Rays give Jays a thrashing as Morrow and Villanueva self destruct for 12 runs

Rays v Jays. Game two of three.

Tonight Morrow has his chance to beat the Rays. Last night a good all-round performance defence, offence and good pitching. Helped in some part by an off-night by Gold Glover Longoria and his three errors but a good win anyway. Great to see Adam Lind have a good night long overdue, and also the second home run of the season by Jose. Even Thames came through with his bat at least. Tonight Rays send their ace Price to the mound to try to solve Jays lineup. They also have ex-Jay Jose Molina catching tonight, he should know the weaknesses of the Jays. Jays have some changes o their own with Rajai Davis in for struggling Thames and Mathis in for a slumping Arencibia who has had a rough start to the season let alone this series. With .065 average Farrell has no choice but to sit him. A break might do im some good anyway.

Lineups: Rays: Jennings, Zobrist, Pena, Longoria, Scott, Keppinger, Joyce, Molina, Rodriguez and pitching Price
Jays: Escobar, Johnson, Bautista, Lind, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Davis, Rasmus, Mathis and pitching Morrow.

Top 1st: Jennings, full count, grounds back up the middle. One on for Zobrist. Oh dear, first pitch swinging lines it right over head of Jose into the over the fence for a two run home run. 2-0 Rays and still nobody out. Pena, fly ball to Rasmus for the first out. 11 pitches for an out. Longoria, you know he will be out to make amends for last night. Lines it high to right but Jose makes highlight reel catch right at the wall. Defence Jose. Two down for Scott, shift right on with Lawrie in front of Jose in right. Scott lines it over Lawrie for a single into right. One on two down for Keppinger, 2-2 count. Grounds to Johnson flip to Escobar to get the force on Scott at second. 22 pitches, Morrow not long for this game at that rate.
Bottom 1st: Price has owned the Jays 9-2 in 12 starts. Escobar leading off. 2-2 count, singles into right, nice at bat as he goes down just to make contact with the end of the bat. Johnson, grounds to second throw to Pena at first to get Johnson, no chance for two. Bautista with one on one down. Perfect Jose grounds back up the middle, here comes Escobar to score 2-1 Rays. Encarnacion, pulls first pitch into left for a single. Two on for Lind. 2-2 count, strikes out looking, two down. Lawrie, strikes out swinging on three pitches leaving two out there but Jay get one back. 22 pitch count like Morrow.

Top 2nd: Joyce leading off. Lines it to the wall in right centre for a stand up double. Jose Molina grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind for first out but Joyce is now at third. Rodriguez, lines it to Davis in left, weak throw and up the line as Joyce scores 3-1 Rays. That was one horrible throw. We need a good left fielder Alex. Jennings with two down. Bounces to Johnson throw to Lind for third out. 34 pitches. Too many and too many runs given up. Jays need much better pitching from Morrow than this.
Bottom 2nd: Davis, maybe make up for that poor throw here by getting on base. 2-2 grounds to Longoria at third long throw to Pena at first but no mistake tonight, one down. Rasmus, pops it up to Molina behind the plate, two down for Mathis. OH BOY, gets hold of this one big-time high into left and second deck seats home run for Mathis, JP should be concerned. 3-2 Rays. Escobar lines it to right for the out. But Jays get one back at least and from number nine hitter. 36 pitch count.

Top 3rd: Zobrist, strikes out swinging, one down for Pena, shift right with Lawrie in front of Bautista, I hope he does not bunt to third. High fly ball to left but Davis makes the catch at the wall, two down. Longoria, pops it up to shallow right for Bautista running in to make the catch to end the inning. 45 pitches. Morrow getting better. 22, 12 and 11 pitches for first three innings.
Bottom 3rd: Kelly Johnson leading off. Fly ball to left for the out. Bautista, one down. 3-1 count, high ball four. One on one down for Encarnacion, full count, Jose doing wind sprints out there for third time, come on Edwin, give the guy a break, pops it up to Keppinger at second, Jose has to retreat, two down for Lind. Full count, Jose another futile sprint as Lind fouls it off. Lines it to left and nice running catch by Joyce. Pitch count 59.

Top 4th: Scott leading off, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Keppinger, another 1-2 count again, grounds to Lawrie at third throw to Lind for the second out. Joyce, first pitch swinging drives it over the head of Rasmus in centre, Colby playing too shallow for that one. Molina lines it off the glove of Lawrie at third trying to backhand the ball into left here comes Joyce 4-2 Rays. Rodriguez, 3-0 count, low ball four. Not good, the bottom two in the order getting on base, now you have a problem, Jennings with two down and two on. 2-0 count, in danger of loading them up, here comes Bruce Walton, outside ball four to load the bases. Oh boy. Zobrist, that’s better pulls it to Lind who takes it himself for third out. 67 pitch count. A 22 pitch inning not good. Morrow very lucky to get away with only one run .
Bottom 4th: Jays playing catch-up for the third time. Twins beating Yankees 4-3 and Texas over Boston 3-2 early innings yet. Lawrie leading off. Full count, fly ball to centre for the out, one down for Davis, 1-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first for the out. Two down for Rasmus, drives it opposite field into left for a single, I love that swing by Colby. Mathis, two down one on, high pop up to Jennings in centre for final out. 77 pitch count.

