Rauch blows fine outing by Reyes as Jays hitters are absent

Jays v Rays. Game one of three.

The odds are heavily stacked against Jays tonight, not only are they visiting a very hot Rays team but they are decimated by injuries. Hill, Nix and now Bautista, still out with that neck spasms problem. Plus Tampa has Longoria back in the line-up, as if they had missed him. Reyes pitching not the greatest start to his season and this one could be ugly tonight.

Line-ups: Jays: Davis, Patterson, Escobar, Lind, Rivera, Arencibia, Cooper, Encarnacion, McDonald and Jo Jo Reyes pitching. This line up looks awfully weak after Lind. No Bautista, No Snider, Hill or Nix.
Rays:Fuld, Damon, Longoria, Zobrist, Upton, Rodriguez, Shoppach, Dan Johnson, Eliot Johnson, and Wade Davis pitching.

Top 1st: Davis leading off pops up to Dan Johnson at first, one down. Patterson singles to Zobrist in right. Escobar, ball four, Patterson to second. Jays have something going here but no Jose. Lind singles into centre, here comes Patterson. Jays draw first blood 1-0. Rivera with two on and on down. Grounds to short, on to second over to first double play ball to end this.
Bottom 1st: Fuld fly ball to Davis playing in right tonight, one down. Damon fly ball to Patterson two down. Longoria fly ball to Davis in right. Nice start for Jo Jo.

Top 2nd: Arencibia grounds to Longoria at third, throw to first, one down. Cooper pops up to Johnson at first, two down. Encarnacion fly ball to right, three up and down quickly.
Bottom 2nd: Zobrist strikes out, one down for Upton fly ball to Rivera in left. Sean Rodriguez singles to Johnny Mac at second. Shoppach, there goes Rodriguez, safe at second on the steal, this is Maddon ball tonight. Get the run anyway you can. Singles to right and here comes Rodriguez. Dan Johnson fly ball to Patterson in centre, but Rays have tied his one up.

Top 3rd: McDonald leading off, grounds to short, throw to first, one down. Davis fly ball to Zobrist in right, two down. Patterson singles to centre, 2-2 tonight already. Escobar grounds to second throw to first to get third out. Another one left out there.
Bottom 3rd: Elliot Johnson fly ball to Patterson in centre, one down for Fuld, grounds to Escobar throw to Lind, two down. Damon, hits him, one on two down. Longoria singles to Encarnacion at third, two on. Zobrist fly ball to Davis in right. This game is humming along.

Top 4th: Lind, singles to right. One on for Rivera, pops up to Johnson at first, one down. Arencibia singles to Fuld in left. Jays getting something going here but can anyone bring them in. Cooper pops up to short, two down. Encarnacion, there we go Edwin, lines it to the wall in centre, over the head of Upton, off the wall here comes Lind to score 2-1 Jays. Double for Edwin and Arencibia at third, two down two in scoring position. Johnny Mc. Ball three and takes the walk. Bases loaded for Davis. Great chance to break this open here Rajai. Strikes out swinging, the old bugbear of the Jays this season, inability to hit with runners in scoring position.
Bottom 4th: Upton fly ball to Davis in right, one down. Rodriguez pops up to Lind, two down, Shoppach, ball four, Johnson strikes out looking. Very nice Jo Jo, so far so very good.

Top 5th: Patterson pops up to short, one down. Escobar, ball four. Lind, pops up to Johnson at first, two down for Rivera, strikes out swinging. Rivera back in that early season funk with his bat. With Jose out of the line-up we need some power from you Juan.
Bottom 5th: Elliot Johnson singles to left, one on. Fuld, there goes Johnson, throw not in time. Another stolen base. Fuld fly ball to Patterson in centre. One down. Damon fly ball to Paterson in centre, Johnson tags and gets to third. Longoria, strikes out looking. Reyes escapes once again.

Top 6th: Arencibia, pops up to Rodriguez at second, one down. Cooper fly ball to Upton. Encarnacion pops up to Dan Johnson at first. Jays line-up is far too light weight to match the Rays.
Bottom 6th: Zobrist grounds to third, Encarnacion throw to Lind, one down. Upton pops up to Lind at first, two down. Rodriguez strikes out. Jo Jo Reyes has gone six tonight and that is all Jays could have hoped for. Unfortunately the hitters are somewhere else in Florida tonight.

Top 7th: Running out of chanches now. That`s it for Wade Davis, Gomes now pitching. Johnny Mac grounds to second, throw to first, one down. Jays have had only one inning with a leadoff guy getting on base tonight. Davis pops up to Rodriguez at second, two down. Patterson grounds to Johnson at first, to end this one.
Bottom 7th: Camp now pitching. Jo Jo Reyes must be delighted with his performance tonight, but can his hitters get him some additional runs here. Jaso pinch hitting for Shoppach, grounds to Encarnacion, bobbles the ball just get him at first, one down. That was too close Edwin. Dan Johnson grounds first pitch in front of short but Edwin has it again and better throw this time to get. Elliot Johnson, grounds to Lind at first, takes it himself for the out. Nice inning for Camp.

Top 8th: It would make us all a lot happier if Jays hitters could get some extra insurance runs here. Gomes pitching. Escobar leading off. Fly ball to Upton in centre. One down for Lind, 3-1 count, outside ball four. One on one down for Rivera, Lind stealing thrown out at second. Two down, Full count for Rivera. Grounds to second, throw to first to get Rivera.
Bottom 8th: Rzepczynski now pitching. Fuld leading off. Grounds to Escobar at deep short, long throw gets him at first. Damon, grounds to Lind at first, takes it himself for second out. Longoria strikes out swinging for third out. Very nice inning by Rzepczynski.

Top 9th: Cesar Ramos pitching. Arencibia, Pops it up for Kotchman now playing at first for Dan Johnson. Cooper, strikes out swinging two down for that’s it for Ramos. Kyle Farnsworth now pitching. Encarnacion 3-1 count. Full count, fouling them off, great at bat doubles pitch number eleven to the left centre wall. Very nice at bat Edwin. McCoy pinch running. McDonald, we really need a hit here Johnny Mac. 1-0 not like that grounds to third, throw to first to end this one.
Bottom 9th; Rauch pitching. Zobrist, 2-0 count, 3-1, strike two, full count, singles to left. Upton he will be hard to double up. Oh boy, line drive into the seats in left and this one is blown big-time. Rays win 3-2. Very tough loss for Jays.

The good: Jo Jo Reyes. Six innings and 92 pitches kept the Jays in the game and did not deserve to lose this one. Patterson Lind and Encarnacion all with two hits each tonight.
The not so good: Rauch blowing the save. The fourth inning with bases loaded and Davis striking out. 2-6 with runners in scoring position. Jays outhit Tampa tonight 7-6 but unable to make those hits mean something. Five players without a hit tonight. The big hole in the line-up without Jose Bautista.