Jays v Orioles Final game of series.
Today the Jays need to put aside the sour taste of last night’s loss and the lousy fielding by Escobar and the poor hitting by Thames, Lind, Encarnacion and Escobar. Get businesslike from the first pitch. My concern right now is around Escobar and his “attitude”. All season long we have seen him ambling down to first base, not running out hits, nonchalant fielding and just generally not a good approach. Occasionally he has been reminded of this by the coaching staff but it does not appear to have made much difference. He has been hitting well the last month and it may be that we have all overlooked his faults but last night’s game highlighted an issue that has to improve. His error that cost four runs cannot be overlooked. Farrell today blames the skid off the “wet grass” !!! for the error by Escobar. Sure John, and there are fairies at the bottom of my garden, that is not what we saw. Maybe the hustle and heart of Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus will rub off on him.
Line-ups: Jays: Well we called this one right last night, no Thames today and Hill is also benched. Both players merit it for their poor performances. Davis leading off, Escobar, Bautista, Lind, DH today, Encarnacion at first base, Rasmus, Arencibia, McDonald, Lawrie and Romero pitching. The line-up has not been weakened at all. Johnny Mc for Hill is fine with me, his glove is better and we were not getting any run production from Hill anyway. Davis for Thames, no contest the way Thames is playing.
Orioles: Andino, Markakis, Jones, Guerrero, Reynolds, Reimold, Tatum, Bell, Izturis and Alfredo Simon pitching.
Top 1st: Davis leading off, pops up to Tatum, one down for Escobar. Grounds hard to Andino at short, Escobar reaches first without a throw. Bautista, full count, takes strike three, looks high but walks anyway. Two down for Lind. Is this guy ever due. 2-0 count, pulls it to Reynolds at first to end the inning. Pitch count 15.
Bottom 1st: Andino leading off. 0-2 count, grounds to Lawrie at third, long throw to Encarnacion for the out. Markakis, strikes out swinging. Jones, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 13. Good first inning for Ricky.
Top 2nd: Encarnacion leading off, full count, pops it up to Jones in shallow centre. Rasmus, off the end of his bat, lines it to Reimold in left for the out. Arencibia, 2-2 count, cannot get around on these pitches inside, popping them up, this time for the out to catcher Tatum. 30 pitch count.
Bottom 2nd: Guerrero grounds first pitch to Lawrie, high throw to Encarnacion. One down for Reynolds, 2-2 count. High pop up to Bautista in shallow right centre. Two down. Reimold, bounces high ball to Lawrie at third, nice play Brett as his throw to Lind is in time to get Reimold. Seven pitch inning for Ricky. Pitch count 20.
Top 3rd: Johnny Mc. leading off. 1-2 count, pops this one up to shallow centre makes the over shoulder catch, nice play Andino. Lawrie, 2-1 count, lines it opposite way to right field. Davis, bunting but foul. 1-1 count, pulls it to Bell at third and through him into left, under his glove. Error to Bell. Two on one down for Escobar. First pitch ( I rest my case with Escobar) fly ball to Jones in centre, Lawrie tags and gets to third on the throw. Escobar had two very fast base stealing players on base and he takes it away from them. Bautista, there goes Davis and safe at second. YES Jose, lines it down the line, past Reynolds into right field, both runners score, 2-0 Jays. That was similar play that Rasmus did last night but Reynolds made a great play to turn double play, this time no chance. Jose at second for Lind, first pitch swinging. Pops it up to Reimold in left for third out leaving Jose at second. Pitch count 47.
Bottom 3rd: Tatum first pitch high fly ball to Rasmus in centre. One down for Bell, takes strike three, two down. Strike out number three for Ricky. Izturis, bounces back to Ricky, throw to Encarnacion for the out. Three up and down and again only seven pitches. 27 pitch count.
Top 4th: Jays need to pile on the runs here today, no giving Orioles chance to come back at all the way they did last night. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, that’s ok Edwin, pulls it into left for a single. Rasmus, oh robbed here of a home run as he lines it to right and high off that scoreboard that a makes up the right corner wall, like a Green Monster, only a measly double but that would have been two run home run in all other ball parks. In Toronto deep into the second deck. You wuz robbed Colby. Arencibia, two on and nobody out, this will do lines it to right centre, to the wall and here comes Edwin, followed by Colby and Jays now 4-0. Still nobody out. McDonald. With Arencibia at second. Perfect Johnny Mc grounds it down the left field line all the way to the corner here comes Arencibia, 5-0 Jays and Johnny Mc. at second. Lawrie. Just foul down the left line, that was close, Bergeson warming up in the bullpen. Lines it high to Jones in centre, here comes the throw Johnny Mc tagging and throw off the line and safe at third with one down for Davis. Grounds to second, McDonald does not come home. Davis out at first. Escobar, grounds to Andino at short, throw to Reynolds to get an ambling Escobar. Hustle? not me. Runner at third and only one down have to bring him in. Pitch count 69.
