Jays lose a nail biter

Jays v Indians. Final Game three of the series.

Jays going for the sweep of the Indians and also hoping that it can be done in nine innings. First two games have taken 28 innings to complete. Joel Carreno pitching first major league start today for Jays. Interesting start for the division with Yankees and Boston both losing their first two games and Rays, and Orioles joining the Jays at the top with 2-0 record. Arencibia gets a well earned break after spending 28 innings on his knees without relief, not much fun for him.

Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Thames, Rasmus, Mathis and Carreno pitching.
Indians: Brantley, Cabrera, Choo, Santana, Hafner, Duncan, Kotchman, Kipnis, Hannahan and Lowe pitching.

Top 1st: Escobar leading off, grounds to short, throw to first for the out. Escobar yet to get going at the top this weekend. Johnson, high bouncer to first but throw beats him to the bag, Bautista, full count, outside ball four, how many walks is that to Jose this weekend? Lind with runner on first, pulls it to second throw to first to end the inning. Jays cannot give Carreno a lead to work with. Too bad.
Bottom 1st: Brantley grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind one down. Cabrera, pulls first pitch hard to Lind at first, takes it himself for second out. Choo, strikes out swinging, great start for Carreno. Now he can settle those nerves.

Top 2nd: Encarnacion leading off, breaks his bat grounds to short, throw to first for the out. Lawrie, gets under this one, fly ball to left centre for the out. Thames, off the end of his bat back to Lowe, easy out at first to end the inning. Jays look as if they want out of Cleveland in a hurry.
Bottom 2nd: Santana, 3-1 count, comes back down the middle, Santana gets hold of this one big-time, hammers it high to centre and over the wall, no question home run, 1-0 Indians. Hafner, full count, outside ball four. One on for Duncan, nice pitch strikes out swinging. One down one on for Kotchman. Another 3-1 count, full count, that’s better grounds to Lind over to Escobar at second, fumbles it and only gets one, should have been double play. Escobar not helping Carreno here. Kipnis pulls it to right for a single. Two on two down. Hannahan, drives it to Rasmus in centre, here comes Hafner, 2-0 Indians. Brantley with two on. 3-1 ball four to load the bases. Cabrera with bases loaded=big trouble. Grounds to Johnson throw to Lind to get out this one but no thanks to his defence behind him and Escobar the culprit this inning. High pitch count now at 46 pitches.

Top 3rd: Rasmus, first pitch swinging fly ball to left for the out. Mathis first bat of the season, strikes out swinging. Escobar, chance to redeem himself for Carreno. Full count, grounds up the middle but nice play by Cabrera to make the stop and throw to first to end the inning. Not too much help for Carreno there.
Bottom 3rd: Choo leading off, grounds to Johnson at second flip to Lind for the out. Santana, nice pitch, strikes out looking, froze him inside. Hafner, two down, 3-1 count, ball four. Third walk by Carreno. Duncan, gets way under this one, hang time is huge to Lawrie at third to make the final out. Nice inning by Carreno. Now perhaps he can get some run support.

Top 4th: Johnson leading off. Ah success, grounds it to second and Kipnis at second unable to get it cleanly and Johnson safe at first for Bautista. Nice try Jose as he connects on first pitch but foul on left side. Drives this one hard and long to the wall in centre but dies short and a long out. One down for Lind as Johnson retreats to first. Grounds to Hannahan unable to corral it and both runners safe, that was another double play opportunity. Error to Hannahan. Two on for Encarnacion. There we go Edwin, off the wall in left and here comes Johnson to score, Lind held at third as Edwin in at second stand up double, Jays on the board 2-1 Indians. Lawrie with two in scoring position and one down. This will do it, drives it to right, for the out but deep enough for Lind to tag and score and just beats the throw 2-2 game, two down and Edwin tags also to get to third. Forgotten man Thames, grounds to second, throw to first. Come back Travis please. However Jays at least give some run support to Carreno.
Bottom 4th: Kotchman leading off. Drives it past Escobar into left for a single. Kipnis showing bunt, now lines it to right, good running catch by Bautista for the out. Hannahan going for broke, swings through first pitch. Nice play drives it up the middle, Escobar steps on second over to Lind at first, double play. Nice play Yunel. Carreno out of trouble.

