Jays home run show not enough despite three from Encarnacion

Toronto v Arizona. Game one of three. Friday May 21, 2010

Inter-league play. Hardly a local rivalry ! as in the Mets v Yankees. But Jays not complaining. At least Boston has a tough series in the Phillies to face this weekend. Jays record in inter-league play however not good and worse than Red Sox Yankees and even Tampa for a whole bunch of reasons. Perhaps this year it will be different. However with pitcher hitting this is not Cito’s favourite time of the season and I agree with him. Problem is for Jays that they used so many pitchers last night in the last two innings. Limited options tonight but we will be seeing pinch hitting for number nine. Diamondbacks have home run power up and down their lineup, no room for mistakes tonight. Will Cito use National League strategies. Small ball. Moving runners over. Will the pitchers take the bat off their shoulders? Despite their position in the western division this series is no pushover for the Jays.

Lineups:Toronto: Lewis, Hill, Bautista, Wells, Overbay, Gonzalez, Buck, Encarnacion, Morrow.
Arizona: Johnson, Jackson, Drew, Upton, LaRoche, Reynolds, Young, Snyder, Haren.

Pitching: Morrow v Haren.

Top 1st: Lewis leading off, gets hold of this one first pitch bigtime into right corner, just barely foul. That would have been great start. Lots of Jays supporters here tonight behind Jays dugout.. Whoa Fred. Another huge hit, this one no doubt right centre that is a 400ft home run. 1-0 Jays. Hill first pitch lashes it to Jackson in left for the out. One down. Bautista swinging hard to Young in centre, two down. Wells now, not DHing tonight and should be mentally into the game a bit more. Grounds first pitch to Reynolds at third throw to LaRoche at first for the out. Two outs on first pitch swings.
Bottom 1st: Morrow has something to work with here. Johnson leading off, high fly ball to Wells in centre. One down for Jackson, grounds to Encarnacion at third, long throw to Overbay at first get him. Two down for Drew grounds to Gonzalez at short, throw to Overbay for third out.

Top 2nd: Overbay right on .200 to lead off, still around that mark, all he needs is a good game 3-4 and then I am sure he will keep it moving higher. Strikes out looking. Gonzalez singles to left. Buck one on one down. High pop up to left, two down for Encarnacion. Grounds to third throw in time to get him at first. Jays leave Gonzalez on base. Bases loaded top of the ninth in Philadelphia 5-1 Phillies but Ortiz at the plate with two down.
Bottom 2nd: Upton singles to gap in right. One on for LaRoche, Here we go LaRoche gets hold of this, right down the middle of the plate, no question about this one, deep into the seats in right just like that two run home run and 2-1 Diamondbacks. Still no outs as Reynolds batting, high pop up to Wells in centre, that all carried a long way. One down. Young, strikes out. Two down for Snyder, full count with Haren on deck. Let him go ? No, strikes him out. But Jays are playing catch up. 32 pitches for Morrow.

Top 3rd: Morrow leading off. I think he will leave his bat on his shoulder, Cito is not losing any of his pitchers. (Ortiz fly ball to Victorino leaving bases loaded. Boston lose first game of this series 5-1, Jays have a chance to make more space between them iF they can win here). Morrow swinging, nice swing, pops it up to right. One down. Haren wasted two pitches. Lewis who had a couple of excellent swings on Haren in the first. Strikes out, two down for Hill. Aaron had one pitch last inning .170 average. Grounds back to Haren throw to first for the out. Five more pitches for Hill this time.
Bottom 3rd: Haren leading off. This guy has ten hits and a .400 average. There’s another advantage. Eight pitches, wear him out Brandon. Grounds to Gonzalez throw to Overbay on the ninth pitch. Advantage to whom ? Morrow has wasted the pitches but Haren had to work and swing that bat right after the previous inning pitching. We will see next inning. Leadoff Johnson, with one down, strikes him out two down. Jackson doubles into the gap in left. Drew lines it right at Hill, nice catch Aaron to end this inning.

