Jays and Morrow sweep Orioles behind home run power from Davis, Rasmus, Encarnacion and Lawrie

Orioles v Jays. Series finale. Jays going for a very unlikely sweep of the Orioles. Tonight they face Hammel who has owned the Jays. Plus Orioles not happy with their losing streak and know that this is an important game to break the streak and maintain their position at the top. Right now 3.5 games between five teams in the East division, that is insane and Jays have a chance to close it even further. Rays have already lost in a wild game against the White Sox. Tonight Morrow and the jury is out on Brandon until he performs tonight. Was his last game and aberration? did the Texas heat affect him and his diabetes? I say yes and hope he can bounce back tonight. Last night Jays hung on to win 8-6 after an earlier 8-1 lead, but this was closer than it should have been and Jays may regret giving the Orioles any hope at all for tonight. Lineups: Orioles: Chavez, Hardy, Davis, Jones, Wieters, Reynolds, Betemit, Flaherty, Andino and Jason Hammel pitching. Jays get one break with no Markakis tonight but facing Hammel is more than enough stress. Jays: Escobar, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Lawrie, Cooper, Arencibia, Vizquel, Davis and Morrow pitching. No Kelly Johnson, with day off tomorrow he gets two days rest for that hamstring. Good decision Jays need him. Cooper DH and Encarnacion at first. Top 1st: Chavez leading off, 2-2 count, pops it up to Davis in shallow left, one down for Hardy, high fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down. Davis, full count, ball four, eight pitch at bat. Jones. Grounds first pitch to Lawrie, throw to Vizquel to get Davis. Pitch count 18 thanks to 8 to Davis. However no damage done. Bottom 1st: Escobar, grounds second pitch to Andino at second, throw to Reynolds first one down. Escobar is not a leadoff guy, rarely takes pitches and go deep in the pitch count. Rasmus, lines this to left and great catch by Chavez running in to rob Colby of a hit. Bautista with two down. full count, bounces to Hardy at short, throw to Reynolds at first to end the inning.10 pitches 6 of them to Jose. Top 2nd: Wieters, pops up the first pitch to Lawrie at third, one down for Reynolds, 3-0 count, high inside, walk to Reynolds, Morrow has lost his strike zone here. Betemit 1-0 singles to Rasmus in centre, past Colby to Bautista backing him up, Reynolds all the way to third. Two on one down, Morrow in trouble here. Flaherty playing in right for Markakis, 1-2 count, oh boy lines to Escobar, off his glove, here comes the runner Reynolds 1-0 Orioles two on one down, Andino fly ball first pitch to Rasmus. Two down for top of the order Chavez again.1-2 count, strikes out swinging but at 36 Morrow’s pitch count already high. Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion, YES Edwin, drives this one high to left and into the Jays bullpen, home run Edwin, number 17 for the season, crazy, 1-1 game. Lawrie, bounces back to Hammel, throw to Reynolds for first out. Cooper, DH tonight, drives this the other way into left, stand up double. Nice hit David. Arencibia, one down, 0-2 strikes out swinging, two down. Vizquel, two down and one on. Full count, strikes out swinging. 31 pitches. Top 3rd: Hardy, 2-0 count, pulls it to Davis in left, leadoff guy in scoring position. Davis , 1-1 count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, one down, one on for Jones. Perfect grounds to Vizquel, over to Escobar, on to Encarnacion, double play ball to end the inning. 43 pitches Morrow really need that nine pitch much shorter inning. That should really help into the sixth. Bottom 3rd: Davis, bunting but pitch high inside knocks him down, surprise Rajai. OH WOWEEEEEE hammers this to left, into the left field seats, don’t knock me down, home run to Rajai, Not bad for number nine guy.2-1 Jays. Escobar, grounds to second throw to Reynolds for the first out. Rasmus, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista. Long, long overdue Jose. Stuck on 12 home runs for much too long. 3-1 count. Ball four. One on two down for Encarnacion, whoa, hammers this one to left, just foul. Almost Edwin. Full count. Pops it up to Betemit at 3B. Jays get the lead, now Morrow has to hold it. Pitch count 52. Top 4th: Wieters, full count, strikes out, one down for Reynolds. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Betemit, full count, strikes out swinging to strike out the side. Pitch count 62. You did your job Brandon. Bottom 4th: Lawrie,1-1 count, WHOA drives this one deep to centre, and this one is out of here, home run Brett, 3-1 Jays. Cooper, full count, drives to centre for Jones to make the running catch. One down for Arencibia, Iifts it into shallow left, one on for Vizquel. Perfect, bunting up third base line and throw by Wieters pulls Reynolds off the bag at first and Vizquel safe. Arencibia to second. Two on one down for Davis. 2-2 count, oh boy lines to shirt, over to second on to first double play ball. Pitch count 70. Hamel has only given up three home runs all season long and gives up three tonight. Top 5th: Boston losing 3-0 to the Tigers, and Tampa has already lost this afternoon. Yankees play later on the west coast. Jays would love to win this one, Flaherty. Pops it up to Lawrie at 3B. One down for Andino. 0-2 count. Strikes out swinging, on three pitches, two down for top of the order Chavez. 1-1 pops it up to Rasmus, three up and down. 72 pitch count. Bottom 5th: Escobar, 0-2 count, grounds to Andino at second on to Reynolds at first, one down for Rasmus. WHOA !!!!!!! A rocket is launched into right centre. Home run Colby, 4-1 Jays, his swing has to be the best on this team. Bautista missing out on the fun tonight, fly ball to Jones in centre, two down. Encarnacion singles to Chavez in left. Lawrie, pops it up foul for Sandino to make great running catch in foul ground. 80 pitches for Hammel, does not know what hit him tonight. First time in his career that he has given up four home runs. He is very lucky they have all been without runners on or he would be on the bench by now. Top 6th: Morrow can slam the door shut here. Hardy leading off. Grounds to Vizquel at second on to Cooper for the first out. Davis, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Jones, 0-2 count, Ouch that hurts, hits him on the arm, not good, here comes Showalter and the trainer, no he is staying in there, obviously NOT the wrist. One on two down for Wieters, 0-2 count strikes out swinging to end the inning. Strikeout number seven. 89 pitches. He will get in to the 7th, great recovery from the second inning. Bottom 6th: Boston ahead 4-3 at Fenway. Cooper, 2-2 count, fly ball to Jones in centre, must be ok. One down for Arencibia. Same again on first pitch. Vizquel, 1-1 count, singles to right. 2-2 tonight, Davis, there goes Vizquel, no throw 1-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. 94 pitch count. Top 7th: Reynolds leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, number eight. Betemit, lines it back off the leg of Morrow, he is hurt. No, he cannot walk. Oh dear, does not look good as they support him off the field, no weight on the right leg. He had pitched so well. Villanueva now pitching. One on for Flaherty, great breaking ball, 1-2 count, fly ball to Bautista in right , two down. Andino, 2-2 count, just foul in left, pops it up to Encarnacion at first to end the inning. Orioles get their best hitter hit on the arm and he stays in, Jays get their pitcher hit and he is out and maybe for a while. Bottom 7th: Top of the order for Jays, need to put this game away with big inning. Hamel is on 94 pitches. Escobar, 0-3 tonight. Fly ball to Flaherty in right, make that 0-4. One down for Rasmus, 2-2 count, inside strike three. 101 pitch count, Bautista, also hitless tonight, 3-0 count, outside ball four. Two walks for Jose tonight, I am sure he would rather have a hit. GREAT NEWS re Morrow, X-rays show no break, a contusion on the right shin and day to day. Here comes Showalter. That is it for Hamel, no win for him tonight. Sidearmer Darren O’Day now pitching. Two down, Encarnacion with Jose at first. Fly ball first pitch to Jones in centre to end the inning. Top 8th: Jays need six more outs. Top of the order for the Orioles. Oh no Cordero now pitching. Come on John, what is wrong with Villanueva pitching a couple of innings ???? Chavez leading off, 2-2 count, strikes out, one down for Hardy, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper, two down for Davis. WHOA !!!!! lines it very hard to second and a highlight reel catch by Vizquel as he dives to get this one and robs Hardy of at least a double. WOW what a catch. Cordero does his job on 10 pitches. Bottom 8th: Pedro Strop now pitching. Lawrie, 1-2 count, come on Brett, takes strike three. Cooper, full count, nice bat here as he fouls them off, ball four nine pitch at bat for Cooper. Arencibia, one down one on. 0-2 count, takes strike three, come on guys. Two down one on for Vizquel. 2-3 tonight. Grounds to Hardy throw to Reynolds at first for the out. Top 9th: Here comes Casey Janssen. Oh boy. Three nights in a row ?? Farrell really pushing him here. Jones leading off, 3-1 count, inside ball four, here we go again. One on for Wieters, 1-1 count, grounds to first Edwin steps on the bag and throw to second to get double play, Reynolds last chance here. 0-2 count, got him strikes him out swinging. Rasmus smiling... and Jays all happy as they sweep the Orioles. WOW... The very good: Morrow, seven great innings until he was injured. Jays sweep of the Orioles after the horrible road trip is the very, very good. Casey Janssen getting his save number five and pitching three games in a row. Jays are now only two out of first place as everyone is bunched up in the east. The good: Encarnacion, Davis, Lawrie and Rasmus all going deep for the home runs. Omar Vizquel two hits tonight, a great bunt, a stolen base and an amazing highlight reel catch to help out Cordero on the 8th inning. Not so good: Morrow injury but may be only one start missed if that, as it will be seven days when he next pitches with the two off days. Orioles head into Tampa whilst Boston visits Toronto. An interesting weekend for the eastern division, any one of the five teams could be in first on Sunday. How about Seattle tonight 17-0 against Texas IN Arlington and only in the 5th inning. Two eight run innings, wow. They seem to have the Rangers number after sweeping them in Seattle.

Jays beat Orioles and win series behind Romero and bottom of the order hitting, speed and defense

