Greasy fingers of Inglett and Johnny Mc.almost ruin Halladay and Rios win.

Toronto v Tampa Friday September 5, 2008.

This is a very interesting series. Jays on a roll and five game win streak. Rays losing two to Yankees. Boston fans will be routing for Jays this weekend. However it is by no means a walkover for the Jays. Rays have owned them this season winning eleven of the fifteen games to date. That is dominance. Jays have their best going tonight to start the series and maybe get on the right foot to start.

Pitching: Sonnanstine 13-6 Halladay 17-9. This should be some match-up.

Lineups: Tampa: Iwamura, Upton, Pena, Floyd, Aybar, Hinske, Navarro, Gross, Bartlett and Sonnanstine pitching.

Toronto: Inglett, McDonald, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Rolen, Snider and Halladay pitching. Not quite the lineup that Cito had last game and Johnny Mc hitting number two ??? Strange.

Result: Jays win this one 6-4 although BJ Ryan makes it very close….

The very good: Halladay in a class of his own. Tonight also Alex Rios with the two HR’s.
The good: All round effort by the team for the most part, good hitting throughout and excellent pitching. Four for six with runners in scoring position and only left two on base.
The bad: Defence by Inglett and McDonald for once, cost Halladay some runs in his ERA. The clown who agreed to open the roof and then have to close it 20 minutes later.

The game: Top 1st: Iwamura grounds to Onglett at 2B, NO Joe, bobbles this and too late for throw to 1B. Iwamura safe at 1B. That was a dumb error buy Inglett. We have noted here before in this blog that sometimes this guy does not have his head in the game, his attention appears to wander sometimes in the field. This is classic, and he now has to face Halladay’s glare. Upton at bat, doubles to RF, Iwamura now moves to 3B. He should not even be on base. Two in scoring position with no outs, even for Halladay this is tough. Pena hit fly ball to RF Rios, Alex lopes after this one once again it is to his left where he seems to have problems, Iwamura scores, Upton moves to 3B. 1-0 Rays. Inglett owes Hallday bigtime. Floyd at bat another fly ball to RF Rios, Upton scores. 2-0 Rays. They certainly don’t miss opportunities to execute.This might be enough to win the game right here. Aybar at bat with no one on base, strikes out. Roy has to do it himself here. Damage is done, can the hitters get something off a very good pitcher in Sonnensatine?
Bottom 1st: Inglett chance to redeem himself here by getting on base, strikes out. McDonald with no need to bunt Inglett over, hit away Johnny Mc. Grounds to 3B Aybar throw to 1B Pena.Two down for Alex, first pitch swing fly ball out to Hinske in LF. Jays go quietly.

Top 2nd: Hinske gets mixture of boos and cheers although the boos sound much louder. Eric grounds out to 1B Overbay. One down. Navarro grounds to Inglett at 2B throw to 1B Overbay. Crowd gives him cheers both for fielding the ball and managing to throw it to Overbay. Ex-Jay Gross with two down, strikes out. Halladay needed that three up and down inning.
Bottom 2nd: Wells doubles to CF. Nice solid hit by Vernon hard to the wall. Lind dribbler to Punto at SS, but beats the throw. Two on for Barajas singles to CF, Wells held up by third base coach Levya, Lind at 2B. Two in scoring position with no outs. Overbay doubles to CF, Wells scores and is waving in Lind, he scores and this game is all tied up. 2-2. Barajas moves to 3B. Still no outs for Rolen, hits one to RF Gross, Barajas scores. 3-2 Jays and the first inning is almost forgotten. Sniderat bat and gets a very nice reception from the crowd, Problem is that they do not yet have a photograph of Travis for the JumboTron. Snider grounds to 2B Iwamura throw 1B to Pena, Overbay to third. Inglett at bat, strikes out. Second time tonight and in first two innings, definitely not his night tonight.

Top 3rd: Bartlett lines one out to LF Snider. One down. Iwamura grounds to 1B Overbay.
Upton at bat, singles to 3B. Pena at bat two down and one on strikes out. NO damage tonight.
Bottom 3rd: McDonald fly ball out to RF Gross. One down for Alex. Gets hold of this one and this one is out over Jays bullpen, Jay lead 4-2 and the crowd loves it, they are quite noisy. Roof of stadium is opening. Wells fly ball out to LF Hinske. Two down. Lind at bat, grounds to 2B Iwamura throw to Pena at 1B for third out but Rios has done some damage here and Halladay has a two run lead..

Top 4th: Floyd strikes out. Aybar singles to CF. Hinske pops up to 3B Rolen. Navarro grounds to Rolen throw to 1B Overbay for third out Quick effective inning for Jays..
Bottom 4th: Barajas grounds to Bartlett throw to 1B Pena. One down. Overbay grounds to Iwamura throw to first baseman Pena. Rolen walks. Snider strikes out.
Top 5th: Gross grounds to Overbay to pitcher Halladay. Bartlett grounded out, first baseman Overbay to pitcher Halladay. Iwamura grounds out to Overbay.

Bottom 5th:. It is raining in the Rogers Centre !!! Yes that is what I said. Umbrellas are out everywhere. Not sure why they would bring them to a domed stadium but obviously they have a use now. Inglett two strikes outs tonight in his first two at bats. This time at least hits it and fly ball out to flied out to Upton in CF. McDonald lines out very hard to Aybar at 3B. That was a great catch but probably instinctive but robs Johnny Mc of at least one base. Rios fouls one out to 1B Pena.
Top 6th: Roof is closing again, this is very embarrassing, who made that decision to open when the weather system was still around? Must have been an Inglett clone. Upton strikes out. Pena strikes out. Two down. Floyd singles to LF. Aybar grounds out to Overbay.

Bottom 6th: Wells fly ball out to CF Upton. Lind with one down, grounds to 1B flip to Sonnanstine. Barajas at bat with two down, fouls one out to 1B Pena. Jays now going quietly. Roof still closing but looks as if rain has also stopped.

Top 7th: Hinske, still more boos, grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B Overbay. One out. Navarro singles to CF. Perez pinch-running for Navarro. Joe Maddon wants this run badly. Gross doubles to LF, Perez moves to 3B. Bartlett grounds this to Rolen in 3B. Perez scores, Gross to 3B. 4-3 Jays. Iwamura bunting, Halladay retrieves and have Gross in a rundown. Throw to Rolen to catcher Barajas, Gross is out but Bartlett moves to 3B. Upton strikes out. Hllaaday over 105 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Riggans now catching. Perez is in at LF. Howell pitching. Overbay lines hard out to RF Gross. Rolen strikes out. Snider strikes out. Jays go quietly again.


Top 8th: Downs pitching. Pena grounds to 2B Inglett throw to 1B Overbay. Baldelli pinch-hitting for Floyd. Baldelli grounded out, third baseman Rolen to first baseman Overbay. Aybar singled to left. Riggans struck out.
Bottom 8th: Baldelli in as DH. Balfour pitching. Inglett, continues hs own night to forget, fly ball out to LF Perez. McDonald doubles to center. That ball was hit very hard into the gap. Rios with one on, gets hold of this one and homers to left on the first pitch, McDonald scores. And game is now 6-3 Jays. That gives closer Ryan some room to work. Wells grounds to SS Bartlett throw to 1B Pena. Lind strikes out.

Top 9th: BJ Ryan pitching. Perez bunts his way on, he can really run fast as most of the Rays team. Zobrist pinch-hitting for Gross. Zobrist pops up to 2B Inglett. Perez has to hold. Bartlett doubles to CF, Perez scores and this game is 6-4 Jays, getting close BJ. Iwamura strikes out. Huge cheer for crowd. Two down. Upton grounds to McDonald bobbles it, and cannot make play at1B, error on Johnny Mc. Is there a full moon out there? , Bartlett moves to 3B for Pena at bat. Upton stealing and safe at 2B. Now more pressure on BJ, both runners will score in a base hit. Pena strikes out. And this games is over, not as easy as score suggests but then again if Inglett had made that play in the first inning ? and if Johnny Mc had done the same in the ninth, then this score would have been fine for BJ and Halladay.
As it is Ryan gets his save number 27 of 30 and Halladay gets win number eighteen.

Perfect all -round performance by Jays support Litsch's no-hit complete game

Toronto v Minnesota, Series finale Thursday September 4,2008.

Preview: Jays going for sweep of series and the season against Twins. This is probably enough incentive for the Twins but will it be so for the season long inconsistent Jays in the middle of a great run right now. I think they have found the right lineups and the addition of Jose Bautista and Travis Snider has made a huge impact. I like Bautista batting number two, after either Scutaro or Inglett and in front of Rios. We shall see. Bullpen last night a little shaky but perhaps they are entitled to one bad game. Downs and Ryan were not sharp. For Ryan I think it might be that his surgery is finally catching up to him at the end of a long season. I hope I am wrong. League has been a pleasant surprise and today’s news that Jays might ask Downs to be a starter in 2009 may be a result of League’s resurgence. He could be that eighth inning set up for Ryan but of course we should also have Accardo back as well as Janssen so Jays management have an enviable task in the winter to set rotation plans for Dunedin. Looking forward to seeing whether or not Jesse Litsch can turn in another good outing as he did against Rays last week. If he can hold Twins to three runs that should be enough. BUT Gardenhire is an excellent Manager and will have some offensive plans for tonight. It is their final game on what must have been an exhausting fourteen game road trip. Minnesota started the trip one game back of Chicago in the division, and remain one game back after White Sox finished their own nine game road trip yesterday 4-5.

