Jays beat Rays with great pitching from Cecil and bullpen

Game one. Rays v Jays. Friday August 6.

Rays have lost their last two, good time to visit Toronto. Jays had great series in New York and should be on a high.

Lineups: Rays: Upton, Rodriguez, Longoria, Aybar, Zobrist, Bartlett, Joyce, Kapler, Shoppach.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Encarnacion, Molina
Pitching: Cecil v Garza.

Top 1st: Upton leading off, strikes out. One down for Rodriguez, doubles to right.
Longoria one on one down, fly ball to Bautista in right, two down but Rodriguez moves to third. Aybar, doubles into the corner in left past Lewis, here comes Rodriguez and Rays strike quickly here. 1-0 Rays. Zobrist with Aybar at second grounds to Escobar, safe at first, Aybar to third. Not easy so far for Cecil. Two on two down for Bartlett, grounds to Encarnacion at third throw to Overbay for third out.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off grounds to Rodriguez at second, throw to Zobrist at first for the out. One down for Escobar, strikes out. I am starting to worry about this guy, he is not performing the way he did when he first arrived. Two down. Bautista fly ball to Upton in centre. Three up three down. 13 pitches.

Top 2nd: Joyce leading off strikes out. One down for Kapler grounds to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay, two down. Shoppach strike three looking. Crowd noisy, they love that. 39 pitches. Third strike out for Cecil.
Bottom 2nd: Wells leading off. 1-2 down and away strikes out come on Vernon. Lind one down singles to centre. Hill, 2-1 count. Another one into second deck in left but foul. 2-2, holds up down and away, watch that Vernon, full count. Pops up to Joyce in right two down. Overbay, 0-2 count. 2-2, another full count. Pops up to Kapler in left. Pitch count 32.

Top 3rd: Upton leading off. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, second time tonight, one down for Rodriguez, grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Overbay, two down. Longoria, 2-2 count, strikes out looking. Nice pitch. Strikeout number five for Cecil, 51 pitches. May have to reduce that if he wants to last beyond six tonight.
Bottom 3rd: Encarnacion, leading off. 0-2 count. Gets hold of this one hammers it to left past Kapler all the way to the wall. Edwin at second. Molina with runner in scoring position. 1-2 count. Lines it to Rodriguez at second, throws to Bartlett at second ball gets away, here comes Encarnacion to tie this one up. 1-1. Error to Rodriguez. One down for Lewis, 1-2 count. Full count, grounds it to Longoria at third, throw to first. Two down. Escobar, lines it to Upton at centre. Pitch count 47.

Top 4th: Aybar, lines it Lewis in left, right in the lights but Fred makes that catch. One down. Zobrist, pops up first pitch to Wells in centre, two down. Bartlett, showing bunt, changes his mind. 1-2 count. Bounces to Hill, throw to Overbay. Three up and down. Pitch count 60. Much better Brett, you needed that inning to get back on track here.
Bottom 4th: Bautista leading off. Pops up to Joyce in right. One down for Wells, lay off those pitches down and away Vernon. 0-2 count, pops up to Rodriguez at second. Lind with two down. High very high pop up to in right field corner. Almost but not quite Adam, Pitch count. 56.

Top 5th: Joyce hammers this one to centre, Vernon has it, right on the track, one down. Kapler, bounces the ball to second, nice play by Hill and throw to Overbay for second out. Shoppach, 0-2 count, 2-2, way high, full count. Don’t lose him Brett. Strikes out swinging. Six strikeouts. 73 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Can Jays hitters get to Garza now? Need some runs here friends. Hill leading off. First pitch pop up to Zobrist at first. One down for Overbay, 2-1 count, pops up to Bartlett at short, two down. Encarnacion, 2-0, oh boy, long high drive here to left, caught by Kapler at the wall, 65 pitches. Jays hitters hit it hard but not line drives. But maybe they are getting to Garza now.

