For You I'm a Pushover: Jays 11, BoSox 0

Jon Lester has had a great season but he was a bit of a pushover today against the suddenly alive Jays offense.  Lester didn't get out of the third and gave up 8 hits and 7 runs.  The Jays added 4 more against young reliever Chris Smith and cruised to a big victory. 

Lots of Jays contributed offensively today, including Vernon Wells, who had 2 home runs, Marco Scutaro, who had a great day out of the leadoff spot including a home run over the wall, Lyle Overbay, who doubled and drove in 3, and Alex Rios and Kevin Mench, who each had 3 hits, and Adam Lind, who had 2.  Newcomer Jose Bautista was 0-4 but did have a sacrifice fly. 

Another great story was some wonderful pitching from Jesse Litsch.  Litsch went 6 innings, striking out 4 and walking 3 and yielding only 3 hits (and no runs of course).  He did throw a lot of pitches, but that's to be expected from a patient lineup like that of the Red Sox.  Litsch's ERA now stands right at 4.01 and the way he's pitching, it's on its way down.  Jesse Carlson, Brandon League, and B.J. Ryan each did a nice job in relief, collectively yielding just 1 hit and 1 walk over their 3 innings and striking out 4. 

Jays of the Day:  Jesse Litsch and Vernon Wells.  Title: "Pushover," by the Long Winters

Tomorrow's rubber game features a great pitching matchup of A.J. Burnett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, and it should be a great game.

In a little note from that beautiful Triple-A city on the shores of Lake Onandaga, Brett Cecil had an awesome start yesterday.  Cecil went 7 innings of no-hit ball, walking 2 and striking out 5.  Let's hope there's more of that to come.  Anyway, Cecil now has a 3.55 ERA over his 5 starts for the Chiefs, and 26 strikeouts to only 12 walks over the 25 innings.