What they have been saying today:
Nathan "This will turn around," "We're not as bad as it has gone. As bad as our luck has gone, we're hoping it's going to turn and do just as good on the other end." Manager Ron Gardenhire "We're a game out of first place, we're in September and I think a lot of teams would like to be where we're at. A lot of people think the world is ending but it's not for this clubhouse. We'll be back and ready to play tomorrow."
Jesse Litsch on his last outing; "I made a couple mistake pitches."

Lineups: Minnesota: Span, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Young, Redmond, Tolbert, Punto and Slowey pitching.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Rolen, Snider and Litsch pitching.

Pitching: Litsch (9-8, 4.01) v Slowey 11-8, 3.70 ERA) is trying for his fifth consecutive winning decision after allowing two runs and six hits while striking out 10 in six innings of a 12-2 victory at Oakland on Friday. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA in two career starts versus Toronto, but is 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA over his last five games overall. Litsch is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three career starts versus the Twins and beat Slowey in a 5-3 Toronto victory on May 13.

Result: Jays win this one big 9-0 and sweep Twins and also their last nine against Twins.
The very good: Litsch and Snider both, supported by clutch hitting and great defence. This was a great all-round performance by Jays. HR Travis and three hits plus a walk, Litsch complete game shutout.
The good: double play first inning, Defence by Inglett and Scutaro. Multi-hit night for Inglett, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen along with Snider. Hits throughout the lineup. Seventeen hits for Jays hitters.

The bad: Not tonight.

The game: Top 1st: Span at bat, shows bunt, on first pitch. Singles into RF, one on. Look for small ball now. Gardenhire wants this one badly. Casilla, grounds to Overbay at 1B on to Scutaro at 2B back to Lyle double play two out. Jesse likes that one. Mauer at bat, walks him, for Morneau, 109 RBIs ! Would that he were in Toronto. Full count, don’t walk this guy Jesse. Fly ball out to Snider playing in LF tonight. 22 pitches though for Jesse, he won’t last long tonight like this.
Bottom 1st: Inglett lead off, hits him that’s one way to get on. Scutaro, great bunt, and safe on Tolbert’s throw to 1B, four pitches !! two on for Rios, no outs, double steal ??? dream on…. That’s Joe Maddon’s style not Cito. Grounds to Punto at SS, off his arm, cannot make a play, everyone safe. Bases loaded for Wells, no outs. Come on Vernon. High fly ball to Young in LF, Inglett tags and scores. 1-0 Jays. Other runners stay put. Lind with one down and two on at 1B and 2B. Full count, high fly ball to Young in LF corner, runners hold. This is the difference between Rays and Jays managers, double steal earlier would have had Scutaro at 3B and that would have been run number two. Barajas at bat, two down now, strikes out, Jays ahead BUT with bases loaded and no outs that is a moral victory for Twins. This is why Ray are number one in division and Jays are four. Aggressive at the plate but not on the bases. I don’t see it changing under Cito. 26 pitches for Slowey but this could and should have been much worse for him.

Top 2nd: Kubel at bat, fly ball out to Snider ion LF corner, one down. Young singles over Joe Inglett into right centre. Redmond one on one down. Fly ball out to Wells in CF. Two down. Tolbert grounds hard to Inglett, throw to Overbay for third out. Better inning for Litsch here. 35 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay at bat, strikes out, one down for Rolen, strikes out looking on three pitches. Snider gets nice ovation, singles to RF another hit for this young man. Inglett now two down and one on. lines out to Span in CF . Jays go quietly this time. 36 pitches for Slowey.

Top 3rd: Punto first at bat tonight, doubles into LF Snider cannot get there in time, top of Twins order, Span, is he bunting ? Yes, but fouls it off. Full count strikes out. One down for Casilla,grounds to Overbay, throw to Litsch for the second out at 1B. Punto moves to 3B. Mauer at bat, full count, walks him, here comes trouble for Jesse , Morneau. Grounds hard back up the middle right at Litsch, nice stop by Jesse and throw to Overbay to get out trouble, nice fielding Jesse.
Bottom 3rd: Scutaro to lead off, Jays need more than one run to beat the Twins tonight, I hope they don’t sit on the one run and regret not executing in that first inning. Fouling a few pitches off here, lines out to Kubel in RF corner. One down for Rios, fly ball out to Kubel in RF corner. Wells at bat two down no one on base, fly ball out to CF Span. Three up and down for Jays. 54 pitches. Yankees getting beaten up by Rays 5-0 only in 2nd inning. Rasner is already out of the game, Manager Girardi is still serious about these games.

Top 4th: Kubel at bat, grounds to Inglett at 2B throw to Overbay for first out. Young at bat, grounds to SS Scutaro, throw to Overbay for second out. Redmond at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. Jesse’s best inning so far, three quick up and down. But we still need some hits here to win a game. 68 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Lind at bat, DH tonight. Singles into shallow LF. One on for Barajas grounds it to Tolbert at 3B on to Casilla on to Morneau for double play. Overbay at bat, lines it hard to off Tolbert’s but off his glove cannot make a throw Overbay safe at 1B. Rolen first pitch grounds it to Punto flip to Casilla at 2B for the third out. Maybe Bautista will be at 3B tomorrow ???

Top 5th: Tolbert high fly ball out to Rios, great running catch by Alex. I believe he should use his speed more often in the field. He is fine going right but not left (I think). Punto at bat lines out to Rios in RF right at him this time. Two down. Span at bat singles into LF. Casilla at bat, two down one on. grounds to Scutaro throw to Inglett at 2B Span called out on very close play as Inglett sprawls over the bag. 79 pitches for Jesse though, he may not get into seven tonight.
Bottom 5th: Snider at bat WOW Travis…. He really gets hold of this one, HR to CF. up on the black backdrop, deepest part of the ballpark. 2-0 Jays. First major league HR. This kid has POWER. Inglett lines it off glove of Slowey, no chance for Casilla to make play at 1B. Scutaro bunts again, Inglett safe at 2B. One down. Rios now chance to get further ahead. Bounces to Casilla at 2B Inglett moves to 3B but Alex out at 1B. Wells at bat two down. Grounds to Punto as SS, throw to 1B for third out. 82 pitches.

Top 6th: Mauer at bat, grounds to Scutaro at SS throw to Overbay for the first out. Morneau at bat, grounds hard to Inglett, throw to Overbay for second out. Grounds first pitch to Overbay flip to Litsch for third out only six pitch inning. He needed a quick one here. 85 pitches, enough for another inning.
Bottom 6th: Jays hitters need to break this one open now and break the spirit of Twins. I didn’t see that intensity in Alex and Vernon last inning in their at bats. Two runs is not enough against this team. Lind at bat, full count, grounds it hard off the glove of Tolbert at 3B, no chance on that one for Tolbert. Adam safe at 1B. Barajas at bat, just misses one here, high foul ball in LF corner just misses foul pole. Now high fly ball out to Kubel in RF corner. Overbay first pitch swing, and fly ball out to LF. 91 Rolen now , yes Scott singles to CF and Adam gets to 3B easily. Craig Breslow up in Twins bullpen. Snider 2-2 tonight with two on here, yes Travis, does it again, singles up the middle, Lind scores 3-0 Jays. Snider 3-3 tonight. That’s it for Slowey, Breslow now pitching. Rolen goes to 3B on that hit. Top of the order for Jays. Inglett at bat, strikes out.

Top 7th: Yankees now losing 6-0 in the 5th. Jays can pull one up on them if they hold this one tonight. Young grounds hard to SS Scutaro great play by Marco throws Young out at 1B, great play. One down. Redmond at bat, bounces back to Jesse, throw to Overbay for second out. Tolbert at bat, two down, strikes him out. Very nice Jesse. 98 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Jesse Crain pitching. Scutaro at bat, strikes out. Rios at bat, fly ball out to Kubel in shallow RF. Two down for Wells. Vernon was waiting for that pitch, too many curve balls there Jesse, and Vernon gets this one into the seats above the Jays bullpen in LF. 4-0 Jays. Number sixteen for Vernon this season. That’s it for Crain. Reyes now pitching. Lind at bat with two down. Grounds to Casilla, throw to Morneau at 1B for third out.

