Rangers too strong for the Jays despite great outing by Drabek and Encarnacion's home run

Jays v Rangers. Game one of three. A very tough series for the Jays with the Rangers. Anything can happen from being swept by the strongest team in the AL (8-1 on the road already this season) which would not be a disgrace; OR Jays can provide some upset. On paper this is a no- brainer and Texas should win big. I think that Farrell will be happy with one win out of the three games. With this current Jays lineup anything and probably will happen. If everything clicks then they do have a chance. Rangers should be tired after playing last night and then flight into Toronto late. Tonight all eyes on Yu Darvish, unbeaten this season and coming off a great outing against the Yankees, very tough start for Drabek but being the underdog might be of help, there is no pressure on him at all. The other guy that should be under no pressure is Bautista. Right now Jose can only go up. A base hit is a plus for him. Maybe he will find Darvish pitching the antidote to his slump. One of the overlooked pluses from yesterday’s game was the performance of Mathis, already arguably better defensively than Arencibia, he has two home runs and not a slouch to make more starts. Lineups: Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Young, Beltre, Murphy, Cruz, Napoli, Moreland, Gentry and Darvish pitching. This lineup is POWERful and on paper Jays are way overmatched, we will see how this young Jays team can perform. Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Arencibia, and Drabek pitching. Top 1st: Kinsler leading off. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the out. Andrus, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Young. Full count, strikes out swinging. 15 pitch count Bottom 1st: Escobar, leading off, strikes out swinging, one down Johnson. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista. 2-1 count, high strike two,hmm. 10,000 boo, Reputation counts, Jays hitters should take note not to give up on that pitch. Pops it up in front of Jays dugout for Napoli to make the catch. Pitch count 14. Top 2nd: Beltre, full count, Drabek is throwing that outside and missing a lot. Lines it to right field corner wall, stand up double for Beltre. Murphy, lines it to right but Bautista makes great catch and throw to third a little off or he would have had Beltre at third. One down runner at third for Cruz. Lines it to the wall in center, Beltre scores 1-0 Rangers, Cruz at second for Napoli already with 7 home runs in the last 12 games, ouch. 2-1 count, grounds up the middle, Johnson makes the play behind the bag and throw to Lind for the out. Cruz at third for Moreland. Full count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind for third out. Drabek gives up only one, that could have been much much worse with the lead off double. 35 pitches. Bottom 2nd: Lind leading off. 3-0 count, down ball four, nice at bat by Lind. Encarnacion, this should be interesting match up with his great reach. 1-2 count, whoa, gets inside and hits him. Edwin says he is ok. Same spot as yesterday. Make em pay says Acton Jay. Thames with two on and nobody out. Fly ball to left for the first out. Lawrie. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Rasmus. 1-1 count, way outside, Colby watches it go by. Another outside, 3-1 count, full count. Lind and Edwin will be going. Strikes out could not hold up on ball four in the dirt. Darvish 35 pitches. Top 3rd: Gentry, 0-2 count, whoa takes strike three looking, nice pitch Kyle. One down for Kinsler. 3-0, ball four, one extreme to another. One on for Andrus, ball one Kyle lost the zone here. Lines this pitch to right centre, here comes Kinsler to score 2-0 Texas, Andrus stand up double. Young, grounds to Escobar at short, looks Andrus back to second, throw to Lind for second out. Beltre, fly ball to Bautista for the out. Could have been much worse. 49 pitches. Bottom 3rd: Arencibia, full count, strikes out swinging. Escobar, grounds to first, relay just beats Escobar at first. Two down for Johnson. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 46. Jays hitters outclassed here tonight, have not a clue through the first three innings. Top 4th: Murphy leading off. 2-2 count, takes strike three. One down for Cruz. 1-2 count. strikes out swinging, two down for Napoli. 2-2 count. strikes out swinging and he strikes out the side, that was excellent inning for Drabek, but he needs run support and his teammates are not doing much tonight to help him. 63 pitches. Bottom 4th: Bautista leading off, Jose still in free fall. Now .188 average. Oh dear Jose. Takes first strike. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. When you are down and out nothing goes right for you. Lind, grounds to second, throw to first two down. Encarnacion. Takes first pitch strike. 1-1, lines this one to left and that one is out of here, second deck, HOME RUN Edwin crowd going nuts, 2-1. Thames lines it in to right. Lawrie first pitch, come on Lawrie. Garbage, grounds it to short, throw to second for the out. Got to give Thames some rope there Brett. Darvish was rattled, make him sweat it out. 56 pitch count. Top 5th: Moreland, full count, strikes out swinging. Number seven strike out for Drabek career high. Gentry, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, five in a row. Wow. Two down for Kinsler, throws high behind Kinsler, interesting message ??? full count. Low ball four. One on for Andrus, 1-2 count, there goes Kinsler, throw there in time but Johnson drops it. Error to Johnson. 2-2 count. Andrus grounds to Escobar at short, knocks it down and throw to LInd not in time. Andrus safe at first. Kinsler to third. Yunel saved a run. Young with two on. Grounds to Escobar throw to Johnson for the out. 90 pitch count though for Drabek, not good. I think we will be seeing Luis Perez tonight early. Bottom 5th: Rasmus leading off. Opposite field single to left. Now Colby make him sweat out there. Arencibia, 0-2 count, oh boy, grounds to Young, throw to second over to first double play, two down for Escobar. Full count, strikes out swing at ball four. Only 69 pitch count. Top 6th: This may be Drabek’s last inning. Beltre, lines softly to shallow right. One on for Murphy, 3-0 count, grounds to third, Lawrie great play to throw out Murphy. Beltre to second. one down for Cruz, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for second out. Napoli, 2-0 count, fly ball to centre but Rasmus makes the catch. 105 pitch count. A few too many I fear. Bottom 6th: Johnson leading off. 1-1 count, lines it to left but long out. Bautista, 0-2 tonight, that was the pitch, belt high. Lets it go, 2-2 count. Grounds to second, throw to first, Jose not even hustling. Is it time for Farrell to sit this guy out for a couple of games to get his head straightened out? Right now he is completely at sea every at bat. Two down for Lind. 1-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first. 80 pitch count. Top 7th: Crawford not Perez now pitching, interesting choice. Way high and inside to Moreland, full count, fly ball to left and over the head of Thames in to the Jays bullpen. 3-1 Texas. Gentry. Nobody out. 1-2 count, same again and this one is out of here in left, 4-1 Texas. Numbers eight and nine in the lineup as well, that is real bad. Too late here comes the manager. Have to wonder about putting Crawford out there against this lineup. Frasor now pitching. Kinsler, 1-2 count, strikes out looking, Kinsler prima donna does not like the call. One down for Andrus. Grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind for second out. Young, full count, ball four. Beltre doubles to left and Andrus to third on the play. Two on two down for Murphy. 3-1 count, outside ball four, to load the bases. Now Perez is warming up, a little late John. Cruz, bases loaded. 1-2 count. 27 pitches for Frasor so far and you know how slow he is anyway. Not good, there he goes finally strikes out swinging. Bottom 7th: Unless Darvish fell asleep through that extra long inning he should cruise through the rest of the Jays lineup for a complete game. Encarnacion the only Jays hitter to solve him tonight. 1-2 count, singles back up the middle. Makes it simple. Thames, with one on. Here comes the pitching coach, Darvish stays in there. Fly ball to Murphy in left, one down. Lawrie ball four, Rasmus with two on.1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Arencibia. Time JP did something for the team. 1-1 count, pops it up to Kinsler. Maybe Mathis should be catching tomorrow. 98 pitch count. Top 8th: Perez finally gets in here an inning late in my book. Napoli leading off. 2-1 count, lines it to centre but Rasmus makes the running catch, one down. Moreland, home run last at bat. 1-2 count, Payback, hits him in the shoulder, hard. Don’t hit our best player. One on one down for Gentry. There we go grounds to Escobar, over to Johnson and to Lind double play ball. Bottom 8th: Top of the order Escobar leading off. Mike Adams in there pitching, Darvish unable to complete the game, that is one moral victory at least for the Jays. Grounds to short, throw to first to get him. One down for Johnson, 0-3 tonight. Plus his error, not a good night for Kelly. 0-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first, two down. Bautista, you almost feel sorry for the guy, nothing he can do is working. 0-3 again tonight, takes it right down the middle? I think he would like that one back. Fly ball to centre for a long out and end the inning. Well I guess he did hit it at least. Top 9th: Top of the order, Kinsler leading off. Perez out there for second inning. Singles to left, Andrus, 0-2 count, lines it to right for Bautista to make the out, one down one on. Young. 0-2 count, bounces to third and spins away from Lawrie, no chance for a play, both runners safe. Two on for Beltre. 0-2 again, nice play, bounces to Escobar flip to Lawrie to tag Kinsler at third. Two down. Snyder pinch runner at first for Beltre. Murphy 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Perez should have been in earlier and this game would be a one run game. Bottom 9th: Joe Nathan to finish off the Jays. Lind leading off. 1-2 count, grounds ball up the middle for Andrus to make the play and throw to first. Encarnacion, 0-2 count, not this time Edwin as he strikes out but look at his average. .326. Wow. Thames with two down, last chance for Jays tonight. Grounds to second, throw to first. Jays lose 4-1. Not many give Jays a chance to beat Texas this series and especially with unbeaten Darvish pitching to a team that is not hitting. However Drabek made it very close and matched him inning for inning before running out of pitches. The decision by Farrell to bring in Crawford in a one run game will be questioned. Crawford giving up back to back home runs put this out of reach. What made it worse was that it was the number eight and nine hitters. Not good. The excellent: Drabek definitely, another great start and kept Jays in the game. Encarnacion after being drilled for a second day gave pay back with the first home run given up by Darvish and the look that Edwin gave to Darvish as he rounded the bases was worth the admission price tonight. The good: Finally Jays pitchers protect their own. Perez drills Moreland hard after Darvish takes out Edwin who was the only Jays hitter able to solve Darvish tonight. Not so good: Lawrie rash at bat in the 4th after Edwin hit the home run and Thames followed with a single. Farrell’s decisions about Crawford pitching with the game still close. Crawford ? well he just didn’t have it tonight. Bautista definitely should sit, he is not adding anything right now. Arencibia ditto, bring in Mathis and maybe just maybe the competition might get him more focused.

Jays hitters lead by Encarnacion and Mathis continue their spree on the Mariners and Alvarez gets first win.

