. Wells with two on. 2-1 count. singles to right, here comes the run, throw gets away from Molina anyway. Hill owes the team for that one. 2-0 Tigers. Avila, with two on, 0-2 count strikes out swinging, number seven on the day, but that extra out cost the Jays a run and valuable pitches at a time when the bullpen had rough series of work. Pitch count now 63.
Bottom 4th: Can Jays hitters fathom out Porcello here second time around? Lewis, grounds weakly to second throw to Cabrera for the out. McDonald, bunting ? to try to get going here. No, 2-2, grounds to Inge at third strong throw to first beats him. Two down for Bautista, 2-1 count, pitching him outside, finally there goes the no hitter, singles into left, one on two down, Wells (first pitch of course) pop up to Wells in right centre. Just as they had a runner on but that’s Vernon. No finesse, hit and miss, all or nothing. Pitch count 53.
Top 5th: Jackson for the third time, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, number eight for Marc. Very nice play, Rhymes grounds to first, Rzepczynski gets to it and flips to Lind as he slides to the ground, two down. Hill was also going for it but Marc did not back off, quite right with the way Hill is playing today. Raburn first pitch pops up to Snider in right. Nice inning Marc. Six pitch inning. Pitch count 69.
Bottom 5th: Lind leading off. Pops up to Raburn in shallow left centre, one down for Buck, 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Two down for Hill, needs to try and redeem himself here. Full count, that will do, lines it very hard to Inge at third off his glove and Hill safe at first. Error to Inge on the play. Snider, 1-2 count, long time since Travis has hit home run. Pops up to Raburn in left. Pitch count 73. Porcello’s longest inning of 20 pitches.
Top 6th: Cabrera leading off. Full count, dangerous with this guy, ball four, smart to pitch around him. One on for Peralta, singles into left, two on for Inge, pops up to Lind, nice catch at the wall. One down. Boesch, full count, don’t walk him. Ball four, bases loaded for Casper Wells. 2-0 Carlson warming up in bullpen. 3-0, not good Marc. 3-1, full count, Wells lines it to the wall in centre, off the wall two runs score, 4-0 Tigers. Avila with two in scoring position. Grounds to Hill, freezes runner at third, throw to Lind for second out. Jackson, intentional walk to load bases. Rhymes and maybe Carlson. Yes here comes Cito. Rzepczynski did better than expected and his fifth inning was his best. But not this one. Lefty lefty match up to get one. No room for error Jesse with bases loaded. Oh man, pops up and ball dropped again by McDonald, I would have let Bautista take that one Johnny Mc. 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Gets him despite Johnny Mc. error.
Bottom 6th: Time running out on this team to get some runs. Need to knock Porcello out of the game. Molina leading off. 0-2 count. Grounds back to Porcello throw to first for the out. Lewis, 2-1 count, grounds to right, throw to first for the second out. McDonald as with Hill also needs to redeem himself here. YES very nice, that will certainly do Johnny Mc. Lines it over the wall in left field corner, home run, 4-1 Tigers. Bautista now full count, pops up to Cabrera at first for the third out. Pitch count 92.
Top 7th: Raburn leading off. Carlson still out there. High fly ball into left hits the foul pole, 5-1 Tigers. Well at least it was not with the bases loaded. Cabrera, 1-2 count, singles into centre, one on for Peralta, lines to Snider in right, nice catch Travis, one down for Inge, Cabrera stealing and safe on the throw. Oh boy lines this one into the bullpen in left and Tigers now 7-1. Boesch, 0-2 count, singles into centre, Carlson does not have much going here. Wells, Tallet ? warming up in bullpen, Cito has thrown in the towel here. Pops up to Wells in shallow centre. Two down, Avila, with two down and one on. 1-2 count, lines to Lewis in left.
Bottom 7th: Jays in a hole here but not out of reach for this team. Needs some focused at bats starting with this guy. Wells leading off, hitless and clueless at bat today against Porcello. Pops up to Jackson in centre, one down for Lind. Grounds to Peralta at short, throw to Cabrera for second out. Buck first pitch grounds to short, same play for third out. Jays hitters get a D today, they are putting no pressure at all on Porcello and trying to get him out of the game. Nine pitch inning, that says it all.
Top 8th: Mike McCoy now play in centre for Wells, Cito has seen enough of Vernon today along with this fan. Tallet now pitching will eat the two innings here Jackson leading off. Singles into left, hit number ten, Rhymes singles into left, Jackson to third, no outs two on and Raburn at bat. there it goes another home run, 10-1 Tigers. Tallet is just not a major league pitcher Cito. Cabrera with nobody out. 1-2 count. Lines it to right centre, great running catch by Snider, one down. Peralta grounds to first, Lind makes the out himself. Two down for Inge, pops it up to first but Lind cannot see it and lets it drop, that is the third pop up Jays infield has dropped. Full count, lines it back at Tallet throw to Lind for the out.
Bottom 8th: Not many fans left here now. Let’s see if Jays have any fight in them for two innings. Can make some noise in two innings. Tigers have scored six in two. Tigers bring in the reserves now. Coke pitching, Kelly for Cabrera at first. Hill, pops up to Jackson in shallow centre. Snider, grounds to second throw to first to get him. Two down for Molina. Full count, pops up to Kelly at first.
Top 9th: Casey Janssen to pitch. Boesch leading off, grounds to Hill, throw to Lind, one down. Wells, pops up to McCoy in centre, Avila grounds to Hill, throw to Lind. Five pitches for three outs, do you think Tigers want to get on the road?
Bottom 9th: Let’s see if Jays can last longer than five pitches. Top of the order. Valverde pitching. 24 save closer for Tigers. Not sure how much work he will get today. Lewis leading off. 1-2 count, bounces high off the plate to second, and Lewis safe at first, Bronx cheer from the fans still left here. Johnny Mc., Lewis running but McDonald fouls off. 1-1 count, singles into left, two on no outs for Bautista, can he get his 100 RBI? Salvage something from this miserable game today. 0-2 count, strikes out, big groan from the fans they wanted to see the 100. Now he will get it on the road, not the same. McCoy now, 0-2 count, he has not see pitching this hard in Vegas. Lines it to Wells in right, two down for Lind. 2-2 count, there she goes, Lind hits it into right field seats, here comes Lewis, here comes Johnny Mc and here comes Adam. Three run home run. 10-4 game. That makes the six runs given up by Carlson and Tallet even more important. Buck now with two down. 1-2, singles into centre, Hill, still time for him to redeem that error. Not this time. Pops up to Jackson in centre for third out.
Jays lose big this afternoon but now head on the road where maybe they can cause some grief to Tampa and the Yankees.
Jays outplayed by Tigers in all areas.BUT this game was only 4-1 in the seventh. Carlson and Tallet the biggest goats, those six runs turned out to be the difference today, but the pitching was not helped by lousy hitting and fielding.
Hill today’s goat. His error leading to second run in the 4th. Johnny Mc. and Lind also drop one, Jays fielding today suspect to say the least.
Big announcement today by Jays that Brandon Morrow will get one more start against Yankees and that will be it, will close him down for September and the season. Protecting their investment and they have obviously learned form all the broken pitchers the last few seasons with surgery. But in my book only one person takes that responsibility and that is the manager. However you have to wonder what would happen if the Jays were in playoffs, would they not use Morrow? I think somehow they would be using him, innings maximum or no.
Pregame: Encarnacion injured and on DL so that gives Cito chance to put out the first team in my mind anyway. Lewis and Snider in the outfield, Bautista at third and Johnny Mc. giving Escobar day off. Overbay still out so Lind is at first. Mike McCoy has been recalled from Vegas and will probably stay up now even when Encarnacion is back in lineup.
Lineups: Tigers: Jackson, Rhymes, Raburn, Cabrera, Peralta, Inge, Boesch, Wells, Avila.
Jays: Lewis, McDonald, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Hill, Snider, Molina. Unusual to see both Buck and Molina in lineup.
Pitching: Rzepczynski v Porcello. Jays big weakness number five pitcher. Not sure this guy has it by any means. This is one game Tigers definitely have the edge.
Top 1st: Jackson leading off, grounds first pitch to Johnny Mc. throw to Lind, one down. Rhymes, 3-1 count, ball four, here we go. Raburn, need a ground ball here Marc. If Jackson gives him long enough without stealing. Wild pitch to the wall, Jackson to second, this is how games get out of hand. 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Cabrera, with one on two down, doubles to right corner, off the wall and here comes run number one. 1-0 Tigers. Peralta, 1-2 count, strikes out. Pitch count 18 though and by no means a good inning.
Bottom 1st: Jays need to score double figures today I think. Lewis grounds to Inge at third, throw to Cabrera at first, one down. Johnny Mc. strikes out. Bautista pops up Inge at third.
Top 2nd: Inge leading off, strikes out. One down for Boesch, fly ball to Snider in right.Casper Wells lines out to Bautista at third. 28 pitches. Much better inning.
Bottom 2nd: Wells leading off grounds to Peralta at short, throw to Cabrera at first
Lind, fly ball to Raburn in left. Two down for Buck, full count. Strikes out swinging. Porcello in fine form this afternoon. Jays have long day ahead. 23 pitch for two innings. Hmmm.
Top 3rd: Number nine Avila leading off. Singles to left, Jackson 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, one down. Rhymes, 2-2 count, grounds to Lind, throw to McDonald for one back to Lind drops the ball. Error on the play. Two down for Raburn, full count. strikes out swinging. Pitch count 45.
Bottom 3rd: Hill, 2-2 count. High pop up to right centre for first out. Snider, 2-2 count, grounds back to Porcello throw to Cabrera at first for the out, eight up and down to date. Molina with two down. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, pitch count 40 and a hitless game for Porcello to date. Nine up, nine down. A mere 40 pitches.
Top 4th: Cabrera leading off. Lines first pitch to Snider in right for the out. Peralta, full count, ball four, NO NO, pops up to shallow right, Hill calls off Snider and drops over the shoulder ball, that was Travis’ ball. Two on one down for Boesch, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, Two down. Wells with two on. 2-1 count. singles to right, here comes the run, throw gets away from Molina anyway. Hill owes the team for that one. 2-0 Tigers. Avila, with two on, 0-2 count strikes out swinging, number seven on the day, but that extra out cost the Jays a run and valuable pitches at a time when the bullpen had rough series of work. Pitch count now 63.
Bottom 4th: Can Jays hitters fathom out Porcello here second time around? Lewis, grounds weakly to second throw to Cabrera for the out. McDonald, bunting ? to try to get going here. No, 2-2, grounds to Inge at third strong throw to first beats him. Two down for Bautista, 2-1 count, pitching him outside, finally there goes the no hitter, singles into left, one on two down, Wells (first pitch of course) pop up to Wells in right centre. Just as they had a runner on but that’s Vernon. No finesse, hit and miss, all or nothing. Pitch count 53.
Top 5th: Jackson for the third time, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, number eight for Marc. Very nice play, Rhymes grounds to first, Rzepczynski gets to it and flips to Lind as he slides to the ground, two down. Hill was also going for it but Marc did not back off, quite right with the way Hill is playing today. Raburn first pitch pops up to Snider in right. Nice inning Marc. Six pitch inning. Pitch count 69.
Bottom 5th: Lind leading off. Pops up to Raburn in shallow left centre, one down for Buck, 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Two down for Hill, needs to try and redeem himself here. Full count, that will do, lines it very hard to Inge at third off his glove and Hill safe at first. Error to Inge on the play. Snider, 1-2 count, long time since Travis has hit home run. Pops up to Raburn in left. Pitch count 73. Porcello’s longest inning of 20 pitches.
Top 6th: Cabrera leading off. Full count, dangerous with this guy, ball four, smart to pitch around him. One on for Peralta, singles into left, two on for Inge, pops up to Lind, nice catch at the wall. One down. Boesch, full count, don’t walk him. Ball four, bases loaded for Casper Wells. 2-0 Carlson warming up in bullpen. 3-0, not good Marc. 3-1, full count, Wells lines it to the wall in centre, off the wall two runs score, 4-0 Tigers. Avila with two in scoring position. Grounds to Hill, freezes runner at third, throw to Lind for second out. Jackson, intentional walk to load bases. Rhymes and maybe Carlson. Yes here comes Cito. Rzepczynski did better than expected and his fifth inning was his best. But not this one. Lefty lefty match up to get one. No room for error Jesse with bases loaded. Oh man, pops up and ball dropped again by McDonald, I would have let Bautista take that one Johnny Mc. 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Gets him despite Johnny Mc. error.
Bottom 6th: Time running out on this team to get some runs. Need to knock Porcello out of the game. Molina leading off. 0-2 count. Grounds back to Porcello throw to first for the out. Lewis, 2-1 count, grounds to right, throw to first for the second out. McDonald as with Hill also needs to redeem himself here. YES very nice, that will certainly do Johnny Mc. Lines it over the wall in left field corner, home run, 4-1 Tigers. Bautista now full count, pops up to Cabrera at first for the third out. Pitch count 92.
Top 7th: Raburn leading off. Carlson still out there. High fly ball into left hits the foul pole, 5-1 Tigers. Well at least it was not with the bases loaded. Cabrera, 1-2 count, singles into centre, one on for Peralta, lines to Snider in right, nice catch Travis, one down for Inge, Cabrera stealing and safe on the throw. Oh boy lines this one into the bullpen in left and Tigers now 7-1. Boesch, 0-2 count, singles into centre, Carlson does not have much going here. Wells, Tallet ? warming up in bullpen, Cito has thrown in the towel here. Pops up to Wells in shallow centre. Two down, Avila, with two down and one on. 1-2 count, lines to Lewis in left.
Bottom 7th: Jays in a hole here but not out of reach for this team. Needs some focused at bats starting with this guy. Wells leading off, hitless and clueless at bat today against Porcello. Pops up to Jackson in centre, one down for Lind. Grounds to Peralta at short, throw to Cabrera for second out. Buck first pitch grounds to short, same play for third out. Jays hitters get a D today, they are putting no pressure at all on Porcello and trying to get him out of the game. Nine pitch inning, that says it all.
Top 8th: Mike McCoy now play in centre for Wells, Cito has seen enough of Vernon today along with this fan. Tallet now pitching will eat the two innings here Jackson leading off. Singles into left, hit number ten, Rhymes singles into left, Jackson to third, no outs two on and Raburn at bat. there it goes another home run, 10-1 Tigers. Tallet is just not a major league pitcher Cito. Cabrera with nobody out. 1-2 count. Lines it to right centre, great running catch by Snider, one down. Peralta grounds to first, Lind makes the out himself. Two down for Inge, pops it up to first but Lind cannot see it and lets it drop, that is the third pop up Jays infield has dropped. Full count, lines it back at Tallet throw to Lind for the out.
Bottom 8th: Not many fans left here now. Let’s see if Jays have any fight in them for two innings. Can make some noise in two innings. Tigers have scored six in two. Tigers bring in the reserves now. Coke pitching, Kelly for Cabrera at first. Hill, pops up to Jackson in shallow centre. Snider, grounds to second throw to first to get him. Two down for Molina. Full count, pops up to Kelly at first.
Top 9th: Casey Janssen to pitch. Boesch leading off, grounds to Hill, throw to Lind, one down. Wells, pops up to McCoy in centre, Avila grounds to Hill, throw to Lind. Five pitches for three outs, do you think Tigers want to get on the road?
Bottom 9th: Let’s see if Jays can last longer than five pitches. Top of the order. Valverde pitching. 24 save closer for Tigers. Not sure how much work he will get today. Lewis leading off. 1-2 count, bounces high off the plate to second, and Lewis safe at first, Bronx cheer from the fans still left here. Johnny Mc., Lewis running but McDonald fouls off. 1-1 count, singles into left, two on no outs for Bautista, can he get his 100 RBI? Salvage something from this miserable game today. 0-2 count, strikes out, big groan from the fans they wanted to see the 100. Now he will get it on the road, not the same. McCoy now, 0-2 count, he has not see pitching this hard in Vegas. Lines it to Wells in right, two down for Lind. 2-2 count, there she goes, Lind hits it into right field seats, here comes Lewis, here comes Johnny Mc and here comes Adam. Three run home run. 10-4 game. That makes the six runs given up by Carlson and Tallet even more important. Buck now with two down. 1-2, singles into centre, Hill, still time for him to redeem that error. Not this time. Pops up to Jackson in centre for third out.
Jays lose big this afternoon but now head on the road where maybe they can cause some grief to Tampa and the Yankees.
Jays outplayed by Tigers in all areas.BUT this game was only 4-1 in the seventh. Carlson and Tallet the biggest goats, those six runs turned out to be the difference today, but the pitching was not helped by lousy hitting and fielding.
Hill today’s goat. His error leading to second run in the 4th. Johnny Mc. and Lind also drop one, Jays fielding today suspect to say the least.
Big announcement today by Jays that Brandon Morrow will get one more start against Yankees and that will be it, will close him down for September and the season. Protecting their investment and they have obviously learned form all the broken pitchers the last few seasons with surgery. But in my book only one person takes that responsibility and that is the manager. However you have to wonder what would happen if the Jays were in playoffs, would they not use Morrow? I think somehow they would be using him, innings maximum or no.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Morrow superb as Jays strike early and beat Tigers 5-4
Game three Tigers v Jays. Saturday August 28.
Jays had a great extra innings win last night, can they continue that today? Must have been very dispiriting for the Tigers. Ciot has Travis back in the lineup and moved him down to number seven, let's see how he likes that position.
Lineups: Tigers: Rhymes, Santiago, Damon, Cabrera, Boesch, Raburn, Inge, Kelly, Avila.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Snider, Encarnacion, Molina.
Pitching: Morrow v Figaro. Firststart of the season for Figaro but that usually means Jays are in for tough time.
Top 1st: Rhymes leading off doubles to left. Santiago, bunting, back to Morrow throws to Encarnacion at third, they have Rhymes in rundown, throw to Escobar, Rhymes out. Santiago to first, going to second on the play, Escobar to Hill, Santiago out. Wow that was some double play. Morrow doesn’t mind how they give themselves up. Damon with two down strikes out. That could be a huge inning later.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off, 3-0 and ball four. Good start. Escobar with one on. There gores Fred safe at second. Escobar singles to left, Lewis to third. Two on and nobody out, Jays have to make Tigers pay here. They have there right guy in there. Bautista lines this hard to centre, here comes Lewis, here comes Escobar and Bautista has himself a triple and two RBIs. Jays go out in front 2-0. Vernon now can he bring in Bautista from third base. That’s the way Vernon, grounds to Santiago at short, throw to Cabrera at first for the second out, Bautista going on contact and scores easily, Jays ahead 3-0. One down. Lind singles to right. Hill with one on, grounds to Inge at third, throw to Rhymes at second to get Lind, two down. Snider, hitting number six today, much better than leadoff position for Travis. Lines to Inge at third for the out, but Jays go out ahead quickly. It was important for either team to strike first after that extra innings game last night and with the Jays it is continuing that momentum.
