Jays come from behind win to give Romero win number 15

Jays v Red Sox Game two of two.

Boston now in full flight and can smell that play off after last night’s breakout and end of their mini slump. Tampa lost so Red Sox gained one back. Today however Romero is or should be tougher than Morrow was last night. Bottom line Red Sox really need this win as they head for series with Tampa and crucial games that could decide their play-off hopes. First they want another easy win.

Lineups: Jays: McCoy, Thames, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Johnson, Lawrie, Arencibia, Loewen and Romero pitching.
Red Sox: Ellsbury, Scutaro, Gonzalez, Pedroia, Youkilis, Lavarnway, Crawford, Varitek, McDonald and Lackey pitching.

Top 1st: McCoy, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Thames. Singles to McDonald in right. Bautista, outside, outside, outside, Jose does not even bother taking bat off shoulder, outside ball four. Two on for Lind. 2-2 count, mound conference, lines to Ellsbury in centre, two down. Encarnacion, 0-2 count, singles to left centre, here comes Thames 1-0 Jays. Johnson with Bautista at second, two down. 2-1 count, lines it to shallow left centre drops in here comes Bautista to score 2-0 Jays, Encarnacion at third. Lawrie two down two on. 2-1 count, grounds to short, throw to first to end the inning. 31 pitch count.
Bottom 1st: Ellsbury, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Lind, one down. Scutaro, full count, lines it off the wall in left, stand up double for Scutaro. Gonzalez, WHOA, great play, lines it back up the middle to McCoy to make the catch and dives to the bag at second to get Scutaro off the bag for inning ending double play, WOW.... DEFENSE. Pitch count 13. Ricky loves that.

Top 2nd: Arencibia, pops it up to Gonzalez at first. Loewen, singles to right. McCoy, 0-2 count, drives to right centre for Thames, two down. Strikes out swinging. Pitch count 48.
Bottom 2nd: Pedroia, singles to Thames in left. Youkilis, 1-2 count, singles to left, Loewen overruns it and fumbles it and Pedroia to third on the play, not good Adam. Lavarnway, with two on and nobody out. Romero in trouble here. Oh boy bounces it to Lawrie he over runs it and messes it up, had his eye on an out before he had the ball. All runners safe as Pedroia scores. 2-1 Jays. More sloppy defense. Crawford with runners at first and second. Wild pitch bounces away, both runners move up, Jays are giving this to the Red Sox. Pretty bad baseball here. 2-2 strikes out, first out of the inning, two more to go without chance of double play, you have to do it yourself here Ricky. Varitek, 2-0 you might as well walk him to try to get the double play. Bounces to Johnson, throw to Lind two down and run scores, this game is all tied up just like that. Runner to third. McDonald, grounds to Lawrie throw to Lind for third out BUT Jays sloppy defensive play by Loewen, Lawrie and Arencibia have cost them two runs. Pitch count 32.

Top 3rd: Jays hitters once again have to get to Lackey. Bautista leading off, grounds back to Lackey, throw to Gonzalez for the out. One down for Lind, pops it up to Youkilis, two quick outs. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, grounds to short, Scutaro long throw not in time. Edwin safe at first. Johnson, one on two down. Full count, strikes out swinging on ball four. 62 pitch count.
Bottom 3rd: Ellsbury, 2-2 count, lines it in to right field corner, stand up triple. Scutaro, 3-1 count, lines it to Thames in left for the out, Ellsbury tags and scores 3-2 Boston. Gonzalez, 2-2 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, two down for Pedroia, 2-1 count, pops it up to Bautista in right field for the out but so far Jays outclassed by the Red Sox in every department. Pitch count 51. Looks as if Romero will not last six either. Just not sharp at all today, falling behind most of the hitters so far.

Top 4th: Lawrie, looking for redemption now after that defensive goof. 2-2 count, grounds to Scutaro, throw to Gonzalez at first, one down. Arencibia, full count. Grounds to Scutaro, oh he fumbles the ball, error to Scutaro, that was a real mess up of an easy out. Arencibia safe at first. JP will take that. Loewen, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for McCoy, grounds to Scutaro, easy out at second, not sure where Arencibia was but far too late to the bag. No hustle there. 78 pitch count.
Bottom 4th: Can Romero get back on track here? Youkilis leading off, strikes out swinging, one down for Lavarnway. Grounds to third, Lawrie once again over-runs the ball and Lavarnway safe at first, should have been an out. Lawrie’s second error already today in less than four innings. Crawford, 2-2 count, strikes out looking, two down. Varitek grounds to Lawrie throw to second to get Lavarnway. No damage done on the error apart from extra pitches for Romero. 63 pitch count.

Top 5th: Thames leading off, 1-2 count, grounds to Pedroia, throw to Lackey covering the bag, one down for Bautista. 2-2 count, lifts it over the head of Pedroia into shallow right centre. Lind with one on and one down. Not sure where Lind has been since the All-Star break but definitely absent. However with young Cooper here now he may start to wake up before he loses his spot, full count, Jose doing wind sprints out there as Lind keeps fouling off pitches. Perfect, there we go lines it into right, Bautista all the way to third and safe as the throw bounces away. Two on one down for Encarnacion. Lines it hard to Crawford in left, Bautista has to hold at third as throw comes in. No aggressive play here by the Jays but they have long stopped doing that, not sure whether it is Butterfield hesitancy or the player. I suspect the former. That may have to change in 2012, this team needs every advantage they can get. Johnson, grounds to Gonzalez at first, steps on the bag and once again Jays unable to bring a guy in.103 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: McDonald singles back up the middle over the mound, Ellsbury with one on. Pops it up to Arencibia, one down. Scutaro, 2-1 count, that will do grounds to Johnson, steps on the bag and throw to Lind for the double play. Pitch count 72.