Orioles v Jays. Game two of three. Jays changes today, Thames back to Vegas and I for one agree 110% and long overdue. Something about giving guy 100 at bats to prove himself, well it is now one third of the season. The only problem is that Travis is not the guy in Toronto. Mike McCoy again, infield insurance as well as outfield. Escobar also back, not sure that you can recover from a groin injury that fast and have to wonder whether that was Escobar being Escobar. Benefit of the doubt tonight, but it is too bad that he is back in number two spot. Johnson-Rasmus were a great one-two and far better than Escobar. However someone has to protect the back of Encarnacion and now that Thames has gone maybe just maybe he will be getting better pitches with Rasmus behind him. A sort of backhanded compliment to Colby to be moved up the order. Tonight Romero and who knows what he will bring. “He is ok in the bullpen before the game and between games” is the management mantra, that is fine but it is out here that matters. Has to be a large part mental, but again he had young Hutchison to watch last night and if that didn’t inspire him nothing will. He should forget about being the number one on the rotation until he can demonstrate it. The last few weeks have shown that he has a long way to go. If he can just cut down on those walks it would go a long way. Lineups: Orioles: Andino, Hardy, Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Reynolds, Davis, Betemit, Tolleson and Arrieta pitching Jays: Johnson, Escobar, Bautista, Encarnacion, Rasmus, Lawrie, Arencibia, Cooper, Davis and Romero pitching. Top 1st: Andino, grounds second pitch to Lawrie at third, throw to Cooper for first out. Hardy, grounds back off the glove of Romero to Escobar at short, throw to Cooper for second out. Markakis, full count, strikes out looking. 14 pitch inning, good start for Romero. Bottom 1st: Johnson, 2-1 count, grounds t second, throw to first, one down for Escobar, 2-2 count, takes strike three, Escobar is back, two down for Batista, 2-2 count, takes strike three. Jays hitters will have to start hitting that pitch. Pitch count 14. Top 2nd: Jones, drives first pitch to right and this one is out of here, just clears the fence in right, 1-0 Orioles. Wieters, 1-2 count, oh boy hits him on the arm, one on nobody out. Reynolds, 1-2 count, grounds slowly to Escobar at short, throw to Cooper for the out. Wieters to second. Davis, one down one in scoring position. 2-2 count, strikes out looking, two down. Betemit, 0-2 count, fly ball to Bautista in right to end this inning. 32 pitch count. Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion grounds to Tolleson at third, throw to first for the out. Rasmus grounds to Andino at second. Throw to Reynolds at first for second out. Arencibia lines it to Jones in centre for third out. 30 pitches. Top 3rd: Tolleson lines it hard to left but Lawrie makes a great stop and throw to first for the out, highlight reel pay helps Romero here. One down for Andino, 1-2 count, goes around according to home plate umpire. Andino does not like that call. May have a point on the replay. Two down though for Hardy fly ball to Davis in left. Nine pitch inning. 41 pitch count, Bottom 3rd: Time for Jays hitters to get something going here. Lawrie leading off. 2-2 count, goes after the high fast ball and singles into centre, there goes the no-hitter for Arrieta. Cooper with one on. Lawrie distracting Arrieta which he should be doing. 1-1 count, singles to centre, her did this last night twice, two on nobody out. Davis, bunting ? yes of course. Low ball one. Perfect and Arrieta throws it away at first here comes Lawrie, 1-1 game. Speed kills and an immediate endorsement of Thames in Vegas. Davis is so fast. Error to Arrieta. Cooper at third, Davis at second and still nobody out. Top of the order, Johnson. High full count. Takes strike three, looked high but you have to swing Kelly. One down for Escobar. Grounds to Tolleson, throw to first to get Escobar as Cooper scores 2-1 Jays. Bautista, with runner Davis at third. Jose struggling right now. Shift left which he hates but has to learn to adjust, once he does they will stop doing it. 2-2 count. Pops it up, when will he start to drive or even just push to right ? Jays get two but should have been more. 54 pitch count. Top 4th: Markakis, bounces to Johnson, throw to Cooper for the out. Jones, full count, low ball four, here we go again. Wieters, Romero needs a ground ball here.1-2 count, bounces to Lawrie at third, quick throw to first to get second out, no chance to get Jones first at second. Reynolds, Jones at second, full count, strikes out swinging. 61 pitch count. I don’t see Romero going nine tonight at this rate. Seven might be pushing it. Bottom 4th: Encarnacion leading off. 1-1 count, grounds to Tolleson at third, throw to first for the out. Rasmus, lines it down the first baseline, and bounces into the seats, ground rule double. Arencibia with Rasmus at second. Way outside 3-0 count, high ball four, two on one down for Lawrie, drives it to right centre, here comes Colby followed by Arencibia, 4-1 Jays and Lawrie to second, Cooper with one down and one on. Full count, drives it to Jones and he drops it, Lawrie had to hold , now tags and gets to third. Cooper to first. Error to Jones. Davis, two on, bunting? Lines it to left, here comes Lawrie, 5-1 Jays. Cooper to third and Davis all the way to second on the fumble. Error to Betemit. Top of the order, Johnson two in scoring position. 1- 2 strikes out looking. Two down for Escobar. Lines it hard but right at shortstop Hardy for third out. 77 pitch count. 5 of the 6 hits from the bottom third of the Jays order. Ouch. Top 5th: Romero has been staked to a four run lead here and can relax and concentrate on pitching throwing strikes, but will he? Davis leading off. Singles to centre. One on for Betemit. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Tolleson. 1-2 count, takes strike three inside, two down for top of the order. Andino, singles to Rasmus in centre, two on two down for Hardy. full count, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Cooper for third out. Pitch count 83. Bottom 5th: Bautista full count, low ball four, gets a leadoff walk. One on for Encarnacion. Orioles bullpen working Gonzalez. Full count, great jump by Jose but fouled off. Low ball four and now Rasmus and not Thames. Can Colby make Arrieta pay here? He would love another double here. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Arencibia. That is it for Arrieta. Miguel Gonzalez now pitching his major league debut. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches, two down for Lawrie. Lines to right, here comes Bautista, 6-1 Jays. Lawrie 3-3 tonight. Cooper with two on and Encarnacion at third. Singles blooper to left centre and here comes Encarnacion. 7-1 Jays. Davis with Lawrie at third, Cooper at first, two down. 2-2 count, that was close Rajai. Grounds back up the middle Lawrie scores 8-1 Jays. Cooper to second, Davis at first. Top of the order again. Wieters arguing with umpire, now Showalter, looks as if Wieters is already thrown out of the game. Jays have been there before. Ronny Paulino now catching, Johnson 0-3 tonight. 0-2 strikes out swinging leaving two on. Top 6th: Romero has had a long period sitting, will it affect him? Although he is already at 83 pitch count and this may be his last inning anyway. Markakis drives it back to Escobar bounces off the mound right to Escobar, throw to Cooper for the out. Jones, 2-1 count, singles back up the middle, one down one on for Paulino. Drives it into left for a stand up double. Two on one down for Reynolds. Lines to Lawrie at third throw to Cooper for the out Jones scores 8-2 Jays. One down runner at second. Davis, this is trouble high fly ball into left field bullpen, two more runs score 8-4 Jays. Romero not doing very well here again even with a seven run lead. Not good. Betemit, bases empty at least, two down. Full count. strikes out swinging but Romero has given up three here and Orioles are back in this game. 101 pitches for six innings says it all. Bottom 6th: Romero needs even more help here from his hitters. Escobar leading off. First pitch fly ball to Markakis in right, one down, Bautista , 0-2 count Frasor now warming up, lines it into left and stand up double as Betemit still having problems in the corner. Encarnacion with runner in scoring position and one down. Fly ball to Jones in centre. Bautista stays at second. Rasmus, 2-2 count, takes strike three. Bautista left out there at second. Jays are 6-17 with runners in scoring position tonight, wow, that is bad, bad, very bad even for this team. Top 7th: Frasor now pitching. Tolleson , pops it up to second and Johnson running backwards cannot get there. One on for Andino. 0-2 count, takes strike three, nice pitching Jason, one down one on for Hardy. 2-2 count, there it is strike three looking, two down. Markakis, 2-0 count, high to right centre and bounces over the wall, ground rule double as Tolleson would have scored. However two in scoring position for Jones. 3-1 count, outside ball four, bases loaded. Paulino tie run. 0-2 count, Darren Oliver warming up. Grounds to Johnson, throw to Cooper to end the inning. Close but that was all. Bottom 7th: Arencibia, leading off, pops up to Reynolds at first, one down. Lawrie has three hits tonight. Not this time, pops it up to Jones in centre, two down for Cooper, two hit night. 2-2 count, takes strike three, that was not a good at bat David. Top 8th: Darren Oliver now pitching. Reynolds leading off. Singles back up the middle. One on for Davis, singles over head of Escobar, two on nobody out. Betemit, strikes out. Cordero now warming up, oh boy. One down for Tolleson and here comes Farrell, that is it for Oliver and it is Cordero. Hang on here friends this could get ugly. Oliver only threw eight pitches 7 for strikes. Farrell playing percentages again. Endy Chavez pinch hitting for Tolleson. 2-0 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Escobar can only get one here, Chavez too fast to double up on that one, two down. Andino, with two on. 1-2 count, that was very close. 2-2 count, Chavez takes second, strikes out swinging and Jays bullpen escapes again. Bottom 8th: It would be nice, for my heart at least, if Jays could get a couple more here. Davis leading off. 3-3 tonight. Justifies sending Thames down plus his speed in the third inning.. grounds to short, throw just gets him. One down for top of the order. Johnson 0-4 tonight. Does not want 0-5. Strikes out swinging, an evening to forget Kelly. Two down, here comes Showalter, change of pitcher for one out. Serious stuff for Showalter it is Escobar Buck, relax. Luis Ayala now pitching. Full count, grounds to Andino at second, throw to Reynolds at first for the out. Bottom 9th: Casey Janssen again, pitched last night for the save, pushing his limits John. Tough part of the Orioles order. Hardy, 1-2 count, singles into left, one on for Markakis, full count, lines it to right but Bautista makes the catch, one down. Jones, 2-2 count, there it goes, high into left field seats 8-6 game. This team was winning 8-1 of this game at one stage. Paulino, only one out, 2-1 count, drives it to centre and over head of Rasmus to the wall, double for Paulino.Once again Jays are imploding. Error to Rasmus but that was tough play. Reynolds, 2-1 count, Perez warming up 3-1 count. Low ball four, two on for Davis. Pops it up and Lawrie makes a great catch running and sliding for this one. That was one great catch he was playing deep and had a long run just to get to the ball let alone catch it. . Two down for Betemit. B Bounces high to Escobar and steps on the bag at second to get Paulino for final out. Jays win tough but a win is a win. Orioles outhit Jays 12-10. Rest of the division wondering what is going on in Toronto with Baltimore. The excellent: Lawrie three hit night but a tremendous catch in the 9th for an important second out. Davis three hit night and his bunting and speed to create error from Arrieta and score run. Add in two hits for Cooper and the bottom three have 8/12 runs tonight. Disappointing: Romero, still not sharp and although only one walk the Orioles are a power hitting team and not interested in walks. He gets the win but did not earn it tonight. Disappointing top of the order, Johnson 0-5 night. One hit between the top four. RISP 6-17 that is really bad. Add in 28 pitch inning for Janssen. Should Farrell have pitched him after last night ? Maybe not and he certainly will not be out there tomorrow. I guess a win is a win.

Jays beat the Orioles behind great pitching of Hutchison and hitting of Kelly Johnson and Encarnacion