Mariners v Jays. Game three. Series finale. Jays bats broke out yesterday without Jose which is one good sign that they can do it without his power, however everyone is in his camp hoping that he will get going. Arencibia sitting, pure coincidence after disagreeing with manager on Friday night. Just getting a rest day. Sure. Edwin’s home run is interesting hit to watch as he went down and off the plate to get that pitch, and opposite field as well, his reach and power are impressive. Alvarez pitching today and maybe just maybe his offence can give him some run support and get a win, he has definitely pitched well enough to do so. In the bad luck corner McGowan on yet another DL. Did this guy break a mirror ? Hollywood must be writing the script for the greatest comeback in baseball history when he finally does get back for more than a few weeks. Lineups: Mariners: Figgins, Ackley, Suzuki, Liddi, Seager, Saunders, Olivo, Jaso, Kawasaki and Vargas pitching. Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Mathis and Alvarez pitching. Jays lose nothing defensively with Mathis in there. Top 1st: Figgins, 1-2 count, oh dear, lines this one over the fence in right and home run to Figgins, 1-0 Mariners. Ackley lines first pitch hard to left and off the wall for a stand up double. Alvarez having trouble here. Ichiro, fly ball to left, Thames makes the catch and Ackley holds at second. One down for Liddi. Pops it up behind the plate and Mathis makes the catch in front of the dugout, two down for Seager. 1-2 count, pops it up to shallow left Thames makes the running catch to end the inning, only 16 pitches but one run. Bottom 1st: Jays bats need to get going early now. Escobar, 2-2 count, slow roller to short, throw to first to get Escobar. One down for Johnson. Full count, low ball four, Johnson does a great job working the count for Jose behind him. Bautista one down one on. 2-0 count, low ball three, sort of semi-intentional walk here, 3-1 count, full count, huge pop up to Ichiro in right and the beat goes on for poor Jose. Two down one on for Lind. Slow grounder to second and out at first to end that inning. 21 pitches. Top 2nd: Saunders, lines to right centre, throw in time but Escobar cannot glove it and they blame Rasmus throw but that was Escobar. Olivo grounds to Lawrie, looks Saunders back to second, throw to Lind one down. Jaso, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, two down for Kawasaki. Saunders at third on the play. 3-0 count, high ball four. Figgins, two on two down. Fly ball to Thames in left for the final out, lead off double does not score. Pitch count 30. Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion, 3-0, low ball four, Edwin getting some respect now. Thames, full count, lines it hard to centre but right at Saunders for the out, one down. Lawrie, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Rasmus with two down. Another full count, takes strike three. Jays hitters making Vargas work for the outs though. 40 pitch count. Top 3rd: Ackley leading off. High pop up to Bautista in right, one down for Ichiro. Leaves this one up but drives it right at Rasmus for second out. Liddi, grounds to Escobar, throw to first. Seven pitch inning. Very nice inning for Alvarez. Pitch count 37. Bottom 3rd: Mathis grounds to second, throw to first for the out, one down for Escobar. Another full count, lines it to Saunders in centre for the out. Two down for Johnson. Another full count, grounds to Ackley at second, throw to Liddi at first for the out. Jays go very quietly three up and down. 56 pitch count. Top 4th: Seager, full count, pops it up to Thames in left, that would have been ball four and Seager knows it. One down for Saunders, 2-1 count, grounds to first nice play by Lind to his right and throw to Alvarez to get him at first. Two down for Olivo. Pulls it past Lawrie into left for a single. Jaso, with two down. There goes Olivo, throw in time to Escobar at second but called safe. 2-2 count. Full, low ball four, two on for Kawasaki. Grounds first pitch to Lawrie throw to Lind for the third out. 59 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Crowd very quiet this afternoon, nothing for them to get excited about so far today. Bautista leading off, perhaps Jose can get them cheering. Full count, OHHH he drops it, Jose pops it high at the plate and Olivo drops it. Jose has a life but it doesn’t matter as he pops it up to second for the out. Lind, 2-0 count. Grounds to first, flip to Vargas for the out at first, two down. Encarnacion, 3-0 count, inside ball four. One on two down for Thames. 2-1 count, whoa, pops it up to left and Figgins misjudges it and lets it drop, Edwin at third. Thames at second, Lawrie, base hit will do here. Hits it hard to left but right at Figgins for the out. Jays unable to take advantage of those defensive lapses by Seattle. 77 pitch count. Top 5th: Figgins leading off. Grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, one down. Ackley, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, two down. Ichiro, 2-0 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind. Wow six pitch inning, that is excellent. 65 pitch count. Bottom 5th: Alvarez has pitched brilliantly, now if only Jays hitters could get to Vargas. Rasmus leading off. Full count, here we go, lines it up the middle for a hit. One on for Mathis. Horrrible attempt at a bunt, another full count, strikes out swinging. One down. Top of the order Escobar, grounds to second, Ackley knocks it down and throw to first to get Escobar, could have been a double play ball. Rasmus at second on the play. Johnson, two down one on. Lines it into right centre, here comes Rasmus to score from second no question. 1-1 game. Bautista now, can he keep his head down. High pop up what’s new, to Figgins on left. This is getting tiresome with Jose, every hit is popped up, someone tell him to forget the home run stuff, keep his head down and drive the ball. Average now .179. Vargas 98 pitch count. Top 6th: Liddi, full count, fly ball to right centre, Rasmus has it for the out. Seager, one down. Lines it to left, off the glove of Thames, stand up double. Eric should have had that one off his glove. No error given. Saunders, full count. Low ball four, two on for Olivo. Needs a ground ball here. 2-2 count, high strikes out swinging. Two down Jaso, first pitch swinging and lines it to left for Thames to make the catch. Leaves two on. 88 pitch count. Bottom 6th: Lind, could be last hitter for Vargas. 2-2 count, takes strike three. Encarnacion, YES Edwin, drives this one out of here into left field bullpen. 2-1 Jays. Vargas probably wished it had been his last hitter with Lind. Thames, grounds to third, throw to first, two down. Lawrie first pitch swinging come on Brett, pops it up to short for third out. That was not a good at bat against a pitcher on the ropes. 111 pitches for Vargas but two to many. Top 7th: Kawasaki leading off. Singles to left. Here comes Farrell. Alvarez pitched very well, just did not get any run support again. Crawford now pitching. Figgins, bunting back to Crawford, throw to Lind, one down but Kawasaki to second, he might steal third with his speed. Ackley 2-1 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, very close but just gets him, speed. Two down for Ichiro. 0-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Lind to get Ichiro. Nice pitching by Crawford, Alvarez is first out of the dugout to thank him. Bottom 7th: Delabar now pitching, Rasmus leading off. 2-1 count. Oh, robbed by great catch at second by Ackley, he hammered that one but right at the fielder, that was a double all the way. Mathis. One down. 1-2 count. Bounces to third, throw to first two down for Escobar, not much today from Yunel. 0-3. There you go Yunel, lines it hard to left and off the wall, stand up double. Johnson, runner in scoring position. Full count. Strikes out swinging at ball four. Top 8th: Casey Janssen now pitching, I don’t like this, Farrell really overworking the bullpen. This is Casey’s ninth game already. Liddi hammers this one high to centre, but dies at the wall for the out by Rasmus. That was far too close. Seager, one down. WOW what a play, grounds it to first, hits the bag and bounces over head of Lind, great recovery and throw to Casey to get the out. WOW highlight reel, amazing. Two down for Olivo. 1-2 pops it up to Johnson in shallow right. Bottom 8th: Bautista leading off, would prefer to be elsewhere right now as he continues to sink lower and lower, surely there is a bottom ? .179 is pretty low to me. 2-0 count, grounds to short but Kawasaki misses it under his glove, no error, home field scorer, and Jose at first, he will take anything these days. Lind, high fly ball to right but to Ichiro for the out. Here comes the new hero Edwin. Oh man Delabar hits him, right inside on the arm, umpire warning and out comes the manager. Furbush now pitching. Two on for Rajai Davis pinch hitting for Thames. Payback as there goes Jose, beats the throw at third, and Edwin also, double steal, don’t get mad get even says Acton Jay. Now Mariners loading the bases. Lawrie, PAYBACK, lines it to left, here comes Jose and Edwin to score 4-1 Jays. Rajai Davis all the way to third. Lawrie at second, Rasmus, still only one down. YES pickoff at third and ball bounces away here comes Rajai 5-1 Jays, Lawrie to third also. 2-2 count. Colby strikes out. Mathis OH OH OH HO hammers this one deep to left second deck, 7-1 Jays. No question about that one as soon as he hit it, just like his first home run. WOW. Escobar bounces to short, throw to first for the third out. Jays get five. Payback for Edwin being hit, Mariners did Jays a favour by waking them up and just maybe getting a win for young Alvarez. Top 9th: Francisco in left for Davis. Cordero now pitching not save situation. Mariners want out of town fast after than inning. Olivo, oh boy lines this one high into left and into Jays bullpen. 7-2 Jays. Jaso, 1-1 count, lines it into right field corner, stand up double, nobody out. Kawasaki, pops it up to third, Lawrie makes vertical leap at the fence to make the catch, one down for Figgins. 1-2 count, oh pitch just gets away, inside around his shoulder, now outside and strike out. Cordero has been around for years. Two down. Ball gets away and Jaso to third. Full count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind to end the game. Jays finally win big for Alvarez 7-2 Jays and a two game win streak for Texas tomorrow. Rangers play late tonight and then have to fly in late. Jays need every advantage they can get. Let’s hope for an extra innings game about 16-17 innings. The very good: Alvarez. Gave up leadoff home run and then held Mariners scoreless for six keeping his pitch count low and giving the hitters chance to win the game. Encarnacion yet another home run. 20 RBIs, 7 home runs, the new hero for Jays fans as Jose keeps slipping further. The five run 8th inning started by Jose ironically as with previous game. The double steal enabled two runs. Great defensive play by Lind and Janssen when ball bounced off the bag. Lawrie first pitch double to score Jose and Edwin. Now has 13 RBIs. The speed and distraction of Davis at third to draw the errant throw by Olivo. How about Mathis? Another home run, makes the most of his limited appearances. Jays get only 8 hits but spread around, one each with Lind the only starter without a hit today. Jays 3-6 with runners in scoring position but Mariners would not be happy with 0-14 runners in scoring position, ouch ouch. The not so good: nothing today, a good all round game although it took eight innings to get Jays bats going.

Jays break out with Edwin grand slam to beat Mariners 7-0 behind great outing by Morrow

