Jays v Mariners. Game two.
Janssen and Mills called up to replace Purcey on waivers. I agree 100% re Purcey. He was definitely the goat last night and implications are far beyond the loss. The bullpen all beaten up, Camp for one is way overused already, it gave Mariners hope after seven game loss instead of putting them away, Jays unable to put their foot on neck of Mariners. Let us hope that if nothing else this team learned something from it and it will not happen again. Put the score on every locker in the Jays dressing room for the rest of the season as a motivator. This was one huge one that got away instead of a good win against Hernandez. Pressure now tremendous on Romero to go deep tonight.
Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Arencibia, Snider, Encarnacion, Nix and Romero pitching.
Mariners: Suzuki, Wilson, Bradley, Olivo, Smoak, Rodriguez, Saunders, Ryan, Langerhans, and Pineda pitching.
Top 1st: Escobar leading off, lines it to Rodriguez third hard but right at him. Patterson, pops it up to Rodriguez, two down. Bautista, 3-0 count, takes it right down the middle. I have noticed Bautista has been doing this on 3-0 pitch instead of swinging. Full count, and strikes out. Jose may regret not swinging at that fourth pitch right down the middle.
Bottom 1st: Suzuki, pops it up, one down. Wilson fly ball to Bautista, Bradley grounds back to Romero, throw to Lind for three up and down inning. Tampa has just beaten Boston in Fenway. Price beat Lester in battle of the aces. Yankees-Baltimore game rained out.
Top 2nd: Lind, lines it to Ryan at short, one down for Hill, strikes out, two down. Arencibia, walks, Snider not having much fun these days. Lines it to Ichiro in right. Another lousy crowd but when you lose seven in a row and it is April and COLD then not much incentive.
Bottom 2nd: Olivo, strikes out. Smoak, not good bounces one down the right field line, Lind playing too far off the line that was playable. Rodriguez, lines first pitch to Patterson in centre, runner holds, two down for Saunders, strikes out swinging.
Top 3rd: Encarnacion DH again tonight. Pops it high in air for Rodriguez at third. Nix, same play first pitch but to Smoak at first, two down for Escobar. Grounds to second throw to first. Pineda mowing them down here.
Bottom 3rd: Ryan, singles to left. Langerhans, this one is trouble big-time, Langerhans huge swing at first pitch no doubt about this as it sails into right field seats, that was some swing, 2-0 Seattle. He was sitting on that pitch. Ichiro, bounces hard back to Romero, nice athletic jump to grab it and throw him out, first out of the inning. Wilson, oh boy, grounds it to Nix, throw wild past Lind at first, and Wilson to second on the error to Nix. Bradley, Wilson steals third without a throw. Bradley singles into right, here comes third run, Romero unravelling here, Olivo. Grounds back to Romero, fumbles it and only one play to first, could have been two without the fumble. Smoak, 3-1 count, grounds to Lind takes it himself. But Jays are now in trouble. Seattle flying high. Jays hitters need to get something going and fast or this one is in the books.
Top 4th: I guess the good news is that this game is going along a lot faster than last night which took two hours to go four, this one is not even one hour. Patterson leading off. That will do it, Corey pulls it into right. Bautista now, singles into left, two on for Lind, has to move them over here, strikes out swinging. I am beginning to give up on Adam, he is no security behind Bautista and other advance scouts will note to pitch around Jose to get to Lind. Hill, fly ball to Ichiro in right, two down and runners stay put. Arencibia, strikes out. Awful, runner on second and no outs and does not move. Where is the aggression tonight ? What is the point of speed of Patterson if he doesn’t use it?
Bottom 4th: Rodriguez, full count, grounds to Nix, careful throw to Lind this time, one down, Saunders, strikes out swinging. Ryan, grounds to Lind, takes it himself to end the inning. Ricky is doing his job but where are the hitters? Jays seem to have forgotten they were beating up Hernandez last night big-time. This team tonight looks hesitant without any aggression on the bases.