Orioles v Jays. Game one of three. Two teams going in opposite directions, one at the top the other at the bottom. Jays can hardly be looking forward to this week even though they are at home and finished with that lousy 1-5 road trip. Firstly the series three against the division leaders Orioles and then Boston for three, Boston now 24-24 and off the bottom of the division. IF Jays win tonight they can stay above Boston. Jays changes tonight down goes Chad Beck poor guy, one day and down again without one pitch in Texas. In his place Aaron Laffee. Another potential starter and at minimum long relief for this badly beaten up bullpen. Jays need contributions from a few more players this week. Jays are 1-5 against the Orioles to date this season. Tonight rookie Drew Hutchison to try to break five game losing streak against the division leaders. Are the odds stacked here ? Lineups: Orioles: Avery, Hardy, Markakis, Jones, Wieters, Betemit, Davis, Reynolds, Andino, and Hunter pitching. Jays: Johnson, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Thames, Lawrie, Cooper, Mathis, Vazquez and Hutchison pitching. No Escobar with his groin injury but Kelly Johnson is back. I like Rasmus at second, no Arencibia despite his two home run game. Mathis tonight. Top 1st: Avery, full count, takes strike three, one down for Hardy, 2-2 count, takes strike three, two down. Markakis, 2-2 Markakis arguing that strike, grounds to Johnson throw to Cooper at first. Good start for Hutchison. 17 pitch count. Bottom 1st: Johnson leading off, 2-2 count, lines it to the wall in centre, eight pitch at bat by Kelly, very nice start Rasmus, full count, singles to right, here comes Johnson to score 1-0 Jays. Colby has been making strong case to hit number two in front of Jose and I for one support that. Escobar can move down behind Edwin and push Thames further down. Bautista runner at first. Pops up the first pitch to Hardy at short, come on Jose, one down. Encarnacion, one on one down, 2-2 count, fly ball to Markakis in right. Thames, singles to left, two on two down for Lawrie. Pops it up to Andino at second to end this inning. 27 pitches for Hunter. Top 2nd: Jones, grounds to Lawrie at third, low throw to Cooper at first to make the out. One down for Wieters, 2-2 count, fly ball to left centre, Rasmus makes the catch in front of the wall. Betemit, two down, full count, strikes out swinging, very nice, number three tonight. 30 pitch count. Bottom 2nd: Cooper, singles back up the middle, one on for Mathis, lines first pitch into left, two on for Vazquez. How much for a bunt? Perfect bunt up first base line Hunter throw to first for the out as both runners move into scoring position. Johnson, two on one down. Grounds to second, here comes Cooper to score 2-0 Jays. Mathis to third on the play. Two down for Rasmus, full count, grounds to Davis at first takes it himself for the out. 39 pitches and Jays have 2-0 lead. Top 3rd: Davis leading off. Singles to Bautista in right. One on for Reynolds, 3-1 count, outside ball four, first walk tonight. Andino. Need a ground ball here Drew Nice play, they have Davis picked off tags him out and throw to second runner Reynolds safe. Davis called out for running outside base line. Showalter arguing. One down. 3-1 count, ball four, walk number two. Two on one down for top of the order Avery. 0-2 count, very nice, strikes out swinging, two down, two on for Hardy. 2-0 come on Drew. 3-0 throwing more balls now than strikes. High ball four, he is having loads of trouble here throwing strikes. Bases loaded for Markakis. 1-1, perfect grounds back to Hutchison makes a great stop and throw to Cooper for the third out. Helps himself there, Off the hook big-time. 54 pitches. Bottom 3rd: Bautista grounds to third, throw to first ball gets away and Jose safe, escaped there. Encarnacion, yes Edwin, hammers this one deep to left, home run Edwin, 4-0 Jays. Thames, grounds to Andino at second throw to first, one down. Lawrie fly ball to Markakis in right, two down. Cooper singles back up the middle, his second hit tonight. Mathis grounds to Betemit, throw to Davis at first to end this one but Jays have two more. Hunter 59 pitches. Top 4th: Hutchison now pitching with a good lead. Jones, grounds to Vizquel at short, throw to Cooper for the out. Wieters, strikes out swinging, foul tip. Two down for Betemit, 2-2 count, grounds to Vizquel throw to Cooper. 68 pitches. Bottom 4th: Vizquel leading off, singles to Markakis in right. Top of the order Johnson. 2-1 count, Eveland working in the bullpen. Kelly hammers this one to centre, another home run for Jays 6-0 Jays. WOWeee. Rasmus, Here comes Showalter. Eveland to face Colby. Quick hook for Hunter. Colby singles back up the middle. Bautista, reached on the error last at bat and scored on Edwin’s home run. Grounds to short, on to second over to first, double play ball. Two down for Encarnacion. full count, lifts it softly to Andino for third out. Jays get two more. Top 5th: Davis, 1-2 count, strike three looking, six strikeouts. One down Reynolds, grounds first pitch to Vizquel, throw to Cooper two down. Andino, 2-1 count, singles back up the middle. One on two down for Avery. 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging, his third time tonight. Pitch count at 82. Bottom 5th: Thames leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Lawrie, 2-0 count, whoa almost takes Eveland’s head off with that hit back up the middle. Single for Lawrie into centre. Cooper, 2-2 tonight. Strikes out swinging this time. Two down for Mathis. First pitch fly ball to Jones in centre for the final out. Top 6th: Could be last inning for Hutchison, pitch count at 82. Top of the order. Hardy, grounds to Lawrie at third, long hard throw to Cooper for the out. Markakis, full count, grounds to Vizquel, throw to Cooper, two down for Jones, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging at head high ball. Number eight strikeout tonight. 96 pitch count though. Bottom 6th: Vizquel leading off. Pops it up to Betemit at third. Luis Perez warming up in Jays bullpen. Johnson, 2-3 tonight. full count, lines it to left field corner, stand up double, his third extra base hit tonight. Rasmus, bring him in Colby. Also 2-3 night. Grounds to first, throw to Eveland for the out as Johnson to third on the play. Two down runner at third. 2-2 count, pops it up to Wieters the catcher, not a great at bat by Jose. Top 7th: Wieters leading off. Fly ball to Thames in left, one down for Betemit, first pitch identical play for Thames, two down. Davis, 1-1 count, ouch hits him on the foot. One on two down for Reynolds, full count, singles to centre, Davis all the way to third. Andino, two on base, two down. 2-2 count, gets him, strikes out looking. 115 pitches and that will be it for Drew tonight. Three hits, nine strikeouts, three walks. He gave the team and the bullpen a solid start and innings. His longest major league start, we forget the guy is a young rookie, he has set the series bar high now for the big guys Romero and Morrow. Bottom 7th: Encarnacion leading off. Fly ball to left for Avery to make the out. One down for Thames fly ball to Jones in centre, two down for Lawrie, pops it up to Markakis for third out. Three quick outs for Eveland. Top 8th: Luis Perez now pitching. Top of the order, Avery leading off. 3-1 count, high ball four. Hardy, 2-0 count, lost the strike zone here, way high, full count, that’s more like it, grounds to Vizquel, over to Johnson over to Cooper, two for one, double play ball. Markakis, 1-2 count, pops it up to Rasmus in center for third out. Bottom 8th: Bottom of the order. Ex-Jays closer Kevin Gregg now pitching. Cooper leading off. Two hit night for David. 0-2 count, grounds to Sandino at second, throw to first, one down for Mathis. Full count, looked high but third strike called. Vizquel, full count, pops it up to Andino behind second for the final out. Top 9th: Cordero now pitching. Jones leading off. Lines it to Bautista in right. Wieters, 2-2 count, singles back up the middle, Jones to third on the throw. Cordero making it difficult here. Betemit, 1-2 count, singles back up the middle, here comes Jones, 6-1 game. Nobody out two on for Davis. 2-2 count, just can’t finish them off. There he goes strikes out swinging, one down two on for Reynolds. Needs a ground ball here, full count, fly ball to the wall in centre, just misses going out. Wieters scores 6-2 Jays. Betemit at third. Reynolds at second. That is it for Cordero. Had nothing tonight. Casey Janssen now pitching with two in scoring position. Andino, 0-2 count, lines to Johnson for the second out, runners hold to avoid double play. Two down for pinch hitter Nick Johnson. Grounds first pitch to Cooper throw to Janssen for the final out. Jays win big. 6-2 but also close the gap at the top and put Boston below them once more. Both Tampa and Orioles lose today and Boston and Jays win so the division lead is squeezed once more. All five teams within 4.5 games. That is CLOSE. Tomorrow Romero has to keep the pressure on and give his best and get back to his winning form. The excellent: Tonight it had to be Drew Hutchison. The number five guy in rotation pitching after his shortest career outing in Tampa Bay last week, he pitched his career best for seven scoreless innings. Nine strikeouts and only three hits against a very good hitting club. The very good: Has to be Kelly Johnson coming back from the hamstring injury, two run home run, multi-hit 3 RBI game. The good: Encarnacion two run home run. Casey Janssen to close it out after Cordero opened the run gates. Fourth save for Casey. 12 hit night for the Jays with Johnson and Rasmus five between them in the top two lineup positions. Everybody in the lineup with a hit except Jose tonight but he did get on base on the throwing error and crossed home plate thanks to Edwin and his home run. Colby making a very strong case for him to stay number two when Escobar returns. Cooper two hit night. Baseball gods were with Jays tonight. Jays had their guys on base for their home runs as Texas did for theirs.

Jays swept in Texas but fight to the end as Chavez pitches outstanding relief and Arencibia and Rasmus go deep

