Romero pitches a great game to support Jays bats for win

Series finale. Jays v Angels. Sunday August 15.

Jays management agrees with our Thursday comments on pitching rotation and make Romero the numero uno. Definitely, in my book. Marcum is number three behind Morrow. Kudos to Jays management to announce in LA for maximum pleasure for Ricky’s family.
Arencibia starting today. It must be tough learning these hitters but let’s not forget this is developmental year and Buck will be back before September which will give Arencibia more chance to study the hitters from the bench. No Snider today. So much for playing him every day. The other problem is that there is no way the guy can get into a hitting groove playing every other day. What is Cito doing to this kid? Try playing Vernon every other day Cito, however that may not be bad idea the way he is playing. But seriously this is a Catch 22 position for Travis. If he doesn’t play he cannot show his value to this lineup. Meantime Wells, Hill and Encarnacion are in almost every day, good or bad form.

Jays need a win today for the series but also to keep the heat on Boston above them and Rays and Yankees. I like the fact that it is Romero out there.

Lineups: Jays: Lewis, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Lind, Hill, Overbay, Encarnacion, Arencibia.
Angels: Abreu, Aybar, Callaspo, Hunter, Kendrick, Rivera, Izturis, Napoli, Bourjos.
Pitching: Haren v Romero.

Top 1st: Lewis leading off. Pops up to Rivera in shallow left. Escobar, becoming a disappointment in current slump although his glove remains excellent. And this lineup is strong enough or should be to not to relay on his bat. Pops up to Izturis in shallow right. Bautista is hitless in this series 2-2 count. Pops up to Aybar at short for third quick out. Pitch count 10. Bottom 1st: Abreu leading off. Grounds back to Romero, throw to Overbay for the out. Aybar singles into left. There goes the no hitter Ricky, now relax. Callaspo one on one down. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, three pitches. Two down for Hunter, 0-2, strike three looking. Pitch count 11. Good first inning for Ricky.

Top 2nd: Wells leading off. 1-2 count. Strikes out looking. One down for Lind. YEAH Adam, drives this long and high into right centre, this one is out of here, 1-0 Jays. Hill, first pitch, drives it right back at Haren but not hard enough to get past Izturis at second has it and throw to first for second out. Overbay with two down. Pops up to Rivera in shallow left. Pitch count 22.
Bottom 2nd: Kendrick leading off 2-0 count, fly ball to Wells in centre, one down. Both pitchers working fast so far at least. Rivera, grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay, two down. Izturis, 3-1, Ricky having problems with that curve. full count. and again way high. Ball four. One on two down for Napoli. 1-2 count. Grounds to Escobar at short. Pitch count 28.

Top 3rd: Encarnacion leading off. 0-2 count on a wild swing. Full count, pops up to Bourjos in shallow left centre. Here comes Arencibia, interesting to see how he does today with the bat.JP is hitless since his first four hits in first game. 1-2 count. And remains hitless as he strikes out swinging. Two down for Lewis, full count. Grounds to Izturis at second throw to Overbay for the third out. Pitch count 41.
Bottom 3rd: Bourjos leading off, 2-2 count. Grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Overbay for the first out. Abreu, 1-2 count. Strikes out looking. Aybar, with two down. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 42 and strikeout number four.
Yankees have lost in Kansas. Chance for Jays today to gain one back.

Top 4th: Escobar leading off. There we go Yunel, grounds it into left. Now is he stealing? Bautista with one on. Pops up to Hunter in right drops in front of him Escobar had to holds and now gets to second. Wells with two on. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, chasing balls outside. Vernon in his old habits. One down for Lind two on. 3-0 count. Ball four. Vernon should watch Lind at work. Laying off those pitches outside. Bases loaded for Hill. Perfect time for Aaron to get going. That’s better Aaron. Lines it to the wall, here comes Escobar. Bautista had to hold up on that play as Bourjos had a shot at the catch and cannot get home, 2-0 Jays. Bases loaded for Overbay. 3-0 count. Pops up to Callaspo, one down. Bases still loaded for Encarnacion. Lines it to for third out. Not good friends, only one run. Could have should have been more and don’t blame Bautista here, Overbay and Encarnacion had their chances. Pitch count. 58.
Bottom 4th: Callaspo, singles into centre. Hunter, 3-0 count, Ricky in trouble here. Pops it up and Hill, off his glove drops the ball in the sun, throw to second to get Callaspo. One down one on. Kendrick. Grounds past diving Escobar into left. Two on one down for Rivera, pops up to shallow left Lewis calls Escobar off, two down. Izturis, lines it to Bautista in right for third out and gets out of this jam. Pitch count.57. Tampa has beaten Baltimore.

