Orioles v Jays. Game one of three.
Jays trying to gain some respectability back from the fans. Drabek moved to Vegas despite Farrell’s assertion that it was not on the books. Interesting that he denied it so strongly to the media, I guess maybe he might not be agreeing with his G.M. (let alone the 99% of the Jays fans who have been watching Drabek self-destruct this season.)
Line-ups: Orioles: Hardy, Markakis, Jones, Guerrero, Wieters, Lee, Scott, Reynolds, Andino and Jakaubaskas pitching.
Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Arencibia, Encarnacion, Hill, Davis, Nix and Villanueva pitching.
Top first: Hardy leading off singles to Davis in centre, Markakis singles to centre, Hardy to third. Markakis going to second but in a rundown here, Davis throw to Nix, back to Hill over to Lind, to Escobar finally gets the out. Jones with runner at third, fly ball to Davis this should do it, Hardy tags and scores 1-0 Baltimore. Guerrero singles to right. Villanueva not solving much yet tonight. Wieters grounds to Escobar takes it himself for the Guerrero out at second. Three hits and a sac fly, Villanueva needs to button down here.
Bottom first: Escobar leading off, grounds to Reynolds at third, throw to first base Lee. One down. Patterson grounds back to pitcher Jakubauskas throw to Lee at first two down for Bautista. Ball four and yet another walk for Jose. Lind, that will do doubles this one to right, here comes Jose and the game is tied 1-1. Lind loves that, maybe they will stop walking Jose. Arencibia fly ball to Markakis in right to end the inning but Jays get one back at least.
Top second: Lee fly ball to Bautista in right, one down for Scott, grounds to Nix at third, throw to Lind, two down for Reynolds, grounds back to Villanueva throw to Lind at first. Nice clean inning from Villanueva, has settled down now.
Bottom second: Encarnacion fly ball to Markakis in right, one down. Hill going the other way, doubles to right. Davis strikes out. Nix grounds to Hardy at short, throw to Lee at first and Jays leave runner in scoring position.
Top third: Andino fly ball to right field Bautista. Hardy doubles to left. Markakis full count, ball four. Jones fly ball to right field Bautista. Two down for Guerrero, pops it up to catcher Arencibia. Hardy and Guerrero are both still out there.
Bottom third: Escobar singles to centre. One on for Patterson grounds to second, safe no throw. Escobar to second. Bautista grounds to Reynolds, throw to second base Andino, Escobar to third. Error to Andino and here comes Escobar, 2-1 Jays. Lind, a full count, Bautista to second. Arencibia grounds to Andino throw to short Hardy, Lind out, Bautista to third. Encarnacion grounds to shortstop Hardy throw to Lee.
Top fourth: Wieters fly ball to Davis in centre. One down for Lee fly ball to Bautista. Two down. Scott, grounds to Escobar, safe at first. Reynolds singles to left, Scott to second. Andino with two on grounds to Nix throw to Hill to get Reynolds to finish this inning. Villanueva settling in but could do with some of these bats waking up.
Bottom fourth: Hill grounds to third. Beats the throw. One on for Davis, fly ball Markakis in right. Nix, he hits him, well Jayson one way of getting on base, don’t complain. Two on as Hill moves to second. Can they bring him in? that is the question however. Escobar, finally, singles to centre, here comes Hill, 3-1 Jays and Nix goes all the way to third. Patterson grounds to Lee at first here comes Nix and finally Jays get something going here. 4-1 Jays. Escobar to second and in scoring position for Bautista. No way, intentional walk to Jose, poor guy. Lind has to make them pay. Lind grounds to first, Lee takes it himself, Jays get two but leave two more out there.
Top Orioles fifth: Hardy strikes out. First strike out for Villanueva. Markakis strikes out. Two down for Jones strikes out. Villanueva really heating up. Strikes out the side after going four innings without a strike.
Bottom fifth: Arencibia fly ball to Jones in centre. One down for Encarnacion, grounds to Hardy throw to Lee at first. Two down. Hill lines out to shortstop Hardy.
Top sixth: Guerrero grounds to third base Nix, throw to first base Lind. Wieters, grounds to Hill throw to Lind. Two down for Lee, fly ball to Davis. Nice inning for Villanueva.
Bottom sixth: Davis strikes out. Nix singles to centre, long overdue Jayson. Escobar, wild pitch and Nix moves to second. Escobar full count and ball four. New pitcher for Orioles, Gonzalez pitching. Patterson strikes out. Bautista full count, ball four to load the bases. Nix to third, Escobar to second. Lind grounds to second base Andino, over to first base Lee. That’s the second time Adam. Jose is going to get a lot more walks if you can’t find a way to bring these guys in.
Top seventh: Scott leading off grounds to Nix at third safe at first. One on for Reynolds, full count, ball four and Scott moves to second. That’s enough for Villanueva. 98 pitches but has done a great job and his bullpen should thank him. Frasor now pitching. Andino, oh boy, another wild pitch, Scott to third, Reynolds to second. Andino lifts it into right for Bautista, that is enough to bring in Scott, the wild pitches are the second scourge of this team after inability to bring in runner from scoring position. 4-2 Jays. Hardy, doubles to Bautista, 4-3 Jays. Frasor is not exactly sharp here Still only one down and the top of the order. He is in deep here. Markakis grounds to Lind throw to Frasor. Two down and Hardy at third. Jones grounds to Hill throw to Lind for final out but Frasor could not do the job.
