Jays inability to hit wastes a good effort by Romero

Toronto v Cleveland . Monday June 28.

Preview: This of course is a series that Jays should win but not only win a sweep would not be out of order against an Indians team 27-47 this season and dead last in the AL but we all know that it could be the reverse with the Jays and they could just as easily get swept here. They are playing very badly and are ripe for a lousy series in Cleveland. Let’s see what they have tonight.

Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Gonzalez, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Buck, Hoffpauir.
Indians: Crowe, Choo, Santana, Kearns, Hafner, Peralta, LaPorta, Nix, Hernandez.
Pitching: Westbrook v Romero.

Top 1st: Lewis leading off grounds back to pitcher Westbrook throw to first base LaPorta. One down. Gonzalez, that’s better doubles to left. Bautista with runner in scoring position doubles to centre, here comes Gonzalez and Jays are off and running 1-0 and this is how it should be tonight, they need a major breakout game. Wells with one on and Bautista at second, singles to left, Bautista to third. Lind with runner at third and only one out pops it up to Peralta at third, two down. Wells to second. Hill fly ball to Crowe in centre and so the sad saga with Lind and Hill continues.
My guess is that both are going to get very hot after the All-Star break and have a great half but the problems is the Jays will be so far out of it by then that it really doesn’t matter. Both of these two have to hit when it counts and right now there is a huge gap in the middle of this lineup. Westbrook 23 pitches but should have been much more. Let’s hope it doesn’t matter tonight.

Bottom 1st: Crowe leading off strikes out. Choo fly ball to Lewis in left, two down. Santana doubles to centre. Kearns singles to right and just like that here comes Santana beats the throw to tie this game up 1-1. Kearns goes to second on the throw home. Hafner grounds back to Romero throw to Overbay but this game is all tied up. Romero has to smarten up this is not an easy win for him. He still has to pitch. Far too nonchalant this inning. 28 pitches, that is not acceptable Ricky, get focused here

Top 2nd: Overbay leading off. 2-2 count, Full count. grounds to third throw to first one down. Buck, 2-2 count. gets a life here as it drops in left field foul. Now full count. Strikes out but a good at bat for Lyle took ten pitches to get him. Hoffpauir, I for one cannot wait until Travis is back and Bautista takes back third. Hoffpauir just not up to it yet. Strikes out swinging at one way outside and I really mean way outside. 47 pitches.
Bottom 2nd: Has Romero got the message? Peralta leading off. Grounds back to Romero great athletic leap by Ricky to get and throw him out at first. Very nice play. One down for LaPorta, singles into left. Nix, singles past diving Hoffpauir, the last few games the ball seems to be following Hoffpauir around. Two on one down for Hernandez, full count, Romero definitely not on tonight. Ball four to load bases with one out, come on Ricky this is Cleveland. You are taking them far too easy. Should be dominating them. Crowe for second time tonight. That’s better, grounds to Gonzalez, shovels it to Hill, throw to Overbay double play ball rescues him here.

Top 3rd: - Lewis leading off, grounds to Hernandez at short, throw to first base LaPorta. One down. Gonzalez strikes out. Two down two out, Bautista, full count. Strikes out. Quick inning for Westbrook. 60 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Choo leading off. Loops it into shallow centre. One on for Santana, grounds to Hill flip to Gonzalez over to Overbay, double play ball to help Romero here, two down. Kearns grounds to Hoffpauir at third throw to Overbay for third out. Perhaps now Ricky can settle down here. 54 pitches.

Top 4th: Wells leading off. 3-0 count. Doubles into left field corner. Lind with runner in scoring position. Grounds back to Westbrook throws to second to get Vernon scrambling back. One down with Lind at first. Adam has to be able to move Vernon over in that situation, try bunting Adam if your hitting is out to lunch. Hill now grounds to short over to second on to first but not in time to get Hill. Two down and still only at first base. Going backwards after that double by Vernon. Overbay, first pitch ??? lines it to right. Pathetic hitting display by Lind, Hill and Overbay, no other way to describe that inning after Vernon gets to lead off double. Come on. 72 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Hafner leading off. Jays pitchers must just sigh each inning with such terrible hitting support from their team mates, strikes out on three pitches. Peralta, fly ball to Wells in right centre, two down. Laporta, 3-1 ball four, two down runner at first, grounds to Hoffpauir throw not in time. Two on two down for Hernandez, 2-0 count. Grounds to Gonzalez, flip to Hill for the third out. 72 pitches.

Top 5th: Buck leading off, fly ball to Kearns in left field one down for Hoffpauir grounds to Peralta at third, throw to LaPorta at first, two down. Lewis, 2-2 count. Ball three. Walks him. One on for Gonzalez. Lines it to Peralta at third makes a fine catch to end this one. 86 pitches. Maybe one more inning ?
Bottom 5th: Crowe leading off, grounds back to Romero’s arm, bounces to Overbay to make the out Ricky waves off the trainer and Cito. Choo grounds to Hill at second throw to Overbay two down. Santana, 2-2 count ball three. Walks him. One on two down. Kearns, grounds to Hoffpauir at third, throw to Hill at second to get Santana for third out. 84 pitches.

