Bautista power and glove show tonight with 5 RBIs to support Romero 8-2 win

Game two of three Tuesday July 27. Orioles v Jays.

Jays relaxed a little early last night but will not make the same mistake. Hill and Lind in particular need to continue to do what they did last night with multi-hit games. We have not seen much from either of these two this season. Lots of trade rumours right now Downs at the top of the list, but Overbay, Frasor and Gregg are all being mentioned.

Lineups: Orioles: Lugo, Tejada, Markakis, Scott, Jones, Wieters, Pie, Fox, Izturis.
Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Buck, Encarnacion.
Pitching: Romero v Millwood.

Top 1st: Lugo leading off. 0-2, 1-2 strikes out on great curve. One down for Tejada, grounds first pitch to Escobar throw to Overbay, two down. Markakis, Bounces to Hill, throw to Overbay for the out, 8 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Lewis leading off. Excuse me hit to left. He did that once before, check swing that just connects, hard enough to get through the infield. Escobar, showing bunt. So good to see Lewis and Escobar at the top. Great for the fans as well. 2-0, 2-1, full count. Lewis running but fouls off pitch. That will do, singles to left. Two on for Bautista, gets hold of this one into second deck left field another home run. Number 29. Here comes Lewis, here comes Escobar, and now Bautista. 3-0 Jays. Wells fly ball to Markakis in right at the wall, just misses. At least it was opposite field hit also not his usual pull. Lind, with one down. Strikes out. Two down for Hill. Pops up first pitch to Jones in shallow centre. 20 pitches and with two of the outs Wells and Hill first pitch swinging. Jays let Millwood off the hook here.

Top 2nd: Scott drives first pitch to centre Wells has it at the track. One down for Jones. Lines it to left bounces over the wall, ground rule double. Lewis could not get it. Looked catchable. Wieters, 0-2 count. 2-2, full count. Strikes out swinging, two down. Pie, bounces first pitch to Overbay takes it himself for the third out. Pitch count 19.
Bottom 2nd: Overbay leading off. 0-2 takes strike three. One down for Buck. 1-1 count. 2-2, full count, ball four. One on one down for Encarnacion. 0-2 count. strike three looking. Two down. Lewis, first pitch high fly ball to Pie in left. Pitch count 34.

Top 3rd: Fox leading off, 1-2 count. Bounces to Overbay throw to Romero for the out. One down for Izturis. 0-2 count. Strike three, two down. Lugo, lines this to centre, WHOA Vernon, great catch even for Vernon, running hard to his left and sticks out the glove to make a full stretch highlight reel catch. Excellent. Pitch count 29.
Bottom 3rd: Escobar leading off. Singles to left, 2-2 tonight. Bautista runner at first 2-2 count. Singles to centre. Two on for Wells. 0-2, 2-2, grounds to Lugo at second throw to first to get Vernon, at least he moved both runners over. Two in scoring position for Lind. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Hill, all we need is a hit Aaron. 2-0 showing some patience here. Ball three, takes strike one. Ball four, bases loaded for Overbay. Good at bat by Hill. Takes ball one, two, three, ball four and here comes Escobar, 4-0 Jays and bases are still loaded. Buck, strike one. 1-1, way outside. 2-1. 2-2, Full count, taking or swinging ? Pops up to Izturis. Not a good inning for Jays the only run is bases loaded walk. Millwoood gets the moral victory. Jays have to get these hits. Pitch count 66. Jays already1/4 with runners in scoring position.

Top 4th: Tejada leading off grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay one down Markakis with one down. Pops up to Lewis in left field corner, two down. Scott, pops up to Overbay, nine pitches 38 pitch count.
Bottom 4th: Encarnacion first pitch pop up to Tejada at third. Why oh why when Millwood just walked bases loaded and walked in RBI patience Edwin. Lewis for third time tonight. Singles into centre, hit number two for Fred. Escobar with one on one down. Pops up to Jones in centre, two down. Bautista, 2-2 tonight. 2-0 count, 3-0, full count. singles to left Lewis to third on the throw Bautista to second. Error on the play. Wells now with two in scoring position. That’s better Vernon, doubles to left, here comes Lewis, here comes Bautista, 6-0 Jays. Lind, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging to end this one but Jays strike again. Pitch count 86 for Millwood.

