Jays power and clutch pitching win big in New York.

Game one, Jays v Yankees. Monday August 2.

Litsch evidently all upset that he was pulled yesterday in the fifth. Memo to Jesse, get wise, you are not pitching well, you need more time to recover from that surgery and whilst you are in Vegas get fit, lose some of that extra weight.
This is a big game for NY. Tampa is one game behind. Jays can act as spoilers here and also postpone that home run 600.

Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Overbay, Hill, Snider, Encarnacion, Molina.
Yankees: Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Posada, Berkman, Granderson, Gardner.
Pitching: Morrow v AJ. Burnett. Always good to try to beat this guy.

Top 1st: Lewis leading off fly ball to Swisher in right, one down. Escobar pops up to Posada. Bautista with two down, strikes out. Three up and down for Burnett.
Bottom 1st: Jeter leading off singles to right. One on for Swisher, ever dangerous 2-2 count, and here it goes, drives it to centre home run for Swisher and Yankees go out ahead 2-0. Morrow down and still no outs. Teixeira grounds to Hill throw to Overbay at first for the out. One down for Rodriguez. Here go the flashes, but grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Overbay. Two down. Cano strikes out. Molina throw to Overbay. Morrow gets the last three but is down 2-0.

Top 2nd: Wells leading off, there she goes, into the right field corner seats opposite field home run for Vernon, you don’t see many of those. 2-1 Yankees. Overbay now works the walk. Hill with one on and one down, singles to left, Overbay to second. Snider, starting to get that swing timing back, strikes out this time. Encarnacion back in the lineup with Lind sitting tonight, pops up to Cano at second, two down. Molina grounds to Rodriguez at third, throw to second to get Hill, strange play when Molina is the slower of the two.
Bottom 2nd: Posada leading off singles to right. Berkman strikes out. Granderson with one on one down, 3-0 count, ball four. Posada to second. Gardner strikes out.
Two down for Jeter, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. 44 pitches.

Top 3rd: Lewis leading off, 2-2, hit on the foot, one way to get on base. Escobar showing bunt, Burnett throwing over several times to keep Lewis at first, Escobar pops up to Cano at second. One down. Bautista with one on one down. 1-1 low strike for Jose. There goes Lewis, but fouled off 1-2 Burnett still distracted by Lewis. Lewis going, Posada throw right on the bag for second out. 2-2 count to Bautista. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 45. Could have been worse for Burnett if Lewis had not been thrown out.
Bottom 3rd: Swisher leading off, grounds first pitch to Overbay at first takes it himself to the bag. One down for Teixeira, pops up first pitch to Escobar at the bag at second. Rodriguez, two down. 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, full count. Strikes out swinging. Very nice Brandon, Our hero. 53 pitch count. Nine pitch inning of which A-Rod had six of them.

Top 4th: Wells, grounds to Rodriguez at third, throw to first for the out. Overbay one down. Grounds back up the middle but not too hard and Jeter makes the play and throw to first for second out. Hill, with two down. 0-2 count. Pulls it to Jeter at short, throw just gets Aaron. 54 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Cano leading off. Lines first pitch hard and right at Overbay, great catch Lyle, one down. Posada, lines this one to centre, bounces over the fence, ground rule double. Berkman pops it up to Escobar at short. Two down for Granderson. Strikes him out swinging. Pitch count 65.