Top 6th: Bautista leading off. Swinging bunt in front of home plate. Westbrook throw to first one down. Wells 2-2 tonight. Grounds back to Westbrook throw to first two down. Lind, 0-13, singles into right centre. Finally. Problem is Jays are getting player on with two down. Hill with two down. Lines it to Choo in right for third out. I really think Cito should split Lind and Hill, both are awful right now, Until they get going, don’t put them together and give automatic outs. Westbrook on 105 pitches. That may be it for him.
Bottom 6th: Hafner hits him on the first pitch. Peralta, 2-2 count. Doubles over the head of Lewis into left centre, two on with no outs. Romero in trouble here. Ja Porta, grounds to Hill looks at third and throws to first for the out. One down two on. Nix, already 2-2 tonight. Suicide squeeze and Hafner scores easily.2-1 Indians. Runner safe at first, still only one down. Hernandez pops it up to Bautista for second out. Crowe, pops it up to Hill for third out. Jays playing catch up yet again and so far not looking as if they can catch up. 100 pitches. That could be it for Ricky but only himself to blame for that poor start to the game.

Top 7th: Jays running out of at bats now. Overbay leading off, singles into centre right, this part is easy, it is getting runner home that is the Jays difficulty. Smith and Perez have been working in bullpen. That is it for Westbrook. Now Indians bullpen to hold the lead. Joe Smith now pitching, one on for Buck, 0-2, strikes out, one out one on for Hoffpauir. No pinch hitter Cito ? Ha! Lines it to short Hernandez, babe in the woods against Smith. Two down and that’s it for Smith. Rafael Perez now pitching. 2-0 count. Grounds to second throw to first for the out wasting yet another leadoff runner.
Bottom 7th: Romero still out there. Choo pops it up to shallow right but Gonzalez makes a great running behind the back catch. One down Santana, lines this one high to left but Lewis has it at the wall, two down. Kearns grounds back to Romero underhand throw to Overbay for third out, Quick inning for Ricky but he still needs runs to win this thing. Can his teammates do it for him? So far a loud no way.

Top 8th: Six more outs to do this thing if Jays do not want to be embarrassed tonight. Gonzalez leading off. Chris Perez pitching, has six saves this season, setting up for Kerry Wood to save this one in the ninth. Gonzalez Strikes out swinging, one down. Bautista calls time not given it but ball anyway. Singles into left. Wells now. One on one down. Vernon grounds to second throw to the bag, over to first double play ball.
Bottom 8th: Romero out of the game. Downs now pitching. Hafner leading off. Singles into right. One on for Peralta, oh no here comes Cito. Two pitches come on Cito? Camp now pitching. Cito playing the percentages here and he does not have great record this season. Lifts it into left to Lewis for the out, one down. LaPorta, doubles off the wall in left. Camp in deep trouble here. Nix, with two in scoring position. Strikes out swinging on three pitches. Two outs and two on for Hernandez. Cito out there again. Who knows. Back to the dugout. Camp knows what he has to do grounds to Hill. On his knees throw to Overbay for third out. Camp does the job and Cito won his gamble this time.

Top 9th: Jays now just have to beat Kerry Wood. Six out of nine saves. Lind leading off. Strikes out swinging. I think the day might come when Cito has to pinch hit for Lind. Hill, 0-3 tonight. Fly ball to left two down, another 0-4 night for Hill. Overbay with two down. 2-2 count. Singles into right, way to go Lyle. Prolonging it at least. Pinch runner for Lyle, Nick Green. Buck, with two down. 2-2 count. Wild pitch ball gets away Green to second, full count. strikes out swinging. Jays lose a stinker to the worst team in the league.

Jays out played, out managed, out pitched and out hit by Cleveland tonight, and this is against a team 20 games under .500. That tells the sorry story of the Jays right now. Winning run a suicide bunt, a play that is not even in the Jays repertoire, Jays don’t even steal second these days.

Jays have to regroup and fast overnight before their great pitching starts to turn. Two runs yesterday, one run tonight. Will not win many games that way.
Does Cito shake up the team? or shrug it off? And give the “team building this year ” mantra? That does not explain the Hill and Lind drought. Maybe at least move Overbay into fifth spot to back up Vernon. Other wise the pitchers will be going around Vernon to get to Lind.

The very bad: Top of the 1st Lind and Hill, with runner at third and only one down and both unable to bring him in. 4th inning. Lind, Hill and Overbay, no other way to describe that inning after Vernon gets to lead off double. Jays only run five minutes into the game and then nothing. 2/6 with runners in scoring position. But 0/6 after the first two hits.

The good: Romero and that is it tonight once he settled after that first long inning. At least he kept them in the game but two runs was one too many for Jays hitters tonight.