Rauch and Encarnacion blow this one ruining great debut by Zach Stewart

Orioles v Jays . Game of series.

Jays are looking at sweep today but have rookie pitcher Zack Stewart pitching his first major league game, tough assignment for Zach who has been pitching in AA and not even AAA Vegas this season. (He did pitch in AAA in 2010) Sink or swim. I wonder why they do this with pitchers and never hitters. Great crowd expected today, school day, I hope Jays can give them something to cheer about.

Orioles line-up: Hardy, Markakis, Jones, Guerrero, Scott, Lee, and Guthrie pitching.

Jays: Escobar, Patterson, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Encarnacion, Molina, Davis, Nix and Stewart pitching.

Orioles first: Hardy leading off, fly ball to Davis in centre. Markakis one down, strikes out. Jones with two down, strikes out. Very nice start Zach.

Bottom first: Escobar, full count, grounds to Hardy at short, throw to Lee at first. Escobar never exerts himself running to first. Patterson singles to right. Bautista, two strikes and there goes Patterson, Jose strikes out. Patterson safe at second. That to me looked very distracting for Jose just as pitcher was going. Two down for Lind, strikes out. Adam thinks it is high.

Top second: Guerrero leading off pops up to Lind at first base. Scott lines first pitch softly to Escobar at short, two down for Lee lines to Patterson in left for third out. Another good inning for Zach Stewart.

Bottom second: Hill leading off 3-0 count, strikes out. Aaron wishing he had hit that fourth pitch right down the middle. Encarnacion, first pitch fly ball to Jones in centre, two down. Molina grounds to Reynolds at third, throw to Lee at first.

Orioles third: Reynolds, that was low, Molina disagrees, 3-0 count, ball four, leadoff walk. Adams, perfect, grounds to Hill flip to Escobar over to first base Lind, double play ball. Tatum singles past Nix to left. Hardy pops it up loses it in the sun, and drops in, no error given on play, doubles to right, Tatum to third. Stewart in trouble here for the first time. Markakis with two in scoring position, grounds to Hill throw to Lind to end this one.

Bottom third: Davis leading off, strikes out, number four for Guthrie. Nix first pitch fly ball to Jones in centre, two down. Escobar grounds to Hardy throw to Lee to end the inning. Yunel taking his sweet time going down to first, fans on his case in my area and I don’t blame them. This guy is not a good hustler to first at all. Three up and down for Guthrie.

Top fourth: This game is moving along fast, both teams in getaway mode. Jones leading off, grounds to Hill throw to Lind at first. Guerrero singles to right. Balk called on
Stewart, Guerrero moves to second. Scott pops up to Patterson in left, two down. Lee fly ball to Davis in centre. Stewart continues to pitch well for his debut.

Bottom fourth: Patterson fly ball to Jones in centre, one down. Bautista, going to opposite field, lines to Markakis in right. Lind, nice swing but fly ball to Scott in left. Guthrie keeping Jays bats quiet so far.

Top fifth: Reynolds leading off, singles to left past glove of Nix, could have had that one. Adams fly ball to Bautista oh great throw by Jose to Lind at first to get Reynolds at first, he was a few feet off the bag as the ball went into right, but that was a bullet throw to first great double play, to first baseman Tatum lines first pitch to Escobar for third out. Nine pitch inning. But he thanks Jose as he comes in to the dugout.

Bottom fifth: Hill full count and low ball four, leadoff walk. Encarnacion, if I were Aaron I would not like this situation with Edwin behind him. Good luck. There goes Aaron and
Encarnacion grounds to Hardy throw to Lee, Hill to second. That would have been double play. Molina, arguing the calls here, thinks they are low outside but umpire has been consistent all game. Fly ball to Jones in centre, Hill tags and moves to third on the throw. Davis with runner at third, takes this one and strikes out.

Top sixth: Hardy gets hold of this one, and it is out of here into Jays bullpen in left.1-0 Orioles. Markakis grounds very slow roller to Nix in third. Runner safe at first. Jones pops up to Nix at third, one down. Guerrero doubles this past Nix all the way into left field corner, here comes Markakis, 2-0 Orioles. Scott strikes out swinging or rather waving weakly at off speed pitch. Lee fly ball to Bautista in right. Orioles get another but Stewart has done more than enough so far, he just has no run support.

