Jays provide the July 4th fireworks with dream return from Snider supporting Morrow win

Jays v Red Sox. Game one of three.

Jays go into Boston on a high note and we should celebrate all the good times this team can give this season. Half of my wishes come through with return of Travis Snider AND Rajai Davis leading off. The latter makes so much sense to me even with Escobar injured and not ready to return. When Davis gets on base the pitchers have two issues to worry about, the running game of Rajai and Bautista in the on deck circle. Plus even when he has stolen second he is still a threat to take third, having stolen third six times this season already. The opposing pitchers will have one major migraine with Davis on the bases let alone concentrating on pitching to Jose. Added to that of course is Eric Thames who has been nothing short of amazing on his return. With Davis, Thames, Bautista and Lind in the top four, they have more power after Lind with both Hill and now Travis back in the line-up. That could be one impressive six, when Escobar gets back, decision time, but for now Davis has his chance again to make that leadoff spot his. Downside is the assignment for Rivera not Patterson to make room for Travis, but evidently Alex has said today that Rivera could be moved in the next ten days, so obviously the GM is working on something. Today Morrow pitching against Lackey and last time against Red Sox in Toronto, Morrow had a terrible start and was hammered all over the ballpark. Let’s hope that his recent pitching form will carry over here today in Fenway and make the July 4th celebrations a Canadian one in Fenway.

Line-ups: Jays: Davis, Thames, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Hill, Snider, Molina, McDonald and Morrow pitching.
Red Sox: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez, Youkilis, Otiz, Reddick, Saltalammacchia, Drew, Scutaro and Lackey pitching.

Top 1st: Davis, lines it into left corner, slides into second. Now will he steal third? Thames, Davis already distracting Lackey, Thames lines it to Ellsbury in centre, one down for Bautista. Rajai, there he goes and throw by Saltalamacchia gets away at third, and here he comes, safe at home plate. 1-0 Jays. SPEED, I love it. Jose grounds to Pedroia at second, two down. Lind., strikes out swinging.
Bottom 1st: Ellsbury, singles to Davis in centre. Pedroia, grounds to Johnny Mac. Playing at short today, over to Hill on to Lind, not in time to turn two but one down for Gonzalez, full count, Pedroia running, strike three, Molina throw down to Hill gets him easily, call it two. Very nice double play to end this one.

Top 2nd: Encarnacion, 2-2 count, gets under it but high fly ball to the wall in left, one down for Hill, there we go Aaron, pulls this one high into the seats over the wall in left, 2-0 Jays. And what I like is he is pulling it more to left, Fenway Green Monster is perfect for Hill perhaps he can get that swing back here this week. Travis Snider doubles to the wall in centre, welcome back Travis. Drives it so smoothly. Molina, one down one on. Strikes out swinging, two down for Johnny Mac. Now he can also pull it to left. Loops it into centre, here comes Snider, 3-0 Jays. Davis again, down and away, lay off it Rajai , 0-2, there goes Johnny Mac but Davis pops up to second for the out. Great start for the Jays here but Morrow has to shut them down.
Bottom 2nd: Youkilis, pops it up to second, great catch by Hill over his head backpedalling into shallow right centre. One down for Ortiz, full count, strikes out swinging, two down. Reddick, strikes out but the ball bounces into the crowd, that is rough. One on two down for Saltalammacchia, oh I love this one, Molina throw to Lind and he gets him sliding back. Just went too far off base and Reddick out to end the inning. That is justice after Reddick getting on base despite the strikeout.

