Jays hitters come alive for hit parade in Seattle win behind Romero.

Toronto v Seattle. Game one of three.

Lineups: Toronto: Scutaro, Hill, Lind, Rolen, Wells, Overbay, Rios, Barajas, Inglett and Romero pitching. No Bautista tonight, we have Inglett, just don’t ask him to bunt please Cito.
Seattle: Suzuki, Guttierrez, Griffey, Shelton, Hannahan, Johnson, Woodward, Saunders, Cedeno and Hernandez pitching.

Top eight in Jays lineup have more than 40 rbis. Seattle has one Gutierrez with 44 but that doesn’t mean much against Jays anything can and usually does happen when they play weaker teams.
Jays facing one of the best tonight in Felix Hernandez. 11-3 2.45ERA and 7-0 in the last 11 starts. Good news: Scott Richmond threw 5.1 innings in a rehab start for Vegas on Saturday. Richmond allowed one run on three hits and striking out five. He will be starting on Friday.

The very good: Hit parade for Jays, and get two home runs off Hernandez who has allowed only 3 home runs in 83 innings. Scutaro four hit night, home runs for Barajas in his three hit night and for Overbay. Jays 5/13 with runners in scoring position. That is huge for this team.
The good: The hitters tonight picked up Romero who as not as sharp as usual although he gets the win. Bullpen holds it. Jays pick up another on the Rays who lose tonight to the Yankees. Inglett gives two hits to get him going finally.
The bad: Nothing tonight to complain about.

Top 1st: Scutaro, singles to right. Hill, Scutaro has eight stolen bases but probably not going here. Singles to right and Scutaro to third. Jays have something going here early. Lind with two on and no outs. Grounds to first, where is Scutaro? not going on contact there. Too bad as Lind tagged out at first. Hill moves to second. Rolen with two in scoring position. Way to go Scott lines this one hard to left, almost out but caught by Saunders at the wall, Scutaro tags and scores. 1-0 Jays. Hill stays at second, Wells, grounds to short, throw to first and Hernandez escapes with only one run against him. Could have and should have been worse. 20 pitch inning though.
Bottom 1st: Suzuki going opposite way singles into left. Gutierrez, Suzuki has 21 stolen bases. No need here as Gutierrez singles into centre, Two on no outs for Griffey. Grounds to Overbay flip to Romero covering and one down at first. Runners move up. Two in scoring position one down for Shelton. Grounds to Scutaro, Suzuki scores no way is he standing around at third as Scutaro did, 1-1. Two down for Hannahan. Grounds back to Romero throw to Overbay for the third out, but Mariners have tied it up. 13 pitch inning for Romero. Yankees and Boston have already won their games. Tampa has lost but Jays have to win this thing to make any difference.

Top 2nd: Overbay leading off. 2-0 count, OH Lyle, gets hold of this one, that great smooth swing, and this one is home run way back in right centre, 2-1 Jays. Rios pops it up six feet down the line. If he could only keep his head down when he swings. Barajas one down, fly ball to Saunders in left. Two down for Inglett, hitting .167. Grounds first pitch back to Hernandez throw to Shelton at first and his average will get even lower. But Jays have another run. 34 pitches for Hernandez.
Bottom 2nd: Johnson, singles to left and Mariners have leadoff hitter on again. ex-Jay Chris Woodward, bunting, fly ball to Rios in right, one down. Johnson holds at first. Saunders grounds to Hill, flip to Scutaro over to Overbay at first double play ball. Perfect. Eight pitch inning for Romero.