Top 5th: Rasmus leading off, grounds to second, throw to first for the out. Mathis, doubles into the right field corner. First hit as a Jay. Escobar with runner in scoring position, miserable, weak first pitch swing bounces the ball to short throw to first no chance for Mathis to get to third, wasted at bat. Take a couple of pitches and put pressure on Lowe with Mathis out there. Johnson now with two down. Grounds to second throw to first and Mathis double is wasted. Boston losing 4-2 at Comerica as Detroit goes for the sweep, they will be the team to beat in Central division.
Bottom 5th: Top of the order for Indians. Brantley leading off. Ball four. Cabrera there goes Brantley great throw by Mathis nails him at second, great throw to help Carreno, one down Cabrera full count. That was ball four as he pokes it to Lawrie at third, throw to Lind for second out. Choo, singles first pitch to Thames in left. Now they have to watch Choo to steal. Santana, oh boy not good as he lines it high into right over the fence, home run 4-2 Indians. Hafner, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Lind to end the inning but damage done. 84 pitch count.

Top 6th: Lowe pitch count at 70. Bautista leading off. 1-2 count, grounds to short, throw to first for the out. Lind, drives it back up the middle for a single. Encarnacion, high pop up behind the backstop for Santana to make the catch. Two down for Lawrie 3-0 count, Brett getting some respect from Lowe. Bounces it to short, flip to second to get Lind. Pitch count 87.
Bottom 6th: Could be last inning for Carreno. Jays should be pleased with the effort for the first five innings. Duncan, fly ball to Thames in left, one down. Kotchman, full count, lines it to Rasmus in centre for a long out. Two down for Kipnis, grounds to Lind at first for final out. Nice pitching by Carreno. 98 pitch count. Good outing. The four walks hurt but not a bad outing at all. Wild game in Detroit as Boston now leading 7-5 bottom of the third.

Top 7th: Thames leading off, there he goes first base hit of the weekend as he singles into left. Rasmus, oh boy grounds first pitch to second, over to Cabrera back to first double play ball just like that. Come on Colby take a couple, move him over at least. Mathis, full count. Off the end of the bat a few feet throw to first to get third out. 96 pitch count for Lowe. Looks as if Indians bullpen will have to save this one.
Bottom 7th: Villanueva now pitching. Hannahan, 3-0 count, full count, misses ball four. One on for Brantley, grounds to Escobar throw to Johnson who drops the ball, everyone safe, another missed double play ball. Error to Johnson. Cabrera 2-2 count, goes down swinging, nice pitch. One down two on for Choo grounds to Escobar step on second to get Brantley throw to Lawrie at third to try to get Hannahan no out. Not sure about that one, Santana grounds to Johnson throw to Lind for the third out.

Top 8th: Joe Smith side-armer stuff now pitching. Jays had no answer to him on Thursday. Escobar leading off. 2-2 count strikes out swinging. No way is he going to pull that, try the other way Yunel. Johnson, drives it the other way into left. Exactly the approach. Bautista with runner at first. Jose does not like that call. It was low on replay. Singles into right. Two on one down for Lind. This will bring one in Lind pulls it to right here comes Johnson to beat the throw. Very close call. 4-3 Indians. Two on one down for Encarnacion. Pestano now pitching. Bautista in scoring position at second. Rajai Davis pinch running for Lind, déjà vu Thursday. 0-2 count and there he goes swinging at ball way outside. Lawrie with two on and two down. Not chasing outside, 2-2 count. Outside again full count. Swings at pitch outside but maybe had no choice on that one. Jays leave two on.
Bottom 8th: Frasor now pitching. Need to close them down Jason. Davis in right field. Bautista at first. Hafner full count, ball four. Not what Jays need right now. Donald pinch running. Cunningham pinch hitting. Strikes out swinging. One down one on for Kotchman. Runner going, fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the out, two down. Kipnis, runner going safe on the throw as the ball hits him diving into the bag. Full count. Perfect grounds to Bautista at first flips to Frasor for the out.

Top 9th: Last chance for the Jays today. Bottom of the order, will we see some pinch hitting? Indians closer Chris Perez pitching. Thames leading off. Good start as he goes the other way and drives it singles into left. Rasmus, not a happy day at the plate today. Pops it up to left for the out. Francisco pinch hitting. Up the middle and Cabrera fumbles the ball, ouch that was a game ending double play ball, both runners safe. Error to Cabrera. Escobar one out two on. Strikes out swinging. Johnson last chance for Jays. Full count, low ball four, bases loaded for Bautista. Great at bat by Johnson. Jose pops it up to short to end the game. First loss 4-3 game.
Tough way to end but the Jays should be happy with series win to start the season. Boston series now tomorrow. A wild game in Detroit with Boston now leading 9-7 in the 9th.

The very good: Kelly Johnson at bat in top of the 9th to load the bases for Bautista.
The good: Jays bullpen holding it for three.
The not so good: Escobar fumbling the double play ball which lead to the second run. Johnson fumbling double play ball in the 7th. Rasmus weekend with the bat 1-15. Jays 2-9 with runners in scoring position. Jose leaves four on and bases loaded in the 9th.