Jays v Mariners. Game two of three. Once again with their backs to the wall, Jays four game losing streak and devastating loss last night. Interesting Arencibia, saw nothing wrong with his throw and said that he would do it again. His boss meantime said in so many words that it was ill advised. Wonder when Arencibia will be sitting out a game. Not only the hitting but now the pitching and defense, all round collapse of the team that so many of us had such high hopes for. Long road ahead for respectability and not an easy next five games to do it in. When Mariners leave town in come the Rangers who are 8-1 on the road. Good luck. Jays in free fall to the bottom, tonight Boston streaking now with five game win streak can catch them. Yankees and Tampa also streaking out ahead as Jays continue their freefall to the bottom. The world is returning to normal in the east. Mariners on their own four game win streak. No changes today, same old Jays lineup. Mariners: Make two changes. Figgins, Ackley, Suzuki, Smoak, Seagher, Saunders, Olivo, Ryan and Millwood pitching. Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Thames. Lawrie, Rasmus, Arencibia and Morrow pitching. It will be interesting to see how this team van bounce back, they have a long way to go but all the baseball cliches are being dropped, long season, 162 games, a marathon not a sprint etc etc... but so far it is not looking good except in Kansas. Looks like another great crowd, just think what they could draw if they were playing well. Top 1st: Figgins leading off today. Pops it up to third, Escobar takes it behind Lawrie ? That was Lawrie’s ball. One down. Ackley, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Ichiro. Grounds to Escobar, bounces the throw to first not in time. Smoak, pops it up to Lawrie who takes it himself this time. 16 pitch count. Bottom 1st: Escobar leading off, grounds to short, throw to first, one down. Johnson fly ball to left for the out, two down for Bautista now .183, oh dear, not much sleep these days for Jose, outside ball one, pops up second pitch to third for the out. Eight pitch inning for Millwood. Top 2nd: Did Morrow sit down? back out again fast. Seager, 3-1 count, lines it off the wall in centre, stand up double, one on for Montero, 1-2 count. Saunders, 2-2 count, lines it to centre, Rasmus glides over there to make the catch, runner holds, one down. Saunders, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Olivo, full count, strikes out swinging. BUT and a big but, 37 pitches, Jays need Morrow to go deep today to give that beat-up bullpen some rest. Bottom 2nd: Lind, hooray, pulls it into right for a single. One on for Encarnacion, shatters his bat as he pops up to second. One down for Thames who arguably had his first good game last night, this season. 3-0 count, outside ball four. Two on for Lawrie. Pops it up to shallow right, two down for Rasmus. Full count, strikes out swinging. 25 pitch count. Top 3rd: Ryan, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Figgins, Yankees getting thrashed by the Tigers 6-1, love it. But that does not help this crew here. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down. Ackley, pops it up to Escobar to ends the inning. 50 pitches through three innings. Bottom 3rd: Arencibia, last night’s goat in my book. Grounds weakly to second , throw to first for the out. One down for Escobar. Full count, good at bat by Yunel, fouling them off, singles into left, nice at bat, eight pitch at bat. Johnson with runner at first and one down. Singles to centre, Escobar to third. Two on for Bautista. That will do lines it hard at third and off Seager’s body into left, Escobar scores 1-0 Jays. Lind with two on. Lines it into left corner ground rule double and Johnson scores 2-0 Jays. Jose held at third on ground rule double. Encarnacion with two in scoring position. 1-2 count, fly ball to left, Figgins throw not on target Jose scores now they have Lind hung up between second and third and tagged out for double play not very smart base running. 48 pitch count. 3-0 Jays. Top 4th: Ichiro leading off, Morrow now has a lead to work with, can he make the most if it? Grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Lind for the out. Smoak. Full count, lines it to centre, Rasmus makes nice catch at the wall. Two down for Seager, full count, strikes out swinging. Bottom 4th: Thames full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Lawrie, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Rasmus, 3-1 count, grounds to second, throw to first to end the inning. Top 5th: Montero leading off. 3-0 count, full count, nice strikes out swinging, good pitching by Morrow behind 3-0. One down, Saunders lines first pitch to the wall in right. Stand up double. One on one down for Olivo. 0-2 count, pop it up to Johnson behind Lind and oh he drops it, error oh boy, Saunders to third, one down. Two on for Ryan, this is trouble for Brendan. Wow, wonder what happened there, Kelly had called Lind off who seemed to have a bead on it. Ah well. Ryan strikes out, that is huge out, two down for Figgins. Perfect, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Lind for third out. Johnson off the hook there. Pitch count 85, should see another inning for Morrow. Bottom 5th: Arencibia leading off. Singles to left, one on for Escobar. Oh boy grounds to Ryan at short, steps on second and throw to Smoak at first, double play ball. Johnson, owes Morrow here. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Top 6th: Ackley, first pitch swinging, high fly ball to Rasmus for first out. Ichiro, grounds back through Morrow into shallow centre for a single. Smoak, full count. Nice pitch, strikes out swinging. Two down for Seager, 2-1 count, singles to Bautista in right, two on two down for Montero. 2-2 count, crowd into this one, probably his last hitter, strikes out swinging. Morrow gets into the 7th and today that is ok with a 3-0 lead.104 pitches. Bottom 6th: Bautista first pitch fly ball to left for the first out. Lind, 2-2 today, fly ball to centre for the out, two down. Encarnacion, pulls it down third base line for a stand up double. Thames one on two down. Full count, Edwin running throw to third and sliding tagged out on his back, Edwin says no way and Farrell joins in the fight. Not going to win this one although replay shows Edwin may have a point. Top 7th: Fraser now pitching. Saunders, takes strike three, one down. Olivo, 0-2 count, singles to centre. One on one down for Ryan, pops up to Lind for second out, Figgins. Two down one on. 2-2 count, grounds to Johnson, nice play by Johnson running and scooping the ball with glove to Escobar for third out as Figgins slides in. Johnson starting to perfect that play. Bottom 7th: Lawrie, 2-1 count, pulls it hard to left for a single. One on for Rasmus, 2-2 count, pops up to Figgins in left, one down. Arencibia, fly ball to centre for the out Lawrie tagging at first and slides into second head first safe. That was a very risky play. Two down. Escobar with Lawrie in scoring position. 2-2 count, grounds to first, throw to Millwood for the out, Escobar running this one out, good to see that he can. Top 8th” Darren Oliver now pitching. Ackley, 1-1 count, bounces to Johnson, throw to Lind, one down. Mariners running out of chances to get back in this one. Ichiro, first pitch grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, two down. Smoak, full count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Bottom 8th: Johnson leading off. Hishashi Iwakuma, singles back up the middle. Bautista, lines it to right and bounces into the crowd in the corner, ground rule double, two on and nobody out, Jays have something going now. Lind, intentional walk to get to Encarnacion. Bases loaded nobody out, Encarnacion. First pitch lines to right and this one is carrying over the fence and into the Mariners bullpen, GRAND SLAM Edwin.... 7-0 Jays. I love the justice that grand slam ended up in Mariners bullpen. Still nobody out. Thames strikes out. One down. Lawrie grounds to third throw to first for the out. Two down. Rasmus, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Top 9th: Villanueva now pitching, Kawasaki, pinch hitting for Seager. 3-0 high ball four, not quite what your Manager wants Carlos. John Jaso pinch hitting for Montero. 2-2 strikes out swinging, one down. Saunders, full count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind for second out, Olivo, Kawasaki at second. 2--0 count, 2-2, strikes out swinging on last three pitches, very nice pitching Carlos. Jays win big (finally) and put an end to a horrible week and the loss streak. The very good: Morrow six innings, nine strikeouts and no walks. The lack of walks is the most impressive in my book. Edwin and his grand slam, I stay convinced that just playing DH is the best thing for Edwin, he remains focused and has no other distractions. For whatever reason he is terrible in the field and Farrell should recognise this by now. Until Jose gets his bat going Farrell should be leaving Edwin without distractions. The bullpen of Fraser, Oliver and Villanueva three scoreless innings. Back to normal ? The crowd again ....over 30,000 this afternoon, good to see for a game against Seattle. Bautista got this thing moving with his RBI even if it was off the body of Seager. Lind with two hits and the opposite field double resulted in two runs. Rasmus in the field makes a great catch. The not so good: Hard to select anything today so let’s not try. Tomorrow final game of the series before Texas rolls into town with Yu Darvish pitching on Monday.

Arencibia blows this one despite Jats bats finally coming alive

Mariners v Jays. Game one of three. Jays attempt to get some respectability this weekend, but this is not the issue for two reasons, one they can beat up on the west and central, but it is the eastern teams they should be most concerned about not least their inability so far to beat the Orioles. That spells big trouble for the rest of the season. Secondly looking at the current MLB averages the first Blue Jay is at number 51 ! and that is Lawrie who does not even have a full season in the majors. Bautista ? at 87 but not just Jose lack of hitting where are all the others ? especially Lind ? Don’t expect anything easier now they are home. They face the Mariners fresh out of Detroit and a sweep of a very good team at home that most pick for the divison title and then Texas who are right now 8-1 on the road and probable Western division champions this season. This could be an ugly home stand for the Jays. Lineups: Mariners: Ackley, Ryan, Suzuki, Smoak, Montero, Liddi, Saunders, Olivio, Wells, and Blake Beaven pitching. Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Arencibia and Romero pitching. Ricky can pitch his heart out tonight but unless Jays hitters score it will be of no value. Top 1st: No Ichiro leading off, seems really strange to see Ackley out there leading off, fly ball to Bautista in right, one down. Ryan, 0-2 count, bounces to Lind, takes it himself for second out. Ichiro, 1-2 count, grounds to Lind for third out. Romero pitch count 15. Bottom 1st: Escobar, 0-2 count, grounds back to Beaven, throw to first one down for Johnson. Lifts it into shallow centre, Bautista with one on one down. Pops it up right infield for the out, two down. Lind. 1-2 count, whoa, pickoff gets away at first and Johnson running all the way to third. Error to Beaven, Lind drives it to left for the out. All we needed was a single Adam, everyone wants to be a hero and go deep. No situational hitting. Pitch count 14. Top 2nd: Smoak leading off, pops up to Escobar, one down for Montero. Pops it up shallow right for Bautista to make the catch two down for Liddi, full count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 29. Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion, 2-1 count, that’s better, drives this one high off the windows in centre, home run to Edwin. As we said last night, keep Edwin as DH, fielding is not his bag for whatever the reason.1-0 Jays. Thames, strikes out throw to first, one down. Lawrie, grounds to short as he shatters his bat, throw to first for the second out. Rasmus, full count, lines it off the wall in right centre, he is going all the way, and a triple for Colby. His hands are so quick when he drives that ball. Arencibia, full count, lines it to third, but great diving save by Liddi and throw to first for the out. Jays leave a player at third for the second time tonight but they are on the board. 37 pitch count. Top 3rd: Saunders, 3-0, low ball four, walks the leadoff, not good Ricky. Olivo, 2-0 and now Romero has lost the strike zone bigtime, that was headhigh outside.3-0 in danger of walking two. Outside ball four, eight consecutive balls. Looks as if the lead will be shortlived. Wells, take a strike, first one this inning ! 2-2 count, high full count, takes strike three, looked high but it is called a strike for the first out. Ackley, two on one down. 1-2 count, grounds back to Romero, over to Escobar at second or the out back to Lind not in time. Two down runners on the corners. Ryan, grounds to third, off glove of Lawrie, throw to Lind not in time and run scores 1-1. Error on Lawrie. Farrell out to argue but probably trying to get some e fire into this team Suzuki with two on and two down. 2-2 count, lines it to Thames. Romero cannot complain he dug himself the hole with the two walks, a 26 pitch inning. 55 pitch count. I think we will be seeing some long relief tonight from Villanueva. Bottom 3rd: Escobar, first pitch grounds to short, throw to first, one down, Romero will not be happy with that first pitch swinging, he needs a break to regroup, that was a long inning. Johnson, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista, .191 average and sliding. Pops it up to third, ten pitch inning. Pitch count at 47. Top 4th: Smoak, fly ball to Rasmus for the first out. Montero, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Liddi, bounces to Escobar, throw to Lind for three up and down inning. Eight pitches, that’s what Romero needs. 63 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Lind, full count, high but Lind chases it for the strikeout. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, hammers it to the wall in left and just beats the very close throw at second. Thames, 1-2 count, grounds to Ryan at short, Edwin has to hold but throw by Ryan from the ground has nothing on it and not in time to get Thames, two on one down for Lawrie. Pops it up to second for the out, Rasmus, need another triple Colby. 2-2 count. Perfect, this will do, drives it into right field corner and here comes both runners, Encarnacion and Thames as Colby has a stand up double. 3-1 Jays. Arencibia, 0-2 count, grounds to third, throw to first for the out. 71 pitch count. Top 5th: Romero with a lead again. Saunders, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind for the out. Olivo, fly ball to Bautista in right, two down. Wells, two down, 1-2 count, great curve strikes him out looking. Nine pitch inning. 72 pitch count. Bottom 5th: Boston, Yankees and Baltimore losing right now. Tampa winning. Top of the order Escobar. Pulls it to second throw to first for the out. One down for Johnson, 2-2 count, takes strike three, two down for Bautista. .188 average, ouch Jose. Full count. Turns on it hard and foul second deck left. Gets hold of this one as well but just underneath it to fly ball to centre for the out. Almost and looks as if he is seeing the ball now. 85 pitches. Top 6th: Ackley leading off. 1-2 count, lines it to Bautista in right, stand up double. Ryan, lines it to Rasmus in centre for the out. One down for Suzuki, 1-2 count, grounds to Escobar, quick throw to Lind to get Ichiro. Two down with Ackley at third. Smoak, full count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for third out. 90 pitch count. Romero might get one more inning in. Bottom 6th: Lind, grounds first pitch to second, throw to first for the out, Encarnacion, 2-2 count. Pops it up to short. Thames, singles back up the middle, one on two down for Lawrie. Hit on the hand, two on for Rasmus. That is it for Beaven, here comes the manager. Erasmo Ramirez now pitching. Rasmus drives this one hard to centre but great running catch by Saunders to rob him of two runs. Top 7th: Yankees, Red Sox and Rays all winning now. Only the Orioles losing.That figures. Montero, 3-1 count, drives this one to left and over the fence. 3-2 game. Liddi grounds to Lind, throw to Romero for the out. Saunders, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Olivio. Singles to Rasmus in centre. One on two down. Frasor warming up in Jays bullpen. Wells, this is big trouble, drives it to the wall in right centre, Olivio scores, 3-3 game. Wells to second. Ackley, full count, high ball four, that is it for Romero. Not good enough tonight. Frasor to face Ryan. Two on two down. 1-2 count, fly ball to Bautista for third out. Romero is saved for now. 117 pitches. That third inning hurt him. Bottom 7th: Arencibia, hit on the elbow, one on for Escobar, bunting and up first base line, Aresmo throw to first for the out as Arencibia moves to second. Johnson, but that is it for Aresmo. Steve Delabar now pitching. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Bautista. 2-0, here comes pitching coach. Putting him on, so much for strategy. That is it for Delabar one intentional walk ? I think Aresmo could have done that. Lucas Luetge, lefty lefty for Lind matchup. 2-1 count, oh boy, Lind lines it to Suzuki in right, here comes Arencibia, throw is to the plate and Arencibia is out. Now the question will be why was there not a pinch runner at second for Arencibia? Davis would have scored easily. Top 8th: Oliver pitching. Ichiro leading off, 1-1 count, grounds back to Oliver, throw to Lind for the out. Smoak, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Montero, that is it for Oliver. Oh, Casey Janssen in to face Montero. This is interesting day after Casey’s last outing where he gave up the home run. Grounds to Johnson at second for the third out. Nice Casey. Bottom 8th: Tom Wilhelmsen now pitching. Encarnacion, 0-2, grounds to short, throw to first for the out. Thames, whoa hammers this one to right centre, off the facing and home run to Thames, that was a bullet. sorry Travis, 4-3 Jays. Lawrie singles into left. Rasmus, Pick off to first gets away and there goes Lawrie all the way to third, wow.... Now intentional walk to Colby, respect Colby look at it that way. Arencibia, with two on and one down. This will do it, fly ball to right Suzuki, throw comes in but Lawrie scores, 5-3 Jays. Escobar with Rasmus at first, two down. Singles to Suzuki in right, Rasmus stops at second. Two on two down for Johnson. It would be good to get Jose another at bat. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, leaves two on. Top 9th: Cordero now pitching. Davis in for Thames in left. Liddi, fly ball to right for Bautista, one down for Saunders. Full count, oh dear, lines this one high into centre, off restaurant windows, 5-4 Jays, we may yet see Jose bat. Olivio, 0-2 count, pops it up into shallow left for Escobar to make the catch, two down for Pinch hitter Kyle Seagher. NO. grounds first pitch to Lawrie, throw to Lind drops the ball, short hopped him, error to Lawrie. One on two down for Ackley. Pinch runner Kawasaki. 2-1 count, that was stupid. Arencibia throws to first and airmails it in to right, Kawasaki all the way to third, no need for that JP. Error on him. Percentage play with little chance. Now intentional walk to start over, Ryan with two on. John Jaso pinch hitter. 2-2 count, singles to Rasmus. Here comes Kawasaki for tying run, Johnson throw to the plate and Arencibia gets Ackley. What a fiasco. 5-5 game. Bottom 9th: Well at least Jose gets another at bat, grounds to Liddi at third, throw to first for the out. That is it for Wilhelmsen. Charlie Furbush pitching. Lind, lefty lefty. 2-2 count, fly ball to Figgins in left, two down for Encarnacion. Full count, strikes out swinging. Took him 10 pitches though. Top 10th: Perez pitching. Jays bullpen getting overworked here. Ichiro, grounds to Lawrie, throw no mistake to Lind chest high for Adam. Smoak, singles into left, one on one down for Montero. Same again, singles to exactly the same place, two on one down for Liddi. 1-2 count, singles to left, Davis fumbles the ball but runner held at third. Question who is placing the infield with three balls in exactly the same spot ? Bases loaded for Saunders. 1-2 count. Oh my, high fly ball to right and over the fence, grand slam. 9-5 Seattle. That is it for Perez. Villanueva now pitching. No chance tonight of long relief. Olivo, 1-2 count, bounces back to Villanueva, throw to Lind two down. Kawasaki, singles back up the middle. Ackley, 0-2 count, Kawasaki running ? that is tacky by Seattle with a four run lead, but pitch out and throw gets him out at second. Bottom 10th: ex-Jay Brandon League now pitching, Davis leading off. Grounds to second, throw to first one down. Lawrie, 1-1 count, bounces to third, throw to first for the second out. Rasmus, grounds to second throw to first and Jays woes continue. But self inflicted tonight. The good: Encarnacion and Rasmus with good nights at the plate. Thames also broke out with some excellent hitting. The crowd, many stayed to the ninth. Noisy crowd tonight for a Toronto crowd, 24,000 plus. Romero was not at his best but apart from two innings he kept the team in the game. Great to see Casey Janssen get back up after last night home run. The good also to see Jays actually get some runs, that is a plus after the last series. Cordero was victimized by Lind and Arencibia. Perez has been overused. The errors: Two on Lawrie, tough second error as Lind could and should have made the play. If he wants throws chest high every time he should not be playing first base. The bad: Three errors in the game, two by Lawrie BUT the second was Lind not catching a ball that he gets his glove on. Should have had that one. The very bad: Has to be the throw by Arencibia in the ninth to try to pick off Kawasaki at first, that was a stupid play, very very small chance of getting him and major chance of it getting away from Lind who is showing signs of weakness at first. No need at all to even attempt it in that situation. Arencibia’s defensive weaknesses are starting to hurt this team. Bautista watch ? had some good strong at bats but still struggling. Concerns now are on the bullpen, they are being overworked and when they pitch every day problems start and you could see it tonight with Perez.

