Lawrie day in Baltimore as Jays win 5-4 despite shaky ending by Rauch

Jays v Orioles. Game one of three.

The last 24 hours have been all Jays talk in Toronto. Changes galore. Let’s start with Villanueva, as suggested here after his last start, it was his arm, not a surprise at all, they had overused the guy as starter. Surely they anticipated this? Let us hope that this is not another McGowan situation. Secondly the demotion of Snider. This has divided opinion amongst fans but listening to Alex Anthopolous today he made it clear that this is not giving up on Travis. He will be back; it was a question of who to send down to make room for Lawrie. Thames or Snider and Snider just narrowly lost. Travis evidently took it well as he knew that he had lost his swing again and needed that fine tuning. He will be back at worst by September call-up and according to Alex today, even sooner if there are any injuries. Meantime he will get to play every day in Vegas as opposed to dividing his time with Thames on the bench in Toronto. I for one agree 100%. We forget that he is still only 23.

Finally, Lawrie day, what so many have been waiting for since the spring in Dunedin where he wowed all with his ability, his hustle and heart. Many of us could not understand why he did not make the trip north at the end of March but we knew it would not be long. It would have been June but for his hand injury on the very day he was called up. But so much media hype over the last 24 hours will he be able to produce? I think management will be pleased just to see him settle. The other plus of course is that everyone has forgotten Rasmus who can quietly continue his own settling in and in the last couple of games he has definitely shown that he is settling with good hits. Interesting time for the Jays fans. This could be an exciting group to watch for the rest of the season.
Meantime Jays get their series against Baltimore whilst Boston and Yankees slug it out at Fenway this weekend, may they play three huge extra innings games which exhausts their bullpens for the rest of the season.

Line-ups: Jays: Escobar, Thames back in two spot, Escobar, Lind, Encarnacion, Rasmus, Hill, Arencibia, Lawrie, no pressure Brett at number nine. And Mills pitching.
Orioles: Andino, Markakis, Jones, Guerrero, Reynolds, Tommy Hunter pitching. Jays saw him in Texas last week.

Top 1st: Escobar grounds to Andino at short, off his glove into left. Thames with Escobar at first. 1-2 count, grounds to Andino throw to Izturis to get Escobar, throw to first not in time. Thames at first. Bautista full count, fly ball to Jones in centre, two down. Lind grounds to Izturis at second, throw to Reynolds at first to end the inning.
Bottom 1st: Andino grounds to Escobar throw to Lind. One down. Markakis grounds to Lawrie great throw off balance but no chance to get Markakis at first Jones. 2-2 and fouling them off here. Oh dear, Jones turns on this one and hammers this one to left and into to the seats. Orioles go out ahead 2-0. Welcome to the big leagues Brad. Guerrero fly ball Rasmus in centre, two down. Reynolds 1-2 count strikes out.

Top 2nd: Encarnacion leading off, singles to left. Rasmus opposite field hit, fly ball to Reimold in left. Hill singles back up the middle to Jones in centre, Encarnacion to second. Two on for Arencibia, fly ball to Jones in centre. Two down. Lawrie 2-2 count, singles back up the middle and here comes Encarnacion to score; Lawrie has his first major league hit and RBI. Escobar lines it to centre, here comes Hill. Lawrie held at third and Escobar at second. 2-2 game. Thames grounds back to Hunter, knocks it down, throw to Reynolds at first for the third out. Great start for Lawrie.
Bottom 2nd: Wieters leading off, strikes out swinging. One down. Reimold, grounds to Lawrie, off his glove unable to hold it. First error to go with his hit. Baseball is a humbling game. Bell with Reimold at first, strikes out swinging. Two down for Izturis, bunting but back to Mills throw to Lind for final out. Not a good throw at all but Lind able to keep his foot on the bag for the out. Mills very lucky there.

Top 3rd: Bautista 3-0 count, pulls this one to left for a base hit. Lind pops up the first pitch to Bell running in from third base. Encarnacion 2-2 count, ouch, that would hurt, Hunter hits him, Bautista moves up to second. Rasmus with two on and one down. There we go Colby singles to right. Here comes Bautista. Encarnacion to third 3-2 Jays. Rasmus continues to quietly hit away. Hill grounds to Izturis throw to second on to first not in time to get Hill, run scores 4-2 Jays. Arencibia, 2-2 count, there goes Hill, throw was there but he misses tag, safe at second. Full count, Arencibia strikes out swinging.
Bottom 3rd: Andino leading off, 3-0 count, ball four, leadoff walk. Markakis, 3-0, Mills has lost the strike zone here. Ball four, second walk. Jones with two on, nobody out, and not the guy Mills wants to see, that will be fine though, fly ball to left for Thames to make the catch for the out, one down for Guerrero. Need a ground ball here Brad. Perfect Guerrero lines catch to Escobar throw to Hill to get Andino off the bag for the double play. Love it. Mills pitch count 47.

Top 4th: Lawrie leading off. 3-1 count, shatters his bat as he grounds to Izturis at short, throw just beats him but that is what Jays mean by hustle, he puts his head down and runs. Escobar, 2-2 count, Patton working in Orioles bullpen. Grounds to short, throw to first two down for Thames. Singles into right. Two down one on for Bautista. Lines it to short for third out.
Bottom 4th: Reynolds, full count, lines it into right, one on for Wieters, 1-2 count, grounds to Hill throw to Escobar gets Reynolds but no chance for double play. One down one on for Reimold, 2-0 count. There’s a strike 2-1, pops it up to Bautista in right, two down. Bell, 2-1 count, high fly ball to Rasmus in centre for third out.

