Game two Jays v Rays. Tuesday August 31.
Sloppy fielding last night lost game for the Jays, I hope they smarten up tonight. Too much at stake now to just drift through the few remaining weeks. Jays record against Tampa much better this season 7-6, they are starting to be far more competitive against all but the Red Sox. Jays have won four of the last five games with Tampa.
Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Wise, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Buck, Hill, Snider, McDonald. Lots of speed at the top of this order. Would love to see the first two on base.
Rays: Upton, Bartlett, Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Rodriguez, Shoppach, Zobrist, Johnson.
Pitching: Niemann v Romero.
Top 1st: Lewis leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Wise. Singles opposite field, into left field corner, Bautista 0-2 count, Wise running and safe at second as Bautista grounds to third, throws to first to get Bautista for second out. Wells, did not play last night, should be well rested. Wise in scoring position. 1-2 count, down and away, strikes out. Vernon can never resist but it is too bad he can never hit that pitch. Once he does they will stop striking him out on it. Pitch count 16.
Bottom 1st: Upton first pitch lines it to right, great diving catch by Wise what a great play. Bartlett, 0-2 count, grounds to McDonald at short, throw to Lind at first for second out. Crawford. Full count, don’t walk this guy Ricky. Grounds to Lind throw to Romero for the out. Pitch count 10. Very nice start Ricky.
Top 2nd: Lind leading off. Come on Adam first pitch lazy swing pops up to Longoria at third. Buck, bounces to Longoria, throw to first, two quick outs. Hill, the goat last night despite his home run, his error lead to Pena’s three run home run, that basically decided the game. Breaks his bat with pop up to centre. Not an impressive display of hitting by these three. Pitch count 22.
Bottom 2nd: Longoria grounds to Bautista at third, throw to Lind, one down for Pena. Shift right for Pena. He can just tap it to third for a single. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Rodriguez, grounds to McDonald at shirt, throw to Lind at first for third out. Nine pitch inning. Pitch count 19.
Top 3rd: Snider leading off, had a great game last night and saved some base hits with his glove. Starting to show what he can do if he is given some at bats. Has yet to show us his home run power though. 2-2 count. Strikes out looking. One down. Better than a first pitch out Travis. McDonald, YES YES Johnny Mc. turns on this one and into the seats in left, 1-0 Jays. Number five for Johnny Mc. this season. New career high. Lewis, grounds to Rodriguez at second, throw to first for the out. Wise, 1-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first. Pitch count 35. Jays lineup being embarrassed by Johnny Mc number nine hitter getting it done when they are all at sea.
Bottom 3rd: Shoppach first pitch high pop up to Snider in left. Zobrist, 3-0 count, and ball four, first walk for Romero. Johnson, VERY nice, great play by Hill Johnson grounds the ball to second; Hill knocks it down, throw to McDonald at second from his knees over to Lind double play ball. WOW, Aaron makes up for last night. Pitch count 25. Excellent for first nine outs.
Top 4th: Now can the hitters give Ricky some support here? Bautista leading off. full count, ball four, one on for Wells, long, long overdue for something dramatic e.g. a home run. 0-2 count, pops up to Upton in shallow centre, one down. Lind, 2-0 count, oh boy, grounds to first, throw to second, back to first double play ball. Lind continues his own futility. Pitch count 48.
Bottom 4th: Upton leading off. Full count, ball four, not good, speedy guy on bases. Bartlett, 1-2 count, grounds to Johnny Mc. to Hill over to Lind double play ball and clears the bases. Crawford grounds first pitch to Lind at first takes it himself for the out, three outs in two pitches; Ricky will take that any day. Defense playing well tonight. Pitch count 37.
Top 5th: Buck has been in his own mini slump. Grounds to short, throw to first, one down. Hill, 2-2 count, pops up to Crawford in left, two down for Snider. 3-1 count, ball four, good at bat Travis, patience. McDonald with two down one on. 2-0 count. Travis stealing and safe at second on the high throw. 3-1 count. Grounds to Longoria at third, throw to first for third out. Pitch count 66.
Bottom 5th: Longoria, 3-0 count, ball four, not good Ricky, come on concentrate here. Pena, 1-0 lost the strike zone. Lines it to Wells in right centre for the out, Longoria tags Wells throw off the base and safe at second, stays out of the double play as well. Rodriguez, one down, full count, ball four. Two on one down for Shoppach. 1-1 count. Pops up to Wise in right for the second out. Longoria at third. Zobrist, 2-1 count. Singles up the middle as Hill misses ball, here comes the run and first hit tonight for Rays. Error on Hill. Johnson, oh boy it’s like last night, lines it to right centre, two runs score but they have Johnson hung up and is tagged out. Once again Hill has been the goat for three runs here. That is so tough on Romero who had a no-hitter going there before that error which would have had him out of the inning. Pitch count 59. 3-1 Rays. Scorer takes the error away from Hill but he definitely could have had it.
