Rays v Jays. Game one of three.
Tampa in for the final series of a ten game road trip. A good test for the rested Jays. They have numero uno pitcher tonight who has had a good start to the season. Major questions will Jose get it going this series? Will Thames continue to struggle? and how long will Jays stick with him before calling Travis who has been on fire in Vegas. Will the bullpen settle down now after a day off and little work on Sunday? Can Edwin continue his hot streak? Will Lind ever be the same guy he was in 2009? More than enough questions for this series before the Jays head out on the road. Boston has home series with Texas, Yankees at home to the Twins who beat them last night and Baltimore continue to surprise by beating the White Sox in Chicago last night.
Lineups: Rays: Jennings, Pena, Longoria, Scott, Zobrist, Joyce, Rodriguez, Brignac, Gimenez, and Niemann pitching.
Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Arencibia, and Romero pitching.
Top 1st: Jennings leading off, full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Pena, shift on right, PERFECT, lines it hard to right to the wall but Jose firing this one in to second and Pena walks into the tag. Great play. Never run on Jose. Two down. Longoria lifts this one high into centre but Rasmus has it at the wall to end the inning. 13 pitch count.
Bottom 1st: Escobar, first pitch swinging fly ball to centre for the easy out. One pitch one out, I hate that, especially from the leadoff guy. Johnson, strike three looking, two down. Bautista, OH YES JOSE !!!!!! hammers this one into left field seats, third deck. Classic Jose shot. No question about that one off the bat, 1-0 Jays. Does that ever feel good for Jose (and Jays fans). Lind, drives it into left opposite field single, Encarnacion, with two down and one on. Pops it up high to Pena in foul ground at first to end the inning but Jose has the crowd buzzing with his glove and bat tonight. 17 pitches.
Top 2nd: Luke Scott, shift right on, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Zobrist, 3-0 count, outside ball four, one on for Joyce, oh yes, perfection, lines it right at Lind at first who steps on the bag at first to double up Zobrist to end the inning. Pitch count 25.
Bottom 2nd: Thames, full count, horrible swing to strike out. One down for Lawrie, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Rasmus, lines it to centre but Jennings has it on the track to end the inning. 33 pitch count.
Top 3rd: Rodriguez, lines first pitch hard but Johnson times his jump perfectly to make the catch, and rob Rodriguez of a base hit, one pitch one down. Great defence by Jays so far tonight, Brignac, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind for the out, two down for Gimenez, 2-2 count, lines it into right field corner, stand up double. Top of the order, Jennings, 1-2 count, grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Lind to end the inning. 37 pitch count.
Bottom 3rd: Arencibia, 3-1 count, grounds it to Longoria, fumbles the ball and bounces throw to first but Arencibia safe at first. Error given to Longoria but that was very tough play, a bullet from JP. Escobar with one on, bounces it to Longoria and ball falls out of his glove as he transfers, both runners safe, Johnson with two on and nobody out. Bounces to Niemann, throw to second to get Escobar, but two at the corners for Bautista, pitch out? as if they are running with Jose at bat. 3-1 count, this will do, lines it to left for the sacrifice, here comes Arencibia, 2-0 Jays. Lind with one on. There she goes high into left field seats, opposite field home run, 4-0 Jays. Wow. Encarnacion, full count, strikes out swinging, pitch count 58.
Top 4th: Romero now has a great lead to work with. Pena, bunting just past a diving Romero, one on for Longoria, he wants to make up for those two defensive plays, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Scott, shift on, 3-1 count, grounds to Lawrie playing behind first over to second back to Lind on the bag for easy double play. 50 pitch count.
Bottom 4th: Thames leading off, pitching him inside strike two, 2-2 count, high inside and hits him on the shoulder, one on for Lawrie, grounds to short, over to second on to first and Rays turn a double play. Rasmus with two down. Pulls it to first throw to Niemann covering first. Pitch count 67. Texas leading Boston 4-2.
Top 5th: Zobrist, 2-2 count, pulls it to Escobar at short, throw to Lind, one down. Joyce, singles back up the middle. One on one down for Rodriguez, 3-0 count, come on Ricky. Inside ball four, two on for Brignac, needs a ground ball here bigtime. 1-2 count, pulls it past Lind Bautista throw in time but Arencibia off the plate and runner safe. 4-1 Jays. Giminez, pulls it to Escobar, long throw not in time and another run scores 4-2 Jays. Romero imploding here. Jennings bunting but Romero throw to first for the out, runners at second and third, two down. Pena, full count, whoa, great pitch to strike him out swinging, but Tampa is back in this game. 73 pitch count.
Bottom 5th: Jays hitters need to get one back here for Romero. Arencibia leading off. Pulls it to Longoria at third, easy throw to Pena at first for the out. One down for Escobar, 0-2 tonight. Full count, pops it up to shallow centre for second out. Johnson, Howell working in Rays bullpen. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays go quietly. Pitch count 81.
Top 6th: Romero needs a much better inning here than the last to hold these Rays. Longoria leading off. 2-2 count, pulls it into left for a single. Scott, that’s better, grounds to Johnson over to Escobar on to Lind another double play to rescue Ricky. Two down for Zobrist, bounces one down to Lind who takes it himself for the out. That is much better. 85 pitch count and enough for another inning.