Bottom sixth: Guthrie is finished. Jim Johnson pitching. Nix singles to centre. One on for Escobar, bounces one to Adams who bobbles the ball, error on play, that could have been double play, both runners safe for Patterson. Patterson bunting and great one as well up first base line, Lee throw to Adams for the out, Nix to third, Escobar to second. Bautista now, first pitch singles to centre, here comes Nix followed by Escobar and this game is all tied up 2-2. Lind singles to right, Bautista to second, one down. Hill singles to centre, Bautista to third, Lind to second. Bases loaded. Encarnacion, OH NO Edwin, grounds to short Hardy, throw to Adams at second, throw to. Lee, double play to kill this rally. Awful.

Top seventh: Reynolds leading off, Stewart hits him. One on for Adams, grounds to Escobar throw to Hill on to Lind, double play ball. Perfect. Third double play by Adams ouch, ouch and ouch. Tatum strikes out. That is probably it for Stewart and if so he has done a great job.

Bottom seventh: Berken now pitching. Molina, does not like that pitch, he has been arguing all game, strikes out. Arguing and is now thrown out of game. Rivera pinch-hitting for Davis, strikes out, two down. Nix fly ball to Scott in left.

Top eighth: Patterson now in centre field. Rivera in left. Frasor now pitching. Arencibia catching. Hardy grounds to Nix throw to Lind. One down. Markakis grounds to Escobar throw to Lind.Two down, Jones strikes out. Good inning by Frasor.

Bottom eighth: Escobar leading off fly ball to Markakis in right. Patterson grounds to Adams at second throw to Lee. Two down for Bautista, not this time Jose, lines out to Hardy at short to end this inning.

Top ninth: Rauch now pitching. Guerrero singles to centre. Reimold pinch-running for Guerrero. Scott singles to right, Reimold to third. Not exactly what Farrell had in mind, Rauch in deep trouble here already. Lee, grounds to third, here comes the runner, and the throw by Nix, high and Reimold safe at home 3-2 game. Oh boy. Scott to second on the play. Lee safe at first. Two on for Reynolds. Still nobody out. That`s it for Rauch. Perez now pitching. Pie pinch-running for Scott. Reynolds full count, ball four, Pie to third, D.Lee to second. Perez has loaded them up and nobody out. Adams singles to centre, here comes Pie and bases still loaded. That`s it for Perez, Camp now the third pitcher of the inning and still no one out. Wieters pinch-hitting for Tatum, pops up to Escobar, one down. Hardy strikes out. Two down for Markakis grounds to Hill throw to Lind for third out, but the door is open and Orioles now have a two run lead 4-2 game.

Bottom ninth: Reimold in at DH. Pie in as left fielder. Andino in at second. Wieters in as catcher and ex-Jay Gregg pitching. Lind leading off, OH BOY this one is a rocket, high to right, this one is heading for the fifth deck but dies at the end and falls hitting the foul pole, that one took off. Home run Adam and one run game now 4-3. Hill fly ball to Markakis in right. Encarnacioncome on John, pinch hit for this guy, another fan in front of me is on his feet shouting the same, why is that the fans can all see how bad Edwin is but they keep trotting him out. He is 0-8 in last two games John. We can`t wait for Lawrie and Johnny Mac to get here, fly ball to Jones in centre. Edwin is now 0-9 and he is the DH. Fortunately they will not need him on the road with NL play. Perhaps by the time that road trip is over, replacements will be here. Two down for Arencibia, grounds to Hardy throw to Lee at first to end this. Jays lose 4-2.

The excellent: Stewart in his major league debut, definitely a gold star for this one.Excellent seven innings and should have helped the bullpen but it didnlt turn out that way. Lind with his cannot home run in bottom of the ninth. Bautista with his two run single and that incredible assist in the double play in the sixth

The not so good: Encarnacion with bases loaded and one out and grounds into inning ending double play. That was the game. Today also I have to note Escobar, he may be brilliant with the glove at short but his attitude with the first base running is pretty bad and not good.

My biggest gripe is that once again Jays fail to use that HUGE crowd and I mean 31,000 of the noisiest fans Jays will have all season. Long time since I saw fans in that fifth deck by the foul pole in left. They were silent most of the game. I fail to understand why the players are not inspired to perform for these kids, it would be a great atmosphere to turn many of the young fans on to the game and on to perhaps some Jays heroes. This is probably the only time many of these kids get to a game as the school names listed were out of towners. Too bad they didn't see some exciting agressive base running and hitting.