Jays win come from behind thriller in the 9th.

Series finale Red Sox v Jays. Thursday August 12, 2010

Jays came into this series with such high hopes after great week last week taking five of six against Yankees and Rays but now struggling to avoid a sweep at home by the Red Sox. Interesting to note that five of the ten losses this season have been one run games of which Jays have only won one.
Today starting off with a major handicap with Mills pitching. After his last outing he should be back in Vegas. Everyone has been pushed back with that 137 pitch game by Morrow and also the accident to Cecil. Cito now talking about six man rotation for the rest of the season. Molina however is back, Arencibia had two rough games and also hitless.
Response to comments about Marcum last night. He has had two lousy back to back outings and in both gave up early runs in the first inning. The issue in this corner is that both his last two games have been against Yankees and Boston, not the easier sub 500 teams. In this book I rate Romero and Morrow above Marcum, he is not pitching as a number one guy.
August 4th Marcum last game against Yankees gave up six, including two in first inning and Jays were unable to get sweep but again like last night no run support.
July 30. Game before Jays beat Cleveland 8-1. Goes seven innings 10 strikeouts
July 24th Game before that Jays win 3-2 in Detroit.
Inconsistency is the issue and in my book until he can beat the good teams there is a big question mark over him.
Today could be ugly even with run support. Mills struggled badly last time out and has only his outing against Baltimore to suggest that he belongs in the first team. He will need to pitch lights out today to change that.
Cito has Lewis in today but as DH.. Overbay’s bat is now out of the lineup. Arencibia as last night his last at bat in Toronto and could be until September as Buck will be back.

Lineups: Boston: Ellsbury, Lowrie, Martinez, Ortiz, Beltre, Drew, Hall, Saltalamacchia, McDonald.
Toronto: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Snider, Encarnacion, Molina.
Pitching: Mills v Lackey another ten game winner.

Top 1st: Children's camp day today at the stadium, will be very noisy however Jays have not made the most of the opportunities to get such young crowds into the game and use that noise to their advantage. Ellsbury leading off. 2-2 count, full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Lowrie, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Martinez, 0-2 count, singles back up the middle. One on for Ortiz, 1-2 count, grounds to Hill, throw to Lind at first to end this one. Good first inning for Mills, Is keeping the ball down which he has to do today for any success. 20 pitches though. Has to bring that down. Boston are very patient at bat.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off. Grounds to third throw to first for the out. Escobar, Lackey working very quickly, leaves this one up, doubles into left field corner, Bautista, pone on one down. 0-2 count, strikes out on high fast ball. Two down for Wells, kids are cheering every foul ball. Vernon strikes out swinging leaving Escobar at second. 17 pitch count.

Top 2nd: Beltre leading off. Grounds to Encarnacion throw to Lind, one down. Drew, full count, ball four. Hall, one on one down. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, something that Marcum could not do to Hall last night. Two down for Saltalamacchia, 0-2 count. Pops this one up but just beyond Hill, Drew takes it easy and can only get to third, that was a run there. McDonald with two in scoring position. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. 46 pitches though. Cito will need some long relief in there today.
Bottom 2nd: Lind, Pops up to Drew in shallow right, one down. Hill, had a horrible game at bat last night what will he do today? 0-2 count. That’s better singles into left centre. One on for Snider, 1-2 count. Hill stealing and throw gets him at second. Two down. This hurts, Travis singles to short, throw not in time and Travis safe, that would have had Hill at second. This team cannot afford to give away outs Aaron. Two on and only one down. Now one on and two down. Encarnacion, hitless 0-10 but the way he has been swinging is more the issue. Head in the air and nowhere near the ball, lines it right at Lowrie at short. 30 pitches.

Top 3rd: Mills not getting much help from his offence. Ellsbury leading off. Lines it back through Mills, one on. Lowrie. 3-1 count. Ball four, two on and no outs. Martinez, runners going and pitch goes through to backstop. Two in scoring position. Lines to Bautista in right here comes runner. 1-0 Boston. Lowrie tags and goes to third. Ortiz, 0-2 count. Hammers it off right field wall, here comes runner, 2-0 Boston. Beltre with Ortiz at first, ground ball here. 0-2 count. Pops up to Wells in centre, two down. Drew, 2-1 count. Lines it down right field line bounces into the crowd, ground rule double. Runners at second and third. Hall, 0-2 count. strike three looking, great pitch. Gets Hall for the second time. Mills is doing his job but hard to win a game if his hitters are not scoring. 73 pitch count. One more.
Bottom 3rd: Molina for his first at bat today. Grounds up the middle to Lowrie, throw to first for the out. Lewis one down. 2-2 count. Fred getting batting practice here. Strikes out swinging. Two down for Escobar. First pitch (sigh) lines to Drew in right for the third out. 10 pitch inning. Pitch count 40.

