Jays throw and run one away. Escobar another home run.

Game one of three Jays v Royals. Monday July 19.

Royals have lost six in a row, Jays won three in a row but you know how those scenarios go.Don’t bet on this one.

Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Buck, Encarnacion.
Royals: Podsednik, Kendall, DeJesus, Butler, Guillen, Callaspo, Aviles, Betancourt, Bloomquist,
Pitching: Cecil v Davies.

Top 1st: Lewis singles to right, one on for Escobar. Bunting ? yes he is and a great bunt single to first. Lewis to second. Two on no outs for Bautista. Oh boy, grounds to Aviles at second, throw to Butler at first, double play ball. Wells with Lewis at third, strikes out. Cito has to start thinking of moving Wells down this order. He is not coming through when it counts.
Bottom 1st: Podsednik bunting to Hill at second throw to Overbay one down. Kendall fly ball to Wells. Two down. DeJesus grounds to first safe. Butler fly ball to Wells.

Top 2nd: Lind grounds to Aviles throw to Butler at first. Hill fly ball to Podsednik in left. Two down for Overbay strikes out. Jays go quietly here.
Bottom 2nd: Guillen singles to centre, Callaspo grounds to Hill flip to Escobar throw to Overbay, double play ball. Aviles grounds to short safe at first. Bloomquist full count and walks, Aviles to second. Two on two down for Betancourt, singles to centre here comes Aviles 1-0 Royals. Bloomquist at third for Podsednik, grounds to Hill flip to Escobar, to get Betancourt. 1-0 Kansas. 39 pitches for Cecil.

Top 3rd: Buck lines first pitch to left one down. Encarnacion doubles off the wall just misses going out. Lewis 2-0 count, pops it up to Betancourt in shallow left for second out. Escobar, NO WAY !!!!! gets hold of this one huge home run into Jays bullpen left field. 2-1 Jays. Bautista, two down 2-2- count. Count full. High fly ball to the wall in left centre. Atlanta beginning to regret this trade. 43 pitches for Davies.
Bottom 3rd: Kendall leading off, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay two down. DeJesus, high fly ball to Wells in centre for the out. Butler, 3-0 count. Ball four. One on two down for Guillen. Pops up to Bautista in shallow right. 54 pitches.

Top 4th: Wells leading off singles to left. Lind, singles into right, two on for Hill, grounds to second throw to first for the only out. Runners advance for Overbay, fly ball to De Jesus in centre this should be fine for Vernon, coming home, NO!!! throw to third gets Lind double play ball. Lind huge error there. Costs Jays a run. 49 pitch count.
Bottom 4th: Callaspo leading off. Lines it to right, off Bautista’s glove to the wall, Callaspo all the way to third. Error to Bautista. That missed run is huge now. Cecil in deep trouble. Aviles 0-2 count, full count. Pops up to Overbay at first, one down. Bloomquist, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging at ball three. Two down for Betancourt, Whoa… grounds to third, Encarnacion throw to Overbay to get Betancourt and third out. Leaving leadoff triple at third !!! Bautista of the hook but not Lind yet. Nice pitching by Cecil. 71 pitches.

Top 5th: Buck leading off, bounces one to short, throw to first for the out. Encarnacion, fly ball to right by Bloomquist, two down for Lewis. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Not a great inning for Jays hitters. Pitch count 62.
Bottom 5th: Podsednik leading off. Lines it to short, great catch by Escobar. One down for Kendall, grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay for second out. DeJesus, fly ball to Wells in centre. Much better inning for Cecil and he needed that to keep that pitch count down. 8 pitches. 79 pitch count.

Top 6th: Escobar leading off, grounds to third, throw to first for the out. Bautista, looking for redemption for that error, singles up the middle. Wells one on one down. Pops up to Bloomquist in shallow right. Lind also needs to make up for his major running error in the third. Bautista running but Lind strikes out to end the inning. Pitch count 75.
Bottom 6th: Could be the last for Cecil unless he can duplicate the last eight pitch inning. Butler leading off. Grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay one down. Pops up to shallow left just behind Escobar. Callaspo, one on one down, WHOA!!!! lines at Overbay steps on the bag double play ball. Just as important that was five pitch inning and will get Cecil out there for one more. Pitch count 84.

