Jays outhit Yankees but fall short as Drabek pitches one to forget

Jays v Yankees. Game two of three.

Jays would love to win this one and take the series, the other incentive is AJ Burnett pitching. Have not won a series in New York since 2003. However would imagine Yankees line up leaving bases loaded and nobody out without scoring. Last night Jays dodged a bullet. Terrible small crowd last night, they must have known something the other fans did not.

Line-ups: Jays: Molina in for Arencibia as Drabek is pitching but otherwise same line-up as last night. Davis, Escobar, Bautista, Lind, Rivera, Cooper, Encarnacion, Molina, McCoy and Drabek pitching.

Yankees: Jeter, Granderson hitting second with A-Rod on the bench, Teixeira, Cano, Swisher hitting behind the hot Cano, Chavez in for A-Rod at 3B, Posada DH today, Martin, Gardner and Burnett pitching. No A-Rod or Andruw Jones but still a very strong line up for Drabek.

Top 1st: Girardi was mentioning the speed and changes in the aggressive play of new Manager Farrell and this guy is the catalyst. Davis leading off. Two stolen bases last night in his first game back from the DL. Big strike zone today judging from first two pitches called strikes ! Davis lines it to centre, over head of Granderson to the wall, Rajai all the way to 3B, leadoff triple. Escobar now. Bounces to Burnett here comes Davis to score 1-0 Jays. Speed kills and Jays using it to their advantage this season. Bautista lines first pitch to left but caught by Gardner. Lind, with two down. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 14.
Bottom 1st: Jeter leading off. Grounds back to Drabek, throw to Lind, one down. Granderson, full count, strikes out swinging, two down. Teixeira, doubles to centre, Davis loses ball in the sun, Cano. Strikes out swinging. 14 pitch count.

Top 2nd: Rivera, singles back up the middle. Cooper first pitch swinging, has to be much more patient, pops up to second. 0-5 now. Encarnacion bounces up the 3B line, no throw, Encarnacion safe at first. That should have had Rivera at third with one out if Cooper had done his job. Molina now with two on. Strikes out swinging over the top, two down for McCoy, strikes out swinging, no contest for McCoy, overpowered by Burnett. 30 pitch count.
Bottom 2nd: Swisher singles to left. Chavez, 3-1 count, ball four. Two on nobody out. Posada, grounds to McCoy flip to Escobar no chance for two. Runner to 3B. One down with two on. Martin, singles up the middle 1-1 game. Two on one down for Gardner. Full count, ball four outside to load the bases for Jeter. Finally Walton out, a little late here Bruce, 2-2 count, full count, fly ball to Davis, here comes the run, 2-1 Yankees two down for Granderson. Singles to left, here comes the run 3-1 Yankees. Teixeira, Jays bullpen working. Villanueva. Strikes out but 49 pitches for two innings just does not cut it today Kyle.

Top 3rd; Jays need a big inning to help Drabek out there. Davis, fly ball to right, one down for Escobar. 3-0 count. Takes it all the way 3-1. Singles to left, one on one down for Bautista. Going the other way, doubles to the corner in right, Escobar to 3B. Lind, now with two in scoring position. Lines to Gardner in left, here comes Escobar 3-2 game. Sac fly for Adam. Jose stays at second for Rivera. Ball in the dirt. There goes Jose, steals third no throw. Pressure on AJ now. Rivera lines to Gardner in left for third out. 48 pitch count.
Bottom 3rd: Cano singles to right. Swisher full count, strikes out, one down. Cano was moving on the pitch and reaches second, Chavez singles to left, 4-2 game. Posada, need a double play here Kyle. Full count wild pitch and runner moves to second. Drabek having a nightmare of a game today. Ball four anyway, two on one down for Martin. 2-2 count, another full count, ball four, Bases loaded. Four walks today for Drabek. Add on the six hits and 72 pitches, he is lucky he is not deeper in the hole than two runs. Gardner, 2-0 count. Singles to left. Here comes Chavez. Bases loaded again 5-2 game that’s it for Drabek. Frasor now pitching, Jeter lines to right, runner holds. Interesting respect for Bautista’s arm. Two down bases still loaded. Granderson. Perfect lines to Bautista in right. Drabek escapes further damage to his ERA but owes Frasor a drink to get him out of that mess.

Top 4th: Jays only 3 down could have been 7 or 8. Now they have to get to Burnett. Cooper, let’s hope he is more patient this time. Takes ball one, that’s a start. 2-0 Pops it up. 0-6 start to his big league career, looks overmatched. Encarnacion full count, Fly ball to Granderson in centre, two down. Molina, first pitch swinging same play to Granderson. Lousy undisciplined hitting by Jays bottom of line-up is not helping their pitchers today.
Bottom 4th: Teixeira leading off. Full count. Ball four. One on for Cano. Strikes out looking. One down for Swisher. Finally ground ball to McCoy to Escobar to Lind, double play. Almost one hour 45 minutes to play four today, very slow game.

Top 5th: Now Frasor has stopped bleeding perhaps Jays can get back into this thing. Perfect McCoy leading off first pitch lines it into left field seats, home run McCoy. 5-3 Jays. Davis perfect, bunts ten feet but safe at first perfect bunt. Jays humming here. Escobar. Now Burnett has to battle with Davis at first. NO, throw over gets Rajai this time. Much too eager. Escobar grounds to second throw to first gets him. Bautista now with two down. See what AJ does here. 2-1 outside. Grounds to Jeter at short, throw gets him at first. Disappointing after promising start there.
Bottom 5th: Camp now pitching, this bullpen is really getting overworked. Chavez, grounds to McCoy throw to Lind one down. Full count. Grounds to Encarnacion throw to Lind, two down. Martin, pops up to McCoy. Much better inning for Jays pitchers, unfortunately Camp cannot pitch every inning every game.

Top 6th: Lind, singles opposite field to left. Rivera, 3-1 count, doubles over the head of Granderson to the wall. Lind had to hold at first until he could see ball going to the wall, otherwise he could have scored here. Cooper now. That will do David, first pitch fly ball to Gardner in left here comes Lind, 5-4 game, Sac fly RBI for Cooper. One down for Encarnacion, Rivera at second. Pitch count 80 now. There goes Rivera ???? out at third on the throw. How does Rivera think he can steal? Encarnacion strikes out on the play, double play to end this one. Jays are battling but do not need to give anything to Yankees.
Bottom 6th: Camp still pitching Gardner strikes out, one down. Jeter, strikes out swinging, two down. Granderson with two down. Pops it up in foul territory Encarnacion drops it, that was catchable, always an adventure with Encarnacion at 3B, full count now. Fly ball to Bautista in right. Edwin is off the hook. Camp another excellent inning.

Top 7th: Chamberlain now pitching. Interesting, Burnett only had 82 pitches. Molina, lines to Gardner in right for first out. McCoy. Pulls it to third, long throw but Chavez gets McCoy. Davis now has to redeem himself for last outing, awful, first pitch grounds to Jeter throw to first for third out. Not much thought behind that at bat.
Bottom 7th: Marc Rzepczynski replaces Camp. Marc another overworked pitcher. Teixeira grounds to Encarnacion at 3B, throw to Lind, one down. Cano, 1-1 count, oh boy, hits him. One on one down. Swisher, perfect pops up to McCoy at second, throw to Lind to get Cano off base double play ball.

Top 8th: Soriano replaces Chamberlain. Escobar leading off, grounds to Chavez at 3B throw to Teixeira at first for the out. Bautista, 2-0 count, 2-2 fly ball to left for the out. Jose cannot be perfect every at bat. Two down for Lind. Singles to Swisher in right. One on two down. Rivera 0-2, 2-2, fly ball out to Swisher to end the rally. Time and at bats running out for Jays.
Bottom 8th: Francisco replaces Repzczynski. Chavez, fouling them off here, seven pitches grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, one down. Posada 2-1 count, fly ball to Rivera in left. Two down, Martin, 0-2 count, grounds to Escobar throw to Lind for third out. Jays are now down to their last three against the other Rivera.

Top 9th: Molina 1-2 count, seven pitches Molina hanging in here. WOW doubles to centre. Eight pitches at bat. Great at bat. Patterson, Pinch runner McCoy now with runner in scoring position. 2-0 count, 2-1 swings on ball three. Whoa that was very low, 2-2 count. Pops up to right. Jays get close but not enough tonight.
The little things add up and today was perfect example for the Jays. Individual plays may appear harmless but in a one run game they are crucial. Drabek takes the loss but deservedly so. April ends with Jays one under .500. Is that good? No. But probably what Alex would have predicted a month ago. Lots of promise in this team but they have to perform.

Good: Davis leadoff triple. Jays outhit Yankees 11-7. McCoy first major league home run. Camp two excellent scoreless innings to hold Yankees. Bullpen five scoreless innings but at what longer term cost? Three more stolen bases. Everybody in starting line up had hits today with Cooper hit being the sac fly rbi. Jays never gave up although they made it difficult for themselves.

The bad: Starting pitching has to go deeper to give bullpen a break. Camp in particular is way overworked so early in season. Lousy base running by Jays. Davis picked off at first and Rivera out at third stealing. Encarnacion dropped ball,

The very bad: Runners in scoring position. Today 0-6. This is the major reason why Jays are where they are right now. It has to get better for them to have a chance at playoff position.
Litsch tomorrow, will have to pitch his heart out for Jays to win the series.

Jays win big 5-3 in New York with Romero and power from Bautista and Arencibia

Jays v Yankees in New York Game one of three.
Facing the Evil Empire this weekend but at least they are arriving in New York on a high after taking three of four from Texas and almost sweeping. No Snider but Rajai Davis back plus David Cooper who played so well in spring and has continued that in Vegas.

Line-ups: Jays: Davis, Escobar, Bautista, Lind, Rivera in left to replace Travis, Encarnacion, Cooper, (DH tonight) Arencibia, McDonald and Romero pitching. Brand new line-up here. Cooper being thrown in the deep end to make his debut at Yankee Stadium, nervous David?
Yankees: Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Jones, Granderson, Martin, Gardner and Garcia pitching.

Top 1st: Davis leading off, great to see Rajai back in line-up. Pops up to Swisher in right. Escobar, singles to Gardner in left. Bautista, singles into left, two on one down for Lind. Pulls it to right, Swisher great running catch with his glove outstretched to save two runs there. That was tough break for Jays. Two down. Rivera, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. 14 pitch count.
Bottom 1st: Jeter leading off. Full count, lines it to right, Bautista makes nice catch, one down for Swisher. Another full count, nubber to third, great play by Encarnacion. Two down for Teixeira pulls it past diving Escobar into left. Rodriguez, 2-2 count, fly ball to Bautista in right but 21 pitch count. Ricky has to get that down, this line-up will grind out those at bats.

Top 2nd: Encarnacion, full count, ball four, Cooper first major league at bat. 2-0 count, 2-2 full count, ball four. At least he gets on base. Two on for Arencibia grounds to Teixeira, one down runners at second and third. McDonald with two in scoring position strikes out swinging. Davis, grounds to Jeter throw to first. Here we go again with runners in scoring position, that was awful. Can’t do this with Yankees. 35 pitch count.
Bottom 2nd: Cano, another full count, ball four. Romero struggling early to get his pitch count down. Not what Farrell wanted from him at all. Jones, that’s better strikes out on three pitches. One down. Granderson, nice to have this guy batting number seven in the order !!! already has seven home runs. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Martin, off the wall in left, almost out of here. Granderson scores 1-0 Yankees. Martin stops at second. Gardner, almost 50 pitches in two innings?? Ricky not long for this one. 3-0 count, full count, grounds to Escobar throw to Lind for the out. 47 pitch count. Not good at all. Jays did not want to go to bullpen this early in the series. Romero has to tighten up or he will be gone before the 5th at this rate.

