Jays continue in a daze. Snider the only one today with any power as Jays lose to New York.

Jays v Yankees. Game one of three. Friday September 3.

Preview: Yankees on a roll of six straight wins, chance for Jays to make a statement one way or the other, are they any good, are they a mirage and will they be outplayed by the Yankees when they really mean business. Jays coming off a poor series against Tampa. And with a few exceptions appear to be rolling over for the last month. Certainly not pulling out all the stops. Does not help when Cito puts out a second team lineup. Would love to see Wise in every day now not McCoy. Put some speed out there Cito. Escobar and Lewis out through injury but Overbay should be back this series.
Morrow’s last game before being closed down for the season, really begs the question what they would have done if they were fighting for play-off position and then what about playoffs Cito ? Sorry Brandon you can’t pitch in the World Series this year, try again another time? Exactly. Two schools of thought on this one. But with the Jays recent history of ruining young arms to the extent of requiring surgery and missing a year, see Marcum, McGowan, Litsch, Richmond. Not good.

Lineups: Jays: No Lewis today, instead McCoy (yes McCoy leading off in Yankee Stadium) followed by Snider, poor Travis, the afterthought in every lineup. Leadoff, number eight, number nine, and now number two. Bautista, Wells, Overbay, Hill, Lind, McDonald, Molina.
Yankees: No Jeter today, Jays get one break plus no Swisher and A-Rod. And a rookie pitcher, the baseball gods are ling this one up for Morrow. (Maybe.) Gardner, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Posada, Berkman, Kearns, Pena, Nunez.
Pitching: Nova v Morrow

Top 1st: McCoy leading off grounds to Nunez at short, throw to Teixeira at first, one down. Snider, hitting second for a change. There it goes, we have been waiting for this one, a bomb from Travis into right centre. Finally, he must be very relieved. Travis is a streaky hitter also, so just maybe this could get him going. 1-0 Jays. Bautista, that home run seems to have rattled Nova, full count and ball four to walk. One down one on for Wells, grounds to Nunez at shirt throw to Cano to get Bautista at second, two down. Overbay with one on, good to see Lyle back in the lineup. Fly ball to Kearns in right to end the inning but Jays strike first.
Bottom 1st: Gardner leading off ball four and walks. Not what we need here Brandon. Granderson 3-0 count, Cannot find the strike zone, ball four walks on four pitches, definitely not a good start here, Gardner to second. Two on and nobody out for Teixeira. Doubles to right, here comes Gardner, 1-1 game. Granderson all the way to third. Two more in scoring position for Cano. Grounds to Overbay, Lyle not coming home but takes the out at first. One down. Granderson run scores 2-1 Yankees, still only one down. Posada grounds back to Morrow throw to Overbay. Two down for Berkman. Pops up to Snider in left. Morrow very shaky start.

Top 2nd: Hill leading off grounds to Pena at third, throw to Teixeira at first, one down.
Lind singles to right. One on one down. McDonald pops up to Granderson in centre. Two down for Molina. Jose grounds to Teixeira at first to make the out. Very quick three up and down for Nova.

Bottom 2nd: Kearns leading off, hit by a pitch. Morrow having all sorts of control problems out there. One on for Pena pops up to Wells. One down. Nunez grounds to McDonald at third, throw to Overbay, two down, Kearns to second. Gardner full count and ball four to walk. Two on two down, Granderson, doubles to right, here comes Kearns, here comes Gardner, 4-1 Yankees. Teixeira with Granderson in scoring position at second, strikes out but Morrow is not sharp at all today.

Top 3rd: McCoy leading off grounds to Pena at third, throw to Teixeira at first, one down. Snider pops up to Pena at third, two quick outs. Bautista singles to centre, that’s better. One on two down for Wells grounds to Pena at third, throw to Cano to get Bautista.
Bottom 3rd: Cano leading off strikes out. Morrow finally gets a leadoff hitter out. Posada doubles to right. One on one down for Berkman, singles to Bautista in right, Posada to third. Kearns strikes out. Two down. Pena, singles to left, here comes Posada, 5-1 Yankees, Berkman to second two on for Nunez, grounds to McCoy at short, throw to late, bases loaded, Berkman at third, Pena at second. Watching McCoy makes you appreciate Escobar playing short. Gardner now with the bases loaded, Tallet has been warming up already this inning, could be Morrow’s last hitter if he doesn’t get him. This game is already getting out of hand in the third inning. Gardner strikes out. Morrow gets out of a bigger mess but Jays still need to get it going here.