Top 8th: Litsch still in there but may be on a short leash if he gets into trouble. Punto at bat, pops it up to Scutaro in shallow LF. One down for Span, grounds back to Litsch, nice grab by Jesse throw to Overbay for the second out. Casilla at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out, very quick inning one, two, three for Litsch here.
Bottom 8th: Bobby Korecky pitching. Barajas at bat, has hit ball hard tonight but no luck so far. Successful this time, singles into LF. Overbay at bat, long fly ball out to Span in CF. One down for Rolen, singles up the middle, two on, one down, guess who is at bat? Snider again 3-3 tonight can he make it four? I do like his patience at bat. Full count, and walks. Bases loaded, very nice at bat Travis. Inglett at bat one down, gets hold of this one over Jukbls head bounces off right centre wall, Barajas and Rolen score, 6-0 Jays. Snider at 3B and Inglett at 2B one down. Scutaro at bat, new pitcher, Phillip Humber. Bounces to Punto throw to Morneau for the second out. No chance for Snider to come home. Rios at bat singles into shallow CF, Snider and Inglett score. 8-0 Jays. Wells at bat Alex at 1B and two down. Singles very hard into RF, two on and two down. Lind at bat doubles off the RF wall, Rios scores, 9-0 Jays. Barajas with two in scoring position, batting for second time this inning, lines out to Morneau at 1B. I hope Rays are watching the scoreboard tonight in Tampa and getting nervous about their trip to the cold North….

Top 9th: Litsch still out there 106 pitches. Matt Macri pinch hitting for Mauer, fly ball out to Vernon in CF. One down for Ruiz pinch hitting for Morneau, strikes out, two down for Jason Pridie lines it hard to Inglett great diving catch to end this one. Highlight reel catch and Jays win this one going away 9-0.

Litsch gets complete game shutout and Jays sweep Twins with all round performance. Now for those Rays this weekend.

Extra innings win for Jays with clutch hitting.

Toronto v Minnesota. Wednesday September 2, 2008.

Preview: This is the type of game that has so much hype that the unexpected happens. Gardenhire is too good a Manager to let them roll over for Burnett tonight. Look for small ball. Jays have to take advantage of Twins though at the end of in their very long road trip, get an early lead and the advantage.

Lineups: Twins: Soan, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Buscher, Punto, Tolbert, Gomez and Blackburn pitching.
Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Barajas, Overbay, Rolen, Snider and Burnett pitching.

Pitching: Burnett v Blackburn.

The good: Johnny Mc game winning hit. Rolen lead off double in the eleventh. Inglett HR in third inning to get them going. Burnett third Jays pitcher to get 200 strikeouts in a season, Clemens and Halladay the other two with Clemens twice. Snider to tie it up in the bottom of ninth inning off Nathan. Rolen defence top of tenth to get third out from his knees after Gold glove save. League and Carlson innings.

The bad: Inglett leadoff first inning first pitch out. Has not played since Sunday, take a couple of pitches Joe get your timing. Rolen double play ball in 2nd. Downs and Ryan shaky tonight. Not a big supporter of this aggression with first pitch swinging.

The game: Top 1st: Span strikes out, Casilla fouls out to Rolen. Mauer two down singles up the middle, Morneau at bat, bounces high to Rolen at 3B no chance for throw. Two on for Kubel, strikes out but too many pitches AJ.
Bottom 1st: Inglett first pitch, (why not ?) grounds to 3B throw to 1B one down, thank you Joe that was a very good at bat. Scutaro has to take next pitch and of course right down the middle for a strike. Lines out to Punto at SS, two down. Rios at bat, doubles to LF corner. One on two down for Wells. Strikes out on three pitches. Nothing here for the Jays but unfortunately the leadoff guy Inglett set the tone.

Top 2nd: Buscher at bat, strikes out. Punto at bat, grounds down the line to Overbay, flip to Burnett for second out. Tolbert at bat, walks number eight hitter. Not good AJ Carlos Gomez now , runner going and Tolbert steals 2B without a throw. Full count, strikes him out. Number four for Burnett tonight.
Bottom 2nd: Lind at bat, lines it off Blackburn to Casilla but not in time for a throw, Lind safe at 1B. Barajas with one on, trying to pull it to LF try driving it Rod. Strikes out . Overbay at bat one down and one on. No Lyle, first pitch grounder to Tolbert at 3B on to Casilla, on to Morneau double play ball. Horrible. I guess that is the new aggression that new coaches want. No thanks.29 pitches.

Top 3rd: Span singles up the middle past Inglett. AJ you don’t need this guy on base. He will be going. Casilla at bat, there he goes but Barajas great throw to get him at 2B. Perfect throw. Mauer grounds to Rolen at 3B throw to Overbay for second out. Morneau strikes out.
Bottom 3rd: Rolen at bat, full count, strikes out but thought that was ball four. Snider now one down. patience here and now singles to LF. Nice at bat, he can teach Inglett something. Now Inglett at bat, will he take a couple this time, yes, and now golfs this one, there it goes, HR Inglett into RF corner. 2-0 Jays. Scutaro at bat fly ball out to CF Gomez. Two down for Rios. Strikes out but Jays get the early lead which is what they need tonight.

Top 4th: Burnett has to close it down here. Morneau at bat, walks not the start AJ wanted. Kubel one on no outs. Grounds to Scutaro at 2B, Scutaro goes himself to 2B and throws wild at 1B. Morneau out but Kubel safe, maybe should have given Inglett this one and better chance for double play. Buscher at bat, fly ball out to Lind ? Punto at bat, two down and one on. Grounds this one to Inglett at 2B. Throw to Overbay for third out, no damage. 53 pitches though.
Bottom 4th: Wells grounds to Tolbert at 3B throw to Morneau at 1B, one down. Lind at bat, strikes out swinging. Barajas at bat, strikes out and Jays go quietly this inning.

Top 5th: Tolbert lines this one over head of Wells to the wall and triples easily. Vernon misjudged that one. Twins have one on 3B and no outs. Gomez at bat, full count and strikes out. One down. Top of the order now though. Span at bat, strikes out swinging. Two down. Now can he finish them off here ? Casilla at bat, two down and one at 3B. Grounds out to Overbay for third out. Yes AJ, very nice pitching. 76 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Overbay drives it into RF, again first pitch. Rolen with one on. Chops it in front of home plate and Overbay safe at 2B Rolen thrown out at 1B. One down. Snider now with Overbay at 2B. Grounds out to Morneau at 1B two down, Overbay at 3B. Inglett at bat, grounds to Tolbert at 3B throw to Morneau at 1B for the third out. 63 pitches.

Top 6th: Mauer grounds to Inglett, throw to Overbay one down. Morneau grounds first pitch to Inglett throw to Overbay for second out. Kubel dribbler halfway to Rolen but no play on that ball. Buscher with one on and two down. Pops up to Rolen in foul territory, roof is closing, rain on the way…..
Bottom 6th: Scutaro lines out to Kubel in LF, Rios first pitch fly ball out to CF Gomez. Two down on three pitches. Wells now at bat 0-2 tonight, lines out to Kubel in LF, six pitch inning. Don’t tell me that Jays pitchers like this aggression by the hitters, AJ hardly had time to sit.

Top 7th: Punto at bat, Richmond now up in Jays bullpen. Full count, walks him. Tolbert at bat one on. 3-1 count. 100 pitches. Full count, lines out to Rios in RF, one down. Young pinch hitting for Gomez. Ground rule double off glove of Rios in RF. Twp in scoring position though. Span at bat, Pridie pinch running at 2B. Downs up in Jays bullpen. Span strikes out. Two down. Casilla at bat, two down two on, 3-0 count. Walks him on four pitches, That’s it for AJ, 113 pitches. Downs now with bases loaded. Mauer at bat, 3-0 count. Gets hold of this one, drives it to the left centre wall, three runs score 3-2 Twins. Morneau 3-0 count walks on four. Kubel at bat two down two on, grounds it to Inglett at 2B throw to Overbay for third out but Twins are ahead.
Bottom 7th: The hitters now have to earn their money instead of six-pitch innings and early night on the town. Lind at bat, no first pitch swinging and grounds to Morneau for the out. Barajas at bat, 0-10 slump, singles into shallow RF. 1-11. Overbay at bat, Mench pinch running for Barajas, dribbler in front of home plate, Lyle out at 1B but Mench is in scoring position at 2B with two down. Scott Rolen, would love a big one here Scott. Grounds to Punto at SS fumbled and into shallow left and Mench scores easily from 2B this game is tied 3-3. Snider now at bat, grounds to 3B Tolbert throw wild over head of Morneau into crowd, two now in scoring position, this is huge now for Inglett, that’s it for Blackburn not his fault, two consecutive errors hurts him here, he was cruising and with very low pitch count thanks to the over aggressive Jays hitters. Reyes now pitching, he is one tough cookie. Inglett has to think about this at bat. This could be the game with Rolen at 3B and Snider at 2B. Bautista now pinch hitting for Inglett, intentional walk to load bases, they don’t want Bautista facing Reyes. Scutaro at bat, Reyes out and right handed pitcher to face Scutaro. Guerrier pitching, Scutaro fly ball out to Span in CF. Leaves bases loaded but Jays have at least tied it up and AJ does not lose this one.

