Jays v Rays. Game one of three.
Huge series for the Jays but a very tough one in Tampa. They have clawed their way back to within striking distance of the Rays and will overtake them if they can sweep the series. Easier said than done of course but they have been pitching very well and tonight Romero who has been lights out recently. Of course a minor obstacle in David Price who has never lost against the Jays at home in six starts. Place your bets friends.
Line-ups: Jays: Escobar, Rasmus, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Snider, Hill, Davis, Arencibia and Romero pitching. Snider and Lind back in the line-up today.
Rays: Jennings, Damon, Longoria, Zobrist, Kotchman, Upton, Joyce, Shoppach, Rodriguez, and David Price pitching. Price has owned the Jays but this is a different team and playing well right now. Maybe, just maybe they will give him a fight.
Top 1st: Escobar leading off, full count, ball four outside, leadoff walk for Rasmus, high pops up to Kotchman at first, one down for Bautista, strikes out, two down for Lind. Lines it to left for Jennings to make third out. Pitch count 22 for Price though.
Bottom 1st: Jennings, full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Damon, always a pain for the Jays, not this time, strikes out, two down for Longoria, grounds to Bautista at third; throw to Lind at first base for third out.
Top 2nd: Encarnacion leading off, pops it up to Rodriguez, one down for Snider, full count, grounds to third, Longoria a great barehanded throw just gets Travis at first, two down for Hill, lines to left for Jennings to make the out. Three up and down for Price as he starts to get locked in here.
Bottom 2nd: Zobrist, full count, outside ball four, one on for Kotchman, 2-2 count, ouch hits him in the shoulder, two on and nobody out. Upton full count, ball four and bases are loaded with nobody out. Ricky in deep here. Joyce, strikes out, perfect. Shoppach, 2-2 count and he strikes out, two down for Rodriguez, WHOA !!!! grounds to Bautista throw to Lind for third out and Rays leave the bases loaded. Very nice pitching Ricky.
Top 3rd: Davis 1-2 count, strikes out, one down. Arencibia, strikes out two down for Escobar, strikes out. Price is slamming the door on Jays hitters early.
Bottom 3rd: Which Romero will we see this inning? Jennings, grounds to Bautista, long throw to Lind, one down for Damon, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down. Longoria full count grounds to Bautista, throw to Lind for third out. Ricky doing some magic of his own to match Price. Who will blink first?
Top 4th: Rasmus leading off. 1-2 count, grounds to Kotchman at first takes it himself for the out. One down for Bautista. 2-0 count, OH YES JOSE, there she goes, hammers this one into left centre seats, home run number 32 for Jose and Jays take the lead 1-0. Lind, grounds to second, throw to Kotchman at first for out number two. Encarnacion, singles to right. Snider, 2-2 count, strikes out to end the inning but Jays strike first.
Bottom 4th: Zobrist leading off, strikes out swinging, one down for Kotchman, grounds to Bautista, oh no under his glove, what happened there? error to Jose. Upton, there we go grounds first pitch to Escobar, over to Hill throw to Lind double play ball and Jose error is forgotten, no damage here.
Top 5th: Hill, bounces first pitch back to Price throw to Kotchman at first, one down for Davis, bunting and oh a great bunt up first base line, not even a throw as he is safe at first, now for some fun. Arencibia, there he goes, pick off and Kotchman throw hits him in the back, lucky break Rajai. Safe at second. You know he is going here to third, oh boy out on the throw two down, not sure that was a great move when everybody on the planet knew he was going first pitch. Arencibia strikes out swinging. 76 pitch count for Price.
Bottom 5th: Joyce leading off. 3-1 count, outside ball four. One on for Shoppach pops it high up to Hill, one down. Rodriguez, Joyce running, throw down and gets him at second. Two down strikes out swinging. Pitch count 72.
Top 6th: Escobar, whoa, Yunel, drives this one to right opposite field over the fence into right, home run 2-0 Jays. Rasmus, same place into right but just goes foul, wow, nice hit Colby. Grounds to Kotchman at first takes it himself for the out. Bautista, 1-2 count, pops up high to Kotchman at first, two down for Lind, now 0-17. Time to break out here Adam. Lines it to right nice running catch by Joyce to end the inning but Jays add on another. Pitch count 87.
