Rauch ruins this one as Jays get swept out of New York

Jays v Yankees. Game three series finale.

Yankees going for the sweep and the first two have been much too easy as Jays give both back to NY. Today, this one has the makings of a huge blowout, Jays line-up is decimated with injuries to Escobar and Thames and Lind is not in. Yankees on the other hand have Teixeira, A-Rod and Jeter back in line-up. Not least of course Sabathia is pitching. Jays fans will have all their prayer sticks, voodoo dolls and lucky charms overworked this afternoon. But as with the team all season they are full of surprises and win those they should lose and lose those they should not.

Line-ups: Jays: McCoy, Johnson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Teahen, Molina, Arencibia, Wise and Cecil pitching.
NY: Gardner, Jeter, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Swisher, Jones, Martin, Montero and Sabathia pitching.

Top 1st: McCoy, full count, singles back up the middle, good start, also an eight pitch at bat for McCoy. Kelly Johnson, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Bautista. Strikes out swinging on pitch in the dirt, Jose frustrated with that. Encarnacion, two down one on. Singles into left over A-Rod and McCoy all the way to third. Lawrie with two on. 3-1 count, grounds to third, A-Rod throw to second to get Encarnacion. They force Sabathia to pitch 21 pitches at least.
Bottom 1st: Cecil has to pitch the game of his life here if expects to do anything today. Gardner leading off. He has been a royal pain for Jays this weekend. 3-1 count, ball four, lead-off walk, here we go friends, hang on. Jeter and you know Gardner will be running, there he goes first pitch and throw nowhere near. Stolen base to Gardner. Cecil didn’t even bother with throw over. Jeter 3-0, get the bullpen working. 3-1 grounds to Lawrie, looks Gardner back to second, and throw to first to get Jeter, one down for Teixeira, 2-2 count, can you believe it? Grounds to McCoy at short, throw to Encarnacion, under his glove and here comes Gardner 1-0 Yankees. Error to McCoy. A-Rod with runner at first. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down should have been out of the inning scoreless. Cano, grounds to Johnson throw to Encarnacion for third out. 22 pitch count.

Top 2nd: Teahen 2-2 count, singles to centre, error on Gardner, that feels good. Teahen at second. Molina, lines it to Swisher in right, Teahen tags and then goes back, Swisher throw was way off and he could have reached third. Have to take these chances Mark, you don’t get many against this line-up. Arencibia, pops up to Teixeira at first, two down. Wise, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Teahen left out there giving best impression of a statue. If Jays unable to be aggressive today they are not going to do much against Sabathia, they have to make most of their getting on base. Put some pressure on Sabathia. Pitch count 42.
Bottom 2nd: Has Cecil learned anything? Swisher. Pops it up to McCoy, one down. Jones, strikes out looking two down, does not like the call, join the line Andruw. Martin, hammers it to third, OH what a great leaping catch by Lawrie, season highlight reel. Robs Martin of at least a double there. 34 pitch count.

Top 3rd: McCoy, strikes out swinging, one down for Kelly Johnson, grounds to Teixeira, takes it to the bag himself at first two down. Bautista, struck out on three pitches last time up. Drives it to right but right at Swisher for the out. Pitch count 53.
Bottom 3rd: Montero, grounds first pitch to left and off the glove of McCoy. One on for Gardner, oh boy hits him. Wakamatsu arguing it hit the bat, but no joy. Two on nobody out for Jeter. Gets hold of this one, deep to left into the seats 4-0 Yankees, just like that. Teixiera, lines to Teahen in left, one down. A-Rod, fly ball to Wise in centre, two down. Cano, lines to Teahen in left. Yankees want this game over quickly now. Pitch count 49.

Top 4th: Jays have to score five against Sabathia. Encarnacion leading off. Fly ball but drops in shallow centre. Lucky break for Edwin. It all starts with base runners. One on for Lawrie, 3-1 count, outside ball four. Two on, conference on the mound, Yankees worried here. Teahen, that will do singles to left field corner, here comes Encarnacion and Lawrie to third. Teahen at second. Molina, grounds to Jeter throw to first to get Molina as Lawrie scores 4-2 Yankees. One down for Arencibia, grounds to A-Rod, looks Teahen back to second, throw to first to get Arencibia. Wise now, third chance to bring runner in. 1-2 count, takes strike three, not good but Jays get two back. Pitch count 68.
Bottom 4th: Can Cecil hold them here to give Jays big bats some chances. Swisher grounds to McCoy at short, throw to Encarnacion, one pitch one down. Jones, full count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion, two down. Martin, fly ball to Bautista in right. Three up and down, good inning for Cecil. Pitch count 59.