Jays v Rangers. Series finale game three. Texas is of course in a league of their own. By far the dominating team in the AL. But that being said Seattle has just manhandled them this week. They are beatable. Jays try to avoid the sweep and going 0-5 in their losing streak. No one expects them to win least of all most Jays fans. One advantage is they should be relaxed as there are no expectations of them to win. Drabek pitching against Darvish is hardly an endorsement for a win. Added to the unlikely win column is a pitching staff totally demoralised and beaten up. Romero pitching like a number five rotation, certainly not number one. Morrow I give the benefit of the doubt as I believe the Texas heat may have had something to do with his collapse. Alvarez did pitch well until one inning collapse. Drabek remains to be seen but his problems have always been in his head not his talent and this Texas lineup will probably intimidate him big-time. The rest of the bullpen have not pitched badly, the problem is they are all exhausted and need a few days to recover which they do not have when they return from this horrible road trip to face Baltimore. They desperately need a starter to go deep. Will it be Drabek? Possible but extremely unlikely. However the major beef right now is with Manager. Last season Farrell gave himself a failing mark for his handling of the bullpen and I fear that this season will be a repeat. There is no reason at all why he let Frasor handle Hamilton last night and lose the game. Percentages favoured Hamilton in every category. Putting him on base with runner at second was the option. Do you think Washington would have pitched to Bautista in that situation? no way. Earlier in this road trip using Crawford for two innings. The pitching staff right now is exhausted and demoralised. Drabek has no option but to be the saviour and that alone will probably freak him out. Even if all things were equal Jays have to face Yu Darvish looking for his win number seven. Yes the Jays will win more games but without a miracle this team is not going to be challenging in September or even close. They could very well be the team that everyone wants to play to pad their stats and win columns. Added to their horrors is their freefall to the bottom and right now incredible as it may be, a loss away from being tied with Boston at the bottom of the division. That is not the situation they want to be in facing a series against the Orioles tomorrow. Jays get relief in that bullpen, Chavez and Beck summoned to Arlington. Igarashi and Gomes go down. No problem with Agarashi but Gomes ???? a guy who has 5 RBIS and 2 HRs in eight games. What about Thames? Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Thames, Arencibia, Lawrie, Cooper, Vizquel and Drabek pitching. I like Colby Rasmus hitting in front of Jose. Thames ? still in the lineup. Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Hamilton, Beltre, Young, Murphy, Cruz, Napoli, Moreland and Darvish pitching. Top 1st: Escobar, 3-0, Yunel yet to move his bat. Dow and away ball four, lead off walk, Jays will take that. Rasmus, Inside 1-0, five balls in a row make that six, there’s the first strike and Colby pops it up to Andrus. One down for Bautista, 1-0, Bronx cheer for that strike. 1-2, wild pitch and Escobar to second, Jose strikes out swinging, two down. Encarnacion, grounds to Beltre at third, throw to Moreland at first to only just get Edwin. Interesting start for Darvish, if he pitches like that he will not be around long this game. Control not 100% by any means. Bottom 1st: Drabek 4-4 and that sums it up what you get is 50-50. Kinsler, pops it up to Cooper at first, one down. Andrus, singles to Thames in left. Hit and run. Hamilton pops up to Vizquel drops the ball but throw to Escobar at second to get Andrus. Lost that popup in the sun but recovered nicely. Two down for Beltre, Hamilton running but ground ball to Vizquel throw to Cooper for third out. So far so good for Drabek. Top 2nd: Thames strikes out looking, Arencibia, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Lawrie, 1-2 count, hammers this one into the left field wall, in the corner, stand up double for Lawrie, he has started to be more consistent in his at bats. One on two down for Cooper, 3-0 count, Darvish by no means with control today. It would be nice however to see Lawrie get the green light to steal third here, put some pressure on Darvish, fly ball to Murphy in left, over his head but overhead catch at the wall robs Cooper here of an RBI. Jays have already left two in scoring position. Can’t do that against this team. Bottom 2nd: Young, singles to Bautista in right. Leadoff guy on. Murphy, 3-1, outside ball four, oh boy here we go, two on and nobody out and this sellout crowd is an extra man here to put more pressure on Drabek, they are loud. Cruz, one man wrecking crew this weekend against the Jays, not this time, pops up to Cooper at first, one down. Napoli, way outside, 3-0, outside ball four to load the bases. Same old Drabek. 36 walks so far this season. Ground ball ground ball ground ball. Say that mantra Kyle. Moreland, ball one, way outside, he has definitely lost the strike zone here, 19 balls in 30 pitches. 3-1, take or swing? High, no need to think as he walks in the first run. Man is thus guy awful right now. 1-0 Rangers. Bruce Walton finally out there. Kinsler top of the order, great, doubles to Thames in left two runs score, well I guess better than another walk. 3-0 Texas. Just like that. Andrus, he lines it to the wall in left, Thames had a chance on that at the wall, , two more runs score, 5-0 Texas and this is already a rout again, and only the second inning, long day for the Jays today but maybe not Drabek he way he is pitching. .Hamilton, pops it up to Escobar at short, he is 0-2 today, ironic. Two down for Beltre, oh boy, he has hammered this one deep to left centre and over the wall, home run and two more score. 7-0 Texas. This is another embarrassment for the Jays. The good news for Drabek is that there is no one now on base. Young, lines it hard to left and off the glove of Lawrie into left, when things go wrong they go wrong big-time for this team. Chavez up in the bullpen, second inning, ouch. Murphy, grounds to Vizquel, throw to Cooper to end the agony here. Top 3rd: Jays have no option but to keep on playing this one out, it will be interesting to see if they roll over here. How do you score 8 against Darvish and this lineup? Vizquel. three hit night last night. Lines this one to Hamilton in centre, one down for Escobar. Singles to Hamilton in centre, on base twice today. Rasmus, same again singles to Hamilton, Escobar all the way to third. Bautista, grounds to Beltre at third throw to second to get Rasmus. Escobar scores. Jays are on the board to avoid a whitewash at least. 7-1 Texas. Encarnacion, drives it left off the glove of Beltre, safe at first. Jose to second, two on for Thames one down. Oh boy, lines it to Murphy in left for the out. Ruins yet another inning for the Jays. If Snider were fit surely Thames would have been on the first bus to Vegas. However the good news is that Darvish had a lousy inning there. Bottom 3rd: Cruz, strikes out swinging, one down for Napoli, 57 pitch count here but 30 balls is the story, singles to Thames in left. Moreland, fly ball to Bautista in right, two down. Kinsler, gets hold of this one and bounces off the top of the wall into the seats in left, two run home run. 9-1 Texas. Andrus grounds in front of the plate, Arencibia throw to Cooper for third out but Drabek has given up two more. This game could be a higher score than Friday’s two touchdown score. Top 4th: How do you get motivated with a 9-1 deficit in the 3rd inning. Arencibia leading off. Hammers this one to left, way back in the seats, home run JP. 9-2.Texas. Darvish has not been hot himself today, If only Drabek had been half decent Jays might have taken advantage of him. Lawrie, full count, low ball four, another walk by Darvish. Still no one out. Cooper, there goes Lawrie and safe at second, not even a throw on that one, grounds to short, throw to Moreland at first, Lawrie to third. Vizquel lines out to Young at second, two down. Escobar, bounces one to Young at second, throw to Moreland at first to end this. Yet another left in scoring position. Bottom 4th: Chavez now pitching, Drabek failed miserably but as with Romero and Morrow Jays not getting good starting pitching right now. 67 pitches and 34 strikes, three walks in three inning. Not good enough by a long way. Jesse Chavez 6-2 in Vegas which is very good considering the league is a hitter’s paradise. But not a rookie, he has pitched in the majors with Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Kansas. Hamilton leading off, how would you like that to start with, just the leading AL hitter for your first. Hamilton grounds first pitch to Vizquel, throw to Cooper for the out, Nice start anyway.Beltre, lazy fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down. Young singles to Bautista, one on two down for Murphy, 1-2 count, takes strike three to end the inning, very nice start by Chavez all strikes. Top 5th: Rasmus, drives this one to centre, m stand up double for Colby, he is starting to get into gear, an exciting hitter to watch with that sweet swing. Bautista, 3-1 pitching Jose outside, ball four way outside. Two on nobody out, for Encarnacion. Drives it to left, here comes Colby to score, 9-3 game. Darvish has looked ordinary today. Too bad that Drabek looked and was awful. Here comes the pitching coach. Thames, NO, grounds to Young At second, to Andrus, back to Moreland at first, double play. When oh when is this guy going to be moved ? Either out of the lineup or at minimum way down and not mess up the big bats when they are on base. Arencibia, two down and two on, grounds to short, throw to Moreland at first and another good rally ruined. Bottom 5th: Some changes here. No Escobar ? Davis replaces him and playing in right. Jose to third and Lawrie to short. Nothing going right this weekend for the Jays. They do not need more injuries even if might mean Heccaverria appearing in Toronto earlier. Cruz leading off, strikes out looking. Napoli strikes out swinging, two down. Moreland 3-0 count, careful Jesse, full count, strikes out looking, whoa, Chavez has struck out the side. Now that IS good news. We have not seen that from a Jays pitcher in days. How would you like a job Jesse with this team ? Top 6th: New pitcher, that is it for Darvish, only five innings. 93 pitches, 3 walks and only 54 strikes. Washington obviously getting worried that jays were going to get to his prize pitcher. He had not pitched well all afternoon which will give Washington a $100 million headache. Mark Lowe now pitching. Lawrie, fly ball to Hamilton in centre, one down. Cooper grounds to Young at second over to Moreland at first two down. Vizquel, singles to Cruz in right. One on two down. Davis grounds first pitch back to Lowe, throw to Moreland for the out. Bottom 6th: Kinsler strikes out looking, that is a great out for Chavez. Andrus, lines to right but Davis makes the catch two down for Hamilton. Strikes out swinging. Very nice, another three up and down inning for Chavez. Six strikeouts in 42 pitches and three innings of work. That is good news. Top 7th: Rasmus, pops up to Andrus at short, one down. Bautista, grounds to Andrus throw to Moreland for the second out. Encarnacion, strikes out swinging, Jays go quietly here. Bottom 7th: Beltre, lines out to Vizquel at second, one down. Young, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, oh wow great running diving highlight reel catch by Colby, two down. Murphy, breaks the string here grounds to Bautista at third, bounces off his glove and no chance for a throw, one on two down. That was very unfortunate. Cruz lines to left off the wall here comes Murphy to score, 10-3 Texas. Napoli 2-2 count, drives this one to right, Davis jumping but just over his glove. home run and two more, 12-3 Texas. Moreland strikes out swinging. To be fair to the Jays they have had some rough breaks and that grounder to Bautista was a great example. Nine times out of ten he would have been thrown out and inning over. Not only that Lawrie would probably have made the play at third and Jose would have had that catch in right and. The baseball gods are not happy with the Jays right now. Top 8th: New pitcher Ogando replacing Lowe. Thames, full count, fly ball to Hamilton in centre for the first out. Arencibia connects with this one and high into left field seats, second home run today for JP 12-4 Texas. Jays keep on coming back, just not far enough, Lawrie lines out to Ogando, throw to Moreland, two down. Ogando hurt on that play that was off his pitching arm and trainer out, that is it for Ogando. Jays will leave one Texan hurt this weekend. Tateyama now pitching, Cooper pops up to Beltre at third. Bottom 8th: Kinsler pops up to Lawrie at short, one down. Andrus fly ball to Rasmus. Two down. Gentry pinch hitting for Hamilton, who went 0-4 today, that would have been ignominious to go 0-5 against this Jays pitching. Washington saving his ego here. Funny. Gentry pops up to Cooper at first. Top 9th: Tateyama pitching. Vizquel, ball four, leadoff walk. Davis lines hard to centre but Gentry makes the catch, one down, one on for Rasmus. Turns on this first pitch one and high to right, this one is out of here, he is so fast with that swing, two run home run for Colby and Jays still fighting, 12-6 game. That sounds even respectable ! Bautista, pops up first pitch to Napoli for the second out. Encarnacion, 2-0 count, 2-2 takes strike three. Jays horrible weekend and road trip over as they lose his one 12-6 but to their credit they never gave up and kept hitting. BUT strange as it may sound with some luck this score could have been very different. Take the three runs out of the seventh inning and this one is a lot closer. The good: Let’s concentrate on the good. Rasmus thriving in the number two position, two hit game double and home run. And his great catch off Young in the 7th. Bautista his usual. Let’s talk about Hamilton today 0-4 and avoided his 0-5 by sitting. The very good: Chavez, five amazing innings of relief to save the bullpen from further punishment and give a couple of them an extra day before the Orioles series. Arencibia two home run game. Vladdy hits his first home run for the Jays in Dunedin. Hurry up Vladdy. Thames ticket has been bought by the fans at least. The awful: Drabek, Thames and Jays collectively 1-8 with runners in scoring position. Jays hitters cannot afford to give away runs against Texas. Lots of ifs and buts on this game but it could have been different score with just the smallest changes.

