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.