Top 5th: Top of the order for the Jays. McCoy leading off. Please don’t bunt Mikey. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Johnson, grounds to right, great play by Cano to save and throw Johnson out at first. Bautista going after first pitch, pops it up to Martin. Jose not a happy guy here in New York, perhaps he will make Boston suffer this week. Pitch count 76.

Bottom 5th: Boston losing 2-0 to Texas right now. Montero leading off, singles to left, one on for Gardner. First pitch pops it up to Bautista in shallow right centre, one down. Jeter. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches, nice pitching Brett. 67 Teixeira, bounces to McCoy flip to Johnson at second to get Montero. Another good inning for Cecil but he needs more run support. 69 pitch count.

Top 6th: Encarnacion leading off. Strikes out swinging on ball outside. Lawrie, drives it to right but Swisher has it, two down for Teahen. 2-2 today. 2-2 count. Takes strike three inside, everyone is taking that pitch. Pitch count 91.

Bottom 6th: A-Rod leading off. Drives this one to right and over leaping Bautista into the first row of seats. 5-2 Yankees. Cano, 3-1 count, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Encarnacion for the out. One down Swisher, fly ball to Teahen in left, two down. Jones, grounds to Lawrie, throw to first to end the inning. Jays have some work to do and fast. Pitch count 84. Cecil if nothing else has been economical so far today.

Top 7th: Molina leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Arencibia, singles to centre, one on one down for Wise. 0-2 count, pops up to Rodriguez. Two down McCoy. 2-2 count, now at least they are laying off that pitch outside, a bit late but finally. McCoy grounds to Jeter flip to second to get Arencibia at second. 107 pitch count.
Bottom 7th: That is it for Cecil too bad. Litsch now pitching. Jesse had better have better stuff than he has had recently. Martin, strikes out on three pitches, nice start at least. Montero, 2-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion, out of his glove, error to Edwin surely. Yes that is indeed the call. One on for Gardner. Nunez pinch running. Wild pitch there goes Nunez, poor throw by Arencibia, runner safe at second. Ball four and two on one down. Jeter, fly ball to Bautista in right, two down, runners hold, that is smart on arm of Jose. Teixeira, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging.

Top 8th: Do the Jays hitters have anything? Top of the order Johnson and Bautista 0-6 today. Johnson leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Bautista who has had a horrible day today and that is it for Sabathia. Soriano now pitching. There we go Jose, wow, turns on this pitch and high into left field seats, home run for Jose, he does not even watch it head down and runs. 5-3 Yankees. Number 40 for Jose. Encarnacion, singles in to left centre. Lawrie with tying run, 3-1 count, crowd getting restless here. High fly ball to Gardner in centre, two down for Teahen. Grounds to Cano at second throw to Swisher for third out. Jays get one back but could have been more.
Bottom 8th: Jon Rauch now pitching, has to hold them here. A-Rod leading off. full count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion, one down. Cano, another full count, singles to Bautista in right. One on one down for Swisher. Oh boy, mammoth shot to right into the second deck, 7-3 Yankees. Jones grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion, two down. Martin, another full count, high ball four. Rauch may be pitching his last game for the Jays. That’s it for Rauch Rommie Lewis now pitching. Nunez singles into left, two on for Gardner. Crowd has cleared out, too hot to watch this one now. 3-0 count, Lewis unable to throw a strike. Ball four and bases loaded. Jeter, good luck to Lewis. Singles up the middle, Wise fumbles it, two runs score 9-3Error to Wise. Teixeira fly ball first pitch to Bautista in right to end this awful meltdown.

Top 9th: Jays need six to tie it. Will they fight or roll over. Cory Wade to finish this one off. Thames now off the bench. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, might well have stayed on the bench Corey. Arencibia, full count, inside ball four. It all starts with base runners. Wise, strikes out swinging. Two down for McCoy, pops up to Cano for third out.

Yankees sweep inneffectual Jays in three. Jays bullpen ruins this one and Jays have major problems to address with their current pitching staff.

The great: Lawrie highlight reel catch off Martin in the second inning. Jose home run number 40. Nothing else today and after this frying pan Jays return to the fire for three with Boston. Texas are hammering Boston right now 9-0 so they will be in no mood to give Jays anything in the series, they have to stay with Yankees.
Cecil pitched well enough to stay with the Yankees and I was surprised to see him pulled on 84 pitches. In hindsight Manager probably regretted that decision as well as the bullpen imploded.
Poor pitching, bullpen meltdown for the third game, lousy fielding (three errors), inadequate hitting and that sums up the hapless Jays today and major question marks now over Jays pitching for 2012. Rauch may be sitting on the bench a long time now the call-ups are due this week. And probably gone in the off-season. Lewis not much better unable to throw a strike. Jays 1-8 with runners in scoring position. Same old problem.

Did you see? Hill two doubles yesterday.