Strange decisons by Farrell hurt the Jays in extra-innings loss to Rangers

Jays v Rangers. Game two of three. Last night was a very good example of how strong this Texas team is. They should win the AL playoffs and could be winners in the World series. There appear to be few weaknesses and they are showing the Jays how far they still have to go to compete with them. It will be no surprise to be swept by them but the real test is how well the Jays perform. This afternoon young Alvarez pitching. A huge test for him against this powerful lineup and it could not have been easy watching Texas score 14 last night. Some changes today with Johnson injured. Escobar back in the leadoff spot, Cooper playing at first and Thames in left. Lineups: Jays: Escobar, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Arencibia, Thames, Lawrie, Cooper, Vizquel and Alvarez pitching. Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Hamilton, Beltre, Young, Murphy, Cruz, Torrealba, Moreland and Lewis pitching. This is NOT a strong lineup to face Texas, almost like the second team today. Top 1st: Escobar leading off, singles to Hamilton in centre. Rasmus, grounds to Andrus at short, throw to second to get Escobar. No chance for two. One on one down for Bautista. Fly ball to Murphy in left, two down. Encarnacion, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Bottom 1st: Kinsler lines to Rasmus, lead off double. Andrus grounds to Alvarez, safe at first as Kinsler moves to third on the play. Texas continuing on from last night. Two on and nobody out and here comes major trouble Hamilton. Grounds to Vizquel, throw to Cooper for first out as Kinsler scores and Andrus to second, 1-0 Texas. Beltre, passed ball and Andrus moves up to second, Beltre fly ball to Thames in left here comes Andrus, 2-0 Texas and two down for Young fly ball to Bautista for third out. Top 2nd: Arencibia, grounds to Kinsler, throw to Moreland one down. Thames fly ball to Hamilton in centre, two down. Cooper strikes put to end the inning. Bottom 2nd: Murphy lines it back at Alvarez, safe at first. Alvarez hurt on the play but continuing, say he is ok. Cruz, strikes out swinging, one down. Torrealba grounds to Lawrie throw to second, error on the play and Murphy safe. Torrealba at first. Moreland lines to Thames in left, bases loaded. Alvarez in trouble again. Kinsler for the second time, grounds to Escobar, throw to Vizquel, on to Cooper double play ball to end this and save Alvarez here. 28 pitches. Top 3rd: Vizquel singles to Cruz in right. Escobar, there goes Vizquel, hit and run and Escobar singles to right, Vizquel to third, two on, nobody out. Jays have something going here. Rasmus, Umpire warning Farrell that his players are on notice re arguing. Full count, takes strike three on the corner, ouch Colby on full count. Bautista, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Encarnacion. 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to second for the out. That my friends is one awful team playing out there right now. Nobody out and runner at third ??? and the two top hitters on the team.....Not good and not hard to see why this team is going nowhere forwards these days.. I feel sorry for Alvarez because you know he is going to start to press. Bottom 3rd: Andrus grounds to Escobar throw to Cooper at first, one down. Hamilton singles to left, Alvarez will take that no problem. Beltre, full count, there goes Hamilton, Beltre singles to Thames in left, Hamilton holds at second even with as running jump unable to go to third. Two on one down for Young, 1-1, nice, lines it to right great running catch by Jose, anticipation and runners have to hold, huge out. Murphy two on two out, full count, outside ball four to load the bases. Cruz, 0-2 count, perfect, (for the Jays that is) grounds to Escobar throw to Vizquel at second to end the inning. Rangers unable to score with runners at second and only one out. Washington will not be pleased with that. Alvarez did well. 48 pitch count for Alvarez. Top 4th: Arencibia, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, Jays hitters cannot lay off that pitch down and away. Thames, grounds to second, throw to first, two quick outs. Lawrie, 2-2 count, grounds to third, throw to first for the out. 68 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Torrealba, 2-2 fly ball to Rasmus in centre, one down. Moreland, 1-2 count, singles to Bautista in right, one on one down for Kinsler, 2-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, over to second on to Cooper, double play ball. 63 pitch count, VERY nice Henderson. Top 5th: Cooper, 2-1 count, singles to left, stayed back on that and drive it opposite field. Nice at bat. Vizquel. Pops it up to Kinsler at second. Escobar, 2-2 today, 2-2 count, takes strike three and does not like it, walks away looking back at the umpire and whining. Escobar you are really pushing it with that umpire. Rasmus, WOWEEE Colby special, rocket to right and high off the foul pole, 2-2 game. I love Colby’s home runs, he has such power for a little guy. Now can he wake up his teammates here. Bautista, singles to Murphy in left, Encarnacion, one on two down. Pops it up to Kinsler. 89 pitch count. Bottom 5th: Andrus, grounds to Lawrie, fumbles it but throws over to Cooper no problem for the out. Hamilton, Shift right. Bat ends up in the crowd. 1-1 count. Grounds to Cooper, takes it himself for the out. Beltre first pitch fly ball to Rasmus. Thank you very much. 7 pitch inning. 70 pitch count. Very nice pitching by Alvarez. Top 6th: Arencibia, grounds to Moreland throw to Lewis for the out. Thames 0-2 and not long for the big leagues, lines it to centre and Hamilton totally misjudged that over his head to the wall. No error on Hamilton but he messed it up, stand up double for Thames. Lawrie,chance here for Brett, no grounds to short, Thames was running and safe on the throw to third. Lawrie at first. Washington not getting any luck on his appeal. Cooper now one down runner at third, come on David. That will do it singles into left past Andrus, Thames scores 3-2 Jays and Lawrie to third on the play nice running by Lawrie. Pitching coach Maddux out there. RBI for Cooper. Runner at third. Vizquel. Bunting ? no, 1-1 count, Beauty, bunts up first base line, perfect, deflected by Lewis. Lawrie scores 4-2 Jays and Vizquel safe at first, Cooper to second. That is the end of the day for Lewis. Alexi Ogando now pitching. Escobar two on one down. Hit and run on but Escobar fouls it off. Grounds to left Andrus throw to third to get Cooper. Two on for Rasmus, high fly ball to centre Hamilton makes the catch but Rasmus hit that hard and far. Bottom 6th: Young, grounds to Alvarez, throw to Cooper for the out. Murphy, one down. Same again thank you, grounds to Alvarez, throw to Cooper for the out. Cruz, two down gets hold of this one home run into left. 4-3 Jays. Torrealba, oh boy, not good, same deal, home run by Torrealba, same place. 4-4 game. Mound conference, settle down now Henderson. Bullpen working. Moreland, 3-0 count, he hammers this one to centre, home run. 5-4 Texas. Kinsler, inside ball one, NO, the umpire has ejected Alvarez, he can’t believe it... Out comes Farrell. No good of course. Jays players are all on notice with the umpires and they have to understand that, no room for second guessing. Perez now pitching. On a 2-2 count. Pops it up to Escobar, nice catch. Top 7th: Jays playing catch up again. Bautista leading off. Drives this one and once again Hamilton is confused, and Jose has a stand up double. Almost out of here. Encarnacion, nothing today Edwin 0-3 your time. Lines it right for the out, no chance for Jose to move up. Arencibia, also 0-3 today. Time these guys stepped up and helped out that will do, singles in to centre, Hamilton bobbles the ball here comes Jose 5-5 game. No error given to Hamilton. Not in Arlington friends. One down for Thames, grounds to Andrus short, throw to second over to first, another double play. Thames really tries our patience doesn’t he? Travis you were injured at the wrong time. Jays get one back but... Bottom 7th: Andrus, 3-0 count, inside ball four. Hamilton, 0-2 count, got him, strikes out swinging. Nice pitching Luis. Beltre, 0-2 count, hit and run and Andrus to third, lines it past Vizquel into right centre, two on at the corners. One down for Young, pops it up to shallow right for Bautista to make the out. Two down. Gentry pinch hitting, lines it to right, a great running sliding catch by Jose on his stomach makes a huge out. Leaving two out there. WOW. Top 8th: Mike Adams now pitching. Jays getting into the Texas bullpen today. Third pitcher for the Rangers. Lawrie leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Cooper, two hit day for David. Lines it to left for Hamilton now in left. Two down for Vizquel. Grounds to first for the out. Bottom 8th: Cordero now pitching, Cruz, fly ball to Bautista in right. One dangerous guy out of the way. Torrealba, full count, nice, strikes him out swinging, two down. Moreland, 3-3 today, how can this guy hit number nine ?? .312 average. Full count, grounds to Vizquel, throw to Cooper, easy three up and down inning for Cordero. Top 9th: Closer Joe Nathan now pitching. Texas serious about this. Escobar leading off. 2-4 today but pushing the patience of the umpires. Fly ball to Gentry in centre, one down for Rasmus. Full count, strikes out swinging on pitch number nine, Colby had good at bat there. Bautista, two down. Two hit today for Jose. High fly ball to Hamilton, just got under that one. Bottom 9th: Kinsler, oh beautiful, hits him on the shoulder. Andrus, showing bunt, strike one. Gets one down this time. Kinsler to second. One down for Hamilton. Putting him on. Two on for Beltre. Takes strike one, 2-2 count, NO, lines to Thames in left for the out but his throw gets away from Vizquel. Runner to third, (huge) error to Thames. Two down for Young, 1-1 count, perfect grounds up the middle, to Escobar throw to Cooper for third out. Very nice. Top 10th: Koji Uehara now pitching. Encarnacion leading off, 2-2 count, pops it up to Moreland at first. Rough day at the office for Edwin today. One down for Arencibia, 0-2 count, ball one Uehara staring down the umpire, good luck friend. Have a hissy fit and see what that does. Strikes out swinging. Two down for Thames, you own your teammates Eric 1-2 count, lines it hard but to Cruz, trying to be a hero when a base hit is all that is needed. How much longer do we have to watch this guy. Bottom 10th: Janssen out there again, no other options I guess but Casey is not a two inning pitcher. Gentry leading off. 1-2 count, no hits him. One on for Cruz, 2-2 count, there goes the runner Gentry, strike three to Cruz for the out, and safe on the throw to at second, one down for Torrealba, fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the out Gentry tags and gets to third. That is it for Casey. Oliver now pitching to Moreland, two down and runner at third. Napoli now pinch hitting.Full count, nice, strikes out swinging. VERY nice. But Jays still have to score runs. Top 11th:Lawrie, first pitch swinging, what a waste of an out, pops it up to second, one down Cooper grounds to second throw to Napoli at first, two quick outs. Vizquel, 1-2 count, and pops it up to Kinsler. Jays don’t deserve to win this thing. That was an appalling display of hitting. Bottom 11th: Kinsler, singles to left, Texas shows the jays how to do it. Andrus, bunts to Cooper looks at second throw to Vizquel to just get Andrus. One down. Hamilton, may want walk Hamilton again. No, they are pitching to him, good luck. 1-2 count, wild pitch runner to third. What would a game be without at wild pitch by the Jays. 2-2 count, that’s ok, grounds to Cooper steps on the bag for second out. Beltre, grounds first pitch to Lawrie throw to Cooper for third out. Top 12th: Third time lucky for Jays hitters. Robbie Ross now pitching. Escobar, taps it in front of the plate, Ross throw to first for one down. Rasmus, full count, low ball four. One on one down. Bautista, 2-5 today, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down. Encarnacion, 0-5 today that is bad very bad Edwin. 1-2 count, there goes Rasmus and safe at second without a throw. At least someone is doing something here. Full count, grounds to short Andrus and safe on the throw at first, Rasmus to third. Two on for Arencibia, grounds back to Ross throw to first to get third out. Jays threatened at least but still not good enough. Five scoreless innings. Bottom 12th: Jays running out of lives now, they have had their chances. Young, singles into right. Gentry showing bunt, 1-2 count, pops it up to Vizquel at second, One on one down for Cruz. Fly ball to right for Jose to make the catch. Two down for Torrealba. Full count, low ball four. Start over but runner at second. Napoli, 1-2 count, pops it up to right, Jose battling the sun but makes the catch. Top 13th: Can the Jays hitters get something going here? Scoreless since the 7th inning, that is NOT good. Thames, when will he ever do something? Ross still pitching. No not Thames, Rajai Davis this time. Grounds to Beltre at third, throw to first, one down. Lawrie, don’t be a hero here Brett base hit is fine. There we go, singles into left. One on for Yan Gomes pinch hitting for Cooper. 0-2 count, you can’t do that Yan, takes strike three looking. Have to swing in this situation. Vizquel, two down one on. 2-0 count, wild pitch, Lawrie to second. Jays need every piece of luck they can get here. Full count, YES Omar, singles back up the middle here comes Lawrie well ahead of the throw and Jays score, 6-5 game. Nice at bat by Vizquel. Eight pitch at bat. That is the end of Ross. Escobar to face Yoshinori Tateyama. 1-2 count, Vizquel takes second. OH !!! lines it to right and Cruz drops the ball, here comes Vizquel, 7-5 Jays. Error to Cruz. Rasmus with Escobar at first. 1-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first for the out.Can Jays hold this now? Bottom 13th: Ryota Igarasahi now pitching. Does he have anything left after pitching last night 41 pitch outing. Top of order for Texas, Kinsler, full count. Ball four, Andrus, one on. 2-0 he has thrown so many high inside pitches. Lines it to the wall in left, here comes Kinskler to score 7-6 Jays. Farrell should be out there and fast. This guy has nothing. Now he comes out. Fraser now pitching but he has his hands tied with runner at second and nobody out, has no room for error. Hamilton, why on earth are they pitching to him? strike one. 1-2 count, hammers this to centre. Home run Hamilton and Jays lose this one 8-6. Major errors by Farrell tonight ruin this game. The very good: Jose, hitting and the glove today. Bullpen in relief. Vizquel eight pitch at bat against Ross in the 13th to score Lawrie. Jays actually outhit Rangers tonight 15-14. Better with runners in scoring position 5-14. Rangers 2-16. Jays are probably lucky that Rangers were so bad today. The bad, no the very bad: Jays hitting in extra innings by Thames, Cooper, Lawrie and Gomes. Farrell’s major error in pitching Igarashi in the 13th, he had nothing. And then to compound it he pitches to Hamilton with first base open. Cost them the game tonight.