Top 3rd: Escobar leading off. Full count, ball four. Jays are getting runners on, five to date, but not much luck doing anything with them so far. Bautista, another full count, YES JOSE, gets hold of this one, this one is out of here into left and Jay get into the lead 2-1 just like that. Home run number nine for Jose. No doubt about that. That was hammered. Lind, singles in to right. Rivera fly ball to Gardner in left, one down. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Cooper. Strikes out swinging over ball. 58 pitches for Garcia.
Bottom 3rd: Can Romero now tighten up here? Jeter leading off. Lines to Bautista in right. One down. Swisher, 3-0 come on Ricky. Ball four. Teixeira, playing with fire Ricky. Need a ground ball here. WOW hammers it back at Romero, sticks in his glove. That almost killed him. Reflex catch in the glove knocks him over but gets the out. Two down for A-Rod. 0-2 count, strikes out, AND 12 pitch inning. Much better. 59 pitch count.

Top 4th: Arencibia first pitch, WOW !! this one is out of here no doubt about that into left field seats. 3-1 Jays. McDonald grounds to Davis, that’s better singles into shallow right centre. Now some speed will he steal. Escobar, there he goes Rajai steals second. Garcia now has to worry about something else here. Plus Bautista on deck. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Bautista 2-0 count, base open, 3-0, intentional ball four. Lind with two on and two down. 2-0 count, may load them up for Rivera. Ball three not giving Adam anything. Two intentional walks wow. Rivera with bases loaded 1-1 count, 1-2, 2-2, strikes out looking, ouch Juan that was huge, surely a swing with two strikes. 83 pitch count for Garcia. Jays have left so many on base (nine) already tonight. This could haunt them later. 0-7 with runners in scoring position
Bottom 4th: Ricky now with a good lead. Cano 2-2 count. Oh dear. Lines this one into right field seats 3-2 Jays. Jones, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Granderson, does not get any easier. 1-2 count, strikes out, two down. Martin, grounds to Escobar for third out. 77 pitches. May just get into the sixth.

Top 5th: Encarnacion off the end of his bat in front of the plate, Martin throw Teixeira to get him. Cooper pops up to Cano at second. Two down. Arencibia full count, singles to left. Johnny Mac. Just foul, that was close. 2-2 count, 99 pitch count, Robertson working in bullpen. Full count. Pops up to in Gardner in left.
Bottom 5th: Ricky wants to be careful here with pitch count try to get into the sixth. Garcia is out of game. Gardner leading off. 0-2 count, grounds up the middle great diving save by Johnny Mac, but safe on throw, highlight reel play. One on for Jeter, bunting great bunt safe at first. That was a mess Romero, Arencibia and Encarnacion all three go for the ball. Ricky gets it but probably better for JP. Two on nobody out. Swisher. 1-2 count. 2-2, NO. Lines it at Encarnacion, drops the ball then throws it away bases loaded. Errors on Encarnacion. Teixeira pops up to Escobar, great catch and throw back to keep runner at third. One down for A-Rod bases still loaded. Grounds to Escobar throw to Johnny Mac at second on to Lind at first, double play ball. WOW the great escape for Ricky. 92 pitch count. That was superb with nobody out and bases loaded.

Top 6th: Robertson now pitching, Davis 3-0 ball four. Great. Speed on base again. Escobar, ball one, conference on mound, the usual Yankee timewasters. There goes Rajai grounds to second no chance for double play ball, Escobar out at first, Bautista now with runner at second, there goes Rajai and beats the throw safe at 3rd. 3-1 count, Jose will get nothing to hit here. Full count. There`s ball four, poor guy 28 walks this month in April club record. Lind now. Ball one, 1-2, strikes out swinging high ball. Two down. Rivera, 1-1, OHHHHH no Bautista going, Robertson hesitating thinking Davis going then throws away into centre Davis scores, 4-2 Jays. Jose at second, 2-2 count, full count. Oh Juan, singles into left, here comes Jose and slides past throw 5-2 Jays. Encarnacion, strikes out looking.
Bottom 6th: Cano, 3-0 come on Ricky, you don’t need this`, you have used up your lives last inning. Ball four. Jones 1-2 count. Dotel !!! working in Jays bullpen. Strikes out for third time against Ricky tonight. One down. Granderson. 0-2 count, strikes out for third time also. Martin, 2-2 count. Casey Janssen warming up. Lines to Bautista in right. 109 pitch count.

Top 7th: Cooper leading off, one walk tonight, would love a hit here. Buddy Carlyle now pitching. First pitch lines to centre Granderson. Need to be a bit more patient David. Arencibia, 1-2 count, strikes out looking, two quick outs for Carlyle. Johnny Mac. 0-3 tonight. 3-1 count, wants to get on somehow. Full count, pops up to Gardner in left.
Bottom 7th: Janssen now pitching. Gardner, 3-1 count, careful Casey. Full count, ball four. Jeter 2-2 count. Full count. Grounds to Escobar throw to Lind one down. Gardner was running in play but I don’t think they would have had two. Swisher now, 0-2, Swisher does not like that call. Nice pitch, strike three, two down for Teixeira. Camp up in bullpen. 1-2 count, 2-2, whoa great breaking ball outside to get him swinging and missing and leave two out there. Nice pitching Casey. Boston and Tampa both losing.

Top 8th: Top of the order. Davis who has had a great return tonight, Adds so much to this Jays offense. Chamberlain now pitching. 0-2, grounds to Cano at second, throw to first, one down. Escobar 0-2, Bautista two walks and two hits. 1-2 count this time, grounds to Jeter throw to first.
Bottom 8th: Camp now pitching. Patterson now in for Rivera, and McCoy in for Encarnacion. Cano, OH NO! First pitch line drive into right field seats. 5-3 game. Chavez pinch hitting. Grounds to second throw to Lind for the first out. Granderson, grounds to Johnny Mac bobbles it and Granderson safe. That`s it for Camp. Here comes oh no, Dotel. Dotel gave up that home run last time out. One on one down for Martin. 3-0, does this guy have it anymore. Takes it all the way. Ball four. Gardner, 2-0 Dotel does not have it (again) tonight, 2-2, full count. Ball four. If anyone needs a bus ticket to Vegas it is Dotel. Bases loaded for Jeter. 0-2, 2-2, strikes out swinging, two down but bases still loaded for Swisher. That`s it for Dotel, leaving the mess for Jon Rauch. WHOA grounds first pitch to Lind to take it himself for third out. Jays have been living on the edge all night long. They need more breathing room insurance here.

Top 9th: Boone Logan now pitching. Lind leading off. Strikes out swinging. McCoy, grounds to Jeter, long throw just gets him, two down. Patterson, nice, singles into right. Cooper, what a chance here for him for first hit. Connects, but long fly ball to Granderson in centre.
Bottom 9th: Teixeira, A-Rod and Cano, Jays certainly do it the hard way. Rauch back out there. Tampa and Boston have lost but Baltimore hammer White Sox in Chicago. Teixeira fly ball to Patterson in left. A-Rod, grounds to McCoy at third. But here comes Cano. Two home runs already. This is it, pops up to Davis in centre. Jays win big to knock off the Yankees 5-3.

Some weird and wonderful plays tonight but Jays had so many wasted chances to demolish Yankees.
The very good: Bautista two run home run. Arencibia, home run. Davis single and stolen base. Incredible catch by Romero off Teixeira blast right at him. Romero seven strikeouts but high pitch count early innings. Rauch to finish off the heart of Yankees order last four outs. Swisher, Teixeira, A-Rod and Cano. Three stolen bases two for Davis, welcome back Rajai.
Very bad: 2nd inning two in scoring position and one down, could not score. Dotel two consecutive walks to load bases. 1-10 with runners in scoring position. That is awful.

Jays win big in the 9th behind strong outing from Morrow

Jays v Rangers. Game four of four.

Tough loss for Jays last night but they played very well and could have easily won it. 14 hit attack with Rivera home run, great bullpen pitching .

Line-ups: Jays: McCoy, leading off today giving Escobar a day off. Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Rivera, Encarnacion, Snider, Molina, McDonald and Morrow pitching.
Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Young, Beltre, Cruz, Moreland, Napoli, Davis, Borbon and Ogando pitching. Orgando is 3-0 for the first month of the season.

Top 1st: McCoy strikes out swinging, one down for Patterson. Strikes out on three pitches. Two down for Bautista. 2-2 count, keeping it away from Jose if he can hold up. Ball four, another walk for Jose. Lind now can he make Ogando pay ? Wild pitch by Ogando, Jose to second. Whoa…. Adam turns on this one into right field seats and Jays go out ahead 2-0. Very nice Adam, does he ever love Texas. Rivera now singles to third, continues his own torrid hitting in Texas, now 7 for 12. Wow…. Is this the same guy that we saw in Toronto? Encarnacion, fly ball out to Borbon in centre but Jays get a lead for Morrow to work with. 25 pitch count for Ogando.

Bottom 1st: Kinsler, grounds to Johnny Mac playing short today. One down. Andrus, singles to Snider in left. Young, strikes out, Andrus steals second. Beltre singles to Patterson in centre, Andrus scores. 2-1 Jays. Cruz fly ball to Bautista in right to end the inning and leave Beltre out there.

Top 2nd: Snider, strikes out swinging. Molina, strikes out, MacDonald fly ball to Cruz in left. A quick inning for Orgando.
Bottom 2nd: Moreland strikes out, Napoli, another strike out. Number three for Morrow. Davis, ball four walks. Borbon , grounds to McCoy on to McDonald to get Davis at second.

Top 3rd: McCoy strikes out for the second time today. Patterson, strikes out also for the second time. Bautista, pops up to first, quick inning for Orgando.
Bottom 3rd: Kinsler singles to right. Andrus hitting, there goes Kinsler steals second. Manager Washington obviously thinks this will be a tight game and get the runs anyway they can today. Grounds to McCoy throw to Lind, one down. Kinsler to third, that steal was big. Young with runner at third. 3-1 count, sac fly to Bautista, here comes the run. 2-2 game. Two down for Beltre. Singles to Johnny Mac. at short. Cruz, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging but long inning for Morrow now at 58 pitch count.

Top 4th: Orgando also on 57 pitch count. Lind battling here fouling them off, strikes out looking. Rivera with average at .222 now. 202 count. Ball four, on base yet again for Juan. Encarnacion now 3-1 count, Orgando having problem finding strike zone or Jays hitters are more patient. Pops this one up to Kinsler in foul territory. Two down. Snider, this guy badly needs to get going. There you go Travis singles opposite field to left, that’s a start. Rivera to second on the play. Molina, with two on grounds to Beltre at third throw to second to get Snider to end this rally.
Bottom 4th: Moreland battling Morrow here, grounds back to Morrow, safe at first, error on the play by Morrow. Eight pitch at bat. Napoli with one on. Fly ball to Patterson in center, one down. Davis, 2-2 count, fly ball to Snider in left. Two down. That pitch count getting high. Now 75, Brandon needs a couple of quick innings or someone will be long relief again today. Borbon at bat. Strikes out 79 pitch count.

Top 5th: McDonald leading off, Orgando on 73 pitches also. Both bullpens will be working soon. Fly ball to Cruz in left, one down for McCoy, bunting, why oh why Mike? grounds out to Davis at first, two quick outs. Patterson. Grounds to Davis at first. Six pitch inning, drives me crazy. McCoy in particular after hitting well the last two games, does not need to bunt. How do you think Morrow feels watching that.
Bottom 5th: Kinsler, doubles to Snider in left. Andrus with runner in scoring position. OH VERY NICE Molina has Kinsler picked off at second, great throw. Andrus full count, lines out to Bautista in right, two down. Young, fly ball to Bautista to end this one. Molina gets the gold star. Pitch count 90. He should get one more inning in at least.

Top 6th: Bautista leading off. Orgando on 79 pitches. 2-0 count, Jose getting used to this. There we go Bautista singles to Cruz in left. Lind now with runner on base. Another 2-0 count. Grounds to Kinsler at second no chance to get Jose at second, throw to Davis to get Lind. Rivera with runner in scoring position, time to break this thing open Juan. Another 2-0 count, the older guys showing the newbies how it should be done to take pitches. 3-1 count, ball four. Another great at bat by Rivera. Two on one down for Encarnacion. Pops up to Beltre at third base. Two down for Snider. Is he ever due for a big hit. Fly ball to Moreland in right. A promising inning comes to nothing. Travis remaining in the big leagues must be one major headache now for Manager Farrell, what does he do with him?
Bottom 6th: Beltre fly ball to Bautista, one down. Cruz, strikes out, two down. Morrow still throwing 93-94mph. Moreland, 0-2 count, battling here, singles to Bautista on his seventh pitch. Napoli with two down and one on. 2-2 count, this will be Brandon’s last hitter whatever happens here. He is way over 100 pitch count now. Right on cue, pops up to McCoy at second to end this. 107 pitches for his day’s work. Did a good job keeping Jays in this.