Top 8th: Downs still in there. Harris pinch hitting for Buscher at bat McDonald at SS Scutaro at 2B and Zaun catching. Harris grounds to McDonald throw to Overbay at 1B one down. Punto at bat, singles to right centre, one on one down. Tolbert at bat, strikes out, two down. Pridie at bat, full count. Walks him. Two on, two down for Span. Bounces it to Downs who takes ball himself for the out at 1B. No damage for Downs although not his best outing at all tonight.
Bottom 8th: Big bats for Jays now, Rios to leadoff. Grounds to Punto at SS, good throw to Morneau to get Alex. One down for Vernon 0-3 tonight, not a good night for him at bat. Same play to Punto throw to Morneau for second out. Lind now can he do anything here? Full count, grounds to Casilla at 2B, throw to Morneau for third out. Jays go quietly.

Top 9th: BJ Ryan in, not League who was up in bullpen earlier. Casilla at bat, pops up to Overbay at the wall for the catch. Very nice play. Mauer at bat, high fly ball out to Wells in CF, right at the wall, almost out. Morneau at bat, doubles to the CF wall. Kubel at bat, two down, 3-0 count. Walks on four pitches. Harris at bat, wild pitch and both runners move up. Full count now. Harris grounds to Scutaro throw to 1B but Harris safe at 1B. Morneau scores 4-3 Twins. Punto fly ball out to Wells but damage is done.
Bottom 9th: Nathan pitching, Zaun at bat, walks him, good at bat Gregg. Overbay now first pitch swing high fly ball out to Span in CF. Thigpen pinch running for Zaun. Rolen with one on and one down. Lines this one hard right at Tolbert at 3B. Two down. Snider at bat, full count, very patient at bat here by Snider, drives this one to right centre, Pridie fumbles this ball bounces away. Error on play. Thigpen scores, this game it tied up 4-4. Travis at 2B. Johnny Mc at bat, full count strikes out but this game is extra innings.

Top 10th: League pitching. Thigpen catching. Tolbert at bat, full count. Singles up the middle. Pridie bunts to Rolen throw to 1B one down. Tolbert to 2B. Span at bat, grounds out to Overbay at 1B, two down for Casilla. Tolbert moves to 3B. Whoa, grounds to Rolen, a really great diving save and throw from his knees to Overbay to get third out.
Bottom 10th: Top of the order Scutaro at bat, Nathan still pitching. Fly ball out to Pridie in RF corner, one down. Rios at bat, hammers this one, just misses HR here, off the wall in LF corner, a triple. One down for Vernon here, intentional walk. Not pitching to Vernon. Lind at bat, walking him, intentional also to load bases. Thigpen at bat, they cannot walk Curtis. Patient at bat, full count, strikes out. On ball four. Tough one to take. Overbay at bat, two down bases loaded but Alex is the important one at 3B. Horrible first pitch ! swing and fly ball out to Pridie in RF. Cito you are going to have to teach this group how to get a guy in from 3B. Same old…..

Top 11th: Carlson pitching. Mauer at bat, grounds to Scutaro at 2B throw to Overbay one down. Morneau pops up to Overbay for second out. Kubel with two down, fly ball out to Wells in CF, nice inning Jesse.
Bottom 11th: Eddie Guardado pitching. Rolen at bat, YES Scott, doubles very hard to CF wall. Nice at bat, Travis Snider again 2-4 tonight. Tough situation for Travis, singles to LF, Rolen has to hold that could have been caught by Kubel. Rolen at 3B Snider at 1B, no outs. Boof Bonser pitching, McDonald at bat, will he bunt? NO but he does hit this one HIGH over head of CF Gomez playing shallow CF, this game is over, Rolen scores, Jays win this one 5-4.

Jays win comeback with power and great bullpen.

Toronto v Minnesota. Tuesday September 2, 2008.

Preview: Another must win series for Jays and Twins probably need it more than most as they are right in the wild card scenario. Minnesota (77-60) much bettr record than the Jays and Twins are hoping to stay in the AL Central race while playing 14 straight road games for the first time since August 1969, when they played 15 in a row in five cities.
September call ups today for Toronto include Richmond and Wolfe, Marcum has been recalled from AAA and will pitch on Saturday in place of Parrish, and Wilkerson comes off the disabled list. Twins are finished with the West Coast portion of their longest road trip in more than 39 years and now face the east. That is one tough road trip.

What they are saying: Gardenhire: "Toronto is probably playing the best baseball of all the teams we've faced other than Anaheim. So three games against a very tough team at the end of that many days on the road is not easy."
Gardenhire "Their pitching staff all year long has been very, very good. You don't get a break with their pitching staff."

Pitching: Purcey 2-5, 5.53 ERA v Perkins 12-3, 3.96 ERA looking to win his fifth straight start. Perkins is a very good pitcher and rookie eight shutout innings in two of his last four outings, compiling a 2.48 ERA overall during that span. Perkins has thrown at least six innings in each of his last 11 starts, going 8-1 with a 3.56 ERA. Purcey had a good outing in Tampa striking out 11 and walked none in eight innings but lost 1-0 on Pena’s HR.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Bautista, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Rolen, Overbay, McDonald, and Purcey pitching.
Minnesota: Span, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Ruiz, Young, Buscher, Punto and Perkins pitching.

Result: Jays win 7-5 come from behind. And with some power bats for a change. Seventeen hits tonight and three HRs.

The good: Bautista two run HR. Alex back to back HR. I think Cito may have found the number two bat in Bautista. The way Jose is settling in makes sense to have in front of Rios and Wells. We will see if Cito agrees tomorrow. Both Jose and Alex go 4-5 tonight. Overbay HR. Bullpen closing it down after the fourth when Purcey leaves game.
The bad: Purcey awful tonight from first inning and escaped worse damage. May have pitched himself out of the rotation.

Top 1st: Span leadoff, fly ball out to Wells great catch by Vernon Casilla, hot on the foot by pitch. One on one down for Joe Mauer singles to CF, Casilla gets to 3B easily, Purcey in trouble already with only one out. Morneau at bat, pops it up into shallow LF and McDonald gets the out without Casilla advancing from 3B. Jason Kubel, full count. Grounds to left of Rolen, nice play by Scott and throw to Overbay for third out and Purcey out of trouble. 15 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Scutaro at bat long single to right centre, Bautista batting number two tonight, is he bunting ? No. grounds to SS Ounto flip to Casilla 2B and throw to Morneau. Double play. Ouch. Rios singles to LF. That double play even worse now. Wells at bat, weak ground out to Buscher, throw to Casilla at 2B to get Alex. 10 pitches.

Top 2nd: Ruiz, full count and walks him. Young at bat, strikes out. One down. Buscher 3-0 count and now walks on four pitches. Punto pops up to Scutaro at 2B. Two down for top of the order Span with two on. Span strikes out. Purcey really playing with fire for the second inning, he needs to tighten up here or his outing will be very short tonight. 44 pitches already as well.
Bottom 2nd: Barajas fly ball out to Span in CF. One down for Lind singles to LF, Rolen now fly ball to shallow RF for Kubel. Two down for Overbay singles to RF, Lind gets to 3B. McDonald. Full count and strikes out. 30 pitches.

Top 3rd: Casilla, singles up the middle, one on for Mauer, singles to RF, nice sliding save by Alex, Casilla to 3B. Purcey in trouble yet again he is not fooling anyone tonight. Morneau with two on and no outs, singles to LF scores Casilla. 1-0 Twins. Kubel at bat with two on and no outs. Grounds out to Overbay but gets his job done by moving both runners into scoring position. One down. Ruiz wild pitch and Mauer scores. 2-0 Twins. Morneau moves to 3B. No one yet up in Jays bullpen but it will not be long here, probably Tallet, 65 pitches already for Purcey. Another full count. Strikes out on ball four. Young at bat singles to LF Morneau scores, 3-0 Twins. Here comes Cito, now someone up in bullpen yes it is Tallet. This is Purcey’s last inning he has been awful all three innings. Buscher at bat, strikes out but damage is done bigtime. 74 pitches to get nine out. Not good David.You may have lost your rotation spot with that outing. There are eager arms in the bullpen now including Richmond, Marcum will be going on Saturday. This month may go a long way in sorting out the 2009 rotation.
Bottom 3rd: Perkins now has more than enough to close this one down. Scutaro grounds to Punto at SS. Throw to 1B Morneau for the out. One down. Bautista singles to LF. Rios now needs more than single here. Singles to LF, that’s ok Alex as long as someone behind you can bring someone in here, Vernon at bat two on one down. Singles up the middle, Scutaro scores and Rios thrown out at 3B. Great throw by Span but Alex hesitated just a split second there coming around 2B and that was the difference. Two down. 3-1 Twins. Vernon to 2B on the throw. Barajas at bat, grounds hard to 3B Buscher and throw to 1B Morneau gets Barajas for third out. Could have, should have been more…. Alex gambled this time and lost. 47 pitches. Jays have outhit Twins 7-5 but are still behind.

