Jays hitters no-show for Romero

Jays v Braves Game one of three.

Braves chasing the Phillies in the East. No quarter given to the Jays tonight and indeed in the series. Tonight they face Hudson, one of the best.

Line-ups Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Arencibia, Davis, Nix and Romero hitting and pitching.
Braves: Schafer, Gonzalez, Heyward, Freeman, Uggla, Ross, Hernandez, McLouth, and Hudson hitting and pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar leading off, grounds to Gonzalez at short, throw to Freeman at first,one down for Patterson, strikes out swinging, nowhere near the ball. Bautista two down. 2-2 count, down and away Jose not biting on that one. Full count. Grounds back up the middle throw to first for third out.
Bottom 1st: Schafer leading off, singles back up the middle, Ex-Jay Gonzalez, Schafer running, Romero picking him off, throw to Lind on to Escobar, one down. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind two down. Two pitches two outs. Heyward, 2-2 count, this is trouble lines it to right. Double for Hayward, two down one on for Freddie Freeman, 1-2 count, great pitch by Romero, strikes him out swinging to end the first.

Top 2nd: Lind, 2-2 count, grounds it very hard to first off the glove of Freeman and Lind safe at first. Error on Freeman. Hill, 2-2 count, ball three down and away, Aaron not biting on those pitches, strikes out swinging. One down for Arencibia. Lines first pitch into left corner, but only a single. Two on one down for Davis, first pitch, pops it up to first, that was a horrible at bat, your job is to get on base Rajai, two down for Nix, 1-2 count, pops up to shallow right for third out. Jays leave two out there wasting early opportunity to get out ahead.
Bottom 2nd: Dan Uggla, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging over that one. One down for Ross, grounds first pitch to Escobar, throw to Lind, two down. Hernandez, 3-0 count, not good, ball four. One on two down for Nate McLouth, 2-2 count, there goes the runner, Arencibia drops the ball, runner Hernandez safe at second. Full count. McLouth grounds to Hill, shovels it to Lind to end the inning, no damage done this time.

Top 3rd: Romero grounds first pitch to short, throw to first, one down for Escobar. Oh boy, first pitch grounds to short, throw to first, two pitches two outs. Escobar will he ever learn? Patterson, not much better, grounds second pitch back to Hudson, throw to first, four pitches three outs, tell me that that is good hitting. Hudson loves it... Romero probably has not sat down yet.
Bottom 3rd: Hudson, 1-2 count, bounces back to Romero, throw to Lind, first out. Top of the order Schafer, bunting up the first base line, but Romero quick off the bag and throw to Lind gets him two down. Gonzalez with two down, high fly ball to Patterson in left for third out.

Top 4th: This game is moving along VERY fast so far at least. Bautista leading off, 0-2 count, grounds to Gonzalez at short, throw to first one down. Lind, takes third strike, two down for Hill, 0-2 count, feeble swing at third strike to end this one. This Jays team tonight are sleepwalking or something worse.
Bottom 4th: Heyward grounds to Lind, throw to Romero for first out. Freeman fly ball to Bautista in right, two down. Uggla, grounds slow roller to Nix at third, throw not in time and Uggla safe at first. Ross, 3-0 count, full count, ball four, two on two down for McLouth. 3-1 count, Romero having trouble getting this third out. Fly ball to Patterson in left. Why is it that Patterson never seems to realise that there are three outs?

Top 5th: One hour for first four innings. These teams are racing along here. Time for Jays hitters to get on base and slow it down. Arencibia, strikes out swinging, Hudson has the Jays number tonight. Davis, full count, strikes out swinging. Nix, grounds to third, throw to first for the out. It will be so good to get Lawrie back and Nix back in Vegas, he has not been the same since that injury.
Bottom 5th: McLouth leading off grounds first pitch to Escobar, throw to Lind, one down for Hudson. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, Ricky wasted a lot of pitches on that at bat as Hudson fouled several off. Top of the order Schafer with two down. Strikes out swinging. Number four for Ricky.