Bottom 4th: Andino lines it to left leadoff double. Markakis, oh no hits him. Don’t look now but this is like last night’s game. Two on nobody out. Jones, double steal but fouls it off. Perfect grounds to Escobar, flip to Johnny Mac over to Encarnacion for the double play, two down for Andino at third. Guerrero lines it hard to Rasmus in centre. Two pitches three outs, that will do fine. Romero escapes major damage here. Also manages to keep that count low at 35.
Top 5th: Bautista leading off. Blake Davis now in for Izturis at second. Bautista first pitch fly ball to Markakis. Lind, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging at yet another low pitch. The advance scouts give good material to their teams, Lind has to lay off that pitch. Encarnacion, 3-0 count, lines it down the left field line into the corner, another double for Edwin, good to see him at least coming around. Rasmus now with runner in scoring position. Not this time, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Pitch count 84.
Bottom 5th: Reynolds leading off. Full count, gets hold of this one high into left field and over the wall, home run Reynolds, 5-1 Jays. Reimold, grounds back to Romero, throw to Encarnacion, one down. Tatum, full count, strikes out swinging. Two down but Ricky taking a lot of pitches this inning. Bell, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning but Ricky at 56 pitches. Still a great number for five innings but this inning took 21 pitches.
Top 6th: Arencibia leading off, nice opposite field double last at bat. 0-2 after two high pitches, lay off them JP. 2-2 should be ball four. Lines it hard to left but right at Reimold. One down for Johnny Mc. Perfect grounds to Bell at third, long throw but not in time Johnny Mc. safe at first. Lawrie. There goes McDonald and throw in time to get him at second. Two down, 2-1 count on Lawrie. WOW Brett, POWER, hammers this one to right centre, home run Lawrie. His first major league home run and Jays go out 6-1 and that is the end of Simon. Now Johnny Mc. will be upset. Bergesen now pitching. Davis with two down, full count, strikes out looking.
Bottom 6th: Davis pops up to Rasmus, one down. Andino, grounds to McDonald, throw to Encarnacion, two down. Markakis, grounds to McDonald, throw to Encarnacion to end a quick six pitch inning for Ricky. 62 pitches for six innings. Not bad at all Ricky.
Top 7th: Escobar leading off. Grounds to bell at third, throw to Reynolds one down. Bautista, 2-0 count, pops it up to right, two down. Lind the only Jay not to reach base today. Your time now Adam. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, sad to see such a good player like this, totally at sea right now. I think we might yet see a line-up change in Toronto and move Lind further down.
Bottom 7th: Jones leading off. Grounds to Lind takes it himself for the out. One down for Guerrero. 0-2 count, grounds to McDonald at second throw to Encarnacion, two down. Reynolds, gets hold of this one first pitch and lines it into second deck left centre field his second home run of the afternoon. 6-2 Jays. Reimold, full count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion to end the inning. No more damage, pitch count 75.
Top 8th: Encarnacion leading off. Singles into left, his third hit of the day. Lind should have a talk with Edwin. Rasmus, whoa, singles hard back up the middle, that was a bullet through legs of Bergesen. Second hit for Rasmus today. Two on nobody out for Arencibia, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for McDonald. Double and a single today for Johnny Mc. Very nice hit number three as he singles into left, here comes Encarnacion 7-2 Jays. Lawrie to third. One down for Lawrie. Nonono! grounds back to Bergesen, Arencibia out at home plate. Two down Lawrie at first. Davis grounds to Bell at third throw to Reynolds at first to get Davis.
Bottom 8th: Tatum, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion at first. Bell, 1-2 count, grounds to McDonald at second throw to Encarnacion, two down. Davis, full count, lines this one to the wall in centre, stand up double. Andino, Casey Janssen now warming up. Grounds to Lawrie throw to Encarnacion for third out.
Top 9th: Escobar leading off, grounds to Andino at short, throw to Reynolds, one down. Bautista 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Lind, last chance Adam 0-4 today. That is it for Bergesen. Michael Gonzalez now pitching, lefty lefty matchup, Lind grounds back to Gonzalez throw to Reynolds at first and Lind has an 0-5 day.
Bottom 9th: Janssen now pitching. Markakis, 2-0 come on throw a strike. Singles to Bautista in right. Jones,0-2 count. strikes out swinging, one down for Guerrero, 0-2 count, perfect grounds back to Janssen, throw to McDonald, over to Encarnacion, double play ball to end this one.
The excellent: Great win for Romero who was perfect for most of the game, two pitches to Reynolds that he would buy back and that was it. 94 pitches for eight innings and that included the 21 pitch fifth inning. That is economical.
The very good: Lawrie two hit day and his first home run. Rasmus also two hit day who should have had a two run home run if the right field wall had been normal height and not a gigantic scoreboard. Johnny Mc. a three (yes three) hit day, in for Hill and a great job. Encarnacion (yes Edwin) the man today, a three hit day.
The not so good: Lind an 0-5 day as DH. Unable to stay away from the low strike and uncertain all day at the plate in his pitch selection. Adam needs a lot of work right now to bring him around. Perhaps home cooking this week will do it.
Great finish to the road trip, day off tomorrow, back to Toronto and the first appearance at home of Brett Lawrie. It will be a media circus for a while but I have no doubt that Lawrie is more than up to it. Less pressure on Rasmus this time around and he has shown on the road trip that he is for real.
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