Jays thrashed 14-3 by overpowering Texas bats and poor outing by Morrow

Jays v Rangers in Arlington. Game one of three. Lots of changes by Jays today. Evan Crawford down to Vegas, no surprise and seconded by this writer. Giving up two runs the last time he pitched when Jays had just come back with four of their own against the Rays 6-0 lead was his final straw. However I have no idea why Farrell gave him two innings of work when everyone else was getting one and also after he had given up a run. Our Manager is a pitchers delight. No Cito hook in sight. Cooper up for how long ? What does that say to Lind battling away in Vegas and hitting .500 before last night at least. Last change is another pitcher. Ryota Igarashi. Francisco on the DL with hamstring injury from Sunday’s game. More comments today about attitude of Lawrie and Escobar in the face of umpires. Comments are that they aqree over the top and I for one agree 100%. Neither player is helping the team by going after the umpires. It is not the reputation that this team needs. Problem is Lawrie does not see anything wrong in his approach. Bautista tried to excuse Escobar and himself today by saying that Latin players react differently, no Jose, maybe true but that is no reason to continue. Everyone gets lousy calls but most suck it up. Tonight Morrow v Holland. What to expect ? Who knows ? This Jays team is so unpredictable; everyone hopes that Morrow bubble will not burst. One good sign has been Jose going to the opposite field and adjusting to that constant diet of outside pitches. Lineups: Jays: Johnson, Escobar, Bautista, Encarnacion, Arencibia, Rasmus, Lawrie, Gomes, Davis and Morrow pitching. Good to see both Davis in left and Gomes at first. I think this is the strongest lineup that Farrell can put out there right now. Will it be enough against the possible World Series champions? Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Hamilton, Beltre, Young, Murphy, Cruz, Torrealba, Moreland and Holland pitching. Top 1st: Johnson leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Escobar.1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, strikes out the side on 13 pitches. Bottom 1st: Matt Joyce has just hit a two out grand slam off Jon Lester in Fenway, Ouch. Kinsler, full count, fouling them off here, low ball four. 13 pitch at bat. Andrus, wild pitch, what would a Jays game be without a wild pitch or two or three. Kinsler at second, inside ball four, two on nobody out for Hamilton. Just what Morrow needed. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre, throw to second. One down Beltre, both runners move up to second and third. 0-2 count, singles to Bautista in right, both runners score 2-0 Rangers. Young, singles to Rasmus in centre, not a great start here. Bruce Walton out to settle Morrow down. This game could be over very quickly at this rate. Murphy, full count, high ball four to load the bases. An eight pitch at bat. Cruz with only one down. 2-0 almost hit him inside. Jays bullpen Villanueva working. Drives it to right centre wall, clears the bases 5-0 Texas. Double for Cruz. This might be the shortest outing for Morrow tonight. Torrealba grounds to Lawrie at third looks Cruz back and throw to Gomes for second out. 37 pitches to get two out, not good. Moreland number nine guy. Singles to Rasmus in centre, here comes Cruz, 6-0 Texas. Kinsler who started this with that long at bat. Lines it to centre over the head of Rasmus in centre. That is it for Morrow, very unusual start for him. You have to wonder whether or not the Texas heat has affected his diabetes?? I hope not. Villanueva now pitching, both runners in scoring position. Andrus, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays have a lot of work to do against Holland. Top 2nd: Encarnacion, 1-1 count, pops it up to Cruz in right. One down. Arencibia, full count, strikes out, Rasmus, two down. Drives it into right field corner, stand up double for Colby. Lawrie, drives it to Cruz in right for the out. Stuck his glove out in desperation as it sailed over his head and the ball stuck in the webbing. He is laughing himself, he knew he was very lucky. Robbed Lawrie of an RBI and a double for himself. It is one of those nights for the Jays tonight. Bottom 2nd: Hamilton. Lines it into second deck right field, home run Hamilton. 7-0 Texas. Beltre, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Young, grounds to Johnson, throw to Gomes, two down. Murphy, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, on three pitches, nice pitching by Carlos. Top 3rd: Gomes, 0-2 count, takes strike three, one down for Davis. 0-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first two down. Johnson. Full count, singles to right, Escobar two down one on. First pitch !!! grounds to short, throw to second to get Johnson. I can’t wait for Escobar to be replaced at short. He does not get it that he has to get on base any way he can for Jose behind him. Thus he should not be hitting number two in my book. Bottom 3rd: Cruz, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Torrealba, 2-0 count. Pulls it to left just around foul pole. 8-0. Moreland, grounds to Johnson, throw to Gomes, two down for Kinsler. 2-1 count, strikes out swinging. Top 4th: Bautista leading off. With nobody on base yet again. 2-1 count, fly ball to Murphy in left for the first out. Encarnacion, lines it into left corner throw out at second, nothing much going right tonight for this group. Not a smart play by Edwin. Two down for Arencibia, grounds to third, throw is wild and pulls first base Young off the bag and Arencibia is safe. Should be an error to Beltre ? One on for Rasmus, yes, error now given to Beltre. It was terrible throw, he had time. Now that unecessary out by Edwin is big. Full count, lines it to right, Cruz just makes the catch near the wall for third out. Bottom 4th: Andrus, 3-0 count, high ball four, leadoff walk, Hamilton. Pops it up to Escobar at short, one down for Beltre. 2-1 count, singles to left, Andrus to third. Two on one down for Young. Full count, strikes out swinging at ball in the dirt, two down. Murphy, lines it to Bautista in right. First inning no runs by Texas. Top 5th: Time for Jays hitters to get something going, they have been close but a couple of not so smart plays have ruined any impetus. Lawrie, singles to centre, no lucky catch his time. Gomes, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Davis pops up first pitch to second, two down. Not a good at bat Rajai. Johnson, pops it up to Murphy. Jays hitters seem to have given up here. Bottom 5th: Cruz, singles to left. Torrealba, 0-2 strikes out, Torrealba doing an Escobar with the umpire, come on guy look at the score. One down one on for Moreland. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down for Kinsler. Pops it up into shallow right, no man’s land, everything they hit drops in or goes out. One of those nights for Texas. Two on two down Andrus, fly ball to Bautista for easy out. Top 6th: Escobar, what will he do this time? Takes ball one, and ball two, and strike one and strike two. His bat has not moved yet. Full count. Takes strike three. Bautista, 0-2 count, takes strike three. Jose has a beef that was no strike but umpires are fed up with Jays whiners. Encarnacion, two down. Encarnacion full count, does not like that call, that’s the way Edwin payback as he hammers this one into seats in left, home run for Edwin, 8-1 Texas. Arencibia. Pops it up foul and Young drops it, wow, a good job they can hit them out, strikes out swinging. Bottom 6th: Ryota Igarashi now pitching, just called up today. Hamilton leading off. Tough assignment. Full count, outside ball four but that was 11 pitches, I think Igarashi gets the moral victory against Hamilton. Beltre, another full count, takes strike three, Beltre arguing now. Does not make any difference. Young one on one down, 0-2 count. Singles to Davis in left. Hamilton all the way to third. Murphy, 0-2 count, takes strike three, he does not like the call either. Tough. Two down. Cruz, two on two down. Singles to Rasmus, Hamilton scores, 9-1 Texas. Torrealba, 0-2 count. Singles to Rasmus, runner held at third, bases loaded. Moreland. 2-2 count, singles to left, another run scores 10-1 Texas. Bases still loaded, Kinsler at bat. Full count. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Gomes for the out. Top 7th: Rasmus leading off. Holland on 92 pitches. Lines it very hard to right but Cruz is there for the out, nice hit Colby. Lawrie grounds first pitch to first takes it himself for the out, two down. Gomes, pops it up to Andrus, easy inning for Holland. Six pitches. Jays not showing much fight or grind here. Pity. Bottom 7th: Frasor now pitching. Cooper now at first. Gomes is now catching. Andrus leading off.1-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper for the out. Gentry pinch hitting for Hamilton, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper. Two down. Beltre. Lines to left. Pinch runner Alberto Gonzalez. Young, full count, singles to Bautista in right. Gonzalez to third. Murphy with two on two down, another full count. Low ball four to load the bases. Cruz, grand slam into right field, You could see that coming a mile away. 14-1 Texas. Torrealba, 0-2, umpire gives Frasor that strike out of pity. Strikes out swinging to end the misery for Fraser but he was just awful. 30 pitch inning. Top 8th: Davis leading off, Holland still out there. 2-0 count, 3-0 count, high ball four, Davis on base. Jays need base runners Coach is out there leaves him in ??? Why? Johnson, no Omar Vizquel pinch hitting. To rest that injury for Johnson. 2-0 six balls in a row, ball three but Vizquel pops it up to second for the out. That would have been seven balls in a row. Maybe time to get him out of there. Now Washington comes out. Well at least he could not get a complete game, Jays get some satisfaction. Mark Lowe now pitching. One on one down. Escobar doubles to right, Davis to third, not sure why he didn’t score on that. But two in scoring position for Jose, 2-0 count, singles to left here comes Davis followed by Escobar,14-3 Thames pinch running for Jose. I hope they don’t bat around and score 10 here Encarnacion, One on one down. 3-1 count, Washington will not be amused with Lowe. Full count, grounds to third, throw to second gets Thames, two down for Cooper. Grounds up the middle throw to first gets Cooper. Jays get two more. Bottom 8th: Mathis, yes Jeff Mathis now pitching. Oh boy. Farrell not happy with the bullpen usage. Moreland, doubles to left, Kinsler, full count, pops it up to Escobar, one down. Andrus, 3-0 count, ball four, you have to wonder about Andrus now swinging, game is a blowout and he is taking the pitches ??? Ah well. Gentry. Fly ball to Thames for the second out. Gonzalez, fly ball to Thames or third out. At least he was swinging unlike Andrus. Top 9th: Jays need 11 to tie. Rasmus, Lawrie and Gomes due up. Yoshinori Tateyama now pitching, sidearmer. Rasmus drives the opposite way to Murphy in left for the out. Lawrie. 1-2 count, takes strike three inside, two down for Gomes, 1-2 count, grounds to Andrus at short, throw to first. Jays embarrassed tonight 14-3. Jays pitchers throw 203 pitches. Texas 126. Seven more walks by Jays pitching staff. Six extra base hits (including the grand slam off Frasor) 12 of the 18 hits were singles nickel and dime hits just missing the fielders all night long. The good: Not much tonight. Jays had lost this one the very first hitter who took 13 pitches off Morrow for his walk, and it went downhill quick from there. Edwin home run and Rasmus hitting hard and of course Jose two RBI single, and that was it. Lawrie was robbed of RBI by a desperation catch by Cruz in right. Bad: Edwin out trying to stretch a single into a double. Escobar as always first pitch swinging when they needed base runners. The concerns: Pitching: Top two in the rotation Romero and now Morrow. What is the problem? Jays were out on the field a long time tonight. The bullpen is now in a mess first game of the series. This could get uglier if Jays pitching staff unable to come through tomorrow and Sunday.

