Hot Hill and hits saves Cecil and Encarnacion as Jays win 7-4

Jays v Orioles.

Toronto: Davis, Escobar, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Rivera, Snider, Encarnacion, Arencibia and Cecil pitching. First team line-up today. I like it all except Encarnacion at third. Would much rather see young Lawrie in there for the season.
Baltimore: Roberts, Markakis, Lee, Guerrero, Scott, Jones, Reynolds, Wieters, Hardy and Chris George pitching.

Top 1st: Davis grounds out, Escobar, singles, Bautista singles, two on one down. Lind now bring him in Adam. Strikes out swinging. Can Aaron do it? Way to go Aaron, another double and Jays are up and away 2-0. Hill is becoming a doubles machine. Two yesterday. Rivera, here he goes single to centre but trying to stretch it to two is thrown out at second, Hills scores. Jays lead 3-0 for Cecil to work with.
Bottom 1st: Roberts grounds out, Markakais grounds out to third, two down. Lee, doubles to Snider in left, one on for the big guy. Guerrero. There he goers single to left here comes Lee, 3-1 Jays, Vladdy at first. Luke Scott, watch this guy Cecil two homeruns yesterday. Not this time fly ball to Snider for third out. Guerrero’s spring average is .375… what a steal by Baltimore at $3 million. And with Luke Scott protecting him in the lineup this could be a very different Baltimore this year.

Top 2nd: Snider, leadoff single to left. Encarnacion, oh boy, grounds to second, on to short on to first double play ball. Arencibia fly ball to centre and Jays go very quietly… Not sure Travis will appreciate Encarnacion hitting behind him. Time will tell and hopefully prove me wrong.
Bottom 2nd: Adam Jones leading off, nice bunt back to Cecil and beats throw. Jays not the only team able to play small ball. Reynolds fly ball to Snider but enough for Jones to get to second. Wieters, doubles to left, here comes Jones, 3-2 Jays. Everything going to left today. Cecil not fooling Orioles hitters. Hardy fly ball to Davis in centre, Wieters to third, two down for Roberts. Doubles to Snider in left, here comes Wieters and Cecil has blown that 3-0 lead, he has nothing. Markakis, 3-0 and walks him. Not for long in this game Brett. Two on two down. Derrek Lee, there goes Roberts and steals third easily. Lee singles to centre Roberts scores and Orioles go out ahead 4-3. How to give up a three run lead in two innings, still two on for Guerrero. Lucky Cecil, fly ball to Snider in left to end this but major concerns with Cecil. They were already concerned about mysterious loss of speed, and today is fooling no one. Does he have an injury ? Two innings, six hits and four runs, something wrong with that line.

Top 3rd: Koji Uehara replaces Chris George. Rajai Davis leading off. Goes down swinging, one down for Escobar. Fly ball to Markakis in right, two down for Bautista. Strikes out swinging.
Bottom 3rd: Luke Scott leading off, singles to right, hit number 7 for Orioles. Jones pops up to Hill at second. One down for Mark Reynolds. Pops up to Escobar, two down. Wieters with Scott still at first. Fly ball to Bautista in right and Cecil escapes this time.

Top 4th: Michael Gonzalez now pitching. Lind leading off. Fly ball to Jones in centre. One down for Hill. Fly ball to centre, two down for Rivera. Strikes out swinging. Jays go quietly.
Bottom 4th: Has Farrell seen enough of Cecil ? McCoy now in for Snider in left. Hardy leading off, pops up to Lind at first, one down. Is that the first inning that Cecil has not put the first hitter on base ? Brian Roberts, grounds to third throw to Lind, two down. Markakis, singles to left. Derrek Lee, two down and one on. Doubles to left, Guerrero with two in scoring position. This could be Cecil’s last hitter. Chicken, walks him to load the bases to get to Luke Scott ???? good luck…. He gets it, grounds to Hill at second throw to Lind for third out but Cecil one hit away from further disaster. Now 9 hits.

Top 5th: Hey look who is here? Ex-Jay Kevin Gregg replacing Michael Gonzalez. You know he will be wanting to show them up. He has not had a great spring. Six innings, 11 hits, 11.37 ERA ouch… McCoy leading off, is he bunting? No but gets a walk. Encarnacion, here we go again, grounds to third, on to second on to first, yet another double play his second of the game in two at bats. Hmmmmm. Arencibia, with two down. Strikes out swinging. Well at least Kevin is a happy man. Gets his ERA down to 9.82.
Bottom 5th: Well finally Cecil’s agony is over and so is ours. Purcey now pitching. Cecil 4 innings,9 hits 4 runs, 2 walks and faced 23 hitters, ERA 5.96. Houston we have a rotation problem. Jones leading off, pops up to Hill at second. Reynolds singles to left. Wieters singles to centre, Purcey not much better yet, two on one down, Hardy, grounds to third on to Hill at second to get Wieters, two down. Reynolds at third.