Top 5th: Arencibia leading off. Pops up to Rivera in left. Lewis, 2-2 count. Gets hold of this one but high fly ball to Bourjos at the wall in right centre, almost Fred. Two down for Escobar. 2-2 count. Lines it hard and high to left but Rivera has it at the track for third out. Jays hitting Haren hard just not hard enough. Pitch count 70.
Bottom 5th: Ricky unfortunate to not have had more run support here. Napoli leading off. This one is out of here, into the bullpen in left, exactly my point.….2-1 Jays. Bourjos, pops up to Lewis in left, one down. Abreu, full count. Ball four. One on one down for Aybar, 0-2 count. Grounds to Hill throw to Escobar, back to first not in time to get two. Two down Aybar at first. Callaspo running and great throw by Arencibia to Hill to get him stealing. for the out. That is his second success catching runners, supposed to be his weakness. Pitch count 78.

Top 6th: Bautista leading off. Full count, singles into left, Wells, singles to left. Two on. Lind now with two on and no outs, singles to left, bases loaded. Here comes pitching coach Butcher. Bases loaded nobody out and here comes Hill again. 2-0 count, grounds to Aybar throw to second to get Lind. Bautista scores 3-1Jays. Overbay with runners at the corners. 1-2 count pops it up to Rivera in shallow left, Vernon tagging and here comes the throw, not in time 4-1 Jays. Encarnacion with runner Hill at first and two down. Full count. Lines it back off the glove of Haren into centre. Hill all the way to third. Two on for Arencibia, great time for as hit here JP. Not like that grounds back to Haren throw to first for the out. Pitch count 94. Romero has more run support. Close them down now Ricky.
Bottom 6th: Callaspo leading off singles to right, one on for Hunter. Fly ball to Wells in centre, one down. Kendrick grounds to Encarnacion at third, throw to Hill at second to get lead runner Callaspo. Rivera grounds to Encarnacion throw to Overbay for third out. Pitch count. 85

Top 7th: Lewis leading off, strikes out on three pitches. Escobar singles into centre, his hitting coming around today. Bautista one on one down. Rodriguez working in bullpen. 2-2 count. Strikes out. Two down. Wells, grounds to Aybar at short throw to second to get Escobar. Pitch count 106.
Bottom 7th: Napoli leading off. Watch this guy Ricky. Full count, ball four. One on for Bourjos, Downs working in bullpen, Bourjos grounds to Escobar throw to Hill on to Overbay double play. Abreu with two down. 1-2 count. Singles into right. Aybar, two down one on. Grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for third out. Pitch count 100. Texas is hammering Boston 5-0. Could be good afternoon for the Jays with Yankees already losing.

Top 8th: Rodriguez now pitching. Lind leading off full count. Ball four, interesting at bat, lets that high fast ball go, He has been swinging at that pitch earlier in the season. Hill one on, two hits today. He is fed up reading his criticism. 2-2 count, Aaron very patient for him at least. Grounds to Aybar at second steps on the bag and throws out Hill at first, double play. Overbay, with two down. 0-2 count, grounds to second, nice diving stop by Izturis and throw to first to get Lyle.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching, what happened to Downs? Romero has done a nice job today and earned his millions. Callaspo leading off. 3-0 count. Come on Jason, we don’t need this stuff. That’s better. Full count. Ball four. Oh boy. Hunter with one on. 1-2 count. Camp working in bullpen. Singles into left, two on no outs. Frasor not helping his job security. Why oh why was Downs not pitching Cito? Forget the percentages and lefty stuff. Kendrick, 0-2 count, 2-2. Perfect. Grounds to Escobar flips to Hill, over to Overbay double play ball. Two down for Rivera. Callaspo at third. Fly ball to Lewis in left for third out. Frasor escapes major trouble here.

Top 9th: Texas leading Boston 6-3 in the 8th. Can Jays add to this lead? I for one would breathe a lot easier. Encarnacion leading off.. Michael Kohn now pitching.3-0 count. Ball four way outside. Here comes Arencibia. Come on JP we are all rooting for you. McDonald pinch running for Encarnacion. Oooh boy JP just misses going out here, lines it into left, two feet from the foul pole. That hurts. 0-2 count. Hammers this one just misses going out in left, right at the wall. Good at bat JP. McDonald doesn’t move come on Johnny Mc. tag and run, you are in for your speed. Lewis with one down. pops up to Callaspo, two down for Escobar, has had great day with bat and glove. 2-4 today. but has also made some great plays. 2-0 count. 3-0, ball four. Two on for Bautista, two down. 2-4 today. Ball one, ball two, 3-1 count. Ball four to load them up for Vernon. Lots of boos for Kohn. Just a base hit Vernon will do. Oh man, pops it up to Kendrick. Also first pitch, the guy has just walked the bases loaded. Vernon sometimes has his head in Texas. Speaking of whom have just beaten the Red Sox. Jays have chance to get one back on both New York and Boston.
Bottom 9th; Gregg to save this one. Izturis leading off strikes out, one down for Napoli strikes out, two down for Bourjos, full count strikes out swinging. Save number 27 for Gregg. Excellent win for Romero.
Jays win series and big win as both New York and Boston both lose. Don’t forget Jays have two on Boston.

The good: Romero. Goes seven one run innings to keep Jays in there. Arencibia for that throw to get Callaspo stealing. Gregg for save number 27.