Jays beat Red Sox in a comeback thriller.

Red Sox v Jays. Games three of four.

Boston will be playing to continue the great hitting they had last night; they need every win they can get right now to catch the Yankees. Yankees have already lost this afternoon to Baltimore so Boston has a chance to get one back. Morrow tonight for the Jays, who knows what he brings, this guy is so disappointingly inconsistent. Not a great outfield out there for the Jays. Looks like Vegas AAA. Roof appears to be jammed open above us tonight. I assume they were trying to open it. It is cool out here; we have our April sweaters on. Lots of Red Sox fans in front, behind and at the side. Hope they will be disappointed tonight. Jays want to bounce back from the awful loss last night.

Line-ups: Red Sox: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez, Ortiz, Youkilis, Crawford, Scutaro, Reddick, Saltalamacchia and Wakefield pitching. Wakefield going for win #200.
Jays: Escobar, Thames, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Lawrie, Loewen, Arencibia, McCoy and Morrow pitching.

Top 1st: Ellsbury, 2-2 count, grounds to third, off the glove of diving Lawrie. Pedroia, Singles to Thames in left, Ellsbury all the way to third. Two on and nobody out, Morrow in trouble early. Gonzalez, with two on, oh no, hits him, first pitch on the foot. Bases loaded and nobody out. Ortiz, how bad is this? Strikes out, one down. Youkilis, NO WAY, hits Youkilis on the shirt, here comes Ellsbury. 1-0 Red Sox. Youkilis holds the Red Sox record for hit batsmen and you can see why, BUT both Morrow and Arencibia should know that and not pitch him inside. Bases still loaded. Crawford, strikes out swinging, two down. Scutaro, what a pain he has been for Jays. 2-2 count, there he goes, singles to McCoy in centre. Here comes Pedroia, here comes Gonzalez, 3-0 Boston. Youkilis going to third, here comes the relay from Encarnacion Lawrie gets him, out at third but Boston off and running 3-0. This is not what we wanted from Morrow tonight. Plus his pitch count is high and he will not last five at this rate
Bottom 1st: Wakefield going for win # 200 and Morrow has staked him to a good start. Escobar, leading off, 65mph floating it in there. 3-1 count, ball four and walks. Thames grounds to Pedroia at second, throw to Scutaro, Escobar out. Bautista, wild pitch and Thames to second as ball thrown into outfield. Bautista 3-0, ball four. Two on one down. Encarnacion, passed ball, Saltalamacchia cannot find the ball just a few feet behind him, Thames moves up to third, Bautista to second. 3-1 count. Here we go fly ball to Reddick, Thames scores. 3-1 Red Sox. Johnson, Kelly will not have faced Wakefield knuckle ball before, full count, strikes out swinging. Jays get one back.

Top 2nd: Reddick strikes out swinging, one down. Saltalamacchia, fly ball to left centre, oh what a great play by McCoy diving full length and makes the catch. Two down for Ellsbury, full count fly ball to Thames. Much better inning from Morrow but helped by that McCoy play.
Bottom 2nd: Lawrie leading off, singles to left. Loewen for his first at bat, gets a nice reception from the crowd, two Canadians playing back to back. Nice. Fly ball to Crawford in left. Arencibia with one on and one down. THERE SHE GOES, this one is out of here in center field, home run for JP and this game is all tied up 3-3. Home run number 21 for Arencibia, new catcher franchise record. McCoy bunting, good one up first base line, but Gonzalez makes the tag as he slides to the bag, two down for Escobar fly ball to Reddick for third out, but Jays have tied it up.

Top 3rd: Pedroia high pop up in shallow centre to Escobar, one down. Gonzalez, first pitch, pops up to Arencibia. Ortiz, full count, hammers this on to right but Loewen has it at the fence. Three up and down. Morrow has settled down here now, I hope.
Bottom 3rd: Thames leading off, Ouch hits him in the ribs, Wakefield hits him. Bautista, one on, wild pitch, and Thames moves to second. This will do it, Bautista lines to left, bounces into the crowd, here comes Thames 4-3 Jays. Ground rule double with Bautista at second. Encarnacion pops up to Gonzalez. One down. Johnson, gets hold of this one, high into right field corner, just misses foul post, strikes out swinging for second time, welcome to the knuckleball Kelly. Lawrie 3-1 count, Bautista stealing but Youkilis not at the bag and no throw. Lawrie walks. Loewen, there goes Lawrie, throw to second OH and Bautista is coming home and Scutaro throw home is wide, Bautista scores, delayed steal and Jays pull it off 5-3 Jays. On that throw by Scutaro
Lawrie to third. Error to Scutaro. Loewen now with Lawrie at third, strikes out looking. But Jays are ahead by two.