Orioles sweep Jays as bats remain silent for third game

Jays v Orioles Final Game of series. Jays trying to avoid sweep tonight and in dire need of some offence. They are in a no win situation even if they do win the game they have sorely damaged their chances by losing two series to Baltimore in the first month of the season . They have had good, yes very good pitching in this series but when a team only scores one run in two games, in eighteen innings, then the fault lies squarely with the offence not the pitching. This team burst out of spring training with lots of promise, where is it? The Kansas series was a blip obviously. The defaulters are clear, Lind, has not performed in almost a year, so no surprise there, the only question is why is he still playing with this team? Encarnacion should never ever, ever play at third, Farrell; if he has problems with his memory should read the reports of last season’s fiasco with Edwin in the field at third and the number of errors that he made. He is unable for whatever reason to handle that corner. He is reasonable at first base but should be DH period. Thames should not even be in the team. No value added with his fielding and obviously in the headlights with his at bats. Those are the three major issues with the Jays offence. Tonight the pressure is on the rookie Drew Hutchison. Jays not only have to win this one they have to demolish the Orioles, the only value is moral in any victory tonight. Orioles are fine with the series win that they already have, they could rest some players tonight and probably still win. Other implications of this Jays swoon will obviously be seen in the weekend sale for Mariners series in Toronto. And of course Rogers management obviously not going to open the purse strings for this team that is going nowhere right now. Good to see Kansas ends their long winless streak and let’s hope that the Jays do not start their own eleven game loss streak. Right now they can fight with the Red Sox for bottom of the division but it is hard to believe that Boston will remain at the bottom for much longer. Jays may find it lonely at the bottom. Thirteen more games with the Orioles this season and at 1-4 to start, home and away, the Jays future is bleak indeed. Lineups: Farrell has shaken up the lineup tonight for the lefty Matusz but results will show if it makes any difference. Jays: Escobar, Lawrie, Bautista, Encarnacion, Thames, Francisco, Davis, Arencibia, Vizquel, and Hutchison pitching. After the top four this lineup is paper tiger. No Johnson or Rasmus arguably two of the better at bats this month, instead stronger defence ?? Encarnacion at first ? Thames still in there, not quite what this team needs. The only reason I can think for Thames to be playing is that they are giving him the month of April to prove he belongs and then move him out. But bottom line it is hits and runs this team needs and this lineup is weak, very weak. Orioles: Reimold, Hardy, Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Davis, Reynolds, Johnson, Flaherty and Matusz pitching. Not having a great start to the season so this Jays team right now will be perfect for him to bounce back. Top 1st: Escobar leading off, full count, ball four, one on for Lawrie. 1-2 count, grounds up the middle, Hardy steps on second throw to first, double play ball, two down for Bautista. 1-2 count, pop up to right for third out. Jays go meekly in the first 16 pitches. Bottom 1st: Reimold, lines it up the middle Vizquel makes great catch, no loss in defence there at second, one down for Hardy, fly ball right at Thames in left makes the catch, two down, Markakis, singles to left, one on two down for Jones. 0-2 count, grounds to Vizquel at second. 11 pitches, nice inning for Hutchison. Top 2nd: Encarnacion leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Thames, full count, high bouncer over the head of Matusz, and beats out the throw. One on one down for Francisco. First pitch pops it up to right, two down. Davis, 0-2 count, lines it to Jones for the out. Pitch count 34. Jays have gone 20 innings for one run. Not difficult to see where the problem is. Bottom 2nd: Wieters leading off. 1-2 grounds to Escobar at second, throw to first for Encarnacion, one down. Davis, grounds to Encarnacion at first, two down. Reynolds, pops it up to Vizquel to make the catch. Pitch count 22 for two innings very nice Drew. Top 3rd: Arencibia, 2-0 pops it up to second for the out. Vizquel, grounds to third, throw to first, two quick outs. Escobar. Lines to right for third out. Eight pitch inning. Have the Jays given up already ??? Pitch count 42. The only bright light on the horizon for the Jays is the pitch count for Matusz. Bottom 3rd: Johnson, 23 at bats and no hits, sounds as if Jays are exactly what he needs, full count, not this time, grounds to short, Lawrie takes it in front of Escobar throw to Encarnacion, one down. Flaherty, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Reimold, full count, strikes out looking, great pitch. 41 pitch count. Top 4th: Lawrie grounds to short and beats out the throw, this guy can really motor. One on for Bautista one, 0-2 count. Fly ball to left but tracked down by Reynolds for the out some confusion there with Jones but they avoid collision. One down. Encarnacion, High pop up to Reynolds in left for second out. Lawrie still standing around at first. Thames what a joke, pops up the first pitch to short for the out. Please get this guy out of here. 54 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Hardy leading off. Fly ball to Davis in centre, one down. Markakis. 3-1 count. Singles to left, one on one down for Jones. 1-1 count. Grounds to Lawrie long throw to first to get Jones, no chance for two. Wieters with Markakis at second. Grounds to Escobar, nice play Yunel, and throw to first for third out. May have saved a run there for Hutchison. 53 pitch count. Top 5th: A horrible thought, could this team go through two games without scoring a run? Francisco leading off, he must wonder what he has come to after the Phillies organization. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Davis. 2-1 count, fly ball to Reynolds in left. Two down for Arencibia. 2-2 count, not even this hit as he lines it to left and bounces off the wall ! back to Reynolds and Arencibia has to dive into second just to get a double, JP thought that might go out, it is not to be for the Jays in Baltimore. Vizquel, runner at second who down. Grounds to third, throw to first and Jays remain runless. And one run in 23 innings. 71 pitch count. Bottom 5th: Davis leading off. Full count, outside ball four, leadoff guy on base. Reynolds, another full count, singles to Davis, two on and nobody out. Johnson, this could be the game here. Yet another full count, you can’t keep doing this without getting burned. Fly ball to Bautista in right to make the catch and great throw to second to keep Reynolds at first and double play option. One down for Flaherty, 1-1, fly ball to Thames in left and here comes Davis for the first run, 1-0 Orioles two down for Reimold runner at first. 1-2 count, singles to Bautista in right, runners at first and second, two down for Hardy. Here comes Walton for conference, no shame for Hutchison, he has pitched well, it is the run support that is missing. Pops it up to Thames for the out. 82 pitch count. Top 6th: Top of the order for the Jays but they have not solved any Orioles pitcher let alone Matusz this series. Escobar, singles into left, one on for Lawrie. Keep the line going Brett don’t try to be a hero and go for the fences, full count, that was ball four, and so was that as he swings over it. Lousy at bat Brett and he knows it. One down for Bautista who has been missing most of the season so far. 3-0 count, goes after ball four and strike on. This one is head high and outside so he is not going after that one, he can’t reach it, another walk but that is not what he is paid big bucks for. Encarnacion, with two on, they had better start running. Pops it up to second, the good news is that it was not a double play. Two down for Thames, no pinch hitter here. 1-2 count, finally, and thanks to an error, pulls it down the line misses the ball and all the way into right field corner, here comes Lawrie with Bautista behind him, Thames to third. More runs with that hit then they have had in previous 23 innings, ouch. But Jays take the lead 2-1. Francisco first pitch, grounds to short throw to first. That was a lousy at bat again by Francisco. First pitch swinging with runner at third and the pitcher on the ropes. Put some pressure on him. However Jays finally and I mean finally after 15 innings manage a run. 92 pitches for Matusz. A very different pitcher from what we saw in Toronto. Bottom 6th: Markakis lines to Thames in left, stand up double, Jones 0-2 count, Perez warming up in bullpen. Oh boy this team just gets worse, grounds to short, Escobar throw up the line and Encarnacion misses it, here comes Markakis, PLEASE Farrell put Edwin as DH and leave him there. Error given to Escobar, he had time for throw but even so Edwin should have had it, 2-2 game and end of Hutchison, what a shame. Perez now pitching and he has his hands full here. Jones at second, Wieters with nobody out. Grounds to Escobar this time throw to Lawrie no problem for the out, nice play, one down. Wieters at first, Davis 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down. Reimold, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Perez is amazing. Top 7th: Darren O’Day side armer now pitching, Rasmus in the game for Davis. 2-2 takes strike three, that pitch moved two feet. Arencibia, full count, no, that was way low but called a strike, JP does not agree, nor do I. Vizquel, lines it to third, nice jump catch by Reynolds. Bottom 7th: Perez still out there. Johnson leading off. Hits him in the back. One on for Flaherty. Oh boy, bunting and another mess up at first. Encarnacion leaves it for someone I think he thought that Perez would get to it, and then goes after it, too late. Two on for Reimold. 1-2 count, fly ball to Bautista in right, one down as runner Johnson moves to third on throw. Flaherty still at first. That is it for Perez, Janssen now in to get out of the mess. Hardy, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, great pitch Casey, two down. Markakis, 3-3 tonight. 2-1 count, grounds up the middle to Escobar steps on the bag at second for third out, very nice Casey. Top 8th: Top of the order for the Jays. It would be so nice to get a handful of runs here guys. Escobar, 1-2 count, lines it to Jones in centre for the out. Lawrie, pops it up to Jones in centre, two quick outs. Bautista, long long overdue, .197 average ouch bigtime. A long fall from grace. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Bottom 8th: Jones leading off, this is big trouble lines it to left into the seats for a home run, 3-2 Orioles. Wieters, singles to Thames in left, that is it for Casey. Oliver now pitching. Davis, lines this one to right centre and into the seats, two run home run 5-2 Orioles. Reynolds, 2-2 count, strikes out looking, first out of the inning. Johnson, 0-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to first, two down. Flaherty, 2-0, singles into right, one on for Reimold. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging but the damage is done. Top 9th: Ayala now pitching, Encarnacion, lines it to right, hits the wall and a long single. No luck for the Jays tonight, second hit that could have gone out of the ballpark. Thames, with one on. Grounds to second over to short back to first double play ball by Thames, how much worse can it get for him? Lind to finish it off. Full count, low ball four, prolonging the agony here. One on two down for Rasmus. Grounds to second throw to first and this awful series is over. Post-game: One to forget for the fans but should be pinned on every Jays locker in Toronto. Swept by the Orioles, that signifies a lot of problems this season for this underachieving group of hitters. The Seattle series is now irrelevant, even if they sweep Seattle, the real issue is that Jays are unable to compete in their own division and that is where they play the bulk of their games whether they like it or not. Now 1-5 against the Orioles in the first two series. That translates into a 3-15 season. Nasty. And they have not played the Yankees yet. Orioles sweep a terrible Jays team. Long time since we saw this group hit as badly. Only three runs in three games. That will not win anything. The good: Believe it or not young Hutchison was the good, he kept them in it for six. Not his fault that the hitters can only get two. I don’t blame Janssen and Oliver either, if a team does not get the runs that puts added pressure on the pitchers, no room at all for error. The bad: Once again the whole lineup. Admittedly the second team but it made no difference. And now there has to be major concern with Jose Bautista. Cannot hide it any longer, what is wrong with him? Average now .194. Is he injured ? Is he not adjusting to the pitching? The very bad: Edwin at first. Two major plays miscues at first tonight. That cannot help his hitting. He could not play third last night and was in trouble at first tonight. Just leave the guy as DH.

