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.