Jays v Red Sox. Game two of three.
Jays hoping for some momentum after yesterday’s game but tonight Lester pitching and he is one tough cookie. Jays will find the runs hard to get tonight. Plus Cecil pitching his second game back from AAA Vegas.
Fenway is a tough stage. I hope the big bats boom.
Lineups: Jays: Davis, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Snider, Arencibia, McDonald, McCoy and pitching Brett Cecil. No Thames no Hill, no Escobar, not a great line-up tonight, I don’t get it, when both Hill and Thames are going so well, surely you get them in there. Hill especially as that Green Monster is perfect for him. Maybe Patterson is a better fielder than Thames in left, that is a joke friends. Just keep him away from everyone else.
Everyone will get a break next week; they should not need a day off now. Patterson and McCoy are not great replacements.
Red Sox: Ellsbury, Scutaro, Gonzalez, Pedroia, Ortiz, McDonald, Varitek, Drew, Navarro, and Lester pitching.
Top 1st: Davis strikes out swinging, one down for Patterson, grounds to Gonzalez at first, throw to Lester, two down for Bautista strikes out.
Bottom 1st: Ellsbury grounds to McCoy at second throw to Lind, one down, Scutaro fly ball to Snider in right two down for Gonzalez, hits him. Second Red Sox player to get hit this series by Jays pitchers. Pedroia, strikes out. Nice start for Cecil.
Top 2nd: Lind lines it hard to Navarro at third, one down for Encarnacion, strikes out, two down for yesterday’s hero, Travis Snider not this time strikes out swinging.
Bottom 2nd: Ortiz doubles to Snider in right, Travis had some problems there in the dirt, what is with his footwear these days, he was stumbling yesterday as well. McDonald grounds to. Ortiz to third on the play. Varitek doubles to Patterson in left, here comes Ortiz 1-0 Red Sox. One down for Drew singles to right, McCoy who kicks it around there, error to McCoy, Snider retrieves but Varitek scores 2-0 Bosotn. Navarro pops up to Johnny Mac at short, two down. Ellsbury pops up to Bautista at third to end this but Lester has a two run lead. That night be enough tonight.
Top 3rd: Arencibia ball four, leadoff walk, Johnny Mac pops up to Pedroia at second, one down for McCoy, grounds to Scutaro throw to Gonzalez at first, one down. Arencibia at second. Davis pops up to Navarro at third. Arencibia left out there in scoring position.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro fly ball to Davis in centre, one down for Gonzalez strikes out swinging, two down for Pedroia, gets hold of this one no question, home run to left, 3-0 Boston. Ortiz with the shift right here fly ball to Patterson in left to end the inning but Boston add another. Cecil slams his glove down in the dugout. Left that pitch up.
Top 4th: Patterson grounds back to Lester, throw to Gonzalez, one down, Bautista fly ball to Ellsbury in centre, two down for Lind, you can't do that with Lester Adam takes strike three. Jays yet to get a hit. That is to jinx Lester next inning.
Bottom 4th: McDonald grounds to Bautista at third, throw to Lind, one down. Cecil is not pitching badly. He just has no run support. Varitek strikes out looking, two down for Drew, grounds to McCoy throw to Lind for third out. Cecil also keeping his pitch count down which is very good considering Boston hitters love to go deep in the count.
Top 5th: No Lester? Matt Albers now pitching, must be something wrong with Lester to leave this early. Encarnacion strikes out swinging, one down for Snider, takes third strike. Arencibia, ball four for the second time tonight a walk. JP becoming more patient at bat? Johnny Mac grounds to Scutaro at short, throw to Gonzalez and Arencibia left out there on his own yet again tonight.
Bottom 5th: Navarro grounds to McCoy throw to Lind, one down. Ellsbury strikes out swinging, two down for Scutaro singles to Patterson in left, I told you this guy is a real pain against the Jays. Always seems to play well against his old team. One on two down Gonzalez singles to Davis in centre, Scutaro to second, Pedroia fly ball to Davis in centre. Cecil escapes the damage this time.
Top 6th: McCoy grounds to Scutaro throw to Gonzalez one down for Davis, bunting, Varitek throw to first gets him. Two down for Patterson, full count, fouling them off here, ball four inside. Bautista with runner on and two down. Singles into left. First hit by Jays. Two on two down for Lind. Morales up in bullpen working quickly. Big chance here Adam. Oh Boy and this is why I can’t stand Patterson, picked off that is disgusting, bush league and worthy of benching. How dumb is that play? Two on for the first time in the game, chance to tie it up, Lind at bat, momentum shifting for the first time to the Jays and he is out at third. Why oh why oh why? And only Patterson can answer that one. How to blow a game big-time and lose that valuable momentum. He had better pray hard.