Top 2nd: Cabrera leading off, Morrow has a nice three run lead to work with. Watch this guy though, there he goes, hammers this one to left, into the seats, home run Cabrera. Tigers get one back quickly, 3-1 Jays. Boesch with nobody on strikes out. One down for Raburn grounds to second and safe at first, one down one on for Inge strikes out. Two down for Kelly, strikes out. Morrow strikes out the side, on his game today.
Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion leading off pops up to Kelly in centre. Molina grounds to Santiago throw to Cabrera at first for the second out. Lewis pops up to Raburn in left to end this three up and down inning. Figaro has settled in after that shaky start.
Top 3rd: Avila leading off walked. Rhymes strikes out. One down for Santiago, strikes out two down. Damon grounds to Lind at first for the third out. Avila left out there.
Bottom 3rd: Escobar leading off singles to right. 2-2 today. Bautista fly ball to Kelly in centre. One down for Wells, strikes out. Two down for Lind, that’s better Adam, doubles to right, here comes Escobar and Jays lead 4-0. Hill with Lind in scoring position at second, pops up to Rhymes at second for third out.
Top 4th: Cabrera leading off pops up to Snider in left, one down for Boesch, strikes out. Raburn fly ball to Wells in centre. Three up and down, Morrow is locked in here.
Bottom 4th: Snider leading off doubles to centre. Encarnacion singles to centre, Snider to third on the play, Jays have something going again. Molina pops up to Cabrera at first for the out. One down two on for Lewis. Lewis grounds back to pitcher Figaro ricochets to Inge at third, throw to catcher Avila, Encarnacion to second, Lewis to first, Snider called out at the plate, out. No way, Travis definitely safe there his foot crosses the plate before the tag. He is arguing, now here comes Cito, no luck, I hope that does not hurt them at the end of this one. Escobar with two down, grounds to Santiago flip to second Rhymes at second to get Lewis for third out. Jays come away with nothing after Snider at third with nobody out. That is bad, bad.
Top 5th: Inge leading off grounds to Encarnacion throw to first, error on the play, that must be number 15. Jays really need a strong defensive hitting third base. I hope GM Alex has it as one if his priorities for 2011. Scott Rolen will ye nay come back again? Kelly pops up to Encarnacion. One down. Avila singles to right, Inge to third. One down two on for Rhymes, grounds back to Morrow, throwing home to get Inge. Avila to second, Rhymes to first, two down for Santiago, strikes out to end this threat. Morrow is doing it all himself today.
Bottom 5th: Bautista leading off, not pitching to him are they, leadoff walk. Wells with one grounds to Santiago at short, on to Rhymes at second over to Cabrera, double play ball. Lind pops up to Raburn in left for third out. Bautista left out there.
Top 6th: Damon leading off, grounds to Hill, safe at first on error by Aaron. Cabrera with one on, perfect, grounds to Escobar flip to Hill throw to Lind at first double play ball. Boesch with two down strikes out. Morrow takes advantage of that double play.
Bottom 6th: Hill leading off doubles to centre, error by Boesch in right and Aaron gets to third on the play, he really does seem to be getting his hits now. We all hope he has a great last month to make up for the rest of the season. That’s it for Figaro. Thomas now pitching. Snider, yes Travis gets hold of this one and doubles to centre, here comes Aaron and Jays now take a 5-1 lead. Second double today for Travis. Getting locked in now after those infrequent at bats. Encarnacion, with Travis at second and no outs grounds to Rhymes at second, throw to Cabrera at first for the first out. One down for Molina strikes out. Two down for Lewis, strikes out to end the inning leaving Travis stranded out there.
Top 7th: Frasor now pitching. Raburn leading off grounds to Encarnacion throw to Lind at first for the out. Inge with one down strikes out. Two down for Kelly, strikes out. Frasor has a good three up and down inning
Bottom 7th: Schlereth now pitching. Escobar leading off grounds to Santiago at short, throw to Cabrera at first for the out. Bautista doubles to centre, going for three here comes the throw from Kelly, to Santiago throws a strike to third to beat Bautista. Two down. Jays base running has not been good this last week or so. Wells now with two out instead of Bautista at second and only one down. Fly ball to Boesch in right to end this inning. That would have moved Jose to third on that play.
Top 8th: Tallet now pitching. Johnny Mc. in at third for Encarnacion, not sure what is wrong with him, or has he been traded? Avila leading off strikes out. One down for Casper Wells pinch-hitting for Rhymes, singles to centre. Santiago, full count, ball four. Tallet doing his usual. Wells to second. Santiago 2-2 count. Full count. Don’t walk him Tallet. Ball four and wild pitch to the wall. Two consecutive walks. Here comes Damon, the last guy I want to see here in this situation. 0-2 count, Downs warming up. Strikes out swinging. But this one is not over yet. Here comes Cabrera, 1-1 count, lines to Bautista in right. Tallet gets out of this one but makes it interesting as he usually does.
Bottom 8th: Schlereth still out there. Wells in right, Raburn at second. Lind leading off. 2-3 today, strikes him out looking this time. Hill, full count, strikes out swinging on ball four. Not quite there yet are you Aaron? Snider, two doubles today. Singles this one into centre. You see Cito play this kid everyday and don’t put him at leadoff. Johnny Mc. with runner on and two down. Singles back up the middle, two on, Travis at second. Molina, hitless so far, but he could connect here with big swing. Gets the big swing but just air. Connects here but grounds to third throw to frst to get Molina for third out.
Top 9th: Here comes Downs. Jackson leading off pinch hitting, hit by pitch, come on Scott, Raburn doubles to right. Downs in big trouble. Runners at second and third still no outs, Inge, full count. Strikes out swinging, one down. Peralta pinch hitting for Kelly, 2-0 count, Downs unable to find strike zone, 2-1, Gregg now ready in the bullpen. 3-1, ball four to load the bases. Tying run at the plate but to be optimistic double play ball also now in action. Avila, ball one, 2-0, 3-0, this might be his last pitch. Just throw a strike Scott. Thank you 3-1, grounds to Lind at first, takes the play himself at first, two down run scores 5-2 Jays. That’s it for Downs. Gregg, a save situation but he has two in scoring position, not much room for error Kevin. Casper Wells now with two down and two on. 0-1 count, 2-1, not good doubles into centre, 5-4 Jays. Santiago with tying run at second. 1-0, 1-1, 1-2. Whoa Kevin, strikes him out, nice pitch. Save number 30.
The excellent: Morrow another beauty of a game, nine more strikeouts, and now at 10 wins, the fourth Jays pitcher to win 10. Snider three hits today including two doubles, showing signs of life. Bautista a great afternoon without hitting home run, triple, double and a walk. Jays get 12 hits of which six were extra base hits.
The poor: Not much this afternoon but I have to mention Tallet pitching of course and what happened to Downs today? Just didn’t have it at all but he is entitled to a few games over the season. Leaving Snider at third after leadoff triple, could not bring him in with three tries.
Jays had a great extra innings win last night, can they continue that today? Must have been very dispiriting for the Tigers. Ciot has Travis back in the lineup and moved him down to number seven, let's see how he likes that position.
Lineups: Tigers: Rhymes, Santiago, Damon, Cabrera, Boesch, Raburn, Inge, Kelly, Avila.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Snider, Encarnacion, Molina.
Pitching: Morrow v Figaro. Firststart of the season for Figaro but that usually means Jays are in for tough time.
Top 1st: Rhymes leading off doubles to left. Santiago, bunting, back to Morrow throws to Encarnacion at third, they have Rhymes in rundown, throw to Escobar, Rhymes out. Santiago to first, going to second on the play, Escobar to Hill, Santiago out. Wow that was some double play. Morrow doesn’t mind how they give themselves up. Damon with two down strikes out. That could be a huge inning later.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off, 3-0 and ball four. Good start. Escobar with one on. There gores Fred safe at second. Escobar singles to left, Lewis to third. Two on and nobody out, Jays have to make Tigers pay here. They have there right guy in there. Bautista lines this hard to centre, here comes Lewis, here comes Escobar and Bautista has himself a triple and two RBIs. Jays go out in front 2-0. Vernon now can he bring in Bautista from third base. That’s the way Vernon, grounds to Santiago at short, throw to Cabrera at first for the second out, Bautista going on contact and scores easily, Jays ahead 3-0. One down. Lind singles to right. Hill with one on, grounds to Inge at third, throw to Rhymes at second to get Lind, two down. Snider, hitting number six today, much better than leadoff position for Travis. Lines to Inge at third for the out, but Jays go out ahead quickly. It was important for either team to strike first after that extra innings game last night and with the Jays it is continuing that momentum.
Top 2nd: Cabrera leading off, Morrow has a nice three run lead to work with. Watch this guy though, there he goes, hammers this one to left, into the seats, home run Cabrera. Tigers get one back quickly, 3-1 Jays. Boesch with nobody on strikes out. One down for Raburn grounds to second and safe at first, one down one on for Inge strikes out. Two down for Kelly, strikes out. Morrow strikes out the side, on his game today.
Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion leading off pops up to Kelly in centre. Molina grounds to Santiago throw to Cabrera at first for the second out. Lewis pops up to Raburn in left to end this three up and down inning. Figaro has settled in after that shaky start.
Top 3rd: Avila leading off walked. Rhymes strikes out. One down for Santiago, strikes out two down. Damon grounds to Lind at first for the third out. Avila left out there.
Bottom 3rd: Escobar leading off singles to right. 2-2 today. Bautista fly ball to Kelly in centre. One down for Wells, strikes out. Two down for Lind, that’s better Adam, doubles to right, here comes Escobar and Jays lead 4-0. Hill with Lind in scoring position at second, pops up to Rhymes at second for third out.
Top 4th: Cabrera leading off pops up to Snider in left, one down for Boesch, strikes out. Raburn fly ball to Wells in centre. Three up and down, Morrow is locked in here.
Bottom 4th: Snider leading off doubles to centre. Encarnacion singles to centre, Snider to third on the play, Jays have something going again. Molina pops up to Cabrera at first for the out. One down two on for Lewis. Lewis grounds back to pitcher Figaro ricochets to Inge at third, throw to catcher Avila, Encarnacion to second, Lewis to first, Snider called out at the plate, out. No way, Travis definitely safe there his foot crosses the plate before the tag. He is arguing, now here comes Cito, no luck, I hope that does not hurt them at the end of this one. Escobar with two down, grounds to Santiago flip to second Rhymes at second to get Lewis for third out. Jays come away with nothing after Snider at third with nobody out. That is bad, bad.
Top 5th: Inge leading off grounds to Encarnacion throw to first, error on the play, that must be number 15. Jays really need a strong defensive hitting third base. I hope GM Alex has it as one if his priorities for 2011. Scott Rolen will ye nay come back again? Kelly pops up to Encarnacion. One down. Avila singles to right, Inge to third. One down two on for Rhymes, grounds back to Morrow, throwing home to get Inge. Avila to second, Rhymes to first, two down for Santiago, strikes out to end this threat. Morrow is doing it all himself today.
Bottom 5th: Bautista leading off, not pitching to him are they, leadoff walk. Wells with one grounds to Santiago at short, on to Rhymes at second over to Cabrera, double play ball. Lind pops up to Raburn in left for third out. Bautista left out there.
Top 6th: Damon leading off, grounds to Hill, safe at first on error by Aaron. Cabrera with one on, perfect, grounds to Escobar flip to Hill throw to Lind at first double play ball. Boesch with two down strikes out. Morrow takes advantage of that double play.
Bottom 6th: Hill leading off doubles to centre, error by Boesch in right and Aaron gets to third on the play, he really does seem to be getting his hits now. We all hope he has a great last month to make up for the rest of the season. That’s it for Figaro. Thomas now pitching. Snider, yes Travis gets hold of this one and doubles to centre, here comes Aaron and Jays now take a 5-1 lead. Second double today for Travis. Getting locked in now after those infrequent at bats. Encarnacion, with Travis at second and no outs grounds to Rhymes at second, throw to Cabrera at first for the first out. One down for Molina strikes out. Two down for Lewis, strikes out to end the inning leaving Travis stranded out there.
Top 7th: Frasor now pitching. Raburn leading off grounds to Encarnacion throw to Lind at first for the out. Inge with one down strikes out. Two down for Kelly, strikes out. Frasor has a good three up and down inning
Bottom 7th: Schlereth now pitching. Escobar leading off grounds to Santiago at short, throw to Cabrera at first for the out. Bautista doubles to centre, going for three here comes the throw from Kelly, to Santiago throws a strike to third to beat Bautista. Two down. Jays base running has not been good this last week or so. Wells now with two out instead of Bautista at second and only one down. Fly ball to Boesch in right to end this inning. That would have moved Jose to third on that play.
Top 8th: Tallet now pitching. Johnny Mc. in at third for Encarnacion, not sure what is wrong with him, or has he been traded? Avila leading off strikes out. One down for Casper Wells pinch-hitting for Rhymes, singles to centre. Santiago, full count, ball four. Tallet doing his usual. Wells to second. Santiago 2-2 count. Full count. Don’t walk him Tallet. Ball four and wild pitch to the wall. Two consecutive walks. Here comes Damon, the last guy I want to see here in this situation. 0-2 count, Downs warming up. Strikes out swinging. But this one is not over yet. Here comes Cabrera, 1-1 count, lines to Bautista in right. Tallet gets out of this one but makes it interesting as he usually does.
Bottom 8th: Schlereth still out there. Wells in right, Raburn at second. Lind leading off. 2-3 today, strikes him out looking this time. Hill, full count, strikes out swinging on ball four. Not quite there yet are you Aaron? Snider, two doubles today. Singles this one into centre. You see Cito play this kid everyday and don’t put him at leadoff. Johnny Mc. with runner on and two down. Singles back up the middle, two on, Travis at second. Molina, hitless so far, but he could connect here with big swing. Gets the big swing but just air. Connects here but grounds to third throw to frst to get Molina for third out.
Top 9th: Here comes Downs. Jackson leading off pinch hitting, hit by pitch, come on Scott, Raburn doubles to right. Downs in big trouble. Runners at second and third still no outs, Inge, full count. Strikes out swinging, one down. Peralta pinch hitting for Kelly, 2-0 count, Downs unable to find strike zone, 2-1, Gregg now ready in the bullpen. 3-1, ball four to load the bases. Tying run at the plate but to be optimistic double play ball also now in action. Avila, ball one, 2-0, 3-0, this might be his last pitch. Just throw a strike Scott. Thank you 3-1, grounds to Lind at first, takes the play himself at first, two down run scores 5-2 Jays. That’s it for Downs. Gregg, a save situation but he has two in scoring position, not much room for error Kevin. Casper Wells now with two down and two on. 0-1 count, 2-1, not good doubles into centre, 5-4 Jays. Santiago with tying run at second. 1-0, 1-1, 1-2. Whoa Kevin, strikes him out, nice pitch. Save number 30.
The excellent: Morrow another beauty of a game, nine more strikeouts, and now at 10 wins, the fourth Jays pitcher to win 10. Snider three hits today including two doubles, showing signs of life. Bautista a great afternoon without hitting home run, triple, double and a walk. Jays get 12 hits of which six were extra base hits.
The poor: Not much this afternoon but I have to mention Tallet pitching of course and what happened to Downs today? Just didn’t have it at all but he is entitled to a few games over the season. Leaving Snider at third after leadoff triple, could not bring him in with three tries.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Jays win a thriller in the 11th on Hill's clutch hit after home runs by Bautista and Lind.
Jays v Tigers Game two of four. Friday August 27, 2010
Good luck tonight against Verlander. This guy is very good. Jays very definitely have their hands full tonight.
Lineups: Tigers: Jackson, Rhymes, Damon, Cabrera, Boesch, Peralta, Kelly, Inge, Avila.
Jays: Snider leading off, the usual switch with Lewis, no commitment by the manager for Travis long term, stubborn is, stubborn be. Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck. Overbay, Hill, Encarnacion.
Pitching: Marcum v Verlander.
Top 1st: Jackson leading off, grounds second pitch to Encarnacion, throw to Overbay, one down. Rhymes, 1-1 count, grounds to Encarnacion does not throw, Rhymes safe at first. Damon, one on one down. 1-2 count. Singles to Wells in centre, two on for Cabrera pops up to Wells, two down. Boesch grounds to Overbay at first, steps on the bag for the out.
Bottom 1st: Snider fly ball to Jackson in centre, one down. Escobar lines Rhymes at second, two down. Bautista, not getting much to hit here, full count and ball four. Wells with two down, there goes Jose, safe at second. Wells grounds to Inge at third throw to Cabrera at first.
Top 2nd: Peralta leading off doubles to left. One on for Kelly, pops up to Escobar at short. Inge ball four, Marcum in trouble here, two on and only on down for Avila, strikes out. Two down for Jackson pops up to Overbay at first. Marcum escapes here.
Bottom 2nd: Lind pops up to Inge at third, one down. Buck strikes out. Overbay grounds to Inge throw to Cabrera for the out at first. Quick three up and down for Verlander.
Top 3rd: Rhymes leading off strikes out. One down for Damon, grounds to Overbay takes it himself for the out. Cabrera, Marcum being careful here, full count, ball four. One on two down for Boesch, lines Bautista in right. Pitch count 54.
Bottom 3rd: Hill leading off grounds to Peralta at short, throw to Cabrera, one down. Encarnacion grounds to Inge at third, throw to Cabrera. Two down for Snider, fly ball to Jackson. Pitch count 35. Both pitchers working fast tonight.
Top 4th: Peralta, leading off, full count. Pops up to Wells in right centre for first out. Kelly, grounds to Hill throw to Marcum at first for the second out. Two down for Inge, 1-2 count. Strikes out, 66 pitches. Nice pitching Shawn.
Bottom 4th: Escobar leading off. Might try a bunt here to break up this no hitter. No, full count. Grounds to second, throw to first, one down. Bautista, 2-0 count, gets hold of this one home run swing, there it goes over Jays bullpen into the crowd, 1-0 Jays. # 42 and 97 RBIs. Breaks up the no hitter as well. Wells 1-2 count fly ball to Boesch in right field, Lind, two down. Full count. grounds to Cabrera at first throw to Verlander for third out. Pitch count 57.
Top 5th: Marcum now has a lead to work with. Avila leading off. Full count. Singles to Bautista in right. One on for Jackson, hit and run on as he singles into centre to Vernon. Two on no outs for Rhymes, bunting ? No lines it to Bautista in right, runners hold, one down. Damon, don’t go away friends. Lines it to left into the seats, great hustle by Travis slamming into the wall, ouch. He is one tough dude. 1-2 count. YES indeed, grounds to Hill throw to Escobar back to Overbay, just gets Damon that was much too close but double play to end the inning. Pitch count 79.
Bottom 5th: Jays need more than one run to beat the Tigers tonight. Buck leading off, strikes out. Overbay with one down. 1-2 count. Strikes out, very late call by ump. Two down for Hill. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging at high pitch, three pitches to get him. Not good at bat Aaron. Pitch count 69.
