Monday, April 18, 2011

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.

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