Romero walks this one away as Jays lose this in extra innings desoite home run power from Jose and Edwin

Romero walks this one away as Jays lose in extra innings despite home run power from Jose and Edwin. Jays v Rays. Series finale. One game each. Jays went close last night and came back from 6-0 deficit but Crawford could not close down the Rays. The not so good both Lawrie and Escobar now arguing with the umpires. Great chance for Jays to win here and the series, Romero pitching BUT Romero has been terrible the last two games. 14 walks in last three starts. Lineups: Jays: Johnson, Escobar, Bautista, Encarnacion, Arencibia, Thames, lawrie, Rasmus, Gomes and Romero pitching. Rays: Pena, Upton, Joyce, Sutton, Scott, Johnson, Rhymes, Giminez, Thompson and Shields pitching, going for win number 7. Top 1st: Johnson, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Escobar. Why would he be bunting ? with his speed. Fortunately misses, 1-2 count, grounds back to Shields, off his leg but throw to Pena at first, two down for Bautista. 3-0 count, there’s a strike. OH WOWEEE Jose, hammers this one, a missile to left centre, way back in the seats, 1-0 Jays. Encarnacion, another 3-0 count. Full count, two down, inside ball four. One on two down for Arencibia. 0-2 count, OH MY almost, lines it to left and just foul inches away from hitting the foul pole, that was rough. Strikes out swinging. Bottom 1st: Pena leading off. Full count, low, high, low, outside, high, ball four, all over the zone and this is the first hitter, leadoff walk. Upton one on, 1-2 count, nice pitch, strikes out swinging, one down for Joyce, 3-1 count, inside ball four, second walk for Romero, his old bugbear. Two on one down for Sutton. 0-2 count, lines to left, Thames no good, late to the ball and dive, need Rajai Davis out there for speed and he would have caught that. two runners score 2-1 Rays. Scott with runner at second, one down. 1-2 count, wild pitch, runner holds at second. Grounds to Gomes at first, takes it himself as runner goes to third, two down for Johnson. Strikes out swinging, but six to the plate, two walks and two runs is not the start we were hoping for from Romero today. Top 2nd: Thames, 0-2 strikes out swinging. One down for Lawrie, grounds to Rhymes throw to Pena at first, two quick outs. Rasmus, singles to centre. Two down one on. 0-2 count,strikes out swinging to end the inning. Bottom 2nd: Rhymes, 3-1 count, low ball four, walk number three. Giminez, there goes Rhymes, 0-2 count, strikes put swinging, one down. Thompson, 0-2 count, grounds to Gomes, throw to second no chance for two. Two down, there goes Thompson, picked off, out at second. Not a smart move by Thompson to end the inning. Top 3rd: Johnson, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Escobar, full count, rounds to Johnson at shirt, throw sails over the head of Pena at first. Error on the play.Escobar not quick enough to move up. Bautista, one on one down. NO, they have Escobar picked off at first. That should make Jose furious. Two down. Grounds hard back at Shields, throw to first to get Bautista to end the inning. Bottom 3rd: Pena, oh he hits him, first pitch way inside. One on for Upton. Lines it down the line into right field. Runners at second and third and nobody out. More trouble for Romero. Joyce, grounds to Gomez, run scores, 3-1 Rays. One down one on for Sutton, 2-0 high ball three. Low ball four. Get the bullpen working John. He never will. Two on one down, Scott, grounds to Johnson, throw to Escobar back to Gomes not in time. Upton scores 4-1 Jays. Johnson, with Scott at first. 2-2 strikes out swinging to end this one but Ricky has uphill battle today. Top 4th: Shields cruising so far at least, five strikeouts in first nine hitters. Encarnacion, 1-2 count, lifts this one high to centre for Upton to make the out, just got under it Edwin. Arencibia, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down. Thames, 2-2 count, grounds to Pena at first, throw to Shields covering for another three up and down inning for Shields. Bottom 4th: Rhymes, grounds to Escobar, throw to Gomes for the out. One down for Giminez, pop it up, almost a collision between Lawrie and Romero as they both go for it, but Lawrie makes good sliding catch. That could have been nasty. Thompson, 1-2 strikes out swinging. Only seven pitches but these innings rare for Ricky these days. 67 pitch count. Top 5th: Lawrie, singles into centre. Rasmus, 2-2 count, grounds to Pena, throw to Johnson at second and ball gets away into centre field, Lawrie to third on the play, error to Pena. Gomes, first pitch high and to Upton in centre, sac fly by Gomes and Lawrie scores the Jays second run. Rasmus at first, there he goes and safe at second without a throw. Johnson with runner at second. Strikes out for the third time tonight. Two down for Escobar. Steps out but time not given and strike two. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, Escobar discussing the time out, he never learns. Umpire is very emphatic, leave it alone Yunel. You are getting a whiner reputation. Bottom 5th: Pena, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Upton, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Joyce, shift right, loops to shallow right for Lawrie to make nice athletic catch. Another good inning for Romero but Jays still have work to do against Shields. Top 6th: Bautista, leading off, grounds to Rhymes, throw to Pena at first, one down for Encarnacion. Singles to centre. Arencibia, one on one down grounds to Johnson, throw to second over to first. Umpire calls Edwin safe but Rhymes came off the bag. Error to Rhymes. Thames with two down and one on. 0-2 count strikes out swinging. Jays have had their chances. Bottom 6th: Sutton 2-0 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Gomes, one down. Scott, shift right. Bunting foul, full count, outside ball four. Walk number five for Ricky tonight. One on one down. Johnson, bunting foul and again 1-2 count, 2-2 there goes the runner Scott and throw to Johnson, tags him on the helmet as he slides underneath, two down full count. Low ball four. Rhymes, pops it up to left foul, Thames ambling over and now runs and dives far too late. Another example of where Davis would be better. Probably if Thames had not dived he would have had that. 2-2 count, 100 pitches for Ricky. Grounds to Gomes at first, steps on the bag for third out. Top 7th: Lawrie, grounds to third, throw beats him to first, closed but not in time, one down for Rasmus. Bunting great bunt but just rolls foul. Nice bunt though Colby. Full count, lines this one to centre, over the head of Upton and off the wall, Colby legging this one out safe at third, triple for Colby. Gomes, grounds to third, throw to first to get Gomes. Johnson, 1-2 count, strikes out, swinging number four tonight for Kelly. Ouch. Shields will not be getting a Christmas card from Kelly this year. Jays ruin another opportunity to bring in the runner from third. Bottom 7th: Giminez, 3-0 count, high and outside, walk number seven, that is it today Ricky. Fraser now pitching. Thompson, runner at first. Strikes out swinging, one down for Pena. Lines it to right, Jose unable to get that and all the way to the wall. Giminez holds at third. Runners at second and third. Luis Perez warming up. 2-1 count, grounds to Johnson at second, throws home and gets Giminez coming home, two down. That is it for Frasor. Luis Perez now pitching. Joyce two down.Two on. There goes Upton no throw to second. 3-0, not what you were hired for Luis. High ball four to load the bases. Oh dear. Sutton, 2-0 count, six in a row. Here comes Bruce Walton. Strike one, strike two, strike three swinging. Nice pitching Luis. Leaves the bases loaded. Top 8th: Escobar leading off. 0-2 count, grounds to Pena at first, steps on the bag for the out. Bautista, 1-2 count, lines it to left centre, all the way to the wall, leadoff double. That is it for Shields. Jays have out hit Rays 7-3 but trail by two runs. Joel Peralta now pitching. Encarnacion with Jose in scoring position. 2-1 count, drives this one to left centre and YES Edwin this one is out of here, huge hit, two runs score to tie this one up 4-4. Edwin having a great first half of the season. 37 RBIs put him second after Texas Hamilton. Arencibia, 0-2, strikes out swinging. Two down for Thames not a good game for Eric today. 0-3 and a couple of weak plays in the outfield, singles this time into right. Lawrie one on. Bounces to second beats Thames to the bag for third out. Bottom 8th: Cordero now pitching. Scott leading off. Grounds to second, off the glove of Johnson, no chance for an out. One on for Johnson bunting, foul. This time to first base and throw to Gomes for the out. Runner Scott at second, Rhymes, full count, loops it into right centre nice running catch by Rasmus, two down. Stephen Vogt pinch hitting. Full count, loop this one into centre but great running play by Rasmus. This guy is worth his money for defence alone. Top 9th: Rodney pitching. Molina catching, Rasmus, drives first pitch right back at Rodney knocks it down to save a single and throw to Pena at first to rob Colby. Not fair. Gomes. High pop up to left centre for Thompson to make the out. Two down for Johnson 0-4 today. 0-2 count. Does not want five strikeouts. That’s better pulls it to right into the corner, stand up double. Saves some embarrassment at least. Escobar, no, first pitch, grounds to third throw to Pena at first for the out. That was another bonehead play. Take a couple of pitches Yunel, you have Kelly at second in scoring position. Put some pressure on Rodney. Bottom 9th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Vizquel in for Johnson. Thompson, 2-2 count. Grounds back to Casey, nice play and throws a bullet to Gomes for the out. One down for Pena. Full count. High ball four. One on one down. Upton, singles to left, two on one down for Joyce, runner in scoring position. Another full count, nice pitch strikes out swinging. Two down for Sutton, another full count, grounds to right, great diving stop by Vizquel, gets up and throws home to get Pena coming home. What a game saving play. Extra innings today. Top 10th: Bautista, pops it up to third, one down. Encarnacion, 0-2 count, high ball one. Just wide of that foul pole in right, almost. 2-2 count, full count, grounds to first, throw to Rodney covering for the second out. Arencibia, 2-2 count, swings at ball in the dirt to end the inning. Bottom 10th: Darren Oliver now pitching. Scott leading off. Full count, ball four. One on for Johnson. 1-2 count, takes strike three. One down. Rodriguez, 1-2 count, whoa... fly ball to centre, Rasmus takes it right in front of Jose, too close. Two down for Molina. full count, strikes out swinging. Molina not happy. Top 11th: Jake McGee now pitching for the Rays Thames leading off. 1-2 count, lines it off McGee, bounces to Pena gets Thames diving for the bag at first. Lawrie, average dropping these days. One hit today. Pitchers adjusting to him faster than he is to them. 0-2, strikes out swing, on three pitches. Not good Brett. Rasmus, 2-4 today including the triple. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Bottom 11th: Oliver out there again. Thompson, thinks he was hit, umpires disagree. This one hits him, Jays say he leaned into the pitch, replay agrees. Thompson, get on any way he can, legal or no. If he can get away with it he will keep on doing it. Pena, one on, strikes out swinging, nice pitch Darren. Upton, one down one on. 2-2 count, need a ground ball here Darren. Lines it into left, here comes Thompson to score. Not a very pleasant taste in the mouth to see Thompson get that run. Rays win 5-4. Jays getting closer to beating Rays in Tampa but they need Romero to win a game one day. He has to be one of the biggest disappointments of the season to date, ever since the California road trip. Definitely not the ace of this staff at the moment. Maybe he never will be and team will have to recognize that. Perhaps if Cecil returns Romero can go down to the minors and find out what is wrong with him. Is it physical or mental? The good today: Definitely Bautista and Encarnacion, they are doing their jobs as is Casey Janssen. Bullpen of Frasor, Perez, Cordero and Janssen did their job to hold the Rays and bail out Romero. Vizquel in defensively for Johnson throw home to get Pena. Gomes a RBI sac fly. Continues his great form. Rasmus two great defensive plays in the eighth inning to save a run and a triple at the top of the eighth. Must be his lucky number. Close extra inning game and only one run off a series win in Tampa, maybe something to feel good about. BUT so frustrating. 15 straight series wins over the Jays. How bad is that record. Jays had their hits today but not when runners were at third. This could have been a very different result. The most unlucky award of the day, definitely Arencibia in the first with a hit to left that missed the foul pole by inches, that would have been a two run home run and of course now made the big difference in the score. A game of inches. The bad: Escobar in the ninth, first pitch out when Johnson had just got on base. Plus being picked off at first. He is also not the ideal guy to have hitting in front of Jose, maybe has to move down and Farrell put someone like Gomes hitting second. If only for one game to make a point to him. Just seems to have too many brain cramps at the wrong times. The very bad: Romero, no control today seven more walks. 21 in the last four starts. WOW! That is definitely not something to brag about despite any number of strikeouts. Control. Jays now fly to Texas, good luck, it definitely does not get any easier

Jays lose 8-5 to Tampa despite excellent come back.