Bottom 6th: Bautista leading off. Jays would like to make this Niemann’s last inning. Full count, high ball four. One on for Lind, that is it for Niemann. J. P. Howell now pitching, Lefty-lefty matchup. 2-2 count, ball gets away to the backstop and Jose has a free base. Full count. Low ball four, great at bat by Lind, he is having a good game tonight. Here comes Maddon, Brandon Gomes now pitching. Howell was in to get one guy. Encarnacion with two on, perfect time for a rocket launch Edwin. Full count, inside strike three, looked ball four and Edwin thought so too. Thames, one down, chance to be a hero here Eric, 2-2 count, that will do grounds it to third, long throw to first pulls him off the bag and Thames safe, and here comes Jose to score 5-2 Thames goes to second on the throw and Lind moves to third. Lawrie can break this one open with a hit. 2-2 count, lines it back at Gomes drops the ball but throw to first to get Lawrie. Two down. Both runners hold. Rasmus, intentional walk, Colby will like that respect ! Bases loaded for Arencibia. 2-2 count, no JP, takes strike three right down the middle. Not a good at bat. Jays miss great opportunity to add more and JP’s average is classified horrible. Rays bend but do not break here.
Top 7th: Romero has had a very long sit, hope it does not affect him here. Joyce leading off. Yes you could sense this one coming, long drive into right and over the wall in right centre, home run Rays 5-3 game. Now the bullpen working, Frasor, maybe too late. Rodriguez, 3-1 count, low ball four, walks him. Here comes Farrell. The end for Ricky and he now has to hope the bullpen can save him. Frasor now. Pinch hitter Stephen Vogt. Perfect pops it up to Johnson. One down, now a ground ball Jason. Giminez, wild pitch, and Rodriguez moves to second. There goes the double play. Takes strike three, that will do I guess, two down for Jennings. 0-2 count, fly ball to centre but Rasmus has it for the third out. Fraser gets Romero off the hook. Rays get one back.
Bottom 7th: Vogt stays in left. Top of the order Escobar, swinging wildly at first pitch. 3-1 count, should be ball four, there it is. Escobar leadoff walk. Joe Maddon does not like that, another pitching change. A lefty for Kelly. At least Jays are getting into Rays bullpen early in the series. Now pitching Jake McGhee to face Johnson with runner on first. Strikes out swinging. One down for Bautista, runner at first. Grounds to second, long throw to get Jose at first but Escobar safe at second, Two down for Lind, on base three times tonight. Full count, great lines it to opposite field again to left and here comes Escobar to beat the throw 6-3 jays. Lind on base four times three hits and a walk. But all his hits opposite field that is the best part. Encarnacion intentional walk, two on two down for Ben Francisco pinch hitting for Thames, strikes out swinging but Jays have another.
Top 8th: Cordero now pitching Rajai Davis in left. Pena leading off. Bunting and another great bunt, why is Lawrie playing so far back ? Pena bunted earlier in the game. At least be ready for it. One on for Longoria. Wild pitch and Pena to second. Arencibia having a nightmare game. Fly ball to Bautista for the out, Pena holds at second. One down for Scott, full count, ball four. Two on for Zobrist. Cordero needs a ground ball. Strikes out swinging that will do, two down. Joyce, 1-2 count, perfect location freezes Joyce for strike three. Cordero holds the Rays.
Bottom 8th: Luke Badenhop now pitching. Lawrie, this will do it, he squashes the ball into centre field, deepest part of the field, home run Lawrie, 7-3 Jays. Janssen and Santos warming up in bullpen. Rasmus, lines it back up the middle. Arencibia .065 average. High fly ball to left corner for the out, One down for Escobar, bounces it to second and Yunel does his usual amble to first. Two down for Johnson, Rasmus at second. Grounds to Pena at first to make the out himself. Rasmus left out there.
Top 9th: Santos it is. Rodriguez leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for pinch hitter Keppinger, lines it off the back of Santos. Bounces to Lawrie who fumbles it trying to play it barehanded, runner safe at first. Giminez, that’s more like it grounds to Lawrie, throw to Johnson over to Lind double play ball to end this one. Jays win 7-3.
Jays take the first one from the Rays and help Romero with the win. Rays outhit the Jay but the home runs and the three errors by the Rays, and all by Gold Glover Longoria made the difference. To see both Bautista and Lind go deep is what we have all been waiting for. Maybe, just maybe Adam is out of his long slump.
The excellent: Jays defence period. Three double plays. Bautista throw in the first for the out at second, Lind to make the double play himself, Johnson to rob Rodriguez. Jose home run to get everyone happy in the first inning. Lind first home run of season and an opposite field to boot. Lind three hits and walk for a great night and all opposite field hits. Lawrie home run. Santos impressive finish.
The good: Romero for five innings but two poor innings which enabled Rays to get back in the game. To be fair I think the sitting for the long bottom of the 6th inning hurt him. Jays bullpen tonight pitched much better to hold the win for Romero.
The not so good: Arencibia had a horrible night with wild pitches and his bat.
Oh my. Texas hammering Boston at Fenway with a football score.18-3. Yankees have won 8-3 and Orioles in a close one 3-2 in Chicago.
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