Top 3rd: Top of the order again Scutaro leading off. 3-1 full count, Scutaro takes all the way. Lifts one gently over the infield into left. 2-2 tonight. Hill, huge swing and strikes out. Lind, grounds back to Hernandez, oh boy throws to Cedeno covering second and drops the ball, both runners safe, error on the play, that was easy double play. Rolen, ball gets away, not far enough for Scutaro, Hill is going but Scutaro is retreating to second, too late Aaron, thrown out at first, that was terrible. 2-0 on Rolen, strikes out. But not pretty base running by Jays there. 54 pitches for Hernandez. Jays 0/3 with runners in scoring position.
Bottom 3rd: Cedeno bunting but foul. Strikes out looking. Suzuki, fly ball to Inglett in left. Two down for Gutierrez, grounds to Scutaro throw to Overbay for third out. 38 pitches for Romero.

Top 4th: Wells, grounds to third, great play by Hannahan and throw to first for the out. Overbay, same play, grounds to Hannahan, throw to first for two quick outs, Rios, keep your head down Alex, grounds to Cedeno throw to first, easy inning for Hernandez. 65 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Griffey, singles to Rios in right. Shelton with one on, singles to left, two on and no outs, Romero in trouble again. Hannahan, grounds back to Romero throw to Scutaro at second gets Shelton, no chance for two, Griffey at third, Johnson with two on and only one down. 2-0, singles to left, Griffey scores and this game is tied up 2-2. But Mariners still threatening. Two on and one down for Woodward, need a ground ball here Ricky. 3-1 count in danger of loading bases. That will do lines it to Rolen, leaps high to get this one, throw to Hill to double up Hannahan. Gold glove play by Rolen to save Romero. That would have been at least one run. 56 pitches.

Top 5th: Barajas, WHOA Rod, first pitch lines this one into left field bullpen, a bullet, 3-2 Jays. Inglett, .161 average now, first pitch fly ball to left. Two pitches and two outs for Inglett tonight, Should have stayed at the hotel. Scutaro 20-2 and singles to left, 3-3 You should watch Scutaro, Joe. Hill with one on and one down. Ball gets away Scutaro running but perfect throw by Johnson to second just gets him. Two down. Grounds to Hannahan at third throw to first for third out but Jays get another. 75 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: Saunders, bunting perfect bunt to third, what a great bunt, textbook. No defence on that one, not even a throw by Rolen. Mariners have had leadoff guy on four of five innings. Cedeno, pops it up foul behind Overbay nice running catch by Hill. One down for Suzuki. Slaps it past Scutaro’s glove into left. Two on one down for Gutierrez, Romero leaves this one up in the middle of plate and Gutierrez singles to right, 3-3 game. Two on one down for Griffey. 2-2 count, Full count and loading them up ? no Griffey strikes out swinging. Two down for Shelton, singles to left Suzuki scores easily and Mariners go ahead 4-3. Here comes Cito, get your act together Ricky or you are going to Vegas AAA. Two on two out for Hannahan, 2-0 I guess the pep talk didn’t work Cito. There’s a strike. And another, bounces to Overbay flip to Romero at first. But damage is done as Mariners score twice to take the lead. 81 pitch count, a 25 pitch inning. Cito talking to Romero on the bench.

Top 6th: Hitters are gong to have to ratchet it up a notch here as Romero obviously not on his game tonight. Lind leading off. Pops it up to Hannahan at third, One down for Rolen. Grounds to Hannahan throw to first two quick outs. Wells, up to you Vernon. Singles to left, that will do, now tell Lyle to give you time to steal second. Overbay, two down and one on. Lyle walks. Two on two down for Rios. Hitless tonight and not looking good at all in both at bats. That’s better Alex, singles to left, here comes Vernon, great slide beats a great throw by left field Saunders, Alex goes to second on the throw. 4-4 game. Barajas with two more in scoring position. Grounds to third but deflected it off glove here comes Lyle, 5-4 Jays. Barajas safe at first. Inglett, now .156 average, if ever a time for a hit it is now Joe. White up in Seattle bullpen. 3-1 count. Yes Joe you are redeemed singles to right, and Vernon scores. 6-4 Jays. Scutaro with two on. Keep it going Marco. Scutaro 3-3 tonight, singles to left down the line, off the glove of Hannahan at third, Barajas scores 7-4 Jays. Scutaro another four hit game 4-4, and a chance for five. That’s it for Hernandez 103 pitches. Two down for Hill with Scutaro at first, Inglett at third. White now pitching. Don’t look now but Jays are 4/7 with runners in scoring position tonight. Grounds to Hannahan throw to second for third out, but Jays have scored four to open this one up. Can Romero and bullpen hold it?
Bottom 6th: Johnson, 2-2, full count, walks him. Woodward, grounds to Overbay, throw to Scutaro back to first not in time, one down. Carlson up in bullpen. Saunders with runner at first, strikes out on three very good pitches. Keep it going Ricky one more. Cedeno, grounds to short but Rolen takes it in front of Scutaro, and throws to Overbay for the third out. 95 pitches.

