Jays win their third in a row behind Cecil pitching and Thames power

Jays v Indians. Final game of four game series.

At worst Jays will tie this series and that is not a bad result against a very strong division leading Cleveland Indians side. They should have had three with the game on Thursday and blown four run lead by Francisco... Today Cecil pitching.

Line-ups: Jays: Escobar, Thames, Bautista, Lind, Hill, not sure why he is still at number five but this could be his final chance and changes after the all-star break. Snider moves up the line-up. Arencibia, Patterson, Davis and Cecil pitching.
Indians: Brantley, O. Cabrera, Hafner, Santana, Sizemore, Kearns, Marson, Valbuena, Hannahan, and Carlos Carrasco pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar, 0-2 count, strikes out on three pitches. Thames, singles into right. Bautista, 2-2 count, pops up to Santana playing at first, two down for Lind. Drives this one to centre but Sizemore has it at the wall for third out, the deepest part of the ballpark.
Bottom 1st: Brantley, 3-1 count, ball four, great comparison with Carrasco who came out throwing nothing but strikes. One on for Orlando Cabrera, bunting pops it up nice catch by Cecil for first out. Hafner, 3-1 count, ball four and Cecil has two walks already. Santana with two on. Lines it off the glove of Escobar into left. Bases loaded and only one down. Sizemore, pops it up to Bautista running in from third. Two down. Kearns, with bases loaded. Grounds softly to Hill at second throw to Lind for third out leaving the bases loaded. Cecil rough first inning but escapes without any damage,

Top 2nd: Hill, not sure why, but could be his last chance. Carrasco 3-0, has lost that strike zone here, full count. Ball four inside. One on for Snider, gradually climbing the order. There goes Hill, great jump but Snider fouls it off. Strikes out swinging on ball in the dirt, one down for Arencibia. Lines it back up the middle, JP is one hitter that we are all hoping to see break out of his hitting slump. Two on for Patterson, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Davis, swings at one half way to first base. 2-2 with two on and two down. Outside, full count. Strikes out swinging. Both teams have had their chances but appear unable to make the most of them.
Bottom 2nd: Marson leading off. Strikes out swinging. One down for Valbuena, that was weird play, high pitch but he puts it down for swinging bunt and Cecil throws him out at first, two down. Hannahan, two down. 3-1 count, ball four and walk number three. Brantley with one on. Strikes out looking.


Top 3rd: Escobar, 2-2 count, singles into centre, Thames WHOA drives this one high into right centre seats, home run number four for Thames, 2-0 Jays. Great swing. Bautista, full count, singles the other way into right. Lind, one on. 1-2 count, grounds to third, throw to first for the out. Bautista to second. Hill, shatters his bat as he grounds to second, out at first, Bautista to third. Snider, full count, high ball four. Arencibia with two down and two on. That will do it, singles into centre, here comes Bautista from third, 3-0 Jays. Second hit today for Arencibia, great to see. Two on two down for Patterson, wild pitch to the screen, both runners move up and into scoring position. Perfect, lines it to right centre and bounces into the seats, both runners score, 5-0 Jays. Davis dribbler back to Carrasco, throw to first at 200mph, for the out. He really hurled that one, I guess he is mad.
Bottom 3rd: Cecil now has a great lead to work with. Cabrera leading off. Fly ball to Snider in left, one down. Hafner, high pop up to Escobar, two down. Santana 0-2 count, singles to Davis in centre. Hammers this one high into right centre but Patterson has it at the wall for third out.

Top 4th: Carrasco is finished. Frank Herrmann now pitching. Escobar, grounds to Cabrera at short, throw to first, one down for Thames who started the damage last inning, full count, pops up to Cabrera in shallow left. Bautista, lines this one hard to left centre but out at the wall. Not this time Jose.
Bottom 4th: Kearns, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Marson lines it into left field corner stand up double. Valbuena singles into right, runners holds at third. Two on nobody out. Hannahan, strikes out swinging, number four for Cecil. Two down. Brantley lines it softly to Escobar, nice overhead catch. Cecil escapes trouble once again.