Top 5th: Someone needs to light the fire here. Snider first pitch fly ball to left. Encarnacion, lifts it into centre, one on for Nix needs to redeem himself for the throwing error. I don’t think Pineda has thrown one ball to first all night, Come on make him sweat, even you Edwin. Nix pops it up to centre. Two down. Escobar, lines it back off Pineda but still time for Ryan at short to get Encarnacion at second. Mariners cruising in this one, this Jays team is totally beaten down.
Bottom 5th: Langerhans full count, strikes out, no home run this time. Ichiro, grounds to Lind, two down. Wilson bunting but Ricky fast off the mound and throw gets him at first. That will help the pitch count and bullpen but we still need RUNS !
Top 6th: Patterson, slaps it to third, throw to first beats him out. One down for Bautista, first pitch fly ball to left, two down, Jays hitters getting frustrated here. Lind, pops it up to Olivo. Pitiful hitting by the heart of Jays order. This is a rookie pitcher they are facing not Roy Hallladay. Undisciplined and lack of any life or aggression on the base pads when they do get on.
Bottom 6th: Bradley, strikes out, Olivo, great pitch strikes him out, number six for Ricky tonight. Smoak grounds first pitch to Nix, throw to Lind to end this quick one.
Top 7th: Jays running out of at bats now and have not looked like doing any damage here tonight. Pineda cruising to an easy win. Hill, pops it up to second, one down. Jays have had precisely three hits tonight. Arencibia, strikes out. Snider, average now .139, strikes out. I foresee a trip to Vegas for this guy soon. Probably when Davis returns which could be this weekend for Boston series. With Patterson now Travis is superfluous and needs to get his hitting back in order.
Bottom 7th: Rodriguez, strikes out, number seven. Ricky has done his job but he can’t win games without any run support. Saunders lines it to Snider in left, two down. Ryan, pops it up to Hill.
Top 8th: Encarnacion leading off. Singles to left. Seattle bullpen already working. Nix, strikes out looking, one down for Escobar. Finally throws one over even though it is Edwin and no threat to run let alone steal. 3-0 count, we have not seen that tonight. Takes it all the way right down the middle. Ball four, two on one down for Patterson. Manager Wedge trip to the mound, leaving him in. Wild pitch and both runners move up, hit will score both. Perfect singles to right here comes Edwin, here comes Escobar, 3-2 game, finally a breakthrough. That’s the end for Pineda gets a great ovation but you could see he was starting to struggle, throw over, stepping off the mound when runner at second, wild pitch and finally left one up for Patterson. But this one is far from a Jays win yet. Bautista, Ray now pitching, way to go Corey stealing second throw down gets away and Patterson to third on the play, finally some aggression on the base pads. Bautista pops up to shallow right here comes the throw here comes Patterson out at the plate, double play ball. Not far enough to get home.
Bottom 8th: Romero still out there, Langerhans, ball four, leadoff guy on base. Rauch warming up. Ichiro, doubles down the line into left, Langerhans to third still no outs, Wilson, strikes out, on down. Bradley, intentional walk to set up Olivo. Bases loaded one down. No room for error for Ricky now. OH YES, YES, YES, Olivo lines it to Bautista in right, here comes the runner, here comes the throw and Langerhans is out at the plate, huge play double play.
Top 9th; Jays last chance here. Look who is now pitching. Ex-Jay Brandon League. Lind leading off, now earn your money Adam. Fly ball to centre, one down for Hill awful first pitch pops it up to first, two down, Arencibia last chance. Just misses with that shot to left foul, strikes out swinging.
And Jays ruin a great outing by Romero. I think Manager Farrell will be making major changes to this line-up, if not tomorrow then for Boston series. Hill, Lind, and Snider being the obvious candidates and certainly Bautista needs better protection than he is getting.
The good news is that this game is over in 2.5 hours.
The very good: Ricky Romero goes eight innings and gives that bullpen a rest. Patterson his RBI, his stealing and aggression in the eighth to get Jays close.
The bad: The hitters apart from Patterson. Worse still it is Hill, Lind and Snider now who are struggling big-time.
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