Jose injured as Jays lose opener in NY despite great outing by Alvarez

Jays v Yankees. Game one of three. First series in NY this season, quirk of the schedule. Jays won the two game series in Toronto 2-0. Not many people giving Jays much hope in this series with the pitching in such a mess. It will need an offensive breakout to support Alvarez tonight. Possible but highly unlikely against Phil Hughes. On the positive, an opportunity for Rasmus and Lind to use that short right field fence to their advantage tonight. But Yankees will probably pitch around Lind to get to Escobar. Lineups: Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Lind, Escobar, Johnson, Davis, Arencibia and Alvarez pitching. The return of Davis on a terrible hitting slump and also coming off base running mess yesterday which could have been disastrous in a one run game. Yankees: Jeter, Granderson, Rodriguez, Cano, Teixeira, Swisher, Ibanez, Chavez, Martin and Hughes pitching. Impressive lineup. On paper this is a huge mis-match. Top 1st: Lawrie, first pitch checked swing grounds to first Teixeira throw to Hughes, one down, not good Brett, come on get your head in the game. Rasmus, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista. Full count, High fly ball to Granderson in centre. Pitch count 14, much too easy for Hughes, is it a long night ahead for the Jays. Bottom 1st: Alvarez will have to do it himself tonight. Jeter, first pitch grounds back to Alvarez, throw to Encarnacion, one down. Very un-Jeter like. Granderson, singles to Rasmus in centre, one on one down. Rodriguez, pops it up to Bautista. Cano, one on two down, full count, outside ball four, two on two down. Teixeira, full count, high ball four to load the bases. Nine pitch at bat for Teixeira. Swisher, bases loaded two down. 1-2 count, takes strike three, Alvarez escapes this time but you can’t throw many innings with 25 pitch count. Looks like Jays bullpen will be busy again tonight. Top 2nd: Let’s see if they pitch around Edwin. Full count, lines this one to right centre all the way to the fence 385 ft sign. Stand up double for Edwin. Lind now. 3-0 all outside, They want Escobar, low ball four. Not giving Lind a chance. Now can Escobar stay out of double play ??? First pitch pops it up to Swisher in right, garbage at bat by Escobar. Not even a bunt. One down but let’s be thankful it was not a ground ball double play. Johnson, 1-2 count, lines it hard to right but right at Swisher. Runners hold. Davis, 0-2 count, pulls it to A-Rod steps on the bag for the out. Jays have huge problems after the first five in the lineup. That was not good, first two on and unable to even move them over one base. 33 pitch count. Bottom 2nd: Ibanez, ball four, leadoff walk. Chavez, grounds to Escobar, over to Edwin, call it two, double play ball. Very nice. Martin, full count, this is trouble lines it to right but enough to get out of here, tough on Alvarez, that was a fly ball, home run in this park. 1-0 Yankees. Jeter. 2-2 count, takes strike three. Jeter does his usual with the umpire but no joy even for Jeter. Good inning by Alvarez, victimised by the short fence in right. One reason why Yankees have most home runs in the league. 47 pitch count. Top 3rd: Time for Jays hitters to do something. Looks as if they will have to rely on the top five tonight. In reality the top four as Yankees will pitch around Lind to get to Escobar now. Arencibia, JP launches a sky high ball here but just under it and fly ball to Granderson for the out. Lawrie, can he do better than last time? 3-1 count, grounds back to Hughes, throw to first, two down. Rasmus, 2-0 count, grounds to right but at Teixeira, takes it himself for the out. Easy three up and down for Hughes. 45 pitch count. Bottom 3rd: Granderson, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for A-Rod, lines first pitch to wall in left, stand up double. Cano, 2-1 count, lines it to right, Bautista dives but unable to come up with it, stand up double as A-Rod scores 2-0 Yankees. Teixeira, 1-2 count, pops it up to shallow right for Bautista to make the catch, two down for Swisher, full count, fly ball to Davis in left for third out. Pitch count a horrible 68. Who’s up next in the bullpen ? Maybe we will see Loup again. Top 4th: No offence at all from the Jays tonight, time to get something going before it is way too late. Hughes is having far too easy a time. Bautista, no home run since the All-Star break is the All-Star hex on him? 2-2 count, pops it up to Swisher in right. Encarnacion, one down, 3-1 count, lines it hard to left for the out, two down. Lind, 1-1 first strike he has received, 3-1 outside, outside, outside, YES Adam , the first pitch inside and he launches it into the shallow right field seats, 2-1 Yankees. Escobar, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Hughes 66 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Ibanez bounces it to Alvarez, throw to Edwin for the out. One down for Chavez, 0-2 strikes out swinging, two down for Martin. Grounds first pitch to Escobar, throw to Edwin for third out. Seven pitch inning, very nice. 75 pitch count, that helps. Top 5th: Johnson, grounds to Teixeira at first, one down for Davis. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Arencibia, 3-0 count, high ball four, JP will take it. Lawrie now 0-2 tonight and all at sea against Hughes. 