Lousy hitting and poor management decision sink Jays today

Jays v Tigers Game one of four. Thursday July 22. Santa Day at the Park. For Salvation Army fund raising.

Second consecutive midweek afternoon game. Tough series for Jays. They will need to be firing on all cylinders. Roster changes as said here yesterday Rzepczynski bought his ticket for Vegas with that outing. One less pitcher but recall of Mike McCoy tough on Travis. But Mike has more speed and can play several positions and gives more versatility over Travis.
The other issue of course is July 31 deadline, if they are moving a couple of roster players that will enable Travis to be recalled. And it also gives Cito longer to look at Encarnacion at third who had superb game two nights ago and probably delayed his departure.

Lineups: Jays: Wise, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay Buck, Encarnacion. Lewis still out with that sprained ankle, but Escobar back in the lineup.
Tigers: Jackson, Damon, Ordonez, Cabrera, Raburn, Sizemore, Laird, Santiago, Wirth.
Pitching: Verlander v Romero.

Top 1st: Wise leading off lines hard to second but right at Santiago, one down for Escobar. Bunting but foul. Noisy crowd but there should be loads of Jays fans from across the border. Grounds to third throw to first two down for Bautista. Doubles down the left field line. One on and in scoring position for Wells. 2-2 count. Full count and ball four. Vernon in my opinion has been far more patient the last couple of games and has had much better results, three hits yesterday and a walk today. Lind, 2-0, with two on. Outside ball three. 3-1, Ball four and bases loaded for Hill. Just need a base hit here Aaron. Pops it up to short, head in the air. Hill leaves them loaded. After two consecutive walks, it needed a far more patient at bat by Hill. 25 pitch inning.
Bottom 1st: Jackson leading off, WHOA!!! Lines it right back at Romero, he has it, puts his glove up and it sticks, as he falls to the ground. What a reaction!!! Incredible play. That could have been so very dangerous. Ricky is a very athletic guy. Damon with one down. Pops it up to Wells in shallow centre. Ordonez gets hold of this one first pitch fly ball to Wells. Big outfield at Comerica Park. Great first inning for Romero but it would be good to give him some run support here.

Top 2nd: Overbay, where were you Lyle last inning, lines first pitch to right centre wall. He hit that one very hard. Buck, with Overbay in scoring position, hammers this one first pitch and this is out of here almost same location right centre, here comes Lyle, here comes Buck 2-0 Jays. Yes you can hear those Jays fans. Big crowd today. That was an opposite field home run, that was impressive power. Encarnacion grounds to third Sizemore, throw to first one down. Wise showing bunt. This is interesting lines it to right field corner, and Wise going for three, in safe with a triple. He can burn those bases. One down for Escobar. Grounds to third, Wise holds and throw to first for two down. Bautista, 2-2 count. Count full. Strikes out swinging. 41 pitches. Jays have had their chances for a lot more in the first two innings.
Bottom 2nd: Cabrera leading off. 3-1 count. Full count, lines it to Wells in centre, busy Vernon today. One down for Raburn, pops up to Wise in left, two down. I thought he was a ground ball pitcher !! 4 pop ups so far. Sizemore 2-0 count. Bounces to Escobar at short, throw to Overbay for third out. 21 pitches for Romero.

Top 3rd: Wells leading off. Pops it up to Sizemore at third, one down for Lind. 2-0 count, 3-0, full count, grounds back to Verlander, throw to first, two down for Hill. Doubles to the right centre wall, that’s what we needed last time Aaron. One in scoring position for Overbay now. Grounds to Santiago at second throw to Cabrera at first for third out. 55 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Laird leading off. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. One down for Santiago, 2-1 count. 3-1, Ricky getting some of these pitches too high. Ball four. Worth, 2-1 count. VERY nice, lines it to Hill at second, quick throw to Overbay, double play ball. Very nice play by Hill. Gets Romero out of this inning, he was starting to struggle here. 41 pitches.

Top 4th: Buck leading off, not this time, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Encarnacion, lines to Jackson in centre, two down. Wise, singles into centre right. One on two down for Escobar, Wise running, fouls it off. 0-2 count, grounds to Worth at short, flip to second to get Wise. 66 pitches.
Bottom 4th: Jackson, grounds back to Romero, throw to Overbay one down. Damon doubles into right. There goes the no hitter. Ordonez with runner in scoring position. 3-0 count. Ball four. Ricky continues to struggle his last inning was rough until the double play rescued him. Cabrera singles first pitch to left, here comes Damon 2-1 Jays. Ordonez at third. Raburn with two on and one down. 0-2 count. OH yes….. strikes out ball gets away and here comes Ordonez, quick recovery by Buck and throw to third gets Ordonez as he retreats. Great and unusual l!!! double play. Heads up by Buck to see that happening and get Ordonez hung up. Jim Leyland must be tearing his hair out there. Tigers were getting on top there. 55 pitches.

Top 5th: Bautista off the end of his bat, Laird throw to first for the out. Wells, 2-0 count. Pops up to Santiago in shallow right. Lind, with two quick outs. 0-2 count, ball one, 2-2 good at bat here, full count, strikes out, looks a little high inside from here, but an excellent at bat by Lind fouling off pitch after pitch. He (and Cito) will be pleased. Jays need his bat. 84 pitches. 18 pitch inning and Lind had most of them. That could important at bay by the 7th.
Bottom 5th: Sizemore leading off. 0-2 count. Pops up to Overbay. One down for Laird, bunting first pitch but right back to Romero, he will take that one throw to Overbay two down. Santiago, singles back up the middle, this time Romero cannot get it, under his glove. Worth, with two down. Full count. Santiago will be running and he has loads of speed singles to right and Santiago to third. Two on two down for Jackson. Same again singles to right, here comes Santiago and this one is tied up 2-2. Damon with two on. Singles to Wise in left and bases loaded. Mound conference here with coach Walton. Ordonez with bases loaded. Perfect grounds to Encarnacion at third steps on the base for the out. Could have been much worse Ricky but he has been struggling most of the game. 77 pitches.