Top 6th: Bautista now at first, Lewis in left, Snider in right. Overbay out of game. Has he been traded? Cabrera leading off, 2-2 count, lines it to left and hits the foul pole just above the low fence there. Home run Cabrera 1-1 game. Boesch grounds to Escobar, throw to Bautista, one down. Peralta lines it back up the middle one on one down. Kelly, 0-2 count. Singles to right, Peralta to third on the play. Marcum in trouble here. Inge, 0-2 count. Strikes out looking, two down. Avila, 2-2 count, Kelly moves up to second, no throw. Fly ball to Wells, for third out. Marcum escapes more trouble but pitch count is now 100. May not come out for seven. White Sox jumping on Burnett early 4-1 Chicago over the Yankees in Chicago.
Bottom 6th: Verlander cruising along so far tonight. Encarnacion leading off. Pop up to Jackson in centre, one down. Snider, 2-2 count. Strike three looking, two down. Escobar, two down, throwing inside to Yunel, full count. Verlander getting those strikes on the corner. Singles it into right centre. One on, two down for Bautista 1-1 count. Doubles to the wall in left, Escobar held at third. Wells, now with two in scoring position. Grounds first pitch to second throw to first for the third out. Come on Vernon, that was awful at bat. Pitch count 88.
Top 7th: Carlson now pitching. Jackson leading off. 1-2 count. Grounds to Carlson, throw to Bautista at first for the out. Raburn pinch hitting for Rhymes. Singles first pitch to Lewis in left. One on one down. Damon, always seems to be Damon in these situations. 1-2 count, grounds up the line, Carlson throw to Bautista for second out. Cabrera with runner at second, intentional walk, two on, Santiago pinch hitting for Boesch. Here comes Cito, that’s it for Carlson. Frasor ??? now pitching. Ok Cito another big gamble here after last night when Frasor got into big trouble in the 9th. This could be the game with two on. Santiago, 0-2 count, strikes him out, Jason did his job tonight. Boston and Chicago winning so far tonight, that is what Jays want tonight, both leaders to falter (provided of course Jays can win here.)
Bottom 7th: Lind leading off. Santiago playing second, Time for a hit here Adam. That will certainly do YES Adam, lines this to dead centre over the fence, home run right in deepest part of the park. 2-1 Jays. Buck 2-2 count. Lewis now for Overbay, 2-2 count. Strikes out. Two down for Hill. Overbay evidently sick not traded. Lines this one hard, off the wall in left, stand up double for Aaron. Encarnacion two down but Hill in scoring position. Swings over ball one. Same pitch but leaves it alone. 1-1 count. 104 pitch count for Verlander. 1-2 count. Whoa way outside, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 108.
Top 8th: Frasor still out there. Peralta leading off pops up to Bautista at first, one down. Here comes Cito. Five pitch outing all strikes tonight Jason. Downs now pitching one down. Wells pinch hitting for Kelly. First pitch lined to Snider for second out. Inge, lines it to right, Snider at the wall, misjudges this and turns, falls and cannot make the catch. Inge to third on the play. Avila, with two down but Inge at third. Grounds to Hill, throw to Bautista for third out.
Bottom 8th: Can Jays add on a couple here? it would certainly help as it will be top of order for Tigers in the 9th. Snider leading off. Verlander still out there. 2-2 count. Grounds to Santiago, throw to first just beats Snider hustling down the line. One down. Escobar, 3-0 count, ball four high. Bautista with one on, 2-2 count. Gets under this one, pops up to Jackson in centre. Two down for Wells, need a hit here Vernon. Pops up to namesake Wells in right. Pitch count 127.
Top 9th: Gregg pitching. Tighten those seatbelts. Jackson leading off. Oh no….. Lines first pitch to the wall, over head of Vernon. Lead off triple. This is not good friends. Raburn 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. One down. But here comes trouble Damon. Full count. Singles into right, here comes Jackson. 2-2 game. Damon to my mind is one of the most valuable players around. Cabrera, singles to Lewis in left, two on. Two down for Santiago, who will pitch the 10th for Jays if they go extra innings? Camp warming up. I guess there’s my answer, thank you Cito. 1-2 count. Lines it hard to Snider in right, nice catch Travis, runners hold, two down. Peralta, 1-2 count. Grounds to Encarnacion steps on the bag himself for the out.
Bottom 9th: Lind leading off. Thomas pitching. 2-1 count. Grounds to Santiago throw to Cabrera one down, here comes Leyland. That’s it for Thomas. Ryan Perry now pitching. Buck 0-1 count. singles up the middle for Lewis, no pinch runner ? Johnny Mc. ready. 2-2 count, takes strike three. Two down for Hill. Grounds to short, throw to second to get Buck. Extra innings.
Top 10th: Camp pitching. Wells leading off. Full count. Ball four, not good Shawn. Inge with one on. bunting, foul. 0-2 count, pops up to Hill at second, one down for Avila, 2-1, not getting those close pitches. Lines it to the wall in left, Lewis gets the out up against the wall. Two down for Jackson. 2-0 count and Wells running, fouls it off. 2-1 count, grounds to Escobar, throw high and Bautista off the bag, error Escobar. Raburn now two down and two on. Need this out here friends. 3-1 count, full count, ball four to load the bases for guess who? Damon. 1-2 count, lines to Snider in right to save the day for a while at least. Escobar also breathing happier again.
Bottom 10th: Perry still pitching Encarnacion leading off, hitless tonight. Lines first pitch to Jackson in centre. Snider now, your time Travis. Power v power. 1-2 count. Strikes out, all off speed and breaking balls, not a fast ball in the at bat. Escobar redemption time for him. 3-0 count, ball four. On base for Bautista. 1-0 count, 2-0, 3-0 not giving him anything close, 3-1, full count, ball four. Two on two down for Vernon. Pitching coach out to discuss strategy or where they are eating after the game. Coke warming up in bullpen ready for Lind if Vernon gets on.1-1 count. 1-2 down and away, come on Vernon, concentrate here. 2-2, strikes out swinging.
Top 11th: Camp still pitching. Cabrera leading off. Pops up to Snider in shallow right, one down. Santiago, that’s better, lines it to third, Encarnacion knocks it down and throws from his knees to get Santiago at first, great play, two down. Peralta, pops up to Lewis in left for third out. Excellent pitching by Camp.
Bottom 11th: Coke now pitching, Lind leading off. Someone has to step up here and get something going. 1-2 count, strikes out looking, one down for Buck. 0-2 count, singles into right. Lewis with one on and one down. Showing bunt ? ah well, 3-0 count, ball four. Two on one down now Johnny Mc. pinch running for Buck at second. Hill now Aaron your big chance to be a hero. Base hit is all we need. This is it, looper to shallow right centre, here comes Johnny Mc.
Good call Cito. Jays win this 3-2.
The very good: Marcum kept them in the game. Bullpen of Carlson, Frasor and Camp excellent also. Camp gets the win. Home run power Bautista and Lind, good to see Lind get one and a huge one at that. But the hero tonight is Aaron with that winning RBI single.
Cito makes all the right calls tonight.
If Lyle is sick he may get weekend off and that wil help decision for Cito re Snider and Lewis, they can both play.
Travis a little rusty tonight but that is to be expected and switching from left to right mid-game may have turned him around on that dropped ball at the wall.
Other good news from Boston and Chicago, Tampa loses in Fenway and Yankees lose at Comisky Park. AJ Burnett gives uo 8 in 3.1 innings ouch bigtime AJ.That is the best result for Jays tonight. Pull those leaders back to the pack.
Not so good for Gregg tonight but with that lead off triple, could have been much worse, he did well to limit the damage to one
Good luck tonight against Verlander. This guy is very good. Jays very definitely have their hands full tonight.
Lineups: Tigers: Jackson, Rhymes, Damon, Cabrera, Boesch, Peralta, Kelly, Inge, Avila.
Jays: Snider leading off, the usual switch with Lewis, no commitment by the manager for Travis long term, stubborn is, stubborn be. Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck. Overbay, Hill, Encarnacion.
Pitching: Marcum v Verlander.
Top 1st: Jackson leading off, grounds second pitch to Encarnacion, throw to Overbay, one down. Rhymes, 1-1 count, grounds to Encarnacion does not throw, Rhymes safe at first. Damon, one on one down. 1-2 count. Singles to Wells in centre, two on for Cabrera pops up to Wells, two down. Boesch grounds to Overbay at first, steps on the bag for the out.
Bottom 1st: Snider fly ball to Jackson in centre, one down. Escobar lines Rhymes at second, two down. Bautista, not getting much to hit here, full count and ball four. Wells with two down, there goes Jose, safe at second. Wells grounds to Inge at third throw to Cabrera at first.
Top 2nd: Peralta leading off doubles to left. One on for Kelly, pops up to Escobar at short. Inge ball four, Marcum in trouble here, two on and only on down for Avila, strikes out. Two down for Jackson pops up to Overbay at first. Marcum escapes here.
Bottom 2nd: Lind pops up to Inge at third, one down. Buck strikes out. Overbay grounds to Inge throw to Cabrera for the out at first. Quick three up and down for Verlander.
Top 3rd: Rhymes leading off strikes out. One down for Damon, grounds to Overbay takes it himself for the out. Cabrera, Marcum being careful here, full count, ball four. One on two down for Boesch, lines Bautista in right. Pitch count 54.
Bottom 3rd: Hill leading off grounds to Peralta at short, throw to Cabrera, one down. Encarnacion grounds to Inge at third, throw to Cabrera. Two down for Snider, fly ball to Jackson. Pitch count 35. Both pitchers working fast tonight.
Top 4th: Peralta, leading off, full count. Pops up to Wells in right centre for first out. Kelly, grounds to Hill throw to Marcum at first for the second out. Two down for Inge, 1-2 count. Strikes out, 66 pitches. Nice pitching Shawn.
Bottom 4th: Escobar leading off. Might try a bunt here to break up this no hitter. No, full count. Grounds to second, throw to first, one down. Bautista, 2-0 count, gets hold of this one home run swing, there it goes over Jays bullpen into the crowd, 1-0 Jays. # 42 and 97 RBIs. Breaks up the no hitter as well. Wells 1-2 count fly ball to Boesch in right field, Lind, two down. Full count. grounds to Cabrera at first throw to Verlander for third out. Pitch count 57.
Top 5th: Marcum now has a lead to work with. Avila leading off. Full count. Singles to Bautista in right. One on for Jackson, hit and run on as he singles into centre to Vernon. Two on no outs for Rhymes, bunting ? No lines it to Bautista in right, runners hold, one down. Damon, don’t go away friends. Lines it to left into the seats, great hustle by Travis slamming into the wall, ouch. He is one tough dude. 1-2 count. YES indeed, grounds to Hill throw to Escobar back to Overbay, just gets Damon that was much too close but double play to end the inning. Pitch count 79.
Bottom 5th: Jays need more than one run to beat the Tigers tonight. Buck leading off, strikes out. Overbay with one down. 1-2 count. Strikes out, very late call by ump. Two down for Hill. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging at high pitch, three pitches to get him. Not good at bat Aaron. Pitch count 69.
Top 6th: Bautista now at first, Lewis in left, Snider in right. Overbay out of game. Has he been traded? Cabrera leading off, 2-2 count, lines it to left and hits the foul pole just above the low fence there. Home run Cabrera 1-1 game. Boesch grounds to Escobar, throw to Bautista, one down. Peralta lines it back up the middle one on one down. Kelly, 0-2 count. Singles to right, Peralta to third on the play. Marcum in trouble here. Inge, 0-2 count. Strikes out looking, two down. Avila, 2-2 count, Kelly moves up to second, no throw. Fly ball to Wells, for third out. Marcum escapes more trouble but pitch count is now 100. May not come out for seven. White Sox jumping on Burnett early 4-1 Chicago over the Yankees in Chicago.
Bottom 6th: Verlander cruising along so far tonight. Encarnacion leading off. Pop up to Jackson in centre, one down. Snider, 2-2 count. Strike three looking, two down. Escobar, two down, throwing inside to Yunel, full count. Verlander getting those strikes on the corner. Singles it into right centre. One on, two down for Bautista 1-1 count. Doubles to the wall in left, Escobar held at third. Wells, now with two in scoring position. Grounds first pitch to second throw to first for the third out. Come on Vernon, that was awful at bat. Pitch count 88.
Top 7th: Carlson now pitching. Jackson leading off. 1-2 count. Grounds to Carlson, throw to Bautista at first for the out. Raburn pinch hitting for Rhymes. Singles first pitch to Lewis in left. One on one down. Damon, always seems to be Damon in these situations. 1-2 count, grounds up the line, Carlson throw to Bautista for second out. Cabrera with runner at second, intentional walk, two on, Santiago pinch hitting for Boesch. Here comes Cito, that’s it for Carlson. Frasor ??? now pitching. Ok Cito another big gamble here after last night when Frasor got into big trouble in the 9th. This could be the game with two on. Santiago, 0-2 count, strikes him out, Jason did his job tonight. Boston and Chicago winning so far tonight, that is what Jays want tonight, both leaders to falter (provided of course Jays can win here.)
Bottom 7th: Lind leading off. Santiago playing second, Time for a hit here Adam. That will certainly do YES Adam, lines this to dead centre over the fence, home run right in deepest part of the park. 2-1 Jays. Buck 2-2 count. Lewis now for Overbay, 2-2 count. Strikes out. Two down for Hill. Overbay evidently sick not traded. Lines this one hard, off the wall in left, stand up double for Aaron. Encarnacion two down but Hill in scoring position. Swings over ball one. Same pitch but leaves it alone. 1-1 count. 104 pitch count for Verlander. 1-2 count. Whoa way outside, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 108.
Top 8th: Frasor still out there. Peralta leading off pops up to Bautista at first, one down. Here comes Cito. Five pitch outing all strikes tonight Jason. Downs now pitching one down. Wells pinch hitting for Kelly. First pitch lined to Snider for second out. Inge, lines it to right, Snider at the wall, misjudges this and turns, falls and cannot make the catch. Inge to third on the play. Avila, with two down but Inge at third. Grounds to Hill, throw to Bautista for third out.
Bottom 8th: Can Jays add on a couple here? it would certainly help as it will be top of order for Tigers in the 9th. Snider leading off. Verlander still out there. 2-2 count. Grounds to Santiago, throw to first just beats Snider hustling down the line. One down. Escobar, 3-0 count, ball four high. Bautista with one on, 2-2 count. Gets under this one, pops up to Jackson in centre. Two down for Wells, need a hit here Vernon. Pops up to namesake Wells in right. Pitch count 127.
Top 9th: Gregg pitching. Tighten those seatbelts. Jackson leading off. Oh no….. Lines first pitch to the wall, over head of Vernon. Lead off triple. This is not good friends. Raburn 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. One down. But here comes trouble Damon. Full count. Singles into right, here comes Jackson. 2-2 game. Damon to my mind is one of the most valuable players around. Cabrera, singles to Lewis in left, two on. Two down for Santiago, who will pitch the 10th for Jays if they go extra innings? Camp warming up. I guess there’s my answer, thank you Cito. 1-2 count. Lines it hard to Snider in right, nice catch Travis, runners hold, two down. Peralta, 1-2 count. Grounds to Encarnacion steps on the bag himself for the out.
Bottom 9th: Lind leading off. Thomas pitching. 2-1 count. Grounds to Santiago throw to Cabrera one down, here comes Leyland. That’s it for Thomas. Ryan Perry now pitching. Buck 0-1 count. singles up the middle for Lewis, no pinch runner ? Johnny Mc. ready. 2-2 count, takes strike three. Two down for Hill. Grounds to short, throw to second to get Buck. Extra innings.
Top 10th: Camp pitching. Wells leading off. Full count. Ball four, not good Shawn. Inge with one on. bunting, foul. 0-2 count, pops up to Hill at second, one down for Avila, 2-1, not getting those close pitches. Lines it to the wall in left, Lewis gets the out up against the wall. Two down for Jackson. 2-0 count and Wells running, fouls it off. 2-1 count, grounds to Escobar, throw high and Bautista off the bag, error Escobar. Raburn now two down and two on. Need this out here friends. 3-1 count, full count, ball four to load the bases for guess who? Damon. 1-2 count, lines to Snider in right to save the day for a while at least. Escobar also breathing happier again.
Bottom 10th: Perry still pitching Encarnacion leading off, hitless tonight. Lines first pitch to Jackson in centre. Snider now, your time Travis. Power v power. 1-2 count. Strikes out, all off speed and breaking balls, not a fast ball in the at bat. Escobar redemption time for him. 3-0 count, ball four. On base for Bautista. 1-0 count, 2-0, 3-0 not giving him anything close, 3-1, full count, ball four. Two on two down for Vernon. Pitching coach out to discuss strategy or where they are eating after the game. Coke warming up in bullpen ready for Lind if Vernon gets on.1-1 count. 1-2 down and away, come on Vernon, concentrate here. 2-2, strikes out swinging.
Top 11th: Camp still pitching. Cabrera leading off. Pops up to Snider in shallow right, one down. Santiago, that’s better, lines it to third, Encarnacion knocks it down and throws from his knees to get Santiago at first, great play, two down. Peralta, pops up to Lewis in left for third out. Excellent pitching by Camp.
Bottom 11th: Coke now pitching, Lind leading off. Someone has to step up here and get something going. 1-2 count, strikes out looking, one down for Buck. 0-2 count, singles into right. Lewis with one on and one down. Showing bunt ? ah well, 3-0 count, ball four. Two on one down now Johnny Mc. pinch running for Buck at second. Hill now Aaron your big chance to be a hero. Base hit is all we need. This is it, looper to shallow right centre, here comes Johnny Mc.
Good call Cito. Jays win this 3-2.
The very good: Marcum kept them in the game. Bullpen of Carlson, Frasor and Camp excellent also. Camp gets the win. Home run power Bautista and Lind, good to see Lind get one and a huge one at that. But the hero tonight is Aaron with that winning RBI single.
Cito makes all the right calls tonight.
If Lyle is sick he may get weekend off and that wil help decision for Cito re Snider and Lewis, they can both play.
Travis a little rusty tonight but that is to be expected and switching from left to right mid-game may have turned him around on that dropped ball at the wall.
Other good news from Boston and Chicago, Tampa loses in Fenway and Yankees lose at Comisky Park. AJ Burnett gives uo 8 in 3.1 innings ouch bigtime AJ.That is the best result for Jays tonight. Pull those leaders back to the pack.
Not so good for Gregg tonight but with that lead off triple, could have been much worse, he did well to limit the damage to one
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Encarnacion ruins Romero's evening as Jays lose 7-1
Jays v Tigers. Thursday August 26.
Tigers: Jackson, Santiago, Damon, Cabrera, Raburn, Peralta, Inge, Wells, Laird.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Overbay, Hill, Encarnacion.