Jays shut out and lose second series against the Orioles

Jays v Orioles. Game two of three. Jays really need to get their bats going in Baltimore, they ruined such a great performance by young Alvarez last night with only one run, the home run by Thames of all people. Although he gave it back later by pushing the ball over the wall in left, his own home run was good to see. But that was it. The other major issue is that this is against a team that the Jays used to own and 18 games is lot of games to make a difference in this division. The only luck the Jays had was that the Yankees also lost. Tonight Drabek (2-0) but pitching against Hammel (2-0) and that could spell more trouble for a team that is not hitting. Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Thames, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Rasmus, Arencibia and Drabek pitching. Encarnacion playing third tonight not a good idea in my book. He is awful at third. Orioles: Chavez, Hardy, Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Davis, Betemit, Reynolds, Flaherty and Hammel pitching. Top 1st: Escobar, grounds second pitch back to Hammel, throw to first, one down for Johnson, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista, oh lines it hard to third, Betemit throw to first bounces off the glove of Davis, Jose safe at first. He will take that. Error to Davis. Lind, one on two down. Full count, lazy pop up to Betemit at third to end the inning. Bottom 1st: Chavez, grounds to Lind, takes it himself for the out, one down for Hardy. Fly ball to Bautista in right for the out. Markakis, two down, 2-2 count, full count, grounds to Encarnacion playing third, fumbles it, error to Edwin and Markakis safe at first. Jones, pops first pitch up to Encarnacion for the out, no damage done but don’t tell me that is a great idea having him play at third. Top 2nd: Thames leading off, 3-1 count, grounds it to Hardy at short, throw to first, one down, Encarnacion chance to redeem himself. Slow roller to third, throw to first two quick outs. Lawrie DH tonight, must be champing at the bit to get out there in the action. He would not want a day off. 2-1 count, pulls it down to Betemit at third, playing deep, fumbles it and no chance to get Lawrie as he bounces his throw to first. Rasmus, grounds back to Hammel, drops it but throw is in time to get Rasmus to end the inning. Bottom 2nd: Wieters, this guy has six home runs already this season, not this time as he grounds it to Lind at first, takes it himself for the out. Davis, full count after 0-2 count, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Lind for second out. Betemit, 3-1 count, this one is trouble, high fly ball to centre over a leaping Rasmus for home run, 1-0 Orioles. Great jump by Colby way over the wall, but the ball was too far. Reynolds, strikes out. Top 3rd: Jays playing catch up. Arencibia, strikes out looking, one down. Escobar, 1-2 count, takes strike three. Two down for Johnson, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Hammel in a groove here. Bottom 3rd: Flaherty, 3-1 count, outside ball four. Chavez, that will do grounds to Escobar, steps on the bag at second throw to Lind, double play ball. 26 double plays by Jays this season. Hardy, 2-2 count. Outside ball three, lines it to right centre, stand up double. Markakis, two down one in scoring position. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind to end that threat. Top 4th: Bautista, full count, grounds to Hardy at short, throw to first, one down. Lind, 2-0 high pitches here from Hammel, 3-0, lost the strike zone, Lind never swings at that one, 3-1 count, down and inside ball four. One on for Thames singles to opposite field left, two on for Encarnancion. Full count, strikes out swinging on ball four inside, two down for Lawrie. 0-2 count, grounds to short, Lawrie beats out the throw, Showalter does not agree. Bases loaded for Rasmus. Full count, strikes out swinging. Jays get to Hammel this inning but not enough. Bottom 4th: Jones, full count, wide ball four, one on for Wieters. There goes Jones, grounds to Johnson, throw to second over to Lind, another double play. Great timing. Davis, 2-2 count, fly ball to left this is trouble carries over the head of Thames into the seats, 2-0 Orioles. Betemit, 2-2 count, strikes out looking but Orioles have added another and the way Jays hitters are hitting in Baltimore this series that should be enough tonight. Top 5th: Jays have scored one run in the last thirteen innings. That will not win many ball games. Arencibia grounds to first for the out. Escobar, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, much too easy for Hammel. Two down for Johnson, pulls it to first, throw to Hammel covering and another easy inning for Hammel. Bottom 5th: Drabek has not pitched badly and has been helped by two double plays but it is run support that is lacking in this series. Reynolds, full count, slow roller to Encarnacion fumbles it yet again, Reynolds safe, that was bread and butter play for Lawrie. Flaherty. Oh boy grounds to Johnson throw to Escobar who throws it away at first, had plenty of time. Flaherty to second on the play. Chavez, Strikes out swinging. Hardy, two down. Drabek should be out of this inning. Lines it to Encarnacion who catches it for the third out, but both Edwin and Escobar did not help Drabek there at all. Pitch count at 88. Top 6th: One run in fourteen innings is cause for concern. Bautista leading off. Pulls it through the hole in left for a single. Lines it hard to left centre but Jones runs it down easily. One down for Thames. First pitch lines it to second, throw to first doubles up Bautista. Nothing much going right for the hapless Jays tonight. Thames didn’t give Jose a chance to take second. Bottom 6th: Markakis, 3-1 count, all four outside. One on for Jones, there goes the runner, lines right at Johnson moving to second to cover runner and tags out Markakis, double play ball. Wieters, singles into right centre. Drabek appears to be laboring here. Davis, fly ball to left for Thames to make the catch. Top 7th: That is it for Drabek, pitched well like Alvarez but his teammates have not helped him. Encarnacion, pulls it into left for a single. Lawrie, 2-2 count. Hammel over 100 pitches but he looks as if he could get complete game here tonight the way Jays hitters are playing. Grounds to Hammel throw to second over to first not in time to get Lawrie, one down. Rasmus. Struck out with bases loaded last time up. High pop up to Jones in shallow centre, two down, Lawrie has to hold. Arencibia, first pitch fly ball to Jones. Jays hitters showing their frustration here. Six more outs to tomorrow’s game. Bottom 7th: Rookie Evan Crawford now pitching, eat some innings to rest the bullpen and why not. Betemit leading off. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches, nice. Reynolds, 0-2 count, singles to centre, one on one down for Flaherty. Grounds to Johnson, throw to Escobar over to Lind, double play ball. This time no mistake by Escobar. Good inning by Crawford. Top 8th: Matt Lindstrom now pitching, Jays will not see anymore of Hammel who they were unable to solve but then again they did not have much luck last night either. Escobar leading off. Strikes out swinging. Johnson, 2-2 count, grounds back to Lindstrom throw to first, two down for Bautista. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Awful. Bottom 8th: Fraser to pitch probably the last inning. Orioles have not hit in the ninth for two successive games. Chavez, 0-2 count, in front of the plate, throw to Lind for the out. Hardy, 0-2 count, strikes out looking, two down for Markakis. Full count, high ball four. Jones two down one on. 0-2 count, 2-2 lines it into left field, here comes Markakis. 3-0 Orioles. Thames misses the cutoff Escobar with his throw and Jones safe at second. Wieters, 2-2 count, Bounces to second throw to first to end this agony. Top 9th: Strop pitching to close it out he was too much for the Jays hitters last night and earned his first save. Jays need four now to win. I for one am not betting on that happening tonight. Lind leading off. Has done nothing tonight with the bat. Singles to left, let’s see if it makes any difference. No pinch runner for Lind so obviously Farrell does not have much faith in them think they will scoring. Thames, bounces back to Strop off his body and Thames safe at first. Two on and nobody out for Encarnacion. Now a pinch runner for Thames. Davis at first. 0-2 count. Fly ball to Jones in centre and Encarnacion falls over, sums up his night. One down, for Lawrie. 0-2 count, grounds to short, throw to second over to first to get Lawrie, double play ball to end the agony for the Jays tonight. One run in 18 innings and counting in Baltimore. Jays have won one against Baltimore in the last five. They have already lost two series against the Orioles home and away even if they score 20 runs tomorrow. That spells big trouble for the next 13 games they still have to play. If they are unable to beat the Orioles this season the may be looking up at the rest of the division. Maybe this team is not as good as they thought they were coming out of spring training. The good: Yes there was some, Drabek pitched well enough to win with reasonable run support. Crawford pitched a good inning of relief. And of course the double plays tonight four of them and could have been five. The not so good: Where do we start? The whole lineup from 1-9 tonight unable to score a run, any run. Rasmus striking out with bases loaded. Mistakes by Escobar, Encarnacion two at third who should never ever start a game at third base and Farrell should take the heat for that decision. Not only is he a lousy fielder at third but it also noticeable took out the energy that Lawrie brings to the game. Watching this group tonight, they looked and played with no energy, lethargic is an excellent word. There was no dynamo at third in the form of Lawrie. To see him pacing up and down in the dugout is cruelty. That energy should be out on the field. It would have made a difference tonight. To be fair to Edwin also he probably was not too happy out there at third, remembering his disasterous last season play at third.

Alvarez pitches a gem but ruined by lack of run support as Jays bats go cold.

