Jays v Orioles. Game one of three.
Jays limp into Baltimore after that embarrassing game on Wednesday. Yes they had the tie run to the plate but this one was not a fairy tale. It was humiliation in three innings for Drabek. Still with the club, but another outing like that one and he may be seeing the Vegas club. No Lawrie or Lind, promises, promises. Maybe, maybe. Lind palying tonight in Dunedin and Lawrie with that hand injury. Edwin in the line-up will probably go 4-4 tonight with four grand slams. But far too late now with the Lawrie and Lind call-ups. It should mean that DH will be shared between Rivera and Lind. Love this ballpark, the last time I was there was the weekend before 9/11 when Ripken was still playing and the ground was sold out all weekend. Times are a changing.
Line-ups: Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Rivera, Arencibia, Hill, Encarnacion, Davis, Nix and Villanueva pitching.
Orioles: Pie, Jones, Markakis, Guerrero, Wieters, Hardy, Scott, Reynolds, Andino, and Zach Britton pitching.
Top 1st: Escobar fly ball to Jones in centre, one down for Patterson. Grounds to first, two down. Bautista, grounds to third, throw to first to end this one. Easy first inning for Britton threw nothing but strikes.
Bottom 1st: Pie, pops up to Patterson in shallow left, one down for Jones, hits him on the shoulder, one on one down for Markakis. Perfect, hammer back to Villanueva, throw to Escobar, over to Rivera, easy double play.
Top 2nd: Rivera leading off, singles to Jones in centre, one on for Arencibia, 2-2 count, JP more patient than usual, pulls it into left, Rivera to second. Error to Reynolds at third. Hill with two on, lines it into right, here comes Rivera 1-0 Jays. Encarnacion with two on and nobody out. Edwin does his usual, grounds to second, steps on to the bag, throw over to first double play ball. I can’t wait until he is on the bench period. Arencibia to third. Two down for Davis, ball gets away and here comes JP, 2-0 Jays. Davis doubles into right, speed on the bases. Nix now with runner in scoring position. Your chances are diminishing now Jayson with Lawrie hanging around. Pops it up to first for third out but Jays get going early here.
Bottom 2nd: Guerrero leading off. Lines it to Bautista in right, one down for Wieters catching tonight, grounds hard to Rivera at first, two down. Short stop Hardy, 1-2 count, lines it to Davis in centre, three up and down for Villanueva.
Top 3rd: Escobar, doubles to the wall in left centre, nice hit Yunel. Patterson, bunting to first, Escobar to third, Patterson out at first. Bautista, one down, Yunel at third. Intentional walk, here we go. Bautista ball four. Two on for Rivera. One down. That will do Rivera drives to Markakis in right, here comes Escobar 3-0 Jays and Bautista moves up to second on the throw. Arencibia now with runner at second, first pitch grounds to short, throw to first for third out. His first at bat was much better.
Bottom 3rd: Luke Scott leading off. 2-2 count, grounds to Hill, throw to Rivera, one down. Reynolds, 3-0 count, ball four. One on one down for Andino, fly ball to Davis, two down. Pie, grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar for third out.
Top 4th: Can Jays hitters add on here? Hill leading off. Lines it very hard to the wall in left centre but right at the fielder, one down. Encarnacion, no double play this time Edwin. Grounds to Hardy at short, throw to first, two down. Davis, takes strike three looking to end the inning.
Bottom 4th: Jones leading off, grounds back at Villanueva, throw to Rivera, one down. Markakis, grounds it to Hill, throw to Rivera, two down for Guerrero. Ouch, hits him. One on two down for Wieters. Full count, pops up to Rivera.
Top 5th: Nix, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, Britton really pitching fast here, one down for Escobar. Full count, ball four. Patterson, with one on base one down. Takes strike three, two down for Bautista. Britton will be pitching to him this time. Drives it into left. Escobar to second, two on. Rivera, 3-1 count, ball gets away and both runners move up. Ball four to load the bases. Arencibia, please no first pitch swinging here. Bullpen working. 71 pitch count. 2-2 count, WOW, goes down for this one and almost golfs it out of here, that was about a foot off the ground, power big-time, grand slam JP. His first in the majors. 7-0 Jays. Great at bat JP. Hill. Bounces one to short, throw to first to end the inning but JP has broken this one open. Now has nine home runs on the season.
Bottom 5th: Hardy, singles to Davis in centre. First base hit for Baltimore. Scott, grounds to Hill, no chance for two throw to Rivera to get Scott. Reynolds, high fly ball to Patterson in left, two down, runner holds at second. Andino, full count, singles to left, Patterson throw too high and runner scores 7-1 Jays. Patterson should probably have gone to cut off and held runner at second. Andino goes to second. Pie. Oh boy, grounds to third, ball hits the bag ! bounces away and no chance for Nix for a play. That was a freaky play. Runners at first and third. Jones, singles to left, here comes the second run. 7-2 Jays. Markakis, fly ball to Davis in centre.