Comment:
Growing concerns from fans and commentators about Cito not playing Snider. I agree with those who feel Travis should be playing, and also playing every day. Travis is part of the Jays future and Lewis and Travis alternating is ridiculous. Cito just being his stubborn old school style manager, Travis has to “earn” !!! his spot. Of course that does not apply to the older players who are having lousy seasons, just the “young ones”. It is such a ridiculous approach. I cannot wait until next season. Travis should be in there every day. How will we ever see what he can do? How will he learn the pitchers ? There are five players that Cito could give days off apart from such as Lind and Encarnacion who should both be warming the bench anyway the way they are playing. What is Travis going to learn sitting on the bench? When Cito does put him in there it is at leadoff which is not his position. Cito doing everything he can to break the kid. Certainly not giving him any hope. He might as well be playing every day in Vegas. Cito will probably say that Travis is learning "character".
Pitching: Romero v Scherzer
Top 1st: Jackson leading off, grounds to Escobar at shirt, throw to Overbay, one down. Santiago, fly ball to Bautista in right. Damon 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Two down one on for Cabrera, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for the out. Pitch count 10.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off 2-2 count. Strikes out looking, one down for Escobar. Pops up to Wells in right, two down. Bautista two down. 3-1 count. Ball four, pitchers are not giving Jose much to hit these days. One on two down for Wells, what will he do tonight after such a great game last night? 1-2 count. Bautista stealing strike three called on Vernon. Pitch count 17.
Top 2nd: Raburn leading off, singles up the middle. Peralta, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down one on for Inge, 2-1 count. Perfect, grounds to Escobar, on to Hill over to Overbay double play ball. Pitch count 22.
Bottom 2nd: Lind leading off. 0-2 count on two very poor swings, that’s much better Adam, full count, some discipline at the plate here. High, high pop up to Jackson in centre for first out. Buck, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Overbay, 2-2 count, this guy Scherzer works very fast, full count, lines to Jackson in centre for third out. Pitch count 36.
Top 3rd: Casper Wells, leading off lines it back at Romero, off his backside to Hill throw to Overbay for the out. Ricky ok. One down for Laird, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay, two down. Jackson, 2-0 count. Lines it to second but great catch by Hill for third out. Pitch count 34.
Bottom 3rd: Hill leading off, Aaron had a breakout night last night breaking that 0-20 slump with home run. Hammers the first pitch to left but just foul, great shot though Aaron, keep it going. Strike three looking, one down for Encarnacion, singles to the left field corner going for two here comes the throw and out at second. You would think that Encarnacion knows he is a slow runner, all the fans know, stay at first, just get on base for the top of the order. I am not a big fan of this guy. Awful base running. Lewis, full count. Singles into right, that out by Encarnacion is huge now. Would have been two on and only one down. Escobar, 1-2 count, there goes Fred, throw down but safe at second. Here comes Jim Leyland, 2-2 count, there he goes to third, but not this time, Laird’s throw to third beats him. Again he would not be doing that if Encarnacion had not made that base running error. Pitch count 54.
Top 4th: Santiago leading off. Singles to left, there goes the no-hitter. Damon with one on, 3-1 count, come on Ricky. Ball four. Cabrera with two on, not good situation. Whoa, high drive to centre, but Vernon gets it right at the wall. Almost three runs there. Santiago tags and gets to third on the throw. One down. Two on, Raburn, lines it to Encarnacion throw to Hill poor throw, of glove of Aaron, and run scores, runner to third on the play. 1-0 Detroit. Encarnacion not exactly shining here tonight. Error number 14 ??? Oh Scott Rolen where are you? Peralta with two on and one down. This one is trouble. Lines it over head of Lewis in left, 3 run home run, 4-0 Tigers. Inge now still only one down. 3-0 count, Romero unraveling here. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay two down. Wells, 3-1 count. Ball four. Laird, two down and one on. 2-0 count. Here goes another, into left field bullpen, two run home run and Tigers now 6-0. Jackson, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for the out. No thanks to Encarnacion tonight from Ricky, he cost him two runs here and at least one for Jays in the last inning. Pitch count 66.
Bottom 4th: Jays hitters have to bail out Ricky now. Escobar leading off. 0-2 count. Grounds to Inge, throw to first, one down for Bautista. 2-0, doubles to the wall in left. Hit very hard there. One on for Wells, bring him in Vernon. Pops up to Jackson in shallow centre, two down. Lind, lines it to first, Cabrera makes great leaping catch for third out. That was a double all the way. Pitch count 66.
Top 5th: Can Ricky get back in the groove here? Santiago leading off. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay, one down. Damon grounds to Overbay takes it himself to the bag for the second out. Cabrera, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches great inning by Ricky. Pitch count 78.
Bottom 5th: Romero has done his job, now for the hitters. Buck leading off. Grounds to third, throw to first for first out, Overbay, strikes out swinging, two down, for Hill. Full count. High fly ball to left Jackson has it for third out. Pitch count 80. Jays may get into Tigers bullpen.
Top 6th: Ricky needs another three up and down inning here like the last one. Raburn leading off. Full count. Strikes out swinging, one down for Peralta, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, two down. Inge, 3-0 count. Ball four. One on two down for Wells. 2-0 Ricky has lost the zone here. There’s a strike, 3-1. Ball four and here comes Cito. Mixed outing for Ricky, first three innings were great and so was the last one. Casey Janssen now pitching two on two down. Laird 0-2 count, lines it to Vernon in centre, nice over the shoulder catch to end the inning.
Bottom 6th: Jays need to get something going here. Encarnacion leading off tonight’s goat so far, singles into left, that’s a start. Lewis, strikes out swinging, Escobar with one down, 3-1 count. Grounds to short, throw to second on to first, double play ball. Pitch count 91.
Top 7th: Jackson leading off. . Singles to Wells in centre, one on for Santiago, 1-1 count. Singles to Lewis in left. Damon bunting here ? No, 3-1 count. Don’t walk him Casey. Singles to left, bases still loaded and nobody out for Cabrera, just the guy you don’t want to see Casey. Lines it to short, reflex catch, one down. Raburn, Full count, great pitch, strikes him out swinging, two down. One more to go Casey. Peralta, 2-1 count, Casey not making it easy for himself here. 3-1. Another full count, ball four. Run scores 7-0 Detroit, Camp ready in bullpen. Inge with bases loaded two down. How to take the crowd out of the game, like a tomb in the ballpark. 1-1 count. Pops up to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 7th: Jays running out of at bats now. Have not looked like scoring since Encarnacion base running error. Bautista leading off. There she goes, home run number 41 and Jays are in the board 7-1. Wells now. 1-2 count. Grounds to Santiago at second, throw in time to get Vernon. Lind, hitless forever. 0-2 count. grounds tamely to third. You think Cito that Snider cannot do better? Put him in as DH if you cannot put him in the outfield but you are doing nothing for this kid sitting him. Send him to Vegas to play but don’t sit him on the bench. If you recall your own words earlier “ he will be playing every day in the lineup” Buck pops up to Peralta for third out. 102 pitch count.
Top 8th: Camp now pitching. Wells leading off. Full count. Strike three looking, one down. Laird pops up to Wells, two down. Jackson, singles to Wells in centre. One on two down. Santiago, pops up to Lewis in left.
Bottom 8th: Are Jays playing this one out or are they going to make a fight of it? Overbay leading off. Scherzer still out there. 0-2 count, strike three looking, Lyle folding. Hill, 2-2 count, pops up to Wells in right. Two down for Encarnacion the goat tonight. Coke warming up in bullpen. Singles to centre, his third hit but he has been the cause of much of this loss. Lewis with two down. 1-2, strikes out swinging.
Top 9th: Carlson pitching. Damon leading off. Lines to Lewis in left. One down for Cabrera, 2-1 count. Doubles to the wall in centre. One on one down. Raburn 0-2 count. Pops up to Wells in shallow centre, two down. Peralta, strikes out to end this one.
Bottom 9th: Jays down to their last three. Fight or capitulate ? Top of the order. Escobar leading off. Eddie Bonnine pitching. Grounds to second, throw to first for the out. One down for Bautista, grounds to third, throw to first for second out. Wells last chance Vernon. 2-1 count. Way to go Vernon, doubles to left beats the throw to second, all heart tonight. Lind last chance for redemption 0-2 count. Pops up to Raburn in left.
Jays lose one they really needed.
The bad: Starts with lineup selection Cito not selecting Travis again for second game in a row. Cito’s latest logic now on this evidently is that Lewis is playing so well and neither can play right field ? That is rubbish, what do they do next season Cito with the same two players? And hello Cito there is a position called DH which right now is not producing bigtime. And I hate to mention it but was Lind not one of your own pet hitting projects last season? Hmmm… More to the point next week the September callup will bring more players to get a chance. I am sure that Arencibia will be getting some pinch hitting chances. Will Travis be pushed even further down the list or the guys who are called up?
No, this is one huge reason why I for one am glad that Cito is in his last month as Manager. Too old school, far too set in his ways and excuse me, but forget that urban legend that this guy can work with younger players. He is doing his best to ruin young Snider and has been unfairly on his case all season long.
Encarnacion with that base running error which cost Jays at least one run. Followed by throwing error,(14) which lead to two runs by Detroit. Take off two and add (at least) one. I know who gets my vote for goat of the night.
Don’t add Ricky to this list. He had four great innings. One bad one but was hurt by Encarnacion’s error which lead to two more runs after out number two which should have been third out.
Tigers: Jackson, Santiago, Damon, Cabrera, Raburn, Peralta, Inge, Wells, Laird.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Overbay, Hill, Encarnacion.
Comment:
Growing concerns from fans and commentators about Cito not playing Snider. I agree with those who feel Travis should be playing, and also playing every day. Travis is part of the Jays future and Lewis and Travis alternating is ridiculous. Cito just being his stubborn old school style manager, Travis has to “earn” !!! his spot. Of course that does not apply to the older players who are having lousy seasons, just the “young ones”. It is such a ridiculous approach. I cannot wait until next season. Travis should be in there every day. How will we ever see what he can do? How will he learn the pitchers ? There are five players that Cito could give days off apart from such as Lind and Encarnacion who should both be warming the bench anyway the way they are playing. What is Travis going to learn sitting on the bench? When Cito does put him in there it is at leadoff which is not his position. Cito doing everything he can to break the kid. Certainly not giving him any hope. He might as well be playing every day in Vegas. Cito will probably say that Travis is learning "character".
Pitching: Romero v Scherzer
Top 1st: Jackson leading off, grounds to Escobar at shirt, throw to Overbay, one down. Santiago, fly ball to Bautista in right. Damon 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Two down one on for Cabrera, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for the out. Pitch count 10.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off 2-2 count. Strikes out looking, one down for Escobar. Pops up to Wells in right, two down. Bautista two down. 3-1 count. Ball four, pitchers are not giving Jose much to hit these days. One on two down for Wells, what will he do tonight after such a great game last night? 1-2 count. Bautista stealing strike three called on Vernon. Pitch count 17.
Top 2nd: Raburn leading off, singles up the middle. Peralta, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down one on for Inge, 2-1 count. Perfect, grounds to Escobar, on to Hill over to Overbay double play ball. Pitch count 22.
Bottom 2nd: Lind leading off. 0-2 count on two very poor swings, that’s much better Adam, full count, some discipline at the plate here. High, high pop up to Jackson in centre for first out. Buck, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Overbay, 2-2 count, this guy Scherzer works very fast, full count, lines to Jackson in centre for third out. Pitch count 36.
Top 3rd: Casper Wells, leading off lines it back at Romero, off his backside to Hill throw to Overbay for the out. Ricky ok. One down for Laird, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay, two down. Jackson, 2-0 count. Lines it to second but great catch by Hill for third out. Pitch count 34.
Bottom 3rd: Hill leading off, Aaron had a breakout night last night breaking that 0-20 slump with home run. Hammers the first pitch to left but just foul, great shot though Aaron, keep it going. Strike three looking, one down for Encarnacion, singles to the left field corner going for two here comes the throw and out at second. You would think that Encarnacion knows he is a slow runner, all the fans know, stay at first, just get on base for the top of the order. I am not a big fan of this guy. Awful base running. Lewis, full count. Singles into right, that out by Encarnacion is huge now. Would have been two on and only one down. Escobar, 1-2 count, there goes Fred, throw down but safe at second. Here comes Jim Leyland, 2-2 count, there he goes to third, but not this time, Laird’s throw to third beats him. Again he would not be doing that if Encarnacion had not made that base running error. Pitch count 54.
Top 4th: Santiago leading off. Singles to left, there goes the no-hitter. Damon with one on, 3-1 count, come on Ricky. Ball four. Cabrera with two on, not good situation. Whoa, high drive to centre, but Vernon gets it right at the wall. Almost three runs there. Santiago tags and gets to third on the throw. One down. Two on, Raburn, lines it to Encarnacion throw to Hill poor throw, of glove of Aaron, and run scores, runner to third on the play. 1-0 Detroit. Encarnacion not exactly shining here tonight. Error number 14 ??? Oh Scott Rolen where are you? Peralta with two on and one down. This one is trouble. Lines it over head of Lewis in left, 3 run home run, 4-0 Tigers. Inge now still only one down. 3-0 count, Romero unraveling here. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay two down. Wells, 3-1 count. Ball four. Laird, two down and one on. 2-0 count. Here goes another, into left field bullpen, two run home run and Tigers now 6-0. Jackson, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for the out. No thanks to Encarnacion tonight from Ricky, he cost him two runs here and at least one for Jays in the last inning. Pitch count 66.
Bottom 4th: Jays hitters have to bail out Ricky now. Escobar leading off. 0-2 count. Grounds to Inge, throw to first, one down for Bautista. 2-0, doubles to the wall in left. Hit very hard there. One on for Wells, bring him in Vernon. Pops up to Jackson in shallow centre, two down. Lind, lines it to first, Cabrera makes great leaping catch for third out. That was a double all the way. Pitch count 66.
Top 5th: Can Ricky get back in the groove here? Santiago leading off. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay, one down. Damon grounds to Overbay takes it himself to the bag for the second out. Cabrera, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches great inning by Ricky. Pitch count 78.
Bottom 5th: Romero has done his job, now for the hitters. Buck leading off. Grounds to third, throw to first for first out, Overbay, strikes out swinging, two down, for Hill. Full count. High fly ball to left Jackson has it for third out. Pitch count 80. Jays may get into Tigers bullpen.
Top 6th: Ricky needs another three up and down inning here like the last one. Raburn leading off. Full count. Strikes out swinging, one down for Peralta, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, two down. Inge, 3-0 count. Ball four. One on two down for Wells. 2-0 Ricky has lost the zone here. There’s a strike, 3-1. Ball four and here comes Cito. Mixed outing for Ricky, first three innings were great and so was the last one. Casey Janssen now pitching two on two down. Laird 0-2 count, lines it to Vernon in centre, nice over the shoulder catch to end the inning.
Bottom 6th: Jays need to get something going here. Encarnacion leading off tonight’s goat so far, singles into left, that’s a start. Lewis, strikes out swinging, Escobar with one down, 3-1 count. Grounds to short, throw to second on to first, double play ball. Pitch count 91.
Top 7th: Jackson leading off. . Singles to Wells in centre, one on for Santiago, 1-1 count. Singles to Lewis in left. Damon bunting here ? No, 3-1 count. Don’t walk him Casey. Singles to left, bases still loaded and nobody out for Cabrera, just the guy you don’t want to see Casey. Lines it to short, reflex catch, one down. Raburn, Full count, great pitch, strikes him out swinging, two down. One more to go Casey. Peralta, 2-1 count, Casey not making it easy for himself here. 3-1. Another full count, ball four. Run scores 7-0 Detroit, Camp ready in bullpen. Inge with bases loaded two down. How to take the crowd out of the game, like a tomb in the ballpark. 1-1 count. Pops up to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 7th: Jays running out of at bats now. Have not looked like scoring since Encarnacion base running error. Bautista leading off. There she goes, home run number 41 and Jays are in the board 7-1. Wells now. 1-2 count. Grounds to Santiago at second, throw in time to get Vernon. Lind, hitless forever. 0-2 count. grounds tamely to third. You think Cito that Snider cannot do better? Put him in as DH if you cannot put him in the outfield but you are doing nothing for this kid sitting him. Send him to Vegas to play but don’t sit him on the bench. If you recall your own words earlier “ he will be playing every day in the lineup” Buck pops up to Peralta for third out. 102 pitch count.
Top 8th: Camp now pitching. Wells leading off. Full count. Strike three looking, one down. Laird pops up to Wells, two down. Jackson, singles to Wells in centre. One on two down. Santiago, pops up to Lewis in left.
Bottom 8th: Are Jays playing this one out or are they going to make a fight of it? Overbay leading off. Scherzer still out there. 0-2 count, strike three looking, Lyle folding. Hill, 2-2 count, pops up to Wells in right. Two down for Encarnacion the goat tonight. Coke warming up in bullpen. Singles to centre, his third hit but he has been the cause of much of this loss. Lewis with two down. 1-2, strikes out swinging.
Top 9th: Carlson pitching. Damon leading off. Lines to Lewis in left. One down for Cabrera, 2-1 count. Doubles to the wall in centre. One on one down. Raburn 0-2 count. Pops up to Wells in shallow centre, two down. Peralta, strikes out to end this one.
Bottom 9th: Jays down to their last three. Fight or capitulate ? Top of the order. Escobar leading off. Eddie Bonnine pitching. Grounds to second, throw to first for the out. One down for Bautista, grounds to third, throw to first for second out. Wells last chance Vernon. 2-1 count. Way to go Vernon, doubles to left beats the throw to second, all heart tonight. Lind last chance for redemption 0-2 count. Pops up to Raburn in left.
Jays lose one they really needed.
The bad: Starts with lineup selection Cito not selecting Travis again for second game in a row. Cito’s latest logic now on this evidently is that Lewis is playing so well and neither can play right field ? That is rubbish, what do they do next season Cito with the same two players? And hello Cito there is a position called DH which right now is not producing bigtime. And I hate to mention it but was Lind not one of your own pet hitting projects last season? Hmmm… More to the point next week the September callup will bring more players to get a chance. I am sure that Arencibia will be getting some pinch hitting chances. Will Travis be pushed even further down the list or the guys who are called up?
No, this is one huge reason why I for one am glad that Cito is in his last month as Manager. Too old school, far too set in his ways and excuse me, but forget that urban legend that this guy can work with younger players. He is doing his best to ruin young Snider and has been unfairly on his case all season long.
Encarnacion with that base running error which cost Jays at least one run. Followed by throwing error,(14) which lead to two runs by Detroit. Take off two and add (at least) one. I know who gets my vote for goat of the night.
Don’t add Ricky to this list. He had four great innings. One bad one but was hurt by Encarnacion’s error which lead to two more runs after out number two which should have been third out.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Wells and Hill power Jays to win over Yankees behind perfect performance by Cecil.
Series finale. Yankees v Blue Jays. Wednesday August 25.