Jays v Orioles. Game one of three. Jays in Baltimore and have a score to settle with the Orioles who took the series from them in Toronto. Payback would be a sweep but they will probably be satisfied with two of three. Orioles not the pushover they have been in other seasons, this series is for bragging rights. Great series in Kansas with power hitting, great defensive plays and goo pitching. Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Lind, Lawrie, Rasmus, Thames, Mathis and Alvarez pitching. Orioles: Chavez, Hardy, Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Davis, Betemit, Flaherty, Andino and Hunter pitching. Top 1st: Escobar leading off, 1-2 count, lines it left centre Chavez makes nice running catch. Johnson who had such a great game last night. full count, fouling them off here, pops it up into shallow left for the out but it took nine pitches. Bautista, two down, 2-2 count, takes strike three but Jays made Hunter work for that inning with 21 pitches for the three outs. Bottom 1st: Chavez leading off, for singles into left past a diving Escobar, one on, Hardy, 0-2 count, lines it off the wall in left, Thames misplays it but Rasmus backing up fires it in to hold Chavez at third, Hardy at second and nobody out, major trouble here for Alvarez. Markakis, 3-1 count, ball four to load them up and still nobody out. Jones who has feasted off Jays this season already. 2-0 count, desperately needs a ground ball here, our prayer is answered, grounds to Escobar, over to Johnson to Lind double play as run scores 1-0 but two down. Wieters with runner at third, grounds to Lind throw to Alvarez for third out and a very lucky escape from disaster. Only 19 pitches as well. Top 2nd: Encarnacion leading off. Huge pop up to Chavez in left, one down for Lind. Full count, going after two ball fours and fouling them off, high this time and Lind lets it go. One on one down for Lawrie, 2-2 count, grounds to second, Andino drops the ball but Johnson out no chance for two. Lawrie at first, two down for Rasmus. Hunter distracted by Lawrie. Check swing and off the end of the bat back to Hunter, throw to first to get Rasmus. Tough out. 39 pitch count. Bottom 2nd: Alvarez needs to settle down here. Davis leading off. 1-2 count, grounds to Johnson throw to Lind, one down. Betemit, full count, outside ball four, one on one down for Flaherty. Bunting back to pitcher, Mathis throw to Lind to get Flaherty. Betemit to second, two down for Andino. Bounces to Lind flip to Alvarez for third out. 31 pitch count. Top 3rd: Thames, golfs this one high to right, way over the fence to the wall, home run Thames, very nice 1-1 game. Mathis. 2-2 count, pulls it to third, great diving stop by Flaherty and throws Mathis out at first, one down for Escobar, takes strike three but another good at bat to use up eight pitches. Johnson, drives it to left for a single. Bautista, two down one on. 1-2 count, grounds to second, flip to the bag to get Johnson. 61 pitches through three innings. Bottom 3rd: Game all tied up Alvarez starts afresh. Top of the order, Chavez, off the end of his bat up the line, Alvarez makes the play and throw to get Chavez at first, one down for Hardy. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, two down for Markakis. Pops it up to Thames in left for the out. Three up and down. 8 pitch inning for Alvarez. 39 pitch count. Top 4th: Encarnacion, high fly ball to Chavez in left, one down for Lind. Lines this one high and hard to centre but Jones makes the out at the wall. Two down for Lawrie. 0-2 count, singles to left to keep the inning going. Rasmus, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging.74 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Jones leading off. Bounces high to Alvarez, great play and throw to Lind for the out. Wieters, 3-1 count, lines it to left. Mathis long run and jumps but ball goes off his glove over the wall. 2-1 Orioles. Davis, grounds to Escobar, throw to LInd, two down. Betemit, grounds first pitch to Johnson, throw to Lind to end the inning but Orioles get one back. Another 8 pitch inning. 47 pitches. Top 5th: Thames first pitch pops it up to Chavez in left for the out, one down. Mathis. ball four for the walk, one on one down for Escobar. Grounds back to Hunter, over to second, over to first double play ball. That helped his pitch count. 84 pitches. Bottom 5th: Flaherty, fly ball to Thames for the out. One down for Andino, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, two down. Chavez, 1-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Lind for third out. Ten pitch inning. 57 pitches. Top 6th: Can Jays hitters knock Hunter out here? 84 pitch count. Johnson leading off. full count, high ball four, good at bat by Kelly, Bautista with one on. High fly ball to right centre for Jones to make the catch, one down. Johnson holds at first. Encarnacion, pops it up to Flaherty. Lind, two down, one on, 2-2 count. Grounds to Davis at first for the out. 103 pitch count. Bottom 6th: Hardy, fly ball to Rasmus in right centre, one down for Markakis. Full count, fouling them off here 8 pitch grounds back to Alvarez, throw to Lind two down that was a nine pitch at bat by Markakis. Jones, singles to right, one on two down for Wieters. Grounds to Johnson throw to Lind for third out. 73 pitches for six innings, 40 less than Hunter. Top 7th: Troy Patton now pitching for Orioles. Lawrie leading off. Grounds to short, throw to first, one down for Rasmus, pulls first pitch to second, throw to first two quick outs for Patton. Thames. Singles to left centre, one on two down for Mathis. That is it for Patton, Sidearmer Darren O’Day now pitching. 1-2 count, takes strike three. Jays bats have gone cold tonight and they are running out of time. Bottom 7th: Davis, grounds back to Alvarez, throw to Lind for the out. How many times has that happened tonight ? Betemit, full count, pulls it to right for a single. Flaherty, one on one down. Fly ball to Thames in left, two down. Andino. 1-2 count, fly ball to Thames in left. 92 pitch count. Top 8th: Top of the order for the Jays and time to produce here. Only one hit between the top five in the lineup. Luis Ayala now pitching. Full count.slow roller to Flaherty at third makes nice running play to throw out Escobar at first. One down for Johnson. WHOA, lines it to the wall in right, long single as it bounces right back to fielder Markakis. Bautista, another frustrating night. Fly ball to right centre two down, Encarnacion. 1-2 count, skies it to Hardy who makes a circus catch as he almost drops it. But Jays remain frustrated tonight. Bottom 8th: Janssen now pitching. Jays unable to get Alvarez a win which he so deserved tonight pitching a gem. Chavez, 2-2 count, grounds back to Janssen throw to Lind, one down, Hardy, bunting, foul. Takes strike three inside, great pitch Casey. Two down for Markakis. Full count, takes strike three to end the inning. Top 9th: Jays down to their last three but hits have been scarce for them tonight and runs even more scarce. Baltimore appears to have their number this season. One last chance. Pedro Strop now pitching for the save, Lind leading off. Rajai Davis ready if he gets on base. Strikes out swinging. One down for Lawrie. 3-1 count, low ball four, one on one down for Rasmus. Pops it up to Jones in centre, two down for Thames, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Very disappointing after such a great pitching performance by Alvarez. Jays fall to earth after the sweep in Kansas. It looks as if the Orioles have the Jays number this season which is not good news. The excellent: Alvarez pitched a gem into the eighth. Despite rough start managed to get out of potential disastrous first inning with bases loaded and nobody out with only one run. From then on he was almost perfect. Not his fault that Thames gives a run away. The bad: Lack of hits by cold Jays bats. Not so good: Thames home run but then gave it back when the ball hit his glove and bounced over the wall in left.

The Kelly Johnson show to support Morrow and Jose home run as Jays sweep Royals in four,

Jays v Royals. Final of four game series. Jays four over .500 on the road which they never achieved last season, however this is the Royals on a ten game losing streak at home and not the Eastern powerhouses. On the other hand these are the series that the Jays have to make hay on and should be winning. Tonight Morrow and who knows what game he brings, has to be one of the most frustrating inconsistent starters that the Jays have. Hot or cold and nothing in between in my book. Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Davis, Lind, Arencibia, Rasmus and Morrow pitching. Good to see Davis in for Thames at least but begs the question of why Travis is not with the team and Thames in Vegas. Rasmus hitting number nine makes no senses either but Farrell has his reasons, not least no pressure on Colby, but a guy who is hitting like this guy should be way up the order. Lind way down and I can definitely agree with that, he is really struggling yet again. Royals: Getz, Gordon, Butler, Hosmer, Francouer, Moustakas, Pena, Maier, Escobar and Chen pitching. Top 1st: Escobar, 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to first one down for Johnson. 2-2 count, oh wow Kelly drives this one to right centre over Francouer and the fence almost into the waterfalls. 1-0 Jays. Bautista full count, pops it up to short, two down. Encarnacion, bounces one back to the pitcher, nice leaping grab by Chen and throw to first, saves a base hit there. 20 pitch count. Bottom 1st: Morrow has a lead, can he hold it? Getz leading off, bounces to Lawrie at third, throw to Lind one down. Gordon, grounds down first base line, nice diving stop by Lind and throw to Morrow to get Gordon. Butler, fly ball to Rasmus to make the third out. Excellent start for Morrow. 13 pitch count. Top 2nd: Lawrie, 2-2 count, singles to right, one on for Davis, full count, Chen trying to hold Lawrie at first, five throws, there goes Lawrie, hit and run and grounds to short throw to first to get Davis but no chance to get Lawrie, one down for Lind, grounds up the middle throw off and Lind safe at first, Lawrie to third. Whoa, lines it to third great jump and catch by Moustakas but Lawrie back on the bag to avoid double play ball. Two down for Rasmus. 2-2 count, drives it to left for the out. Not good, Jays waste Lawrie’s lead off single. 38 pitch count. Bottom 2nd: Hosmer, high into left and inside the foul pole into the seats, home run, 1-1 game. Francouer drives first pitch hard at Johnson throw to Lind for the out. Moustakas, lines this one to the wall in right, stand up double. Pena, one down one on, passed ball that Arencibia cannot handle, and Moustakas goes to third. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Maier full count, slow roller to second and great play by Johnson as he flips it backhand with his glove, to Lind to get Maier. Wow great play, Kelly clinic out there tonight with bat and glove. 34 pitch count. Top 3rd: Escobar, 0-2 count, pulls it to third, Moustakas great play to throw out Escobar at first, Johnson, full count, outside ball four. Bautista, oh boy grounds to short, throw to second over to first another double play by Jose, that is at least three this week he has ground into. Not much going right for him these days. Pitch count 51. Bottom 3rd: Escobar lines it in to the left field corner for a stand up double. Getz, showing bunt, back to Morrow, throw to Lind, one down but Escobar to third on the play. Gordon, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Butler, pulls first pitch to Lawrie at third, throw to Lind and Morrow escapes that leadoff double trouble without damage. 45 pitch count. Top 4th: Encarnacion leading off. Gets underneath this one and skies it to Moustakas at third, one down for Lawrie. Gets underneath this one to fly ball to left, that would have been on its way back to Toronto if it had flattened out. He hit it very, very hard. Two down. Davis, takes strike three, oh dear. 63 pitch count. Jays hitters letting Chen off the hook. Bottom 4th: Hosmer, full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Francouer, singles into left field, one on one down for Moustakas. 2-2 count, nice, lines it right back past Morrow almost takes his head off but Escobar makes the play steps on second and throw to Lind, double play ball. 60 pitches. Top 5th: Lind, grounds to short, throw to first, one down. Arencibia, 1-2 count, whoa, no way, called third strike but way high. JP doesn’t like it either, Rasmus, two down. There we go Colby, lines it to right centre, stand up double off the wall. Escobar, does not like the strikes either but they are far closer than the one JP had called on him.1-2 count, wild pitch and Rasmus to third. 2-2 count, grounds it to third 77 pitch count. Bottom 5th: Pena leading off, lines it to Davis in left, throw to second way over the head of Johnson to Lind, he had a chance of getting him there, not good Rajai. Maier bunting throw to third gets Pena. One down, Escobar lines it into right, Pena to third. Morrow in big trouble here. Two on for Getz, 2-2 count, pops it up to Arencibia, two down. Gordon, fly ball to Rasmus in centre. Morrow has used up several lives in that inning. Very lucky to get out without a run. 76 pitches. Top 6th: Johnson leading off, bunting ? fouls it off, that was a waste, 3-1 count, high ball four. Bautista, there we go Jose, high into left and over the fence into the left field bullpen, home run Jose and Jays go out 3-1. That feels good for Jose. Encarnacion. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Lawrie, 2-1 count, high fly ball but out at the wall in left centre, Brett getting closer. Davis, two down, bunting foul, 2-2 count, high pop up to left for third out. Jays take the lead for Morrow. 97 pitch count. Bottom 6th: Butler, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, one down. Hosmer, bunting, oh dear, Morrow throw wild and gets away Hosmer to second on the error. Not good. Francouer, 3-0 Morrow rattled here. Full count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down Hosmer has to hold at second. Moustakas, 2-2 count, perfect grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for third out. Morrow escapes yet again. 92 pitch count. Top 7th: Lind leading off. Drives first pitch to centre for the quick out. I thought the idea was to knock Chen out of the game not give him an easy out. Arencibia, that’s better lines it past diving Hosmer into left. One on one down for Rasmus. Grounds to second throw to the bag on to first not in time to get Colby. Two down for Escobar. First pitch ! grounds to his namesake Escobar at short throw to second to get Rasmus for third out. What a lousy at bat. Never gave Colby chance to steal second. 106 pitches for Chen. Bottom 7th: Pena leading off, grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Lind for first out. Maier, pops it up to Johnson makes a fine running catch behind Lind. Two down for Escobar, 3-0 count, Perez warming up in bullpen. High ball four. That may be it for Morrow. Yes here comes Farrell. Perez now pitching with two down one on. Getz, ah! Lines first pitch to right, Jose throw is there but hits Getz in the back. Two in scoring position for Gordon, 1-2, perfect, grounds up the middle to Escobar, throw to Lind for third out. Morrow escapes for third time. Top 8th: Aaron Crow now pitching. Johnson leading off, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Bautista, 2-2 count, grounds to third, Moustakas throw beats Jose. Two down for Encarnacion, all or nothing here for Edwin and his swings, 1-2 count, pulls it to third, throw to first and Jays go quietly to Crow. Olliver and Frasor warming up in bullpen. Bottom 8th: Butler leading off, 1-1 count, grounds to Lawrie at third, twirls and throw to Lind for the out. Hosmer, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, two down. Francouer, bounces up the middle Johnson makes the play and throw to Lind for the out. Very nice pitching by Perez. Top 9th: Jonathan Brixton pitching. Lawrie leading off. Drives it to the wall in right centre and he is motoring all the way to third without a throw,. Leadoff triple, Davis lines it into right, throw is wild and Davis safe at first with Lawrie scoring easily, 4-1 Jays. This should be fun with Rajai at first. Lind, has to keep line moving here with Davis’s speed he could get to third again. Pitch out and they get him. 2-2 count, lines it right at Moustakas. Arencibia with two down. High fly ball to left for third out. Jays get another, will it be enough? Bottom 9th: Cordero pitching for the save. Moustakas leading off, full count, singles to Bautista in right, one on for Pena, yes grounds to Johnson, flip to Escobar back to Lind, just gets him, double play ball. Escobar hung in there very well at second with Moustakas all over him on the slide. Maier with two down. 1-2 count, pops it up to Johnson. Jays win 4-1, sweep the Royals and head to Baltimore on a high. Royals glad to see Jays leave town but they have a big 11 game losing streak to worry about. The very good: Kelly Johnson home run and great defensive play saved a run in the second. Bautista connect for the two run home run. Lawrie the triple and hit the ball hard all night. Luis Perez who not only rescued Morrow in the 7th but a three up and down 8th inning. Good all round, defense, hitting and pitching. Two more double plays to go with their league leading total. The good: Morrow had to get out of trouble several times but kept Jays in there into the 7th. Only one walk but that was his last inning. Cordero looking very good and save number two with Santos on the DL. Not so good: Some rash hitting by Lind and Escobar. Lousy throw by Davis.