Top 5th: Patton now pitching. Lind, 1-2 count, fly ball to left for the out. Encarnacion, pops it up to shallow centre, two down for Rasmus, bounces to second, throw just beats him.
Bottom 5th: Izturis, 0-2 count, great pitch, curve ball froze him as he strikes out on three pitches, one down for Andino, fly ball to Bautista, two down. Markakis, lines to Rasmus in centre for third out. nice inning by Mills.

Top 6th: Hill lines first pitch to centre one down for Arencibia, grounds to third throw to first two down for Lawrie. 2-2 count, strikes out looking to end the inning.
Bottom 6th: Jones, strikes out looking, one down, Guerrero, 3-0 count, this is trouble Brad, 3-1 count, ball four. Reynolds, one on one down, another 3-0 count, Mills losing his focus here at the wrong time. Ball four, not good Brad. One strike in the last nine pitches. Perez up in the bullpen. Wieters, wild pitch and both runners move up, now there goes the double play. And a base hit ties up the game. 2-2 count, lines it to third off the glove of Lawrie to Escobar throw home but Guerrero scores 4-3 game and Wieters safe at first. Maybe Bautista may have had it but we can’t play that second guessing game. That was a bullet hit at Lawrie. That’s the end of the game for Mills. Perez now pitching with runners at first and second. Reimold, lines it to Lawrie throw to Hill on to Lind but not in time to get two. Two down for Bell,1-2 count, grounds to Escobar at short, Escobar flip to Hill to get Reimold at second. Nice pitching by Perez.

Top 7th: Top of the Jays order. They would love to get that run back here. Patton has been throwing nothing but strikes 14 out of 18 pitches. Lines it to Jones in centre, one down for Thames. Full count, pops it up to Bell at third, two down for Bautista. 0-2 count, high pop up to second for final out. Jays go quickly.
Bottom 7th: Izturis leading off, grounds it to first, bounces fair past Lind. One on for Andino, 1-1 count, oh boy, bunts up the line, Perez throws the ball away both runners safe. Farrell arguing that base runner Andino impeded Perez, replays show he is right. Umpires are not agreeing. Major error there. But error given to Perez not the umpires. Two on and nobody out Markakis. 1-2 count, strikes out looking. One down. Here comes Farrell. Litsch now to face Jones with one down and two on. This could be the game here. Farrell still arguing with umpire and now he is ejected. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Guerrero, Whoa, hammers this on to left but gets under it and Thames makes the catch. If that had been on the meat of the bat it would still be travelling north to Canada. Jays escape trouble there, great pitching Jesse.

Top 8th: Jays really need some extra runs here. Lind leading off. Hitless tonight. 2-2 count, grounds back up the middle to Izturis and throw not in time Lind safe at first. Encarnacion, time for a special here Edwin. 3-0 count, inside ball four, two on for Rasmus. Bunting up the third base line, and oh what a great play Colby and he is safe on the throw. Bases loaded. National League small ball to move them over but the added bonus that he makes it safe. Jakubauskas now pitching Hill with bases loaded and nobody out. Takes ball one, outside ball two, 2-1 count, this will do drives it to Jones in centre, Lind tags and scores and there goes Rasmus tagging on the throw and safe at second. 5-3 Jays with two more in scoring position for Arencibia. 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw home to get Encarnacion at home. Two down for Lawrie runners at first and second. Lawrie does it again, lines it into left here comes Rasmus but Reimold throw beats him at the plate. Jays
Bottom 8th: Rajai Davis in centre for Rasmus, spikes his finger on the play at second. Francisco now pitching. Reynolds, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Wieters. Fly ball to Thames in left. Two down for Reimold, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging to get third out. Now the $64,000 question who will be out in the 9th? Will Farrrell send out Rauch after yesterday’s meltdown? Or will Frankie get a couple more hitters?

Top 9th: Top of the Jays order could make it academic if they get hitting here. Grounds to Izturis throw to Reynolds at first, one down for Thames. Bautista two down, 1-2 count, takes strike three. Not impressed with that hitting performance. Oh dear, look who is warming up? Jon Rauch.
Bottom 9th: We have been here before, the problem it was only yesterday. Rauch pitching with two run lead. Will be looking for redemption today. Bell leading off. 2-1 count, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Lind, one down. Felix Pie pinch hitting for Izturis, pops it up to Thames in shallow left, two down. Top of the order Andino, full count, singles to left, here we go again, Markakis the tie run. 2-1 count, doubles to the corner in right, here comes Andino. 5-4 Jays. Markakis at second. Bruce Walton out there. Jones winning run at the plate, 0-1 count, pops it up to Hill, Rauch gets his save number 11 but not without giving every Jays fan watching heart palpitations.

The excellent: Lawrie first hit and rbi. Did everything that was expected plus. Two hit game, made an error but looked comfortable out there. Rasmus, another two hit game plus a bunt in the 8th. Finally a player who can bunt ! and get on base besides Johnny Mc. Another weapon for his Jays team. Mills gets his first win. Struggled at time but did enough to win. Jesse Litsch to pick up Perez with two on and only one down and to shut Baltimore down when they were threatening.

The not so good: Cannot think of much tonight. The error by Perez not his fault and Lawrie error not a major issue. Pitching was good throughout although Rauch once again struggled.