Top 4th: Purcey still in there ??? but for how long? 74 pitches. Punto at bat, full count. singles to LF, come on Cito. Top of the order again for Span. Punto stealing, throw high and way off bag. Punto safe easily. full count. Span singles up the middle Punto scores 4-1 Twins. Great throw by Vernon but Punto can run and beats tag by Barajas. Span to 2B. Finally Purcey is out of here, a little late Cito. Purcey had nothing at all from first inning and was lucky to escape all innings without big damage, Have you left him in too long now for hitters to come back in this one? Tallet now pitching. No outs and Span now stealing 3B, throw not in time. Twins running at will tonight. Casilla pops up to Overbay in foul ground. One down. Mauer fly ball to Wells and Span tags and scores fifth run. 5-1 Twins. Morneau at bat two down and no outs, bounces one to McDonald throw to Overbay for the third out. Twins are giving Jays hitters lesson on how to do it, running and hitting, perfect execution.
Bottom 4th: Lots of game left but you have to have heart to come back and this team ???? we shall see. Interestingly Twins still only have seven runs the same as Jays but have four runs more ??? Lind at bat singles to RF. Rolen now with one on. high fly ball to Span in CF, one down. Lind holds at 1B. Overbay with one on. Bounces one to Casilla at 2B cannot turn two but gets Overbay at 1B. Johnny Mc. first pitch swing, fly ball to Young in LF for the third out. Perkins is closing the door shut friends. 60 pitches.

Top 5th: Kubel at bat singles one to Rios in RF. Ruiz at bat fly ball out to Wells in CF. One down. Young at bat singles to Rios in RF and Kubel moves to 3B. Buscher at bat with two on. grounds to Scutaro at 2B throw to Johnny MC at 2B on to Overbay at 1B, yes friends double play ball and Tallet escapes damage this time. But we still need runs to win this one.
Bottom 5th: Top of the order at least to get things going. Scutaro 3-0 count here, patience by Marco. Walks. Bautista still does not have a home run for Jays despite the twelve in Pittsburgh. Carlson up in bullpen. Full count to Bautista, THERE IT GOES…. I must take up a new career. Lines it hard into LF seats. 5-3 Jays. Rios now with no one on and no outs. YES ALEX, no question gets hold of this one. back to back here. 5-4 Jays. Very nice swing Alex off the LF facing on second deck above Jays bullpen. That is hit number three for Alex, tonight is he finally getting his stroke back ??? Better late than never Alex. Now Vernon, three in a row ???? No, not this time, pops it up to Punto SS for first out. Barajas at bat, fly ball out to Kubel in RF two down. Lind now, can he keep this line moving ? grounds to SS throw to Morneau for the third out. 88 pitches for Perkins.

Top 6th: Carlson has to hold the Twins here. Punto at bat, fly ball out to Rios in RF. One down for top of the order, Span, lines first pitch hard back at Jesse nice stop and throw to Overbay for the out. Two down. Casilla fly ball out to Lind in LF corner. Very nice Jesse and exactly what you had to do here.
Bottom 6th: No more Perkins. Boof Bonser pitching. 32 walks and 83 strikeouts in 36 games. Rolen at bat 3-1 count. Walks him. Overbay at bat one on, YES Lyle, this one has gone….. HR to Lyle into Twins bullpen. Two runs score, and Jays lead this one 6-5 Jays. McDonald grounds to Punto, throw to Morneau for the out. Scutaro at bat grounds to Punto throw to Morneau for second out. Bautista 3-1 count. doubles to the wall in right centre, his third hit tonight. Alex now chance to get another run here. Not this time. Strikes out.

Top 7th: Mauer hammers this one to Scutaro, great stop and throw to Overbay for the first out. One down for Morneau. Bounces this one to Rolen and throw to Overbay for second out. Kubel at bat, fly ball out to Rios in RF.
Bottom 7th: Jesse Crain pitching. Wells missing out do far on the fireworks tonight. Grounds to Buscher at 3B, nice stop but his throw bounces and Vernon safe at 1B. No complaints from Twins dugout but looked out on replay. Barajas high fly ball out to Span in CF. Lind at bat, singles up the middle, third hit tonight. Vernon moves to 2B. Rolen at bat with two on. Can he blow this one open here? Wilkerson now pinch running for Lind. Denis Reyes up in bullpen for Twins. Downs up in Jays bullpen. Fly ball out to Kubel in RF, Vernon tags and moves to 3B on the throw. Two down for Overbay. That’s it for Crain and Reyes now in to get Lyle. And gets Lyle on three pitches. Yankees beating Tampa 6-1 and Boston hammering Baltimore 11-1 in six.

Top 8th: Downs now pitching. Wilkerson in LF defensively for Lind. Ruiz at bat, grounds to Johnny Mc throw to Overbay for the out. One down for Young. Grounds one slowly to Scutaro at 2B throw to Overbay, two down. Matt Macri pinch hitting for Buscher, strikes him out on great curve ball. Downs does it again. Nice inning Scott. 10 pitches.
Bottom 8th: Matt Gierrier pitching, McDonald at bat, grounds to Macri playing at 3B now, throw to Morneau for the first out. Scutaro at bat, singles to RF, Bautista hitting for the cycle needs a triple but he will be happy with a base hit. Singles to shallow CF and Scutaro gets to 3B on the throw easily. Bautista 4-5 tonight. Rios at bat one out. This will do it Alex, doubles a scorcher down the 3B line into LF corner, he hot that so hard, Scutaro scores, Bautista to 3B and Alex at 2B, 7-5 Jays. Alex like Jose 4-5 tonight. Wells at bat intentional walk. Bases loaded for Barajas Strikes out hitless tonight in five at bats. New pitcher Craig Breslow number six tonight for Twins, Wilkerson at bat. Bases still loaded. Would love to get a hit here first game back off the DL. Strikes out. Here comes BJ Ryan.

Top 9th: Ryan pitching. Punto at bat, strikes him out swinging. One down for Span, strikes out, two down for Casilla, pops it up to Scutaro at 2B for third out and the win.
Jays win third in a row. Save number 26 for BJ Ryan. Great comeback win against a tough playoff contending team.

Halladay and Jays win final game and series at old Yankee Stadium

Series finale Toronto v NewYork. Sunday August 31,2008.

Both teams need this one. Yankees in a spiral out of play offs and Jays clinging to a faint thread of hope. It should be an excellent pitching matchup today between Halladay and Pettite. This is the last game in Yankees Stadium.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Eckstein, Rios, Wells, Barajas, Lind, Bautista, Rolen, McDonald and Halladay pitching. Interesting lineupo to keep Bautista in and give Rolen chance.
New York: Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Rodriguez, Giambi, Nady, Matsui, Cano, Molina and Pettite pitching.

Pitching: Pettite 13-10 4.37 ERA v Halladay 16-9 2.69 ERA. Pettitte, won 5-1 at Toronto on Aug. 20.

The result: Jays win this one and the series 6-2.

The good: Halladay for his win number seventeen, the hitters ! for once executing in first inning to get the game off to a good start for Halladay. Halladay became the first pitcher to beat New York four times in a season since Chuck Finley went 4-0 for the Angels in 1996. Good execution by Jays hitters. Jays take two of three in this series to finish 100-124 at the old Yankee Stadium, their most wins at any venue outside Toronto. They also set a club record by completing their twelfth consecutive game without an error, the longest streak by a major league team this season.
The bad: Nothing today, am focusing on the good.

The game: Top 1st: Scutaro, full count and now walks, nice start. Eckstein, is he bunting? Yes he is, back to Pettite throw to Giambi at 1B for first out but Scutaro at 2B. small ball today for Cito ??? Rios at bat, can he execute ? yes sort of, singles to LF , Scutaro at 3B. Two on here for Vernon and only one out. Yes Vernon, singles to RF, Scutaro scores, Jays go out ahead 1-0 and great execution by Jays already. Rios at 2B Vernon at 1B. One down for Barajas today moving up and Lind down a slot in lineup. Barajas doubles to LF, Rios scores, here comes Vernon he scores from 1B, terrible throw in misses cut off. Nady really messed up the hit by Barajas misjudged it and goes to wall over his head. Maybe he could have caught that. He took two steps in before trying to retreat, and it was too late. But bottom line two runs score and Jays are out of the gate 3-0 Jays. And more to the point executing well so far. Lind at bat, batting sixth today I agree with Cito on this one, Adam has been struggling behind Vernon. Strikes out. Bautista at bat Jose had a great day yesterday and appears to have found his rhythm and Cito has him playing at 1B with Rolen at 3B today to get his bat in lineup. Jose strikes out here but Jays are off and running for Halladay.
Bottom 1st: Damon strikes out, one down for Jeter, fly ball out to Rios in RF. Two down. Abreu singles to RF. One on for A-Rod, lines out to McDonald at SS. Halladay did what he wanted and that was to hold Yankees scoreless.

