Lights go out for the Cardinals as Jays win one in the ninth with Jose home run

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Jays v Cardinals. Game one of three.

Another very tough series with the Central Division leaders for the Jays stumbling around on the road. Definitely glad to be out of Atlanta but if they think they have an easy weekend dream on. Jays changes amount to the revolving door for McCoy, poor guy, had to watch Encarnacion at third last game when he could at least have added some speed and hustle to third and I wager he would have had the popup into the dugout. But then so would Johnny Mac and Nix, anyone but Edwin. Alas farewell Mikey, we will see you again this season no doubt. In comes Thames and to make room for him Bautista is supposed to move to third. Must be temporary until Lawrie gets here. We shall see and it is only temporary. BUT, don’t get excited yet, tonight friends we have to watch Edwin yet again at third and Jose in right. They want Jose to get his arm adjusted to third after right field. So it looks like Detroit before the change but surely they will not put Edwin at third for the whole series? Jays do get a break in this series not facing either Pujols or Carpenter who pitched last night.

Line-ups: Jays: Escobar, Thames, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Molina, Encarnacion, Davis and Morrow pitching and of course hitting. Oh boy Edwin again.
Cardinals: No Pujols which is one break for the Jays but this team has lots of talent even without Pujols. For a start Berkman and Holliday. Line-up: Theriot, Jay, Holliday, Berkman, Rasmus, Schumaker, Yadier Molina, and Jake Westbrook pitching and hitting number eight.(La Russa ever the strategist) and hitting number nine is Descalso.

Top 1st: Escobar, singles to left. Thames, full count, grounds to second throw to Theriot back to Berckman at first Thames beats out the throw. More speed. Bautista with one down. Full count, doubles to left, but Thames unable to come through. Lind with two on and in scoring position. That will do for one, grounds to second, here comes Thames 1-0 Jays two down for Hill. Jose to third on the play. Hill, another full count, perfect singles up the middle, here comes Jose, 2-0 Jays. Molina, another full count, Hill running on the pitch and Jose singles into right. Aaron to third. Two on two down for yes Encarnacion. Big chance Edwin. Does his usual, grounds to third, throw to first to end the inning. Leaving two out there. Why, oh why, oh why?
Bottom 1st: Morrow staked to a 2-0 lead to start. Theriot leading off, fly ball to Bautista in right. Jon Jay with one down. 2-2 count, strikes out. Two down. Matt Holliday first pitch grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Lind for the out. Three up and down, nice start for Brandon.

Top 2nd: Davis leading off. 2-2 count, down and away strikes out. One down for Morrow. 2-2 count, bounces to second, throw to Berkman two down for Escobar. Bounces to Theriot, throw to first for third out.
Bottom 2nd: Berkman, 18 home runs this season. Full count, strikes out swinging. One down for Colby Rasmus. There she goes, great swing, no doubt about this one home run to right. 2-1 Jays. Schumaker, singles to centre, going for two and beats throw from Davis. Molina, grounds to Lind, takes it himself, goes to first for second out. Schumaker to third. Westbrook hitting eighth, strikes out looking.

Top 3rd: Thames leading off. Whoa just foul in right field corner. Gets hold of this one and lines it to the wall in centre. Double for Thames. Bautista, drives this one but caught at the wall in left, almost, great swing. Thames stays at second. Lind, this is the guy we want to see hitting again. Horrible swing pops up to third, two down. Hill, 2-2 count, another full count, Aaron didn’t swing at that one outside. Strikes out swinging but that was not a bad at bat for Aaron.
Bottom 3rd”: Descalso, 3-0 count, come on Brandon, ball four, oh boy. Theriot, bunting, great bunt in front of the plate, Morrow takes it away from Molina, but makes the throw, almost another mess-up there. Runner to second, another passed ball, and Descaclso to third. We have seen that before from both Jays catchers. Jay. Fly ball to Davis in centre, here comes Descalso. Two down, 2-2 game. Holliday, full count, singles p the middle, Escobar saves it going into outfield but Hill has no play. Two down one on for Berkman, strikes out. However I think that Morrow is going to need a ton of runs tonight.

Top 4th: Molina, pops it up to Jays in shallow right. One down for Encarnacion, gets hold of this one and doubles to the wall in left centre all the way to the wall. Too bad that was not his first at bat, that would have scored two. Nothing this guy does is ever right, he has to be jinxed somehow. Davis, 2-2 count, grounds back to Westbrook, checks out Edwin and Davis almost beats out the throw. Two down for Morrow. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging but he made him throw five pitches.
Bottom 4th: Rasmus leading off, strikes out this time. Number five for Morrow. Schumaker, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, number six. Two down for Molina, fly ball first pitch to Bautista in right, three up and down for Morrow.