Top 4th: Saltalamacchia lines first pitch hard to Encarnacion at third, throw to Lind for the out. nice play, McDonald. 2-2 count strikes out swinging. Boston look as if they are finished with this one and want to get on the road. Ellsbury for the third at bat. 2-2 count. Full count. Grounds to Escobar throw to Lind for third out. Much better inning for Mills but too late. Pitch count now 84.
Bottom 4th: Mills did his job, can the underachieving hitters do theirs? Jays have not scored since first inning last night. 11 innings. Bautista leading off. 2-2 count. Walks. One on for Wells, Singles back up the middle Bautista all the way to third on the throw. Lind grounds (first pitch) to Hall at second, over to first double play Bautista scores. Finally a run, 2-1 Boston. Hill (first pitch) lines to Drew in right. Awful… Hill. Put some pressure on Lackey. Nine pitch inning.

Top 5th: I feel so sorry for Mills with the hitters behind him. Lowrie gets hold of this one hammers into centre seats, 3-1 Boston. Serves to magnify the previous lousy at bats by Hill and Lind. Martinez, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Number seven for Mills today. Ortiz, Purcey is the one with the short straw. Working in the bullpen. Long relief today. Full count to Ortiz. Gets hold of this one. This one has gone into the Red Sox bullpen, 4-1 Boston. Here comes Cito. Purcey now pitching. Mills now en route back to Vegas. Result was what I expected but I think he kept the score lower than Marcum so I guess he overachieved. But again hard to win anything with the way the Jays hitters are playing in this series. Beltre swinging away pops up to Escobar, two down. Drew, 1-2 in a hurry also. Fly ball to Bautista for the third out.
Bottom 5th: Snider leading off. 2-2 count. Takes strike three looking. One down for Encarnacion, pops up first pitch but just foul. Full count. Pops up to Hall behind first. Two down, Molina. First pitch pop up but foul. 0-2 count. 2-2, pops up to Drew in right centre. Three up and down Jays go meekly here. 65 pitches for Lackey. He is also going the distance. Boston cruising here.

Top 6th: Hall leading off. Mills pitched him very well with two strikeouts.1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Saltalamacchia swinging away, pops up to Bautista. Two down. McDonald, 2-2 count. Grounds it into left off the glove of Escobar, one on two down. Ellsbury, Purcey throws it to the backstop, McDonald to second. Full count. Grounds to Lind, throw to Purcey to get runner at first, nice play by Purcey had to jump to get the out and landed awkwardly, right ankle hits the corner of the bag. hope he is ok, seems to be favouring the ankle as he walks off here.
Bottom 6th: Lewis doubles to left. Must be tough for Fred to be sitting on that bench today as DH. Escobar with one on, please do not bunt Yunel. Good. Singles to right, Lewis held at third. Bautista now tying run. Grounds to short on to second throw to first double play. Lewis scores 4-2 Boston. Wells grounds to Beltre at third throw to first. One run out of two on and no outs, the tale of this series for the Jays. When did Vernon last hit a home run ? 72 pitch count.

Top 7th: Frasor now pitching evidently Purcey did hurt that ankle. Lowrie leading off. Full count. Pops up to Snider in left. Martinez, lines into right, one down one on. Ortiz, Fly ball to Wells in centre, two down. Beltre, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging leaves Martinez on base.
Bottom 7th: Lind leading off, 2-2 count. Drives this on to the wall, double for Lind. Off the base of the wall. He hammered that one. Hill now has had a terrible two days, needs to redeem himself here. Dream on, grounds to Lowrie at short throw to Martinez first, cannot even move Lind to third. Not a good at bat Aaron and he knows it. Doubront working in bullpen. Snider, lines it to centre, that just missed going out. two down, Encarnacion first pitch lines to Ellsburty centre for third out. That is two awful at bats by Hill and Encarnacion. Leadoff double and no one can move him one base?