Top 4th: Youkilis 2-2 count, fly ball to Loewen in right. One down for Crawford, 1-2 count, gets hold of this one into the right field corner and stand up double. Scutaro one on, 3-1 count, ball four. Two on for Reddick, oh dear, lines to McCoy in centre, that one bounced away from McCoy, lots of spin on that. Here comes Crawford 5-4 Jays and Scutaro to third. Reddick at second. Saltalamacchia with two in scoring position, 2-2 count, strikes out. Ellsbury OH NO, hammers first pitch to right this one is out of here, here comes Scutaro, followed by Reddick and here comes Ellsbury, a three run home run. WOW. 7-5 Red Sox. I hope Morrow does not throw a first pitch fast ball down the middle again. You don’t think he was sitting on that pitch. Pedroia full count, grounds to Escobar throw to Encarnacion but Red Sox have control of this one again. Morrow now on 78 pitch count. Four innings.
Bottom 4th: Arencibia drives it hard but fly ball to Crawford in left. One down for McCoy pops up to Reddick in right, two down. Escobar flied out to right fielder Reddick. Jays go quickly and quietly here.

Top 5th: Gonzalez leading off, full count, strikes out. One down for Ortiz, NO hammers first pitch into right, no doubt about this one, home run all the way, into the second deck, 8-5 Boston and running away with this now. BUT once again sitting on first pitch fastball. Someone Morrow or Arencibia have to get their act together. You can’t do this against this team, mix it up first pitch. Youkilis singles to right. That is it for Morrow, Villanueva now pitching. Very disappointing start by Morrow. Crawford full count, ball four, two on, Youkilis to second. Scutaro fly ball to McCoy, two down. Reddick strikes out. Villanueva puts out the fire but Jays need some runs.
Bottom 5th: Thames fly ball to Ellsbury. Bautista, ouch, pitch inside, hit by a pitch. One on for Encarnacion pops up to Gonzalez. Johnson, 3-0 count, there goes Bautista Saltalamacchia throw to Scutaro, gets him, Bautista out. Not what we want to see here Jose. On a 3-0 count?

Top 6th: Saltalamacchia leading off, fly ball to McCoy. One down for Ellsbury, singles to McCoy in centre. Pedroia, 2-2 count, there goes Ellsbury and OH YES, great throw by Arencibia gets him as Pedroia goes after high pitch, that was ball three but I guess he was protecting Ellsbury. What a double play to end this one.
Bottom 6th: That is it for Wakefield, leaves leading the game for his win number 200. Morales now pitching. Johnson, oh wow first pitch 95mph. Huge change from five minutes ago for Johnson and the 65mph of Wakefield. We can see the difference here in our seats. Strikes out swinging. Lawrie singles to centre. Loewen, ouch, hit by a pitch, Lawrie to second. That is it for Morales, Wheeler now pitching. Arencibia strikes out. Wise pinch-hitting for McCoy, with two on, fly ball to Crawford in left.

Top 7th: Wise in centre field. Litsch now pitching. Gonzalez, full count, groan, doubles to right. Come on Jesse, don’t blow this one. Ortiz intentional walk. Youkilis grounds to Lawrie steps on the bag Gonzalez out, no chance for double play. Ortiz to second. Crawford fly ball to Thames. Scutaro with two on and two down, strikes out. Litsch escapes without damage.
Bottom 7th: Escobar leading off, we need base runners Yunel. Full count, this will do it, lines it to Crawford in left, going for two and throw almost beats him, double for Escobar. Thames grounds to Gonzalez steps on the bag for the out, Escobar to third. Bautista fly ball to Ellsbury in shallow centre, where is Escobar? Not coming home on this one and throw is off the plate, he could have scored but I guess Butterfield playing it safe. Encarnacion, but with two down, this will do it, lines it to left, bounces in front of Crawford, here comes Escobar. 8-6 Red Sox. That is it for Wheeler. Bard now pitching. Johnson grounds to Gonzalez at first to make the play himself. Lots of Jays fans leaving this one now.