Romero wins behind good hitting and defensive plays

Jays v Royals. Game three of four of the series. Jays going for a series win today with Romero pitching. BUT as Boston found out yesterday nothing is a given not even a nine run lead. However Jays take a lot of positives into today’s game not least the amazing performance of Rasmus last night. Three hit 4 RBIs but the two home runs were what some Jays fans have been waiting for. The first rocket to left was one of the best we have seen from any Jay including Jose since the Delgado and Green days. The speed of those hands and turning on a pitch is what made that ball get out of there so fast. To be followed with another the next at bat showed that Rasmus is seeing that ball very well right now and no Jays fan is complaining. Hutchison also obviously a good news story and maybe a keeper. Downside was Santos shoulder and being closed down for a while, let’s hope not for long but Jays management must be very relieved that they have Cordero as a backup. Today Farrell going to his bench for help. Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Vizquel, Bautista, Encarnacion, Rasmus, Lawrie, Francisco, Davis, Arencibia and Romero pitching. Good to see Vizquel starting a game and there should not be much lost in defence compared to Johnson, Edwin at first for Lind, let’s hope this is a new Edwin from last season in the field. Francisco as DH, has the power that Edwin has but has not shown it yet. Davis for Thames, more speed but maybe not much advantage anywhere else. Jays will get a good look at their bench depth if nothing else. Rasmus also moving up the lineup. Royals: Bourgeois, Gordon, Butler, Hosmer, Betancourt, Francoeur, Moustakas, Quintero, Escobar and Danny Duffy pitching. Top 1st: Escobar leading off. Fly ball to right for the out. One down for Vizquel, most of these players were probably not born when Omar started to play in the majors. 3-1 count, low ball four. Did his job getting on for Bautista. Poor Jose, not much going right for him at the moment at least. 3-1 count, it would help if the pitchers threw him something in the zone. Low ball four, the 100th walk this season or so it seems like. Two on for Ecarnacion. 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to second gets Jose but not Encarnacion at first as Vizquel gets to third on the play. Two down two on for Rasmus. 2-2 count, high full count, Edwin takes second without a throw. Down and away and Colby goes after it. Strike three called. 26 pitches for Duffy to start. Bottom 1st: Jason Bourgeois leading off, 3-0, Ricky lost his strike zone. That was ball four but Bourgeois went after it. Bounces to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion at first, one down for Gordon, singles into shallow centre, one on one down for Butler, that’s the way, grounds to Escobar, to Vizquel over to Encarnacion double play to end the inning. 10 pitches. Top 2nd: Lawrie, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Ben Francisco, nice, grounds hard to third, Moustakas throw gets away from Hosmer at first and Francisco all the way to second. Error to Moustakas. Davis, bring him in Rajai. Pokes it to first but out on the play at first. Francisco moves up to third base. Arencibia, also a hot bat recently. Lines this one high and hard to left but a long out. Jays threaten but that is all. 40 pitches. Bottom 2nd: Hosmer, singles to left, one on for Betancourt. 1-2 count, grounds to Lawrie throw to first no chance for double play as Hosmer was running on the play. One down for Francouer, gets hold of this high to left but dies and Davis has it for the out, relay back to second not in time as Hosmer scrambles back in time. Moustakas, two down runner at second, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. 24 pitch count. Ricky will take that for two innings. Top 3rd: Escobar, 1-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first, one down for Vizquel. Full count, 8 pitches already to Omar. Strikes out swinging but it took 9 pitches for Duffy. Two down for Bautista, 3-1 count, outside ball four, yet another walk for Jose, two today already. Encarnacion, drives first pitch to centre for the out. 58 pitch count, Bottom 3rd: Quintero, strikes out swinging, one down for Escobar, high fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down. Bourgeois, 3-0 ball four, come on Ricky. Gordon, pitch out, not going. There goes Bourgeois but Arencibia has problem with the ball and no throw. Safe at second. 1-2 count, that better, strikes out swinging. 40 pitch count. Top 4th: Rasmus leading off. Strikes out swinging, one down for Lawrie fly ball to Bourgeois in shallow centre for the second out. Francisco, full count, singles back up the middle. Davis, two down, one on, no, no, they have Francisco picked off. And out on the throw. 77 pitches. Bottom 4th: Butler, 2-2 count, bounces to Lawrie at third, throw to first for the out. Hosmer with one down. 2-2 count, whoa hammers it back at Romero, great grab by Ricky and throw to first for the out. Hosmer can’t believe that play. Betancourt, 2-2 count, pops it up to Rasmus in shallow centre. 56 pitch count. Top 5th: Davis leading off. Maybe he can get something going if he can get on base this time. 2-2 count, perfect this is trouble lines it to the wall in left, going for three, changes his mind rounding second and stumbles, back to second. Smart move with nobody out. Arencibia, with Rajai at second, for now at least. 3-0 count, Duffy one eye on Rajai. Full count, just a base hit JP. Low ball four. Two on and nobody out. Escobar, Mound conference, if they break go to third with the throw? There goes Rajai, safe on the throw. Singles to right, here comes Rajai, 1-0 Jays. Vizquel. Two on nobody out. 2-2, lines to left for the out. One down for Bautista, 100 pitch count. 1-1 count, Yes Jose, singles off the glove Arencibia slides and scores 2-0 Jays and Jose happy man. Encarnacion with runners in scoring position, intentional walk. Rasmus with bases loaded. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Lawrie bases still loaded. That’s the way my boy, singles into right here comes Escobar and Jose, 4-0 Jays. And the end of the road today for Duffy 114 pitches. He struggled from first inning but Jays had not taken advantage until this inning. Coleman, Lind pinch hitting for Francisco. Encarnacion at third and Lawrie at first, Grounds back to Coleman throw to first for the out but Jays have broken this one open for Romero. Bottom 5th: Francouer, 2-2 count, golfs this one to left, strange stroke but effective. One on for Moustakas, 0-2 count, pops it up to shallow centre, two on, nobody out. Romero in trouble for the first time today. Quintero. 3-0 count, don’t load them out. Ball four bases loaded with nobody out. Real trouble now with tie run !!! at the plate. Let’s see what Romero has here. Escobar, OH boy, grounds to Vizquel throw to Escobar throw to first wide and two runs score, 4-2 jays. Error to Escobar on that throw he had the time. One down. Bourgeois, there goes the runner Escobar and throw high, safe at second, Jays falling apart here, tie run at second. Grounds to Vizquel throw to first for the out, Escobar to third, two down. Gordon grounds to Vizquel, throw to Encarnacion for third out. Top 6th: Davis leading off, Jays need to get this runs back. 2-2 count, pops it up to first for the out. Arencibia, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Escobar, chance to redeem himself for that terrible throw last inning. Full count, grounds to short, throw to first as Escobar ambles down the line to end the inning. Bottom 6th: This game is not over by any means. Romero no time to take it easy. Butler, grounds to Lawrie fumbles it twice but throw still beats Butler, nice play Brett. One down for Hosmer, fly ball to left, Davis slips but still makes a circus catch on his knees for second out. Betancourt. Strikes out swinging. Three up and down, exactly what Romero needed. 83 pitches. Top 7th: Vizquel, pops it up into shallow right for the out. Bautista, ok Jose, you had a good at bat last time with that RBI single, do it again. Just misses with that monster shot left, full count, low ball four his third walk of the day. But much better than the two double plays he had last night. Mijares warming up in bullpen. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, high pop up to right. Two down for Rasmus, that is it for Coleman, he saved Royals and closed Jays down for almost three innings. Three strikeouts today for Colby, not this time, grounds to third, throw to first just gets him for the out. Bottom 7th: Francouer leading off. Grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion at first, one down. Moustakas, 1-2 count, doubles to left, Quintero grounds to Lawrie, looks Francouer back to second and throw to Encarnacion to get second out. Escobar,1-2 count, Frasor warming up. grounds to namesake Escobar throw to Encarnacion for the out. 11 pitch inning for Ricky. 94 pitch count. Top 8th: Lawrie leading off, 3-1 count, low ball four, one on for Lind, 0-2 count, fly ball to left for the out, Lawrie holds at first. One down for Davis. That’s it for Mijares, Jeremy Jefress now pitching. Thames pinch hitting for Davis. Pops it up to left, two down for Arencibia, singles to right, Lawrie all the way to third. Escobar with two on, there goes Arencibia throw to second and here comes Lawrie, safe on the relay to the plate, delayed steal, and scores 5-2 Jays. Singles to right, Arencibia to third. Vizquel, grounds to first for the out, but Jays have an insurance run. Bottom 8th: Romero out to start this one at least. Bourgeois leading off. Grounds to Lawrie off his body and Bourgeois safe. Error to Lawrie. Gordon, lines it to Rasmus to make the catch, Bourgeois retreats to first, one down for Butler, they have him picked off, Vizquel tags him out two down. 2-2 count strikes out, throw to first. 104 pitches for Romero. Top 9th: Bautista at bat, lines it back at Jeffress and bounces off his pitching arm to third, throw to first, that would hurt. Coaches gather but he says he is ok. One down for Encarnacion, 3-1 count, drives it over the head of Bourgeois to the wall in centre, stand up double for Edwin. Rasmus, 3-1 count, low ball four, not giving Colby much there, his reputation from last night’s game. Two on for Lawrie, pitcher number five Aaron Crow. 2-1 count, grounds to second throw to first just gets Lawrie, both runners move up. Lind with two in scoring position, first pitch grounds to short throw to first to get Lind. Not a great at bat by Adam with two in scoring position. Bottom 9th: Cordero now pitching, Hosmer, 2-2 count, whoa nice play, grounds to Lawrie great off balance throw on the money to Encarnacion, Acton Jay says “a thing of beauty”, I agree. Betancourt, full count, low ball four. We don’t need any drama here. Finish them off. Francouer, this is big trouble, lines it to the gap in right centre or a double, Betancourt at third, tie run at the plate. Oh boy. Moustakas. Grounds it off Cordero, bounces to short, here comes the run, 5-3, go ahead run at the plate. Quintero, that’s better, grounds to Vizquez flip to Escobar over to Encarnacion double play to end this one. Cordero gets the save but high drama at the end makes it much closer than needed to be. Romero gets well deserved win. Morrow starts game four tomorrow as Jays go for the sweep. The very good: Romero kept his pitch count down throughout, just one inning where it came unglued and let Royals back in the game. The good: Lawrie and Arencibia on the double steal for Lawrie to score. Some good defensive plays . Four stolen bases by Jays runners. Two double plays when they needed them most. Bautista on base four times and with RBI. Not so good: runners in scoring position today 4-14. Royals get the tie run to the plate twice and go ahead run in the 9th. This one was closer than the score suggests.

