Jays and Drabek keep the streak going as they beat Tigers 4-2

Jays v Tigers.

Line-ups: Jays: same old same old, still no Lind. Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Hill, Arencibia, Rivera, Davis, McDonald, and Drabek pitching. I think Lind will be going on DL soon if he does not get back in line-up, Jays need another bench bat.

Tigers: Jackson, Dirks, Boesch, Cabrera, Martinez, Peralta, Avila, Inge, Santiago, Scherzer pitching.

Where is everybody ? very small crowd to start here. Tigers are on 7-0 streak and Jays 5-0 streak. Surely a great series to be at for those Candadians in Windsor. Very cold night though.

Top 1st: Escobar, grounds up the middle, throw not in time. Patterson 2-2 count, strikes out Bautista with one on one down. Pops up to right, two down. Encarnacion, pops up to short for third out.

Bottom 1st: Jackson, singles into left. Dirks, there goes Jackson, beats the throw to second. 3-0 count, walks him. Two on nobody out. Boesch, 2-0, Drabek in a mess here. 3-0, will be loading them up. Ball four. Bases loaded for Cabrera. 3-1, still nobody out. Well at least not a ball as Cabrera sac fly to Bautista, 1-0 Tigers one down. Martinez, that will do, grounds to second throw to first, double play. Drabek escapes trouble big-time. 25 pitch inning.

Top 2nd: Hill, fly ball to Jackson in centre, one down. Rivera, fly ball to Dirks in left, Arencibia, fly ball to Jackson in centre, easy picking for Scherzer tonight.

Bottom 2nd: Peralta, strikes out. One down. Avila, full count, pops up to Patterson in left, two down. Inge, strikes out. Much better inning for Drabek. 42 pitches.

Top 3rd: Davis, 2-2 count. Pops up to first. McDonald, pops up to left, two down, Escobar, singles back up the middle, 2-2, Patterson grounds to Santiago at second, throw to first for third out. Pitch count 44.

Bottom 3rd: Santiago, grounds to Hill, throw to Encarnacion, one down for Jackson, 2-2 count. VERY nice lines it to second, great leap by Hill, to get the ball, WOW. Two down, Dirks singles into left. First major league hit. Boesch, 2-1 count, Drabek distracted with Dirks on base. Gets him, great pickoff. 55 pitches. Kyle improving every inning.

Top 4th: Bautista, full count, swinging or taking? Swinging, off the end of the end of the bat back to pitcher, throw beats Jose to first, one down for Encarnacion. Pulls it into left. Hill, 2-2 count, there we go Aaron, singles into left centre, Edwin moves up to second, two on one down for Rivera, long, long overdue for a big hit. 2-0 count, lines this one hard to left but right to Dirks. Two down for Arencibia, first pitch, say no more, pops up to short to end this one. No thought about that one JP.

Bottom 4th: Boesch fly ball to Patterson in left, one down. Cabrera, 3-0 count, nowhere near, bounces one wide. Martinez, pops up to McDonald, Peralta two down one on, fly ball to Davis in centre, 64 pitch count for Drabek but so far not much run support from his hitters though tonight.

Top 5th: Davis, bunting, back to pitcher throw to first, one down. Johnny Mc. grounds back to Scherzer, throw to first two down. Two down for Escobar, ball four, one on two down. Patterson, there goes Escobar, throw gets him at second. Patterson left on base.

Bottom 5th: Avila, fly ball to Davis in centre, one down for Avila, singles to left, Santiago, pops up to Encarnacion. Jackson, ball four, two on two down for Dirks, full count, pops up to Patterson in left. 83 pitch count. Might be lucky and get one more in.

Top 6th: Patterson leading off. GREAT bunt, will not beat Corey on this one. Beats out Scherzer. On base for Bautista, not a good night for Jose yet. Hitless. Not anymore, singles opposite field corner, Patterson to third on the play. Two on nobody out but here comes Encarnacion, pops up to catcher, at least it was not a double play Edwin. One down for Hill. Takes strike three, that was awful. Rivera with two down, grounds to third throw to second to get Jose. That was pretty bad hitting by Jays with runner at third and nobody out. Culprits, Encarnacion, Hill and Rivera.