Top 2nd: Rolen lead off and gets hold of this one that is out of here, Scott HR to LF and Jays are 4-0 ahead. Number eight for Rolen this season. Johnny Mc. grounds to Jeter throw to Giambi. One down for Scutaro, fly ball out to Abreu in RF. Eckstein at bat grounds to Giambi throw to Pettitte covering and this inning is over but Jays get another run for Halladay. Bottom 2nd: Giambi fly ball out to Wells in CF. One down for Nady, straight away doubles to LF. Matsui grounds to Halladay throw to Bautista at 1B for second out. Cano at bat grounds to Scutaro throw to Bautista at 1B for third out.

Top 3rd: Rios again, Alex lifts this one but not high enough and fly ball out to Abreu in RF. One down for Wells singles to LF. Barajas grounds to Jeter flip to Cano at 2B on to Giambi, double play ball and inning is over.
Bottom 3rd: Molina grounds to Rolen throw to Bautista. One down for Damon infield single to 3B. Jeter grounds to Scutaro throw to shortstop McDonald, Damon is out. Abreu grounds out to Bautista. 58 pitches for Pettite.

Top 4th: Lind grounds to Pettitte throw to Giambi. One down for Bautista doubles to LF. Jose really is in the groove. Rolen strikes out. McDonald with two down, fly ball out to Abreu in RF.
Bottom 4th: Halladay looking comfortable with a 4-0 lead, he doesn’t get that very often. A- Rod homers to CF. 4-1 Jays. That is HR number 547 for A-Rod and moves him to within one of Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for twelfth place on the career list. Giambi fly ball out to Rios in RF. One down for Nady singles to LF. Matsui at bat one on one down, singles to RF, Nady to 2B. Cano strikes out. Wild pitch, Nady to 3B, Matsui to 2B. Molina pops up to Bautista for third out but Yankees get one back.

Top 5th: Scutaro strikes out. One down for Eckstein, singles to LF. Rios ground to Jeter throw to Giambi, Eckstein to 2B. Wells with another in scoring position. Fly ball out to Abreu in RF and Jays do not score this time.
Bottom 5th: Damon lead off, singles to LF. Jeter grounds back to Halladay throw to Bautista,for the first out but Damon moves up to 2B. One down for Abreu fly ball out to Lind in LF. Two down for A-Rod grounds to Rolen throw to Bautista and Halladay keeps on rolling.

Top 6th: Barajas fly ball out to Damon in CF. One down for Lind, lines out to Cano. Bautista grounds to Cano throw on to Giambi for third out..
Bottom 6th: Giambi lead off gets hold of this one, no doubt at all, HR to RF and Yankees get another 4-2 and now this score is getting too close for comfort. Nady grounds to Scutaro throw to Bautista. One down for Matsui pops up to McDonald. Two down for Cano grounds to Scutaro throw to Bautista for third out.

Top 7th: Rolen pops up to Jeter, one down for McDonald, singles to RF. One on one down, Scutaro doubles to RF, McDonald to 3B, Jays are back in business here. Eckstein at bat singles to LF, McDonald scores, Scutaro to 3B. 5-2 Jays. That is it for Pettite. Here comes Girardi. Veras now pitching. Wild pitch Scutaro scores, Eckstein to 2B. 6-2 Jays. Still only one down with Eckstein in scoring position at 2B for Alex. Rios strikes out. Wells now an intentional walk with 1B open. Two on two down for Barajas, strikes out but Jays get that four run lead back.
Bottom 7th: Overbay in at 1B for Bautista. Remember this was Jose’s first start at 1B. He is a 3B player. Molina at bat strikes out. One down for Damon, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the second out. Jeter grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay. Three up and down and a good inning for Halladay although pitch count is high.

Top 8th: Aceves now pitching and making his major league start. This could be interesting. Lind fly ball out to Nady, one down for Overbay who strikes out. Rolen with two down, fly ball out to Damon in CF. It will be interesting to see if Scott keeps playing alternate days at 3B now that Bautista has shown what he can do this weekend. Why not shut Rolen down now for season especially with September call-up tomorrow
Bottom 8th: Inglett in defensively for Lind in LF. Halladay is done for the day, 103 pitches, no sense in him doing another 120 pitching game. Plus it is an off day tomorrow and bullpen has not been used that much in New York. Downs pitching. Abreu grounds to Overbay throw to Downs covering 1B for first out. One down for A-Rod, hit by a pitch. That was not intentional by Downs. Giambi at bat now also hit by a pitch, two on and one out, A-R to 2B.
Nady grounds to Rolen steps on 3B for second out. Giambi to 2B but two down. Matsui at bat, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay and that is it for Yankees in this inning at least.

Top 9th: Johnny Mc. fouls out to Molina behind home plate, one down for Scutaro who strikes out. Two down for Eckstein who now strikes out. No chance for any additional runs this is it now.
Bottom 9th: League now pitching. Not a save situation for BJ but also a chance to see League pitching the ninth, may be a future role ??? Cano fly ball out to center fielder Wells. One down for Betemit pinch-hitting for Molina. Betemit grounds out to Scutaro throw to Overbay for second out. Damon fly ball out to Inglett now in LF. And the Jays win another from Yankees, they win the last game to be played by these two teams in the Stadium and also win the series as well as moving up a game on Yankees.

Halladay, 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA against the Yankees is now tied with Jim Clancy for second place in Toronto history with his 128th win. Dave Stieb had 175.
Yankees now go on a four-city, 10-day road trip Monday with a makeup game at Detroit which provides Jays with more incentives to close the gap between the two teams and maybe get that third position in the Division.

Jays win one and show spirit with great comeback

Toronto v New York. Saturday August 29, 2008.

Preview: It is not that Jays don’t have the ability to win, it is just they have not shown the desire in the last few games, they are totally flat and they look at it in each at bat.

Toronto: Inglett, Eckstein, Rios,Wells, Lind, Overbay, Bautista, Zaun, Snider and Parrish pitching.
New York playing their first team, they are serious about play offs. Damon, Jeter, Abreu, (Alex) Rodriguez, Giambi, Nady, Matsui, Cano, (Pudge) Rodriguez and Rasner pitching.
Second team playing today Cito has already given up on this group. No Scutaro, Barajas, McDonald or Rolen. I cannot see Halladay pitching with this lineup tomorrow.

Pitching: Parrish 1-0 4.05 ERA v Rasner 5-9 5.03 ERA

Result: Jays win a come from behind 7-6. When did I last write that but this one was huge.

The good: Vernon’s two run HR and his defence. Bullpen although BJ Ryan almost let it slip away. Has to be Jose Bautista today, finally breaks his hitless slump with the Jays with two hits and his double play ball in the ninth was game winner for me. League struck out the side in the seventh. Inglett, Wells, Lind and Bautista all with two hits.
The bad: I don’t want to ruin this day with anything today but the Jays hitters took their time getting going today and that hurt Parrish with the very quick early innings.

Top 1st: Inglett, grounds to Giambi tags Inglett for the out. Eckstein in middle of trade rumours so may be his last game. Singles up the middle. Rios at bat, big sigh…. Which Alex has got out of bed today ? Was he out on the town last night ? No, the usual, head in he air and pop up to Damon in CF. Would that Cito would bench this guy for a couple of games and put Snider in his position. He may never see RF again. Vernon now, grounds to A-Rod at 3B throw to Giambi. This will be a short afternoon friends. 9 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Damon at bat 3-0 count, now full count, fly ball out to Lind in LF. Jeter at bat, one down. grounds to Eckstein beats out the throw to Overbay, that is why Johnny Mc. should be at SS. One on one down. Abreu at bat, full count, fly ball out to Wells at the wall in CF. Two down. A-Rod, wild pitch, over the head of Zaun and umpire ! and Jeter moves to 2B. Singles to LF Jeter was running on the pitch and scores without a throw. 1-0 Yankees. Giambi with A-Rod at 1B. another wild pitch and A-Rod to 2B. Well I said this would be along afternoon. Singles hard to RF off Inglett ‘s glove, if he had missed Alex might have had him, Joe slowed it down too much. A-Rod scores 2-0 Yankees. Nady at bat, two down, grounds to Bautista at 3B he is in there today who knows why …. And throw to Eckstein at 2B to get Giambi. Not a great start there for Mr. Parrish 29 pitches but that’s ok the bullpen has not worked much recently so Cito can work by committee today.