Top 7th: Hill leading off. That’s better Aaron singles into centre. One on for Overbay. Singles to left, two on for Buck. Tejeda up in Royals bullpen. 2-1 count, this will do it singles into left centre, here comes Hill to score and Overbay to third on the play. 3-1 Jays. Mound conference. Encarnacion with Lyle at third and Buck at first, nobody out. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Lewis. Lines to centre, DeJesus throw is up the line but Lyle doesn’t go, he could have scored as no one was at home plate. Two down. Escobar, grounds to short flip to second for t third out. Jays fizzle here. They get one more but could have been two. Jays running game not the best tonight. 93 pitches for Davies.
Bottom 7th: Aviles leading off, 3-1 count. Ball four, Bloomquist, Cecil having problems here throwing too high. Doubles to left, Aviles at third and no outs. Two in scoring position, Downs now up in bullpen. Betancourt, grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay one down here comes Aviles. 3-2 Jays. Here comes Cito, Downs now pitching. Bloomquist at second, Podsednik, one down. Lines it at third, great knockdown diving play by Encarnacion and throw to Overbay for second out. Throw back to third not in time Bloomquist safe at third. Two down for Kendall. Oh boy, grounds to short, bare hand throw to Overbay, off his glove, should have had it Lyle, runner safe at first and Bloomquist scores to tie this up 3-3. DeJesus grounds to Escobar throw to Overbay to end this but “could have should have” inning and the earlier running errors come back to haunt the Jays here.

Top 8th: Tejeda pitching. Bautista leading off showing bunt pulls back to take the strike. Pops up to third, one down. Wells, pops up to second for second out. Lind, another chance to get some redemption here. Strikes out swinging. Awful at bat. He looks so lost out there. When is this guy going to get it going?
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Butler leading off, strikes out looking. One down for Guillen, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Overbay for second out. Callaspo grounds it hard to first, Overbay behind the bag has it and throws to Frasor the out. Nice inning from Frasor.

Top 9th: Joakum Soria pitching, Royals closer with 25 saves. Doesn’t get much tougher than this. Hill leading off. Hits him in the back. That is fine by the Jays with this pitcher. Overbay, lines it to left, drops in but Hill had to hold up for catch and only gets to second. Two on for Buck. Oh boy pops it up very high to the infield for one down. Not good Lyle, even a bunt would have done more. Encarnacion with one down. Grounds first pitch ! to third, throw to second on to first double play ball. Jays have given this game away on each occasion.
Bottom 9th: Jays in deep here. Camp now pitching. Aviles leading off. 2-2 count. Grounds to Overbay takes it himself for first out. Bloomquist, pops up to Overbay at first two down. Betancourt, strikes out swinging to get third out and this game is in extra innings. Jays get another chance but they have blown so many tonight already.

Top 10th: Top of the order at least, Lewis leading off, Kyle Farnsworth now pitching. Singles up the middle. Escobar with one on, bunting ? I hope not, swing away Yunel. Hits him but right on the wrist, not good here. Says he is ok goes down to first. Two on for Bautista, Yes Jose this will do it, singles to right, here comes Fred, throw too late, speed kills. 4-3 Jays and Esocbar at third for Wells . Bounces to third, Escobar has to go and is out at home but reduced that double play ball if he had stayed at third. . One down for Lind, time he did something. Gregg up in bullpen Two on one down. Swinging and missing first two. Swings at ball way outside, awful awful. Strikes out. Hill with runners at second and first. Come on Aaron we need another here. Fly ball to centre.
Bottom 10th: Gregg pitching, hang on to your seats here. Top of Royals order. Podsednik, strike one. Oh boy, triples to the wall in centre. Kendall, 2-0 count, come on Kevin. 3-1 count, Fly ball to centre, here comes Podsednik game is tied up 4-4. One down for DeJesus, Bounces high to Gregg gets the bounce and throw to Overbay for the out. Two down Butler singles past Escobar. One on two down for Guillen, Getz pinch running for Butler. 3-0 count. Ball four, two on two down. Cito leaving him out there. He told Gregg he had one more chance. Callaspo, ball one, ball two, has to go down the middle. Grounds back up the middle off the glove of Gregg past a diving Hill.
Jays lose one they gave away long before Gregg came out there. 5-4 Royals.

The very good: The gold star tonight has to be Escobar yet again, another home run and a bunt single and some excellent defensive plays. Great start for him. GM is looking good on this trade.
The good: Yes Cecil tonight although he was rough all the way through, throwing too high for much of the game but was able to get the outs when he needed too especially in the fourth inning with leadoff runner at third. The bullpen of Downs and Frasor. The great defensive play by Encarnacion in the seventh to save a run and also to get an out. The bad: Mental game tonight terrible. Third inning Lind going to third and being thrown out on double play and nullifying Vernon’s run. Overbay error in the seventh not getting throw by Escobar barehanded throw which lead to tying run. Encarnacion double play in the top of the ninth on the first pitch. Awful. Wells, Lind awful, awful games with the bats.

Don’t blame Gregg for this loss, it was thrown away long before the 10th tonight. However Gregg has out himself in a hole for Cito. Will he keep him out there as closer? Jays give one away and more to the point have given the Royals a morale boost after losing their last six games.