Jays pitching lead by Morrow, Perez and Farquhar woefully poor as they blow this one twice.

Jays v Red Sox in Boston. Game one of two,
Red Sox nation in mourning as their team has dropped out of the division lead that they held September 1st now in a September swoon. This is a must win for them tonight. This is all mind games tonight, get on the Red Sox early but Jays have their second team out there tonight, it will be difficult for them to beat this Red Sox team. Plus Wakefield going for that win # 200 at home. Morrow for the Jays, who knows what he will bring, he has been so maddeningly inconsistent all season long and raises many questions about 2012 rotation.

Line-ups: Jays: McCoy, Thames, Bautista, Encarnacion, Cooper, Lawrie, Arencibia, Loewen, Woodward and Morrow pitching. No Escobar, Lind, Rasmus or Johnson.
Red Sox: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez, Lowrie, Youkilis, Reddick, Crawford, Scutaro, Saltalamacchia and Wakefield pitching. Red Sox at full strength, this one is too important for them to experiment with rookies.

Top 1st: McCoy, first pitch, grounds to Scutaro at short, throw to Gonzalez at first, one down. Thames, Wakefield hits him, one on one down for Bautista, 2-2 strikes out on pitch way outside. Two down for Encarnacion, pops it up Reddick in shallow right.

Bottom 1st: Ellsbury leading off, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper playing at first. One down for Pedroia, two pitches to the backstop, Morrow wild already here, lines it to the wall in left centre Loewen, stand up double. Gonzalez, 3-0 count, ball four. Lowrie pinch-hitting for Ortiz. Strikes out. Two down. Youkilis with two on, inside and hits him, bases loaded. Pedroia to third, Gonzalez to second. Reddick, 2-2 count, grounds to Cooper, throw to Morrow, off his glove, here comes Pedroia and Gonzalez, 2-0 Boston. Error to Cooper. Youkilis at third. Crawford grounds to Woodward at second throw to Cooper. Morrow three wild pitches, hit batsman definitely not a good start.

Top 2nd: Cooper leading off lines it high off the wall to left, Crawford throw wide and not in time. As Cooper makes up for the error with a leadoff double. doubled to left. Lawrie grounds to Scutaro and beats out the throw. Speed. Two on for Arencibia, nobody out. Lines first pitch high to left off the top of the wall, no they are calling home run, Francona wants a review. Home run stands, three run home run for Arencibia, Jays go out ahead 3-2. Loewen grounds first pitch to Pedroia throw to Gonzalez at first, one down for Woodward, strikes out swinging. McCoy, full cont, fly ball to Reddick in right but Jays are off and running.
Bottom 2nd: Scutaro full count, singles to right. Saltalamacchia, wild pitch and Scutaro to second. Saltalamacchia grounds to Cooper at first as Scutaro to third, that could have been a double play ball. One down. Ellsbury lines it off the wall in left and Scutaro scores, 3-3 game. Ellsbury to second. Pedroia, runner in scoring position. 0-2 count and balk called, as Ellsbury takes third, this is pretty sloppy baseball by the Jays here this inning. Lines it to left to Thames to make the catch and Ellsbury scores from third. Just like that. 4-3 Boston. Gonzalez, 2-2 count, grounds to Cooper at first to end this very, very sloppy inning by Morrow, it is easy to see which team is going to the playoffs. 43 pitch count after two innings. That is not good enough.

Top 3rd: Thames, 0-2 count, singles into right. Bautista, 1-2 count, Wild pitch and Thames to second. There she goes, high into left and hits the foul pole right at the top, wow, two run home run 5-4 Jays. Encarnacion, 3-1 count, high ball four. Edwin on base and still nobody out. Boston bullpen working. Cooper, 2-1 count, drives this one high to centre but the deepest part of the ballpark to Ellsbury, one down. Lawrie, one on one down. Lines it to Youkilis at third, knocks it down but no chance to get Lawrie at first, speed kills. Two on, one down for Arencibia, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging this time. Two down two on for Loewen, strikes out swinging for third out. Pitch count at 61.
Bottom 3rd: Lowrie, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Youkilis, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper two down. Reddick, loops it just over leaping Woodward at second into shallow right for a single. Crawford, full count, oh wow lines this one high to the right centre here but Loewen stays with it and slams up against the Boston bullpen wall with the ball in his glove, wow highlight reel catch to rescue Morrow there from two run home run. That one was out of here. Pitch count 65 for three innings is something else however.

Top 4th: Woodward pops it up to Ellsbury in left centre. One down. McCoy, full count, pops up to Gonzalez at first, two down. Thames first pitch swinging lines it to Reddick in right. Three very quick outs for Wakefield. 70 pitch count.
Bottom 4th: Scutaro leading off. Fly ball to Bautista, one down. Always good to get Scutaro out without damage, Saltalamacchia, grounds first pitch to Woodward at second, throw to Cooper two down. Ellsbury, oh boy, drives this one to left over the wall, home run and 5-5 game. Pedroia, same again, high fly ball over the wall, 6-5 Boston. Morrow is throwing batting practice out there tonight. Gonzalez, full count, grounds to Woodward throw to Cooper for third out but damage done. 84 pitches.
Top 5th: Bautista leading off. Ball four. Encarnacion with Jose on first base. Singles into left, two on for Cooper, Aceves working in Boston bullpen. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Lawrie with two on and one down. Loops it to Ellsbury into shallow centre two down. Arencibia, wild pitch and both runners move up into scoring position. 2-2 count, lines it to left but Crawford makes the catch.
Bottom 5th: Can Morrow get a decent inning here? Lowrie leading off. Pops up to McCoy at short, one down for Youkilis, grounds to McCoy throw to Cooper two down. Reddick, lines it to left, Thames makes great running sliding catch to the wall for third out. Another highlight reel catch. Morrow’s defence helping him out there. Pitch count 92.

