Game four. Rangers v Jays. Thursday September 9.
Big news today is local boy Shawn Hill start for the Jays. Off two Tommy John surgeries and another arm operation he has been fighting to get back in the big league. Has pitched very well in the minors but he knows this is different tonight. Interesting news that Toronto police have provided the US Justice Department with the Jays medical records of Roger Clemens from the time he was here.
Lineups: Rangers: Kinsler, Young, Murphy, Guerrero, Cruz, Moreland, Molina, Blanco, Borbon.
Jays: Wise, Escobar, Bautista, Wells, Overbay, Hill, Buck, Lewis, Snider.
Pitchers: Shawn Hill v Colby Lewis.
Top 1st: Kinsler leading off, pops up to Wise playing centre today. One down. Young, 2-2 count, nice pitch strikes out swinging. Two down for Murphy, 0-2 count. Pops up to Snider in left for third out. Nice job Shawn. Pitch count 12.
Bottom 1st: Wise leading off. Pops up to Borbon in centre, one down for Escobar. 1-1 count. High pop up to Borbon in centre. Bautista with two down. 3-1 count. Jose does not get much to hit these days. Everyone pitching around him. Ball four. Walk number 90 this season. Comes with the territory Jose. Wells, with two down and one on. 3-1 count. Ball four outside but Vernon swings full count. Leaves that one, ball five Vernon walks. Two on two down for Overbay, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Lyle leaves two on. Come on Lyle. Pitch count 20.
Top 2nd: Guerrero leading off. Singles it into left. Cruz pops up to Hill, one down. Moreland grounds to Escobar takes it himself steps on second and throw to Overbay double play ball. Pitch count 15.
Bottom 2nd: Hill leading off. 1-2 count, pops up to Cruz in right, one down. Buck, full count. Grounds to Blanco at short, throw to first, two down. Lewis hitting way down today. Pops up at the plate, mile high but Young has it. What is with these Jays hitters and getting under the pitches? Seems like every game recently. Pitch count 32.
Top 3rd: Bengie Molina leading off singles to centre, one on for Blanco, 2-2 count. Singles into centre, two on nobody out. Borbon, Bunting, yes but fouls it off. 1-1 count, good bunt up third line, Hill cannot get ball out of glove and safe at first, in trouble now, bases loaded. Kinsler, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, perfect Shawn. One down for Young, not out of this yet. 1-1 count, OH Yes, grounds to Escobar, flips to Hill, over to Overbay, double play ball. Whoa. That was huge. Pitch count 35.
Bottom 3rd: Snider leading off. 2-1 count, singles into centre, one on for DeWayne Wise, not bunting here. 2-2 count, Travis stealing throw down and gets him, strikes out. Double play. Escobar with two down, NO Yunel, first pitch pops it up to second, another dumb at bat. Two pitches three outs. That is bush league. I hope any new Manager gets rid of this type of hitting. Pitch count 42.
Top 4th: Murphy leading off. 3-1 count. Ball four, not good Shawn. Here comes trouble for you, Guerrero. Singles to Lewis in right. Two on and nobody out. Cruz singles to Snider in left, off his glove, here comes Murphy, 1-0 Rangers. Two in scoring position and nobody out. Moreland. 2-1 count, pops up to Wise, great throw to Buck but cannot hold on to the ball. 2-0 Rangers. One down. Cruz at third. Molina with one on one down. Grounds to Bautista throw home gets Cruz second attempt. Almost another disaster. Two down for Blanco, pops up to Bautista at third. Could have been worse but Jays are down by two. Pitch count 51.
Bottom 4th: Sloppy performance with bat and glove by Jays so far tonight, need to smarten up fast. Bautista leading off. Singles into left. Wells, first pitch pop to Cruz in right, one down. Overbay, full count, strikes out swinging. Second time tonight. Jose if I were you I would be stealing three bases rather than relying on this lot tonight. Hill, 0-2 count, awful, strikes out swinging pitch way outside. 53 pitch count. Jays leave` leadoff guy at first, that is not good at all.
Top 5th: Borbon, 2-2 count. Lines it to Snider in left. Kinsler 2-2 count, taking a lot of pitches here, finally grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay, two down for Young. 3-1 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay for third out. Three up and down for a change for Hill. Pitch count 70.
Bottom 5th: Buck leading off. Jays hitters have not had a good night at all. Full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Lewis, 1-2 count, singles to Cruz in right. Snider now has a lot to make up for tonight. 0-2 count, awful, swings at ball high and inside. Snider a lot to learn still. Probably a reason Lewis did not try to steal. Two down, Wise, 2-2 count. strikes out swinging. Pitch count 77.
