Jays hitters had their chances but lose 5-3 as Romero implodes

Jays v Orioles Game two of three.

Major excitement in Jays Nation. Adam Lind returns, poor guy, lots of pressure on him tonight but it will be very difficult if not impossible for him to carry on where he left off before the DL. Timing is everything as both Nix and Hill are finding out. However all things considered, far better to have Adam in the line-up than Edwin. Jays would love to continue from last night and their current torrid hitting. Averaging over twelve hits per game over the last seven. But already Tampa and Boston have won this afternoon. Jays need to stay with them. Right now Jays have tied Tampa. Yankees playing later tonight on the west coast.

Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, (DH tonight just concentrate on the hitting Adam), Rivera, Arencibia, Hill, Davis, McCoy (until Lawrie is fit) and Romero pitching.

Orioles: Andino, Markakis, Jones, Guerrero, Lee, Wieters, Hardy, Reynolds, Reimold, and Arrieta pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar leading off. Fly ball to Markakis in right, one down. Patterson, WHOA Corey, no question about this one. Over the scoreboard in right centre up to the warehouse, home run Patterson, every nice Corey love that swing.1-0 Jays. Bautista, one down, grounds to short, throw to first, two down. Lind, welcome back Adam we missed you bigtime. 2-2 count, grounds to second throw to first for third out. Jays go out ahead. What I really like is that it is now becoming a different player every night, that has to take the pressure off Jose.

Bottom 1st: Andino,1-2 count, grounds to Hill, throw Rivera, one down. Markakis, full count, grounds to Rivera, takes it himself for second out. Jones, first pitch pulls it to left great barehanded play by Patterson and throw to second to hold Jones at first, nice play Corey. Guerrero, grounds to Hill, throw to Rivera for third out.

Top 2nd: Rivera leading off, 2-2 count, grounds to short, unable to come up with the ball and Rivera safe at first. Arencibia, last night’s hero. 3-1 count, oh Arrieta throws it away at first, Rivera to second. Error to Arrieta. Full count, ball four. Hill, starting to get closer to that left field wall.1-2 count, that will do a nubber off the end of the bat down first base line, Hill out at first but both runners move up, one down for Davis both runners in scoring position. Two chances now to bring them in. This will do for one as lines it to centre for the out, here comes Rivera 2-0 Jays and Arencibia stays at second on the throw. McCoy big chance here Mikey. 3-0 count, takes ball four, that will do. Escobar now with two on and two down. Oh boy, first pitch grounds to short, throw to second for the force on McCoy, come on Escobar, take a couple, he has just walked a guy on four pitches, you can see Arrieta rattled here. That would drive me mad if I were a Manager.

Bottom 2nd: Romero now has two run lead. Lee, singles to Davis in centre. Wieters, whoa, fly ball to left and ball bounces into the crowd, that saved a run there but with ground rule double both runners in scoring position and nobody out. Ricky in trouble early here. Hardy, grounds to short, long high throw but gets Hardy as Lee scores 2-1 Baltimore. Reynolds with runner at second one down. 2-0 Romero getting untracked here. 2-2 strikes out swinging, two down. Reimold, 3-1 count, ball four. Top of the order again, Andino with two on two down. Hammers it to third, great catch by McCoy to rescue Romero here.

Top 3rd: Patterson, great play, bunts up third base line, throw pulls first off the line, Patterson safe at first for Bautista. 3-1 but all four have been balls, Jose swung at one, not giving him much to hit here. Outside ball four, semi intentional. Two on nobody out for Lind. 3-1 count, love his patience, Escobar are you watching this? Ball four, two successive walks to load the bases with nobody out. Rivera, swinging away now, Simon warming up in bullpen, oh the very worst, grounds to third, throw home gets him and throw to first for double play, ouch that hurts, all the speed in the team and it has to be Rivera on backend of that play. Two down. Arencibia with two in scoring position.2-2 count, full count, lines out to Markakis in right and Jays fail to score with bases loaded and nobody out. Whoa, ouch and ouch again. That hurts.

Bottom 3rd: Markakis leading off. Singles to Davis in centre, one on for Jones, lines it right at Hill at second, no chance for two. Guerrero, one down one on. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, ball down and away in the dirt, not even Vladdy could get that one but he tried, two down. Lee, they have Markakis picked off, throw to Hill gets him sliding to end the inning.

Top 4th: Jays have had their chances to pile up the runs already, perhaps this inning. Hill leading off. Grounds back to Arrieta wild throw over the head of first base but Hill unable to advance, that could have been extra base. Davis, grounds back Arrieta throw to second to get Hill no chance to get Davis on return throw, way too late, definitely not Rivera running there, McCoy, now will Davis run? Arrieta thinks so throwing over, for the third time. There he goes throw off the mark and Davis slides in safe. Now for third ? there he goes first pitch and good throw but not in time. Number 18 for Rajai. McCoy meantime waiting to hit. 3-0 count, full count, singles past short, here comes Davis. 3-1 Jays. McCoy at first, Escobar, there goes McCoy, thinks he is Davis, throw is good and McCoy easily out at second two down. Hmm not sure that was the most brilliant move Mikey. Grounds to short, throw to first to get Escobar.

