Jays give one away to the Yankees but another good outing by Alvarez

Yankees v Jays. Game two of three.

Yankees in a mood for revenge, this is not what they expected in Toronto. An easy three wins to put some space between themselves and Boston. Colon v Alvarez today. Can the rookie Alvarez beat the experienced AL East leaders? Great crowd this afternoon, much larger than last night which was indeed just under the 30,000 that I guessed. Lots of noisy Yankee fans.

Line-ups: Yankees: Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Rodriguez, Swisher, Montero, Gardner, Romine and Colon pitching.
Jays: McCoy, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Cooper, Rasmus, Lawrie, Molina, Loewen and Alvarez pitching. Three rookies in the line-up today plus Alvarez. A tough game ahead.

Top 1st: Jeter, grounds to McCoy throw to Lind, one down. Granderson, bunting up third base line, Alvarez throw wild and pulls Lind off the bag. One on for Teixeira. Perfect, grounds to Johnson, flip to McCoy at second over to Lind double play ball to end a quick first inning for Alvarez.
Bottom 1st: McCoy, fly ball to Granderson in centre, one down for Johnson, grounds to Cano at second, throw to Teixeira at first, two down. Bautista, high fly ball to Granderson in centre to end the inning.

Top 2nd: Cano, bunting back to Alvarez, quick throw to Lind for the out. Rodriguez, first game off thumb injury. Full count, singles to Loewen in left, one on one down for Swisher. Grounds to Johnson, throw to McCoy over to Lind another inning ending double play ball.
Bottom 2nd: Lind leading off, back in the cleanup position as we forecast last night. 2-2 count, singles to centre. One on for Cooper, DH today, singles to centre, Lind all the way to third. Two on nobody out. Rasmus, lines it to the wall in right, Lind scores 1-0 Jays. Rasmus stand up double as Cooper gets to third, still nobody out. Lawrie, 3-1 count, grounds to Jeter, just gets Lawrie at first, as Cooper scores, 2-0 Jays. One down and runner Rasmus at second for Loewen, full count, inside ball four, two on one down for last night’s hero Jose Molina, lifts it to into left, ball bounces over the fence, ground rule double, here comes Rasmus, 3-0 Jays. Loewen to third. McCoy sac bunt here, up first base line, Teixeira tags him out as Loewen comes in to score 4-0 Jays. Molina to second on the play Johnson, strikes out to end the inning. But Jays get to Colon in a big way sending weight hitters to the plate.

Top 3rd Montero leading off, bounces to short, Lawrie makes the play but has no grip on the ball to throw. Gardner with Montero at first, 2-2 count, looked like strike three, Alvarez thought so also, grounds to Lawrie throw to Johnson at second, to get Montero. Romine, catching today. 2-2 count, grounds to Lawrie in front of McCoy, throw to Lind for the out. Two down one on for Jeter, grounds to McCoy, throw to Lind for the out. Another good inning for Alvarez.
Bottom 3rd: Bautista, bounces to Jeter throw to Teixeira, one down for Lind, pops it up high to A-Rod at third, two down. Cooper, strikes out looking on three pitches to end the inning. Jays go quickly and quietly.

Top 4th: Granderson leading off, full count, ball four. One on for Teixeira, lines it to Rasmus in centre, Granderson to third. Double for Teixeira. Fly ball to Loewen, oh he drops the ball, here comes Granderson, Teixeira to third, Cano to second, 4-1 Jays. Error to Loewen. Two on for Cano, nobody out. Rodriguez, perfect, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Lind, one down. Swisher with two in scoring position. Fly ball to centre, oh wow, great running catch by Rasmus to his left and now Cano is off the base and rounding third and now Teixeira goes back to tag up but Cano has overtaken him, and out. Cano obviously thought that Rasmus would not get to that ball and he was also not watching the play in front of him. A crazy double play, WOW what an ending.
Bottom 4th: Can Jays capitalize on that? Rasmus, bunting down the third base line and A-Rod lets it roll but stays safe, one on for Lawrie, hit and run on singles to Granderson in centre, Rasmus to second. Nobody out and two on for Loewen, strikes out, not Adam’s day today. Molina, lines to left but at Gardner for the out. Runners hold. Two down for McCoy, drives this one hard opposite field to right, this will do it, off the wall, here comes Rasmus and Lawrie right behind him, two more runs. 6-1 Jays. Romine drops the ball but throws to A-Rod McCoy safe at third on the play. Johnson, pops up to A-Rod at third but Jays get two more.