Bottom 6th: Jennings leading off. Oh dear, gets hold of this one and drives it to right almost identical hit to Escobar’s, 2-1 Jays. Damon, grounds back up the middle but Escobar nice play to high, row to Lind for the out. Longoria first pitch grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, two down. Zobrist, full count, low ball four. Kotchman, grounds first pitch to Hill, throw to Lind for third out. Pitch count 85.
Top 7th: Jays would love to get that run back plus. Encarnacion, full count, high outside ball four, one on nobody out for Snider, showing bunt? yuck, and again, and again, 1-2 count, high 2-2, grounds to short, throw to second to get Encarnacion but not in time to get Travis at first. Price over the 100 pitch count. One down for Hill, Juan Cruz up in Tampa bullpen. There goes Travis and safe on the throw. Full count, pops it high to Longoria, two down, Davis. 2-1 count, this will do it, lines it into right centre and Travis running on the hit and scores easily, 3-1 Jays. That is it for Price. 11 1 pitches. Jays fans love to see this picture. Jays have knocked him out of the game and he will not be winning tonight. Juan Cruz now pitching. Arencibia, two down and Davis at second and there he goes, safe at third without a throw. That was a much better chance than his last. 2-2 count, no squeeze on this play. Full count, strikes out swinging on ball four. But Jays get that run back.
Bottom 7th: Upton leading off. Ricky wants a quick three out inning here. 2-1 count, grounds to Bautista long throw pulls Lind off the bag but Upton out at first. Joyce, lines it to right but Davis makes the catch, two down. Shoppach first pitch swinging lines it to Snider in left for third out. Pitch count 94. He will be out there for the 8th.
Top 8th: Top of the order again, Escobar leading off. 2-2 count, down and away strikes out. Rasmus, that is it for Cruz. Lefty J.P. Howell to face Rasmus. 2-2 count, pops it up to Longoria by the Jays dugout. Bautista with two down. Intentional walk to get to Lind. Well Adam, time to make them pay here. Two down and Bautista at first. 2-1 count, grounds to second throw to first to end the inning.
Bottom 8th: Rodriguez leading off. Frank Francisco warming up in Jays bullpen. 2-2 count, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Lind, one down for top of the Rays order. Jennings, 2-2 count, strikes out looking, two down for Damon. 1-1 count, lines it to right, Davis makes nice running catch to end the inning. 109 pitch count.
Top 9th: Can the Jays add another here? Romero getting the hugs so that is Ricky’s night. Encarnacion leading off. Brandon Gomes now pitching, full count, inside ball four, one on for Snider, your turn Travis, hitless tonight, that will do, singles into centre, two on nobody out for Hill, bunting back to Gomes, but Gomes is very fast off the mound and throw gets Encarnacion at third. Davis, lines first pitch to Upton in centre, Snider tags and beats the throw to third but there are two down. Arencibia, hitless tonight, all strike outs. Hill doing wind sprints out there as Arencibia fouling them off. Swings and misses, strikes out for the fourth time tonight. When he is good he is very good, but when he is bad he is awful.
Bottom 9th: Rauch now pitching. Are you nervous? I am. Longoria leading off. Full count, fly ball to Rasmus for the first out, great at bat by Longoria, 12 pitch at bat. Zobrist one down. 2-2 count, lines it to Rasmus in centre for the second out. Kotchman, 2-2 count, oh boy, loops it over the head of Bautista, Upton with one on, two down. Elliot Johnson pinch running. Singles to right. Johnson to third on the play. Two on two down for Joyce. 3-0 count, pops it up to Snider in left and Jays win huge game here 3-1 to pull within half a game of the Rays.
The excellent tonight has to be Romero a pitching gem to beat Price. The second inning bases loaded nobody out jam may have been his finest stretch. Jose of course to get it going as so many times this season but also for the home run to end his drought. But for the team tonight to win against Price and pull within half a game must give them plenty of encouragement for tomorrow and chance to pull ahead of the Rays into third place.
The other great news tonight, Dustin McGowan moving to AA New Hampshire. What a story if he can keep going. I hope the Rogers Centre will be sold out for his return.
Not so good: Davis in the fourth inning, caught stealing third on first pitch, everybody knew he was going.
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