Top 7th: Cody Eppley now pitching. Molina. Ouch, gets hit by pitch that’s a good way to start. Johnny Mac. Bunting, lousy bunt, throw to second to get Molina, easy out, come on Johnny Mac what are you thinking with slow runner Molina out there. McCoy, strikes out. Two down for Patterson, also hitless today. That’s it for Eppley, Pedro Strop now pitching. Ball four two on for Bautista. Whoa… another hit batsman, is that a farewell to Jose…That hurt. But Jose seems to be ok. Jays will remember that one. Bases loaded for Lind. Really battling here, fouling them off, full count on nine pitches. Wow gets him on pitch number ten. That was one great at bat. Leaves the bases loaded though.
Bottom 7th: I wonder if Kinsler will get hit this inning send out Dotel for one pitch John.….. Davis leading off, Borbon and Kinsler to bat. Rzepczynski yet again, he is really getting overworked. Davis flies out to Patterson in centre. One down for Borbon, strikes out. Two down for Kinsler. Pitching change, honest I did not plan this. Frasor… will he plunk Kinsler? Go Jason. One pitch. 0-2 count, pops up to Encarnacion at third to end this inning. The plunk will be later.
Top 8th: Strop still pitching. Rivera leading off, fly ball to left but Cruz has it, one down for Encarnacion, 2-0 count, grounds to Andrus at second throw to first, two down. Snider and maybe his last chance today. 0-2 count, fly ball to Cruz. Sayonara Travis.

Bottom 8th: Frasor still pitching. Andrus, singles to centre. Here we go…. Hang on here. Young, 2-2 count, come on Jason. That’s better lines out to Bautista, one down. Beltre, fly ball to Patterson in centre, two down. Runner Andrus holds. Cruz, now Andrus goes and steals second. Come on Jason 3-1 count. Ball four, come on. Two on two down. Moreland we saw what he could do. Manager Farrell agrees, end of the day for Frasor, here comes ex-Ranger Francisco. He should know what these guys do not like. 2-2 count, double steal here both safe. Here comes pitching coach Walton, what did he say? Strike three that will definitely do. Way to go Franky.

Top 9th: This is it for Jays now. Oliver now pitching. Molina leading off, grounds to Beltre at third throw to first for Davis, one down. Johnny Mac not a great game for him today so far. That’s better singles to Borbon in centre. One on one down for McCoy, no Escobar pinch hitting. Good because McCoy’s last at bat was awful. There we go way to go Yunel, lines to Moreland in right, Johnny Mac all the way to third. Jays have something going again and the top of the order to do it. Stay out of that double play. Patterson, bunting and oh what a great bunt up the first base line, both Oliver and Davis going for it and here comes Johnny Mac to score and Patterson with that speed gets to first. 3-2 Jays the first run since that first inning hours ago. And look who is at bat, Bautista now with two on and one down. The last time they plunked him, surely not twice. Here comes the pitching coach, do not give this guy anything to hit. Ten thousand fans in the stadium would tell him the same. Keeping it away from him and there we go ball four. Bautista walks, surprise, surprise. Lind now with bases loaded once again. Strike one, two and three, whoa….. two down. Rivera grounds to Beltre at third, oh he muffs it, and here comes Escobar to score, 4-2 Jays on the error, oh no Bautista is coming to third and he now realises Patterson is there, retreats and throw to second goes into the outfield, here comes Patterson 5-2 game. Wow, I have never seen that before. Not only was Bautista was so lucky to get back to second but another run scores and the crowd is streaming to the exits. Bautista makes things happen out there one way or the other !! but in truth that was a mental error by Jose. Encarnacion now can he bring them in and make this a rout? Fly ball to Borbon but Jays have broken this thing open 5-2.
Bottom 9th: Escobar stays in the game at short, MacDonald to second. Bye bye Mike McCoy. Francisco still pitching out there. Farrell wants to see what he can do as a closer. Napoli strikes out swinging. Not much doubt about those pitches. Davis, strike three, you can see that Francisco is not letting this one get away especially against his old team. Down to their last at bat, Borbon, lines hard to first Lind hangs on to it and Jays steal one but this was well earned they have been dominant in all four games. Last night they had winning run on base.

A tremendous 3-1 series for the Jays here in Arlington. Coming in Sunday evening this could have been turning point in the season if they had lost all four which was a great possibility. Instead they take three from a team that had only lost two at home throughout April. Emergence of Rivera with a great series here. Pitching was good all round including Reyes. Bullpen now even stronger with Francisco settling into the closer role. With Rauch as set up and the six seven innings pitchers Jays have a very strong bullpen. Jays looking good heading into New York riding on confidence.

The good: Lind home run to get the Jays going in the first inning and continue his great hitting in Arlington. Rivera single in the first to keep his hot streak going.
The bad: The 5th inning Jays hitters giving Orgando a quick six pitch inning and McCoy in particular but Patterson also not taking their time. They still have a lot to learn about going deep into a count and making pitcher work for that out and situational hitting. They should watch Juan Rivera at work and learn. Snider what is to be done with him? Hard to sit him when they go into Yankee Stadium next but his time to turn it around is limited. Johnny Mac bunting with Molina, yes Molina at first. Lind leaving six on base in his last two at bats. Ouch Adam….

Jays outhit Rangers but fall short in the ninth.

Jays v Rangers. Game three of four.

Sunday evening it looked difficult for Jays to win series in Texas, but they have two chances now and will be trying tonight. Rangers not happy with losing two when they had only lost two at home before Jays arrived.

Line-ups: Jays: Escobar, McCoy, Bautista, Lind, Rivera (DH), Encarnacion, Snider, Arencibia, Patterson and Jo Jo Reyes pitching. No Johnny Mac, too bad when he has been playing so very well. McCoy had better produce tonight. I like Patterson at number nine, will provide Escobar with some better pitches if he gets on.
Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Young, Beltre, Cruz, Napoli, Murphy, Torrealba, Moreland and Holland pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar, fly ball to Murphy in centre. McCoy, 2-2 count, good start loops it into shallow centre. Bautista, fly ball to left centre, Murphy. Two down for Lind. Doubles it into left, here comes McCoy, out at home plate. Looked like a good bet but the throw from left comes straight to the plate and misses the cut off which would have helped McCoy. But once again base running mishaps for the Jays. Pitch count 13.
Bottom 1st: Reyes really needs his best stuff tonight against this line-up. Kinsler, fly ball to Bautista in right, one down. Andrus, fly ball to right, Bautista same play. Young grounds to Lind, takes it himself. Eight pitch inning for Reyes, nice start.

Top 2nd: Rivera leading off. His average just below Snider, this last week Juan has started to heat up. He was hitting .098 last Friday. 3-0 count, ball four. Encarnacion back in line-up at 3B. Takes ball one, that is what I like after a four pitch walk, 2-0, count full, lines to Murphy in centre, nine pitch at bat for Edwin. Snider, singles to right and Rivera goes all the way to 3B. Arencibia, am still waiting for this guy to get going. Oh boy, grounds to short, steps on second over to first double play ruins this inning. Pitch count 31.You cannot keep giving the runs away with this Texas line-up.
Bottom 2nd: Beltre, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Lind, one down. Cruz, grounds to hole between short and third great play by Escobar but throw not in time. One on for Napoli, perfect, grounds to Encarnacion smooth throw to second on to first double play ball. Very nice play. 20 pitches.

Top 3rd: Patterson leading off. Jays have threatened first two innings; can they finish it off this time? Perfect, dribbler past the pitcher and his speed gets him safe. Escobar, with speed at first, and Holland throwing over to keep him there. Jays hidden weapon this season and for many to come with all the speed in the minors. 3-1, Holland distracted here. Grounds to third but no chance for double play with Patterson’s speed, safe at second throw to first for the out. Runner in scoring position for McCoy. Holland can see Bautista on deck... pressure... 3-1 count, has to come to McCoy or face Jose. Ball four, good luck. Bautista with runners at first and second. 2-0 count, this one into the seats but foul in left. 3-1 count. Whoa this IS pressure with Lind on deck. Walk him not with Lind there. Full count. Lucky, fan takes away pop up at third from Beltre. Ball four to load them up. Lind with bases loaded. This will do it though, fly ball to left and Patterson scores 1-0 Jays. Rivera now two down two on. Singles to centre, here comes McCoy, 2-0 Jays. Encarnacion with two on, two down. Pops up to second to end this but Jays finally get to some runs. Pitch count 57. That fan in front row at 3B who took pop up ball away from Cruz will not be popular.
Bottom 3rd: Murphy lines first pitch right at Escobar, thanks very much, one down. Torrealba, grounds to third, great save and throw by Encarnacion, Lind misses it, error to Edwin, that seems unfair from here, runner safe at first. Moreland strikes out two down. Should be three. Kinsler wild pitch, Torrealba to second. Kinsler ball four, two on two down. Andrus singles to left. Torrealba scores, 2-1 game. Two in scoring position as Andrus goes to second on throw. Young doubles to Snider in left, here comes Kinsler and Andrus 3-2 Texas. Beltre, Reyes hits him. Bases loaded. Tough for Reyes he should be out of the game long ago without that throwing error. Cruz singles here comes Young, Beltre to third. 4-2 game. Napoli doubles to left, here comes two more 6-2 Texas. That’s it for Reyes, tough, when he could have been out of it without any runs scored. Murphy grounds to McCoy throw to Lind for final out, very tough for Reyes there. 6-2 game though.

Top 4th: Snider strikes out. Arenciba singles to left. Patterson grounds to second, Arencibia out at second Patterson at first. Two down. Escobar singles to centre, Patterson to third. McCoy singles to right, here comes Patterson. 6-3 game. Bautista with two on and two down, perfect Jose doubles to the wall in left here come two, 6-5 game. It is not always the home runs that do the damage. Lind now with Jose at second, Bullpen working for Rangers. Lines it down first base line great save by Napoli throw to pitcher for the out.
Bottom 4th: Villanueva still out there. Torrealba, full count, pops up to Arencibia, one down. Moreland, 3-1 count, grounds to Lind, throw to Villanueva, nice play Adam. Two down. Kinsler, 3-1 count, ball four, one on for Andrus. Kinsler stealing throw not in time. 2-2 count, full count. Grounds to Lind, throw to Villanueva.

Top 5th: Holland still out there on 81 pitches. Rivera fly ball to centre, one down for Encarnacion. 3-0, full count. Doubles over the head of Cruz, another seven pitch at bat for Edwin, Snider, awful grounds to first Napoli, runner to third. Two down. Now Arencibia, can he bring him in and tie this one up. Just a single will do JP. 0-2 strikes out looking, have to swing there boyo. Jays leave yet another at third.
Bottom 5th: Young leading off. Grounds to McCoy at second, throw to Lind for the out. Beltre, grounds to Escobar at short, long throw to Lind to get him, two down. Cruz, fly ball to Patterson in centre. Nice inning for Villanueva.

Top 6th: 97 pitches for Holland, Patterson leading off. Bounces up the middle and once again his speed saves him safe at first. That didn’t get out of the infield, Corey is FAST. But that’s it for Holland. 100 pitches. Cody Eppley now pitching, Escobar now with runner at first. There goes Patterson throw down and out at second. But definitely the right move to run. Full count, pulls it to third, throw to first two down for McCoy. On base three times with walk and two singles. 2-2 count, grounds to second throw just beats him at first. Boston has lost to Baltimore, Tampa beating the Twins and Yankees have won. Jays need a win tonight.
Bottom 6th: Napoli, 2-2 count, full count, nubber six feet away, Arencibia throw gets him at first, one down. Murphy, they are stretching out Villanueva here 45 pitches grounds to second throw to first for second out. Torrealba, 1-2 count. Fly ball to Bautista in right. Villanueva has done great job here but that might be his last inning.