This is definitely a big game for Yankees, Tampa has already lost this afternoon and Yankees want to move ahead. Jays would like to pick up a game on both. Just as important Jays want to send clear message that the last series here in September will be a very tough one for the Yankees. Jays in fact have six more with NY and have won 7/12 to date this season.
Lineups: NYY: Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Thames, Posada, Kearns, Gardner, Nunez. Swisher out after last night’s injury when he fouled pitch on to his knee.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Overbay, Hill, Encarnacion. Cito reading the blog again and taking our advice to move Hill down the order. Should have happened earlier this season but better late than never. I hope it also helps Hill focus much better with less pressure on himself.
Pitching: Cecil v Hughes. Hughes already has 15 wins. It will not be easy for the Jays tonight.
Another great crowd tonight.
Top 1st: Jeter leading off, strikes out. One down for Granderson fly ball to Wells. Two down for Teixeira, grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay. Good start for Cecil.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off tonight, full count and ball four. One on for Escobar, bunting ? yes indeed tonight, sacrifice bunting to first to Teixeira, Lewis moves to second. Cito means business tonight. Bautista with runner at second, pops up to Cano at second. Wells with two down and one on, hammers this one hard to the wall in centre, here comes Lewis to score and Vernon heading for third. Triple for Vernon and first run, 1-0 Jays. Lind, wild pitch and here comes Vernon from third, 2-0 Jays. Lind singles to centre. One on two down for Buck, fly ball to Kearns in right.
Top 2nd: Cano leading off, pop up to Lewis in left, one down. Thames doubles to centre. Posada pops up to Wells in centre. Two down one on for Kearns, full count, ball four. Two on for Gardner grounds to second, safe at first to load the bases, Thames at third, Kearns at second. Nunez grounds back to Cecil, throw to Overbay for the out.Cecil escapes big trouble there.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay leading off, strikes out. One down for Hill. Patience here, full count, ball four and Aaron is at first. Wild pitch Hill moves up to second. Encarnacion strikes out. Two down for Lewis, fly ball to Kearns in right for third out.
Top 3rd: Jeter leading off. 3-0 count and ball four to walk. Granderson strikes out. One down one on. Perfect, Teixeira grounds to Encarnacion throw to Hill over to Overbay, double play ball.
Bottom 3rd: Escobar grounds to Jeter at short, throw to Teixeira at first. Bautista full count, ball four. Yankees have not been giving Jose anything to hit the last two days. Pitching him outside. Wells, 0-2, here we go, Vernon high fly ball but this one is out of here. Jays bullpen area. Here comes Bautista, here comes Vernon. Long time since he scored one of those. Jays go out 4-0 and Vernon has three of the four. Lind strikes out. Two down for Buck, singles to centre. Overbay strikes out.
Top 4th: Cecil now has a good lead to work with. Cano leading off, doubles to centre. One on for Thames. First pitch hammers it into left here comes Cano, here comes Thomas, just like that 4-2 Jays. Posada grounds back to Cecil throw to Overbay. One down. Kearns lines out to shortstop Escobar.Gardner grounds to Overbay for the out himself. Yankees get two back just like that.
Bottom 4th: Hill full count, ball four walks, Encarnacion strikes out swinging, Lewis. 86 pitches for Hughes. Vazquez warming up in bullpen. 1-2 count. Strikes out, two down for Escobar. 1-2 count. Hit and run, lines it to right, Hill to third on the play. Bautista now with two on. Full count. Ball four bases loaded for Vernon, 2-2 tonight. Grounds up the middle Cano flip to Jeter at second but Bautista safe. Hill scores. 5-2 Jays and bases stay full for that’s it for Hughes. Vazquez not pitching. Jays would love him in long relief Lind takes ball one. 1-1. 2-1 Lind patient tonight. spoke too soon, 2-2 count. Lines hard to Kearns in right.
Top 5th: Nunez leading off singles up the middle, one on for Jeter, pops up to Vernon in centre. Granderson, 2-2 count. Singles to right. Teixeira, with two on one down. Perfect, grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar back to Overbay double play ball. Pitch count 68.
Bottom 5th: Buck, 1-2 a nubber in front of the plate throw to first in time to get Buck. Overbay with one down. Lines to left Gardner makes the catch in front of Granderson, two down for Hill. Hammers this one to left, HOME RUN Aaron. Must like number 8 in lineup. 0-20 drought. 6-2 Jays. Encarnacion, pulls it into left, that was way outside. Doesn’t believe in going the other way. Lewis now with one and two down. 3-0 count, 3-1 count. Ball four, two on for Escobar. Man, first pitch grounds back to Vazquez throw to first for the out Come on Yunel take a couple here, Vazquez was rattled.
Top 6th: Cano leading off. Strikes out, one down for Thames, 1-2 count, grounds to Encarnacion nice play to throw to Overbay, two down. Posada, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay for third out. Pitch count 79.
Bottom 6th: Bautista leading off. Lines it to Gardner in left. One down for Vernon hitting for cycle, needs a double here. 2-0 count. Nice try Vernon lines it hard to left, Gardner gets it at the wall, Vernon is pulling more tonight, good to see him hitting hard. Lind 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches.
Top 7th: Kearns leading off. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number four for Cecil. Gardner, singles into centre to Wells, one down one on for Nunez, grounds to Hill, tags Gardner but no time to get Nunez, safe at first. Two down. Jeter grounds first pitch to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay to end this inning. Pitch count 90.
Bottom 7th: Buck leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Overbay hammers this one to centre but Granderson has it at the track, two down. Hill, having a breakout night. 0-2 count, pops it up over the shoulder catch by Teixeira.
Top 8th: Granderson leading off. 3-1 count. Frasor and Downs warming up. Grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Overbay for the out. Teixeira, 2-2 count, strikes him out. Two down. 100 pitches. Cano full count, come on Brett finish him off here, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for the final out of this inning. Cecil is done for tonight, a masterful eight innings.
Bottom 8th: Will we see Vernon try again for cycle? Need some base runners. Encarnacion leading off, pops up to Granderson. Lewis with one down, lines to Kearns in right. Two down, Escobar, 0-2 count. Grounds to Jeter, throw to Overbay.
Top 9th: Frasor now pitching. Thames leading off, 1-2 count. strikes out swinging. Posada, one down, pops up to Vernon in centre, two down. Kearns, full count. Ball four, come on Jason. Gardner, two down and one on, 2-1, Frasor losing control here, Gregg warming up in bullpen. 2-2 count, Thames takes second. Full count again. This might be your last pitch Jason if you don’t get him. Ball four, here comes Cito. Gregg now to get the last one. Frasor was one strike away. Gregg pitching, Nunez with two on. Brandon League is now pitching for Seattle win in Boston in bottom of the 9th. Come on Kevin, one pitch. 0-1, 1-1, singles in to centre, here comes Kearns, 6-3 Jays. Tying run now in Jeter. Not good. 0-1 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, another full count. Third in a row. Heart pills again friends. Hits him in the back, bases loaded for Granderson. 0-1, 0-2, way outside, 1-2, no problem lines it to Wells. Cecil wins number 11, Gregg number 29 save.
After the game: Boston loses, Tampa loses, and the big bad Yankees lose, let’s celebrate tonight friends. Jays pick up a game on all three. Great evening for Jays. Crowd 31,449 tonight, almost 100,000 for the series. That will increase in four weeks when Yankees return for that last series pre-break.
This is definitely a big game for Yankees, Tampa has already lost this afternoon and Yankees want to move ahead. Jays would like to pick up a game on both. Just as important Jays want to send clear message that the last series here in September will be a very tough one for the Yankees. Jays in fact have six more with NY and have won 7/12 to date this season.
Lineups: NYY: Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Thames, Posada, Kearns, Gardner, Nunez. Swisher out after last night’s injury when he fouled pitch on to his knee.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Overbay, Hill, Encarnacion. Cito reading the blog again and taking our advice to move Hill down the order. Should have happened earlier this season but better late than never. I hope it also helps Hill focus much better with less pressure on himself.
Pitching: Cecil v Hughes. Hughes already has 15 wins. It will not be easy for the Jays tonight.
Another great crowd tonight.
Top 1st: Jeter leading off, strikes out. One down for Granderson fly ball to Wells. Two down for Teixeira, grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay. Good start for Cecil.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off tonight, full count and ball four. One on for Escobar, bunting ? yes indeed tonight, sacrifice bunting to first to Teixeira, Lewis moves to second. Cito means business tonight. Bautista with runner at second, pops up to Cano at second. Wells with two down and one on, hammers this one hard to the wall in centre, here comes Lewis to score and Vernon heading for third. Triple for Vernon and first run, 1-0 Jays. Lind, wild pitch and here comes Vernon from third, 2-0 Jays. Lind singles to centre. One on two down for Buck, fly ball to Kearns in right.
Top 2nd: Cano leading off, pop up to Lewis in left, one down. Thames doubles to centre. Posada pops up to Wells in centre. Two down one on for Kearns, full count, ball four. Two on for Gardner grounds to second, safe at first to load the bases, Thames at third, Kearns at second. Nunez grounds back to Cecil, throw to Overbay for the out.Cecil escapes big trouble there.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay leading off, strikes out. One down for Hill. Patience here, full count, ball four and Aaron is at first. Wild pitch Hill moves up to second. Encarnacion strikes out. Two down for Lewis, fly ball to Kearns in right for third out.
Top 3rd: Jeter leading off. 3-0 count and ball four to walk. Granderson strikes out. One down one on. Perfect, Teixeira grounds to Encarnacion throw to Hill over to Overbay, double play ball.
Bottom 3rd: Escobar grounds to Jeter at short, throw to Teixeira at first. Bautista full count, ball four. Yankees have not been giving Jose anything to hit the last two days. Pitching him outside. Wells, 0-2, here we go, Vernon high fly ball but this one is out of here. Jays bullpen area. Here comes Bautista, here comes Vernon. Long time since he scored one of those. Jays go out 4-0 and Vernon has three of the four. Lind strikes out. Two down for Buck, singles to centre. Overbay strikes out.
Top 4th: Cecil now has a good lead to work with. Cano leading off, doubles to centre. One on for Thames. First pitch hammers it into left here comes Cano, here comes Thomas, just like that 4-2 Jays. Posada grounds back to Cecil throw to Overbay. One down. Kearns lines out to shortstop Escobar.Gardner grounds to Overbay for the out himself. Yankees get two back just like that.
Bottom 4th: Hill full count, ball four walks, Encarnacion strikes out swinging, Lewis. 86 pitches for Hughes. Vazquez warming up in bullpen. 1-2 count. Strikes out, two down for Escobar. 1-2 count. Hit and run, lines it to right, Hill to third on the play. Bautista now with two on. Full count. Ball four bases loaded for Vernon, 2-2 tonight. Grounds up the middle Cano flip to Jeter at second but Bautista safe. Hill scores. 5-2 Jays and bases stay full for that’s it for Hughes. Vazquez not pitching. Jays would love him in long relief Lind takes ball one. 1-1. 2-1 Lind patient tonight. spoke too soon, 2-2 count. Lines hard to Kearns in right.
Top 5th: Nunez leading off singles up the middle, one on for Jeter, pops up to Vernon in centre. Granderson, 2-2 count. Singles to right. Teixeira, with two on one down. Perfect, grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar back to Overbay double play ball. Pitch count 68.
Bottom 5th: Buck, 1-2 a nubber in front of the plate throw to first in time to get Buck. Overbay with one down. Lines to left Gardner makes the catch in front of Granderson, two down for Hill. Hammers this one to left, HOME RUN Aaron. Must like number 8 in lineup. 0-20 drought. 6-2 Jays. Encarnacion, pulls it into left, that was way outside. Doesn’t believe in going the other way. Lewis now with one and two down. 3-0 count, 3-1 count. Ball four, two on for Escobar. Man, first pitch grounds back to Vazquez throw to first for the out Come on Yunel take a couple here, Vazquez was rattled.
Top 6th: Cano leading off. Strikes out, one down for Thames, 1-2 count, grounds to Encarnacion nice play to throw to Overbay, two down. Posada, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay for third out. Pitch count 79.
Bottom 6th: Bautista leading off. Lines it to Gardner in left. One down for Vernon hitting for cycle, needs a double here. 2-0 count. Nice try Vernon lines it hard to left, Gardner gets it at the wall, Vernon is pulling more tonight, good to see him hitting hard. Lind 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches.
Top 7th: Kearns leading off. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number four for Cecil. Gardner, singles into centre to Wells, one down one on for Nunez, grounds to Hill, tags Gardner but no time to get Nunez, safe at first. Two down. Jeter grounds first pitch to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay to end this inning. Pitch count 90.
Bottom 7th: Buck leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Overbay hammers this one to centre but Granderson has it at the track, two down. Hill, having a breakout night. 0-2 count, pops it up over the shoulder catch by Teixeira.
Top 8th: Granderson leading off. 3-1 count. Frasor and Downs warming up. Grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Overbay for the out. Teixeira, 2-2 count, strikes him out. Two down. 100 pitches. Cano full count, come on Brett finish him off here, grounds to Hill throw to Overbay for the final out of this inning. Cecil is done for tonight, a masterful eight innings.
Bottom 8th: Will we see Vernon try again for cycle? Need some base runners. Encarnacion leading off, pops up to Granderson. Lewis with one down, lines to Kearns in right. Two down, Escobar, 0-2 count. Grounds to Jeter, throw to Overbay.
Top 9th: Frasor now pitching. Thames leading off, 1-2 count. strikes out swinging. Posada, one down, pops up to Vernon in centre, two down. Kearns, full count. Ball four, come on Jason. Gardner, two down and one on, 2-1, Frasor losing control here, Gregg warming up in bullpen. 2-2 count, Thames takes second. Full count again. This might be your last pitch Jason if you don’t get him. Ball four, here comes Cito. Gregg now to get the last one. Frasor was one strike away. Gregg pitching, Nunez with two on. Brandon League is now pitching for Seattle win in Boston in bottom of the 9th. Come on Kevin, one pitch. 0-1, 1-1, singles in to centre, here comes Kearns, 6-3 Jays. Tying run now in Jeter. Not good. 0-1 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, another full count. Third in a row. Heart pills again friends. Hits him in the back, bases loaded for Granderson. 0-1, 0-2, way outside, 1-2, no problem lines it to Wells. Cecil wins number 11, Gregg number 29 save.
After the game: Boston loses, Tampa loses, and the big bad Yankees lose, let’s celebrate tonight friends. Jays pick up a game on all three. Great evening for Jays. Crowd 31,449 tonight, almost 100,000 for the series. That will increase in four weeks when Yankees return for that last series pre-break.
Lousy pitching, hitting ,fielding and baserunning makes this a nightmare game for Jays
Jays v Yankees. Game two of three. Tuesday August 24.
Preview: Yankees have Jeter back in the lineup and need this one to stay even or ahead with Tampa. They will be serious tonight and facing a number five pitcher.
Someone said to me today where would Jays be if Halladay was still with them this season? Interesting thought, 10 of those 16 wins would put Jays well in the hunt.
The big steroid issue of course today, we have to mention it, it is definitely a no-win for Bautista, even if he were proven innocent which is impossible to do, he will always have that slur. My take is the witch hunt, were Hill and Lind on steroids last season? is that the only way to explain their huge drop off in production this year? Were Vernon and Rios on several years ago? Unfortunately now anyone who has an exceptional season will be tarnished and anyone who has a huge drop off after a successful season will be even more of a target. Sad that we cannot just enjoy individual successes, but then the media loves the controversy, any story. I am surprised that they have not target Strasburg especially now with the injuries. The amount of time spent on talk shows today on this and probably tomorrow will be totally out of proportion to the “unsubstantiated rumour”.
Lineups: Yankees: Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira, Cano, Thames, Posada, Kearns, Granderson, Nunez.
Jays: Snider, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Buck, Encarnacion.
Don’t like this order. Buck should be higher than that put both him and Overbay after Vernon and move Lind and hill down the order, they are not producing and Buck gives better [protection hitting behind Vernon, pitchers are pitching around him to get the two underachievers Lind and Hill.
Pitching: Rzepczynski v Moseley.
Looks like another big crowd tonight, but they are still pouring in, from where we are sitting and positioning of the ushers in fifth deck another 30,000 plus crowd.
Top 1st: Jeter leading off, grounds first pitch to Hill at second, throw to Overbay at first, one quick out. Swisher lines it into the corner, over the head of Bautista, misjudged that one Jose. Stand up double for Swisher. Teixeira singles p the middle, here comes Swisher and Yankees jump out to 1-0 lead. Cano grounds to Hill throw to Overbay at first back to Escobar at second double play ball. Very nice.
Bottom 1st: Snider leading off, I feel for Travis, this is not his position in the lineup, but looks as if he is stuck with it until one of the outfielders moves. My solution is to sit Encarnacion, move Bautista to third and have Lewis and Snider with Wells in the outfield. What you lose on Lewis’s glove you gain at leadoff and his bat and speed. Travis grounds to Cano at second throw to Teixeira at first for the out. Escobar pop up Granderson in centre. Two down for Bautista, getting a huge friendly reception from the crowd, showing the media and all what they think of the smears, strikes out.
Top 2nd: Thames leading off singles to centre. Posada singles to right, Thames at third.Kearns grounds to Rzepczynski comes home to catcher Buck, Thames avoids the tag but Buck gets him on second attempt. Nice recovery play by Buck. Posada to second. Granderson full count, and ball four. Posada to third, Kearns to second. Nunez grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar to get Granderson but Posada scores. 2-0 Yankees. Two down two on for Jeter, pops up to Bautista. Rzepczynski gets out of trouble here but he is not pitching well, he could be down by five already.
Bottom 2nd: Wells leading off, pops up Kearns in left. Lind one down, exactly the same play, pops up to Kearns. Hill with two down, grounds to Cano at second throw to Teixeira at first for three up and down and that about sums up the season for these three. A month to change it around.
Top 3rd: Swisher leading off, strikes out. Teixeira patience here, full count, there it goes home run to left. 3-0 Yankees. Cano another full count. Rzepczynski is skating on very thin ice tonight. This is NY Marc not the minor leaguers. Thames one down one on, 0-2 count, NO another slam to left, this one is out, 5-0 Yankees. That is the second given up on a two strike count. He has to be able to finish them off. Posada, 2-0 count, staying away from the hitters but he has to throw strikes, cannot walk everyone. Posada gets hold of this one, into left field seats, third home run of the inning. 6-0 Yankees. Kearns grounds to Hill throw to Overbay. Two down. Granderson singles to right. This is not over yet. Nunez grounds to Escobar to get Granderson at second to end this nightmare for Rzepczynski.
Bottom 3rd: Overbay leading off, grounds to Nunez at third, throw to Teixeira, one down.Buck strikes out. Encarnacion singles to left. Two down one on for Snider, grounds to Teixeira at first for third out.
Top 4th: Tallet now pitching. Rzepczynski should be at the bus station waiting for the Vegas bus, he just doesn’t have it yet. Jeter leading off fly ball to Bautista. One down for Swisher. Lines it to Snider. Two down for Teixeira, singles to left. Cano pops up to Encarnacion.