Top 4th: Yankees beating the Mets 2-0 bottom of the ninth. Bautista leading off. Let’s see how Haren is this inning. Lines it hard at third base nice diving stop and throw to first to get Jose. Wells with one down. Grounds first pitch to third, throw to first for the out. Has anyone counted the number of pitches Vernon has seen in the last two days in five at bats? Less than ten. That is the sort of stuff he did all last year, it is not aggressive hitting it is poor hitting, I thought he was through with that this season. Overbay, with two down, that’s the way Lyle, singles the other way into left. Gonzalez, runner at first two down. Singles into left. Two on for Buck. Lines it to left robbed by a great diving catch by Jackson. That was tough on Buck a run all the way.
Bottom 4th: Upton, doubles to the wall in centre. One on again for LaRoche who had the two run home run last at bat. Pops it up into left, oh no not again, Lewis and Encarnacion collide on this and Lewis drops the ball, he was calling for it but Encarnacion obviously didn’t hear. How many times have Jays done this type of error this season? Far too many. Two in scoring position and no outs, No error given. Morrow in deep here. Reynolds doubles to left, Upton scores, LaRoche scores. 4-1 and no one out. Cito does not have many options with bullpen tonight. Young, singles into left. Runners at first and third and no outs, this game is getting out of hand already. Snyder, pops it up to Gonzalez for the first out of this inning. Haren, will probably give his bat away here with this lead. Showing bunt, what are you going to do Brandon? Throws inside. Doubles into right, two runners score, 6-1 Diamondbacks. That is pretty disgusting for a pitcher to get two RBIs doubles his total for the year. Morrow all over the shop here, still only one out for Johnson. Here comes pitching coach about half an hour too late tonight I fear. This game is over for the Jays at least. Roenicke up in bullpen. 3-1 no where near the plate. Walks him. Jackson with two on and one down. Strikes out, two down. Drew, 30 pitch inning, that says it all for Morrow. 2-2 count, Strikes him out but I fear and hope that is the last we will see of Morrow tonight and could be his last game for the first team. He just does not have the consistency. 83 pitches for Morrow. Never looked comfortable even with first inning lead.

Top 5th: Let’s see how Jays respond to this five run deficit. So far in the last two games they are not showing their form of the last month. Encarnacion leading off, that’s a good response at least, high fly ball into left field seats home run for Edwin. 6-2. McCoy pinch hitting trying that crazy bunt move he always does, surely he knows advance scouts have seen that every time. 0-2, strikes out. Lewis, one down, strikes out. Hill, awful swings at pitch three feet off the plate, strikes out to end the inning. Haren in complete control here but some of these free swinging Jays hitters make it awfully easy for him.
Bottom 5th: Roenicke pitching. Yankees have beaten the Mets 2-1.Upton leading off 2-2 tonight, singles into left 3-3. LaRoche 2-2. Walks him. Two on no outs. Trouble once more. Reynolds swinging for the fences. Strikes out on three pitches, but more through poor hitting. One down at least. Young, grounds to Gonzalez, flip to Hill over to Overbay at first double play. The first sign of life from this team in the field tonight.

Top 6th: Jays running out of innings to get four back. Bautista leading off. Strikes out swinging. Wells, now this will be an interesting at bat. Pitch inside wakes him up as he dances out of the way. Finally a single into centre. One on, one down for Overbay. Lyle over .200 again. singles to right, Vernon goes all the way to third on the play. Hit number two for Lyle. Two on for Gonzalez. Gets hold of this one, pulls it high into left field corner but foul. Haren can’t afford to make mistake here. Full count. Has to come to him here to avoid loading bases. Gonzalez grounds to short, throw to second on to first, double play ball. Jays leave two on. They had their chance there.
Bottom 6th: Roenicke still pitching. Snyder, leading off. Wild here and walks him not even close. Haren still in there and why not? Has as many RBIs as the Jays team tonight. 0-2 count. here’s another one doubles to same spot as last time, his second double and another RBI as score now 7-2. Still no outs, Johnson at bat, Roenicke first pitch way high and outside has no control either tonight There’s another same spot. Bullpen call. Full count, all balls way outside. Walks him. Two on and no outs. Roenicke imploding. He just cannot throw a strike. Coach out to talk to him but just giving bullpen time to warm up He just does not have it tonight. Jackson high fly ball to left centre, Lewis and Wells converging, but Lewis backs off, no way is Vernon messing this one up. One down. Drew, another full count. Another pop up for Wells in shallow centre. Two down for Upton. 3-3 tonight. Strikes out looking. Roenicke escapes more damage here and one good result is that Haren was out there for a long period. Now he has to pitch. Only 82 pitches so far tonight thanks to Jays wild hitters.