Bottom 6th: Ortiz, shift right on him even though he has more than twenty hits to left. 3-1 count, Cecil pitching around Ortiz. Full count, low ball four. Fly ball to right, one down. Varitek high fly ball to Davis in centre, two down. Drew, 3-0 count, ball four outside, walk number two, Cecil tiring here. Navarro grounds to short throw to second for final out.
Top 7th: Lind again but this time without two on base, thanks to Patterson and of course a fresh pitcher not one with two on base. How would you feel if you were Adam? Let alone Bautista and Cecil. Morales now pitching. Lefty lefty matchup which Lind didn’t have last inning and so it goes on, simple error with huge implications. Definitely an avoidable out. High pop up to McDonald in left. One down. Encarnacion, 0-2 count, high pop up to Navarro in shallow left. Snider, 2-2 count, interesting as Travis lays off that ball in the dirt, there was a time and not so long ago when Travis would chase that one and strike out. Another one and again leaves it in the dirt, full count. Lines it to Ellsbury in centre for the out but that was a good at bat by Travis.
Bottom 7th: Ellsbury, Camp up in bullpen. Grounds to McCoy, throw to Lind. Scutaro, grounds to short, throw to Lind, two down for Gonzalez, strikes out swinging. Nice pitching Brett. You did your part tonight.
Top 8th: Bard now pitching. Boston closing the door. Jays basically have three chances now before lights out with Papelbon in the ninth. Arencibia, I like his patience tonight with his two walks. Not this time, totally overmatched by Bard. Strikes out swinging, one down for McDonald, 1-2 count, singles into right. Nice at bat by Johnny Mac. Stayed back and lined it opposite field. Hill now pinch hitting should have been in the game all night in my opinion. Pulls it to left right at the wall for McDonald to make the out at the wall. Thames pinch hitting, oh much too late in my opinion, lines this one hard to left but exactly the same play for the out at the wall.
Bottom 8th: Cecil still out there, Patterson gone now, for Thames in right field, Pedroia, fly ball to Thames, one down for Ortiz. Full count, strikes out swinging, great off speed pitch. Two down for McDonald, singles back right through Cecil into centre field, Varitek, 0-2 count, fly ball to Thames for third out.
Top 9th: Jays need three runs against Papelbon. Patterson the fall guy tonight, singles back up the middle; trying for redemption here but please stay at that bag, don’t move until someone tells you to. Bautista, 2-1 count, cat and mouse game here, whoa who is the cat here, Jose the man, hammers this one left high over the wall, right off the light pylon in left, 3-2 game, that is a gigantic play for the Jays, changes the whole game. Lind. Strikes out swinging, one down for Encarnacion, and drives it into right centre, Jays still alive here. Encarnacion at first. Snider, hammers this one high but caught at the wall in left, just misses. Two down for Arencibia, 2-1 count, down and away, 3-1, full count, I think that was the one to hit JP. Ball four and Arencibia on again. Incredibly a base hit will tie this one up. Pitching coach out there to calm Papelbon down, Ha! As if Johnny Mac were a threat to Papelbon? Papelbon is just taking a break and breaking up Jays momentum. Johnny Mac. takes strike one, 0-2 count, this will do it singles into left, here comes Encarnacion here comes the throw, perfectly on line, out at the plate. Varitek blocked the plate and Encarnacion could not get through. It took alperfect throw to get him BUT this was a time when Jays needed a speedy pinch runner but there was no one left on the bench.
Another very tough loss for the Jays, one they could have stolen tonight.
The amazing: New category. Bautista tonight two hits but what I find amazing is the home run off Papelbon. In his last four games, Jose has hit home runs off Halladay, Cliff Lee and now Papelbon...... That is incredible. These are the top pitchers in both leagues, these are not cheap hits and giveaways. I shake my head at this guy. Not least of course both his last two at bats tonight he put the Jays in great position. He IS the MVP by any standard.
The very good: Cecil complete game eight innings and only 114 pitches. He deserved better tonight but Jays fans will take a Cecil who is back in last season’s great form.
Disappointing, Jays start off with inferior line-up, get stellar pitching from Cecil who goes eight innings and then when they do get two on base Patterson blows it by getting picked off with Lind at bat. What could you expect with this line-up, definitely not a first team out there.
The goat: Tonight, the Great Billy Goat Gruff, Corey spelt COREY Patterson. Remember that name because with luck we may not see him out there much longer.
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