Top 6th: Loewen, 2-2 strikes out swinging, one down. Woodward, pops it up to Ellsbury in centre, two down. McCoy pops it up to Pedroia at second. Three quick outs for Wakefield.
Bottom 6th: Crawford lines it off the wall in left centre, Thames gets it in quickly to hold Crawford at second. Scutaro, Perez warming up in bullpen. None too soon. Bunts to Lawrie, throw to Cooper for first out. Crawford to third. Finally here comes the Manager and that is the end of Morrow, once again a disaster out there tonight. Perez now pitching. Saltalamacchia runner at third, 3-0 count, singles to Thames in left, Crawford scores 7-5 Boston. One on one down for top of the order. Ellsbury. Singles to Bautista in right, two on. Pedroia, lines first pitch over the wall in left, 10-5 Boston. If you are sitting on a first pitch fast ball then the pitcher had better adjust. Gonzalez, 3-1 count, singles to Loewen in centre, short night for Perez. Nine pitches, four hits, one out which was a sac bunt. Carreno now pitching. Well at least Wakefield finally has his win number 200. Lowrie, grounds to Woodward at second, throw to McCoy over to Cooper double play ball. Easy. But not for Morrow and Perez tonight.

Top 7th: Aceves now pitching, Thames leading off. Lines it to Crawford in left for the out, One down for Bautista, inside, knocks him down, that will get Jose mad. 2-0 count, pops it up to Reddick in shallow right. Two down. Encarnacion, grounds to Youkilis, throw to first for the out. three up and down, Jays go meekly and quickly.
Bottom 7th: Youkilis, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Reddick, grounds first pitch to Woodward, throw to Cooper, two down, Crawford, singles to Thames in left. One on two down for Scutaro, 2-2 count, lines it high into the left field corner, Crawford scores 11-5 Boston, Scutaro to second. Saltalamacchia grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper for the out.

Top 8th: Do Jays have any fight left in them tonight? Must be depressing to have the lead twice and for the pitchers to give it back up each time. Cooper leading off, Aviles in for Youkilis. Singles to left. Second hit tonight, Jays are not losing much without Lind’s bat tonight. Lawrie, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Arencibia, perfect, grounds back up the middle Scutaro makes the stop but his throw is wild and Cooper safe. That was double play chance. Two on one down for Loewen, high fly ball to Ellsbury in centre two down. Cooper stays put at second. Teahen pinch hitting for Woodward. Grounds first pitch to Pedroia at second throw to Gonzalez at first for the out. That was worth waiting for Mark.
Bottom 8th: Brad Mills now pitching, why not. Cannot do worse than Morrow or Perez. Kelly Johnson at second. Ellsbury leading off. 3-0 count, ball four. Not a good start for Mills. Pedroia, 2-0 count, six balls in a row. 3-0, there’s a strike on the eighth pitch. Lines it off the wall in left. Ellsbury to third, Pedroia at second. Maybe Mills can be worse than Morrow and Perez. Gonzalez, 2-0 count, singles it back up the middle, here comes Ellsbury.12-5 Boston, Pedroia stops at third, and that is it thankfully for Mills. Not a memorable outing. Danny Farquhar, poor guy coming in this situation. Jackson, pinch hitting for Lowrie. 0-2 count. Fly ball to Thames and Pedroia scores 13-5 Boston. One down, lines it just over the head of McCoy at short. Two on one down for Reddick. 2-2 count, pops it up to Johnson at second, two down for Saltalamacchia. Crawford, with two on base. Pops it up just bounces off the wall, that was catchable by Lawrie but he overran it. 3-1 count, ball four to load the bases. Scutaro of course. 3-1 count, outside ball four. Run scores 14-5, bases still loaded. Saltalamacchia, 1-2 count, lines it to the wall in left centre, three runs score, 17- 5. Ellsbury for the second time in the inning, 0-2 count singles over the head of McCoy into left, 18-5 Boston. Pedroia. That is it for Farquhar. Chad Beck now pitching. Fly ball to Loewen in left centre for the out.

Top 9th: Do the Jays have anything here? Playing for some self- respect I hope and that is about it. One awful performance by the pitching and the bullpen apart from Carreno. Junichi Tazawa pitching. McCoy leading off, full count, fouls off ball four. Fly ball to Crawford in left, one down for Thames. First pitch swinging lines it off the wall in left for an easy stand up double. One on for Bautista. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Encarnacion, full count, inside ball four, two on two down for Cooper, 3-1 count, lines it off the wall in left centre, here comes Thames, 18-6 game, Cooper at second, his third hit of the game, Encarnacion at third, Lawrie, 0-2 count, strikes out looking. Ouch Brett. Yes it looked high but maybe you should be swinging.

Jays pitching staff embarrassed as Boston won the game they had to win to avoid losing six in a row.
The excellen
t: Bautista home run 42 and his 100th RBI. Arencibia number 23, great defense by Loewen and Thames. Have to recognise Cooper three hits tonight, two doubles and making a very strong case for first base in 2012. They could do worse than play him there for the rest of the season. Let Lind take a few pinch hits off the bench or DH.

The lousy: The pitching by Morrow, Perez and Farquhar. Jays hitter wirh runnesr in scoring positiopn 4-13 tonight. That IS awful.

Back to the drawing board for Morrow. Will Morrow even be in the rotation next season? Far too many other good arms waiting for their turn. Morrow has had two seasons and unable to do it consistently. No good having “the best stuff in the franchise” if he is unable to pitch in a game situation.