Top 3rd: Thames, goes the other way and singles into left corner. Bautista 2-2 count, Lackey pitching outside, full count, singles into left, two on nobody out for Lind. Time for a bomb Adam. 3-1 count, not giving him anything to hit. Full count, singles into centre, here comes Thames. 4-0 Jays. Fenway fans not happy right now. Encarnacion, two on nobody out. Bullpen working, love it. Seven hits already for Jays. High fly ball to left but out at the wall, almost. Hill with one down and two on. Full count, singles over the glove of Scutaro, here comes Bautista 5-0 Jays. Snider, this would be nice for Travis if he can bring one in. 0-2 count. perfect Travis lines it into right field corner, here comes Lind, third base coach Butterfield frantically windmilling out there, here comes Hill, throw not in time 7-0 Jays. Travis with his second double. And that is finito today for Lackey. Wheeler now pitching., Molina hitting with Snider at second, fly ball to right, two down for McDonald, 0-2 count, fly ball to Reddick in left to leave Travis at second. This score will raise some eyebrows around the ballparks this afternoon.
Bottom 3rd: But to enjoy it even more Morrow has to close them down. This game is by no means over, especially at Fenway. Saltalamcchia, grounds to Lind at first, takes it himself, one down for Drew. 3-1 don’t lose him here. Full count, strikes out swinging, two down for ex-Jay Marco Scutaro, he was a real pain in the last series in Toronto. Full count, lines it to Thames at the wall in left. Ellsbury, 1-2 count, high pop up to Snider in right. Morrow did his job.

Top 4th: Top of the line-up for the third time today. Davis, pops it up to Drew in shallow right, one down. Thames, high pop up to Gonzalez in shallow right. Two down for Bautista. Full count, high pop up to Drew in right centre. Wheeler stops the rot here.
Bottom 4th: Pedroia leading off. High pop up to Thames in left in front of the wall. One down for Gonzalez, 1-2 count, grounds to Hill at second, throw to Lind, two down. Youkilis, oh boy hits him in the shoulder blade. That would hurt at 94mph. But he is leaving the game, that must really hurt. Navarro pinch runner, Ortiz with one on and two on. 1-2 count. Grounds to Hill flips to McDonald to get Navarro.

Top 5th: Lind leading off. Grounds to Gonzalez at first, takes it himself, one down for Encarnacion. Pulls it from way outside to Navarro at third, that was a weird play Edwin, try driving it the other way. Hill, two down, grounds to Scutaro at short, throw to Gonzalez. Jays go quietly here.
Bottom 5th: Reddick leading off. fly ball to Thames in left, one down for Saltalamacchia, 0-2 count, full count, strikes out swinging, number five for Brandon today. Drew, singles back up the middle. One on two down for Scutaro. 3-1 count, having trouble here. Ball four. Two on two down for Ellsbury. Oh boy lines it deep to centre, Davis unable to get to it two runs score, 7-2 Jays and Ellsbury at third. Pedroia. 3-1 count, Morrow has lost the zone here. Full count, ball four but wild pitch and Ellsbury scores from third. 7-3 game. Pedroia to first. Gonzalez, lines it off the Green Montsre in left corner, bounce gets away from Thames his first time in Fenway. Here comes Pedroia, 7-4 game. Gonzalez at second. Navarro, 1-2 count. Grounds back up the middle to Hill, throw to Lind for third out. Rough few minutes for Morrow but he still has three run lead.

Top 6th: Jays hitters need a couple here to take the pressure off Morrow. Snider leading off, 2-2 today with two doubles. Alfredo Aceves now pitching. Dan Wheeler perfect for the eight hitters he faced. Snider, does it again, lines it into right and stand up double. Three doubles in three at bats, welcome back Travis. Molina, bunting and perfect up first base line, Snider to third. One down for McDonald. 1-2 count, oh no, pops up to Gonzalez at first two down no chance for Travis to come home. Davis now last chance, full count, terrible, pops up to Scutaro. What a wasted chance there with Snider leadoff double. Boston getting the momentum, someone has to shut them down here
Bottom 6th: Ortiz leading off. Morrow up to 94 pitch count. 3-0 count, ball four. One on, Jays bullpen working and thats it for Morrow now. Here comes Manager John. Luis Perez now pitching. Darnell McDonald pinch hitting. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Saltalamacchia. Lines a bullet right at Bautista, drops the ball but throw in time, he disagrees, and now Francona out to argue. No joy Terry. Two down as Ortiz goes to second. Drew, full count, strikes out swinging. And Brandon Morrow is the guy who made that very loud sigh. Nice pitching Luis Perez.