Top 6th: Upton leading off. 3-1 count. Strike two, Ball four. First walk given by Cecil. Watch for the steal. Rodriguez, 1-0, 1-2, singles to Bautista in right, two on no outs for Longoria. 2-0 count, come on Brett. 2-2, grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Hill, over to Overbay at first double play ball. Upton to third. Two down. Aybar, Purcey working in Jays bullpen. 1-1count. 3-1 count. Outside ball four. Two on two down for Zobrist, 2-0 count. Rays making Cecil work here, great patience, something Jays do not have. 3-0 count. Full count, strikes out swinging. But his pitch count is 99. That may be it for Brett.
Bottom 6th: We want runs…Garza has stymied Jays free swinging hitters tonight... Molina leading off. Pops up to first, one down two pitches. Patience is not a word in this team’s vocabulary. That is why Garza only has 65 pitches and is still in the game whereas Cecil may already be finished. Lewis, 3-1 count. full count. Strike three looking. Two down. Escobar, grounds first pitch back to Garza, throw to first. 73 pitches. Eight pitch inning. Two first pitch outs. Garza will be pitching tomorrow at this rate.

Top 7th: Cecil still out there. I thought Cito was concerned about the young pitchers arms and pitch counts? Obviously not tonight. Bartlett leading off, 2-2 count. Strikes out looking. One down. Joyce,0-2 count. Strikes out looking. Number nine for Cecil. Kapler, 0-2 count. Pops up to Bautista in right. 113 pitch count.
Bottom 7th: Jays bats are still on their off day so far tonight. The only run was through an error. Cecil has done his job very well though. Bautista leading off. 0-2 count. Bounces back to Garza throw to first. Oh dear lousy throw in the dirt at first and Bautista safe, error on Garza.Two tonight. Wells, make them pay Vernon. 1-2 lays off this one outside. Strikes out on this one though. One down for Lind, 1-1 count. There we go Adam, lines it very hard into right, Jose cannot get two bases here has to hold at second. Two on for Hill, one down. 2-0 count. 3-1, take or swing? Fly ball to Joyce in right, Bautista tags and gets to third. Two down for Overbay. 1-0 count. Yes Lyle, lines it hard to Kapler in left, off the wall in the corner, here comes Bautista to score, here comes Lind here comes the throw from Kapler, Lind out at the plate. Man hate to see that. But Jays do have the lead 2-1 Jays. 93 pitches for Garza.

Top 8th: Camp now pitching. Jaso pinch hitting for Shoppach. Grounds it to Overbay flip to Camp covering one down. Upton, 0-2 count. Fly ball to right Bautista has it on the track. Two down. Rodriguez, 2-1 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay for the third out.
Bottom 8th: Garza still out there. Encarnacion 1-1. Pops it up to Bartlett, one down. Molina lines first pitch to second. Two down for Lewis, grounds to Zobrist, throw to Garza for the out. Jays three up and down and not very good at bats for any of them.

Top 9th: Over to Gregg, only one run, hang on here for the ride. It may be rough. Has not pitched in five days. Longoria leading off. 3-0 count, 3-1, full count. Singles to Lewis in left. One on for Aybar. 0-2 count. 2-2 but those were very close. Full count, another very, very close one. Strikes out looking. One down for Zobrist, not getting that pitch on the corner. 1-1, pops up to Wells in shallow centre, two down for listen to that crowd. Noisy noisy tonight. Bartlett, with one on and two down. 1-1 count. 1-2, grounds back up the middle, Hill has it and steps on second to get Longoria for the third out. Jays win big tonight 2-1. But this is Tampa. Huge win. Save number 25 for Kevin.

Very good: Cecil for seven innings and nine strikeouts and despite giving up the run in the first, settle down. Camp a scoreless 8th and Gregg to finish it off and get the save.
The bad: The first pitch free swinging played right into Garza’s strategy. Hitters tonight came though in the clutch but both these runs tonight were a result of the errors by the Rays. Escobar does not look comfortable at bat, pressing too much.
The other bad news is that Jesse Litsch has to have hip surgery and is out for six months at least. The only good thing about this is it gives him enforced six months for that shoulder rehab. He will be back for Spring training.

Brad Mills recalled from AAA Vegas for the start tomorrow. Will also see young Arencibia for his first major league start. He will at least be accustomed to catching Mills from Vegas.