Bottom 4th: Lee leading off. Strikes out looking, one down for Wieters, 2-2 count, strikes out, two down, Hardy, singles to Davis in centre, one on two down for Reynolds, bounces to Escobar throw to Hill to get Hardy for third out.

Top 5th: Patterson, 2-2 tonight, grounds to Lee at first off his glove but recovers to throw to Arrieta at first for the out. Bautista, 2-0 count, 3-0, nowhere near the plate for Jose. High fly ball to right carries all the way to Markakis at the wall. Lind, first pitch grounds to second throw to first for third out. Jays go quietly this inning.

Bottom 5th: Reimold ? Andino high fly ball but Davis outruns it in left centre, two down. Markakis, singles back up the middle to Davis. One on two down for Jones grounds to Hill, throw to Escobar to get Markakis at second.

Top 6th: Rivera, grounds to third, dives full length to get and from his knees makes the throw to first for the out, he had loads of time for Rivera, lack of speed again hurts him. Arencibia, takes strike three looking, two down for Hill. Pops up to second for third out. Jays bats have gone quiet. They had so many chances earlier. I hope it does not hurt them.

Bottom 6th: Guerrero singles first pitch past diving Hill into right centre, Lee, singles to Bautista in right, two on nobody out, this is why those earlier chances were so important. Wieters, singles to left, Romero a mess right now. Bases loaded nobody out. Hardy, grounds to McCoy, throw home gets Guerrero no chance for double play here. One down. Reynolds, This one no doubt is out of here, grand slam and Baltimore takes the lead 5-3. A little bit of attitude there by Reynolds, thinks he is A-Rod standing there before moving off. Reimold, Grounds first pitch to Rivera, great diving stop and throw to Romero for second out. Andino singles into centre, Romero has nothing anymore. Bullpen call. Markakis grounds to Escobar throw to first for third out to end a horrible inning by Romero.

Top 7th: Jim Johnson now pitching for Arrieta. Davis, grounds to Hardy at short, throw to first for the out. McCoy, same play. Two down. Escobar, first pitch ! grounds to first, for third out, talk about momentum. But I don’t think Escobar is a thinking player.

Bottom 7th: Romero out again, not sure this is a good idea. Pitching in anger never a good idea. Too late to get that last meltdown back. Jones grounds first pitch to Hill, throw to first, one down. Guerrero, fly ball to Davis, two down for Lee, grounds back to Romero throw to first, three quick outs but I think Baltimore players want out on the town tonight to celebrate this. Too little too late Ricky.

Top 8th: I wonder if we will see ex-Jay closer Kevin Gregg. Uehara now pitching for Johnson. Patterson, another great bunt up third line, Reynolds wild throw anyway but Corey safe. No error to Reynolds. Bautista, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Lind, 2-2 count, takes strike three, Adam finding it tough getting back in the saddle. Rivera, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging.

Bottom 8th: Jays up against the wall now. Romero still out there. Wieters, pops up first pitch to Hill. Hardy, 3-0, ball four and this is why Romero should be sitting. Reynolds good luck Ricky. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Reimold, another 3-0 count, ball four, two walks in the inning. Top of the order again. Here comes the boss, not a good game tonight for Romero. Dotel now pitching, Andino with two on, both Romero’s responsibility. Pie pinch running at first. 2-2 count, strikes out looking.

Top 9th: Last chances for Jays tonight but they had many more earlier and could not take advantage of them. Gregg it is. This should be interesting. Arencibia leading off. Strikes out looking for second time tonight. Hill, 1-2 count, singles into centre that pitch was about six inches off the ground. One on one down for Davis, 3-1 count. Singles into left. Two on one down but look who is at bat. Edwin pinch hitting for McCoy, gets his big chance. Make me a believer Edwin. 2-2 count, takes !!! third strike, ah well it could have been a double play. Escobar, last chance here. Pops it up to first for final out.

A game to forget for both Escobar and Romero tonight.

The very good: Patterson home run in the first, and two great bunt singles. Rajai Davis two stolen bases. The good I guess was the resting of the bullpen as Romero went eight.

The not so good: Romero ??? one lousy inning with the four runs but he was not sharp in earlier innings. Escobar in the second, with two on grounds out on first pitch after Arrieta had walked previous hitter on four pitches.
Third inning Jays fail to score with bases loaded and nobody out.
Fourth inning, McCoy thrown out at second, with Escobar at the plate, not good decision.
Jays had loads of chances to win this one in the second, third, fourth and ninth innings. One of those games that Jays heads were not in the game.

Is Encarnacion the best pinch hitter on the bench? I think Molina is better and with game on the line, he would be my choice.
Why does Farrell keep giving him a chance ? Probably law of averages, one day he will get a hit, meantime agonize each at bat and look forward to Lawrie,(one day).