Top 6th: Hill leading off, Jays hitters need to give Ricky some run support here. Bounces to Sizemore at third throw not in time Hill safe as he dives under the swipe tag. Overbay, Hill running , throw in time and on target, Hill out at second. Cito gamble did not pay off here. 1-2 count on Lyle. Strikes out looking. Two down. Buck, with two down. 0-2 count. Fly ball to centre right for the out. Not a good inning for Jays hitters. 94 pitches. Jays had their chance to see him out.
Bottom 6th: Does Romero have anything left? He has been pitching on the edge most of the game, that’s ok with a load of runs support but not with two. Cabrera, leading off. First pitch double to left centre wall ground rule double. One in scoring position. Come on Cito get that bullpen working. Raburn grounds to Overbay throw to Encarnacion to get Cabrera, great play by Overbay. One down for Sizemore. Lifts it to Escobar at short, two down one on for Laird, 3-0 count, come on Ricky. 3-1, high fly ball to left for Wise at the wall. Great inning for Jays. 86 pitches. Enough for another inning.

Top 7th: This should be Verlander’s last if Jays are patient. Encarnacion, grounds to shirt throw to first for the out, Encarnacion just jogging down to first there, have to hustle a bit more than that Edwin. Wise showing bunt, 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Escobar with two down. Hammers this to the left centre wall, going for three and great relay gets him. That hurts. But it took two perfect relays to get him. Sometimes have to take the chances. Cito would probably agree. 103 pitches.
Bottom 7th: Important for Ricky to hold Tigers here though. Santiago leading off. Bunting to Romero, throw to Overbay, one down. Worth one down. 3-0 count, ball four. One on one down. Jackson. 2-0 come on Ricky. Camp working in bullpen. 2-2, full count. Strikes him out, runner going and GREAT throw by Buck to get Wirth but home plate umpire also calls catcher interference. Bottom line is Ricky did what he had to and get out of the inning. 98 pitches. Tie game but Ricky has better record on pitches.

Top 8th: Bautista leading off. Verlander still out there. Leyland does not worry about pitch counts in Detroit. He already has three games this year over 120 pitches. 2-2 count. Pops up to Sizemore at third, one down for Wells, singles to centre, Lind who had such a great at bat last time, can he repeat it here? Perry and Thomas up in Tigers bullpen. Pops up to Jackson in centre, two down. Hill, Vernon running and Laird drops the ball, Vernon safe without a throw. Hill now 2-1 count and Vernon in scoring position. 2-2 count. Pops it up to Damon in left for third out. 120 pitches.
Bottom 8th: Romero coming out again. Ok Cito. This is another gamble in my book. Damon leading off. (especially with the experienced Damon) 3-0 count, there’s a strike. Ball four, Cito loses this one. Here he comes, one hitter too late Cito. Why oh why? Camp now in but with one on and no outs. Ordonez. first pitch singles to left, Damon to second. Two on. Cabrera, 1-1 count. 2-2 count. doubles to left, here comes Damon, Ordonez at third. 3-2 Tigers. Just like that this game is lost on one decision. Still no outs, Raburn, singles to centre, here comes Ordonez 4-2 Tigers. Cabrera to third, Sizemore grounds to Encarnacion, great play and throw to first to get Laird, one down, 1-2 count. Fly ball to Wells in centre, here comes Cabrera 5-2 Tigers. Two down. Santiago, 3-1 count. Full count. Strikes out looking.

Top 9th: Jays need three to tie. Jose Valverde pitching with three run cushion 19 saves. Overbay leading off. A good one to lead off here. 2-2 count. Strikes out. Buck, grounds to short, throw to first for the out. Encarnacion keeps it going, singles to left. Top of the order for Jays, one on two down. Wise. Two hit day triple and a single. Takes first two for strikes. Strikes out. Jays lose this one. Entertaining game (for seven) but gamble by manager backfired.

The good: ? Romero good and bad today. Helped a great deal by the double plays. Gold stars to Buck and Overbay for their offence. Lind the only one without a hit today but a great at bat with Verlander in the 5th inning.

Another good omen.. McCoy back on Jays roster, with Lewis, Escobar, Wise, and now McCoy all with great speed is this a sign of things to come from the new GM? It has already made huge difference at the top of the order. Starting to look like Tampa lineup. As far as I am concerned the more the better, speed kills everytime. Adds so much more to this Jays plodding offence. And I say that even with Escobar thrownout at third today, it took two perfect throws to get him and always puts more pressure on an opposing team.

The bad: The team as a whole. Jays let Verlander get off the hook early in the game first two innings second inning in particular. Jays 1/6 with runners in scoring position. Tigers 3/6 and therein the difference. Cito’s gamble with Romero in the eighth which did not work. Hill twice with his at bats, first inning particular with bases loaded but also in the seventh leaving Vernon at second. Escobar, Wise and Bautista failing with lead off triple at third.

Footnote: Mindful as we always are of replacing Cito in just over two months, Lou Pinella's announcement this week of retirement makes the Jays recruitment situation next year even more difficult, Cito, Bobby Cox and Pinella retiring makes the available pool smaller for the Jays.