Snider (5) and Davis (4) lead Jays to 11-7 win with nine RBIs and two stolen bases between them

Jays v Indians. Game two of four.

Jays need to come back tonight with a strong game however once again the odds are against them with Reyes pitching. Has not won in three weeks. Lots of comment today about last night’s meltdown from goodbye to Francisco, to the role of the catcher Arencibia in setting up where he did for that final pitch. Listening to Greg Zaun today he said similar. For Hefner the pitch should be down and away, stay away from him and hope for a ground ball, give up a single or even a walk to Hafner at least, but also that a team should never be beaten by a walk-off grand slam. The replays show clearly Arencibia setting up in the middle of the plate and the ball following him. Add in the nervousness of Perez which you could see from his body language rushing to the mound each pitch and the wild pitch he uncorked to the backstop, these are signs that maybe a more experienced catcher would and should have caught. However as this is not a contending year let us hope that Arencibia learned something from last night.

As for Francisco ? My opinion is to get rid of him faster than Alex can say his name, he clearly does not have last season’s stuff, this is the fifth game he has blown.

Line-ups; Jays: Escobar, Thames, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Encarnacion, Snider, Arencibia, Davis and JoJo Reyes pitching.
Indians: Brantley, Asdrubel Cabrera, Hafner, Duncan, Orlando Cabrera, La Porta, Kearns, Hannahan, Marson and Mitch Talbot pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar, singles into right, one on for Thames. Pops up to short for the first out. Bautista, grounds up the middle to O. Cabrera playing second, steps on the bag, throw to first, double play ball to end the inning.
Bottom 1st: Brantley, lines first pitch to Davis in centre. Asdrubel Cabrera, 3-1 count, way outside ball four. Two on nobody out for Hafner, the last guy you want to see in this situation. High ball one, so far Reyes has nothing at all tonight. 2-0 count, 2-2 lines it to Snider, the first out. Duncan, grounds to Bautista throw to Hill over t Lind but Lind off the bag and misses the tag. Safe at first but two down for O.Cabrera, grounds first pitch to Hill, throw to Lind for third out.

Top 2nd: Lind, 2-2 count, lines it right back at Talbot who fortunately ducks, single for Adam. Hill, full count, ball four inside. Two on one down for Encarnacion, lines it into left, fumbles the ball but Lind stays at third, bases loaded for Snider, perfect Travis grounds to first, only one play to get Travis. Here comes Lind to score 1-0 Jays. Arencibia with two in scoring position. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Davis showing bunt, fouls it off. Two still in scoring position, we need a hit here Rajai. This will do, singles in to left 3-0 Jays. Escobar, there goes Davis, throw down and gets him to end the inning.
Bottom 2nd: JoJo has a nice lead now, he has to protect it. LaPorta grounds it to Bautista at third. Oh you don’t often see this. Grounds to Bautista at third, drops the ball but airmails this past Lind. Runner to second. Error on Jose. He is human after all, and I love it when he gets mad. Always ratchets up the intensity. Kearns, singles to Snider in left, LaPorta holds at third, two on nobody out. Hannahan, singles into right, here comes LaPorta, 3-1 Jays. Marson with two on and nobody out. Bunting, perfect, dies in front of the plate, Throw to first to get Marson, but both runners move up into scoring position. Top of the order again. Brantley. Grounds to Lind, throw to Reyes, two down as Kearns scores. 3-2 game. Asdrubel Cabrera, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for the third out. Indians get two back courtesy of Jose.

Top 3rd: Escobar leading off. Lines it to centre for Brantley to run it down, one down for Thames. Singles to left centre, one on one down for Bautista, he knows that he owes Reyes for that error last inning. 2-2 count, down and away, count full, someone should count the number of balls pitched to Jose this season. Way inside ball four, no way is Talbot pitching to him, Two on for Lind, outside, Adam not biting on that one. 2-1 count, lines it to Brantley in centre, two down for Hill. Lines it to shallow right centre but Kearns runs it down for the out leaving two out there. Talbot’s pitch count 55.
Bottom 3rd: Hafner fly ball to Davis in centre, one down. Reyes glad to see the back of him. Duncan, lines it to Thames in right, smothers it but cannot make the catch, that was a tough one. O. Cabrera, 3-0 count. Count full, ball four just outside. Two on for LaPorta, whoa !!! grounds up the middle, Hill dives for it and manages to stop it and throw to Escobar jumping and throws to Lind but pulls Lind just off the bag. Two down. Great play. Would have been incredible double play. Kearns, high fly ball to Thames in right. Pitch count 51 for JoJo.