Bottom 4th: Escobar leading off, walks. Bautista singles to centre, Escobar to third. Now surely someone can bring one run in. Wells, there we go Vernon, singles opposite field here comes Escobar, Bautista all the way to third. Two on nobody out. Jays have something going here for the first time. Lind lines to Kearns in left. One down, no chance for Bautista to score. Hill pops up to Cano. If I were Aaron this late in the season unable to bring a guy in from third, I would be bunting. But more important, what is wrong with him? Is he injured, sick ? Something definitely off. Overbay now final chance, grounds to Cano throw to Teixeira. Moseley escapes with runner at third and no outs. That is very bad for Jays hitters, Cito should be very concerned.
Top 5th: Tallet still out there. Thames leading off, singles to left. Posada pops up to Overbay. One down. Kearns full count and ball four, we have been waiting for that first walk by Tallet, does not disappoint. Two on one down. Granderson. Here we go, hammers this first pitch to right, no doubt about that, here comes Thames, here comes Kearns and here comes Granderson. 9-1 Yankees. Jays faithful heading up the aisles to the bar to drown their sorrows. Makes those missed opportunities by the Jays hitters even more huge. Nunez pops up to Buck. Two down for Jeter, here we go again, into left field seats and another home run. 10-1 Yankees. Swisher pops up to Tallet. Overbay knocks him down as he makes the play, what an image for this inning. That was probably Lyle’s ball in that situation, most pitchers get out of the way of their fielders, but this is the way the game is going tonight.
Bottom 5th: Buck leading off, full count and walks, one on for Encarnacion, grounds to Teixeira for the out, Buck to second. Snider, runner in scoring position, strikes out. Two down for Escobar, grounds to Nunez at third, throw to Teixeira. Three up and down and not surprising.
Top 6th: Tallet still in there; he is soaking up the innings. Teixeira leading off, singles to left. Cano pops up to Hill. One down. Thames 3-0 and ball four. Teixeira to second. Two on for Posada, singles to left, here comes Teixeira, 11-1 Yankees. They have not finished with the Jays yet. Thames at second. Two on for Kearns, grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay, Thames at third, Posada at second. Granderson pops up to Bautista.
Bottom 6th: Bautista leading off. Full count and ball four, Yankee pitchers not giving Jose much to swing at now. Wells pop up to Granderson, one down. Lind singles to centre, Bautista to second. Hill with two on, strikes out. Overbay 3-0 count, ball four, walks on four pitches, Bautista to third, Lind to second. Bases are actually loaded with two down. Buck, there we go John, singles to centre, here comes Bautista NO!!! Lind coming home and thrown out by Granderson. If he had stayed at third bases would still be loaded. Who is sending these runners ? Is it Butterfield at third ? This last week that is the third ? runner thrown out at home plate. 11-2 Yankees.
Top 7th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Nunez leading off. strikes out. One down for Jeter pop up to Bautista in right. Swisher, ouch fouls one off his leg he is down on the ground in pain, may be his knee. Can hardly stand, is staying in there ? that is ridiculous. The game is hardly in the balance here, there is no one on base, if he cannot stand what is going to do if he hits he cannot run? Misses with horrible swing, now here comes the coach to get him. Take him out of there. Sometimes you wonder where the heads of these players are. He could have serious damage to his knee and be out for days, you get out of there and ice it fast, not continue to be macho. This team is in the thick of battle for first, you don’t jeopardize that for some pigheaded decision by a player. Let’s see if he plays tomorrow.I doubt it he can hardly walk off here. Now Gardner pinch-hitting for Swisher with two strikes against him, gets one pitch here instead of two if Swisher had left earlier, strikes out. Dumb all round in my book.
Bottom 7th: Gardner in at left field. Kearns in right field. Gaudin now pitching. Encarnacion leading off, pops up to Teixeira at first. One down for Snider, grounds to first but great hustle down the line and beats out the throw, Travis really hustling there, great to see with the score of this game. Anything can happen in baseball and usually does at the most unexpected time. Wild pitch and Snider to second. Escobar with one down and one in scoring position, lines out to Teixeira. Two down. Bautista, walks. What is going on here? Wise pinch-running for Bautista. OK Cito, this game is not over, you may regret that decision if bases are loaded and Bautista is missing his at bat. Wells, there we go Vernon, singles to left here comes Travis. 11-3 game. Lind, another base hit, doubles to centre, here comes Wise, here comes Wells. 11-5 game. You never know in baseball. Hill now with Lind at second, bring him in Aaron, your turn, or better still a special into the Jays bullpen to make this game interesting, big out here for Yankees. Oh boy, lines it to Nunez at third. Jays get three more but leave another in scoring position. I think we will stay until the end of this one. Cito I hope you will not regret pulling Jose early.
Top 8th: Wise in right field. Teixeira leading off, grounds to Overbay flip to Janssen, one down. Cano grounds to Hill throw to Overbay. Two down for Thames, grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay. Yankees going quickly and quietly here.
Bottom 8th: Now can the Jays get a few more here ? Pena in at second. Overbay leading off, patience here, full count and walks, good at bat for Lyle, he knows the situation, base runners are what are needed. One on for Buck, lines to Pena at second. One down, no pinch hitter here for Encarnacion, not Cito’s style. Encarnacion lines out to Kearns in right, two down. Snider grounds to short and again beats out the throw, he can really hustle down that line, way to go Travis, you play to the very last out. Overbay to second. Two on two down for Escobar, grounds to Jeter throw to Pena at second, Snider cannot beat that one out. Jays rally ends.
Top 9th: Posada leading off, singles to centre. One down, Kearns pop up Wells.
Granderson singles to right, Posada to second. Nunez grounds to short to load the bases, Posada at third, Granderson at second. Jeter strikes out. Two down. Carlson pitching. Gardner grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay and that should be it for Jays pitchers tonight.
Bottom 9th: No need for Rivera tonight, Kerry Wood now pitching. Wise leading off, wonder if Cito regrets pulling Jose earlier. Wise pops up to Jeter at short one down. Wells, has had a good night for him at least with two hits but no big hits for a long time, strikes out. Final out for Jays. Lind strikes out.
Ends this horrible outing by Jays.
This was one miserable game to spend money on. Always worse to have so many Yankees fans all around you at games like tonight. However to be fair tonight they were not rubbing it in. Jays leave nine on base and are 4/13 with runners in scoring position, they had some chances to make this much closer.
The positives..... Wells and Lind with two hits each, that is a plus.Janssen some good innings of work.
Terrible pitching by Rzepczynski and Tallet although we expect it from Tallet. Terrible fielding, lousy hitting generally and with men in scoring position, and poor base running and poor judgement by coaching staff responsible for the out at home plate. Nothing much went right tonight for Jays, they need to turn it around for Wednesday game. They are too far out of wild card now to make any difference but they could make it uncomfortable for the Yankees here in Toronto by wining the series and make Yankees worry about that final home series in Toronto when the division title could be on the line. That’s what this game is all about, hope…… and dreams…
Preview: Yankees have Jeter back in the lineup and need this one to stay even or ahead with Tampa. They will be serious tonight and facing a number five pitcher.
Someone said to me today where would Jays be if Halladay was still with them this season? Interesting thought, 10 of those 16 wins would put Jays well in the hunt.
The big steroid issue of course today, we have to mention it, it is definitely a no-win for Bautista, even if he were proven innocent which is impossible to do, he will always have that slur. My take is the witch hunt, were Hill and Lind on steroids last season? is that the only way to explain their huge drop off in production this year? Were Vernon and Rios on several years ago? Unfortunately now anyone who has an exceptional season will be tarnished and anyone who has a huge drop off after a successful season will be even more of a target. Sad that we cannot just enjoy individual successes, but then the media loves the controversy, any story. I am surprised that they have not target Strasburg especially now with the injuries. The amount of time spent on talk shows today on this and probably tomorrow will be totally out of proportion to the “unsubstantiated rumour”.
Lineups: Yankees: Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira, Cano, Thames, Posada, Kearns, Granderson, Nunez.
Jays: Snider, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Buck, Encarnacion.
Don’t like this order. Buck should be higher than that put both him and Overbay after Vernon and move Lind and hill down the order, they are not producing and Buck gives better [protection hitting behind Vernon, pitchers are pitching around him to get the two underachievers Lind and Hill.
Pitching: Rzepczynski v Moseley.
Looks like another big crowd tonight, but they are still pouring in, from where we are sitting and positioning of the ushers in fifth deck another 30,000 plus crowd.
Top 1st: Jeter leading off, grounds first pitch to Hill at second, throw to Overbay at first, one quick out. Swisher lines it into the corner, over the head of Bautista, misjudged that one Jose. Stand up double for Swisher. Teixeira singles p the middle, here comes Swisher and Yankees jump out to 1-0 lead. Cano grounds to Hill throw to Overbay at first back to Escobar at second double play ball. Very nice.
Bottom 1st: Snider leading off, I feel for Travis, this is not his position in the lineup, but looks as if he is stuck with it until one of the outfielders moves. My solution is to sit Encarnacion, move Bautista to third and have Lewis and Snider with Wells in the outfield. What you lose on Lewis’s glove you gain at leadoff and his bat and speed. Travis grounds to Cano at second throw to Teixeira at first for the out. Escobar pop up Granderson in centre. Two down for Bautista, getting a huge friendly reception from the crowd, showing the media and all what they think of the smears, strikes out.
Top 2nd: Thames leading off singles to centre. Posada singles to right, Thames at third.Kearns grounds to Rzepczynski comes home to catcher Buck, Thames avoids the tag but Buck gets him on second attempt. Nice recovery play by Buck. Posada to second. Granderson full count, and ball four. Posada to third, Kearns to second. Nunez grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar to get Granderson but Posada scores. 2-0 Yankees. Two down two on for Jeter, pops up to Bautista. Rzepczynski gets out of trouble here but he is not pitching well, he could be down by five already.
Bottom 2nd: Wells leading off, pops up Kearns in left. Lind one down, exactly the same play, pops up to Kearns. Hill with two down, grounds to Cano at second throw to Teixeira at first for three up and down and that about sums up the season for these three. A month to change it around.
Top 3rd: Swisher leading off, strikes out. Teixeira patience here, full count, there it goes home run to left. 3-0 Yankees. Cano another full count. Rzepczynski is skating on very thin ice tonight. This is NY Marc not the minor leaguers. Thames one down one on, 0-2 count, NO another slam to left, this one is out, 5-0 Yankees. That is the second given up on a two strike count. He has to be able to finish them off. Posada, 2-0 count, staying away from the hitters but he has to throw strikes, cannot walk everyone. Posada gets hold of this one, into left field seats, third home run of the inning. 6-0 Yankees. Kearns grounds to Hill throw to Overbay. Two down. Granderson singles to right. This is not over yet. Nunez grounds to Escobar to get Granderson at second to end this nightmare for Rzepczynski.
Bottom 3rd: Overbay leading off, grounds to Nunez at third, throw to Teixeira, one down.Buck strikes out. Encarnacion singles to left. Two down one on for Snider, grounds to Teixeira at first for third out.
Top 4th: Tallet now pitching. Rzepczynski should be at the bus station waiting for the Vegas bus, he just doesn’t have it yet. Jeter leading off fly ball to Bautista. One down for Swisher. Lines it to Snider. Two down for Teixeira, singles to left. Cano pops up to Encarnacion.
Bottom 4th: Escobar leading off, walks. Bautista singles to centre, Escobar to third. Now surely someone can bring one run in. Wells, there we go Vernon, singles opposite field here comes Escobar, Bautista all the way to third. Two on nobody out. Jays have something going here for the first time. Lind lines to Kearns in left. One down, no chance for Bautista to score. Hill pops up to Cano. If I were Aaron this late in the season unable to bring a guy in from third, I would be bunting. But more important, what is wrong with him? Is he injured, sick ? Something definitely off. Overbay now final chance, grounds to Cano throw to Teixeira. Moseley escapes with runner at third and no outs. That is very bad for Jays hitters, Cito should be very concerned.
Top 5th: Tallet still out there. Thames leading off, singles to left. Posada pops up to Overbay. One down. Kearns full count and ball four, we have been waiting for that first walk by Tallet, does not disappoint. Two on one down. Granderson. Here we go, hammers this first pitch to right, no doubt about that, here comes Thames, here comes Kearns and here comes Granderson. 9-1 Yankees. Jays faithful heading up the aisles to the bar to drown their sorrows. Makes those missed opportunities by the Jays hitters even more huge. Nunez pops up to Buck. Two down for Jeter, here we go again, into left field seats and another home run. 10-1 Yankees. Swisher pops up to Tallet. Overbay knocks him down as he makes the play, what an image for this inning. That was probably Lyle’s ball in that situation, most pitchers get out of the way of their fielders, but this is the way the game is going tonight.
Bottom 5th: Buck leading off, full count and walks, one on for Encarnacion, grounds to Teixeira for the out, Buck to second. Snider, runner in scoring position, strikes out. Two down for Escobar, grounds to Nunez at third, throw to Teixeira. Three up and down and not surprising.
Top 6th: Tallet still in there; he is soaking up the innings. Teixeira leading off, singles to left. Cano pops up to Hill. One down. Thames 3-0 and ball four. Teixeira to second. Two on for Posada, singles to left, here comes Teixeira, 11-1 Yankees. They have not finished with the Jays yet. Thames at second. Two on for Kearns, grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay, Thames at third, Posada at second. Granderson pops up to Bautista.
Bottom 6th: Bautista leading off. Full count and ball four, Yankee pitchers not giving Jose much to swing at now. Wells pop up to Granderson, one down. Lind singles to centre, Bautista to second. Hill with two on, strikes out. Overbay 3-0 count, ball four, walks on four pitches, Bautista to third, Lind to second. Bases are actually loaded with two down. Buck, there we go John, singles to centre, here comes Bautista NO!!! Lind coming home and thrown out by Granderson. If he had stayed at third bases would still be loaded. Who is sending these runners ? Is it Butterfield at third ? This last week that is the third ? runner thrown out at home plate. 11-2 Yankees.
Top 7th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Nunez leading off. strikes out. One down for Jeter pop up to Bautista in right. Swisher, ouch fouls one off his leg he is down on the ground in pain, may be his knee. Can hardly stand, is staying in there ? that is ridiculous. The game is hardly in the balance here, there is no one on base, if he cannot stand what is going to do if he hits he cannot run? Misses with horrible swing, now here comes the coach to get him. Take him out of there. Sometimes you wonder where the heads of these players are. He could have serious damage to his knee and be out for days, you get out of there and ice it fast, not continue to be macho. This team is in the thick of battle for first, you don’t jeopardize that for some pigheaded decision by a player. Let’s see if he plays tomorrow.I doubt it he can hardly walk off here. Now Gardner pinch-hitting for Swisher with two strikes against him, gets one pitch here instead of two if Swisher had left earlier, strikes out. Dumb all round in my book.
Bottom 7th: Gardner in at left field. Kearns in right field. Gaudin now pitching. Encarnacion leading off, pops up to Teixeira at first. One down for Snider, grounds to first but great hustle down the line and beats out the throw, Travis really hustling there, great to see with the score of this game. Anything can happen in baseball and usually does at the most unexpected time. Wild pitch and Snider to second. Escobar with one down and one in scoring position, lines out to Teixeira. Two down. Bautista, walks. What is going on here? Wise pinch-running for Bautista. OK Cito, this game is not over, you may regret that decision if bases are loaded and Bautista is missing his at bat. Wells, there we go Vernon, singles to left here comes Travis. 11-3 game. Lind, another base hit, doubles to centre, here comes Wise, here comes Wells. 11-5 game. You never know in baseball. Hill now with Lind at second, bring him in Aaron, your turn, or better still a special into the Jays bullpen to make this game interesting, big out here for Yankees. Oh boy, lines it to Nunez at third. Jays get three more but leave another in scoring position. I think we will stay until the end of this one. Cito I hope you will not regret pulling Jose early.
Top 8th: Wise in right field. Teixeira leading off, grounds to Overbay flip to Janssen, one down. Cano grounds to Hill throw to Overbay. Two down for Thames, grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay. Yankees going quickly and quietly here.
Bottom 8th: Now can the Jays get a few more here ? Pena in at second. Overbay leading off, patience here, full count and walks, good at bat for Lyle, he knows the situation, base runners are what are needed. One on for Buck, lines to Pena at second. One down, no pinch hitter here for Encarnacion, not Cito’s style. Encarnacion lines out to Kearns in right, two down. Snider grounds to short and again beats out the throw, he can really hustle down that line, way to go Travis, you play to the very last out. Overbay to second. Two on two down for Escobar, grounds to Jeter throw to Pena at second, Snider cannot beat that one out. Jays rally ends.
Top 9th: Posada leading off, singles to centre. One down, Kearns pop up Wells.
Granderson singles to right, Posada to second. Nunez grounds to short to load the bases, Posada at third, Granderson at second. Jeter strikes out. Two down. Carlson pitching. Gardner grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay and that should be it for Jays pitchers tonight.
Bottom 9th: No need for Rivera tonight, Kerry Wood now pitching. Wise leading off, wonder if Cito regrets pulling Jose earlier. Wise pops up to Jeter at short one down. Wells, has had a good night for him at least with two hits but no big hits for a long time, strikes out. Final out for Jays. Lind strikes out.
Ends this horrible outing by Jays.
This was one miserable game to spend money on. Always worse to have so many Yankees fans all around you at games like tonight. However to be fair tonight they were not rubbing it in. Jays leave nine on base and are 4/13 with runners in scoring position, they had some chances to make this much closer.
The positives..... Wells and Lind with two hits each, that is a plus.Janssen some good innings of work.
Terrible pitching by Rzepczynski and Tallet although we expect it from Tallet. Terrible fielding, lousy hitting generally and with men in scoring position, and poor base running and poor judgement by coaching staff responsible for the out at home plate. Nothing much went right tonight for Jays, they need to turn it around for Wednesday game. They are too far out of wild card now to make any difference but they could make it uncomfortable for the Yankees here in Toronto by wining the series and make Yankees worry about that final home series in Toronto when the division title could be on the line. That’s what this game is all about, hope…… and dreams…
Monday, August 23, 2010
Jays beat Yankees in a thriller behind Bautista power and excellent Morrow and bullpen pitching
Jays v Yankees. Game one of three. Monday August 23.
Preview: Jays face another rookie and you know how those games usually go with the Jays. They make the rookie look like Cy Young. Let’s se if Nova can do that tonight in his first major league start.
Lineups: Yankees: Gardner, Swisher, Teixeira, Cano, Posada, Granderson, Nunez, Pena, Cervelli. No Jeter and no Rodriguez.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Encarnacion, Molina. Encarnacion and Hill back in lineup, too bad, I don’t think they strengthen Jays lineup at all. Molina in to catch Morrow.
Pitching: Morrow v Nova.
