Morrow unable to hold the lead as Nova silences Jays hitters

Jays v Yankees. Game one of three.

Jays on a two game win streak after Baltimore series, but now they will be tested in a major way. Morrow pitching tonight, who knows what he will bring but he has not been consistent at all for a very long time and may need some of those booming bats we have seen over the last couple of days. But this is the Yankees and not the Orioles pitching. Tough series for the Jays and with Boston only half a game ahead of Yankees you know that NY will be all fired up to make up some ground.

Line-ups: Jays: Escobar, Thames, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Johnson, Lawrie, Arencibia, McCoy and Morrow pitching.
Yankees: Gardner, Jeter, Granderson, Cano, Swisher, Chavez, Jones, Martin, Nunez and Nova pitching 6-0 since July 30th.

Top 1st: Escobar, 3-1 count, high ball four, leadoff walk, Thames. 2-2 count, singles to right, Escobar to third, Bautista singles to right, here comes Escobar 1-0 Jays. Lind singles to left, great catch by Gardner in left and falls over Thames scores 2-0 Jays. Encarnacion lines to left great diving catch by Gardner falls over but throws back to double up Bautista who had been running on the hit and was past second base. Pitch count 16.

Bottom 1st: Gardner, first pitch pop up to Escobar, one down. Jeter 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Granderson high fly ball into right, great leaping catch by Bautista in the corner, robs Granderson there. 11 pitch count. Good start for Morrow. Let’s hope he can continue this.
Top 2nd: Kelly Johnson leading off, 2-2 count, grounds to Swisher, throw to Nova for the out. Lawrie, fly ball to right for Granderson, two down. Arencibia, way outside as he swings at it for the out. Horrible swing JP. 28 pitch count.
Bottom 2nd: Cano, 2-2 count, strikes him out, great pitch inside. One down for Swisher, 0-2 count, strikes him out on three pitches. Chavez, 3-0 count, outside ball four, that was not good Brandon. Jones, 3-1 count, grounds to Escobar throw to Johnson for the out. Have to get that ball down Brandon. Pitch count 29.

Top 3rd: McCoy leading off. Grounds to Jeter, throw to Swisher too high, pulls him off the bag and McCoy dives under the tag, great play Mikey. Error to Jeter. Escobar, I hope you were watching that Yunel. Hustle and heart. 2-2 count, grounds back up the middle, Nunez flip to Jeter second to get McCoy. No chance for two. Thames, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista. High inside that will get Jose mad. 1-2 count, Escobar stealing and out on the throw to second, not good Yunel, that will get Jose even more mad. Escobar stealing? With two down and Jose at the plate, definitely a brain spasm. 46 pitch count.
Bottom 3rd: Martin leading off, full count, ball four. The first five hitters Morrow was excellent, since then he has lost that sharpness. Nunez, lines to right, great running catch by Bautista. Gardner, one down. 3-1 count, lines this one into right, over the wall into the seats and this game is all tied up 2-2. Jeter, one down, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind called out, Jeter disagrees, home plate umpire gives the call. That is Yankee justice friends when Jeter is involved good luck. And error given to Escobar. Granderson, wild pitch and Jeter to second, full count, strikes out swinging. Two down. Cano, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. 58 pitch count for Morrow that was one horrible 29 pitch inning.

Top 4th: Bautista leads off without anyone on thanks to dear Yunel. Lines it to the wall in right centre great catch up against the wall by Jones to take away at least a double from Jose. Lind, 2-2 count, grounds to Nunez at second, throw to Swisher, two down for Encarnacion. Grounds to Jeter, throw to Swisher for third out. 62 pitch count,
Bottom 4th: What will Morrow bring this inning? Swisher fly ball to McCoy one down. Chavez fly ball to Bautista, two down. Jones 1-2 count, singles to McCoy in centre, two down one on for Martin, does not like that call, wanders out of the box for a couple of minutes, typical Yankee and then they wonder why their games last so long. Even Teixeira was complaining last night about the length of the game; you don’t have to look for to see why. 0-2 count, grounds back to Morrow throw to Lind for the out. 72 pitch count. Good inning for Morrow. But I think we will be seeing Villanueva in long relief tonight.