Top 7th: Bautista leading off. Grounds back to pitcher Eppley, throw to first one down for Lind. 2-2 count, fly ball to centre, two down for Rivera. YESSSSSS Juan, this one is way out of here in left, hoe run Juan, and this game is all tied up again 6-6. Encarnacion can he go back to back? Same place but Edwin gets under it for the fly ball out to Cruz in left.
Bottom 7th: Dotel now pitching. Sorry Jim. Moreland leading off, lines this one to centre, this one is out of here onto that grass. Home run Moreland. He was sitting on that pitch. 7-6 Texas. I hear you Jim. Kinsler, pops up to Escobar. Andrus, pops up to McCoy in shallow centre, two down. Young, 3-1 count, ball four. Beltre, pops it up shallow right Bautista has it to end the inning but Jays playing catch up again.

Top 8th: Arthur Rhodes now pitching. Snider leading off. 2-0 count, long time since Travis had a home run. Not this time long fly ball out to centre. One down for Arencibia, 2-2 count, ball three, fly ball to left, two down. Patterson, 2-3 tonight. 3-1 count, ball four. Escobar now with one on. Grounds weakly to short force at second to get Patterson. Jays running out of at bats.
Bottom 8th: Dotel still pitching. Cruz off the end of his bat in front of the plate, throw by Arencibia to Lind, one down. Napoli, 2-2 count, strikes out on high fast ball. Two down for Murphy, that’s it for Dotel. Rzepczynski now pitching. Poor guy he is being overworked these days. 3-1 count. Grounds to Lind takes it himself for third out. Last chance for Jays now.

Top 9th: McCoy leading off. He has certainly been getting good pitches with Bautista behind him. Darren Oliver now pitching. Strikes out swinging. Pressure now on Jose. Mound conference. Pops up to Beltre at 3B, two down Adam you are the last chance here. Pitching him away, singles into right. Adam has done his part. Johnny Mac pinch running. Rivera now. 5-10 this series. That will do, lines it to left Murphy unable to hold on to it, runners at the corners for Encarnacion. Woodward pinch running for Rivera. 2-2, Encarnacion strikes out, that was another nine pitch at bat by Edwin, but just short this time.
The error cost Jays bigtime tonight.

The good: SPEED... Patterson in particular tonight. Villanueva 3.1 scoreless innings and 51 pitches to keep Jays in this one after that six run third. Reyes had good two and two thirds innings, not his fault with the error, he would have been out of that inning with no runs scored. Rivera three hit game and average now .210 !!! 6-11 in the series 2 hr five rbis. Encarnacion at bats, wore them down each at bat fouling so many off each time. All the starters get a hit tonight.

The bad: Arencibia double play ball in second ruins Jays inning. Dotel home run when Jays had clawed their way back to tie it up. And of course the big error on throw by Encarnacion which lead to six runs.

Jays played Rangers tough one again this game and should be pleased with that.

One more chance for the series tomorrow with Morrow pitching.

Lind powers Jays to another win in Arlington behind fine outing by Litsch.

Jays v Rangers in Arlington, Texas. Game two of four.

Great win last night for Jays but Harrison should be tougher match up tonight and Litsch of course is an unknown quantity. How will he react on his return to the big leagues.

Line-ups: Jays: Escobar Patterson Bautista, Lind, Rivera, Arencibia, Snider, McDonald, McCoy and Litsch pitching.
Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Young, Beltre, Cruz, Murphy, Torrealba, Davis, Borbon and Harrison pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar, singles to right. One on for Patterson, bunting, back to Harrison and safe on throw, two on nobody out for guess who. Bautista ball four to load them up for Lind, Adam singles to right, here comes Escobar 1-0 Jays. Harrison in deep trouble already. Rivera, 3-0 count, ball four. Here comes Patterson. 2-0 Jays. Bases still loaded. Arencibia full count. Ball four, here comes Bautista, another run and bases still loaded. 3-0 Jays. Snider ok Travis. your turn here. Grounds to third steps on base and throw to first double play but run scores 4-0. Two down Arencibia at second. McDonald, 2-2 count. Singles to centre, here comes Arencibia 5-0 Jays. McCoy, Johnny Mac stealing and safe on the throw. Lines to Murphy in left for third out but Jays hit around. 30 pitch inning with three walks for Harrison. Not what he expected tonight,
Bottom 1st: Kinsler leading off, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Lind, one down. Andrus, grounds back to Litsch, throw to Lind two down. Young, grounds to McCoy at third, throw to Lind 11 pitch inning. Exactly what Jesse had to do.

Top 2nd: Escobar, lines this hard right at Davis at first, one down for Patterson 1-2 count, pops up to Beltre at 3B. Bautista now, did not get much in first inning. Swinging away this at bat, pops it up to Beltre, that was not a good at bat by Jose. Nine pitch inning for Harrison.
Bottom 2nd: Beltre, lines it to centre for Patterson, one down. Cruz. Full count. Pops up to MacDonald, two down. Murphy, lines it to right, Bautista misses this one off the wall and Murphy at second. That was an out Jose. Must have lost it in the background. Torrealba, singles to centre, throw by Patterson not in time 5-1 Jays. Davis, doubles over Snider off the wall in left, two in scoring position. Borbon, singles to centre, both runners score, 5-3 game. That ball dropped by Bautista is huge. Kinsler, lines to Snider for the out. Jose owes Jesse big-time. Same pitch count as Harrison.

Top 3rd: Jays hitters need to give Jesse some insurance again. Lind yes Adam, drives it over the opposite field wall in left, home run Lind. 6-3 Jays. Rivera lines it to wall in left, Arencibia, long overdue for JP. Base hits will be fine, JP. That`s what I mean lines it to left and Rivera gets to third on the play. Great decoy by Rivera, looked as if he was stopping at second and when Murphy throws to second he takes off for third. Snider singles into left, here comes the run 7-3 here comes Arencibia out on throw at third base, that was dumb play JP. One down with Travis at first. McDonald, Texas bullpen working. 2-2 count, lines to Cruz in right, two out. McCoy, strikes out. Jays get two back for Jesse. 61 pitches for Harrison.
Bottom 3rd: Andrus, grounds to McDonald, throw to Lind one down. Young, same play off the end of his bat to McDonald, two down. Beltre, singles to Snider in left. Cruz lines first pitch to McDonald at second. 47 pitches for Litsch. Nice inning Jesse, he needed to stop them right there and quickly to get his hitters back out there.

Top 4th: Top of the Jays order for third time tonight. Escobar, new pitcher Brett Tomko. Grounds to third, Beltre nice play to get Escobar at first. Patterson. Very nice Corey, doubles it into right field corner. Bautista now. Wild pitch and Patterson moves to third. 3-1 being careful with Jose. Ball four, another walk to Jose. Lind now with two on and one down. Delayed steal play here, first pitch turns on this one this in second deck in right field and Jays 10-3 game. WOW. Adam on fire. Rivera. grounds to short throw to first two down. Arencibia, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging.
Bottom 4th: Murphy, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, one down. Torrealba 2-2 count, left this one up, singles back up the middle, that was lousy pitch Jesse. Davis lines it at Jesse, knocks it down and still able to throw Davis out at first. Two down. Borbon, 2-2 count lines hard right at Johnny Mac. for third out.

Top 5th: Snider, if only Travis could get hot like Adam. That would be something to see this season. Lines this high and hard to right but caught at the wall. One down. McDonald, high fly ball to left for second out. McCoy, lines it to second.
Bottom 5th: Kinsler 3-1 count, ball four, Andrus, perfect grounds to Escobar steps on second throw to Lind, double play. Two down for Young, strikes out.

Top 6th: Escobar, lines it high to centre for the out. Patterson, strikes out, two down for Bautista. Doubles over the head of Murphy in left, to the wall. Lind now, will he pitch around Adam here, five RBIs night already. Not this time, grounds to first for the out.
Bottom 6th: Beltre, grounds back to Jesse, great stop and throw for the out. Very nice play Jesse. Cruz, 3-1 Jesse not getting that inside pitch, full count. Ball four but looked like a strike. That was tough. Murphy, fly ball to Patterson, two down. Torrealba, lines it to left corner wall, Cruz at third. Torrealba at first. Davis, fly ball to Snider in left for final out. Jesse on 93 pitches. That could be it as Janssen warming up in bullpen. Baltimore has beaten Boston.

Top 7th: Rivera, lines it to Borbon in centre, one down for Arencibia, full count, drives it to Borbon in centre, two down. Snider, 3-0 count, ball four. McDonald, two down one on. Strikes out swinging. Travis left out there again. He must wish he were hitting in front of Bautista. Actually not a bad idea and switch with Patterson. Yankees lose for second time against White Sox. Tampa game in Minnesota postponed. Important one for Jays to win here.
Bottom 7th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Borbon leading off. GREAT play, grounds to McDonald scoops it to Lind for the out. Very, very close call. One down, Kinsler, strikes out swinging, two down. Andrus singles to centre. Young, grounds to MacDonald at second throw to Lind for third out.

Top 8th: McCoy leading off. Hitless tonight. And again drives it hard to the wall in left centre but Borbon makes the catch at the wall. Escobar, lines it hard off glove of short stop Andrus. Error to Andrus. Patterson, strikes out swinging, two down. Bautista 2-2 count. Strikes out, disagrees with umpire.
Bottom 8th: Francisco now pitching. Napoli, fly ball to Patterson in centre, one down. Moreland full count, ball four. Murphy, first pitch fly ball to Snider in left, two down. Teagarden, grounds to Escobar throw to second for third out.

Top 9th: Lind, 3-4 night, Darren O Day pitching, submariner. Grounds to second, throw to first one down for Rivera, pulls first pitch into left. Hit number two for Juan tonight. Arencibia, full count, strikes out swinging, two down. Snider, grounds to second throw to first.
Bottom 9th: Camp now pitching. Davis, doubles off the wall in left, nice play by Travis but throw not in time. Borbon, singles to centre. Davis holds at third. Kinsler, two on nobody out. Perfect pops up to Escobar, no chance for runners to move up. Andrus, even better grounds to Escobar, flip to Johnny Mac throw to Lind double play to end this big-time win for Jays tonight and take first two from Texas. Who would have thought that?

The very good: Has to be Lind and Litsch tonight. Jesse pitching six and Adam with the two home runs and 5 RBIs. The win is huge for many reasons, in Texas who were 10-2 at home before Jays arrived. Lind and his hot bat has changed the way opposing pitchers will now be pitching to Bautista. No one will be pitching around him now to get to Adam. Rivera also now coming around adds another big bat in lineup. Injured players Davis and Encarnacion will be back this week adding power to the lineup and also the speed of Davis at the top can cause havoc as we have already seen since day 1 of this season. Two more games left in Arlington but at least Jays cannot lose the series.

The good: The rest of the Jays hitters who joined in the celebration. All the starting line-up except McCoy had a hit tonight and fair to say that McCoy was robbed of at least one hit. The bullpen once again closing down Texas after Jesse left. Janssen, Francisco and Camp three scoreless innings.
The not so good: Bautista not catching the line drive by Murphy in the second inning was three run difference and many more pitches for Jesse. Arencibia base running error in third inning.

Tomorrow Jo Jo Reyes pitching.

Jays erupt for six with home run power and win with fine pitching

Jays v Rangers in Texas. Game one of four.

A rough road trip ahead for the Jays and one that could have huge impact on their season if they go 3-7 for example they will be seven under .500 and a huge hole to climb out of in unforgiving division. Texas, Yankees and Tampa for ten on the road is not easy trip. Add in the Jays hitting slump and the injuries to Davis, Hill, Encarnacion and Nix and it does not look good this week. On the other hand they could go on a much needed tear. Hang on for a crazy ride.

