Rays v Jays Sunday April 25. Series finale and decider.
Lineups: Jays: McCoy, Hill, Lind, Wells, Bautista, Gonzalez, Ruiz, Molina, McDonald.
Rays: Brignac, Crawford, Zobrist, Longoria, Pena, Upton, Burrell, Jaso, Rodriguez.
Pitching: Price v Morrow.
Second team for Jays today. I just don’t get Cito.
I would have thought this was a pretty important game here. Joe Maddon said last night that his team was in full gear right now. He won’t be playing his second team for a while and certainly not against teams from the same division. Plus the Jays had a day off on Thursday. I do agree re Molina though and perhaps he should have been playing the whole series, he is so much better getting the runners stealing. Plus I think he has better bat than Buck. Ruiz for Overbay ? Just as Lyle was getting his swing back he sits him? McCoy for Lewis ? Maybe, but I would have thought he wanted to give Lewis as much time as possible. Playing the percentages I guess. One more season for these debatable moves.
Top 1st: McCoy leading off. Playing left field. McCoy full count, strikes out thinks it is ball four though. Replay supports him. Hill, lines it out to Upton in centre, two down for Lind. DH today, strikes out looking. Jays go quietly
Bottom 1st: Brignac, 3-0 come on Brandon get it down. Full count, walks him. Crawford, that’s what I mean about Molina throws a bullet to first, Brignac just back. You can see Molina getting in to position even as Morrow is winding up. Grounds to Gonzalez, throw to Hill to get Brignac, on to Ruiz at first but you won’t double up Crawford very often. One down for Zobrist, pitch out, Crawford not going. Now he is but YES Jose, gets him beauty of a throw. Perfect throw. I rest my case for Molina over Buck playing against Tampa at least. Two down, full count, and Zobrist strikes out.
Top 2nd: Wells, strikes out. Bautista, full count grounds to short throw to first two down for Gonzalez, crushes this one into centre right, bounces into the stands, for a double. Ruiz, with Gonzalez in scoring position. High fly ball out to right.
Bottom 2nd: Longoria leading off. Grounds back off Morrow’s leg, retrieves and throws him out at first. One down. Pena, strikes out looking, two down. Upton, full count. Walks him. Burrell, Upton going and another great throw by Molina, nails him at second. Jose two for two today. Remember this Cito for when Rays visit Toronto. Molina already worth two bases at minimum.
Top 3rd: Here’s the man himself, Molina leading off. Bat shatters and Price almost walks right into the barrel flying past him, grounds to short throw to first for the out. Jose not the swiftest. Johnny Mc. Lifts this one into left double to the wall. That was his home run swing. One on and in scoring position for McCoy, big chance Mike. 3-0, Price rattled for a change. Walks him on four pitches. His first walk today. Hill with two on. Strikes out. Lind with two down and two on. Runners going, fouls it off. Takes third strike, come on Adam.
Bottom 3rd: Burrell again, left on base when Upton caught stealing. Must be an advantage to the hitter to get this many pitches to look at although coming from the Phillies he may not have seen Morrow before. Strikes out. Jaso grounds to Hill on to Ruiz, two down. Sean Rodriguez, walks him. Third walk today. Oh man unbelievable…. Jaso running and Molina nails him three for three today. How much is that worth?
Top 4th: Now Jays have to capitalize on Molina today. Wells leading off lines it to Brignac at short, one down. Bautista Ooooh gets hold of this one to left, just foul Jose, that was huge hit, facing of the fourth deck . Strikes out, two down. Gonzalez, strikes out. Number seven today for Price.
Bottom 4th: Brignac, grounds to Hill, throw to Ruiz for first out. Crawford, full count, walks him. Here we go again. Crawford going and Molina nails him 4-4 !!! Wow… when was the last time any catcher did that. Out talking to Morrow here, telling him to stop putting these guys on base, I am getting tired of bailing you out here. Two down for Zobrist, come on Brandon, not listening, walks him. Longoria, strikes out looking.
Top 5th: Jays hitter should be inspired by Molina here he is singlehandedly saving them from trouble. Time to get some runs here. Ruiz, down swinging and missing on three pitches, overmatched here by Price, the boy against the man. Molina, trying to do it all for Jays this afternoon. Grounds to short, throw to first for second out. Johnny Mc. A double last at bat. Going the other way this time a flare into right and nice running catch by Rodriguez down the right field line.
Bottom 5th: Pena leading off. Walks another. Number six for Morrow today, only Molina has saved him from deep trouble. Upton, oh man doubles into right, there goes the no hitter. Morrow in deep now with two in scoring position and no outs, Burrell, 3-1 count, full, strikes out, big out for Morrow but still needs two more. Jaso, singles right through Hill’s glove, two runs score 2-0 Rays. That should have been second out at home. But Morrow should not be putting these guys continually on base, Rodriguez strikes out. Two down. Brignac strikes out looking. If Morrow had not walked six today he would be pitching very well.