Top 5th: Johnson, grounds first pitch to Nunez at second throw to Swisher, one down for Lawrie. Lines it hard to left but Gardner makes that catch. Two down. Arencibia, full count, takes strike three, have to swing JP. 71 pitch count. Texas 7 Boston 0. Nice.
Bottom 5th: Nunez, full count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Lind for the out. Gardner, full count, lines to McCoy in centre, two down. Jeter, singles into centre. Granderson, 3-1 count, ball four, maybe better to have him on base anyway. Cano, singles to centre, Jeter scores 3-2 Yankees. Swisher, two down two on. Morrow not long for this game. Walton out there and there he is, Villanueva warming up. Maybe Morrow should be long relief? obviously unable to start. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. 101 pitch count.

Top 6th: McCoy leading off. Full count, pops it up to Jones in right. Escobar, 2-1 count, lines t Jones in right, two down. Lines it to the wall in left centre, stand up double. Bautista with two down. Pitching coach out. Must be how to pitch to Jose. 2-0 no strikes for you Jose. 3-0, ball four. Lind, with two on, make them pay here Adam. 2-0 both way high outside. Lines this one high and hard to centre but not far enough and Granderson runs it down at the wall. Lind is just missing all of these hits, in the last three games could have had a fist full of home runs but all out at the wall. 89 pitch count.
Bottom 6th: Morrow out there again. Chavez, high pop up to Bautista in right, one down. Jones, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Martin, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Three up and down but too late as he is now at 116 pitch count and not likely to appear in the seventh. Morrow once again unable to go deep in the game.

Top 7th: Jays hitters running out of chances now. Encarnacion, grounds to Nunez at second, throw to Swisher, one down for Johnson. Grounds to Swisher for the out, Two quick outs. Lawrie strikes out on three pitches. Brett, I think you may have to adjust to that offspeed stuff inside. Jays go quickly and very quietly. Seven pitch inning for Nova. Has a chance for a complete game here.
Bottom 7th: Villanueva now pitching. Poor guy, first game off DL. Nunez, 3-1 count, golfs this one to Thames in left, one down. Gardner, another 3-1 count, ball four. Jeter with runner on and one down. Oh boy lines it to Johnson and through his glove into centre, that was a double play ball. Error to Johnson. Two on for Granderson. 1-2 count, double steal both safe, strikes out two down. Cano, two in scoring position. Intentional walk to load the bases. Swisher with bases loaded, full count, grounds to Lind, takes it himself to the bag.

Top 8th: Soriano now pitching No need for Nova to extend himself, and with Rivera waiting if needed. Jays pitching staff have a long way to go to get there. Arencibia leading off. 2-2 count, takes strike three ??? Come on JP, he is doing that far too much these days. McCoy, lines it right back at Soriano into centre field, almost hit him. One on for Escobar, this game is almost two hours shorter than last night’s game for the Yankees. Grounds to Jeter, steps on base to get McCoy throw to first gets away from Swisher, no error given to Jeter, two down for Thames. 2-1 count. Grounds to Nunez at second makes a nice play and throw to Swisher for third out.
Bottom 8th: Villanueva still pitching. Chavez leading off. grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, one down for Jones and that is it for Villanueva. Carreno now pitching. 2-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, two down. Martin, 1-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Lind for third out.

Texas thrashing the Red Sox 10-0. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Go Rangers get that pitching staff all beaten up for their visit to Toronto on Monday.

Top 9th: Rivera pitching. Bautista leading off. Showdown at OK Corral. 0-2 count, fouls it off his foot, that hurts. Takes strike three. Wins this one but there will be a next time Jose. Lind, 1-1 count, grounds to second, throw to Swisher two down. Encarnacion, who knows what he will do. 1-2 count, way outside and all the way to backstop, that was a ball. Inside, full count. High fly ball to right, Dickerson makes the catch, just got under that one Edwin.

Jays close but not enough. Morrow just didn’t have it tonight (again).

The good: The first inning and that was it. Jays could have had more but for great plays by Gardner. Great relief pitching from Villanueva and Carreno. That is a definite plus for this bullpen. Good to see Villanueva back. Overall Jays were not embarrassed and had the lead but this game is for nine innings.
Not so good: Yes in the third inning with Bautista at bat and two down, Escobar tries stealing second and is thrown out. Not sure that was a brilliant play Yunel. Johnson in the 7th error at second on double play opportunity.