Top 6th: Jason Berken now pitching for Gregg. Pitcher number five today for the Orioles. Rajai Davis, strikes out swinging, one down for Escobar. Watches the third strike, two down for Bautista. Fly ball to Scott in left, Jays hitters anemic today but can you blame them after Cecil ruined that great start?
Bottom 6th: Purcey has to do another. Markakis leading off. Strikes out swinging, Derrek Lee, strikes out swinging, Guerrero fly ball to Davis. Is that the first three up and down inning this game for Baltimore ? Yes it is. Orioles have a dinner date tonight.

Top 7th: Another pitcher Josh Rupe now pitching. Townsend in for Lee at third. Lind at bat and time running out for this hapless lot today. FINALLY gets hold of one and this one is out of here, Adam has a home run, and an opposite field bomb. Jays tie this one up 4-4. Number two for Lind this spring. Hill singles to centre, Aaron one of the bright lights today for Jays offence. They have something going here. Rivera, singles to centre, off Andino at second, but that’s ok, two on and nobody out, rally here ???, three consecutive hits. McCoy, now is the time for that bunt Mike. No the boss wants a hit, single to centre and here comes Aaron, Jays retake the lead 5-4 Jays. Still two on and nobody out. Oh boy it is Encarnacion, two double plays today, probably why Farrell wanted McCoy to hit away. I don’t believe it, Encarnacion grounds to short on to second over to first, double play his THIRD in three at bats today, is that a major league record ???? Please, please Alex trade this guy, package him with Dotel and mail to the Yankees or better still Boston. Arencibia with runner at third, grounds to short throw to first, I am in shock. That is unbelievable. After four consecutive hits, Encarnacion finds a way to ruin the rally.
Bottom 7th: Shawn Camp now in to try to hold this lead. Luke Scott, grounds to Hill over to Lind, one down. Jones grounds to Escobar, throw to first, two down. Reynolds, walks, come on Shawn. Jake Fox hitting. Carlos Rojas pinch running at first. Strikes out swinging. Nice going Shawn.

Top 8th: Top of Jays order. Rupe still pitching for the Orioles. Izturis in for Hardy. Nanita pinch hitting for Bautista singles,. Hill singles and here comes Nanita, 6-4 Jays. Nanita pinch running. Rivera singles here comes Loewen another run Nanita scores, Diaz to second, two on two out. McCoy grounds back to pitcher Dunn. But Jays add two insurance runs here. 7-4. Big question, will Encarnacion hit in the 9th and will he hit into double play? Probably a home run instead…..
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching for Camp. Izturis flies out to McCoy in left. One down for Avery. Grounds to Loewen at first, two down. Andino flies out to Nanita in right. Nice inning Jason.

Top 9th: Here we go… Will Encarnacion try for four? Or will John Farrell give him (and the fans) a break? Clay Rapada pitching. No it is Woodward for Encarnacion, Perales walks. Johnny Mac with two down and one on. Wild pitch, Perales to second. McDonald strikes out swinging.
Bottom 9th: Wes Etheridge? ok your guess is as good as mine. Townsend singles, Pie for Guerrero, grounds to McDonald at third to get Townsend out at second. One down Green singles to left, Figueroa, with two on. Tying run. All right Wes, call it two, Figuero grounds back to Etheridge, on to Diaz at second on to Loewen at first, double play ball to end this one. Jays come back to win 7-4.


Excellent: Hill three hit 3 rbi day…. Excellent. .524 average since his return. He is hot, hot, hot. Jays bullpen after Cecil.
Jays overall: RISP 5-9 despite Encarnacion. That’s much, much better, and many thanks to Hill. However Encarnacion leaves four out there.

The (very) bad: Cecil. Had nothing today and ruined a great start by Jays hitters. Major concern for Jays now. Not only loss of speed but obviously other issues as well.

The awful: Edwin Encarnacion.

Interesting Jays sold out seven games in Dunedin this spring. Attendance up from 52,000 to 68,000. Of course we did have 3 rain outs last year but great sign of renewed interest.