Jays steal one in the ninth thanks to another Vernon home run

Jays v Texas Rangers Series finale. Thursday April 8.

Wilson v Romero.

Jays win 3-1.

Top 1st: McCoy leading off getting start at second for Aaron who has tight hamstring and was late scratch from lineup, loops this one into shallow centre for first major league hit. Mike has speed maybe Cito will send him. Bautista grounds to short, over to second on to first double play. Too late now for the steal but it would have been good to try at least. Lind with two down. Grounds to first throw to Wilson for third out.
Bottom 1st: Borbon grounds to McCoy, throw to Overbay at first one down. Young at bat, bounces right back at Romero throw to Overbay two down. Garko grounds to Gonzalez throw to first for third out.

Top 2nd: Wells off the end of his bat to second but Wilson gets it himself and throw to first for first out. Overbay, grounds to first Garko takes it himself for the out. Two down for Encarnacion hitless in first two games 0-6. Walks here on four pitches. Gonzalez strikes out.
Bottom 2nd: Guerrero leads off. Grounds to McCoy throw not in time. Cruz dangerous at bat, doubles to right. Two on no outs, Romero in trouble here. Perfect, Murphy grounds back to Romero looks Guerrero back at third base and throw to first for one out. Teagarden grounds to McCoy throw to Overbay and Romero gets out of this first jam.

Top 3rd: Jose Molina getting first at bat this week. Strikes out. Snider full count. Pops up to second. Travis not a happy guy these days. McCoy pops up to right for third out.
Bottom 3rd: Andrus, lines right at McCoy for first out. Borbon, lines out to Vernon in centre, two down. Young grounds to Gonzalez throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 4th: Bautista gets hold of this one but caught by Cruz at the track in right centre. One down. Lind, strikes out. Wells, with two down. Walks. Overbay with one on. Fly ball out to centre.
Bottom 4th: Garko, fly ball out to Wells. Guerrero lines one into left. Cruz ball in dirt and Guerrero to second beats the throw, Cruz grounds to Gonzalez throw to first for second out. Guerrero at third. Murphy strikes out.

Top 5th: Encarnacion singles into centre. Gonzalez singles into center, two on no outs for Molina. Strikes out. One down for Travis. Strikes out, tried to check the swing. Number five for Wilson. McCoy grounds to third throw to second to get Gonzalez. Awful hitting by Jays continues their miserable hitting with runners in scoring position. They cannot afford to do this all season.
Bottom 5th: Teagarden grounds to Gonzalez throw to first one down. Blanco pops it up to Snider in left, two down, three pitches. Andrus grounds to McCoy throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 6th: Bautista doubles to left corner, Lind with Jose in scoring position singles into right, Bautista held up at second until ball went through first and can only get to third. Two on for Vernon. Nobody out. But we have been here before today. Vernon strikes out. Overbay, strikes out. Encarnacion fly ball to Cruz in right. How bad is bad with this team with runners in scoring position another 0-6 today on top of 0-9 yesterday. Cito you have a problem. This game should be well in hand by now with all the chances they have had.
Bottom 6th: Borbon fly ball to Wells. Young, full count and walks. One on one down for Garko fly ball to Bautista in right, two down for Geuerrero. 2-2 today. Hire this guy Cito. Now 3-3 as he singles into left. Young to third and here comes Cruz with two on. NO Guerrero stretching it into two is out at second, throw by Encarnacion to McCoy gets him. Not good Vladdy although I think Cito would still take him.

Top 7th: Gonzalez fly ball to Cruz in right. Molina strikes out. Snider with two down, strikes out looking.
Bottom 7th: Cruz leading off strikes out. Murphy lines into right, great diving attempt by Bautista but off the glove, replay shows it was not catchable and he could probably have played it for a single, one down one on for Teagarden. Singles up the middle Gonzalez throw to first two down as Murphy moves to third. Janssen up in bullpen. Hamilton pinch hitting for Blanco. Wild pitch behind Molina and Murphy scores 1-0 Texas. That play by Bautista now factors in here. Another great pitching performance wasted. Full count, high and inside and walks Hamilton. Getting a little wild here and I don’t blame him with those hitters. Cito out but Romero says he is ok. Andrus, another full count and strikes him out. But one run may be all Texas needs the way Jays hitters are not doing their job today.

Top 8th: Six more at bats to turn this around. Hamilton stays in game at left. Arias at second Davis at first base. Feliz pitching, McCoy leading off. Strikes out. Bautista. Swings at a pitch way inside strikes out. Two down for Lind, come on someone. Strikes out. This is good example of how stats can lie, this was pure and simple bad hitting by the Jays not great pitching.
Bottom 8th: Casey Janssen Borbon strikes out. Young, strikes out. Davis walks. Here comes trouble, Guerrero, he will want to amend for his last at bat. 3-3 today. Wild pitch and Young to second. Molina confers with Casey. Strikes him out chasing one in the dirt. That is the difference between two pitchers striking out the side. Janssen was perfect hardly moved off the mound the whole inning. Feliz however struck out the three Jays on poor at bats by Jays hitters and terrible swings.

Top 9th: Jays last chance. Frank Francisco pitching and closing this one out. Wells OH MY VERNON does it again, this one is out of here, number FOUR this week in three games. High ball into left field seats. Vernon loves home cooking.1-1 game. Overbay, oh just misses one here in right corner five feet from the pole. Goes the opposite way this time and off the left field wall for a triple. Bring him in friends. No one out. Encarnacion, that should do it fly ball to right and Lyle slides to beat the throw as the ball is dropped. 2-1 Jays. Gonzalez doubles into left field, where were all these hits during the game ??? Buck now pinch hitting with runner in scoring position. Frasor up in Jays bullpen. Third time in three games but four days. Buck walks, Francisco wild here Teagarden out there to buy time for bullpen. Snider with two on, come on Travis, this is your moment. Strikes out. Just can’t get his pitch selection right yet McCoy, singles up the middle into centre and here comes Gonzalez, 3-1 Jays. First major league RBI for McCoy. That’s it for Francisco. Two on two down for Bautista. O’Day now pitching. Bautista walks, that’s it for O’Day. Oliver now pitching. Lind fly ball out to end this inning but Jays strike back bigtime.

Bottom 9th: Frasor now pitching. Not perfect but sufficient to make the save. 16 pitches, 8 strikes, two strikeouts and groundout to end this one. Jays steal one in the ninth but this one should have been sealed long ago.

The very good: Romero definitely another great start by Jays pitching staff. Excellent Janssen continues his amazing run this year of scoreless innings. Frasor the save but not before putting one on. Am still not convinced that he is the guy. Vernon's series four home runs. That IS worth his $.
The good: Vernon yet another home run and this one huge to get Jays back in the game. McCoy subbing for Aaron Hill gets his first hit and in the ninth his first RBI.
The bad ? Runners in scoring position 2-10 today but believe it or not better than the Rangers who went 0-10. Travis still struggling mightily.

Jays leave Arlington bottom line with a series win and two in the win column.