Line-ups: Jays: Escobar back in leadoff which I personally prefer him to be, Patterson is not a leadoff, is much too impatient at bat, and does not take pitches gladly. Patterson hitting second, Bautista, Lind and that is basically the hitters right now. Not much pop elsewhere. Rivera almost there, tantalisingly so in my book at least, showed signs in Toronto of coming out of that awful slump and his batting average is slowly climbing. Perhaps Arlington will be his stage. Molina always a threat to hit, Snider having an awful stretch as well, McDonald, Chris Woodward starting tonight his first this season, and Drabek pitching. Jays really need a great outing from him tonight. Encarnacion evidently ok for pinch hitting if needed. Davis rehabbing may be back soon. Could be activated tomorrow if all goes well tonight. None too early.

Texas line-up: Kinsler, Andrus, Young, Beltre, Cruz, Murphy,Torrealba, Moreland, Borbon and Colby Lewis pitching. Jays catch a small break with neither Hamilton nor Napoli playing tonight. Both with injuries.

Top 1st: Escobar leading off. Strikes out swinging, Patterson, that’s why he is not a leadoff, first pitch pop up to short, two down for Bautista. Showing bunt, sense of humour? Full count. Grounds to short, long throw to Moreland just gets Jose at first.
Bottom 1st: Kinsler, 3-1 count, ball four, one on for Andrus, another 3-1 count, singles to left, two on for Young. There we go Kyle, grounds to Escobar, flip to Johnny Mac at second over to Lind, double play. Two down for Beltre with Kinsler at 3B. 2-2 count, full count, perfect, grounds to McDonald to Lind to give Drabek a break here but high pitch count already at 22. Needs to settle down. Yankees losing 1-0 to Chicago Burnett is pitching tonight, let’s go White Sox.

Top 2nd: Lind, singles into right, Rivera. Lines it very hard but right at short, if only Rivera could get some of these bullets in the air, throw to second over to first for double play. Molina, full count, Lewis thought that was strike three, grounds to short, throw to first. 23 pitch count.
Bottom 2nd: Cruz, full count, strikes out swinging but took seven pitches. Murphy, strikes out, two down for Torrealba, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind. 38 pitches and this is the problem with Jays rotation, too many pitches early and not going deep into the game. No Halladay with his complete games or 7-8 innings. Puts huge pressure on the bullpen. On the other hand I guess they will not have high innings counts by August and be pulled for the last month.

Top 3rd: Snider, strike three looking, fooled Travis on that one. Johnny Mac. Lines this one to the wall in right centre, triple for Johnny Mac. Now Woodward with one down. This is where Jays have failed all season long. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging at ball way outside. Not a good at bat. Two down for Escobar, not swinging at those outside. 3-1 count. Grounds to third throw to first for the out. Jays continue to struggle with runners in scoring position. 43 pitches.
Bottom 3rd: Moreland, grounds to McDonald at second, throw to Lind. Borbon, 2-2 count, same play, two down. Kinsler, fly ball to Patterson, pitch count 51.

Top 4th: Patterson, 2-2 count, full count, singles to right, no chance to get this speed by Patterson. Bautista finally with a guy on base and with speed someone to distract Lewis here. 3-1 count, pitching Jose outside, has to come to him now though or get two on base. Ball four down, not giving Jose a chance to make it 2-0. Lind now. Lines it to left, but Murphy makes great catch at the wall. One down. Rivera, double steal on, Patterson out at 3B, two down. 3-0 count to Rivera. Takes one, 3-1, full count. Ball four, man Rivera has strong nerves cold veins, two on two down. Molina, grounds up the middle throw to first to get Molina. Was the double steal the right call? 65 pitch count.
Bottom 4th: Have to feel sorry for Drabek, not getting much help from his hitters. Andrus, lines it hard to Patterson in centre, one down. Young, grounds to Woodward, throw to Lind for second out. Beltre, grounds towards first, Drabek off the mound quickly takes it himself for the out. Nine pitch inning. Much better for Kyle. 60 pitch count.

Top 5th: Snider leading off. 3-1 count, full, ball four. McDonald, too bad it was not last at bat with that triple. Fly ball first pitch to centre, one down, Woodward high fly ball to Murphy in left. Escobar that’s better, singles up the middle. Two on two down for Patterson. 0-2 count, WHOA !!! hammers this one, it was high ball, way high, and Patterson not only goes after it but connects and this one is way out in centre right, three run home run, 3-0 Jays. Bautista now. Yes siree Jose, first pitch turns on this one this one is into left field seats back to back home runs, number 8 for Jose. 4-0 Jays. Lind, walks. Rivera this one is out of here into right corner seats another hone run, 6-0 Jays. Molina, grounds to short. Throw to first but Jays erupt with 6 with two out. Very nice. 95 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: Cruz now, ball four, come on Kyle don’t let this team get back in this one. Murphy, perfect grounds to McDonald to Escobar to Lind, double play. Two down for Torrealba no doubt about this one, right down the middle pulls this into left field corner seats, 6-1 Jays. Moreland, 2-2 count, ball three. Grounds right back to Drabek throw to first. 80 pitches. He might get in to the seventh.

Top 6th: That’s it for Lewis. Ex-Jay Dave Bush now pitching. Snider leading off. White Sox leading 2-0 over Yankees in the 9th. Travis hard liner to the right corner. Johnny Mac. No, grounds to Beltre at 3B, throw to second on to first double play. Woodward can he keep this alive now? Lines to right centre for third out. Not doing too much to keep your spot in line-up Chris.
Bottom 6th: Borbon, singles to left. Kinsler, 0-2 count, lines it into right field corner here comes Borbon. 6-2 game. Kinsler at second. Andrus, grounds to second, they have Kinsler hung out. Tag him out but Andrus gets to second on the play. Young with one down. Doubles off the wall in right, here comes Andrus, 6-3 game. Jays bullpen working, Rzepczynski. Beltre, 3-1 count, Drabek not as sharp here, full count, that’s ok grounds to McDonald throw to Lind two down. Young to 3B. Cruz, 2-0 count. 100 pitches. That’s ok, grounds to Escobar throw to Lind for third out. That will be it for Drabek also. Just could not shut the door after that six run inning.

Top 7th: Escobar leading off. Jays would love to get at least one back here. An excuse me single here, off the end of his bat up the line and ball dies, this grass is THICK !. Escobar at first, Patterson now, they will not be pitching high to this guy. Lines it to left, to Murphy in the corner, throws it back in and relay gets Escobar diving back in to first, double play, he was way past second. Much too aggressive there Yunel. Bautista now. 3-0 count, ball four, second walk to night. Lind now his turn to go deep? 2-0 count, 3-1 count, pops it up to Murphy in left centre. Another inning where base running error costs Jays. Yankees lose 2-0.
Bottom 7th: Rzepczynski to try and hold Texas hitters. Murphy, grounds to McDonald, throw to Lind. Torrealba, singles back up the middle. Moreland grounds back to Rzepczynski, nice play, throws to second, back to Lind not in time, two down. Moreland at first. Napoli pinch hitting. That’s it for Marc. Frasor now pitching. 2-2 count. Full count, perfect, grounds to Johnny Mac throw to Lind to end this one without more damage.

Top 8th: Bush still out there. Rivera leading off, he must be feeling a lot happier. .151 average but a lot better than .098. Lines it back to pitcher, reflex catch by Bush, just put his glove out. One down. Molina, would love him to connect here. Pops up to Murphy now playing centre. Two down. Snider, come on Travis. Very nice, hammers this one into right but just foul of the pole, but that felt good. 2-2 count, grounds to Napoli now playing at first and Travis just out at first.
Bottom 8th: Getting down to the wire here. Kinsler lines first pitch to Bautista in right, One down for Andrus, same again, two down. Young, doubles to the wall, I think Patterson had a shot at that one. Beltre, 0-2 count, 2-2, fly ball to Patterson in centre. Eight pitch at bat by Beltre.

Top 9th: Bottom of Jays order. Johnny Mac leading off. Pedro Strop now pitching. Grounds up the middle to second throw to first one down. Woodward hitless tonight. Strikes out, totally clueless in that at bat. Swung at ball two and let strike two go. Must be hard to adjust from AAA Vegas. Escobar now last chance just misses the foul pole in right. Grounds to Beltre, throw to first for final out.
Bottom 9th: Can Jon Rauch hold them here? Cruz, oh dear, line drive here to right just over the wall, 6-4 Jays. Murphy, 3-1 count. Come on Rauch. Count full, bounces one to MacDonald throw to Lind, one down for Torrealba. 2-2 count, strikes out, two down for Moreland, 2-2 count, pops it up to Bautista and Jays win big tonight. 6-4.

This one is really big win for Jays as Texas was 10-2 at home and leading the west.


The very good: Patterson three run home run, Bautista number 8 home run, Rivera his first of the season and what a huge hit that is. Triple by Johnny Mac. But last but not least Jays pitching tonight. Drabek settled from shaky start to get his win. Rzepczynski, Frasor and Rauch bullpen finish this one off. Jays six runs all with two outs and in fact Patterson had two strikes on him before that home run blast.

The not so good: Over aggressive base running by Escobar in the 7th and maybe the double steal earlier. But I think we can forgive them with this huge win.
Great start to the road trip. Can Jesse Litsch continue tomorrow?

Romero gives this one away in the first as Jays hitters are missing

Game three of three for Rays v Jays, Easter Sunday.

Terrible crowd, but I guess it is family day today and Jays are certainly now a great attraction these days playing the way they have been for the last two weeks.

Line-ups: Rays: Fuld, Damon, Zobrist, Johnson, Upton, Lopez, Rodriguez, Shoppach, Brignac and Shields pitching.

Jays: Patterson, Escobar, Bautista, Lind, Rivera, Arencibia, Snider, McDonald, McCoy and Romero pitching. Not sure I agree with Patterson leading off, this guy does not take many pitches. This is one very light hitting lineup today after Lind besides Snider.

Top 1st: Fuld strikes out swinging, one down. Damon singles to Patterson in centre. Zobrist there it goes, into the left field seats, two run home run, we have seen this scenario before, 2-0 Rays in first inning. Johnson singles to centre. Romero not fooling anyone today so far. Upton, grounds to Johnny Mac at 3B throw to second to get Johnson, throw to Lind, error on Lind as it gets away and Upton to second, comedy of errors so far. Lopez grounds to Johnny Mac for the out, but rays have gone out ahead once again.
Bottom 1st: Patterson, grounds to Johnson at first. Escobar grounds out to short. Bautista, not getting anything to hit here, ball four, poor guy they do not want to pitch to him this season. Lind strikes out swinging.

Top 2nd: Rodriguez doubles to Bautista in right, Shoppach grounds to MacDonald at 3B. Brignac fly ball to Bautista two down. Fuld again second at bat in two innings. Strikes out for the second time. Leadoff double does not hurt Romero this time.
Bottom 2nd: Rivera lines to Brignac at short. Arencibia fly ball to Upton in centre. Snider strikes out looking. Jays go very quietly here.

Top 3rd: Damon grounds to short, throw not in time safe at first. Zobrist bunting foul, that’s better, grounds to Escobar takes it himself to second throw to Lind, double play. Nice play Yunel. Dan Johnson grounds to McCoy, throw to Lind for the out. Finally Romero settling down.
Bottom 3rd: Macdonald leading off. 3-0 count, pops up to 3B, McCoy, grounds to short, throw to first, two quick outs. Patterson 0-2 strikes out swinging on three pitches. Much too much for Jays hitters today.

Top 4th in 35 minutes !!! Rays want to get out of Toronto fast today. Romero on 50 pitches already. Upton, pops up first pitch to Bautista in right, one down for Lopez, full count strikes out, two down. Rodriguez, ball four, Shoppach, Rodriguez takes second, strikes out swinging.
Bottom 4th: Shields still only 32 pitches. Escobar, grounds to short, throw to first one down. Bautista 2-2 count, hammers this one, right at third base man Lopez, lucky guy. Lind with two down pops up to Upton in centre.

Top 5th: Brignac strikes out swinging. Fuld, strikes out swinging, Damon pops up to Patterson in centre, Corey not sure how many outs.
Bottom 5th; Rivera, grounds up the middle safe at first, Arencibia strikes out, unable to move Rivera over, I think they should move Arencibia down to bottom of the order, he is not hitting well at all., Snider, strikes out, McDonald, that’s all they have to do, just lifts it into shallow centre, two on, two down. McCoy, strikes out leaving two on.