Top 4th: Encarnacion, lines it into the left field corner, throw late to second. Edwin into second. Snider lines it to corner in right for the out but Edwin tags and gets easily to third. Arencibia now. That was one awful at bat, weak swing at first pitch grounds it halfway to third, throw to first for the second out. Bush league JP. Davis now, shows JP how to do it, singles back up the middle and Edwin scores 4-2 Jays. Plus Rajai can now dance around there at first to upset Talbot. Escobar, perfect Rajai running and Escobar connects, lines it to right centre, Davis scores easily almost before the ball hits the wall. 5-2 Jays as Escobar into second. Thames. No Eric, that was a JP at bat, pops up the first pitch to third for the out. Come on, put some pressure on Talbot but despite two first pitch outs Jays manage to get two runs. However Thames has to remember who is hitting behind him and he had better do everything he can to get on base for Bautista.
Bottom 4th: Hannahan leading off. Lines it off the wall in right corner. Reyes not helping himself with that lead. Marson, pops up to Lind, one down. Top of the order. Brantley, 0-2 count, grounds to Escobar, looks Hannahan back and throw to Lind for second out, nice play Yunel. Asdrubel Cabrera, full count, high ball four. Hafner with two on and two down. Perfect, grounds to Lind takes it himself for third out. 67 pitches.

Top 5th: Bautista, strikes out at one in the dirt. Not a good at bat there for Jose. Lind, pops up first pitch to third. Not good Adam. Hill, with two down. 2-2 count, high inside. Lines it to left for third out. Not giving Reyes much help here.
Bottom 5th: Duncan leading off.2-2 count, grounds to Bautista, throw to Lind, one down.O. Cabrera bunting, Arencibia throw to Lind for second out. LaPorta lines it to right corner, Thames throw in time and looks as if he got him but umpire calls safe. Escobar tagged the right hand which was trailing the left which touched the bag. Farrell out to argue but satisfied. Runner at second for Kearns, 2-2 count. Perfect drives it to centre but the deepest part of the ballpark for Davis to run it down. Pitch count 80. Reyes may get another in.

Top 6th: Encarnacion, 2-0 count, bounces to third, Hannahan drops the ball, as Edwin gets on base for third time. Snider, WHOOOOOAAA Travis drives this one to right centre, a Snider bomb on its way back to Toronto, that beautiful smooth swing two run home run. 7-2 Jays. Durbin warming up in the bullpen. Arencibia, soft flare into shallow right, LaPorta turned around and could not get to the ball. One on for Davis, grounds to third, throw to second but no chance to double up Davis at first. One down for Escobar. That is it for Talbot. Durbin now pitching to Escobar with Davis at first so wait for the fireworks on the base pads. There he goes and safe on the throw at second. 1-2 count, will he take third ? Maybe not with top of the order. Bounces back to Durbin, Davis back to second and throw to first to get Escobar. Thames. OH BOY, going for the steal and throw gets away from Hannahan and Davis outruns the throw 8-2 Jays. Speedster Rajai having a great game tonight. Singles into shallow right. Bautista now with runner at first, two down. Strikes out swinging but tonight his teammates are picking him up. Jose and Hill the only two in the line-up without a hit tonight.
Bottom 6th: Hannahan, 2-2 count, pops up to Snider in left, one down for Marson, 2-2 count, pops up to Hill in shallow right. Two down for Brantley. Lines it past Reyes into centre to Davis. Asdrubel Cabrera, 2-2 count, singles into right. Here comes Bruce Walton. JoJo at 97 pitch count. Just one more out JoJo. Dotel working in bullpen. Hafner, 3-1 count, do you pitch to him or walk? Nice pitch full count, grounds to Lind, unable to hold it gets away from him, error to Lind on the play as run scores 8-3 Jays. Lind played that poorly and deserves the error but we forget he is still learning that position. End of the night for JoJo. Dotel to face Duncan with two on, two down. Travis Buck pinch hitting for Duncan. 2-2 count, grounds to Escobar, long throw to Lind but gets Buck at first for third out.