Top 2nd: Rasner has a lead to work with, Lind at bat pops it up to Cano throw beats Lind who is not the swiftest guy out there, one down. Overbay at bat one down, lazy swing at that one, this time he does manage to pop it up to A-Rod two down in four pitches, what’s new? Bautista, 0-24, since coming to the Jays, pops up first pitch to Abreu in shallow RF. Five pitches and three Jays hitters go down. That is disgusting. Parrish has hardly had time to sit down in the dugout. 14 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Matsui, first pitch swinging ( I guess it is catching, or they all have a date in town this afternoon) grounds out to Inglett throw to Overbay for the out. Cano at bat, singles to RF. Pudge Rodriguez with one on and one down. Fly ball out to Wells in CF, two down for Damon. Strikes him out on a great curve. 42 pitches.

Top 3rd: Zaun strikes out on three pitches, Snider, DH today. Pops it up to A-Rod for the out, but Snider took more pitches than all three hitters in the previous inning. That tells me a lot about who is actually trying today. Inglett, lines out to 2B for third out. 25 pitches for Rasner, for first nine outs ?? and Snider had five of those pitches. What is wrong with this group?
Bottom 3rd: Parrish must feel he has been out there all afternoon when his hitters are out in a few minutes every inning. Jeter at bat, fly ball out to Rios in RF one down. Abreu at bat, singles up the middle, A-Rod with one on and one down. Lifts first pitch into shallow CF but Vernon great catch for the second out. Giambi , Abreu stealing and safe on Zaun throw. Giambi strikes out. 56 pitches.

Top 4th: This inning will tell me whether this group is serious today, Eckstein, Rios and Wells. Eckstein at bat, grounds to Jeter, throw to Giambi for first out. Rios, singles into LF, when was his last hit ??? Wells, YES finally, Vernon gets hold of this one, he knows this one is out of here, Nady watches it sail way over his head. HR to LF bullpen netting. FINALLY, 2-2. Perhaps some others can wake up now. Lind at bat, grounds to Cano, throw to Giambi for second out. Overbay, yes, another base hit singles to RF. Vernon did wake them up. Bautista fly ball out to Damon in CF. 49 pitches though for Rasner, almost doubled his output from first three innings in one inning.
Bottom 4th: Parrish had a nap this time. Nady grounds to Bautista throw to Overbay one down. Matsui at bat high fly ball out to Lind. Two down. Cano first pitch swing and this one is over head of Rios in RF. HR and Yankees get lead back 3-2 Yankees. Pudge Rodriguez with two down and now he connects this one over head of Lind in LF and lead is back to 4-2 for Yankees. I guess Parrish was not used to the rest that he had between innings. Damon at bat, Tallet up in Jays bullpen. Damon strikes out. 68 pitches.

Top 5th: Now do Jays hitters mail this one in, or do they show some spunk and get at least one run back here? They are long overdue for a decent inning. Zaun at bat, pops it up to Cano. Snider grounds to Cano throw to Giambi for the second quick out. Inglett grounds to A-Rod at 3B and Jays go very quietly here. Rasner 58 pitches.
Bottom 5th: Tallet pitching, let’s hope he gets some run support. Jeter at bat, full count, walks. Abreu at bat, singles blooper into shallow CF. Two on no outs, A-Rod. Runners going, Fly ball out to Wells in Cf. Vernon has been busy today. One down for Giambi. Walks the bases loaded. Nady at bat, major trouble here for Tallet. Perfect, Nady pops it up to Overbay for out number two. Matsui doubles into RF corner, two runs score 6-2 Yankees. Cano at bat strikes out on three pitches but damage already done.

Top 6th: Hitters have to get something back here. Top of the order to do it. Eckstein, Rios and Wells again as in the 4th. Eckstein fly ball out to RF Abreu, on down for Rios. It would be nice to see him connect on one some day. He does here but long fly ball out to Damon in CF, two down. Vernon now lazy fly ball out to Abreu in RF corner Jays are playing as if they are busy planning big night out in the Big Apple. Another nine pitch inning. 67 pitches.
Bottom 6th: Frasor now pitching and why not. Pudge Rodriguez first pitch fly ball out to Inglett, he should be careful on that habit, one down. Damon singles to RF Rios. Number ten hit for Yankees today. Jeter at bat, Damon running, Yankees really want this game. Jeter fouls it off. Damon runs for third time as Jeter fouls another off. Steals this time and safe, Why didn’t Jays have a pitch out? He had run four times. Now full count. Grounds to Eckstein and throw to Overbay for the out. Abreu at bat two down. Grounds back to Frasor drops the ball but recovers in time to get Abreu at 1B . After all that Yankees don’t get anything. However Damon will be exhausted out there, no rest now he has to get back out in CF.

Top 7th: Lind his production has really dropped off recently. Now he singles into CF. first Jays hit since the 4th ? Overbay grounds to Cano, throw to Jeter who drops the ball and A-Rod backing Jeter up enables Lind moves all the way to 3B, no one there. Bautista now your BIG chance. Finally. yes Jose, singles back up the middle, for his first hit as a Jay and breaks a terrible 0-26 slump. Lind scores. 6-3 Yankees. Zaun at bat now your turn Gregg. Two on and no outs. Connect here and this game is tied !!! Full count here, and walks him, bases are loaded for Snider. Has he ever dreamed about this situation many times. Bases loaded and no outs in Yankee Stadium, his heartbeat must be off the chart. Manager Girardi appears, that’s it for Rasner, no leave him in Joe. Brian Bruney pitching, strikes out never mind Travis you will get many more chances . One down. Inglett at bat what can Joe do? Singles into CF, two runs score, Overbay and Bautista, 6-5 Yankees. Still two on and one out. Eckstein a wild swing at first pitch, pop up to Pudge. Rios now two down one on. Strikes out on high pitch out of zone. Are we surprised ?
Bottom 7th: League now pitching. You have to hold them Brandon. A-Rod at bat. Strikes out, one down. Giambi strikes him out. Nady with two down. Strikes him out on three pitches, excellent Brandon.

Top 8th: Wells at bat, one run game now Vernon. Singles into LF, that’s the way Vernon. Girardi doesn’t like that and is getting concerned, he changes pitchers the way Captain Hook did before Cito, but it does show he really wants this win today. Interesting to compare the two different management styles today, Damaso Marte now pitching to Lind. Singles to RF, second hit for Adam today good to see him back in the groove. Two on now and no outs for Overbay. Bunting and second time gets it down. Wells to 3B and Lind to 2B. One down for Bautista. Here comes Captain Hook again and that’s it for Marte and in comes Edwar Ramirez. Girardi really using his bullpen in these two games. Yes Jose, that’s the way, singles to LF and Vernon is in from 3B, this game is tied, 6-6. Zaun now with runners at the corners, go ahead run Lind at 3B. Gregg your big chance. full count. Dribbler in front of A-Rod throw to 2B gets Bautista, throw to 1B but Zaun safe. Lind scores 7-6 Jays. Gregg did his job. Snider at bat, two down, strikes out swinging. Poor Travis but you are learning each at bat, and Jays are now leading for first time in the game.
Bottom 8th: Downs now pitching. Matsui ground ball to Overbay, throw to Downs for the first out at 1B. Cano at bat, strikes him out on 77mph curve. Two down for Pudge Rodriguez grounds to Inglett dives to save but drops ball, Pudge safe at 1B. Pinch runner Brett Gardner for Pudge. Damon at bat, stealing and Zaun’s throw wide, safe at 2B. Grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay and Jays keep that lead. BJ will be getting up in bullpen.

Top 9th: Top of the order, can they add to this lead? Alex is overdue. Inglett to start. Yankee faithful appear to be emptying out of those seats, lots of blue around. Molina now catching for Pudge. Ransom at 1B for Giambi. That’s the way Joe, singles into RF. That’s it for Ramirez, here comes Jose Veras. Eckstein at bat is he bunting? Yes, everyone in Canada saw that coming. Good bunt and Inglett at 2B one down for Alex $65 million Rios. Not this time, grounds (first pitch) to A-Rod, throw to Ransom at 1B for second out. Vernon at bat, Yankees now putting him on with 1B open. Adam my man you are the man. Full count, grounds out to Ransom for third out. Not this time Adam. All rests on BJ now.
Bottom 9th: BJ Ryan pitching for the save. Johnny Mc. in for Eckstein. Scutaro at 2B, Inglett in LF for Lind and Barajas for Zaun behind the plate. Jeter at bat, full count, singles into RF corner, perfect throw by Alex to hold him to a long single. Abreu with one on. Full count and walks him. Two on no outs for A-Rod, not exactly what BJ had in mind. Criwd is really getting back into this one, sounds like World Series. Another full count. A-Rod grounds to Bautista, steps on 3B to get Jeter, throw to Overbay to get A-Rod, double play ball. Great play Jose. Two down now for Ransom fly ball out to Inglett for the third out and Blue Jays win a HUGE one 7-6.

Deja vu all over again. Great Burnett pitching and lousy hitting equals a loss for Jays

Toronto v New York. Series opener. Friday August 29, 2008.

After the very disappointing series in Tampa, Jays need to sweep Yankees to make this interesting. Big news here comes Travis Snider and revolving door sends Matt Stairs to Phillies. Great for everyone. Matt was losing his bat speed anyway, but has chance to play baseball in October. Snider is the phenom rocketing through the organization.