Top 6th: 77 pitch count for Ricky. Zobrist, full count, strikes out, Dan Johnson, grounds to McCoy, throw to Lind, two down. Upton, strikes out.
Bottom 6th: Patterson leading off, that’s better lines it into right field double for Corey, Escobar now. Grounds to short, throw to first one down. Not a god at bad by Escobar, has to move the guy over. Bautista, will they walk him? full count. Throwing all kinds of soft stuff at him no fast balls to Jose. Strikes out. Lind, pops up to Upton in centre.

Top 7th: 90 pitch count for Romero. Lopez, full count, strikes out swinging. Number nine for Romero but he would exchange them all for that first inning. Rodriguez, grounds to third, throw to Lind two down. Shoppach, strikes out swinging. Ten today but still second best today.
Bottom 7th: Joe Maddon thinks he has this game in hand making defensive changes. Joyce in right, Kotchman at first and Rodriguez moves to third from second, Zobrist from right to second. Johnson and Lopez out of the game. Rivera grounds down the 3B line fine save by Rodriguez throw to first for the out. Arencibia, grounds to Rodriguez at third, throw to Kotchman at first two down. Snider, singles into centre, wakes the crowd up, they have not had much to cheer about today. McDonald, lines it to Rodriguez at third. Maddon obviously knew what he was doing with all three plays to 3B.

Top 8th: Marc Rzepczynski now pitching. Romero just not good enough today. Brignac, grounds back to Marc, throw almost throws it away but Lind gets it for the out. Fuld strikes out swinging, Damon, 2-3 today. Not this time grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind to end this one.
Bottom 8th: Can Jays get something going here? Six more outs to an Easter Sunday shutout. McCoy and that is why Shields is still in there, first pitch fly ball out to left. Mike you need base runners in this situation and you are number nine for a reason. Only 80 pitches for Shields and you can see why with bonehead outs like that. Patterson pops up to short, two down. Escobar, grounds to second throw to first Shields has this on in the bag and will finish with a complete game at this rate. 86 pitches.

Top 9th: Francisco now pitching, needs the work. Zobrist, singles to Bautista in right. One on for Joyce, 2-2 count, strikes out, Zobrist running but Arencibia horrible throw not in time. Upton, grounds to McDonald at 3B watches Zobrist retreat and throw to Lind for the out. Kotchman, grounds to Lind for third out.
Bottom 9th: Shields to finish this one off. Bautista leading off. Unfortunately Jose cannot score all the runs himself. Plus it means they can pitch around him. Full count, ball four, too bad. Lind, perhaps Adam can earn some money for a change. But I fear Jays attack has left everything to Jose for too long. 0-2 count, pops up to left, awful at bat by Lind. Rivera Oh boy, Bautista picked off at first. Two down. Rivera pops up to the plate. Jays lose this one. 2-0. Just over two hours to play. Jays have a long plan ride to Texas to think about this very poor weekend series.
Texas must be looking forward to a few easy games or perhaps Jays offence can suddenly reappear.

The good: Nothing today, not even Romero as he had already put the Jays in a hole in the first 10 minutes of this game.

The bad: Yes lots of it.. where do we start? Romero was excellent for six innings; problem was the game was already over with one out. Jays hitters are getting lazy, leaving all the offence to Bautista. Jays had their chances but with runners in scoring position this team has huge problem and go 0-4 again today.

Jays now 9-12 and sinking to the bottom of the division, perhaps they need to hit the bottom first before getting wakeup call. A month to forget so far apart from Bautista. Certainly a road trip to Texas is not going to help them here. They need Davis, Hill, and Nix back in there.

More heroics from Bautista but Jays fall short today

Rays v Jays. Game two of three.

A tough one today with Price pitching and also Morrow first game back off DL. Jays have yet to beat Price in seven starts against them. McCoy recalled from Vegas.
Line-ups: Rays: Fuld, Damon, Joyce, Zobrist, Upton, Kotchman, Jason, Brignac, Rodriguez, and Price pitching.
Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Molina, Rivera DH again today, Snider. McDonald playing 3B today, and McCoy at 2B. the hot seat with both Hill and Nix on the DL. Morrow pitching.

Last night I think we saw three very different types of leadership. Johnny Damon for the Rays continued his hot start last night leading the attack. Bautista for the Jays showed his brand of leadership with his bat, double, triple, home run and two walks whilst hitting for the cycle twice. Jose does not Twitter or hot dog, just lets his play demonstrated his leadership.
There was one other example that I felt was a great lesson for the younger Twitterers on the Jays team. Rivera who is having a horrible start for his season came to bat at .098 and drew a multi pitch walk. He knows he is having a rough start, but he did everything he could to get on base. He followed up that walk in the next at bat with a single. Maybe just maybe he is getting on track but I thought more importantly he showed the younger Jays a lesson in grind and leadership by example. I don’t see that type of at bat by Arencibia or Patterson yet.

Today Morrow gets into early trouble with leadoff walk to Flud followed by a two run home run to Damon. Jays answer immediately with home run blast by Bautista. Jays go ahead in the bottom of the fourth with another home run by Bautista his number seven on the season. In the top of the sixth Villanueva who replaced Morrow gives up a three run shot to Zobrist and that was it until the Jays try to mount a comeback in the 8th and 9th innings. They manage two more in the ninth but fall short 6-4 today.

The very good: Morrow pitching into the sixth and leaving with only two runs against him. This is as much as could be hoped for after his DL and pitching against Price was a stiff assignment, but you know that Morrow will be ready next time around Price or no. He threw 93 pitches striking out 10 and left with game tied 2-2. Manager Farrell must have been delighted with that start.
Lind gets his fifth double of the season.

As for Juan Rivera after his awakening last night hits an RBI single in the ninth as Jays start the 9th with three hits to pull within two runs. but unable to pull this one out.
Bautista two more home runs. After last night’s three hit, two walk performance, that is what leadership is all about.

Jays win second comeback win in extra innings this week as Johnny Mac the hero with walk off home run.

Tampa Rays v Jays. Game one of three.

Important game for Jays as the Rays have been burning up the division for the last two weeks. Tampa had very late arrival in to Toronto this morning at 3.30a.m. as Longoria forgets his passport? Jays do not want to fall to the bottom as Boston is only one game behind them now.

Game report is short tonight, this was extra innings with game not finishing until 11.00pm and then long drive in the rain. Just the highlights in this report.

Jays fell behind for most of the game in fact three times 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2, but kept coming back each time and then winning in dramatic style bottom of the 11th with walk off home run by Johnny Mac scoring Woodward who was pinch running for Rivera. Drama in Rivera himself who finally gets a single in the bottom of the eleventh to set table for dramatic finish and Jays win 6-4.

Other highlights: Jose Bautista an amazing night, double, triple and home run and two walks whilst going for the cycle. Rays pitchers gave him nothing to hit in those situations and Jose selflessly took the bases. This guy really is the heart of the current team in so many ways. Lind hitting behind Jose also had a good night with two doubles.
Jo-Jo Reyes hung in there into the seventh inning which at one stage looked very unlikely. Camp and Rauch pitched very well once again.

Downside once again Jays hitters with runners in scoring position, 3-12 tonight, men on second and nobody out, bases loaded and unable to score.
The other downer was the injury to Nix who was taken out at second by Rodriguez breaking up a double play. Nix was really hurting before leaving the game in the second. The upside was Johnny Mac substituting for Nix and making a couple of highlight reel saves as well as his final at bat hitting that fast ball into the Jays bullpen. Rivera had a rough night but for me it was heartening to see Jays fans rooting for him to get a hit. Crowd also gave him a nice ovation when he comes through in the eleventh.
However, Snider suffered tonight hitting in front of Rivera, Rays pitchers were not giving him anything to hit so that they could get to Rivera behind him.
Seven of the nine hits for Jays were from heart of the order, 3,4 and 5 hitters. Seven of the hits were extra base hits including the two home runs by Bautista and Johnny Mac.

Not so good: Patterson tonight with his at bats. Rivera getting his average down to .095 before coming through in the eleventh with a single back up the middle. Juan however did draw two walks and is not hacking away at every pitch.
Encarnacion had a good night with his bat but missed one liner at third. No error given but it was off his glove and catchable. Arencibia also wanted to throw one ball to 3B and Edwin was nowhere to be seen covering the bag on a stolen base. Arencibia himself not very good at bats with runners in scoring position leaving four on base.
Jason Frasor pitched the game to a standstill with his oh so slow performance. Every pitch is like watching paint dry.

Bottom line jays get a much needed win and an extra innings game at home is always good to win to give impetus for the rest of the series this weekend.
Tomorrow Morrow returns, that should be interesting as Jaysa wqould love series win and some distance between Rays and themselves as Jays head to hot hitting Texas next wek.

Jays late rally fizzles and Cecil loses another aided by poor baserunning by Arencibia

Jays v Yankees. Game two.

Great game one last night in so many ways. Snider getting load off his shoulders and frustration with his game winning hit after going 0-5. Johnny Mac just an amazing bench player, does everything that he is asked and more. That sac squeeze bunt so perfect as Teixeira himself said it is a beautiful play and no defence against it but it still has to be executed and Johnny Mac did it to perfection. Encarnacion also had a great game with three hits, but overall it was the collective celebration by Jays after such a lousy road trip to win this one was a perfect homecoming. Add in the icing that it was against the Yankees and double icing against Burnett and the perfect Yankees bullpen of Rivera, Soriano, and Chamberlain. Plus add in the Boston loss to Oakland and what a perfect night for Jays and their fans.

Tonight start all over again with Cecil against Colon. Jays would like to get back to .500 tonight.

Lineups: Yankees: Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira, A-Rod, Cano, Jones, Posada, (DH), Martin, Granderson and Colon pitching.
Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion (DH again), Arencibia, Snider, Nix playing 2B for Hill, McDonald at 3B and Cecil.

Top 1st: Jeter leading off. Fly ball to Bautista in right centre, one down. Swisher, 3-0 count, ball four, nowhere near. Teixeira, doubles off the wall in centre. Swisher at third. A-Rod, 3-1 count, ball four to load the bases, Cecil has nothing in early going. Bases loaded for Cano one down, grounds to Lind, no chance for two but takes Cano at first Swisher scores 1-0 Yankees two down. Jones with two in scoring position. Strikes out swinging. Cecil very lucky to escape here. 20 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Escobar leading off, singles to centre. Patterson. Bunting up the line at first Patterson past Teixiera throw to first just gets Patterson. Escobar at second, Bautista. 2-2 count. Grounds hard to A-Rod at third, Escobar has to retreat, Throw to first to get Bautista, two down. Lind. 3-0 count, taking ball four, two on for Encarnacion.Gets hold of this one but lines it hard to Jones at the wall in left. 18 pitch count. Jays waste lead off single.

Top 2nd: Posada, strikes out, one down for Martin, lines it off the left field wall but right to Snider and holds Martin to a single. Granderson triples to wall in right corner, Martin scores 2-0 Yankees. One down and runner at third, Cecil in for a long night at this rate. Jeter grounds up the middle to Escobar, here comes Granderson 3-0 Yankees, this is far too easy for them. Jeter out at first on the throw. Swisher pops up to Johnny Mac for third out but two more runs. 33 pitches but three runs.
Bottom 2nd: Jays playing catch up again. The hitters must long for a starter who can actually pitch a few scoreless innings. Arencibia, this one is out of here, JP gets hold of this and drives to left field second level. 3-1 Yankees. Snider now strikes out looking. One down for Nix. Strikes out swinging, two down for Johnny Mac. Fly ball to Granderson in centre. Pitch count 32. Boston has already won 5-3 on the west coast, Tampa and Baltimore both winning.

Top 3rd: Teixeira, strikes out, one down for A-Rod, full count, ball four, his second walk in his two at bats, I guess better than a home run. Cano, there goes A-Rod throw down gets him, two down. Girardi disagrees but no use. Cano singles to left. Jones, 2-2 count, pops up to Nix, no runs but 50 pitch count. Cecil may not go six at this rate.
Bottom 3rd: Top of the order again. Escobar, grounds first pitch to A-Rod, throw to first, one down for Patterson. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, Bautista. 0-2 count, 2-2, strike three. Very easy inning for Colon. 43 pitch count. Jays have their work cut out tonight.
Top 4th: Posada, pops up to Nix, one down. Martin, 3-1 count, ball four, way off. Walk number four. Granderson with one on and one down, strikes out. Jeter with one and two down, 1-2 count. There goes Martin, Jeter grounds to Escobar throw to Lind for third out. No more runs but pitch count climbing, 67 pitches.

