Here's the final POTD for 2010 from my end. I had never seen the Jays live on the road until the missus and I made a trip to Cleveland to catch the noon hour finale of a mid-week three game series at Progressive Energy Field. It was her idea to go and I wasn't about to argue! However, the Jays would be in tough as they had to face Indians ace Fausto Carmona, a big obstacle standing in the way of a series sweep.
Jose Molina got the start behind the plate as he catches a warm-up toss from starter Brandon Morrow in the Jays bullpen. This picture was the first time I realized there was a small number 8 on his catcher's mask. Molina would contribute to the Jays offense with an RBI single and a walk.
Morrow throws from the shadows of the bullpen. He had his moments with 9 strikeouts and hitting 100 MPH on the radar gun as his heater was consistently in the high 90's. However, he gave up three runs on six hits, four walks, and hit a batter in 5 1/3 innings before Shawn Camp bailed him out of a bases loaded situation with a ground ball double play to end the sixth inning.
Jose Bautista stands at third after a leadoff triple in the third inning. He would later score on Travis Snider's RBI single to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. The Indians would fight back with a Grady Sizemore RBI double to score future Lansing Lugnuts manager Mike Redmond to tie the game in their half of the third before Travis Hafner belted a solo homer in the fourth. The Jays would tie the game on an RBI single by Molina to score Alex Gonzalez in the fifth but an RBI single by Redmond off Morrow in the sixth and a Luis Valbuena RBI double in the eighth off lefty Rommie Lewis gave the Indians a 4-2 advantage.
The Jays were down to their final strike not once, not twice, but three times! Fred Lewis kept the game alive with a double but the game appeared to be over when Aaron Hill hit a tailor-made ground ball to short. However, it went through the wickets of Valbuena, who was filling in for the injured Asdrubal Cabrera and that allowed Lewis to score. Hill would later come in to score the tying run...
...when Adam Lind sent a 95 MPH fastball from Indians closer Chris Perez over the left field fence for a two-run homer to put the Jays ahead 5-4. Indians catcher Lou Marson looks down in disgust.
Lind and Hill celebrate after crossing home plate.
Lind gets ready to high-five Vernon Wells.
Jason Frasor, fourth from left, stranded a Valbuena double for Rommie Lewis to end the eighth and survived a two-out double by Shin-Soo Choo to nail down the victory. Mike McCoy, third from left next to Frasor, made a fine charging play from third base to get Jhonny Peralta for the game's final out. He came into the game as a pinch-runner for Lyle Overbay.
From right to left, manager Cito Gaston, bench coach Nick Leyva, third base coach Brian Butterfield, and first base coach Omar Malave greet from left to right, Jose Bautista, Alex Gonzalez, Aaron Hill, Travis Snider, and Fred Lewis as they celebrate a three game series sweep.
The good news is there for visiting Jays fans to see on the big scoreboard! Later, we stopped by CVS Pharmacy where I picked up a USA Today Sports Weekly and on the cover was none other than Vernon Wells. Perfect end to a perfect day and a perfect end to the POTD for 2010! Happy 2011, Bauxites!
Jose Molina got the start behind the plate as he catches a warm-up toss from starter Brandon Morrow in the Jays bullpen. This picture was the first time I realized there was a small number 8 on his catcher's mask. Molina would contribute to the Jays offense with an RBI single and a walk.
Morrow throws from the shadows of the bullpen. He had his moments with 9 strikeouts and hitting 100 MPH on the radar gun as his heater was consistently in the high 90's. However, he gave up three runs on six hits, four walks, and hit a batter in 5 1/3 innings before Shawn Camp bailed him out of a bases loaded situation with a ground ball double play to end the sixth inning.
Jose Bautista stands at third after a leadoff triple in the third inning. He would later score on Travis Snider's RBI single to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. The Indians would fight back with a Grady Sizemore RBI double to score future Lansing Lugnuts manager Mike Redmond to tie the game in their half of the third before Travis Hafner belted a solo homer in the fourth. The Jays would tie the game on an RBI single by Molina to score Alex Gonzalez in the fifth but an RBI single by Redmond off Morrow in the sixth and a Luis Valbuena RBI double in the eighth off lefty Rommie Lewis gave the Indians a 4-2 advantage.
The Jays were down to their final strike not once, not twice, but three times! Fred Lewis kept the game alive with a double but the game appeared to be over when Aaron Hill hit a tailor-made ground ball to short. However, it went through the wickets of Valbuena, who was filling in for the injured Asdrubal Cabrera and that allowed Lewis to score. Hill would later come in to score the tying run...
...when Adam Lind sent a 95 MPH fastball from Indians closer Chris Perez over the left field fence for a two-run homer to put the Jays ahead 5-4. Indians catcher Lou Marson looks down in disgust.
Lind and Hill celebrate after crossing home plate.
Lind gets ready to high-five Vernon Wells.
Jason Frasor, fourth from left, stranded a Valbuena double for Rommie Lewis to end the eighth and survived a two-out double by Shin-Soo Choo to nail down the victory. Mike McCoy, third from left next to Frasor, made a fine charging play from third base to get Jhonny Peralta for the game's final out. He came into the game as a pinch-runner for Lyle Overbay.
From right to left, manager Cito Gaston, bench coach Nick Leyva, third base coach Brian Butterfield, and first base coach Omar Malave greet from left to right, Jose Bautista, Alex Gonzalez, Aaron Hill, Travis Snider, and Fred Lewis as they celebrate a three game series sweep.
The good news is there for visiting Jays fans to see on the big scoreboard! Later, we stopped by CVS Pharmacy where I picked up a USA Today Sports Weekly and on the cover was none other than Vernon Wells. Perfect end to a perfect day and a perfect end to the POTD for 2010! Happy 2011, Bauxites!
