Tigers v Jays Game three of four.
The issue is not of the Verlander no-hitter, but rather the line-up that the Jays are putting on the field. It was very telling that it was Encarnacion who when faced with Jays first runner on base yesterday grounded into what is too regular for him, another double play.
A line-up with Davis, Patterson, Cooper, McCoy, Encarnacion, McDonald, is not going to scare many major league starters. The plain fact is that the Jays have not played their opening day line-up since that very first game. That is the issue. No Snider, Hill, Bautista, and now Lind. Don’t forget Jayson Nix either. That will put a dent in any hitting line-up Today we get two back which means two less bench players in the line-up. McCoy already on the Vegas bus. Halfway there in my opinion. Without Lind today, Bautista loses some of his effectiveness as they will not give him anything to hit. Rivera today behind him ??? Who would you rather pitch to?
Add in Jo Jo Reyes pitching today and the odds are not good for Jays to win this one today. Meantime in Vegas another home run for Lawrie. When will he get his chance? Plus Podsednik, Thames, Snider, lots of them knocking at the door. They deserve their chance over the under-achievers playing today.
Line-ups: Tigers: Jackson, Sizemore, Ordonez, Cabrera, Martinez, Peralta, Raburn, Wells, Inge and Penny pitching.
Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Rivera, Hill, Arencibia, Encarnacion, Cooper, Davis and Reyes pitching.
Top 1st: Reyes has to pitch his heart out today to give the Jays a chance here. Yet to win a game this season or in fact for his last 24 starts. Jackson, singles to left on first pitch. Sizemore, wild pitch and runner moves up, how many times have we seen this? Major defensive weakness for Arencibia. Grounds to Cooper playing at first, takes the out, Jackson moves to 3B on the play. One down for Ordonez. That’s better, grounds to Escobar, throw to first, Jackson has to hold. Two down for Carbrera, lines first pitch to Cooper for third out. Huge play strands Jackson at third.
Bottom 1st: Jays need to build on that good fortune and get out of the gate running today. Escobar grounds to Sizemore at second, throw to first, one down. Patterson, he should be getting some good pitches with Bautista behind him. Perfect doubles off the wall in right centre, already Jays have got further than they did in all of yesterday. No nonsense today. Bautista ball one, grounds to second throw to first to get Bautista but Patterson moves to third. Rivera, fly ball to left for third out.
Top 2nd: Martinez leading off. Grounds to Hill throw to Cooper for the first out. Peralta, strikes out swinging, two down for Raburn. Whoa.... pops it up to first, Cooper loses it in sun but manages to hold on to end the inning.
Bottom 2nd: Hill, first at bat since April 19th, he is bursting to get going here. Huge year for him re contract, he cannot afford to lose a month or even a week. Pops up to Cabrera at first. One down for Arencibia, pops up to Jackson in shallow centre, two down. Encarnacion, in another disappointing slump, that’s better Edwin, doubles into left field corner. Another runner at second but Jays have to bring him in here to make it count. Cooper, strikes out.
Top 3rd: Wells, pops up to Encarnacion, one down for Inge, fly ball to Patterson two pitches two outs. Jackson, fly ball to Patterson, five pitch inning, love it. That was like watching the Jays first pitch hitters.
Bottom 3rd: Jays have been threatening first two innings can they do more this inning and actually score? Davis leading off.. singles up the middle, way to go Rajai. Now for some sparks. Escobar, 2-0, Rajai distracting Penny, singles to left. Two on nobody out for Patterson. Double steal in order ? 2-0 count, more distraction for Penny.3-0 has to come in to him or load them up for Bautista. Takes it all the way. And another down the middle. Full count. Oh boy awful, grounds to second throw to first, double play he should have gone after 3-0 pitch right down the middle. Bautista with first base open, 3-1 count, full count, NO DOUBT about this one, lines it into left field seats off the second level wall and back into the field. 2-0 Jays. Rivera lines it to Raburn in left for third out but Jose is back friends.
Top 4th: Sizemore, pops it up to first but fan in front row gets in Cooper’s face and drops the ball. Ordonez, full count, ball four, that fan owes Jo Jo Reyes one. Pops up to Hill. Cabrera with one down. Pops up to Hill in shallow right, great catch by Aaron. Martinez, lines it to the wall in centre, here comes Ordonez. 2-1 Jays. Peralta, lines it to left, here comes the throw by Rivera, Encarnacion cuts it off and throws and Arencibia tags but drops the ball. Run scores. That throw from Rivera was coming through to Arencibia. Raburn, grounds to Encarnacion throw to Cooper first for the out, But Jays are back to square one. Thanks to that fan and Encarnacion throw.
Bottom 4th: Hill leading off. Grounds to third throw to first, one down. Arencibia fly ball to right, two down for Encarnacion. Chance for redemption Edwin. Grounds to third, throw to first. Jays have lost the momentum they had with that lead.