Top 6th: Jays have been shut down since the first inning. Lackey still out there. Lawrie who is having a miserable game with bat and glove, his worst since he came up from Vegas. Is he running out of steam? 1-2 count, Lackey hits him in the back, Brett will take it anyway he can to get on base right now. One on for Arencibia, let’s see some aggressive base running here now from Lawrie at first. There he goes, and throw wild in to centre, Lawrie to third on throw. Good things happen when you force the play. 1-2 count on Arencibia, now he can swing away. 113 pitches for Lackey, not sure why Francona does this to his pitchers. Bullpen is bursting. Full count. Fly ball to Ellsbury in centre, Lawrie held at third, what is this? He is the fastest runner in the ballpark. That is the end of Lackey though 115 pitch count. Loewen, pressure on him to bring in Lawrie. Morales now pitching. Lefty lefty matchup. 2-2 count, grounds to Pedroia, throw home as Lawrie bowls Varitek over, out at the plate, that was a little over the top Brett. Loewen to first, two down. McCoy, oh boy they pick off Loewen at first. What a fiasco. Why did they send Lawrie on that play when they held the previous one which had much better chance? Poor all round this afternoon on and off the field.
Bottom 6th: I feel sorry for Romero he has to fight his own team’s errors and poor calls as well as pitching. Gonzalez first pitch there she goes home run into Boston bullpen to right centre, 4-2 Boston. Pedroia grounds to third throw to Lind one down. Youkilis, 3-1 count, ball four. One on one down for Lavarnway first pitch fly ball to Bautista for the out. Crawford very nice play grounds back to Romero, fumbles it but has the presence of mind to shovel it to second to get Youkilis. Nice play Ricky. 84 pitch count.

Top 7th: Uphill struggle now for the Jays who are incapable of scoring with runner at third two innings in a row. Anderson in for Gonzalez, getting ready for Tampa series. McCoy facing Aceves. Setting up for Bard and Papelbon now. Jays had their chances earlier. McCoy full count, lines it to Ellsbury in centre, one down. Thames, grounds to Anderson throw to Aceves for the out. Bautista, I wonder if there will be payback here on Bautista for Lawrie hit on Varitek? down and away, outside, down and away, 3-0 count, familiar chorus for Jose this season. Takes it all the way, strike one. Down and away ball four. Ho hum. One more walk for Jose. Lind now will he make them pay here? I will not be wagering on it, first pitch (!) fly ball to Ellsbury for the out. Time to sit Lind for the season Manager Farrell and leave young Cooper in there.
Bottom 7th: Varitek, Teahen now at third for Lawrie, Interesting move by Farrell. Isd Lawrie injured on that play on Varitek or benched for the play and his glove errors today. Grounds to Teahen throw to Lind for the out. McDonald, lines to Bautista in right. Two down for Ellsbury. Fly ball to Thames in left, three up and down but Red Sox have plans. 93 pitch count.

Top 8th: Crowd leaving already. Bard now pitching. Encarnacion leading off, 3-1 count, ball four. One on for Johnson. 2-0 here we go Boston slowing this one down as meeting on the mound did not do much good, 3-0 count, outside ball four. Bard feeling sorry for the Jays here. Two on and nobody out. Teahen, bunting of course, good bunt but throw it away at first, all runners safe, bases loaded and nobody out. Interesting but no guarantee at all that they will do anything with this chance. Arencibia, grounds to Youkilis at third drops the ball but throw to first to get Arencibia as runs scores 4-3 game. Both runners move up into scoring position. Loewen now a chance to redeem his errors. 2-2 count, finally lines it up the middle both Jonhson and Teahen score not held up this time. Butterfield has learned the hard way this afternoon. Jays take the lead 5-4. McCoy with Loewen at first one down. Grounds to Pedroia, throw to Anderson at first throw to Youkilis to get Loewen stretching it out. Double play ball but Jays have the lead.
Bottom 8th: Scutaro, pops up to Johnson at second. Anderson, 1-2 strikes out, two down. Pedroia, fly ball to Loewen in centre for third out. Great inning for Romero. 102 pitch count. You know that he will want to start the 9th if the score warrants.

Top 9th: Papelbon now pitching fifth Boston pitcher today. Not what Francona wanted with the Tampa series coming up. Thames leading off grounds to Anderson at first, takes it himself for the out. Bautista, power versus power. 0-2 count, takes strike three. Two down for Lind, time this guy earned his money. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging.
Bottom 9th: No not Ricky, Francisco now pitching for the save. Hmm. Youkilis leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down, Reddick pinch hitting for Lavarnway, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Crawford. Full count, lines it to Thames in left. Jays win this come from behind win for Romero, win number 14 career high.

The excellent: Romero lasted eight innings after a rough start and held Boston. A couple of good defensive plays by McCoy, and Romero. Let’s not forget Francisco with save number 15. Oft maligned this season he has been pitching well the last month. Jays outhit Red Sox 8-6. Come from behind win and at Fenway.


The not so good: More sloppy defense. Loewen, Lawrie (2) errors both avoidable and Arencibia passed ball. BUT the worst has to be the 3-10 with runners in scoring position. This is numero uno for Spring training. I would also add the very conservative approach by Butterfield at third holding the runners.