Top 6th: Can Jays get those runs back? Encarnacion leading off. 0-2 tonight. Ex-Jay Jeremy Accardo now pitching. Strikes out swinging. One down for Davis, doubles the other way to left. One down one on for Nix, hitless tonight. Will Rajai take third? Upsetting Accardo here, jumping around at second, 2-2 count, there he goes and steals third as Nix strikes out on high ball. Escobar with runner at third, two down. Singles into left centre, here comes Davis from third, 8-2 Jays. That stolen base counted big-time. I don’t think he would have scored from second. Patterson, two down one on, fly ball to centre for third out. Jays get one back.
Bottom 6th: Guerrero leading off. Singles into left. Wieters, lines it to Patterson in left, one down for Hardy, pops up to shallow right centre, NO !!! Hill drops it in front of Davis and Bautista that was Jose’s play running in from right, oh boy, Hill blew that one big-time, two on for Scott. That’s it for poor Villanueva. 90 pitches, but he did well to keep Jays in this one. Luis Perez now pitching. Scott, 0-2 count, pitch gets away from Arencibia, both runners move up. Strikes out swinging, two down. Reynolds, full count, ball four bases loaded. Andino. 2-2 count, very nice grounds up the middle but Escobar makes nice backhand play and throw to Hill for third out. No one breathes a bigger sigh of relief than Aaron Hill.
Top 7th: Bautista leading off. Accardo still out there. Full count, fouling them off here, ball four, Rivera, takes strike three, one down for Arencibia, 2-2, fly ball to right centre, two down for Hill. Aaron needs some redemption for that dropped ball last inning. Well he tried, drives it to the wall in left centre, out on the track, almost there as he has been for the last couple of weeks. I think he is getting closer to that home run swing into left but he does not seem to be pulling the ball to left the way he used to, he is driving it more to left centre.
Bottom 7th: Pie grounds to Escobar at short, throw to first, one down. Jones, 3-1 count, Perez getting a little wild here. Full count, bounces one through infield into left, Markakis. 0-2 count, nice pitch inside strikes him out looking. Two down for Guerrero, whoa..... drives this one to the wall in centre, Davis runs it down to make the catch up against the wall. That was trouble. Perez escapes.
Top 8th: Encarnacion leading off. Will this be his last at bat for a long time? Jakobauskas now pitching. Lines it out to centre, that was quick first pitch, one down. Davis, whoa, grounds to short and beats out the throw to first, wow what speed. Nix, 0-3 tonight. 2-2 count, ball gets away, Davis easily takes second. Full count, Jayson at least trying here. Lines it into left but hangs up for the out. Escobar, with runner in scoring position, two down. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging this time.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Wieters leading off. Drives it past Hill into right centre, one on for Hardy, 2-2 count. Oh boy, drives this one out of here into left field seats and Orioles get two more 8-4 Jays. They had a 7-0 lead at one time in this game. Scott still with nobody out. 2-2 count, Rzepczynski warming up in bullpen. Grounds to Hill, throw to Rivera, one down. Reynolds, pops up to Bautista in right, two down for Andino. 3-0 count, come on Jason, number nine guy. 3-1, bounces to Escobar, throw to Rivera for third out but Orioles have two more.
Top 9th: Patterson leading off, has to get on for Jose. I want to see if Showalter will pitch to Jose. 1-2 count, pops up to Reynolds at third, one down. Bautista single and two walks. Full count, gets under it and high fly ball to centre, two down. Rivera last chance singles back up the middle, two hit night. Arencibia, 1-2 count, takes strike three.
Bottom 9th: Top of the order for Baltimore. Rzepczynski pitching. Ryan Adams pinch hitting for Pie. 2-1 count. Singles into centre. Jones, 2-1 count, very nice, grounds back up the middle, Hill flip to Escobar throw to Rivera double play ball, two down. Markakis 0-2 count, that will do it, grounds to Escobar, throw to Rivera for final out. Jays win big here 8-4.
The very good: Grand slam for Arencibia. I think Villanueva deserves a gold star tonight, he pitched very well into the sixth and that is all the manager could ask for from a guy who is not in the rotation and supposed to be long relief. Great all round game for Davis, great catch in the seventh at the wall to save a run off Guerrero, his ninth steal of third, and three hit night. Bautista on base three times. Escobar and Rivera both with two hits.
Not so good: Hill dropped ball. Encarnacion 0-3 night. Nix 0-3 night. But things are a changing in the line-up friends very, very soon. Lind back tomorrow and Lawrie next after his hand heals.
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