Top 6th: Jays playing catch up now and against a very good pitcher. May be beyond this group today. Difference is run support, Top of the order. McCoy leading off. First pitch, tries a bunt this is the fifth time I have seen him try this and he has yet to get on base, Mike they are waiting for you to do it. It’s a giveaway, STOP it. Just because it worked in the spring training does not translate into success here. Hill last inning goat, grounds up first base line, two down. Three pitches. Lind has to take one as a result, grounds to second throw to first and Jays go meekly, very meekly… and in my book McCoy takes some heat. This game may be over for the Jays, they just don’t have it.
Bottom 6th: Crawford leading off. Morrow on 94 pitches though. Fly ball out to McCoy in left one down. Zobrist fly ball out to McCoy in left two down. Longoria, full count and singles into left. Pena at bat, Camp up in bullpen. Morrow’s last hitter. Strikes out.
Top 7th: Jays have two hits McDonald !!! and Gonzalez, that says it all today. Outs too much pressure on the pitching they cannot afford to make any mistakes let alone fielding errors by Hill. He has not been given one but Hill has made far tougher plays. Wells, grounds to short throw to first one down. Bautista, finally a hit by the Jays, an excuse me single into right, off the end of the bat but right now this team will take anything they can get. Gonzalez pops it up to first. Two down for Ruiz, balk called well that’s one way of getting to second, Jays will take it, but alas does not matter Ruiz lines it (first pitch) to short for the out. Does not even give Bautista chance for a steal. Price pitch count is so low he will finish this one.
Bottom 7th: Camp now pitching. Upton fly ball to Wells in centre. Burrell hit by a pitch. Jaso singles to right, Burrell to second. Here we go. Bartlett pinch-running for Burrell. Rodriguez grounds to McDonald at third on to Hill over to Ruiz at first, double play ball. Camp ERA .082 ! will Cito bring him out for another inning?
Top 8th: Bartlett in as designated hitter. Molina singles to right. Johnny Mc ???? no pinch hitter here Cito ???? You can see this coming grounds to Longoria at third, on to Rodriguez on to Pena, double play ball. That was 100% Manager foul up. No way should Johnny Mc be hitting there in a 2-0 game. Snider ?????? Overbay ??? We will see if this comes back to hanut the Jays. McCoy pops out Longoria for third out.
Bottom 8th: Here we go again look who is out there. Frasor pitching. Sometimes I wonder which team Cito is coaching for. Surely Camp could do another inning. Well Jason, time to show me at least that you are worthy. Brignac grounds to Gonzalez at short throw to Ruiz at first. So far so good. Crawford grounds to short and beats out the throw. I spoke too soon. The only advantage is that Crawford may be reluctant to try three in a row with this score and stay put. Zobrist full count and walks, Crawford to second. Two on and one down. Longoria, there we go, singles to centre, Crawford scores Zobrist to third. 3-0 Rays. Pena, doubles to right, Zobrist scores 4-0 Rays. Longoria at third and still only one out. Upton strikes out. Two down for Bartlett. Doubles to centre, Longoria and Pena score 6-0 just like that. Frasor has given up four runs and only two outs. He has to go and if Cito does not get rid of this guy this season he has to be out in the summer. Whatever his problem he has lost it. Cito now out to pull him, a little late here Cito, you might as well leave him out there. Valdez now pitching. Jaso, full count and walks. Rodriguez grounds to Gonzalez at short throw to Hill Jaso out to end the inning and embarrassment. Frasor ERA ??? 9.35… and he and Cito thought he was a closer ???
Top 9th: Hill grounds back to Price throw to Pena for the out. Lind strikes out. Wells grounds to Rodriguez at second and throw to Pena to bring an end to this awful, awful game today.
And if they think it will be easier back in Toronto, they have no further to look than see Boston for three, this could be a terrible week for fans and certainly this team has not shown the missing fans they are worth going to Rogers Centre this week.
The good today: Only two people Morrow and Molina. Morrow held the team in this for six and Molina with an incredible 4-4 getting the stealers. For my money any day he should be playing against this Rays side. He is light years better than Buck in throwing out runners.
The bad: The Manager, poor all round performance from the initial selection of the second stringers to the poor management of bullpen and lastly the lack of pinch hitting for McDonald with the game on the line.
Team also 0-4 with runners in scoring position. By comparison Tampa 4/8
The awful: Frasor who just gets worse and worse.
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