Bottom seventh. Ex-Jay Jeremy Accardo now pitching. Arencibia welcomes him with double to right. Arencibia going for two, catcher Wieters to third base Reynolds, Arencibia out. Base running add that to our list of basics. Encarnacion grounds to third base Reynolds throw to first base Lee for the out. Hill having a better night for a change. OK Aaron, there we go, home run to left, finally, finally over that left field fence, that is where he needs to swing. May that be his awakening 5-3 Jays. Davis singles to centre. Two down for Nix, give Rajai some space here Jayson to cause some trouble. Nix strikes out.
Top eighth: Rzepczynski now pitching. Guerrero, full count, ball four. Wieters, oh boy gets hold of this one, it is out of here in left, here comes Guerrero, here comes Wieters and this one is all tied up 5-5. Can you believe it ? Jays bullpen has given up that 4-1 lead in two innings. Villanueva must be weeping. That’s his night over, here comes Manager Farrell. Janssen now pitching. Lee strikes out. Scott singles to centre. Pie pinch-running for Scott. Janssen throwing over and ball gets away, error on the pickoff attempt of Pie, moves to third on the play. Reynolds strikes out. Andino strikes out. Casey gets out of this mess but Rzepczynski has wasted that two run lead. Not having a good time right now in his last few outings. But the guy I feel sorry for is Villanueva who pitched well enough for his fifth win.
Bottom eighth. Pie in left field. Johnson now pitching. Escobar, grounds to right, safe at first, one on for Patterson, grounds to Johnson throw to shortstop Hardy. Escobar out. Bautista grounds to short, Patterson to second. Lind full count, ball four, Patterson to third, Bautista to second. Bases loaded and only one down. Arencibia grounds third base Reynolds, throw to catcher Wieters, Patterson out, Bautista to third, Lind to second. Another full moon. Encarnacion, fly ball to right fielder Markakis.
Top ninth: Rauch now pitching. Top of the order. Hardy strikes out. Good start. Markakis doubles to left. Careful here Jon. Jones, strikes out. Much better. Two down for Guerrero, pops up to catcher Arencibia for third out.
Bottom ninth: Hill lines out to second base Andino. Davis grounds to Hardy at short, throw to Lee, two down for Nix, strikes out. Extra innings game here.
Top tenth: Wieters fly ball to Davis in centre. One down for Lee, full count and ball four. Pie singles to right, Lee moves up to second. Reynolds, strikes out. Andino fly ball to David is centre to end this one..
Bottom tenth: Uehara now pitching. Fifth pitcher for the Orioles. Escobar pops up to second base Andino. One down for Patterson, strikes out. Two down for Bautista, Jose strikes out. First time tonight for Jose.
Top eleventh: Camp now pitching to try and hold the Orioles here. Hardy leading off fly ball to Davis centre, one down for Markakis, singles to right. Jones, this is good, grounds back to Camp, throw to Hill over to Lind, double play ball. Camp does his job.
Bottom eleventh: Not sure Jays need this type of extra-innings game after the weekend with Boston. Lind, has left so many on base tonight this game should not even be in extra innings. OK Adam, not this time, such a sweet swing, there she goes, no doubt, into right and over the fence, home run Adam and walk off win for the Jays 6-5, just look at those players going crazy with Lind at homeplate. I think 95% of that reaction is huge relief they did not lose this one and could break that league leading loss rate. Jays win this one and the series opener.
The very good: Lind finally coming through in the clutch after his two earlier at bats leaving everyone on and Hill single, double and home run. Maybe, just maybe Aaron is coming alive and that would be welcomed by all the fans who want him to succeed let alone his manager and teammates. What I liked about that home run was that he pulled it to left as with the majority of his home runs last season and the one before. That is his swing, don’t let them mess it up Aaron. Escobar also with three hits, good to see him contributing again.
The bad: Encarnacion, the only starter not to have a hit tonight, hitless in five at bats and leaves five on base. Some DH. The bullpen ruining that three run lead of Villanueva. Yes he left with two on but that is why the relievers only have a couple to get out. To be fair to them they have been hit around all weekend and are probably wiped out even with that off day yesterday. The bullpen, Frasor and Rzepczynski, not good at all.
The very bad: Runners in scoring position, Jays go 1/13 tonight which is pretty bad even for them. What is the solution? Passed balls, is it the pitcher or catcher ? Arencibia in particular although Molina has also been at fault this year. If the catcher is calling for the pitch in the dirt he should be ready for it so most of the fault must lie with the catcher. Arencibia has his injured thumb which gives him one excuse but he has been doing this all season long so must be a weakness. If he can hit the home runs I can (maybe) forgive him but lately he has also been quiet on that offence.
Bottom line a much needed win by the Jays however painful and stressful it was to watch. But to get back into this they need a huge and I mean huge win streak which they have never done. If they go .500 for the rest of the season they will not even get 80 wins, that is how big a hole they are in.
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