Top 5th: Montero leading off, strikes out looking. One down for Gardner, lines this to left Loewen made a dive for it but gets past him to the wall, not his day today at all. Gardner is speeding and safe at third. Romine pops it up to Johnson, no chance for Gardner to score, two down. Jeter, grounds to McCoy throw to Lind for third out. Nice pitching by Alvarez to get the two with Gardner at third. 86 pitches but his strike to ball ratio 63-23 is excellent.
Bottom 5th: Colon is out of the game. Scott Proctor now pitching. Bautista, full count, outside ball four. Lind, grounds to Jeter, throw to Cano at second, over to Teixeira double play ball. Cooper, strikes out.

Top 6th: Alvarez still out there. Granderson, 1-2 count, here we go lines to right, bounces over the wall in the corner, ground rule double. One on for Teixeira, singles to Rasmus in centre, fumbles it and throw to second but Granderson comes home on the error, two on nobody out. 6-2 Jays. Teixeira to second. Wild pitch by Alvarez, Teixeira to third. Still nobody out. 1-2 count, ouch Cano hit on the hip, that would hurt. Rodriguez, oh no, first pitch, gets hold of this one, into left and just over the fence, three run home run 6-5 Jays and this game is totally different. Villanueva warming up in bullpen. Swisher, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Lind for the first out. Montero first pitch fly ball to Rasmus for the second out. Gardner, singles to left, one on two down for Romine, bounces one to McCoy throw to Lind for third out but Yankees are back in this one bigtime.
Bottom 6th: Laffey now pitching. Rasmus leading off pops up to A-Rod, one down for Lawrie fly ball to Granderson in centre, two down. Loewen grounds to Cano throw to Teixeira. Three up and down for the Jays.

Top 7th: Villanueva now pitching, Jeter grounds to McCoy throw not in time. Granderson, 2-2 with a walk today, 2-2 count, ouch Molina hurt on that foul off, 10 pitch at bat here, fouling them off, there he goes, drives this one to centre and over the fence, two run home run and Yankees take the lead 7-6. Twelve pitches in that at bat. Still nobody out. Teixeira grounds to Lawrie throw to Lind, one down. Cano grounds to Lind steps on the bag himself for the out, two down. A-Rod, not this time, grounds to Lawrie throw to Lind for third out. Yankees go quietly here.
Bottom 7th: Noesi now pitching. Teahen pinch hitting for Molina. Strikes out, not much help there Mark, one down. McCoy grounds to Jeter, throw to Teixeira two down. Johnson, full count, fly ball to Swisher in right.


Top 8th: Thames in for Loewen in left, Loewen did not have a great day today. Arencibia in for Molina. Drabek now pitching, gradually getting him back into this line-up. Swisher first pitch fly ball to Rasmus in centre, one down for Montero, full count, strikes him out swinging. Gardner, grounds to Johnson throw to Lind and Drabek gets a nice three up and down inning. Everyone is happy to see that.
Bottom 8th: Soriano in to protect this one run lead for Rivera next inning. Dickerson now in right. Bautista, 2-2 count, strikes out, one down for Lind, strikes out, swinging, two down. Cooper, full count, strikes out, Soriano did his job second day in a row striking out the side.

Top 9th: Drabek still out there. Chavez pinch hitting for Romine, strikes out. One down for Jeter, strikes out, Granderson full count, ball four, one on two down for Teixeira, fly ball to Bautista right. Another good inning for Drabek but can the hitters get one?

Bottom 9th: Martin now catching. Rivera pitching. Rasmus, 2-2 count, strikes out looking, one down. Lawrie, 2-2 count, grounds to Teixeira, beats Lawrie to the bag for the out. Thames, two down, fly ball to Granderson in centre. Save number 601 for Rivera to tie the major league record. Jays lose a close one 7-6 and set up tomorrow’s game for the series. Morrow pitching, he has to pitch his best game of the season.

Jays were not disgraced or embarrassed today and to lose a close one run game is no disgrace, however they gave aup a five run lead and that is something else.

The very good: Alvarez pitched another fine outing. We sometimes forget that this is a young kid of 21 and has only been in the majors for the last month. He has not disgraced himself at all. Drabek also a fine two scoreless innings of relief. Defense three double plays. Great defensive play by Rasmus in centre to start the crazy double play in the 4th inning.

The not so good: 3-8 with runners in scoring position, not as bad as last night but still not good and in a one run ballgame crucial.