Top 7th: Thames leading off. Jays need some runs. 0-2 count, fly ball to Drew in right, one down. Bautista, lines it to third, great play by Navarro, and throw to first, two down for Lind. 3-1 count, ball four, one on two down for Encarnacion, time Edwin to connect here, full count, lines it into left field corner there we go Edwin. Lind all the way around and Navarro drops the relay at third and Lind scores, 8-4 Jays. Edwin at second for Hill with two down, full count. Hill pulls it to Navarro at third, throw to first gets Hill to end the inning but Jays get an important run back.
Bottom 7th: Scutaro leading off. 2-2 count. Grounds to Bautista, throw to first for the out. One down for top of the order Ellsbury. Bounces back to Perez, jumps for it and ball hits his glove and ball dies in the grass, no chance for throw, Ellsbury safe at first, Bad luck there for Perez. Pedroia, 2-2 count. singles to Davis in centre, two on. Gonzalez, not the guy you want to see here right now. 0-2 count, perfect, grounds to Lind, throw to McDonald back to Perez at first, double play ball. Wow that was huge break for Perez.

Top 8th: Lets get a couple more here. Snider leading off. 3-4 today. All three hits doubles. Aceves all over the place here. Two wild pitches, save them for guys at third. Grounds to Gonzalez at first, one down. Molina, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Two down for McDonald, singles into left. Inning not over yet, one on for Davis. YES Rajai, lines this one off the Green Monster, here comes Johnny Mac and safe at home plate Francona does not agree. 9-4 Jays and another triple for Rajai Davis. That knocks out Aceves. Franklin Morales now pitching to Eric Thames. 3-1 count, ball four, two on two down for Bautista. Oh dear, Thames is picked off at first, not good at all Eric. That was rookie error there, I hope he learned from it.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Navarro, 2-2 count, singles to centre. One on for Ortiz. Pops it up to left, bounces into the crowd ground rule double, two in scoring position and still no outs. McDonald. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Need two more though. Saltalamacchia, 2-0 count, lines it off the wall, two runs score, 9-6 Jays. That out by Thames now is looking very very large. Saltalamacchia all the way to third. Drew, lines it to Thames in left, run scores 9-7 two down. Scutaro with nobody on base. 2-2 count, strikes out looking but Frasor picks a terrible time for his worst inning.

Top 9th: Bautista gets another shot but there is nobody on base this time, that mistake by Thames was the very worst. No excuse for that at all. Matt Albers pitching. 1-2 count, bounces to third, throw to first gets Jose, one down. Lind the forgotten power hitter. 3-0 count, ball four. Encarnacion with Lind at first, lines to McDonald at third, two down. Hill, grounds to third, beats out the throw two on for Snider, not this time Travis, grounds to Navarro at third throw to Gonzalez and Jays now have to rely on the bullpen.
Bottom 9th: Francisco in to save this and that is what worries us all. After his blown save on Friday in Toronto. Top of the Boston lineup. Ellsbury grounds to Hill and beats the throw, the last guy you want on base in a close game. Pedroia, there goes Ellsbury and now in scoring position. I am getting very nervous here. Pedroia strikes out. One down one on for Gonzalez, just the AL leading average and with 75 RBIs. Francisco has it tough here. Strikes him out two down one on for Navarro, strikes out. Jays win a big one here and deservedly so but they certainly did it the hard way with Frasor giving up three the eighth.

The very good: Snider, let’s give him the gold star today, first game back after a long banishment to the minors he replies with a huge three hit game and all doubles. Morrow, yes for five innings at least pitched well but started to unravel in the sixth. Deserved the win and a huge improvement over his last outing. Hill, home run to left, what we have all been waiting for this season. Davis to get the game off to a great start with his lead off double and steal of third.
The not so good: Has to be Thames getting picked off in the eighth with Bautista hitting with two on base, that could have been very costly for the Jays. Frasor also giving up three runs in the bottom of the eighth to make this game closer than necessary.

A great start to the series and Brett Cecil tomorrow. With Snider back and Escobar due on Wednesday this is starting to look an interesting line-up. If Brett Lawrie ever gets to the first team then some of the games could be very interesting to finish the season. The pieces are gradually falling into position.