Bottom 6th: Drabek getting no help at all tonight. Boesch, grounds to Johnny Mac at third, throw to first for the out. One down for Cabrera, full count, Ball four. Martinez, grounds back at Drabek, knocks it down and throw to first to get Martinez, two down. Peralta with runner at second. 3-1 count, drives it to Patterson in left to end this one and probably his outing for tonight at 101 pitch count. That first inning did him in tonight. Six walks do not help much either.

Top 7th: Arencibia, 2-2 count. Gets two lives here as Cabrera drops two in foul ground, now he goes the other way and singles into left. Davis, singles into centre, Arencibia only gets to second on this ???? We are so used to seeing the speedsters get to third, but not JP. Two on for McDonald. Showing bunt. Perfect this time up the first base line and both runners move up as throw to first gets Johnny Mac. BUT we have been here before; can Jays get it done this time? Escobar, 2-0 count, that will do it lines to right, here comes the throw and Arencibia scores 1-1 game. Davis to third for Patterson, 2-0 count, pops it up to shallow right. Jays 0-6 with runners in scoring position. Outhit Tigers 8-3 but unable to bring them in.

Bottom 7th: Drabek still out there, way over 100 pitches. Avila, 3-1 count, ball four, still leaving him out there ?? Inge, bunts back to Drabek, throw to first one down but runner in scoring position. Santiago, pops up to Johnny Mac, two down. Jackson, whoa great play, bounces to Johnny Mac throw to Encarnacion for the out, just. That was great play by McDonald.

Top 8th: Benoit replaces Scherzer, at least he will not get his win number seven against Jays tonight. Bautista leading off. Singles into left, second hit tonight. Encarnacion singles into left, his second hit. Hill now, he will not be taking third strike this time. 0-2 count, 2-2, that’s the way Aaron, pulls it into the left field corner, here comes Jose, Butterfield holds Edwin at third. Hill at second, Rivera now two in scoring position fly ball to right, here comes Encarnacion 3-1 game with Hill at third. One down, Arencibia, needs to do the same here. Perfect high fly to Inge in left and here comes Hill 4-1 Jays. Two down. Davis, swinging bunt five feet away from plate and no catching Rajai here, McDonald, pops up to Santiago in shallow right but Jays come through with runners in scoring position.

Bottom 8th: Rzepczynski now pitching. Raburn pinch hitting for Dirks. Grounds to McDonald at third, throw to first for the out. Boesch lines it to second, incredible play by Hill going to his left, makes the play, spins around and throw to first to rob Boesch. That was some play Aaron. Cabrera bounces first pitch to Escobar throw to first for third out. Two great defensive plays by Aaron to go with the RBI double tonight, he is really heating up himself now.

Top 9th: Ryan Perry pitching. Escobar, perfect night for Yunel. Not this time fly ball to right, one down for Patterson, pops up to Inge in shallow left, two down for Bautista. Singles opposite field into right. One on two down for Encarnacion, pops up to Santiago at second. Tampa has beaten Yankees. They scored six in the fifth, Burnett was pitching. Baltimore leading Boston.

Bottom 9th: Francisco pitching. Martinez leading off. Pops up to Johnny Mac. One down for Peralta, full count, oh boy, gets hold of this one home run into left centre, 4-2 game. Francisco continues his adventures as closer. Avila, 2-0 come on Frank settle down. Another full count. Ball four. Inge with tying run at plate. Fly ball to Patterson in left two down. Kelly pinch hitting. That will do it fly ball to right centre for Bautista to make nice running catch in front of Davis. Jays win this one 4-2 and continue win streak to six whilst stopping Tigers seven game streak.

Francisco makes it too close for Jays hearts but

The very good: Escobar, almost perfect night. Walk, sac fly and two hits. More great defense by Johnny Mac. BUT for me tonight the MVP was Hill, two excellent defensive plays, single and an RBI double, he really looks as if he is coming around after that injury.

Bautista tonight no fireworks but he still gets two hits and does his bit to start the four run rally in the eighth. Drabek, only three hits and one run but all those walks hurt his pitch count tonight but still managed to get through the seventh. Bullpen of Rzepczynski a hitless inning, and Francisco close it out.