Superb one-hit Ricky wins big tonight

Jays v White Sox Game two of series. Tuesday April 13.

Romero v Floyd.

Lineups: White Sox: Vizquel, Beckham, Quentin, Konerko, Jones, Pierzynski,Rios, Ramirez, Teahen.
Jays: Bautista, Gonzalez, Lind, Wells, Overbay, Buck, Encarnacion, Snider, and McCoy.

Very small crowd tonight but I have no problem with that. I personally would rather be with this crowd who appear to be all real fans and into the game throughout. I also don’t mind the booing of Rios. He didn’t give the fans much respect with the way he played here so what does he expect?
Sad to see all the advertising at the stadium though, no more Hard Rock Café and the Windows restaurant west side also now half covered with a huge car sponsor. Too bad but reality of the (business) game.

Top 1st: Vizquel leading off tonight, grounds it to Encarnacion at third, throw to Overbay at first. Beckham strikes out. Quentin strikes out. Very nice start Ricky.

Bottom 1st: Bautista fly ball to Quentin playing right field. Gonzalez grounds to Teahen at third base throw to Konerko at first, two down. Lind, singles to right. Wells pops to Vizquel at second base.

Top 2nd: Konerko grounds to McCoy at second, throw to Overbay for first out at first base.Jones strikes out. Pierzynski strikes out, number four in two innings. Romero starting hot here.
Bottom 2nd. Overbay fly ball to Rios in centre, the boos start. Buck singles to centre.
Encarnacion grounds to Teahen at third base on to Vizquel at second, Buck out. Two down. Snider walks, Encarnacion moves up to second.McCoy strikes out.

Top 3rd: Rios grounds to Gonzalez at short, throw to Overbay, one down. Ramirez strikes out. Teahen strikes out. Numbers five and six.
Bottom 3rd: Bautista grounds to Teahen throw to Konerko at first base, one down. Gonzalez singles to centre. Lind strikes out. Wells doubles to centre, Gonzalez scores. 1-0 Jays. Vernon goes to third on the throw. Overbay singles to right and here comes Vernon for the second run, 2-0 Jays. Buck pops up Ramirez playing short.

Top 4th: Vizquel strikes out. Beckham grounds back to Romero throw to Overbay at first base. Quentin full count and walks. Wild pitch, and Quentin moves up to second. Konerko strikes out.
Bottom 4th: Encarnacion singles to centre. Snider fouls out to Teahen at third base. McCoy with one down, pops up to Vizquel at second. Bautista, now with one on, there goes Encarnacion, safe at second. Bautista full count and walks. Two on two down.
Gonzalez grounds to Teahen at third throw to Konerko at first for third out.


Top 5th: Jones strikes out. Pierzynski strikes out. Rios grounds to Gonzalez throw to first base Overbay to end a three up and down inning for Ricky. Ten strikeouts a new career high for Romero. I have a feeling that this young man is going to have many more such games.
Bottom 5th: Lind leading off singles to right. Good start Adam. Wells fly ball to Rios in centre field. Overbay grounds to Konerko at first throw to Ramirez at short, Lind out. Buck doubles to centre, Overbay to third. Encarnacion now with two down and two on. Yes Edwin, doubles to right, Overbay and Buck score, 4-0 Jays. Snider now with two down and one in scoring position, strikes out.

Top 6th: Ramirez grounds to third base Encarnacion throw to Overbay at first base. Teahen strikes out. Vizquel strikes out. Number twelve on the night.
Bottom 6th: McCoy strikes out. Bautista strikes out. Gonzalez fly ball to Quentin in right field.

Top 7th: Beckham pops up to Gonzalez at short. Quentin lines out to Wells. Our hearts were in our mouths there as we thought that was a hit, thank you Vernon nice catch. Konerko 3-0 and walks on four pitches. Come on Ricky don’t falter now. Jones grounds to Gonzalez throw to McCoy at second to get Konerko and end the inning. Romero still looking so good and focused in a groove.
Bottom 7th: That’s it for Floyd, he hung in there but his pitch count was high in the first couple of innings. Linebrink now pitching. Lind lines out to Konerko at first. Vernon gets hold of this one another double into left field. Good night for Vernon. One on one down for Overbay, pops it up to Teahen at third base. Buck strikes out.

Top 8th: Pierzynski hit by a pitch or is he? It looked doubtful from where we were and most of the crowd in same area agreed booing. Pierzynski, stops half way down and appeals to umpire. Cito is out there. Home plate umpire is now asking the other umpires, not sure they had a better view than he did right on top of the play. Play stands. Hmmm…. Here comes Rios, more boos with one on lets fly on this pitch and there goes the no-hitter as Rios takes it over centre field wall. 4-2. Romero gets an ovation but he is furious with himself Now he really has to concentrate and get it back together, there are no outs here. Ramirez grounds to Overbay at first throw to Romero covering for the out. One down. Nix pinch-hitting for Teahen grounds to McCoy at second throw to Overbay. Two down. Vizquel grounds to Gonzalez at short and throw to Overbay at first. Romero walks off to a well deserved standing ovation, takes his hat off. Tough way to end that no-hitter but this kid will definitely have other games.

Bottom 8th:Vizquel in at third base. Nix in at second. Encarnacion fly ball to Rios in centre, the boos are even louder now. Travis another horrible night, not much luck either here Snider pops up to Ramirez at short. Cito may have to act soon re Travis he is miserable out there. We may see Jeremy Reed in there tomorrow night. McCoy lines out to Rios.

Top 9th: Gregg now pitching and closing this one out. How long will it be before he is in there permanently? Beckham strikes out. Quentin strikes out. Gregg mowing them down here. Konerko grounds to Overbay and that’s the game, one two three, no nonsense and no wandering around the mound looking for who knows what Frasor looks for.

The excellent: No question, young Ricky Romero with a superb performance tonight. Ruined by Rios but we will see who has the last laugh. Ricky also had ten ground balls tonight with the twelve strikeouts, that is domination. Only two fly ball outs. It was a real thrill to be at the game tonight and see that domination from a young pitcher and helps fade the memory of Halladay. There has only been one no hitter in Jays history and it was Stieb not Halladay so I think young Ricky will appreciate the significance as his anger with himself subsides.

The very good: Vernon with two doubles. Encarnacion and Buck also have a double each. Ten hits for Jays tonight. Gregg shutout closing inning. Timing of tonight’s game it certainly helps when you have Romero out there pitching like that.
The good: Overbay finally comes through with a key hit and gets his average over .100. It’s a start, you know once he gets his stroke going he will be fine and will be picking up others who may cool off. But so far this team is not missing Aaron much although McCoy is not hitting the cover off the ball.
The poor: Travis still struggling, can’t get any breaks.

Great game to go to tonight.