Bottom 4th: Lind, grounds to second, throw to first, one down for Encarnacion, grounds up the middle to Cano throw to first two down. Arencibia, more home runs than last year already. 2-2 count. Takes third strike. Fifth strikeout for Colon. 56 pitch count. Should be able to take them into at least the 8th at this rate which is just what Girradi wants for his bullpen tonight after last night’s extra innings.
Top 5th: Swisher grounds hard to third, diving stop by Johnny Mac throw off target though and safe at first for Teixeira, 3-0 count, full count. Doubles off the glove of Johnny Mac to Snider in left. A-Rod sac fly to Patterson here comes Swisher 4-1 Yankees. One down. Cano fly ball to Snider, here comes Teixeira. 5-1. Jones pops up to Arencibia for third out. Cecil not long for the rotation.

Bottom 5th: Snider strikes out swinging, one down for 65 pitches. Nix grounds out to A-Rod at third throw to first two quick outs. MacDonald strikes out looking. No heart and hustle for Jays tonight they look very lethargic.
Top 6th: Janssen now pitching Posada, hit on the foot. Martin, singles first pitch to Patterson in centre. Two on Granderson, lines to Snider in left, one down for Jeter, perfect grounds to Nix, to Escobar jumping over Martin to get Jeter at first, hot dog play but double play counts. Casey did his job holding Yankees. Now the hitters turn.
Bottom 6th: Escobar grounds to short, Jeter diving to stop ball but cannot throw, Escobar safe at first. Patterson, grounds to Cano, tags Escobar, throw to first to get Patterson. two down. Escobar called safe, first base umpire calls him out, Farrell out to get explanation but ruling stands. Two down. Bautista pops up first pitch to Martin. Jays messy game here.

Top 7th: Swisher again Janssen still pitching. Fly ball to Snider, one down is that the first time Jays have had the leadoff hitter? No, just seems like it as Cecil was behind all night. Teixeira ground rule double into right field seats. A-Rod, wild pitch, Teixeira to third. Sac fly will do it again. 3-0 count. Full count. Strikes out swinging. Nice pitch. That’s it for Janssen. Luis Perez to face Cano. Grounds to Nix, throw to Lind for third out and leave Teixeira out at third.
Bottom 7th: Colon seven strike outs tonight. Lind, 3-1 count, full count, fly ball to Jones in left. One down for Encarnacion, doubles to centre, Edwin hot, hot right now. Arencibia, love to have a big one here JP. 2-2 count. Ball four. Two on one down for Snider. Girardi out but leaving Colon in there. Travis would love to connect here. 2-0 count. Singles to right. Encarnacion holds at third NO NO Arencibia running to third not looking awful and second out. Had his head down when he went round second, awful baserunning by Arencibia. Mental mental. That should never happen. That’s it for Colon though. Two on two down for Nix. Should be bases loaded one down. Robertson pitching. Snider takes second. Singles into centre, here comes Edwin. 5-2. MacDonald, with two on and two down. But for that error by Arencibia Johnny Mac could be bunting again here with runner at third. Strikes out. Little things not noticed on the scoresheet. Home runs are fine JOP but you had better hit them for every major error also.

Top 8th: Dotel out there. Jones pops up to Escobar. One down. Posada, strikes out. Martin, pops up to Lind, great three up and down by Dotel.
Bottom 8th: Escobar leading off. Robertson still out there. Fly ball to Granderson in centre, one down. Patterson, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista. 2-2 count. Full count. Singles up the middle, great at bat by Jose, eight pitches. That`s it for Robertson, Boone Logan now pitching. Lind, lefty lefty. Lines to left for the out.

Top 9th: Frank Francisco now pitching, his first game in Toronto.Granderson leading off. Whoa... first pitch there it goes right field second deck 6-2 Yankees. First pitch by Francisco, he will remember his debut. Jeter now. Grounds to Nix, throw to Lind for the first out. Swisher, 3-0 count. Ball four. This is not how Francisco imagined he would be starting. Teixeira. Three doubles tonight. 3-1 count, strikes out. Swisher was running on the pitch and safe without a throw. A-Rod. Strikes out.
Bottom 9th: Pendleton pitching. Encarnacion leading off. 3-1 count. Ball four. Arencibia needs to redeem himself here bigtime for that base running error. Lines it at Jeter, not a night JP wants to remember. Snider with one on and one down. 3-1 count. Whoa.... late call, full count. Doubles off the wall in right, almost out there. Nine pitch at bat by Travis. Girardi out there. That`s it for Pendleton. Soriano pitching. Nix just a base hit will do Jayson. 3-1 count, ball four to load the bases. McDonald. No pinch hitter here. Need a base hit John here, no bunting. Pops up to Martin, two down for Escobar. Fly ball to Granderson to end this one.

Late rally fizzles but they get the run to the plate.
This looked like one tired Jays side ready for their day off tomorrow but on Friday they will be facing a very hot Rays side on a 3 game win streak and 8-2 over the last ten.

The good: Nothing much in this one, all Yankees, pitching and hitting. Snider nine pitch at bat in bottom of ninth before double off the wall and getting tying run on deck. Nix walk in the ninth to load the bases.
The bad, the very bad: Cecil had nothing from first inning. Wild walks. Arencibia baserunning error was huge and a game changer. Cost at least one run if not more and changed the momentum.
The worst is that Jays bullpen is getting overworked without the rotation going deep in so many games.

Jays win a comeback thriller in extra innings with Snider double.

Jays v Yankees Game one of two.

Short series but each game important for Jays right now after that terrible road trip. Good match up with Burnett v Drabek.

Lineups: NYY: Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Swisher, Chavez, Posada, Martin, Gardner and Burnett pitching. No A-Rod tonight.
Jays: Escobar, Snider, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Molina, Patterson, Encarnacion, Nix and Drabek pitching.

Top 1st: Jeter leading off singles to Patterson in centre. Granderson, grounds to Lind at first, Jeter to second. One down for Teixiera, pops up to Nic at third, two down and Jeter holds, Cano strikes out looking. Nice start Kyle.
Bottom 1st: Escobar grounds to Jeter, throw to first, one down. Snider high in the lineup tonight strikes out. Bautista, YES Jose, gets hold of this one no doubt at all, into left field seats, home run for Jose number four this season, and Jays get to Burnett early. 1-0 Jays. Lind singles to centre, keep it going Aaron. Strikes out swinging to end first but Jays strike first.

Top 2nd : Swisher, ball four, and first walk for Drabek, Chavez, ball four, two on and nobody out here comes the coach. Calm down Kyle. Posada singles to Snider in left, here comes Swisher and this game is tied up 1-1. Still nobody out perfect almost, grounds to Escobar, to Hill on to Lind double play ball but Chavez comes home, 2-1 Yankees. Gardner pops up to Nix for third out, could have been a lot worse.
Bottom 2nd: Molina, grounds to Jeter throw to first, one down. Patterson doubles to Swisher in right. Encarnacion singles to right. Two on one down for Nix, strikes out swinging, two down for Escobar, grounds back to Burnett throw to Teixeira for third out. Jays leave two out there.

Top 3rd: Jeter fly ball to Bautista in right, one down. Granderson grounds to Hill, throw to Lind, two quick outs for Drabek here.Teixeira, ouch, gets hit by pitch. One on two down. Cano grounds to Nix at third throw to Lind and no damage done.
Bottom 3rd: Snider grounds to Chavez at third, throw to first one down. Bautista ball four, not giving Jose much to look at there. Lind, wild pitch and Jose to second. Keep throwing them there AJ. Lind grounds back to Burnett, throw wild and Jose to third on the play. Error to Burnett. Pressure AJ? Hill, that will do it Aaron, fly ball to Swisher and here comes Jose. 2-2 game. Two down, Martin throwing to second, catches Lind double play. But run scores.

Top 4th: Swisher walks, Chavez perfect, grounds to Hill, to Escobar to Lind, double play ball. Second one tonight and helping Drabek bigtime.Posada, strikes out swinging to end this inning.
Bottom 4th: Molina, catching tonight for Drabek, ball four and walks, Patterson fly ball to Gardner in left. Nix, ball four and another walk by Burnett, two on one down for Escobar, grounds to Jeter, throw to Cano at second to get Nix for third out.
Top 5th: Martin doubles to Bautista in right, Gardner grounds to Drabek, throw to Nix at third to get Martin, Gardner takes first. Jeter lines out to Bautista in right. Two down for Granderson, there goes Gardner Molina throw in time to get him. Jose is pumped up about that one.

Bottom 5th: Snider leading off, strikes out. One down Bautista grounds to Chavez at third, throw to first two down. Lind strikes out swinging.
Top 6th: Granderson singles to right. One on for Teixiera, 3-1 this is trouble, home run to centre. 4-2 game. Cano singles to right. Bullpen warming up. Swisher.fly ball to centre, Patterson runs it down, one down. Chavez, full count, Drabek has hit the wall here. Ball four, That’s it for Drabek. Frasor now pitching. Two on one down. Posada, bounces high to second, throw to first to get Posada, no chance for two. Runners at second and third. Martin, full count, ball four high. Bases loaded, not what Farrell wanted from Frasor. Gardner another full count, nowhere to put him this time Frasor. Pops it up to Snider in left. Jays escape this time but now face a two run deficit.

Bottom 6th: Can Jays get rid of Burnett now? Hill leading off. 2-0 count, good start, singles into right. Molina now, there goes Hill, Molina fouls it off. Goes again, safe on the throw. Shaken up on the play though. Not good Aaron is out of here, his right leg, Johnny Mac pinch running. Pops up to Chavez at third. One down for Patterson, 3-0 count, takes it down the middle. Full count, ball four, two on here comes pitching coach. Encarnacion with two on, 2-0 count, Robertson warming up in bullpen. Lines it to left off the warning track, MacDonald scores, 4-3. Runners at second and third. Nix now with two in scoring position, one down. 100 pitches for Burnett, Jays would love to make it one too many here. Full count, way high ball four to load them up for Escobar, Sayonara AJ, here comes Girardi. Robertson, 2-2 count, strikes out, two down for Snider. Strikes out, for third time tonight, breaks his bat over his knee in frustration. Not a good time for Travis these days. Jays continue their inability to bring in a guy when it counts.

Top 7th: Jeter leading off. Frasor still out there. Bounces to Escobar at short, throw to Lind, one down, Granderson, gets hold of this one into centre field seats. 5-3 Yankees. Makes that last inning even more disasterous for Jays. They have to take their chances when they are offered them. Teixeira, lines it to Nix playing at second on the shift. Two down. That’s it for Frasor, unable to hold the Yankees lead. Rzepczynski now pitching to Cano. Full count, strikes out swinging.
Bottom 7th: Bautista leading off. Chamberlain now, strikes out, one down for Lind. Grounds to Chavez at third, throw to first two down. Johnny Mac. Grounds to Jeter, throw to first to end this one. Tampa has already won.



Top 8th: Villanueva now pitching, Swisher 2-2 count, singles to Snider in left, Chavez, full count, pops up to Snider in left, one down for Posada, ball gets away but Swisher unable to move up. Grounds to second, throw to the bag over to first for Villanueva and double play.
Bottom 8th: Jays opportunities running out fast with Yankees closers now. Soriano and Rivera, as much a certainty as anything in baseball. Molina, pops up to Granderson in centre, one down for Patterson, full count, ball four outside. Encarnacion strikes out on dubious pitch, replay shows he may be right. Nix now with two down and one on. Patterson stealing and safe on the throw. Nix pops up to Teixiera.