Top 5th: Can Jays get to Burnett now? Snider, 0-2 count. Does not go after the low ball, good sign. There we go Travis, lines this to the wall in right centre. Encarnacion, OH BOY Edwin, crushes, hammers, tomahawks, whatever you want, no doubt about this one, like a bullet into second deck. 3-2 Jays. Molina, full count, ball four, one on for Lewis, 2-0 count, 2-2, Lewis making Burnett work for this though. Doubles this into left, caroms off the wall and Gardner confused by the bounce and Molina gets to third. Two in scoring position now with no outs. Escobar, grounds to Rodriguez, throw home gets Molina. One down two on for Bautista. Bautista doubles to left, here comes Lewis, here comes Escobar 5-2 Jays. Wells doubles to left past diving A-Rod. Bautista scores 6-2 Jays. Overbay with Vernon at second and one down. 2-2 count. Mitre working in Yankees bullpen. Full count, Jays hitters very patient here tonight. Strikes out swinging. Two down for Hill, one more hit may see the end of Burnett, come on Aaron. Wild pitch to the wall, Wells to third on the pitch. 3-1 another way outside. full count, way to go Aaron, doubles past diving A-Rod at third, same as Vernon’s hit bounces off the wall, Garner having rough time here, again here comes Vernon 7-2 Jays and Hill to second. A-Rod had better get closer to that line ! That’s it for AJ, out of the game in five, Jays will love that. Here comes Sergio Mitre. Snider who started all of this. Hit it out Travis. That’s pretty good substitute, drives it to the wall again in left centre, here comes Aaron 8-2 Jays. Encarnacion, 2-0 count, hammers this one to left but great catch by Gardner to end the inning. Jays finally get to Burnett.
Bottom 5th: Gardner leading off, 3-1 count, strike two. Strikes out looking. Jeter, one down. Singles to left, one on one down for Swisher, high, very very high into right but Bautista gets it at the wall. Two down. Here comes Cito, reminding Morrow of the score here, Teixeira, 2-0 count. This one is out of here Teixiera lines it just into seats in right field, 8-4 Jays. Rodriguez now, 1-1 count, 1-2, 2-2, strikes out swinging, great pitch Brandon. Pitch count 83.
Top 6th: Molina leading off. Singles back up the middle, tenth hit for Jays. Lewis first pitch come on Fred, grounds to Cano at second on to Jeter back to first, double play ball. Two down for Escobar, grounds to Jeter, throw to first for third out. Not a good inning by Jays hitters. This is where their youth shows compared to the older Yankees who are far more patient.
Bottom 6th: Morrow on 83 pitches here could be his last inning. Make it good Brandon. Cano, 2-0 count. 2-2, full count, ball four, leadoff walk. Posada, Downs working in Jays bullpen. 0-2 count, strike three looking. One down for Berkman, 1-2 count. 2-2, wild pitch by Morrow to the wall Cano to second, full count. Singles to centre, here comes Cano, 8-5 Jays, here comes Cito. Downs to face Granderson two down. No, pinch hitter Marcus Thames for Granderson. Oh boy lines it off foot of Downs bounces into right, Berkman all the way to third. Cheap hit but they all count. One down two on for Gardner, grounds back to Downs, coming home and get Berkman hung up between third and home. Two down. Jeter with runners at first and second. Jason Frasor working in bullpen. Jeter 0-2 count, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for the out. Jays escape a whole load of trouble here.
Top 7th: Now the hitters have to go back to work and get a few insurance runs here. Bautista leading off. David Robertson pitching. 0-2 count, strikes out looking. One down for Wells, two hit night so far. 1-2 count, grounds to third throw to first for the second out. Overbay, 0-2 count, 2-2, ball three outside, ball four and a walk, great at bat by Lyle after being down 0-2. Hill also with two hits tonight, two down and one on, 2-2 count, Aaron hanging in here, fouling them off. Looks at this one on the corner, strike three.
Bottom 7th: NY big bats here, tough inning for someone. Swisher leading off. Downs gets the honour. 1-0 outside. 1-1, 2-1, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, one down for Teixeira, 0-2, strikes three, here comes Rodriguez. Two down. 2-0 count. 2-1, perfect grounds to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay to end this one.
Top 8th: Jays have to get a couple more here to put more pressure on the Yankees. Tampa is winning so that if New York were to lose tonight they would be tied with Tampa at the top. Boone Logan pitching, Snider leading off. Has had two doubles to the wall tonight. 2-0 count, 2-1, 2-2, full count, chases ball four, strike three but good at bat by Travis. One down for Encarnacion, 2-0 count. 3-0, full count, ball four, Edwin to first. One on one down for Molina. Would love to see one his special hits going out tonight. 0-2 count, Molina discussing with umpire. Gets hold of it but lines it into right centre for the out. Two down with one on. Lewis, 2-0 count, 2-2 count. Grounds to Rodriguez at third, throw to Teixeira at first. Jays made Logan work for those outs but not enough.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Cano leading off. Purcey working in Jays bullpen. 2-2 count. Full count. Fly ball to Snider in left, one down for Posada. 2-1 count. 2-2, fly ball to Snider in left, two down. Berkman, 0-1 count, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, ball four. One on two down. Camp now also working in Jays bullpen. Thames, singles to left, two on. Not good as it means the big guys get to bat in the 9th. Gardner, two down, two on. Cito has had enough. Purcey now pitching. Austin Kearns pinch hitting. 2-0 count, 2-2. Oops. crossed up Molina set up inside and that was a strike on the outside corner. Full count, come on David. Don’t load them up here for Jeter. Strikes out looking, great pitch.

Top 9th: Jays really need some breathing room here, even one more run. Joba Chamberlain now pitching. Top of Jays order but Escobar and Bautista only have one hit between them tonight. Escobar leading off. Bunting, come on Yunel, this is Chamberlain, 0-2 count. Strikes out. One down for Bautista. Up and in down and away, 2-0, shows bunt… 3-0 count. Gregg working in Jays bullpen. 3-1 count, low ball four. Wells with one down and one on. Swinging away. 0-2, that was his pitch. Strikes out swinging. Down to Overbay now, two down one on. 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, bounces it to Cano at second, throw to Teixeira for third out.
Bottom 9th: Tension time. Gregg now pitching and back to back games have not been his specialty to date. Even tougher facing the top of the lineup. Jeter leading off. 1-1, grounds to Escobar at second, throw to Overbay one down for Swisher. Oh boy, gets hold of this one, high into right field corner, 8-6 Jays and it also means Rodriguez will get another at bat. Teixeira, one down 2-0 count. 2-1, 2-2, strikes him out swinging. Now more high noon drama, A-Rod with two down. 1-0, YES Kevin, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay and Jays win this big, 8-6.

The excellent: Have to give the team an all round excellent tonight. Hitting, defence and pitching. Frasor was little rocky but held. Gregg the toughest assignment. Swisher is very hot and hard to contain him but Kevin had the other tough outs to save this game.
Morrow deserves and earns win number eight. Gregg save number 24. Vernon’s home run to opposite field, unusual for him a pull hitter. Great home run by Encarnacion, a bullet off the bat. Jays 5/11 with runners in scoring position.

Excellent. Jays get five doubles in that 5th inning.
Six hits from the bottom half of the order. Hill average now .209, waking up at the right time now for a late season charge. Snider also two hit two doubles night. I think that 14pitch at bat yesterday was excellent confidence builder for Travis. He is looking focused at the plate today. Perhaps he and Hill can match each other in the last two months.