Jays blow 3-0 lead and continue to play uninspiring baseball.

Game two Jays v Yankees. Saturday September 4.

Which Jay team will turn up today after yesterday’s uninspiring performances? No one expects the Jays to thrash Yankees every game, but they do expect them to play with some intensity. Cannot blame Morrow for the one yesterday, it was the hitters who lost the game, they had many chances to get back into the game. Inning after inning with runners at second, most times two on and could not score. If Jays cannot beat the Yankees playing without Jeter, Swisher and A-Rod then good luck today. This could be a major embarrassment with Rzepzcynski pitching who has not shown anything yet that would convince fans he can win a game.
But as always with this team, you never know what they will do. All we ask is that they make a game of it and play with some interest and definitely some intensity.

Lineups: Jays: Well I get one wish from Cito, Wise is in the game and also leading off, some speed at the top. Hill, Bautista, Wells, Overbay, Buck, Lind, McDonald, Snider. (two wishes thank you Cito. Travis should stay at number nine for the month, no pressure on the kid, knows where he will be every day and hopefully he will come through. We also have Bautista at third, thank you Cito, and finally McCoy out and Johnny Mc. at short, almost a team and combination I would have selected myself. Mixture of speed and hitting down to number nine. Now all they have to do is produce.

Yankees: Gardner, Jeter, Teixeira, Cano, Thames, Berkman, Granderson, Nunez, Cervelli.
Pitching: Vazquez v Rzepzcynski.

Top 1st: Wise, pops up to Gardner in left, one down for Hill. Good to see Aaron back at number two, he has earned the right. Pops up to Gardner in shallow left. Bautista, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging off the plate. Three up and down. Pitch count 7. White Sox have Manny Ramirez in the lineup today at Fenway, that will be an interesting game.
Bottom 1st: Gardner leading off, 1-2 count, grounds to Hill, off balance throw off the glove of Overbay. Jeter, 2-1 count, fly ball to Wise in right. One down one on for Teixeira 2-0 count, there goes Gardner, safe at second, replay shows out, full count. Lines it hard to Snider in left, two down. Cano with runner at second. Grounds slowly to Overbay for the final out at first. Pitch count 16. Manny has a single first at bat.

Top 2nd: Wells leading off, which game has Vernon brought today? Lots of empty seats down there at third. Pops up to Thames in shallow right. One down for Overbay. WHOA Lyle, gets hold of this one, watch this one go, long drive into right centre, home run for Lyle. Love that swing Lyle. 1-0 Jays. Buck, 3-0 count, Vazquez rattled here ? Ball four. Lind, awful, excuse me swing pops up first pitch to Jeter that was terrible at bat Lind after Vazquez had just walked Buck on four pitches. Adam never impresses me with his thinking skills. McDonald, YES Johnny Mc… gets hold of this one, into left corner, off the foul pole. Here comes Buck, here comes Johnny Mc. 3-0 Jays. Baseball is a strange and unpredictable game. Snider now, OK Travis your turn. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 27.
Bottom 2nd: Thames leading off. We need a quick up and down inning here Marc. High fly ball to Wells on the track at 400feet sign. One down for Berkman, grounds up the middle great play by Johnny Mc swivels and throws an out, that is why McCoy should not be in the game at short. Two down. Granderson grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, six pitches, way to go Marc. Pitch count 22.

Top 3rd: Top of Jays order again with a 3-0 lead, let’s build on it here. Wise, 3-0 count, ball four. One on for Hill, grounds to Teixeira, steps on first, no chance for two, speed kills. Wise at second for Bautista. Moseley warming up in Yankees bullpen. Short leash for Vazquez today? That’s the difference with a team in playoffs and a team that is out of it. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging for second time. Wells, up and in strikes out swinging. Jays unable to bring in that runner from second. You take advantage of every chance against Yankees. Pitch count 44.
Bottom 3rd: Nunez leading off, grounds to McDonald at short, throw to Overbay, one down. Cervelli lines it to Snider in left, throw is there at second but Hill cannot make the out. Gardner with Cervelli at second, 3-1 count, ball four, two on for Jeter, need a ground ball Marc. Doubles down the left field line, here comes Cervelli this guy can run for a catcher. 3-1 Jays. Runners at second and third, Teixeira, 3-1 count, ball four to load the bases for Cano. That may have been semi intentional. Not going to give Teixeira anything to hit. 0-1, right down the middle, lousy pitch, singles into centre, here comes the runner followed by Jeter 3-3 game. Walton out there to settle him down but we know realistically Marc is out of his depth here, just try to keep it close and let the hitters do their job. Thames, with two on. Fly ball to Snider in left for second out. Runners hold. Berkman, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 46. Could have been much worse.

Top 4th: Overbay leading off, full count, ball four, one on for Buck. 1-2 count, strikes out, tried to hold up. One down for Lind, needs to redeem himself for that last at bat. That will do Adam, singles into right. Two on for McDonald, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Snider. Now Travis, big chance here. 2-2 count, golfs it to Thames in right. Pitch count 69. Jays leave two more out there.
Bottom 4th: Granderson 1-1 count, singles into right, now Marc has to worry about stealing. One on for Nunez. Oh man, grounds back to Rzepzcynski, throws to second but Hill gets late and no chance for two. Marc too fast with that play. Should have been two. Cervelli, one down. Lines it to left, great catch by Snider but falls out of glove when he hits ground. Runners at second and third. That earlier missed double play makes the difference here. Gardner one down. Two in scoring position. Gardner 2-1, pops it back to Rzepczynski, cannot get to it Johnny Mc. throw to first for second out, run scores 4-3 Yankees. Jeter, two down runner at third, 3-1 count, ball four two on for Teixeira. Carlson ready in bullpen. 0-2 count. Wild pitch, here comes the runner, Jeter to second. Nothing going right for the hapless Jays today. 5-3 Yankees.1-2 count. Hits him on the elbow. Two on two down for Cano, 2-2, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay. Pitch count 73. Jays playing slapstick ball like Buster Keaton today.