Top 4th: Overbay leading off doubles to centre, Lyle finding his stroke. No apparent sign of that concussion which is very good. Hill there we go Aaron, doubles to centre, and here comes Lyle 5-2 Jays. Lind with runner in scoring position, grounds to Nunez at short, throw to Teixeira for the out at first but Hill moves to third with only one down. McDonald, gets this one in the air to Kearns in right, is it deep enough, yes indeed, here comes Aaron 5-3 Yankees. Two down for Molina, grounds back to Nova throw to Teixeira at first for third out. But Jays get two back.
Bottom 4th: That’s it for Morrow, for this game and possible the season. Did not have it today, arm looked dead. No velocity on that fast ball. Tallet now pitching. This one will be finished by committee. Granderson leading off grounds to Hill at second, throw to Overbay for the out at first, one down for Teixeira, strikes out. Two down for Cano grounds to Hill throw to Overbay to finish this one off. Good three up and down for Tallet for the first time today.

Top 5th: McCoy leading off grounds to Nunez at short, throw to Teixeira, one down for Snider, singles to right. Second hit for Travis. Bautista pops up to Granderson in second, two down. Wells, there goes Travis, safe on the throw at second. Vernon patient for a change, ball four and walks. Two on and that is it for Nova. Boone Logan now pitching. Overbay with two on two down, strikes out. Jays had their chance there.
Bottom 5th: Posada leading off fly ball to Bautista. One down for Berkman, grounds to McDonald at third, safe on the throw. Kearns grounds McDonald at third, that’s better, to Hill throw to Overbay, double play ball. So far Tallet having a good outing.

Top 6th: Hill leading off, ball four. One on for Lind, fly ball to Granderson in centre. Hill stays at first. That’s it for Logan, Robertson now pitching. McDonald grounds Nunez at short throw to Cano, Hill out at second. Molina with McDonald at first, full count and ball four to walk, McDonald to second. Wild pitch from Robertson, McDonald to third, Molina to second. Two in scoring position for McCoy, strikes out. Cito probably wishing he had put in a pinch hitter, McCoy just not up to it 0-4 today already.
Bottom 6th: Pena leading off fly ball to Wells. One down Nunez, singles to left. One on one down, Gardner, this is trouble, lines it to the wall in centre, here comes Nunez to score 6-3 Yankees, Gardner going in to third. Granderson with one down. Doubles to right, Gardner scores 7-3. Teixeira putting him on, intentional walk. Cano pops up to McCoy at short, two down. Posada, strikes out.

Top 7th: Snider leading off strikes out. Bautista taking them here, ball four and walks. Wells with one on,also being patient here for Vernon at least, ball four and walks, Bautista to second. Back to back walks, but Jays have not been successful today bringing them in. That’s it for Robertson, Kerry Wood now pitching. Overbay one down and two on, strikes out. Hill pops up to Gardner in left. That is the third inning in a row Jays have had two on and cannot score.
Bottom 7th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Berkman leading off grounds to McCoy throw to Overbay, one down. Kearns with one down, strikes out. Pena singles to right. Nunez with two down, fly ball to Wells. Three up and down for Janssen. But we need runs.

Top 8th: Lind leading off lines out to Nunez. McDonald grounds to Nunez throw to Teixeira, two down for Molina, strikes out. Not very good friends.
Bottom 8th: Purcey now pitching. Good to see him back from the DL. Gardner leading off, grounds to McCoy, throw to Overbay. One down. Granderson ball four and walks,
Teixeira with one down and one on, strikes out. Two down for Cano, wild pitch, Granderson to second. Cano lines out to Wells.

Top 9th: Last chance for Jays, top of the order. Rivera pitching. McCoy leading off, Cito refusing to pinch hit for him, 0-4 today, bunting ???? Where is his head? Back to Rivera throw to Teixeira at first, easy out and McCoy goes 0-5 today, well perhaps I can see why he is bunting but Mikey this is not Vegas. Don’t tell me that this guy is better than Wise. Put McDonald at short, but give somebody else a shot pinch hitting Cito, you have Arencibia, Buck, and Wise on the bench. Snider one down, has had a very good day, not this time, grounds to Teixeira at first for the second out. Down to the final out, Bautista pops up to Pena at third for final out.

It was so important for Jays to win that first one. With Nova pitching they had a great chance. No intensity today from the Jays. Perhaps it was just the makeup or the order of the lineup. Very easy day at the park for the Yankees even without Jeter, Swisher and A-Rod. Jays have to play a whole lot better than this to even win one in this series.

The good: Lind great day, two hits, home run and stolen base… have a great month Travis. That is if your Manager lets you play every day….

The question marks: Morrow obviously, had nothing on his fast ball today and had no accuracy either. Was lucky to last three with only five runs. Now the debate will begin, is his arm dead? We will not know until Dunedin in February 2011.
Other question mark is McCoy. Has not done much since his callup last week, is he overmatched here?