Colby Rasmus hitting clinic wins first one for rookie Hutchison

Jays v Royals. Game two of four. Tonight the major league debut of Drew Hutchison. Farrell and the coaching staff are really high on Drew who was given so much extra time in Spring this year to show what he could do. Farrell was impressed from the time he pitched against the Phillies lineup in 2011 at Bright House and although he has not pitched at AAA level they feel he has the right stuff. Interesting evening ahead. If the Jays hitters could all break out and give the guy a good lead he can relax. Lineups: Jays: Same old. Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Arencibia and Hutchison pitching. Have no idea why Thames is still batting so high, he should be at number nine. Royals: Betancourt, Gordon, Butler, Hosmer, Francouer, Pena, Moustakas, Escobar, Maier and Luis Mendoza pitching 0-2 on the season Top 1st: Escobar, grounds back to Mendoza throw to first one down for Johnson 2-1 count, lines it into right, single for Kelly. One on one down for Bautista, 1-2 count, grounds to third, throw to second over to first, double play ball to end the inning. Bottom 1st: Betancourt, nice start strike first pitch. 0-2 count, Pops it up to Bautista in shallow right. One down for Gordon, oh boy high fly ball to centre and this one is out of here, home run, 1-0 Royals. Welcome to the big show Drew. Butler, one down, strikes out swinging on three pitches, nice, two down. Hosmer, 1-2 count, full count, strikes out swinging. Way to go Drew, nice start. Top 2nd: Jays need to give him some run support. Lind, bounces up the middle throw to first gets a very slow running Lind. I hate that. Run it out Adam. Thames, lines it down into left field corner, stand up double. Encarnacion, what is Thames doing? takes off for third and is caught out easily at third, giveaway out, what a huge mental error. Two down nor Edwin. Lines it into left making Thames error even worse. Two down one instead of two on and one down. Lawrie, bounces up the middle steps on the bag a second for the out. But that would have been the first run for the Jays. Awful. Bottom 2nd: Francouer, 0-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for the out. One down for Pena, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind, two down for Moustakas, 3-0 ball four, first walk by Hutchison. Escobar, 2-0 count, six balls in a row here, has lost the zone. Relax Drew. There’s a strike, singles into centre, two on two down for Maier, another 2-0 count, here comes the coach, relax guy you can do it. 2-2 count, there we go great pitch inside strike three looking. Top 3rd: Rasmus, lobs it to Mendoza throw to first, one down for Arencibia, first pitch swinging but lines this one hard to right centre off the wall and a standup double. Escobar, slow roller to third, looks Arencibia back to second and throw to first for the out Two down for Johnson. 3-1 count, low ball four, two on two down for Jose. Not having much luck these days, first ball fly ball to left for third out. His drought continues. Bottom 3rd: Betancourt, pulls it past Lawrie into left, stand up double. Gordon, 2-1 count, full count, strikes out swinging, great pitch, one down for Butler, hits him in the ribs that would hurt. Two on for Hosmer. Perfect, grounds to Johnson, throw to Escobar over to Lind, double play to get out of the inning and leave two out there. 47 pitch count for Drew. Top 4th: Lind leading off, pulls it down the line into right field corner, stand up double. Thames grounds back up the middle but throw to first for the out as Lind moves up to third. Encarnacion, that will do pulls it in to left, here comes Lind and this game is all tied up 1-1.Lawrie with one on and one down. Hit and run and Lawrie singles into right. Edwin to third on the play, excellent. Two on for Rasmus. Nice Colby, singles into right here comes Encarncion for Jays second run, 2-1 Jays. Arencibia. Lawrie at second, Rasmus at first, lots of speed out there. That will do bounces it into left, here comes Lawrie 3-1 Jays. Rasmus to third. Escobar, still one out, singles to right, Rasmus scores, 4-1 Jays, Arencibia all the way to third. Johnson, Royals bullpen working, and that is it for Mendoza. 47 pitches but has lost it in this inning. Everett Teaford new pitcher. Two on one down for Johnson. 2-0 count, low ball three, full count, outside ball four to load the bases for Bautista. Hmm .... can he do it though? A little eager, 0-2 count, wow, lines it softly to second, throw to first double play ???? twice in two at bats ??? Ouch Jose. Rock bottom. Bottom 4th: Hutchison with the 4-1 lead at least. Francouer, fly ball to Bautista in right, one down. Pena, lines it to Johnson at second for the out, two down. Moustakas, 1-2 count, very nice play, grounds it wide of Johnson makes a great play and throw off balance to Lind to get the out. Pitch count for Drew a 60. Top 5th: Lind, grounds to second, throw just beats Lind, who was hustling down the line this time. One down for Thames. Full count, pops up to Escobar in foul ground, a little adventure there with third base. Two down for Encarnacion, who is as hot as Jose is cold. 2-2 tonight pops it up here to third for third out. Bottom 5th: Escobar leading off. 3-0 count, come on Drew. Oh boy drives it to Thames in left who is fooled by the bounce and ball gets past him and Escobar stand up double. Maier, 1-2 count, drives it to the wall in right centre ad Escobar scores, Maier all the way to third with stand up triple. 4-2 Jays Betancourt with runner at third and nobody out. 3-0 count, come on guy. Full count, loops a single into shallow right centre, Maier scores, one run game 4-3 Jays. Gordon, 2-0 count, 3-1, control going here, high ball four, two on and still nobody out. Jays bullpen working. Coach Walton out to buy time. Pitch count at 80. Villanueva warming up, had a horrible outing last time out. Butler, 3-0 count, Hutchison unable to control his itches now. This may be his last hitter. Grounds to Lawrie, fumbles the ball but manages to step on bag at third, throw to first double play, Runner at second. Hosmer, high fly ball to centre and this one is over the fence, home run Hosmer and Royals take back the lead 5-4. Francouer fly ball to Bautista in right for third out, but too little too late as Hutchison unable to hold the three run lead. Pitch count 88. Top 6th: Jays bats need to get to work again. Lawrie, lines it into left, leadoff single. Rasmus, Now that is the stroke that we saw last night from Rasmus, a vicious hook and this rocket is in right field seats in a flash, two run home run Colby, wow that was a bullet literally. He hit one last night that was out of the park but foul. Delgado is the last Jay that I can remember with such quick hands pulling to right like that Wow. If he does that all season Jays fans have a new hero. 6-5 Jays. Arencibia, just misses here with his own home run inside left field pole. Off his bat in front of the plate and throw to first beats him. Escobar, one down. 2-2 count, grounds to second throw to first beats him to the bag. Johnson, two down. Full count, low ball four, on for Jose but not sure Jose is so happy right now. Gets hold of this one, first pitch high fly ball just foul left. 1-2 count, pops it up into shallow right, nothing going right though for Jose as he makes the last out. Bottom 6th: Can Jays hold the lead now? Hutchison out there again. Pena, 0-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, one down. Moustakas, 3-0 count, there’s a strike, outside ball four, Escobar, singles to Bautista in right and that is it for Drew tonight. 99 pitches. Pena all the way to third but Farrell has given him enough. Oliver now pitching and in a hole with two on and only one down. Maier, 1-2 count, looks at strike three, two down. Betancourt, two down two on. Lines it to Bautista in right and Hutchison is off the hook. Nice pitching by Olliver. Jays preserve the lead for Hutchison. Top 7th: Lind leading off, full count, another ball just outside foul pole in left, that is the third one by Jays hitters tonight. Lines it back at the pitcher Teaford, off his glove and Lind just out at first, that was hustle bigtime Adam love it, one down for Thames, 3-0 count, Hererra warming up in Riyals bullpen outside ball four And Thames walks. One on for Encarnacion. There she goes, Edwin connects on this one, no doubt about it home run into the seats in left centre, no foul pole stuff for Edwin. 8-5 Jays. Lawrie, 2-2 count, grounds to third, throw beats him by a step, two down for Rasmus. Great night for Colby with 3 RBIs. NO WAY he does it again, this one is right centre seats and way back, his second home run in at bats, 9-5 Jays. Arencibia grounds to short, throw to first for final out. But Jays power showing here, and without any Bautista contribution. Bottom 7th: Gordon leading off. Singles to Rasmus in centre. Butler, WOW again, grounds to Lawrie dives to knock it down, throw to Johnson at second over to Lind double play ball, that was an amazing play. 0-2 count, Hosmer grounds it to Lawrie at third, bounces the throw to Lind but out at first to end the inning. Great defence to help pitchers here. Top 8th: Top of the order again. Escobar leading off. Full count, grounds back up the middle, throw to first for the out. Johnson with one down. On base four times tonight with a single and three walks, unfortunately Jose has not delivered him. Johnson strikes out swinging this time. Jose the forgotten man these days. 0-4 tonight with an average of .204. 2-2 count, breaks his bat as he grounds to second, throw to first to end the inning. Bottom 8th: Villanueva, can he get back on track with a four run lead here? Francouer, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind one down. Pena, 0-2 count, grounds to Lind, takes it himself for the second out, lines it to centre for Rasmus to make third out. Villanueva (and Farrell) happy with that inning. Top 9th: Will we see Rasmus go for three this inning? Lind leading off, Collins now pitching. Full count, grounds to third, throw to first one down for Thames full count, strikes out looking, two down for Encarnacion and hot hot. 3-4 tonight. Takes strike three this time to end the inning. Bottom 9th: Escobar leading off grounds slowly to Lawrie at third, safe on the throw. One on for Maier, ball four, two on nobody out, this is not what Farrell wants to see here. Bruce Walton out there. Betancourt, strikes out, one down two on for Gordon, that’s more like it grounds to Johnson over to Escobar over to Lind double play ball to end this one. Jays win big tonight and Drew Hutchison gets his first major league win, special night for him. The incredible: Colby Rasmus with two home run night, and not just creeping over the fence, these are major hits into the crowd. Colby average climbing to.275. The very good: Has to be Drew Hutchison. He did not get major run support until the end of the game but managed to keep them in the game and get the win, nice outing, Jays have a 14 hit night BUT the bottom four have 10 hits and 8 of the RBIs. Encarnacion continues his hot streak with his 3 hit night, home run and 3 RBIs and his average climbing to .328. Don’t forget Kelly Johnson, on base four times tonight with three walks and a hit plus great glove at second. Lawrie with his hit and also hot glove at third. The not so good: Poor Jose still struggling with the bat. 0-5 tonight and a .200 average. Thames continues his hitting woes as well as outfield performance. The very bad: Thames cost Jays their first run in second inning by being caught out on the basepath.