Morrow had poor start last time and far too many pitches but was coming off that long break. Lots of very noisy Yankee fans tonight, have to keep them quiet and disappointed.
Top 1st: Gardner leading off, 3-0 count this is the knock on Morrow, too many pitches. Full count, strikes out swinging. Six pitches, Gardner did his job. One down for Swisher. 3-1 count, ball four. Yankees will be patient tonight, they want Morrow out of here. Teixeira, 0-2 count. Strike three looking, two down for Cano. This guy is dangerous. Here we go, lines it to left corner, Lewis had a chance on this, but misses this one, here comes Gardner, 1-0 Yankees. Stand up double for Posada. 3-0 count. Full count. Strikes out swinging but 23 pitches already. We may not see Morrow beyond five tonight.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off, chance to redeem himself for that missed ball in top of the inning. Ivan Nova, Lewis singles up the middle. Escobar, doubles to centre, Lewis to third. Two in scoring position but can they bring anyone in? They had a zero game yesterday with runners in scoring position. Bautista 3-0 count. Ball four to load them up for Wells. Don’t count on anything here, Vernon is in another slump. Nobody out. 2-0 count. Pops up to shallow left, here comes the throw double play ball. Why oh Why? Why are you risking that with nobody out ? Even with Wells out that would only be one down and bases still loaded. You can count on Vernon. Lind, you can’t count on him either. Poor but expected. 2-2 count. Full count. Has a base open will he walk him? Strikes out on that high ball, every scouting report has that on Lind. Wells and Lind do it again. BUT who sent Lewis on that shallow pop up? Only 16 pitches as well for Nova, watch him go the distance now.
Top 2nd: Granderson leading off. Momentum now all with Yankees. Hits him, one on base. He will be running. Nunez, Grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar over to Overbay, double play ball. Two down for Pena, 2-2 count. Lines it to Bautista into right. Cervelli. Two down one on. First pitch fly ball to Lewis in left to end this one. Pitch count 37.
Bottom 2nd: Hill leading off. Not sure why he is so high in lineup either, the way he has been hitting. Would be interesting to see Wells, Lind and Hill at the bottom of the order. 2-2 count. Grounds to third, throw to first one down. Overbay, 2-1 count. Singles back up the middle. That is why Lyle should be hitting cleanup in place of Wells. Encarnacion, 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, he is an easy out. Molina. First pitch back to Nova, throw to first for third out. Jays awful in the early going. Must be so discouraging for Morrow to see all this. He can be perfect for the rest of the game and still lose it. Pitch count 29.
Top 3rd: Gardner leading off. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Swisher, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number five tonight. Teixeira, lies into right, Bautista bobbles the ball. Teixeira at third on the play. Cano, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Number six. BUT pitch count is 55.
Bottom 3rd: Lewis leading off. 2-1 count. Grounds back to Nova, throw to first one down. Escobar. Grounds to short throw to first safe. Teixeira arguing but all Yankees do that, umpire said his foot came off the bag. One on for Bautista, 2-1 count. YEAH Jose, gets hold of this one, high into left field seats 2-1 Jays. Wells grounds to short, throw to first for the out. A good job we don’t rely on Vernon to score, in fact that would have been another inning ending double play. Lind, now with two down, what will he do this time? Can he lay off that high pitch? That was very high. 2-2 count. Lines to Cano for third out. Pitch count 47. Yankees will not be too worried, they have good bullpen and will be happy with four or five innings from Nova tonight. He is the future.
Top 4th: Posada leading off. 1-2 count. Pops up to Lewis in left, one down. Granderson, 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number seven for Morrow. Two down for Nunez, Lines it to Lewis for third out. Fred not too sure about the numbers of outs. Pitch count 64.
Bottom 4th: Hill leading off. In yet another slump, .210 average and struggling to finish the season above .200. Not what Jays had hoped for this season from Hill .Fly ball to Granderson. One down for Overbay. Full count. Strikes out swinging. Encarnacion grounds (first pitch) to Cano throw to Teixeira for third out. Johnny Mc. where are you tonight? Pitch count 57.
Top 5th: Pena leading off. Full count, Strike three looking, he will get those close calls after seven strikeouts. Number eight now. One down for Cervelli, another full count, strikes out swinging, number nine. Gardner, pops up to Hill for third out. Pitch count 78 and that is the problem.
Bottom 5th: Jays hitters not performing tonight heart of the order again Wells, Lind and Hill 0-6 tonight, you can’t get away with that against a team like Yankees even if your pitcher is lights out. Molina leading off. Pops up to Granderson in right centre, one down for Lewis, 1-1 count. Lines it hard to centre but Granderson has it at the wall. Two down for Escobar 2-2 tonight, 0-2 count, pops up to Gardner in shallow left for third out, Jays go quietly and meekly. Pitch count 65.
Top 6th: Yankees will be wanting to get into the bullpen so watch for the long pitch counts. This could be last inning for Morrow. Now what? Escobar thrown out of the game arguing, now Cito arguing and umpire throws him out. Jays self destructing here. You don’t need to give these Yankees any advantage at all. Johnny Mc. in at short, Swisher leading off strikes out arguing but Girardi gets him out quick. Teixeira with one down. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number eleven. Cano full count. Ball four. Posada two down and one on. This is trouble, doubles to the wall in right centre, here comes Cano 2-2 game. Granderson with runner at second. Camp and Carlson working in bullpen. Wild pitch to the wall and Posada to third. 2-2 count. Strike three looking but Yankees have tied this one up and that is probably it for Morrow at 104 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Yankees will be happy with Nova tonight. Bautista leading off. Hammers it into the fifth deck but foul, he really turned on that pitch. Whoa ! Nova throws pitch over head of Bautista, umpire warns him, now Jose saying something and here they come, benches clearing. No more damage but pitchers now under warning. Bautista, fly ball to Granderson for the out. Wells now, hitless tonight, grounds out to third throw too late to get Vernon, finally a hit. That’s it for Nova, did more than enough, Jays fans booing him off the field. Boone Logan now pitching. Lefty lefty matchup. Lind, also hitless tonight, perhaps he can do something now. Chamberlain now warming up in Yankees bullpen. swinging way off the plate 0-2, strikes out swinging way outside. Awful. Two down. Hill also hitless tonight. The middle of the order is really hurting Jays these days. A big concern for next season without major changes, 1-1 count. Pops up to Swisher in right, Hill now 0-15.
Top 7th: Camp now pitching. Nunez leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging way outside. One down for Pena, singles to centre, one on one down for Cervelli. 1-2 count. Downs warming up. 2-2, YES indeed. Hit and run, lines it to Bautista in right throw to Overbay to double up Pena who was already at third. Nice.
Bottom 7th: Bottom of Jays order, Overbay leading off. Pressure here Lyle. 3-1 count. Nothing for Lyle to hit here. Ball four down and away, semi-intentional to get to Encarnacion. Girardi out to get Chamberlain in there. All or nothing for Edwin. It would really help to connect here bigtime. 0-1 count. Lines to Swisher in right, one down. Molina, 2-0 count, pops up to Gardner in left, two down. Lewis, two down and one on. 3-1 count. Pops up to Granderson for third out.
Top 8th: Jays running out of time here. Downs now pitching. Gardner leading off. Full count. Strike three. One down for Swisher, singles into right. One down one on for Teixeira. Yes indeed, grounds to Hill throw to McDonald over to Overbay double play ball to end this one.
Bottom 8th: Johnny Mc. leading off in place of Escobar. Robertson now pitching. 1-2 strikes out swinging. Bautista now, will he payback for that pitch by Nova. Gregg working in bullpen. OH YES Jose!!! Hammers this one, way into left field seats. 3-2 Jays. Wells now, when did Vernon last hit a home run? Fans want Jose. Curtain call for Jose on the top of the steps, 40 home runs. WOW! Full count to Wells. Ball four. Lind now can he do anything? 1-2 count. Watch the high strike. Lays off it this time, good boy. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Hitless night for Lind. Hill also hitless tonight. 0-2 count. Watches strike three. When you are hitting zero you are very bad. But the million $ question is when are these two coming out of their season long slumps?
Top 9th: Gregg now pitching. He has not pitched for several days, you know what that means. Big bats for Yankees. Hang on here, roller coaster 9th. Get those heart pills out Cano leading off. Full count. Ball four. Leadoff walk, Cito is not on the bench s Gregg does not have to feel the glare. Posada, one on. Fly ball to Bautista in right, one down one on. Granderson, 0-2 count. Strike three. Two down Jeter pinch hitting for Nunez, 0-1 count, pops up to Overbay at first. Jays win this one, Downs gets the win. Gregg save number 28.
The excellent. Morrow superb outing but without Bautista tonight it would have been wasted. Jays bullpen Camp, Downs and Gregg with three scoreless innings also excellent tonight.
However: As expected Nova looked like Cy Young with these Jays hitters who could not put this one away in the very first inning with bases loaded and nobody out. That could have been the game right there. A young guy pitching his first big league game, you have to knock him out early when given chances like that.
Post-mortem: Cito has to face up to the continual very poor performances by Wells, Lind and Hill. Drop them down (or out of) the lineup. Put Overbay clean up. Next week will see the callup so perhaps he will wait until then. You can’t have the four five and six players hitting so badly and hope to win many games. Even in the big 16-2 drubbing of Boston last weekend these players were absent. It was Overbay doing the big damage
Preview: Jays face another rookie and you know how those games usually go with the Jays. They make the rookie look like Cy Young. Let’s se if Nova can do that tonight in his first major league start.
Lineups: Yankees: Gardner, Swisher, Teixeira, Cano, Posada, Granderson, Nunez, Pena, Cervelli. No Jeter and no Rodriguez.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Encarnacion, Molina. Encarnacion and Hill back in lineup, too bad, I don’t think they strengthen Jays lineup at all. Molina in to catch Morrow.
Pitching: Morrow v Nova.
Morrow had poor start last time and far too many pitches but was coming off that long break. Lots of very noisy Yankee fans tonight, have to keep them quiet and disappointed.
Top 1st: Gardner leading off, 3-0 count this is the knock on Morrow, too many pitches. Full count, strikes out swinging. Six pitches, Gardner did his job. One down for Swisher. 3-1 count, ball four. Yankees will be patient tonight, they want Morrow out of here. Teixeira, 0-2 count. Strike three looking, two down for Cano. This guy is dangerous. Here we go, lines it to left corner, Lewis had a chance on this, but misses this one, here comes Gardner, 1-0 Yankees. Stand up double for Posada. 3-0 count. Full count. Strikes out swinging but 23 pitches already. We may not see Morrow beyond five tonight.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off, chance to redeem himself for that missed ball in top of the inning. Ivan Nova, Lewis singles up the middle. Escobar, doubles to centre, Lewis to third. Two in scoring position but can they bring anyone in? They had a zero game yesterday with runners in scoring position. Bautista 3-0 count. Ball four to load them up for Wells. Don’t count on anything here, Vernon is in another slump. Nobody out. 2-0 count. Pops up to shallow left, here comes the throw double play ball. Why oh Why? Why are you risking that with nobody out ? Even with Wells out that would only be one down and bases still loaded. You can count on Vernon. Lind, you can’t count on him either. Poor but expected. 2-2 count. Full count. Has a base open will he walk him? Strikes out on that high ball, every scouting report has that on Lind. Wells and Lind do it again. BUT who sent Lewis on that shallow pop up? Only 16 pitches as well for Nova, watch him go the distance now.
Top 2nd: Granderson leading off. Momentum now all with Yankees. Hits him, one on base. He will be running. Nunez, Grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar over to Overbay, double play ball. Two down for Pena, 2-2 count. Lines it to Bautista into right. Cervelli. Two down one on. First pitch fly ball to Lewis in left to end this one. Pitch count 37.
Bottom 2nd: Hill leading off. Not sure why he is so high in lineup either, the way he has been hitting. Would be interesting to see Wells, Lind and Hill at the bottom of the order. 2-2 count. Grounds to third, throw to first one down. Overbay, 2-1 count. Singles back up the middle. That is why Lyle should be hitting cleanup in place of Wells. Encarnacion, 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, he is an easy out. Molina. First pitch back to Nova, throw to first for third out. Jays awful in the early going. Must be so discouraging for Morrow to see all this. He can be perfect for the rest of the game and still lose it. Pitch count 29.
Top 3rd: Gardner leading off. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Swisher, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number five tonight. Teixeira, lies into right, Bautista bobbles the ball. Teixeira at third on the play. Cano, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Number six. BUT pitch count is 55.
Bottom 3rd: Lewis leading off. 2-1 count. Grounds back to Nova, throw to first one down. Escobar. Grounds to short throw to first safe. Teixeira arguing but all Yankees do that, umpire said his foot came off the bag. One on for Bautista, 2-1 count. YEAH Jose, gets hold of this one, high into left field seats 2-1 Jays. Wells grounds to short, throw to first for the out. A good job we don’t rely on Vernon to score, in fact that would have been another inning ending double play. Lind, now with two down, what will he do this time? Can he lay off that high pitch? That was very high. 2-2 count. Lines to Cano for third out. Pitch count 47. Yankees will not be too worried, they have good bullpen and will be happy with four or five innings from Nova tonight. He is the future.
Top 4th: Posada leading off. 1-2 count. Pops up to Lewis in left, one down. Granderson, 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number seven for Morrow. Two down for Nunez, Lines it to Lewis for third out. Fred not too sure about the numbers of outs. Pitch count 64.
Bottom 4th: Hill leading off. In yet another slump, .210 average and struggling to finish the season above .200. Not what Jays had hoped for this season from Hill .Fly ball to Granderson. One down for Overbay. Full count. Strikes out swinging. Encarnacion grounds (first pitch) to Cano throw to Teixeira for third out. Johnny Mc. where are you tonight? Pitch count 57.
Top 5th: Pena leading off. Full count, Strike three looking, he will get those close calls after seven strikeouts. Number eight now. One down for Cervelli, another full count, strikes out swinging, number nine. Gardner, pops up to Hill for third out. Pitch count 78 and that is the problem.
Bottom 5th: Jays hitters not performing tonight heart of the order again Wells, Lind and Hill 0-6 tonight, you can’t get away with that against a team like Yankees even if your pitcher is lights out. Molina leading off. Pops up to Granderson in right centre, one down for Lewis, 1-1 count. Lines it hard to centre but Granderson has it at the wall. Two down for Escobar 2-2 tonight, 0-2 count, pops up to Gardner in shallow left for third out, Jays go quietly and meekly. Pitch count 65.
Top 6th: Yankees will be wanting to get into the bullpen so watch for the long pitch counts. This could be last inning for Morrow. Now what? Escobar thrown out of the game arguing, now Cito arguing and umpire throws him out. Jays self destructing here. You don’t need to give these Yankees any advantage at all. Johnny Mc. in at short, Swisher leading off strikes out arguing but Girardi gets him out quick. Teixeira with one down. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, number eleven. Cano full count. Ball four. Posada two down and one on. This is trouble, doubles to the wall in right centre, here comes Cano 2-2 game. Granderson with runner at second. Camp and Carlson working in bullpen. Wild pitch to the wall and Posada to third. 2-2 count. Strike three looking but Yankees have tied this one up and that is probably it for Morrow at 104 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Yankees will be happy with Nova tonight. Bautista leading off. Hammers it into the fifth deck but foul, he really turned on that pitch. Whoa ! Nova throws pitch over head of Bautista, umpire warns him, now Jose saying something and here they come, benches clearing. No more damage but pitchers now under warning. Bautista, fly ball to Granderson for the out. Wells now, hitless tonight, grounds out to third throw too late to get Vernon, finally a hit. That’s it for Nova, did more than enough, Jays fans booing him off the field. Boone Logan now pitching. Lefty lefty matchup. Lind, also hitless tonight, perhaps he can do something now. Chamberlain now warming up in Yankees bullpen. swinging way off the plate 0-2, strikes out swinging way outside. Awful. Two down. Hill also hitless tonight. The middle of the order is really hurting Jays these days. A big concern for next season without major changes, 1-1 count. Pops up to Swisher in right, Hill now 0-15.
Top 7th: Camp now pitching. Nunez leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging way outside. One down for Pena, singles to centre, one on one down for Cervelli. 1-2 count. Downs warming up. 2-2, YES indeed. Hit and run, lines it to Bautista in right throw to Overbay to double up Pena who was already at third. Nice.
Bottom 7th: Bottom of Jays order, Overbay leading off. Pressure here Lyle. 3-1 count. Nothing for Lyle to hit here. Ball four down and away, semi-intentional to get to Encarnacion. Girardi out to get Chamberlain in there. All or nothing for Edwin. It would really help to connect here bigtime. 0-1 count. Lines to Swisher in right, one down. Molina, 2-0 count, pops up to Gardner in left, two down. Lewis, two down and one on. 3-1 count. Pops up to Granderson for third out.
Top 8th: Jays running out of time here. Downs now pitching. Gardner leading off. Full count. Strike three. One down for Swisher, singles into right. One down one on for Teixeira. Yes indeed, grounds to Hill throw to McDonald over to Overbay double play ball to end this one.
Bottom 8th: Johnny Mc. leading off in place of Escobar. Robertson now pitching. 1-2 strikes out swinging. Bautista now, will he payback for that pitch by Nova. Gregg working in bullpen. OH YES Jose!!! Hammers this one, way into left field seats. 3-2 Jays. Wells now, when did Vernon last hit a home run? Fans want Jose. Curtain call for Jose on the top of the steps, 40 home runs. WOW! Full count to Wells. Ball four. Lind now can he do anything? 1-2 count. Watch the high strike. Lays off it this time, good boy. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Hitless night for Lind. Hill also hitless tonight. 0-2 count. Watches strike three. When you are hitting zero you are very bad. But the million $ question is when are these two coming out of their season long slumps?
Top 9th: Gregg now pitching. He has not pitched for several days, you know what that means. Big bats for Yankees. Hang on here, roller coaster 9th. Get those heart pills out Cano leading off. Full count. Ball four. Leadoff walk, Cito is not on the bench s Gregg does not have to feel the glare. Posada, one on. Fly ball to Bautista in right, one down one on. Granderson, 0-2 count. Strike three. Two down Jeter pinch hitting for Nunez, 0-1 count, pops up to Overbay at first. Jays win this one, Downs gets the win. Gregg save number 28.
The excellent. Morrow superb outing but without Bautista tonight it would have been wasted. Jays bullpen Camp, Downs and Gregg with three scoreless innings also excellent tonight.
However: As expected Nova looked like Cy Young with these Jays hitters who could not put this one away in the very first inning with bases loaded and nobody out. That could have been the game right there. A young guy pitching his first big league game, you have to knock him out early when given chances like that.
Post-mortem: Cito has to face up to the continual very poor performances by Wells, Lind and Hill. Drop them down (or out of) the lineup. Put Overbay clean up. Next week will see the callup so perhaps he will wait until then. You can’t have the four five and six players hitting so badly and hope to win many games. Even in the big 16-2 drubbing of Boston last weekend these players were absent. It was Overbay doing the big damage
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Jays 0-8 with runners in scoring position and ruin Marcum's fine outing.