Top 7th: Jays still need five. They have a tired pitcher to face. Can they take advantage and not give him a quick Jays type three up and down inning. They need base runners and hits to get back into this one. They were close last inning but close is not enough. This is what I mean Buck leading off swings a first pitch pops it up to first, one down. Encarnacion yes Edwin, does it again same place in left another home run. 7-3. Jeremy Reed gets a pinch hit at bat. Full count. and walks oops no he doesn’t Reed thought he had ball four and looked low from here. But catcher raises that mitt and that is what the umpire sees.. Two down. Lewis, still needs to atone for his lousy fielding error. Not this time grounds to short throw to first for third out. Jays have had their home runs tonight but all have been solo shots.
Bottom 7th: Casey Janssen now pitching. LaRoche leading off grounds to Overbay throw to Janssen for first out on one pitch. D-Backs want this one over quick. Reynolds, full count. Singles to Wells in shallow centre. One on one down for Young. There goes the runner, throw in time and out at second. Two down.2-2 count. This is big trouble high fly ball to left into the seats. 8-3 game. Snyder, full count. Singles into centre. Here comes Haren with two doubles and three RBIs already tonight. Strikes out looking, Haren arguing the call. Bush in an 8-3 game.

Top 8th: Hill ofer again tonight. .167 When will Cito bench him? Give McCoy or Johnny Mc. some time, give Aaron a week off. Strikes out looking on four pitches. He is just not in any shape right now and has not been since that hamstring injury. He had such a great spring in Dunedin. Bautista, there we go Jose lines this one into left field seats, another home run 8-4. If only Jays could get some runners on base when they do this. Wels, another poor game with the bat, Lines this one to left but out at the wall. Two down for Overbay, now .209. finally getting clear of .200. Grounds to second throw to first for third out, Haren 109 pitches and can leave it to someone else for the ninth.
Bottom 8th: Rommie Lewis now pitching. All we can hope for now is that he keeps the score at 8.Johnson leading off. Grounds to Hill throw to Overbay one down. Jackson, Fly ball to Lewis in left, two down. Drew, singles to centre. Upton, with one on two down, pops it up to Hill for third out. Last gasp for the Jays tonight.

Top 9th: Gutierrez pitching. Gonzalez, grounds back to the pitcher, throw to first, one down. Buck, strikes out on three pitches. Encarnacion with two home runs tonight. OH BOY Edwin, unbelievable. He does it again, another home run, into left, 8-5. Adam Lind now pinch hitting with two down. YES Adam, another home run one into the right field corner 8-6. Back to back home runs here with two out. Lewis, doubles over the head of Young in centre to the 407 mark. Tie run !!! at the plate here. Weird game. Now that earlier dropped ball comes into play. Chad Qualls the closer now pitching, Hill at bat, time to redeem yourself Aaron. NO not at that pitch way outside. 1-1. And again. both balls turned into strikes. Not a third time. 2-2 count. Lewis at second, just a hit Aaron, that’s all. Pops it up to Young in centre. I think Cito may have been better off pinch hitting but he never would for a starter. Jays lose the opener 8-6 but do manage to show some fight at the end and make it far closer than the rest of the game indicated.

Jays continue their interleague woes just unable to win against National League. But Tampa, Boston and Jays all lose tonight against NL opponents.

The excellent: the home run power of Encarnacion three tonight and clutch.
Very good: Jays get six home runs tonight Bautista, Lewis, Lind and Encarnacion three but all solo shots. When did that happen last ?
The good: I am going to give Lyle a good tonight. Great game with his bat and appears to be finally over that .200 mark. Also Adam Lind deserves one for his pinch hit home run in the ninth with two down. Now if these two are back on track Hill is the last one to work on.

The bad: Hill 0-5 tonight, just all at sea and now swinging at bad pitches way off the plate. At least earlier the season he was taking walks.

The very bad: Morrow. Not much more to say apart from the fact that he was wild and could not throw strikes. Roenicke also wild with three walks. By comparison Haren gave up no walks.