Top 5th: Lind, high fly ball to left for first out. One down for Hill. 1-2 count, lines it to second robs Aaron of a hit there, great catch. When you are going as badly as Hill, you don’t get the breaks. Snider, lines this one off the wall in left centre, another double for Travis. Arencibia, 2-2 today, strikes out this time leaving Travis at second.
Bottom 5th: Cabrera leading off, full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Hafner, shift right on with Bautista behind Lind, grounds left ! to Escobar throw to Lind, two down for Santana. Takes strike three to end the inning. Cecil continues to pitch well.

Top 6th: Rafael Perez now pitching. Patterson, strikes out swinging, one down for Davis, Dotel warming up in bullpen. Pulls it into left. Will he be stealing here? Escobar. There goes Davis but umpire calls a balk. Davis at second, 2-2 count, strikes out looking. Does not like the call but two down for Thames. Grounds to third throw to first wide of the bag and Thames safe at first. Bautista to third on the play but stops there. Bautista, lines it to left field corner, here comes Davis and Thames, 7-0 Jays. Jose at second. Lind, pitch gets away, wild pitch and Jose to third. Off the end of the bat and Perez tags Lind out to end the inning leaving Jose at third. But Jays get two more.
Bottom 6th: Johnny Mac in for Bautista, getting arrest now with his All-Star home run competition tomorrow. Sizemore leading off. Cecil still out there. Indians have been close several times but unable to get the final hit. Full count. Grounds to Lind, off his glove, Sizemore safe at first. Error to Lind. Kearns, singles to left. Two on for Marson first pitch pops up to Hill at second. Valbuena, pops it up to Patterson in right, two down. Hannahan, 1-2 count, singles to Davis in centre, here comes the run as Sizemore scores 7-1 Jays. Two on two down for Brantley. 100 pitches for Cecil, Perez warming up in bullpen. Full count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for the out. Indians finally break through but Cecil has pitched a good game today and should be able to give the bullpen the last three innings.

Top 7th: Sidearmer Joe Smith now pitching. Hill, lines it very hard but right at Cabrera at short and throw to first for the out. Hill has been robbed twice today but bottom line still hitless. Snider, strikes out looking, Arencibia, full count, outside ball four. Patterson, 2-0 count, lines this one into the left centre gap but Brantley runs it down for third out.
Bottom 7th: No more Cecil, did a great job and has earned the win if his bullpen can hold it for him. Luis Perez now pitching. Cabrera leading off, grounds first pitch to Escobar, throw to Lind, one down. Hafner, strikes out swinging, two down. Santana, 3-1 ball four high and way outside. One on two down for Sizemore. Grounds to Hill great diving stop but unable to throw ball, both runners safe. Kearns, grounds to Escobar, flip to Hill covering second for the final out.

Top 8th: Vinnie Pestano now pitching. Davis, strikes out swinging, one down for Escobar. Strikes out swinging on three pitches. Thames, strikes out swinging n three pitches. Jays players in a hurry to go home fir the All-Star break.
Bottom 8th: Marson, full count, ball four, one on for Valbuena, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Hannahan, 2-2 count, full count, perfect bounces to Escobar steps on the bag and throw to Lind for double play.

Top 9th: Tony Sipp pitching. Johnny Mac leading off. Fly ball to left, one down. Lind, 0-4 today. Strikes out swinging, 0-5, not a great day for Adam. Hill, has been close but remains hitless, strikes out swinging and goes home concerned about this slump.
Bottom 9th: Frasor has the honour of the last inning before All-Star game. Lots of fans have left this one. Brantley singles into right. Cabrera, 2-2 count, pops up to Patterson in right. One down for Hafner. No grand slam today. In fact hitless today, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging and remains hitless. Two down for Santana, 3-1 count, ball four. Frasor making heavy weather of this, Jays fans happy he has six run lead to play with. Sizemore with two on and two down. 0-2 count, Francisco? warming up, that should scare Frasor. Finally grounds to Hill, throw to Lind. Frasor fortunate that it was a six run lead.

Jays win big 7-1 today and take three of four from Cleveland in Cleveland. That is impressive ending to the first half of the season. They can take that into the series with Yankees starting on Thursday.

The very good: Thames 3 hit game including his two run home run. Cecil going six one run innings. Patterson his two run shot in the third. Congratulations to Ricky Romero on his selection for All-Star game.
Not so good: First inning for Cecil very fortunate to escape base loaded situation without damage. Frasor certainly not overpowering in his one inning. Hill continues his struggles and it would not surprise me to see him hitting lower after the All-Star break.