Top 6th: Romero has to lead off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging but it took six pitches, Ricky will be ok with that at bat. Escobar, grounds to short, throw to first for the second out. Patterson, 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to first to end this inning. Jays hitters unable to solve Hudson tonight and you can sense how this one is going to end.
Bottom 6th: Gonzalez leading off, 3-1 count, this one is trouble, doubles to the wall in left centre. One in scoring position and nobody out. Romero in deep here. Heyward, 2-0, you can’t do this to Heyward Ricky, he will burn you big-time. 3-1, grounds to Nix, looks Heyward back to second, throw to Lind for first out. Freeman, whoa, hits him in the back. That pitch was way inside. Two on, one down for Uggla. John you need the bullpen to start up. 2-0 count, Romero has lost it for the moment here. NOW that is more like it, grounds to Nix, steps on third to get Gonzalez and throw to first to get Uggla, double play. Perfect timing for Romero who was beginning to look lost out there.

Top 7th: Time for the hitters to do their part for Ricky. Bautista leading off. Way inside, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Lind. Grounds to Gonzalez at short, throw to first two down for Hill. Hopeless, first pitch grounds to third, throw to first. Jays are throwing in the white flag early tonight. This is a pitiful hitting display. Hudson may well have Cy Young stuff tonight but all the more reason to battle him as opposed to giving up on the first pitch.
Bottom 7th: Ross leading off. Grounds to Escobar, great diving play but throw wild of first. Runner safe at second. This is like last inning; you can’t keep rolling the dice with this team. McLouth Grounds to Lind, Ross moves to third on the play, one down. Hernandez, good, grounds to Escobar coming home on the play and out at home plate is two down one at first. Hudson, oh boy, pulls this one into left field seats, two run home run. 2-0 Atlanta. Romero shell shocked, he just served it up on a platter right down the middle and left it hanging there. Schafer fly ball to Davis in centre, to end the inning but this should be enough to beat this team tonight who have not looked as if they can score one let alone two.

Top 8th: Well let’s see what this team is made of tonight, so far jelly. Arencibia leading off. 2-2 count, grounds to Gonzalez throw to first, one down and only five more at bats left for the Jay tonight to try to get back in this one. Davis, grounds to Gonzalez, throw to first, two down. Encarnacion pinch hitting for Nix. Might as well, even Edwin can do now worse tonight. Grounds to second throw to first and Jays unable to get a ball out of the infield let alone score.
Bottom 8th: Luis Perez now pitching to finish this one off. McCoy in at third. Gonzalez leading off. 3-1 ball four, one on for Heyward, grounds to Lind, throw to Hill no chance for two. Freeman, strikes out swinging. Two down for Uggla. That’s it for Perez, Camp now pitching. 1-2 count, there goes Heyward and safe on the throw. 2-2 count, Fly ball to Patterson in left to end the inning.

Top 9th: Last chance for the Jays tonight. McCoy ball four, leadoff walk, that will do. Escobar, grounds it up the middle Gonzalez unable to corral it and both runners safe, interesting, two on nobody out and that is it for Hudson, Jays get some moral satisfaction here to see him out of the game. However Jays still have to bring them in, they have the right people coming up. Craig Kimbrel now pitching 19 saves good luck guys. Showing bunt, 0-2 what a waste, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Bautista now, can Jose break out here? Ball one in the dirt. 1-2, takes strike three. Lind last chance here. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Three chances to bring one in, that about sums up tonight, very disappointing game. Jays had their chances. Romero blew his.

The not so good: In addition to the 9th. Escobar and Patterson in the 3rd, three pitches two outs, bush league. Romero, has to learn that every at bat is crucial, he did not pitch well and escaped danger most of the night. Left a fat one out there for Hudson to make him pay. If he learned from the experience good. Jays hitters ??? Don’t know where they were tonight. Bautista and Lind now both in their mini-slumps.
The good: Some good defense by Nix for the double play, Escobar, but that was it. The good news is that this team can only get better but it may be after the All-Star break before we see it.

Tough news for Travis Snider getting hit on helmet at weekend and concussion symptoms. This team needs him back if only to bench Patterson.