2-0, six balls in a row. Martin out there for the first time, getting anxious here ! High but called a strike, hmmm. 2-2 count, takes that one, that was right down the middle Brett. Pops up the next pitch to left for the out, when you are in a slump nothing goes right. Pitch count 81. Bottom 5th: Jeter, 1-2 count, lines it to right but Bautista makes the out, one down for Granderson, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down but that was a nine pitch at bat pushing up the pitch count for Alvarez. A-Rod, full count, strikes out swinging. After 3-0 count, nice pitching but Alvarez pitch count now 94. Top 6th: Rasmus, we need a big one Colby. That right field fence is made for you. Almost with this one, high pop up to the wall, just gets under this one, Swisher gets it up against the wall. Bautista one down. Full count, high ball four, one on one down for Encarnacion. Hammers this one to the wall in left centre, here comes Jose and just beats the ball with the slide, game is tied up 2-2 and Edwin at second. Lind, runner in scoring position. 0-2 count, goes after low ball and pitch gets away, Lind gives up as Edwin goes to third, should have run to first Adam, force the play, two down for Escobar, full count. Loup warming up in bullpen. Pops it up to Swisher in right leaves Edwin 60 feet away. 100 pitches for Hughes and his bullpen is working. Bottom 6th: Cano leading off, lines it hard to right but great leap by Johnson at second, timed perfectly. One down. Shift right on for Teixeira, 3-1 count, ball four, 102 pitch count, may be his last hitter. Swisher drives it up the middle past Escobar. Two on, one down, Ibanez, perfect, grounds to Johnson, over to Escobar, over to Edwin double play ball. Whoa....that was huge. 105 pitch count. And it also means Farrell can bring in a new pitcher at start of the inning as opposed to bases loaded or worse. Nice pitching by Alvarez. Top 7th: Johnson pops it up to Chavez, one down. Davis, finally, lines it to left field corner, stand up double. Gets the horrible hitting slump off his back. Will he steal third? Arencibia, fly ball to right and Davis tags and gets to third on the play. Too bad he had not stolen previous pitch. Two down for Lawrie. 0-2 count, pops it up to Cano at second. Hughes 106 pitch count. Bottom 7th: Chad Beck now pitching. Chavez leading off. Pops it up to Rasmus in centre, one down. Martin, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, whoa excellent. Two down for Jeter, grounds up the middle to Escobar, throw to Edwin at first to end the inning. Excellent nine pitch inning by Beck. Top 8th: David Robertson now pitching. Rasmus, just missed going out with his last at bat. 0-3 tonight. Grounds hard to first off the glove of Teixeira, right to Cano, throw to Robertson, to get Rasmus. One down for Bautista, 2-0 hammers this on to left, foul though, now Jose is injured, his left wrist, follow through twisted his arm. Francisco now has to come in to pinch hit 2-1 count. Takes ball three. Full count, low ball four. One on one down for Edwin. Drives it hard to Ibanez but right at him for the out, Lind two down runner on first. 2-2 count, grounds to Cano, throw to Teixeira for third out. But the loss of Jose is awful and will really hurt this team. Interesting who they will bring up from Vegas, Snider or Thames, or ? Bottom 8th: Francisco in right field for Jose. Aaron Loup now pitching. Granderson, grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Edwin for the out. A-Rod, 1-2 count, lines it past Escobar to Davis in left, one on one down for Cano, off the glove of Arencibia, and A-Rod to second. 3-1 count, grounds to Johnson, cannot make the play as ball bounces away. Both runners safe on the corners. That is it for Loup. Frasor now pitching. Needs a ground ball double play to get out of this mess. Teixeira, 2-2 count, hits him on the foot, bases loaded. Swisher, Frasor in major trouble here. Cordero !!! warming up in bullpen. Full count, takes strike three WHOA !!!! great pitch, two down. Ibanez, two down bases loaded. 3-1 count, forget this one, high to right and into the stands, grand slam Ibanez. 6-2 Yankees. Chavez, full count, low ball four. Should be it for Frasor, yes here comes Farrell, might as well have Cordero in there. Cannot do worse than Frasor, can he? Stadium has already emptied... Martin hammers first pitch to left for Davis to make the catch. One pitch. Top 9th: Will Jays hitters make a fight of it or roll over? Wise in left for Ibanez. Cody Eppley now pitching. Escobar leading off. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches, don’t expect Yunel to make a fight of it. One down for Johnson. 0-3 tonight. Full count. Outside ball four. One on one down. Davis, 2-2 count, grounds up third base line, Davis safe at first on the throw. Two on for Soriano now warming up, no here comes Girardi and calls for Soriano. Arencibia, chance for fame. Loops it into shallow left, Wise fumbles the ball, Johnson to third but here comes Davis to third, and here comes Johnson has no choice but safe and scores. 6-3. Davis safe at third. Lawrie, is the tie run! 3-1 count, pops it up to Teixeira at first, two down for Rasmus. Colby can make the difference here. Base hit will now score two. 2-2 count, takes strike three. Wow fooled Colby there. Jays get tie run to the plate but lose this one. However the major concern must be the health of Jose. Wrist injuries do not heal fast, remember Vernon Wells, and more recently Encarnacion. For Jose it could realistically be the end of his season, let us all hope that it is not. The excellent tonight has to be Alvarez. Started off slowly but finished very strongly and left the game tied 2-2. Lind home run. Encarnacion and Davis both with two hits. Jays were in this game until the bottom of the 8th. The not so good: Frasor with bases loaded gives up grand slam, no excuse for that pitch. Right down the middle. Jays hitters 1-10 with runners in scoring position.