Top 5th: Pena leading off, lines it right at Lawrie playing the shift right in front of Jose. That time it paid off and saved a double. One down for Longoria, full count, ball four. Walk number four for Morrow. Scott, one down one on. 3-0 count, Morrow just does not have it tonight. Grounds to Johnson over to Escobar, on to Lind for double play. Morrow definitely rescued there. Pitch count 79.
Bottom 5th: Top of the order, chance to knock Price out of the game with this inning. Escobar. Pulls it past Longoria off his glove into left. No error given. Oh boy Johnson pulls first pitch to Pena at first over to second back to first double play ball. Bautista, 3-1 count, low ball four, second walk for Jose tonight. Encarnacion, time for a blast Edwin. 2-2 count, perfect, singles into left, Jose running on the play and all the way to third. Lind, grounds to second, throw to Pena at first to end the inning. Pitch count 93. Price will be out in the 6th.

Top 6th: Can Morrow settle down here for one more inning? Keppinger, off the end of his bat toward third base Morrow makes nice play with rushing and throw is good to Lind at first for the out. One down for Joyce, another full count. Leaves this one up in the middle of the plate and it lifts it into the right field fence, home run Joyce 5-2 Rays. That was a batting practice pitch. Molina, Perez warming up in bullpen. Grounds to Lawrie, low throw which bounces into Lind’s glove at first for the out. Rodriguez with two down. Oh no, another high fly ball to centre and Rasmus givers up on it as it goes over the fence, 6-2 rays. Horrible outing by Morrow tonight. Jennings fly ball to Bautista for third out, but mercifully we will see no more of Morrow this game, he was awful.
Bottom 6th: Price can enjoy this one now even though he struggled tonight Jays could not knock him out of the game for which the bullpen thanks him. Lawrie leading off grounds to Pena at first takes it himself for easy out. Wade Davis warming up in the bullpen. Rajai Davis at bat. 2-2 count, takes strike three and stands there. Rasmus, two down. Price just throwing strike after strike now, Morrow could learn something, there we go Colby, lines it into centre for a single. One on two down for Mathis. Here comes Maddon, new pitcher Wade Davis. Price at 106 pitch count but seemed to get stronger as game went on whereas Morrow imploded from inning four. Can Jays hitters get to the Rays relief crew? Mathis strikes out swinging to end the inning.

Top 7th: Luis Perez now pitching. Boston, Yankees and Baltimore all losing in later innings. It would have been great chance for Jays to take sole first place in the division. Zobrist, grounds to Escobar, throw to Lind, one down. Pena, 2-2 count, strikes out bunting. Two down for Longoria. Grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Lind for the out. Nice pitching Luis.
Bottom 7th: Escobar, drives it up the middle 3-4 tonight for Yunel. One on for Johnson. 1-2 count, takes strike three. Rough night for Kelly. Bautista. 0-2 count, fly ball to right but not far enough, Zobrist makes the catch two down for Encarnacion. Rays bullpen double action. Edwin 2-3 tonight. 2-2 count, pops it up high to Pena at first. Jays may be running out of time to make a difference in this game.

Top 8th: Scott, shift right on with Lawrie in shallow right. Strikes out swinging. One down for Brignac, 0-2 count, strikes out looking, whoa. Great pitch. Joyce with two down. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Strikes out the side. Very nice Luis.
Bottom 8th: Lind leading off. 1-2 count, fly ball to Jennings in shallow centre, one down. Lawrie, singles into centre. Vizquel pinch hitting for Rajai Davis who had an awful night. Full count, perfect, lines it into right for a single Lawrie to second, one down two on for Rasmus,. End of the road for Davis. Joel Peralta now pitching, 27.00 ERA. 1-2 count on Rasmus. Strikes out swinging. Two down for Thames pinch hitting for Mathis. Takes strike three, come on Eric, with two on base? Time to visit Vegas in my book.

Top 9th: Arencibia catching. Villanueva to finish off. Molina, hits him on the arm. Rodriguez grounds to third Lawrie unable to get it cleanly, off his glove and Escobar throw too late, two on and nobody out just like that. Error to Lawrie. Top of Rays order Jennings. Grounds to Lawrie steps on the bag at third to get Molina for first out. Throw to Lind for two not in time. Zobrist. 1-2 count, wild pitch, runners move up. This is a messy inning. Putting him on to load the bases. Pena, full count. Outside ball four, even the intentional walk backfires, run scores 7-2 bases remain loaded for Longoria. Drives it to Thames in left, run scores 8-2. Bases stay loaded and still only one out. This is embarrassing. Scott, lines it high into right field fence grand slam 12-2 Rays. Brignac, pops it up to Thames in left for the out, Bronx cheers and rightly so, two down in 30 pitches. Joyce grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind to end the agony. 35 pitch inning, that is awful, no other word for it. Someone may have just earned himself a trip to Vegas.
Bottom 9th: J.P. Howell to mop this one up for the Rays. Top of the order, Escobar 3-4 night, no 4-5 night as he singles into left. Johnson, 2-2 count. Fly ball to left for the out. Bautista strikes out swinging, two down for Encarnacion, strikes out swinging. Mercy.

Jays regroup tomorrow go for the series win and forget this thrashing. Jays actually outhit the Rays 12-10 and can only get two runs. But go 1-6 with runners in scoring position and leave 11 on base. Rays go 3-6 RISP and leave only 4 on base.

The very good: Escobar 4 hit night, Perez scoreless relief and striking out the side in the 8th. Vizquel pinch hitting single in the 8th. Mathis home run.
The not so good: Morrow down by two runs before he had an out in the first and then just self destructed after four. Davis in left with his weak off line throw for the third run.
The terrible: Villanueva six runs in one inning of work, 35 pitches to ruin this game for the Jays.