Top 8th: Downs now pitching, lines it to Snider in left one down for Hall, grounds to Hill, throw to Lind two pitches two outs. Saltalamacchia. Doubles to the wall in right. McDonald. Triples to the wall, here comes the runner 5-2 Boston. Jays being shown how to bring in a guy from second, I hope Hill is watching. Ellsbury, pops up to Escobar for third out.
Bottom 8th: Jays in deep now with Boston bullpen this is replay of Tuesday. Let’s see if they have any fight. Molina leading off, 0-2 count, too bad Cito did not give young Arencibia a chance. The crowd would love it and he certainly could not do worse than any of them today apart from Lind maybe. Molina lines it at Lowrie at short, one down. Lewis, one down, fly ball to Drew in right, two quick outs. Bard working in Boston bullpen, they may not need Papelbon today. Escobar grounds to Lowrie at short, throw to first for the out. Lackey may finish this one off.

Top 9th: Gregg getting some work. Lowrie,full count. Ball four. Martinez, pops up to Encarnacion, one down for Ortiz. Another full count. Fly ball to Snider right at the wall, Two down. Beltre, two down one on. Pops it up to Wells in centre. Good inning for Gregg.
Bottom 9th: Lackey going for complete game, another end result of all those first pitch outs and double plays. Bautista leading off full count. FINALLY Jose gets under this one, classic Jose home run into left field seats. 5-3 Boston. Here comes Francona, moral victory to see Lackey out of the game but Jays hitters made it far too easy for him. Papelbon now pitching. Interesting Papelbon has blown five saves one more than Gregg. Wells, doubles off the wall in right, love to see Vernon going the other way. Lind now tying run at the plate, Can’t ask for more than that, nobody out. Yes Adam, singles back up the middle here comes Vernon to score 5-4 Boston. Now Hill has a lot to redeem. Wise pinch running for Lind at first. Wise stealing and safe on the throw. That is aggressive not foolhardy. Runner in scoring position. Aaron your chance here. 1-2 count. Lines it right back at Papelbon, off his foot and Hill safe at first. Here comes Francona. Runners at first and third. Nobody out for Travis. Papelbon throwing a couple here but is fine. Fly ball will tie this up. But if you hit it out Travis…… Papelbon keeping it way down. 1-1 count. Bard working in Boston bullpen. 1-2, strikes out swinging. One down for Encarnacion, oh boy. Overbay on deck. 2-1 count, Yes Edwin finally comes through, doubles down the right field line, here comes Wise, 5-5 game. Hill has to hold at third. Overbay now intentional walks. Papelbon has blown his first save against Jays in 25. Percentages Cito. Bases loaded one down. Here comes Francona, good bye to Papelbon and THAT is another huge moral victory for Jays regardless of the result. Bard now with bases loaded and one down to face Lewis. Crowd loves this. 1-0 YES FRED, lines this to Ellsbury in centre, here comes Hill, and Jays win this one 6-5, four runs in the bottom of the 9th. Blown save by Papelbon and a win for Kevin Gregg YEAH Kevin. His first win of the season.

As we were saying earlier today, so many one run games against Boston this season but this time Jays get the win and an emphatic come from behind win.
36,271 crowd. Third largest crowd of season. A noisy celebration for a change.

The good: I give young Mills a star today, he held Jays in there for longer and with better result than Marcum did. The big stars go to Bautista for getting Jays back in this in the 9th. Vernon and Lind, Encarnacion, Overbay for forcing the walk. And Fred Lewis the coup de grace. Sitting on the bench all the game and coming through in the clutch. Jays have sent a clear message to NY, Tampa and Boston that they will not be doormats for the last two months. Should be fun with loosy goosey Jays.

The bad: Yes a couple of things. Continue to worry about Escobar, he is not performing the way he did when he first came to the Jays. His glove is ok but not his bat.
Hill (again) caught stealing and impacted the game with next hitter getting on base. Lind and Hill in the 4th when Jays get the first run giving up easy and quick outs.
BUT bottom line Jays win and make up one on Boston, and fly west in great upbeat mood. It would have been very grim flying out after a sweep by Boston.