Pitching: Pavano v Burnett

Lineups: Toronto: Inglett, Scutaro, Rios, Wells, Lind, Overbay, Barajas, Rolen, Snider and Burnett pitching. This is the strongest lineup (on paper) that Jays have put out all season in my opinion. Let’s see what happens.
New York: Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Rodriguez, Giambi, Nady, Matsui, Cano, Pudge Rodriguez and Carl Pavano pitching.

Result: Jays lose 2-1.

The very, very good: AJ Burnett threw complete game and loses this one. He should not have lost this one the way he pitched. Yankees needed six pitcher s to stay with AJ.
The good: Snider good defensive play and his first hit and first run. Nice debut.
The bad: The hitting lineup yet again. Going into another slump at the worst possible time although to be fair perhaps this team was playing above themselves the last couple of weeks and are now reverting back to normal form. Rios, Lind, Overbay and Rolen hitless tonight, that is nothing to boast about friends. Jays leave five on base and were a horrible 1/7 with runners in scoring position.

Game: Top 1st: Inglett at bat, singles into CF. One on for Scutaro, bunt is on first pitch, nice bunt Marco Inglett makes 2B easily. Scutaro out on throw by Pavano to Giambi at 1B. One down for Rios. Gets hold of it hard but Nady gets it at the track in LF. Two down. Wells, full count, lines hard out to Abreu in RF at the track. 16 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Damon at bat, singles to RF corner. Jeter one on grounds to Scutaro, flip to Inglett, on to Overbay, double play, Burnett loves that, two down. Abreu at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for third out. 9 pitches.

Top 2nd: Lind at bat, DH tonight as Snider is in LF. 3-0 count here. Walks him, one on for Overbay. Grounds to Jeter, throw to Cano on to Giambi, double play ball. Two down for Barajas high fly ball out to Damon in CF. 29 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Alex Rodriguez grounds to Overbay, throw to Burnett for out at 1B. Close though, A-Rod moves fast down that line. Giambi, strikes him out, nice pitching AJ. Two down for Nady, strikes out. 20 pitches for AJ. He is pitching for Cy Young Award now and not least a great contract off-season who knows could be in New York.

Top 3rd: Rolen with his first bat on return from DL. Fly ball out to Damon in shallow CF. Snider first major league at bat, can you imagine this kid was in High School in 2006 ???, lines out to Jeter, he will remember that at bat. Inglett first pitch NO Joe, fly ball out to Damon to end inning. Joe that was not good at bat. 36 pitches. Seven pitch inning !
Bottom 3rd: Matsui at bat, grounds to Rolen throw to Overbay for first out. Cano with one down, long fly ball out to Wells in CF, two down. Pudge Rodriguez grounds to Overbay flip to Burnett only just gets Pudge at 1B. That was very close for third out. 33 pitches.

Top 4th: Scutaro at bat, lines out to Abreu into RF. One down. Rios first pitch, yes that’s right, Alex pops this one up to pitcher’s mound for Cano. Two down. Wells grounds second pitch to 3B. Throw to Giambi for third out but awful, awful at bats by Rios, Wells and in earlier inning by Inglett. 42 pitches.
Bottom 4th: You do not very often see Yankees hitters blindly swinging at first pitch counts, they are very patient and work the count. Different style from Cito and his coaching crew. Damon again, singles to RF corner great throw by Alex to hold Damon at 1B. Jeter at bat, Damon stealing great throw gets there in time but ball knocked out of Scutaro’s glove by Damon. Jeter strikes out swinging. One down. Abreu at bat, 3-0 count here. Doubles to left centre, Damon scores 1-0 Yankees. A-Rod grounds to Scutaro throw to Rolen not in time and Abreu safe as is A-Rod at 1B. Two on one down. Giambi at bat, fly ball to LF corner, great leaping catch by Snider, Abreu tags and scores 2-0 Yankees. Two down. A-Rod at 2B. Nady grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for the out. 51 pitches.

Top 5th: Let’s see what the under achieving bats can do this time…. Jays have not impressed with the bats in the last three games. Lind at bat, another fly ball out to Nady in LF. Overbay at bat, one down. full count, fly ball out to Damon in CF. Jays hitters have been getting under their hits all night long. Two down for Barajas, here’s another one right to the LF wall but just another long fly ball out. 54 pitches.
Bottom 5th: I feel sorry for Jays pitchers. They are getting no support from the hitters this week. You have to wonder whether some of them have packed it in for the season and are just playing out the games. They are certainly hitting like it. They have scored two runs in the last 23 innings. Matsui grounds to right of mound, nice recovery by Burnett to throw him out at 1B. One down for Cano. Doubles to CF wall. (Pudge) Rodriguez, grounds to Rolen, throw gets Rodriguez at 1B. Two down. Damon yet again… always seems to be at bat. 3-0 count. Walks, semi-intentional I think with Cano at 2B. Jeter at bat, strikes him out and AJ leaves two on. Good pitching by AJ. 71 pitches.

Top 6th: When oh when will Jays hitters get going? Rolen, Snider and Inglett this inning. Rolen pops it up to Jeter, one down. Snider has he learned anything? But what a lot of pressure on this kid and in New York as well. YES Travis…. gets hold of this pitch, hard drive and doubles here over Damon’s head bounces over the wall. 1st career hit, congratulations Travis very nice hit. Inglett now fly ball to Nady in shallow LF. Nice running catch. Two down for Scutaro. Singles into CF and Snider scores from 2B on Damon’s throw gets his first run… 2-1 Yankees. Rios now, I hope he watched that kid’s approach, might learn something. Brian Burney warming up in Yankees bullpen. Full count to Alex now. Strikes out swinging. But that was Snider’s inning. 70 pitches. Tampa and Boston in the lead so far tonight.

Bottom 6th: Abreu at bat, lines hard up the middle right at Burnett. (Alex) Rodriguez with one on. Grounds to Scutaro, flip to Inglett on to Overbay double play ball. Yankee fans booing A-Rod. And before ball gets to Scutaro…. Giambi at bat, strikes out, number five tonight for AJ. 83 pitches.

Top 7th: Now can the middle of Jays order do as well here as the rookie 20 year old? We need hits and a big inning friends. Bruney now pitching. Wells at bat, pops it up behind home plate, what is wrong with these hitters tonight getting under so many pitches? One down and Vernon 0-3 tonight. That’s it for Bruney. Damaso Marte pitching. Lind at bat, strikes out on three pitches. Overbay with two down. Fly ball to Damon in CF and Jays go very quietly and meekly. Their collective hitting over the last week has been pitiful. Would be interesting to hear what Gene Tenace and Cito have to say about it.
Bottom 7th: Nady at bat, strikes out. Matsui at bat, grounds to Inglett throw to Overbay for second out. Cano at bat two down. Singles past Rolen into LF. (Pudge) Rodriguez with one on and two down. Strikes him out, number seven for AJ. 97 pitches. Boston 7-0 and Tampa 10-0 running away with their games.

Top 8th: Jays chances limited now, this is their last inning before Rivera gets in there. You have to wonder what is wrong with the hitters this week. Three runs in the last three games. They have had innings with more. Jose Veras pitching, fourth pitcher tonight. Barajas at bat. Ground rule double into LF corner. Now Scott Rolen, Eckstein pinch running for Barajas. Would love Scott to get a hit here. 3-1 count. Walks him. Two on for guess who? Travis Snider again, great chance for Travis. That’s it for Veras. Edwar Ramirez now pitching, strikes out. That’s OK Travis showed some patience at bat, we don’t see much of that with this tea. One down. Another pitcher, Rivera now to finish this one off. Yankees have used six pitchers, Jays are still with Burnett. Inglett grounds to Jeter, throw to 2B to get Rolen. Two on two down. Scutaro at bat, Strikes out.
Bottom 8th: Top of Yankees order. Does AJ stay in there? That’s was Cito’s mistake last game. Yes is still in there to face Damon. Zaun catching. 3-0 count. Fly ball out to Rios in RF. One down. Downs up in bullpen. Jeter at bat, grounds first pitch to Scutaro throw to Overbay for second out. Abreu at bat, strikes him out. Eight strikeouts for Burnett tonight he has done very well but without run support it is all wasted apart from the scouts watching him for next year.

Top 9th: Last chance for Jays and the big bats to do it. Rios, Wells and Lind. Alex not a great game tonight 0-3. Ransom in at 1B for Giambi. Strikes out, far too tentative. Wells at bat, singles into shallow RF. First hit tonight. Lind at bat one down one on. Called third strike. Adam for some reason is not playing well at all. Overbay with two down. First pitch grounds to Jeter throw to 2B for the out. Jays lose another.

Now three runs in the last 27 innings. Fire the hitting coach ???? The Manager ? Hard to think what to do with this group right now.
Some good news, Mike Weir blows away the field today with his 61 and takes a three run lead into tomorrow.