Top 8th: Camp now pitching. Reddick grounds to Escobar throw to Encarnacion. One down. Saltalamacchia fly ball to Thames. Two down for Ellsbury, lines this one to centre Wise dives for the ball but gets away from him, just under the glove, Ellsbury double. This is not over yet. Pedroia grounds to Escobar throw to Encarnacion.
Bottom 8th: Lawrie ouch, hit by a pitch. How many is that here tonight? One on for Loewen, way to go Adam, singles to right, Lawrie to third. Loewen has an average. Two on and nobody out, Jays scratching their way back here. Arencibia full count, ball four, Loewen to second. Bases loaded nobody out, crowd getting into this now around us. Except for the Boston red shirts. Tough. You had your day in the sun last night. Wise, time for a big one DeWayne strikes out. One down for Escobar, strikes out. Thames bases still loaded. Full count, crowd on their feet around us. Ball four, and here comes Lawrie, one run game here, 8-7 Red Sox. Bases still loaded. Woodward now pinch-running for Arencibia. Bautista, Bard pitching him away but they don’t want to give him anything to hit out either, ball four, here comes Loewen to score 8-8 game and that is not good news for Wakefield. Crowd going nuts here. That is it for Bard. Albers now pitching. Encarnacion, with bases loaded and 8-8 game. We are blocking out the Boston fans behind us as we keep standing up and down in this one. OH YES Edwin, lines t centre, here comes Woodward, here comes Thames from second and Jose going all the way from first base on this one and scores, three run double by Encarnacion has blown it open again 11-8 Jays, five runs this inning to storm back to retake the lead. I am losing my voice here tonight, Johnson strikes out for third time tonight BUT Jays have broken this one open here with five runs. Frankie will have a good lead to work with. Sad sight: two Boston fans in front of us wearing “Wakefield of dreams” shirts make their way up the aisle past us joining the line of Boston fans leaving this one. I don’t know they have not seen our closers in action obviously. But Wakefield will have to get that win in New York it will be much more satisfying for him.

Top 9th: This game is LONG.... way after 10 here. Molina now catching as Woodward pinch ran for Arencibia. Francisco now pitching. Gonzalez, OH NO !!!! I don’t believe it. Blasts this one to right into the seats. Home run for Gonzalez and Boston gets one back quickly, 11-9 game. Ortiz singles to right. Oh dear, tying run at the plate. We are sitting down again, we have seen this too many times from the closers this season. Youkilis grounds to Lawrie, thinks about second but gets Youkilis at first, Ortiz to second. One down for Crawford, nice pitch Frankie as Crawford strikes out. two down with Ortiz at second, we are on our feet again. Great exercise I guess as well but our voices are suffering. Scutaro, NO, he does it again, singles to Wise in centre, here comes Ortiz and this is not good friends. 11-10 game. Papelbon is warming up in the bullpen for the bottom of the ninth. Oh boy. Reddick, now Aviles pinch running for Scutaro. 0-2 count, we are still standing and screaming. There goes Aviles, Molina throw gets him at second, OH WOW what a way to end this one, pinch runner thrown out stealing ??? Who thought of sending him in that situation? Reddick left standing there as Jays win this come from behind in dramatic fashion. What a game. Jays go up 2-1 in the series and Boston loses a very important game for them.
We are all exhausted in our seats. This was one thrilling finish. I have no voice. Boston fans left are also speechless; they cannot believe that they gave away a three run lead in the eighth.

Excellent: This was a team effort definitely. Encarnacion with the 5 RBIs night and important hits but the patience of the hitters in front of him to get on base in that eighth inning. Jays bullpen relievers with 3.2 relief innings kept it close to the eighth after Morrow had another disappointing start. Two more hits for Lawrie plus a walk and stolen base, Bautista on base three times with two walks and a hit, two stolen bases with his steal home which obviously turned out to be an important run in the end. Arencibia home run. Loewen’s first hit. And defensively great catch by McCoy, Molina and Arencibia catching runners stealing. Boston outhit the Jays tonight 14-8!
But I guess quality hits friends count.

The not so good: Morrow poor start and then Francisco almost let it slip away with go ahead run at the plate.