Top 7th: Lind, he owes the team one after that run scoring error last inning. Not this time, grounds to second, throw to first for the out. Hill, grounds to short, throw to first for second out. Hill remains hitless tonight. Encarnacion, first pitch high fly ball out to left. Quick and dirty inning by Jays hitters.
Bottom 7th: Dotel still pitching. Orlando Cabrera leading off. Pops it up for Lind on the top of (Jays) dugout steps, falls in, but has his priorities right and hangs on to the ball, his teammates hold him up. One down for LaPorta, strikes out swinging, two down for Kearns fly ball to Snider in left.

Top 8th: Frank Herrmann now pitching. Snider leading off. 2-2 count, pulls it into right, just puts it into play. Nice at bat Travis. Arencibia, this is the guy we want to see get going with his bat. Not this time, pops it a mile high for LaPorta at first base. Davis 3 RBIs night but his speed was the key tonight with two stolen bases. Lines it into left corner, Travis had better speed up here or Rajai will catch him, here comes Travis to score and Rajai stops at second. 9-3 Jays. 4RBIs for Rajai tonight. Escobar, one down one in scoring position. Davis not stealing now. Lazy pop up to centre for out number two. Thames, lines first pitch to second for the out.
Bottom 8th: Camp now pitching. Hannahan leading off. Singles into shallow right in front of Thames. One on for Marson, 2-2 count. Singles into left, two on and nobody out and the top of the order. Camp needs to tighten up here. Brantley, 2-1 count, Frasor warming up. Singles into right, bases loaded for Asdrubel Cabrera. We have seen this before. Hafner on deck. Singles into right, here comes the run Hannahan, 9-4 game. Bases loaded and Hafner. Do you pitch to him or walk him? No, just get Camp out of there and here comes Frasor. Decision time friends, don’t leave the house. Still nobody out. Strike one, 1-1, 1-2, very nice down and away and strikes out swinging, very nice Jason, one down. Buck, 2-0, lines it to the wall in left, two runs score 9-6 Jays. Orlando Cabrera, two in scoring position. Pops it up into shallow right, Ohhhh. Brilliant play by Thames sprinting in from right to make a great catch. Two down for LaPorta. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for the out. Indians get three but could have been a whole lot worse.

Top 9th: It would be great to see Jays get one or two back here, they have the right three to the plate. Bautista leading off, Vinnie Pestano now pitching for Cleveland. 3-1 count, outside, ball four. One on for Lind. Adam has not had a home run for some time. This would be a great time to do it, no, lines it to left for the out. One down one on for Hill, hitless tonight. Pops up to Brantley in shallow centre, two down. Encarnacion, singles it into left, Bautista to second. Snider, OH TRAVIS my man, drives no hammers this one, with that smooth powerful swing, gets all of it, to centre, bounces off the top of the wall, just misses going out, here comes Jose here comes Encarnacion two more runs, 11-6 Jays. Arencibia with Snider at second, strikes out swinging but Travis has five RBIs night.
Bottom 9th: Jon Rauch pitching. Sizemore pinch hitting for Kearns. Great breaking ball 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging, one down. Hannahan, full count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, two down. Marson, crowd a lot quieter, 2-1 count, singles to left. Brantley top of the order, Marson takes second, defensive indifference. 1-1 count, lines it into right, here comes Marson, 11-7 game. Cabrera, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Great win for Jays tonight.

The excellent: Snider and Davis two men wrecking crew tonight with bats and those speedy feet. Five RBIs for Travis and almost had two home runs and four for Rajai plus his two stolen bases.
And let’s not forget JoJo Reyes, he has now beaten Cleveland twice this season. Even Encarnacion gets three hits. 16 hits for the Jays tonight but none for Bautista how strange is that? Plus he had an error at third, must be some full moon. But overall Manager Farrell must be delighted with the production from Snider and Davis. Not only does it take pressure off the top of the order but it makes it a lot more difficult for opposing teams who have had it far too easy with the 5-9 order in the line-up. Long may it continue.

The not so good: poor plate discipline tonight by Jays. Too many Jays had poor at bats, first pitch outs. Lind, Thames, Arencibia. Camp didn’t have it at all and I for one hope his arm is not dead after being overworked this half of the season.