Game three series finale. Jays v Red Sox. Sunday August 22.
Big game today for Jays. They need to show Boston that they are for real.
What they are saying today in Boston. (Dice-K) He dropped the ball with a 4-1 lead, which included a big two-run homer by Lyle Overbay, a veteran who has cleared waivers, hits for power to left field, and would be a decent pickup for the Sox. He doesn’t appear to be walking through that door, he’s just knocking them all down at Fenway in this series. (Boston Globe August 22)
Incentive for Jays if they need it today: "The Red Sox are 10-4 against the Blue Jays this season, and with right-hander Clay Buchholz heading to the mound today, they have a solid chance at winning their fifth consecutive series against Toronto. Buchholz has the league’s lowest ERA, making him a legitimate contender for the Cy Young Award, and hasn’t allowed a run in 14 straight innings". ( Boston Herald Aug 22).
OK let’s see if Jays can change that today.
Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Overbay, McDonald, Snider, Molina. Cito was reading this last night and sits Hill. I think he had no choice, Hill has been awful and a liability with bat, totally clueless at every at bat. Good decision Cito and I am sure if he could he would sit Escobar as well but as we said Johnny Mc. can only play in one position at a time.
Red Sox: Scutaro, Drew, Martinez, Ortiz, Beltre, Lowell, Lowrie, Hall, Kalish.
Pitching: Bucholz v Marcum. Jays need near perfection today from Marcum.
Rain delay. Game finally gets underway at 3.15. Almost two hour delay, will be interesting to see any impact.
Top 1st: Lewis leading off. 3-1 count. Ball four. Good start. Escobar bunting ? I think so. Jays will need any runs they can get against Bucholz. No, ball high 1-0, 1-1 count. Lewis distracting Bucholz, good to have that running threat for that very reason. Lined it hard at Scutaro knocks him over with the force of that, but one down. Bautista. Hammers this off the wall in left. A long single but Lewis to third. Wells, horrible series this weekend. No, pops up to Lowrie behind second not enough for Lewis to tag and score. Vernon cannot bring him again. Lind now, didn’t play last night. Two on two down. Awful. Grounds first pitch of course to Lowrie, throw to first for third out. Too bad Lind did not stay on the bench. Wasted opportunity to get to Bucholz early by both Wells and Lind. Pitch count 12.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro leading off takes strike one. Grounds to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay, one down. Drew, strikes out looking, great pitch Shaun. Martinez with two down. Full count. Grounds to Overbay flip to Marcum for third out. Pitch count 14.
Top 2nd: Overbay leading off. Great weekend for Lyle so far. 2-0 count. 3-1, ball four. One on but Jays have to bring him in. McDonald, 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging. One down for Snider. Another one who needs to get comfortable with his bat, 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Molina, there we go, how come the number nine guy can do it? Singles into right. Two on two down. Lewis again this time with two on. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Jays leave two more out there. Already 0-4 with runners in scoring position. They are really pushing their luck as Bucholz will start to settle in here. Pitch count 33.
Bottom 2nd: Ortiz leading off. Pops up the first pitch very high to Molina. One down for Beltre, 0-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay for second out. Lowell. Full count. Strikes out swinging. Excellent inning for Marcum pitch count 26.
Top 3rd: Jays have two on each inning so far and failed to score, time to change that and get to Bucholz. Escobar leading off, bunting ? No, 3-1 count. Another ball four. Third walk today already for Bucholz. Bautista with one on. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Martinez hurt on the play. Staying in game. Rain is back, Wells, long overdue. Left two on last time at bat. 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Lind, takes a pitch at least this time. Game called. Problem with another rain delay is that we may not see Bucholz back out there nor Marcum when they reconvene and you know who the long relief guy is for the Jays. Mr. Tallet. Let’s hope a short delay or the game is called period. Resumption with Lind lines to Hall in left.
Bottom 3rd: Lowrie fly ball to Wells, one down for Hall, grounds to Molina throw to Overbay, two down for Kalish strikes out. Marcum continues to pitch well but once again where is the run support?
Top 4th: Overbay leading off strikes out. One down for McDonald pops up to Lowell at first. Snider grounds to Lowrie at second, throw to Lowell at first for the third out. Jays go far too easily here. Snider is beginning to look like Hill and Lind and Wells, totally clueless. No longer swinging with that nice easy swing.
Bottom 4th: Scutaro grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Overbay, one down. Drew strikes out. Martinez with two down fly ball to Wells in centre for the out.
Top 5th: Molina leading off singles to left. If he can do it and twice today why cannot the hitters on this team? Lewis one on, fly ball to Kalish. One down. Escobar grounds to Scutaro at short, flip to Lowrie at second on to Lowell, double play ball to end this one.
Bottom 5th: Ortiz lines this one to left centre, Vernon is way over to right, has to get to the ball first, and here he comes going for three and safe on the throw at third, a triple ??? for Ortiz. But the shift gamble on Ortiz did not work again that is second time this series. Vito will say worth the percentages. Maybe but don’t tell Marcum that right now. First hit given up by Marcum. Beltre with runner at third, makes no doubt about this doubles to left, here comes Ortiz.1-0 Boston. Flood gates are opening. Lowell with runner in scoring position, fly ball to Lewis in left, one down. Lowrie grounds to McDonald at second throw to Overbay to get Lowrie but Beltre to third. Hall, with two down and one on. There she goes, he launches this one over the Green Monster in left, 3-0 Boston. Kalish with two down strikes out. Don’t blame Marcum here, he kept his team in this for four but they could not get the base hits when they needed them. Left far too many out there.
Top 6th: Jays need to get back in this. Bautista singled to left. Good start. Wells loops and excuse me hit into right. Bautista to second. It is as if Wells has lost any power that he had and I am sorry but 60 RBIs may be better than last season and the one before but not good enough at least for a cleanup hitter Cito. Lind one down and one on, strikes out. Lind is just as bad as Wells, not even a single. Overbay one down, fly ball to Drew in right, two down. McDonald lines to Lowrie at second. Bautista sitting out there wondering when this team will get a real hit when it counts.
Bottom 6th: Scutaro fly ball to Snider in right, one down. Drew grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay, two down. Martinez grounds back to Marcum for the out.
Top 7th: Bard now pitching. Bucholz has gone, didn’t need his best stuff today to win this one. Snider full count and walks. We need hits from you Travis not walks, Jays have had lead runner on every inning except for the 4th and are still unable to score. Boston pitchers will gladly give up the walks. Molina pops up to Scutaro. One down. Wild pitch by Bard, Snider to second. That might be one way to score here today for the Jays. Top of the order, one down Lewis strikes out. Escobar with two down strikes out. Yet another leadoff wasted.
Bottom 7th: Ortiz leading off strikes out. Still recovering from the triple last at bat. Beltre grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay. Two down for Lowell, singles to left. Lowrie fly ball to Wells.
Top 8th: Another pitcher for Boston. Doubront pitching. Bautista leading off fly ball to Kalish in centre. One down for Wells grounds to Scutaro at short, and beats out the throw. Lind hitless tonight, strikes out. Two down for Overbay, fly ball to Drew in right to end this one.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Marcum had a great outing, one bad inning but had no run support at all. 91 pitches and no walks. Bucholz 97 pitches and three walks but he gets his run support. Hall leading off strikes out. One down for Kalish, doubles to left. One on one down for Scutaro, full count, ball four to put two on. Drew strikes out. Two down.
Martinez singles to centre, Kalish scores 4-0 Boston. Scutaro to second. Frasor not happy with that at all. Martinez, singles up the middle, 4-0 Boston. Ortiz with two down and two on. 2-1, full count. Singles into left. Shift does not work this time. Here comes another run 5-0 Boston. Frasor implodes once again. I do feel sorry for Marcum. Beltre lines it to Snider in right for third out. But this one is out of reach now.
Top 9th: Do Jays have any fight tonight ? I don’t think so based on what we have seen today. Pretty pathetic performance by the hitters, even Boston fans have gone home. Doubront pitching McDonald leading off. Snider hitless tonight. Strikes out, two down. Molina last at bat one of the few highlights tonight. Two hits. Looking for straws to clutch at tonight on this pathetic performance. Not even a short straw. 0-2 count. Hits him on the shoulder. Lewis, two down and one on. 1-2 count. Grounds to first steps on the bag for third out and end to a very poor performance by these Jays.
Jays hitters ruin a great outing by Marcum. They had their chances early in this one but Wells, Lind could not produce, must be of concern now to Cito. Perhaps time to sit Wells, Lind and Hill and bring in the new Jays, give them a month. They can’t be worse than these three. I think looking at previous Jays teams we could always identify the go to guy on the team, one that could be relied on at least to give this team a chance with runners in scoring position, this team is lacking that person. Wells I would suggest, for whatever reason, physical or mental, is no longer a cleanup hitter.
The bad: We have to start identifying these guys now. Wells, Lind at bats in first inning with runner at third unable to get a hit and Lind especially with first pitch out. Put some pressure on Bucholz. Wells again in the third with runner on. Cito does not have to stay with Wells now, he has Wise on the bench. Lind throughout this game. Hill can be replaced by Johnny Mc., and for Wells, put Wise in there. More than adequate replacement. Frasor could not hold it in the 8th. Puts the game out of reach for this lot today, earlier in the season maybe they were hungry and would fight but not now. Some of them are playing out their string.
Jays get six hits and four walks and cannot score one run, that says it all tonight. 0-8 with runners in scoring position. That is very bad.
Next series the Yankees and based on this sorry performance Jays will get embarrassed.
Big game today for Jays. They need to show Boston that they are for real.
What they are saying today in Boston. (Dice-K) He dropped the ball with a 4-1 lead, which included a big two-run homer by Lyle Overbay, a veteran who has cleared waivers, hits for power to left field, and would be a decent pickup for the Sox. He doesn’t appear to be walking through that door, he’s just knocking them all down at Fenway in this series. (Boston Globe August 22)
Incentive for Jays if they need it today: "The Red Sox are 10-4 against the Blue Jays this season, and with right-hander Clay Buchholz heading to the mound today, they have a solid chance at winning their fifth consecutive series against Toronto. Buchholz has the league’s lowest ERA, making him a legitimate contender for the Cy Young Award, and hasn’t allowed a run in 14 straight innings". ( Boston Herald Aug 22).
OK let’s see if Jays can change that today.
Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Overbay, McDonald, Snider, Molina. Cito was reading this last night and sits Hill. I think he had no choice, Hill has been awful and a liability with bat, totally clueless at every at bat. Good decision Cito and I am sure if he could he would sit Escobar as well but as we said Johnny Mc. can only play in one position at a time.
Red Sox: Scutaro, Drew, Martinez, Ortiz, Beltre, Lowell, Lowrie, Hall, Kalish.
Pitching: Bucholz v Marcum. Jays need near perfection today from Marcum.
Rain delay. Game finally gets underway at 3.15. Almost two hour delay, will be interesting to see any impact.
Top 1st: Lewis leading off. 3-1 count. Ball four. Good start. Escobar bunting ? I think so. Jays will need any runs they can get against Bucholz. No, ball high 1-0, 1-1 count. Lewis distracting Bucholz, good to have that running threat for that very reason. Lined it hard at Scutaro knocks him over with the force of that, but one down. Bautista. Hammers this off the wall in left. A long single but Lewis to third. Wells, horrible series this weekend. No, pops up to Lowrie behind second not enough for Lewis to tag and score. Vernon cannot bring him again. Lind now, didn’t play last night. Two on two down. Awful. Grounds first pitch of course to Lowrie, throw to first for third out. Too bad Lind did not stay on the bench. Wasted opportunity to get to Bucholz early by both Wells and Lind. Pitch count 12.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro leading off takes strike one. Grounds to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay, one down. Drew, strikes out looking, great pitch Shaun. Martinez with two down. Full count. Grounds to Overbay flip to Marcum for third out. Pitch count 14.
Top 2nd: Overbay leading off. Great weekend for Lyle so far. 2-0 count. 3-1, ball four. One on but Jays have to bring him in. McDonald, 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging. One down for Snider. Another one who needs to get comfortable with his bat, 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Molina, there we go, how come the number nine guy can do it? Singles into right. Two on two down. Lewis again this time with two on. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Jays leave two more out there. Already 0-4 with runners in scoring position. They are really pushing their luck as Bucholz will start to settle in here. Pitch count 33.
Bottom 2nd: Ortiz leading off. Pops up the first pitch very high to Molina. One down for Beltre, 0-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay for second out. Lowell. Full count. Strikes out swinging. Excellent inning for Marcum pitch count 26.
Top 3rd: Jays have two on each inning so far and failed to score, time to change that and get to Bucholz. Escobar leading off, bunting ? No, 3-1 count. Another ball four. Third walk today already for Bucholz. Bautista with one on. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Martinez hurt on the play. Staying in game. Rain is back, Wells, long overdue. Left two on last time at bat. 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Lind, takes a pitch at least this time. Game called. Problem with another rain delay is that we may not see Bucholz back out there nor Marcum when they reconvene and you know who the long relief guy is for the Jays. Mr. Tallet. Let’s hope a short delay or the game is called period. Resumption with Lind lines to Hall in left.
Bottom 3rd: Lowrie fly ball to Wells, one down for Hall, grounds to Molina throw to Overbay, two down for Kalish strikes out. Marcum continues to pitch well but once again where is the run support?
Top 4th: Overbay leading off strikes out. One down for McDonald pops up to Lowell at first. Snider grounds to Lowrie at second, throw to Lowell at first for the third out. Jays go far too easily here. Snider is beginning to look like Hill and Lind and Wells, totally clueless. No longer swinging with that nice easy swing.
Bottom 4th: Scutaro grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Overbay, one down. Drew strikes out. Martinez with two down fly ball to Wells in centre for the out.
Top 5th: Molina leading off singles to left. If he can do it and twice today why cannot the hitters on this team? Lewis one on, fly ball to Kalish. One down. Escobar grounds to Scutaro at short, flip to Lowrie at second on to Lowell, double play ball to end this one.
Bottom 5th: Ortiz lines this one to left centre, Vernon is way over to right, has to get to the ball first, and here he comes going for three and safe on the throw at third, a triple ??? for Ortiz. But the shift gamble on Ortiz did not work again that is second time this series. Vito will say worth the percentages. Maybe but don’t tell Marcum that right now. First hit given up by Marcum. Beltre with runner at third, makes no doubt about this doubles to left, here comes Ortiz.1-0 Boston. Flood gates are opening. Lowell with runner in scoring position, fly ball to Lewis in left, one down. Lowrie grounds to McDonald at second throw to Overbay to get Lowrie but Beltre to third. Hall, with two down and one on. There she goes, he launches this one over the Green Monster in left, 3-0 Boston. Kalish with two down strikes out. Don’t blame Marcum here, he kept his team in this for four but they could not get the base hits when they needed them. Left far too many out there.
Top 6th: Jays need to get back in this. Bautista singled to left. Good start. Wells loops and excuse me hit into right. Bautista to second. It is as if Wells has lost any power that he had and I am sorry but 60 RBIs may be better than last season and the one before but not good enough at least for a cleanup hitter Cito. Lind one down and one on, strikes out. Lind is just as bad as Wells, not even a single. Overbay one down, fly ball to Drew in right, two down. McDonald lines to Lowrie at second. Bautista sitting out there wondering when this team will get a real hit when it counts.
Bottom 6th: Scutaro fly ball to Snider in right, one down. Drew grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay, two down. Martinez grounds back to Marcum for the out.
Top 7th: Bard now pitching. Bucholz has gone, didn’t need his best stuff today to win this one. Snider full count and walks. We need hits from you Travis not walks, Jays have had lead runner on every inning except for the 4th and are still unable to score. Boston pitchers will gladly give up the walks. Molina pops up to Scutaro. One down. Wild pitch by Bard, Snider to second. That might be one way to score here today for the Jays. Top of the order, one down Lewis strikes out. Escobar with two down strikes out. Yet another leadoff wasted.
Bottom 7th: Ortiz leading off strikes out. Still recovering from the triple last at bat. Beltre grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay. Two down for Lowell, singles to left. Lowrie fly ball to Wells.
Top 8th: Another pitcher for Boston. Doubront pitching. Bautista leading off fly ball to Kalish in centre. One down for Wells grounds to Scutaro at short, and beats out the throw. Lind hitless tonight, strikes out. Two down for Overbay, fly ball to Drew in right to end this one.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Marcum had a great outing, one bad inning but had no run support at all. 91 pitches and no walks. Bucholz 97 pitches and three walks but he gets his run support. Hall leading off strikes out. One down for Kalish, doubles to left. One on one down for Scutaro, full count, ball four to put two on. Drew strikes out. Two down.
Martinez singles to centre, Kalish scores 4-0 Boston. Scutaro to second. Frasor not happy with that at all. Martinez, singles up the middle, 4-0 Boston. Ortiz with two down and two on. 2-1, full count. Singles into left. Shift does not work this time. Here comes another run 5-0 Boston. Frasor implodes once again. I do feel sorry for Marcum. Beltre lines it to Snider in right for third out. But this one is out of reach now.
Top 9th: Do Jays have any fight tonight ? I don’t think so based on what we have seen today. Pretty pathetic performance by the hitters, even Boston fans have gone home. Doubront pitching McDonald leading off. Snider hitless tonight. Strikes out, two down. Molina last at bat one of the few highlights tonight. Two hits. Looking for straws to clutch at tonight on this pathetic performance. Not even a short straw. 0-2 count. Hits him on the shoulder. Lewis, two down and one on. 1-2 count. Grounds to first steps on the bag for third out and end to a very poor performance by these Jays.
Jays hitters ruin a great outing by Marcum. They had their chances early in this one but Wells, Lind could not produce, must be of concern now to Cito. Perhaps time to sit Wells, Lind and Hill and bring in the new Jays, give them a month. They can’t be worse than these three. I think looking at previous Jays teams we could always identify the go to guy on the team, one that could be relied on at least to give this team a chance with runners in scoring position, this team is lacking that person. Wells I would suggest, for whatever reason, physical or mental, is no longer a cleanup hitter.
The bad: We have to start identifying these guys now. Wells, Lind at bats in first inning with runner at third unable to get a hit and Lind especially with first pitch out. Put some pressure on Bucholz. Wells again in the third with runner on. Cito does not have to stay with Wells now, he has Wise on the bench. Lind throughout this game. Hill can be replaced by Johnny Mc., and for Wells, put Wise in there. More than adequate replacement. Frasor could not hold it in the 8th. Puts the game out of reach for this lot today, earlier in the season maybe they were hungry and would fight but not now. Some of them are playing out their string.
Jays get six hits and four walks and cannot score one run, that says it all tonight. 0-8 with runners in scoring position. That is very bad.
Next series the Yankees and based on this sorry performance Jays will get embarrassed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)