Top 6th: Lewis, great bunt up the line and Lewis safe at first. One on for Wise, Lewis running and no throw 2-1, runner at second, nobody out. That’s the way DeWayne, singles into centre here comes Fred 3-2 Rays. Bautista with Wise at first. There goes Wise stealing, safe on the throw and Jays running wild tonight !!! 1-0 count, ouch hits Bautista could not get away from that one. Two on now for Wells, 1-1 count, YES Vernon, comes through double down the left field line and both runners score, throw is wild, and Jays take the lead again, 4-3 Jays still nobody out. Lind, Adam gets hold of this one doubles to the wall in centre, here comes Vernon, 5-3 Jays. Buck now nobody out. Conference on the mound. Cormier warming up. 79 pitch count. Yes John, doubles to the wall, and here comes Lind, 6-3 Jays. And that’s it for Niemann, Jays see him out of the game. Cormier now pitching and Hill at bat. 0-2 count. YES Aaron gets hold of this one and this one is into left field seats, 8-3 Jays. They love this score in New York. Snider, strikes out, first out of the inning. McDonald. One down, full count. Ball four and Johnny Mc. walks. Lewis pops up to Longoria at third. Wise, with two down and one on. 2-3 tonight, another player coming through the more he plays. 2-0 count. singles into right, Johnny Mc to third. Third hit tonight for Wise. Bautista now, payback for that hit by Niemann pitch. YES JOSE THAT will do for payback, lines this one into left seats, that is called payback with interest. 11-3 Jays. 102 RBIs. Wells, 2-1 count, doubles into left corner, second double of the inning !!! listen to those boos. Fun game friends. Lind, lines out to left centre for Upton. Ten runs inning. WOW !!! I can hear the cheers in New York. They might just break that deadlock at the top tonight for first time in eight games.
Bottom 6th: Upton grounds first pitch to Hill, throw to Lind at first for the out. Brignac pinch hitting for Bartlett. full count, strikes out swinging, two down. Joyce pinch hitting for Crawford. Good to see Crawford out of the game. 1-2 count. Strikes out. Perfect inning Ricky. Way to go. Now get those hitters out there and pummel these Rays. 70 pitches.
Top 7th: Jays have to continue the pressure here, no mercy, they are making a statement. Aybar in for Longoria at 3rd base. Joyce in left, Brignac at short. Sonnanstine pitching. Buck leading off. 2-0 count, lines it into left for Joyce to make running catch, one down for McCoy pinch hitting for Hill. 2-2 count, grounds to Aybar at third, throw to first, two down for Snider. Just cannot get his swing in a groove yet. Grounds to first flip to Sonnanstine for the out. Everyone has a hit except Travis.
Bottom 7th: Aybar leading off, grounds to McDonald at short throw to first for the out. Pena, with the big shift right. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Rodriguez, 1-2 count, bounces it back to Romero, leaps high to get this and throw to first for third out. Very athletic guy. Pitch count 82.
Top 8th: McDonald leading off. Singles into left, one on for Lewis, full count, singles into centre off glove of Sonnanstine, that might have been double play ball. Johnny Mc stays at second. Two on nobody out for Wise, three hit night so far, wild pitch both runners move up, runners at second and third. Grounds to second McDonald scores 12-3 Jays. Wise out at first. One down for Bautista, Lewis at third, 1-1 count. Singles into right, here comes Lewis, 13-3 Jays. Wells with one down and one on. Two hit night, pops up to Pena at first, two down Lind, 2-2 count, lines it to Brignac for third out.
Bottom 8th: Shoppach leading off, 1-2 count, strikes out looking one down. Zobrist, 2-2 count, grounds to McDonald, throw to first and gets away from Lind, Zobrist to second. Error to McDonald. Johnson, Casey Janssen warming up, full count. Ball four. Two on for Upton, 0-2 count, singles into left to load the bases. Here comes Cito, that’s it for Romero, great outing. Janssen now pitching, Brignac, with bases loaded. 0-2 count. Loops it into right, here comes two runners, 13-5 Jays. Two on for Joyce, full count, don’t load them up again Casey. Strikes out swinging, two down. Frasor now warming up. Aybar, 3-1 count, not sharp at all, this could be your last hitter Casey. Ball four, bases loaded again. Cito sitting but smoke coming out of his ears. Pena. Bruce Walton now out there. 1-1 count. Phew… Pena grounds to Hill at second, throw to Lind for third out. Janssen escapes but not a good outing.
Top 9th: Buck leading off. Zobrist in centre, Johnson in left, Buck 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for McCoy, pops up to Rodriguez behind first, and two down. Snider with two down, Travis hitless. 1-2 count, there we go Travis, lines this on to right off the top of the wall. Just misses going out. Stand up double for Travis. Bring him in Johnny Mc. 1-2 count, grounds up the middle, Brignac throw to first to get McDonald.
Bottom 9th: Frasor pitching. Rodriguez leading off. 2-1 count, grounds to McCoy, throw to Lind one down. Shoppach, doubles down the line into left. Zobrist, first pitch pop up to Wells in shallow centre. Johnson with two down. 2-2 count, strikes out. Jays win big tonight 13-5.
Last six games between these two teams Rays have only won one. Boston loses to Baltimore, Yankees win. Jays pick up on Boston and Tampa.
The stolen bases in the 6th HUGE
The excellent: Romero eight innings and would have had no hitter if Hill had had that ball in the 5th.
Good: Johnny Mc. home run. Bautista number 43, Hill home run, and the hitting explosion in the sixth to knock Niemann out of the game. The three stolen bases.
Defense: Wise in first inning great catch. Hill and the double play in the 3rd.
The bad: Have to mention this one as Hill’s miss not called an error, sure. Ruined the no hitter and lead to Rays three runs. More worrying is that this was two nights in a row. This time his home run did bring them in but we wonder how far Romero would have gone with the no hitter.
Looking ahead to New York series, Jays could have some weather problems. The big storm is due to hit NY in Friday, if it does then Jays have to double up one day probably Sunday. These games are more important to NY than Jays.
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