Top 9th: Camp again, not getting much rest these days but I guess Farrell still thinks they can get two against Rivera in the bottom of the inning. Martin leading off. Grounds to Nix at third throw to first, one down. Gardner, grounds to MacDonald throw to Lind for the out. Jeter 2-2 count, grounds to Nix throw to first.
Bottom 9th: Top of Jays order Escobar, Bautista and Snider. Tall order for this team to get two let alone three against Rivera. Rivera going for his eighth save this season !! Escobar leading off. Drives it to the wall in centre, double for Escobar. Snider now, grounds first pitch to second Escobar to third. Yankees will take the out. Bautista I don’t think he will get much to hit here, 2-0 both outside. 3-0 and why not. Ball four and gets away from Martin here comes Escobar run scores 5-4. Lind now with Bautista at first. 0-2 count, singles into centre, Bautista going all the way to third. Still only one down but Johnny Mac now, perfect bunt up the line here comes Bautista 5-5 game and Johnny Mac safe at first, Molina now with two on and one down. 0-2 count, singles to left, no chance for Lind to come home but bases loaded now one down. Patterson, oh boy, grounds to third steps on the bag throw to first double play ball. Game is going to extra innings but Jays had it there for second time with bases loaded and only one out.

Top 10th: Rauch now pitching. Granderson, full count. Pops up to Patterson in centre, one down for Teixeira, shift right, 3-0 looked a strike. Ball four, semi intentional I think. Cano, bounces to Macdonald bounces off his body but still gets Cano at first, two down. Swisher, 2-2 count, inside, full count. Ball four. Two on two down for Chavez. Fly ball to Bautista in right.
Bottom 10th: Can Jays win this one now? Encarnacion leading off. Nova now pitching. That’s the problem when bullpen breaks down they have to use a starter. Edwin 2-4 tonight. Way up and in. 2-0, that will do pulls it into left, 3-4 night for Edwin, Nix now has to move him over anyway he can. 2-2 count, lines it to Swisher in right but out, Edwin has to retreat. Escobar now with one down. Lines it to the wall in centre but Granderson has it. Edwin has to retreat again. Snider now horrible night, 0-5 !! has one more chance. Don’t try to be a hero Travis, just move him over. Whoa, golfs this one to the wall in centre, Travis POWER, and here comes Edwin all the way from first. Jays win this thing 6-5 and steal one bigtime from the Yankees in the process. Rivera blows his first save of the season after seven straight.

What a finish. Jays needed this one bigtime and finally they can forget that weekend in Boston.

The very good: Johnny Mac in for Hill safety squeeze bunt in bottom of the ninth. AND Snider of course with the game winning run after going 0-5 tonight. Jays turn three double plays. Jays scoreless bullpen better than the Yankees tonight.

The good: Drabek for five and Bautista home run the first and the bullpen to keep Yankees quiet. Rauch wins his first.

The worst: Bases loaded in the sixth with one out and could not score. Awful. But we are being picky tonight.... Enjoy this huge win instead.

Changes and more changes in Jaysland

Lots of changes today:
Purcey traded to Oakland.
Francisco finally arrives in Toronto but at the expense of Jesse Litsch the odd one out.
More moves on the way with Morrow to be activated at the end of the week. Maybe we will see Brad Emaus back in Toronto as Mets have given up on him.

Is this the Toronto Blue Jays?
• Stolen bases first in the majors in steals 21 and attempts 27.
• Number nine spot leading the majors with .377 average. 20 hits and six doubles both number one. Very different club already and promises for more speed and aggression.
• 130 strikeouts leads the AL.

Jays depth: Mike McCoy yesterday in Vegas: 3 walks and three hits in six at bats. Eric Thames went 4-6. Vegas now leading the Pacific South League 8-4, lots of great talent in the AAA team.

No hustle, no heart as Jays embarrass and Romero unable to stop Boston hit parade

Jays v Red Sox. Game three.
Can Jays get back on track? everyone missing over the last two days and unable to produce.
Long road trip but one they want to forget fast regardless of today’s result. They have an even rougher week ahead though with Yankees and Rays.

Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Arencibia, Snider, Encarnacion, Nix and Romero pitching.
Red Sox: Drew, Pedroia, Gonzalez, Youkilis, Ortiz, Lowrie, Crawford, Varitek, Ellsbury, and Dice-K pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar, fly ball to right, one down. Patterson, fly ball to right, two down, Bautista, singles to right. Lind grounds out, leaves Jose out there. Dice-K 19 pitches.
Bottom 1st: Drew triples to right, Pedroia, ball four, walks, Gonzales, strikes out, one down. Youkilis strikes out, two down, Ortiz, walks, Lowrie singles to right, here comes two, throw relay, not in time at third. 2-0 Boston. Crawford 29 pitches by Romero. Pops up to Snider in left. That was one lousy start for Romero and puts the bullpen on watch for sooner than later.

Top 2nd: Hill leading off. Fly ball to Crawford in left. Arencibia, 2-2 count. Pops up to Ellsbury in shallow centre, two quick outs. Snider desperation swings by Snider, that should have been ball four, 2-2 count, full count, ball four. Dice-K threw six balls but Travis swung at first two. Encarnacion, 2-2, pitch count now 40. Fly ball to Crawford in left. Jays still toothless today.
Bottom 2nd: Can Romero get back into a groove here? Varitek Leading off. Fly ball to right centre Patterson at the track though, that was almost out of here. One down Ellsbury. Lines to Escobar, two down. Drew, 3-1 ball four, for his third walk already. Pedroia, 2-2, singles into right, two on two down for Gonzalez, strikes out to end this one but Romero’s pitch count looks as if he will not be around after the fourth today.

Top 3rd: Nix his first at bat after an hour. For me he would be sitting today for Johnny Mc after yesterday’s poor effort, lack of hustle no excuse, bunting fouls it back. Pops up to third, one down. Escobar. Pops up to Ellsbury in centre. Patterson, going after that high ball out of the zone, leave it alone. Strikes out but not a good at bat by Patterson. Dice-K is throwing out of the zone but Jays hitters are unable to let them go. Lots of frustration showing by Jays hitters here today. Not a recipe for a win.
Bottom 3rd: Youkilis leading off. Lines it to right centre, Patterson unable to get to that, that was catchable, Davis would probably have had that, no error called but that will not show in stats. Wild pitch, how many have we seen Jays pitchers do that this series? Youkilis does not move up. Singles to right, here comes Youkilis. 3-0 Red Sox. Lowrie hitting away they want this game over quickly now. Singles to right, two on Crawford, still nobody out, bullpen quiet. Romero not fooling anyone today, has to soak it up for another few innings. Pops up to Hill, one down. Unfortunately Crawford only hits once in an inning. Varitek, grounds to Escobar. Throw to second for second out. Ellsbury another full count, pops up to Snider in left. Romero escapes further damage but this game is slipping away from a hitless Jays team.

Top 4th: Bautista the only guy with hit, grounds hard to third, throw to first, one down for Lind. Pops up to Crawford in left, two down. Hill, fly ball to centre for the out. Jays have gone 13 innings in the last two games for one run and that was on a steal yesterday. Someone has to get it going here.
Bottom 4th: Drew, grounds up the middle Hill throw pulls Lind off the bag, nothing going right here, one on. Pedroia, fly ball to Patterson in centre, one down. Gonzalez, strikes out. for the third time today, unfortunately he does not bat 27 times. Youkilis with two down and one on. 2-2 count, thought he had him there, but Ricky you are not going to get those pitches with three walks already. Fly ball to right to end this one.

Top 5th: Arencibia, strikes out swinging. Snider, pops up to Crawford in left. Encarnacion, grounds to Lowrie, throw to first to end this one. Jays hitters making Dice-K look like Cy Young today.
Bottom 5th: Romero 91 pitches Dice- K 63, that says it all today. Ricky’s last inning. Ortiz leading off. 3-0 count, Romero’s body language says it all, he is not in this game. Ball four. He has only had the leadoff once in this game. Lowrie. Perez warming up in bullpen. Gets hold of this one, over the green monster, 5-0 Boston, They must wish Jays play here more often. This was a team that had won only two games before Jays arrived now they win three out of four. And easily. Crawford, lines it to Snider, one down. Varitek, wild swing, you can tell he wants home. And another way outside, full count, ball four and Varitek swung at the first two outside. The agony for Romero (and Jays fans) is over. He is not a number one pitcher and Jays should not put this on him. Next outing he will win but this is the one game that Jays badly needed. They needed him to go deep and save that bullpen and he was unable to do anything from first inning. Perez now pitching. Eat up a couple of innings, Ellsbury with one on. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Nice pitch. Drew for the fourth time today, I don’t think Nix has had a second at bat yet ! grounds to Hill throw to first for third out.

Top 6th: Jays hitters last scored a run with a hit in the second inning of the game on Saturday, is that 21 innings ??? OUCH !!! Nix strikes out looking. One down. Escobar first pitch fly ball to right. Two down. Patterson lines first pitch to centre, five pitches inning, Jays hitters have given up, so much for hustle and heart !! Dice-K’s first win at Fenway since September. Wow.
Bottom 6th: Pedroia, walks, Gonzalez, grounds to third throw to second, one down. Youkilis, 3-0 this one is out of here into right field bullpen, 7-0 Boston and the rout continues. Ortiz, grounds to second, throw to first, two down. Lowrie. Singles into left. 4-4 today. Crawford. Doubles off the wall in left, Lowrie scores, 8-0 Boston. That’s it for Perez. Dotel. Varitek, strikes out on three pitches.

Top 7th: Only nine more at bats for Jays agony. Will they hustle with heart? Bautista leading off. The only guy with a hit today. Full count. Fly ball to Ellsbury in center, one down. Lind, pops up to third, two down. Hill, grounds to third, three up and down in 8 pitches. Is that hustle and heart?
Bottom 7th: Ellsbury, home run into right field bullpen. 9-0 Drew first pitch swinging to save Jays even more embarrassment fly ball to centre one down, Pedroia, strikes out swinging on three pitches, thank you Dustin,. Gonzalez, grounds rule double into right centre. Patterson again misplays that route, that is second time today. I think Davis will have more luck. We forget that Patterson is a rookie, lots to learn yet. Boston hit number 13 to the Jays one. Youkilis, fly ball to Snider in left.

Top 8th: Aceves now pitching. I think Dice-K could have gone the distance but Francona wants some work for bullpen. Arencibia grounds to Lowrie at short, Snider, grounds to short, throw just gets Snider, two down. Encarnacion, pops up to Youkilis at third. Jays quietly capitulating here. Just one hit today and now 24 innings since they scored a run with a hit. Rock bottom.
Bottom 8th: Can Boston get than tenth run? Crowd wants it. Not many leaving here to see this they have had a rough start to the season but Jays hitters and pitchers have given them a great weekend. Janssen now pitching. Ortiz, pops up to Bautista shallow right, one down for Lowrie, 4-4 today. Strikes out on three pitches. Casey loves that. Crawford. Very nice Johnny Mac now that is hustle and heart, grounds the ball off Janssen`s glove, Johnny Mac changes direction and barehands throw to first to get Crawford. That was highlight reel play to take home and also show his teammates what has been missing today.

Top 9th: Wakefield pitching. Nix, nothing today but only his third !!! at bat that is how bad Jays have been, only two reaching base. Pops up to short. Escobar, swinging away and connects off the wall no over home run for Escobar, consolation prize, today. 9-1. Patterson pops up to Youkilis. Bautista fly ball to Crawford in left and finally the agony today is over. This was one awful weekend in Boston that Jays will want to forget at the airport because tomorrow friends Burnett start for the Yankees and he is 3-0 on the season.

The good: Johnny Mac fielding play. That was it, not even the home run from Escobar fits the category today. This was one awful performance for three games.
The bad: Romero, unable to do what the team wanted from their number one pitcher. Down early in the first inning and appeared to have nothing. Key at bat was the last hitter he faced; despite Varitek swinging at first two outside pitches he walked him on the next four. Patterson in centre, unable to fathom out the centre field fences. The hitters all game long.
The very bad: the sixth inning with Jays hitters five pitches three outs and that includes three strikeout for Nix. Jays management cannot promote hustle and heart with this team at least. Seventh inning, eight pitches. That is not what we are being sold on for this team.

A long way to go for respectability for this team. Alex may be right, it is 2012 when they challenge. Meantime get used to the minor league play.