Another good outing from Alvarez but Jays bats missing and Bautista loses control

Rays are in town for four, I would say an important series for the Jays not least that the Rays are only 4.5 ahead of them. But too many fans now they feel that some of the Jays are playing out the string. Today the news is that Manager Farrell has pneumonia not heart problems. DeWayne Wise has been picked up of waivers from the Marlins as Rasmus is going on the DL tomorrow. This should have meant a recall for Travis but he too has gone on the DL today and is finished for the season with tendonitis. What a roller coaster ride for Travis the last two seasons. Add on Rauch and Rajai Davis on that list and this team is looking beaten up.
My concern watching Camp, is that he may be next for shutting down with a dead arm, he has not looked sharp at all. I hope I am wrong but he was definitely overused in the first half of the season. So it looks as if we will have to wait until spring to see a healthy line-up.

Line-ups: Rays: Jennings, Damon, Longoria, Zobrist, Kotchman, Upton, Joyce, Jaso, Brignac.
Jays: Escobar, Thames, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Molina, McCoy and Henderson Alvarez pitching.

Top 1st: Jennings leading off grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Lind at first, one down. Damon always seems to be a pain for the Jays, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Lind, two down for Longoria, pops it up to Lind to end the inning. Good start for Alvarez.
Bottom 1st: Escobar leading off grounds to Brignac at short, throw to Kotchman at first, one down. Thames, there we go, singles to centre. One on one down for Bautista, strikes out. Jose not happy either with the umpire calls or the fact that he struck out. Lind, with two down and Thames at first, lines it to left but Jennings makes the catch

Top 2nd: Zobrist grounds to Kelly Johnson at second, throw to Lind, one down for Kotchman strikes out, two down for Upton, strikes out. Alvarez continues his good stuff.
Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion strikes out. Lawrie with one down, there we go Brett hammers this to left just over the wall by the bullpen, home run Lawrie, number five on his short major league visit. Kelly Johnson, he gets hold of this one, and lines it to the wall in left but Jennings has it for the second out but that was a very nice swing. Molina, no Jose, first pitch fly ball to Jennings in left to end the inning. But am not sure about the two pitches for two outs. I am the Yankees and Red Sox school off take a few pitches and work the count.

Top 3rd: Joyce grounds to Lind, flip to Alvarez covering the bag at first. One down for Jaso, ouch he hits him or does he? Umpire says no and Jaso pointing to his elbow. Here comes Joe Maddon and Welke is reversing the call. Fans do not like that. Here comes Jays manager and explanation is repeated. One on one down for Brignac, strikes out. Two down one on for Jennings, there she goes home run to left and Rays have a 2-1 lead. Fans are on to Jaso bigtime. Damon strikes out but damage has been done.

Bottom 3rd: McCoy leading off fly ball to Joyce in right, one down for Escobar. Grounds to third, off the glove of Longoria and Escobar safe at first. Thames, singles to right, 2-2 tonight. Escobar to second. Bautista with two on, strikes out. Jose not a happy guy. Lind with two down grounds to Zobrist at second to get Thames and third out leaving two on. Jays still struggling to score with runners in scoring position.

Top 4th: Longoria, leading off, Oh no, first pitch hammers to centre and over the wall, I think he was waiting for that pitch. 3-1 Rays. Zobrist grounds back to Alvarez throw to Lind for the first out. Kotchman, grounds to Kelly Johnson over to Lind. Two down for Upton. Full count and ball four, Upton is not the guy you want to walk Henderson. Joyce, singles to Bautista in right, Upton to second on the play, not risking Jose’s arm by trying for third. Jaso to catcalls about the health of his elbow. Fly ball to McCoy in centre. Alvarez does a nice job getting out of that mess.
Bottom 4th: Encarnacion fly ball to Upton in centre, one down for Lawrie, strikes out. Two down for Kelly Johnson, strikes out. Quick inning for Shields.

Top 5th: Brignac leading off strikes out. One down for Jennings, grounds to Lawrie at third, long throw to Lind for the second out. Damon strikes out.

Bottom 5th: Molina strikes out. McCoy full count and ball four. Jays hitters are having more success taking pitches by Shields and not getting out on wild swinging. But as long as Wayne Murphy is hitting coach they will never be patient at bat like the Yankees or Red Sox. Escobar grounds to Brignac at short to get McCoy but no chance for doubling up Escobar. Thames grounds to Kotchman at first to take it to the bag for third out. Shields looks firmly in control of this one.