Top 7th:Lind, fly ball to Gutierrez at the 405 sign in centre, he drops it !!!, Lind at third, looks as if his arm hit the wall as he went up for it, and ball goes off the glove. Error on the play. Jays will take it,,Rolen, this should do it. Fly ball to centre here comes the throw Lind beats it and Jays get another 8-4 Jays. Wells, with one down, doubles to the wall in left. Overbay with runner in scoring position and one down. Second hit for Vernon. Come on Lyle, bounces one to first, Vernon moves up to third. Rios, fly ball to Gutierrez in centre.
Bottom 7th: Suzuki but Carlson now pitching. He has been a little off recently, strike one, Ichiro slaps it opposite field into left, Jays should put the shift on there for this guy. One on for Gutierrez, you know he wants to redeem here, strikes out, great pitching Jesse. One down for Griffey, another lefty-lefty matchup. Fly ball to centre for Vernon, two down. Shelton, 3-0 count. Come on Jesse, there’s a strike. And another, full count, Ichiro will be running. Walks him. Two on for Hannahan, Camp up in bullpen. Strikes him out. Nice going Jesse.

Top 8th: White still pitching, Barajas leading off two hits tonight including the home run. There you go Rod, singles into left, earning his money tonight. One on for Inglett, his average up to .182 with that hit, singles another into right, He is hot hot now…. Scutaro with two on and no outs, Here comes Adair pitching coach, not happy with number eight and nine getting on base and now pitching to a 4-4 Scutaro. Fly ball to centre Guttierrez makes the catch this time. Runners hold. One down for Hill. Aaron just misses down the left field corner, that would have scored two. Full count, walks bases loaded for Lind and one down. Ball gets away and here comes Barajas, run scores 9-4 Jays. Runners move up into scoring position. Fly ball to Saunders in left, Inglett tags and scores 10-4 Jays. Two down. Rolen with Hill at second. 3-1 count. Doubles into left corner, Hill scores, 11-4 Jays. Wells, with Rolen at second. 2-4 tonight for Vernon, gets hold of this but not far enough fly ball to Saunders in left for third out. Jay 15 hit night so far but have also given up 11 which must be a concern for Cito.
Bottom 8th: Interesting, Downs now pitching. I agree with you Cito, Scott is a setup guy not a closer, Johnson at bat, I guess Frasor and/or League will be closing. Ground ball to Overbay, takes it himself one down. Woodward, strikes out on three pitches. Saunders with two down. strikes out. That will give Downs back his confidence back after those two very poor outings on the weekend.

Top 9th: Aardsma pitching, Overbay leading off, full count, Lyle’s specialty and walks. Rios, 1-4 tonight. strikes out looking on three pitches. One down for three hit Barajas, high pop up to Saunders in left, two down one on for Inglett, now with .206 average, see what a couple of hits will do Joe. Not this time pops up to second for Woodward.
Bottom 9th: Hayhurst, where has he been hiding the last weeks? Cito has not used him for a long time. Cedeno, fly ball to Rios in right one down. Suzuki, lines out to Inglett in left, two down for Gutierrez, singles to left. One on two down for Griffey. Pops it up to Hill for third out and Jays win big tonight.