Top 5th: Jones leading off. Back up the middle through Romero. One on for Wieters, 2-1 count, Lines it to Lewis in left to make the catch, one down. Jones stays at first. Pie, 2-0 count. 3-0. Walks him, Ricky losing his concentration here. Two on one down for Fox. Bruce Walton out there to get him focused again. OH perfect Fox grounds up the middle Escobar running backwards makes a great back hand flip to Hill to get Pie sliding. Standing ovation for Escobar. Two down. Fox grounds to Escobar throw to Hill to end this one. Very nice Escobar. Pitch count 51.
Bottom 5th: Hill, leading off. Way to go Aaron singles up the middle. Overbay pops up to Pie in left, one down. Buck grounds to short throw to second to get Hill not in time for two at first. Buck safe. Encarnacion, pulls one to short, he really does have the weirdest hitting stroke. Millwood’s shortest inning tonight 7 pitches. 93 pitch count, he should have been out of the game this inning.

Top 6th: Izturis, leading off. 0-2 count. 2-2, grounds back to Romero, flip to Overbay, one down. Tejada singles past diving Hill. Markakis, one on one down. Lines low drive into left, Lewis fumbles off his glove, could have had that one. Two on for Scott. 0-2 count. 2-2, Romero very deliberate now. Full count. Strike three looking, two down. Jones, 1-1 count. 1-2, huge curve ball. Strikes out swinging. A lot of pitches in that inning 23. PItch count now 74. Can he get two more in tonight? Bullpen is well rested though so Cito has options.
Bottom 6th: Lewis lines it hard but right at second throw to first for the out. Escobar, pulls it into left, 3-4 tonight. Bautista with one on one down. 3-3 tonight. Full count. There goes Escobar, fouls it off. Ball four outside. Two on one down for Wells. Came through last at bat, can he do it twice. That’s it for Millwood, 104 pitches, he did well to last this long after that three run first inning. Here comes Mike Gonzalez. Vernon pops up to Lugo at second, two down. Lind, 0-3 tonight all strikeouts. 1-2 count. Fly ball to Jones in centre for the out. Jays leave two more on.

Top 7th: Wieters leading off, singles to left. Pie strikes out, one down for Fox, strikes out, two down for Izturis. Strikes out swinging. Number eight for Romero as he strikes out the side. Pitch count 89.
Bottom 7th: Hill pops up to Fox in front of the camera bay at first one down. Overbay, one down, bounces to Lugo at second throw to first for the second out. Buck, strikes out swinging but ball gets away to the backstop and Buck gets to first in time. One on for Encarnacion. 2-1 count. Lines it to Jones in centre to end this one.

Top 8th: Lugo leading off singles to centre. Tejada, one on, singles to centre. Bullpen working. Markakis lines it to centre right wall here comes Lugo, runners at second and third and nobody out. 6-1 Jays. Downs working in bullpen. Scott, 0-1, that curve ball has worked all night. Scott, lines it to right Bautista makes the catch one down. Great throw by Bautista to Encarnacion third gets the runner Markakis at third, double play . 6-2 Jays. Two down, nobody on for Jones, singles to left. Here comes Cito. Romero gets great ovation, here comes Downs. Wieters, grounds to Encarnacion at third throw to Hill to get Jones and finish this one off.
Bottom 8th: Can Jays get those two runs back here? Top of the order. Alfredo Simon now pitching. Lewis, singles into right, his third hit. One on for Escobar. 3-4 tonight. Lewis running and throw not in time. Stolen base. Strikes out swinging. One down for Bautista. 3-3 tonight with walk. 0-2 count. 2-2 count. Jose, Jose another home run. WOW, lines it high into left 8-2 Jays. 5 RBIs tonight and his home run number 30, this guy is so hot right now. Wells, 2-0, 3-0, Ball four. Lind, one down one on. Horrible night so far. 0-4. 1-2 count, even worse grounds to Lugo at second throw to Izturis at the bag, back to Fox at first, double play ball. Adam is very glad his night is over.

Top 9th: Downs to finish this one. Showcasing for the scouts. Pie leading off 0-2 count. 2-2. Strikes out swinging, one down for Fox, strikes out. Izturis, two down. Samuel arguing the call but umpire says ok. Grounds to Escobar at short throw to Overbay for third out. Jays win big. Thanks to an amazing show by Bautista.


The excellent: Top three in the order doing their job in the first inning. 11 of the 12 hits to the top four in the lineup. Lewis with 3 Escobar 3 and Bautista 4 plus his walk. Romero with very efficient win number 8 to keep Orioles quiet for most of the game, eight strikeouts. Bautista with the bat and glove tonight throw from right in the 8th to get Markakis. Escobar with an amazing out in the fifth.
Have to start to give GM Alex A kudos here for what he has done to this team. Escobar and Lewis. Totally different lineup at the top. Speed and good hitters. It is making a huge difference to this lineup. Yes it is Baltimore but as we have said before this is the future Jays, and everyone watching tonight will be back.

The bad/concern: Lewis an adventure again in left field. Lind back to his struggles.
More good news Yankees lose tonight in Cleveland so Jays pick up another. Tampa wins and Boston yet to start on the west coast.