Top 5th: Escobar leading off, lines it to centre, one down for Thames. Doubles it again to the wall right centre. He hits the ball hard, very hard. Bautista, intentional walk by La Russa. Lind now can he come through? 0-2 count, muscles this one into right, here comes Thames, 3-2 Jays. Bautista stops at second on the throw to third. Two on one down. Hill, there we go Aaron pulls it into left, here comes Jose. 4-2 Jays. La Russa gamble didn’t pay off this time but I still do not want to play chess with him. Still two on and one down. Molina, Pitching coach out there. Grounds it up the middle Jays load the bases and that is it tonight for Westbrook. 100 pitches and not surprising after the long first inning. Edwin has another chance to be our hero tonight. Bases loaded and one down, don’t even mention that word. Mitchell Boggs now pitching. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, what did we expect? Edwin has left five on base already and it is only half way through the game. Davis, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pathetic.
Bottom 5th: Hamilton pinch hitting for Boggs, strikes out swinging, number seven for Morrow. Descalso, 1-2 count, strikes out looking, number eight. Two down for Theriot, pops it up to Bautista in shallow right. Another good inning for Morrow.

Top 6th: Morrow has to lead off here. Lance Lynn pitching. Grounds to second throw to Berkman, one down for Escobar. Full count, grounds to short, throw to Berkman at first two down for the hot Thames. Eric two doubles tonight, strikes out swinging.
Bottom 6th: Jay leading off. Lines it inside the line past Lind into right, leadoff double. Holliday, 1-2 count, drives it into Jays bullpen, 4-4 game. That is called hitting with runners in scoring position. (Note to Jays hitters). Berkman. 1-2 count, strikes out, one down for Rasmus, pops up to Encarnacion at third, two down. Schumaker, bounces to Hill, throw to Lind to end the inning but Jays failure to bring in the runners has hurt them one again.

Top 7th: Bautista, La Russa has to pitch to him this time. Lynn, 1-2 count, bounces to short, throw to Berkman, one down for Lind, slow bouncer to second, throw to Berkman, two down. Hill, two hit night. Grounds to short, throw to Berkman for third out and you can feel this momentum swinging back to the Cardinals.
Bottom 7th: Molina leading off. Drives it hard to Thames in left. One down for pitcher Lynn. 2-2 count, bounces to Encarnacion at third, throw to Lind for second out. Descalso, 2-2 count. OH WOW Jose... Descalso lines it to shallow right, Jose makes a great catch running flat out, MVP play. And this glove is to be wasted at third ?

Top 8th: Molina leading off, Lynn still out there. 3-0 count, full count, ball four. Here comes Encarnacion, trouble follows this guy around. Full count, takes strike three, well look at it this way Edwin stays out of his usual ground ball double play so perhaps he saved one out. Patterson pinch hitting for Davis, Nix pinch running for Molina. 0-2 count, Corey comes through singles into left centre, and Nix all the way to third. Two on one down for Rivera, pinch hitting for Morrow. Pops it up to short in shallow left. Two down for Escobar. 2-2 count, there goes Patterson and no throw as he steals second. Grounds to short, throw to first to end this inning and also deprive Morrow of a well earned win. Not tonight Brandon.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Arencibia now catching. Theriot, lines it to Patterson now playing centre. One down for Jay, pops up to Thames in left, two down for Holliday, 2-0 count, Frasor being cautious here with Holliday. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Nice inning Jason.

Top 9th: The big guys at bat. Thames leading off. Lights have gone out above first base. Game is halted. Everybody off. What a time for this to happen. Now they are back on. Salas now pitching. 2-2 count, Drives it to Rasmus in left centre, one down for Bautista. Yes Jose, gets hold of this one bigtime, lines this one into right field bullpen. Opposite field home run. Number 23 for Jose. 5-4 Jays. Lind, high fly ball to Holliday. Hill, grounds to short, throw to Berkman. But Jays take the lead again, can they hold it?
Bottom 9th: Francisco pitching, hang on friends. Johnny Mac at third. Berkman leading off. 3-1 count, we have been here before with Frank. Bounces to Lind to step on base for the out. One down for Rasmus. Lines first pitch to Bautista in right. Two down for Schumaker, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Finally Jays win one on the road and in NL park. Frasor gets the win although Morrow earned it.

The excellent: Bautista with bat and glove again tonight. His game winning home run in the top of the ninth, intentional walk and double, three runs and a superb catch in right, this guy does it all. Maybe just maybe his home run swing is back.
The good: Definitely Morrow, great outing just not good enough. Thames, first game back in the majors, two strong doubles to the wall in right centre. Hill two hits. Lind came through and also give Francisco some credit for closing down the side with three up and down in the ninth.
The terrible: Another disappointing display with runners in scoring position (4-15) which ruined Morrow`s chances for the win but at least he kept them in the game. Edwin leaves six out there. How much longer.
Postscript: Yankees and Boston both lose tonight so good win for the Jays but long way to go.