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.