Top 6th: Murphy leading off full count. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Overbay, one down. Guerrero, 2-2 tonight, 2-0 count, singles to left. One on one down. Cruz, 1-2 count, lines it to the wall in right centre, Guerrero stops at third. Two in scoring position. That’s it for Hill. Jesse Carlson pitching. Moreland, doubles into the corner 4-0 Texas. Here comes Cito again. Robert Ray minor league callup now pitching. Molina with runner at second, one down 0-2 count. Pops up to Wise in centre two down. Blanco, grounds to Hill, throw to Overbay for final out.
Bottom 6th: Jays hitters out of this game again as last night, one run in 14 innings, in a mini-slump all of them together. I don’t think we will see big fight back here tonight. It only gets worse this weekend when Tampa is in town because they are focused on one thing only, that division title. No time for mini-slumps. Escobar leading off, first pitch lines out to Cruz in right. I think I can see why Atlanta was not unhappy to see this guy leave town. Bautista, 3-1 count, pops up to Murphy in left, two down. Wells, lines (first pitch) to centre, seven pitch inning. Some of these guys are thinking about their October golf. At this rate Lewis will go complete game. Pitch count 84.
Top 7th: Ray still out there. Borbon leading off. Pops up to Wise in centre. One down for Kinsler, 1-2 count, pops up to Wise in centre, two down. Young, 0-2 count, lines out to Lewis in right. Texas has had enough, four runs is enough tonight, they want to get on that plane they have a meaningful series next against the Yankees.
Bottom 7th: Overbay leading off, struck out swinging both times tonight. That’s better Lyle, drives this one to right, this one is out of here second deck. 4-1 Rangers. Hill, strikes out. Buck with one down. Singles into right. One on for Lewis. Rapada warming up and ready in Rangers bullpen. Here comes Washington. That’s it for Lewis. Rapada 0-2 count, lines it to Murphy in left, two down for Snider, another chance and maybe his last tonight to redeem himself. A home run here would certainly do it. 1-2 count. Lines it to Blanco at short. Dream on.
Top 8th: Murphy leading off, doubles to right centre. One on for Guerrero, 3-3 tonight. 0-2 count, strikes out looking, Ray will love that strikeout. On down for Cruz, Murphy steal third. Throw not in time. 3-1 count. Pops up to Lewis in shallow right centre, Lewis good strong throw to the plate, runner holds at third, two down. Moreland, intentional walk. Molina now two on and two down. Perfect, grounds to Bautista at third, throw to Overbay for third out. Ray escapes further damage.
Bottom 8th: Wise leading off. 2-1 count, pops up to Murphy in left. One down for Escobar, here comes Washington. Rapada is finished. Darren O’Day now pitching. Escobar needs a good at bat now to redeem his errors. 2-1 count. Bounces one to Kinsler at second throw to first, two down. Bautista 1-1 just foul into left.2-2 count, YES JOSE.. hammers this one into left. 4-2 Rangers. Home run number 44. Wells grounds to third throw to first for third out. Jays have closed to two but need at least two more against Feliz in the 9th.
Top 9th: Downs now pitching. Blanco 2-1 count. Lines it to Escobar at short, one down for Borbon, 2-2 count, bounces to Overbay at first, takes it himself for the second out. Kinsler, 2-1 count, Lines it high into centre to Wise at the wall to make the catch and third out.
Bottom 9th: Last chance for Jays. Feliz now pitching 34 saves. Overbay leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out looking, gotta swing there Lyle, one down for Hill. 0-3 tonight pops up to 0-4 night. Last chance here in Buck. 2-0 count, lines it to Borbon in centre, Texas wins 4-2 but this one was a very sloppy performance by the Jays and it cost the game. Play like this at the weekend and they will be embarrassed by the Rays. Tampa players must have enjoyed watching this one in their hotel rooms.
Good: No not much tonight. With Hill pitching we didn’t expect much and he didn’t disappoint but did not have enough and escaped on several occasions form serious damage. Bautista home run number 44. And Overbay but that was it tonight.
The bad: Jays looked very lax tonight. Number of first pitch outs by Jays hitters tonight. Lousy fielding by Snider, Escobar hitting first pitch after a double play. Snider caught stealing. Mental head errors in my book, get focused and quick. Wise, Escobar, Wells and Hill all hitless tonight.
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