Top 6th: Longoria leading off, WHOA! First pitch hammers this one to centre, over the fence, another home run, number two today. 4-1 Rays. Zobrist fly ball to Thames in left, one down. . Kotchman, full count, ball four. One on for Upton, pops it up to Lawrie for the out. Two down Joyce, grounds back to Alvarez, throw to Lind to end the inning.
Bottom 6th: Bautista, Shields is pitching him all off-speed pitches, strikes out. does not like that at all. Oh NO, Bautista took his bat and hit the dugout wall so hard we can hear it from our seats, now he is shouting at Umpire Welke, and there he goes, is ejected from the game. Now he is in meltdown throwing his bat on the field, here comes his glove, helmet and finally a water bottle !! He has really lost it here and now storms down the steps out of sight. All game he has been complaining about the strikes but Shields that last at bat threw him only one fast ball, the rest was off speed stuff and most of it off the plate. Lind fly ball to Joyce in right. Encarnacion grounds to Brignac at short throw to Kotchman to end the crazy inning.
There is no justification at all for Jose losing it, he has to suck it up and go on to the next at bat. Now he has really done a lot of things here with that outburst, he is now out of the game which is hardly smart when Jays line-up is struggling so badly. He will probably be suspended thus losing another game. Now someone has to replace him from an already weakened bench, probably Teahen. He has shown to the Rays pitchers and any other scouts who may be watching the game, that he can be needled, that if they throw off-speed at him all night long. Not least he has shown a side of him that does not fit the image that many of his fans have including the young children and umpires will be making note of this and he may not be getting the good calls that he may have had earlier in the season. I for one will be interested in his comments after the game, he has to be in damage control mode and the least he can do is apologise to the umpires, his teammates and last but not least his fans. But his actions in tomorrow’s game will also speak louder than any words. At minimum Jose, stop reacting to the umpire calls each time they do not go your way.

Top 7th: Teahen it is as replacement, hardly a Jose but that bench is bereft of good replacements. Carreno now pitching. Jaso, leading off, oh no !!!!!!! hammers this one to right Teahen watches it go over the fence, home run to Jaso, 5-1 Rays. Brignac singles to left. Carreno struggling here early. Jennings with one on, strikes out. One down for Damon, grounds to Kelly Johnson at second, throw to Escobar to get Brignac but no chance for throw to Lind for two. Longoria with one on two down and two home runs, this will do though, grounds to Escobar, throw to Johnson at second to get Damon.
Bottom 7th: Lawrie leading off, strikes out. One down for Johnson, there we go Kelly, singles to Upton in centre. Molina, grounds to Longoria throw to Zobrist to get Johnson at second but unable to double up Molina Two down for McCoy. NO Jose, is there a full moon tonight, Molina stealing second and picked off by Shelds to end the inning. Why oh why and what was Molina thinking? One of the slowest runners in the majors. That was bush league Jose.

Top 8th: Zobrist grounds back to Carreno throw to Lind. One down for Kotchman, identical play, grounds back to Carreno throw to Lind for the out. Upton, with two down, strikes out.

Bottom 8th: McCoy singles to centre. Escobar with one on, strikes out. Thames, strikes out. Two down. Now Teahen, hitting in Jose’s spot, strikes out. Jose your outburst may have cost at least one if not two runs.

Top 9th: Ledezma now pitching. Joyce doubles to left. Jaso fly ball but very shallow centre to McCoy. Wild pitch, and Joyce moves to third. Brignac, pops up to Escobar at short, one down. Jennings with runner at third. Another wild pitch and NO !!!!! I don’t believe it. The ball bounces off the all right back to Molina who suddenly realizes that Joyce is coming home and is out to dry. Molina dives back to the plate but runners is ruled safe. How did that happen? The play was right in front of us, Molina had the ball with Joyce halfway home. Well as the saying goes when things go wrong it seems that everything is rotten tonight. Not a break for the Jays tonight. 6-1 Rays. Now ball four to Jennings. Damon, grounds to Johnson at second throw to Lind.
Bottom 9th: Last chance for the Jays, Shields is still out there on 105 pitches. Lind, here we go Adam, singles to right. It’s a start. Encarnacion, strikes out. One down for Lawrie, grounds to Zobrist at second, throw to Brignac to get Lind. Johnson, there goes Lawrie and takes second, defensive indifference. Shields is over 120 pitches, this is crazy, it will be interesting to see what happen to his arm but they are really pushing this unnecessarily in this situation. Must remember to check his next start and see how he does. Johnson fly ball to Jennings in left to end this very ugly performance by the Jays and their leader Jose. One that Manager Farrell recuperating at home would not be very happy about.

The good: Alvarez yes, a good outing and learning situation for him at 21. He obviously has some great stuff. Thames two hit night and Lawrie home run number five.
The bad, very bad: The lack of hitting once again, poor judgement from Molina in trying to steal, and very poor judgement by Jose Bautista who will have to do a lot to repair his reputation with that outburst.