Top 5th: Jays knew they had to get some run support for the pitcher today, not much yet. Wise leading off. Pops up to Gardner in left. Hill, 2-1 count, Hill trying to get on base for the big guys. High pop up to the left field corner to make the catch at the wall. Two down for Bautista. Hitless today. Full count. Up and in, ball four. One on for Wells, who has done zilch in first two games. And 0-2 today. 3-1 count, singles to left, finally a hit but no longer the power from Wells. Bautista at third on the play, nice base running Jose. Overbay with two on and two down, we have been here before with no joy today. That’s it for Vazquez but small victory unless they score here. Moseley pitching. Overbay takes ball one. That’s the way Lyle, pulls it into right field corner, here comes Bautista, here comes Vernon on the throw. 5-5 game. Lyle at second for Buck, full count, Logan warming up in Yankees bullpen. Buck grounds to Nunez at third, throw to Teixeira for third out.
Bottom 5th: Jesse Carlson now pitching. Have to hold it here Jesse. Thames leading off. Full count, grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay, great play by Jose as ball changes direction at the bag. Berkman grounds first pitch to Bautista two down. Granderson, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Classic Jesse inning.

Top 6th: Logan now pitching. Jays hitters now have to do some serious damage soon. This is the guy who is bothering me now. Lind, so much ability and yet underachieving all season long. Pops up to left for Gardner to make over the head catch. McDonald, first pitch pops up to Thames in right. Snider, with two down. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. 7 pitch inning.
Bottom 6th: Nunez leading off, grounds to McDonald, throw to Overbay, one down. Cervelli, 2-2 but should have been out that first at bat on the Snider throw. 2-2 count, pops up to Wells in centre. Two down for Gardner, 2-2 count, Frasor warming up in bullpen. Grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay. Six up and down for Carlson, excellent outing.

Top 7th: Logan pitching. Wise leading off, singles up the middle. Here comes Girardi he does not mess around does he? Changes pitchers the way Cito used to before they all wore out. Joba Chamberlain now pitching. Jays at least will get some heat to hit, if they can of course. Hill, 1-1 count, hits Hill on the shoulder, two on no outs for Bautista, perfect timing if Jose can unload here. Full count, strikes out, Bautista loses it and is thrown out of game. Jose you can’t do that, can cost Jays big time with glove and bat. Wells now with one down and two on. Grounds first pitch to Cano at second, steps on the bag and throws to first for the out and yes, double play ball. The game can turn just like that on two pitches three outs. But more than that Jays have lost Jose for the game. This is a game of momentum and Jays have just blown it bigtime. Two on and no outs. And two pitches later three outs and the best player out of the game
Bottom 7th: Frasor now pitching. McCoy ! in for Bautista, what a trade. Jeter leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down. Teixeira, full count, grounds to Overbay, steps on the bag for second out. Cano, singles into centre, jammed him but enough to get past Hill. One on two down for Thames. Gets hold of this one into the bullpen in left. 7-5 Yankees. Berkman, singles off the glove of Frasor into centre. Granderson, 1-2 count, grounds to McCoy at short, throw to Overbay for the out but Jays facing two run deficit here and not much time to get it back.

Top 8th: Kerry Wood pitching, Pena in at third base. Olson in right field. Overbay leading off, 0-2 strikes out on three pitches. Buck, grounds to Teixeira throw to Wood for the out, two down. Lind, 1-2 count, pops up to Gardner in left, Jays hitters lambs to the slaughter.
Bottom 8th: Frasor still out there, Pena leading off. Full count. Ball four. Cervelli, 2-2 count, pops up to Wells in shallow centre, one down for Gardner. Here comes Cito ? Not sure why, going through the motions, this game is lost and he knows it. The fans do as well, there are many more empty seats. Purcey now pitching. Gardner showing bunt. 0-1 count. Runner Pena going, Buck throw to second, gets him, two down. Full count. Ball four. One on two down for Jeter.1-2. Rivera ready. Strikes out Jeter swinging.

Top 9th: Unless Rivera collapses here this is an easy save number 29, not through his pitching but through the way Jays hitters have been playing the last two days. Plus he has the bottom of the order to take out unless Cito uses pinch hitters. McDonald leading off. Takes first pitch strike. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Snider, 0-3 day. 1-2 count, cannot lay off that high pitch. Grounds to Cano throw to first, two down for Wise. Singles into right, to keep it alive. Hill, tying run !! Bautista hoping he does not get on. 2-2 count. Strikes out looking. Well that about sums up the Jays hitters today. Awful.

Lose another to the Yankees. NY now winning streak at 8 and looking for an easy sweep tomorrow.
I hope Cito lays into this team before the next game. Evidently he had meeting before the game about lack of intensity, it has really shown in these last two games.

The good. Overbay definitely with 3RBIs. Bautista with his glove. Carlson excellent two innings to get six up and down.

The bad: Far too much in this game and series. Jays heads are not in the game right now, poor mental errors and leading to errors in the field and even leading into runs. Unable to do the little things well. Lind first at bat. Rzepczynski throw to second in the 4th should have been double play ball and that would have saved two runs. That turns out to be the game difference.
Lousy hitting with runners in scoring position.
Bautista loses control and has to control his rage. Disappointed in him there. Frasor could not hold the tie game even with two outs and is really writing his one way ticket out of Toronto in the off-season.


Jays teased us earlier but in the end one team is playing for playoffs the other is playing for their Octiober golfing.