Top 5th: Wells singles to left. Inge, singles to centre, Reyes imploding here, game is slipping away from him. Two on nobody out. Jackson, bunting, grounds to Reyes throw to third gets Wells. One down but still two on, Sizemore. Fly ball to Davis here comes the throw, runner to third on throw, two down for Ordonez. Pops up to Cooper and Reyes escapes big-time.
Bottom 5th: Cooper leading off, pops up shallow left, Cooper out of his depth at this level but hopefully learning every at bat. Davis, first pitch, come on Rajai, pops up, two down three pitches two outs. Escobar, escapes on this first pitch grounder to third, foul call. That would have been three outs in four pitches. Hardly major league stuff. Grounds to short, throw to first. Escobar ambles down to first. I think Manager Farrell will mention that to him. Run them out hard Yunel.
Top 6th: Maybe last inning for Reyes. Cabrera leading off. Fly ball to Patterson in centre. Martinez, pops up to Hill another nice catch by Aaron with that sun. Peralta lines first pitch to centre, Patterson running catch to end this inning. Seven pitch inning. Must be something on tonight for these players. Reyes gets into seventh.
Bottom 6th: Patterson leading off. He will get good pitches with Jose on deck. Grounds to Sizemore at second, throw to first, one down for Bautista. Ball one two feet outside. Lines it to short, for the catch two down. Rivera, grounds to third, throw to first to end this inning.
Top 7th: Reyes only 64 pitches. Raburn pops up to Patterson in shallow centre, one down for Wells, pops up to Arencibia, two down. Inge, singles to Davis in shallow right. Jackson with two down. Oh boy lines it into left field seats two run home run and Tigers are off and running now 4-2. Sizemore, pops up to Davis in right to end this but the door is open now for Tigers.
Bottom 7th: Jays apart from Bautista home run have not looked like scoring today, a collective funk. Hill, Arencibia and Encarnacion one hit between them all. Not what you need from the heart of the order. There we go Aaron, singles into left. Can the others bring him in? Arencibia, grounds to third throw second on to first double play ball. Encarnacion, grounds to third throw to first, easy pickings for Penny, Jays look a defeated side.
Top 8th: Reyes still out there 78 pitches. Ordonez doubles to left. Cabrera, but that’s it for Reyes. Just not enough today. Frasor now pitching, singles up the middle here comes pinch runner Kelly 5-2 Tigers. Martinez with runner at first and nobody out, pops up to Encarnacion at third. Peralta, 3-0 Frasor does not have his stuff either today. Lines it to Patterson in centre, misplays the ball and Cabrera to third on the double. Raburn strikes out, two down. Wells with two down. 0-2 count. Bounces to Escobar throw to first to get the out and save Frasor here.
Tigers have outhit Jays in their two wins 14-2 OUCH. There’s the problem.
Bottom 8th: Do Jays want to win this thing. They have not shown much fire today. Six more outs. Penny still out there only 84 pitches and this is why, Cooper first pitch grounds to first, Davis. Grounds to second, throw to first two quick outs. Escobar, 3-1 better at bat by Yunel, full count, singles to centre, nice at bat for Escobar. Patterson now, can he get on for Bautista. That`s it for Penny but he should have been out long ago but for rash hitting by Jays today. Very different philosophy from the Yankees where they grind down the pitchers. Schlereth now pitching. Patterson will get some good pitches with Bautista on deck. Grounds to second throw to the bag for the third out.
Top 9th: Rzepczynski now pitching. Inge, fly ball to Davis in right. Singles up the middle. Sizemore, strikes out looking, two down. Kelly who pinch ran for Ordonez, 3-0 count, full count, strikes him out to end the inning.
Bottom of 9th: Valverde closing this one out. Even Jose cannot score three. They will pitch to him and give up the run if needs be. 2-0 they will walk him instead, a better bet with the hitters behind Jose. Jose is swinging he does not want a walk. Strikes out, you can’t blame him. There is no one behind him with any power today. Rivera, strikes out swinging way out of the zone. Hill strikes out.
Very disappointing, the problem is the lack of hitting. Bautista and Lind even when he is back cannot carry this team; they need power and lots of it and in Vegas.
Tigers poised to take the series as they have Scherzer tomorrow unbeaten this season at 5-0, good luck. Jays may be looking south for some hitters fast. Lawrie, Snider, Podsednik and Thames. They cannot do worse that the current line-up.
The good: Only Bautista today, two run home run. And that was it. Nice at bat by Escobar in the eighth to see Penny out of game but far too late for the Jays. Reyes took then into the eighth which is definitely a plus.
The bad: Starting with the hitters up and down the line-up. Awful at bats, undisciplined hitting over and over again. Two runs in the last two games are not going to win many games.
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