Jays v Rays. Game two of three. Two rookie pitchers tonight. Hutchison v Moore. Lineups: Jays: Johnson, Escobar, Bautista, Encarnacion, Arencibia, Lawrie, Rasmus, Gomes, Davis and Hutchison pitching. Gomes playing at first base, Edwin is DH. Rays: Pena, Upton, Joyce, Zobrist, Scott, Rodriguez, Sutton, Giminez, Johnson and Moore pitching. Top 1st: Johnson leading off, 2-2 count, strikes out, Giminez drops the ball, throw to first for the out. Escobar, 0-2 count, grounds to short, throw to first, two down. Bautista, 1-2 count. singles into right. Leans out to make contact with this and pokes it into right. Encarnacion. Full count, low inside ball, two on for Arencibia. 0-2 strikes out swinging to end the inning. Bottom 1st: Pena, grounds to Escobar at short, throw to Gomes playing at first tonight for the out. Upton, full count, pulls it into left for standup double. Joyce two down one in scoring position. Full count, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Gomes. Upton to third on the play. Two down for Zobrist. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Top 2nd: Lawrie, strikes out swinging, one down for Rasmus, grounds to first for the out, two down for Gomes. Bounces one back to Moore, fields it himself and throws a strike to first for the final out. Bottom 2nd: Scott, goes the other way and lines it high into the left field seats. Home run and Pena, Upton, Joyce Rays go out ahead 1-0. Rodriguez, fly ball to left, great speed of Rajai Davis in left to make the catch. One down for Sutton, strikes out swinging, two down. Giminez, lines softly to Johnson at second but Rays strike first. 1-0 game. Top 3rd: Davis, strikes out swinging, one down for Johnson, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down, bounces it in front of home plate but catcher Giminez unable to make the play and safe at first is Escobar. Bautista, two down. Lines it to right but Zobrist makes the good catch to end the inning. Bottom 3rd: Johnson, singles back up the middle, one on for Pena. There goes Johnson, safe on the throw. 2-2 on Pena. Strikes out, one down for Upton. Pops it up to Johnson in shallow right centre, two down for Joyce. Hits him, missed badly. two on two down. Zobrist. Fly ball to Bautista in right to end this one. Top 4th: Encarnacion, high pop up to Joyce in left for the out. Arencibia, grounds to Johnson at short, throw to first, two down.Lawrie, lines it to first off the arm of the umpire, not good has to leave the game. Lawrie always Lawrie and the umpires. Strikes out swinging. Bottom 4th: Scott leading off. Full count, lines this one to right and off the wall, stand up double. Rodriguez, bunting, nice diving catch by Hutchison , one down. Sutton, lines it into right field corner, Scott scores, 2-0 Rays. Sutton a double. Giminez, wild pitch and Sutton to third. Grounds to Lawrie, Sutton coming home and safe on throw by Lawrie. 3-0 Rays with Giminez to first. Johnson, lines to Davis in left. Two on for Pena, hammers this one to deep centre, off the scoreboard and Rays go out 6-0. Hutchison shellshocked out there. Upton, pops it up to Escobar at short two down.Joyce, 3-1 count, lines it to Bautista in right for the out. Top 5th: Jays long haul back in this one but plenty of time. Rasmus leading off 3-0 count, ball four outside, Jays need runners. One on for Gomes, 2-2 count, grounds back to the pitcher throw to second, Rasmus upends him as he throws to first and throw off the bag Gomes safe at first, one down. Davis, 1-2 count, grounds to short, throw to second to get Gomes, over to first not in time to get Rajai, speed once again., Two down. Johnson, There goes Rajai and safe on the throw. Speed. full count, there goes Rajai, no throw, outside ball four. Two on two down for Escobar. 3-1 high ball four, bases loaded for Bautista. Full count, lines it to left,here comes Davis, followed by Johnson and Jays are on the board with two. 6-2 Rays. Encarnacion, runners at the corners two down. Another full count, grounds to third Rodriguez throw to first gets away, Zobrist throw home gets away, two more runs score and two errors on that play, wowowow... 6-4 game. All of the runs scored with two strikes and two outs. Moore never knew what hit him there as he heads to the dugout. Badenhop now pitching. Arencibia with one on and two down. Lines it to right but Zobrist makes the catch. Jays are back in this one. Bottom 5th: Evan Crawford now pitching. Zobrist all over this pitch but foul left. full count, singles to Rasmus in centre. Scott, 3-1 count, pops it up to Arencibia, makes the catch with both hands, one down. Rodriguez, first pitch, pops it up to Gomes in foul ground at first, two down. Sutton, singles back up the middle to Rasmus. Two on for Giminez two on two down. Lines to Davis in left, throw to Crawford relay to Escobar at 3B to tag out Sutton, one run Zobrist scores but could have been been much worse. 7-4 Rays. Top 6th: Wade Davis now pitching. Lawrie leading off. Pops first pitch up to Zobrist in right, one down. Rasmus, 2-2 count, pops it up to Rodriguez, two down . Gomes, WOW !!! launches this one, a huge shot to left, home run Yan. Wow HUGE. 7-5 Rays. Thames pinch hitting for Davis. Strikes out on three pitches, some pinch hitter. I maintain that Jays have more value kin Davis than Thames. Bottom 6th: Johnson leading off. Lines it into left stand up double. Pena, 0-2 count, Luis Perez warming up. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre, one down for Upton. There goes Johnson, throw by Arencibia to Lawrie gets him at third, wow great play, two down. Oh boy, Upton hammers this one high to left into the seats and Jays fall back again, 8-5. At least Johnson was not on base. Joyce, shift on right, grounds to Lawrie in shallow right, throw to Gomes for third out. But rays get that one back. Not sure that Crawford is ready yet for the big show. Top 7th: Johnson, pops it up into shallow left but Rodriguez makes nice catch. One down for Escobar, 2-0 count, pops it up to right for to make the catch. Two down for Bautista, 2-3 tonight, singles into left. Third hit tonight. Encarnacion, two down one on. Singles to left, Bautista all the way to third on the play, throw is late. Two on two down for Arencibia. 1-2 count, fly ball to Zobrist in right to end this one. Jays are running out of at bats. Bottom 7th: Luis Perez now pitching. Zobrist leading off. Pops it up to Escobar, one down. Scott, shift right on. 1-2 count, fly ball to right, but Lawrie makes the catch on the line. Rodriguez, singles to Rasmus in centre, one on two down for Sutton, fly ball to Rasmus to make the catch and Perez did his job. Top 8th: Joel Peralta now pitching. Lawrie leading off. 1-2 count, grounds to third, Rodriguez throw gets away at first and Lawrie safe. One on for Rasmus, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Gomes, lines to hard to Upton, centre, but makes the catch, oh Lawrie also out he had gone past second base and had to return on that out, but because he had gone past the bag he was out. Lawrie arguing but no joy. Bottom 8th: Villanueva now pitching. Giminez pops up first pitch to Lawrie at third. Johnson grounds back to Villanueva throw to Gomes at first for second out. Pena, shift right on, lines to right Lawrie in shallow cuts it off but throw not in time to get runner. One on two down for Upton. 3-1 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Gomes at first for final out. Top 9th: Jays down to their last three. Rodney now pitching. Thames, 3-1 count, fly ball to Upton in centre for the first out. Top of the order, Johnson. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. Escobar, 1-2 count, takes strike three, you cannot do that Yunel, arguing with the umpire, good luck. Jays fought back but Crawford unable to help them in his two innings. Not sure why Farrell gave him two innings when Perez and Villanueva get one each. But Farrell always has his reasons, probably ego building for Crawford or something. The excellent: Bautista three hit night. Gomes another home run. The very good: Jays speed noted in that fifth inning staying out of double plays twice, Rasmus slide at second to break up double play. Rajai Davis speed to get on base. Not so good: Crawford, not good to give up two more runs after Jays had closed the gap.Maybe Crawford should be pitching in Vegas.

Jays fightback successful tonight as they beat Rays 6-2

Jays v Rays. Game one of three. Great news for Jays, Arencibia, AL Player of the week with his 4 home runs and 10 RBIs. The first Jays catcher in 35 years of franchise history to do so, that is an amazing achievement. Let’s hope “wild man” Lawrie has learned something this week, too many negative comments about roid rage, he has to show that he has learned something. In my mind Jays did not lose much with Yan Gomes in there at third for four games. Big series for the Jays, need to show the Rays they are for real sometime. Drabek tonight. Hellickson unbeaten 4-0 tough night but Hellickson has to lose sometime. Lineups: Jays: Johnson, Escobar, Bautista, Encarnacion, Arencibia, Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Mathis and Drabek pitching. Rays: Zobrist, Upton, Joyce, Pena, Scott, Rodriguez, Rhymes, Johnson, Molina and Hellickson pitching. Top 1st: Kelly Johnson, grounds to (Elliot) Johnson at short, throw to Pena at first, one down. Escobar, 0-2 count, grounds to Rodriguez at third, throw to first, two down for Bautista. Grounds to Rodriguez at third, throw to first to end an easy nine pitch inning for Hellickson. Very small crowd to start this one, baseball just not the sport for Tampa fans. Bottom 1st: Zobrist leading off. Full count, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Encarnacion at first, one down. Upton, another full count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre and loses the ball, it drops way in front of Colby, no it may have hit the ceiling ring, umpires confere, and now doing a video review. Home run or double? Colby had that in sights for a fly ball. But it definitely dropped sharply which suggests it hit something. Weird stadium. Poor design. Home run is the call. Wow, that is weird. 1-0 Rays. Joyce, one down. 3-1 count, low ball four. Pena, fly ball to left for Thames to make the out. Two down. Scott, oh boy, grounds to right but Encarnacion makes great stop but throw is behind Drabek covering. Error on play to Drabek. Two on two down. Rodriguez 1-2 count, takes strike three, great pitch. Drabek recovered nicely from that crazy first inning. 25 pitch count. It is strange that Tampa does not have cameras covering the roof to make the call easy for the umpires. Top 2nd: Drabek needs help here from his offence. Encarnacion, lines it into left. One on for Arencibia, 2-0 count, grounds to third, throw to Rhymes at second to get Edwin but throw is wild at first, Arencibia easily gets to second. Error to Rhymes at second. Thames singles into centre, here comes Arencibia, but throw home is over to first and Thames is out at first, caught off the bag, horrible mistake. 1-1 game. Two down for “wild man” Lawrie. Lines to Upton in centre for third out, but they do at least tie this one up for Drabek. 21 pitch count. Bottom 2nd: Rhymes, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Johnson, 2-2 count, grounds to Edwin at first, nice stop and scoops it to Drabek covering first. Two down ex-Jay Jose Molina. Full count, high inside. One on two down for Zobrist. 2-2 count, grounds to Edwin, takes it himself for an easy out. Problem is pitch count for Kyle now at 47, thanks to that weird first inning. Explanation now for the “home run” it hit a wire !!!! which runs to the catwalk from the lights. Top 3rd: Rasmus, that’s the way Colby, hammers this one to right field wall stand up double. Nice hit and no need for extra wires to help him. Mathis, bring him in Jeff. Showing bunt, what a waste. Let the guy hit away. 1-2 count, Hellickson has some doubts here, needs help from Molina. 2-2 count. Jose advice did not help much. Perfect lines it to centre for the out. Colby tags and gets to third easily. One down with Colby at third. Johnson, 2-0 count, shatters his bat. 2-1 count, this will do easily, high fly ball to Zobrist in right for the sac fly, no need for wires here, Colby ambles home for second run. 2-1 Jays, Escobar, two down.0-2 count, singles to left, one on two down for Bautista. OK Jose, let’s get going here. Pitching him away, full count, strikes out but it took ten pitches. 43 pitch count for Hellickson. 22 pitch inning, ouch, he will not be happy with that. Plus he has given up the lead. Bottom 3rd: Upton. Pops it up to Lawrie for an easy first out. No help from the roof this time. Joyce, 3-1 count, low ball four. One on one down. Need a ground ball here Kyle. Pena, ball in the dirt. there goes Joyce, and safe at second, no throw. Not even a wild pitch and the double play is out. full count, goes around that time for strike three, two down for Scott runner at second.2-2 count, bounces it in and wild, runner to third. Full count, low ball four, two on two down for Rodriguez. Singles to centre and here comes the tie run. 2-2 game. Two on two down. Rhymes, another wild pitch, and both runners move up. Calm the guy down someone. Now Mathis is out there. Drabek leads the league in wild pitches with 7, not an enviable record. 2-2 count, pops it up to Thames in left for the out. Could be much worse, but 76 pitch count for Drabek, may get one more inning at this rate. Top 4th: Jays need a big inning to rescue Drabek tonight. Encarnacion 2-2 count, pops it up to Rodriguez. One down. Arencibia, 1-2 count, singles to left. Nice swing JP. Thames, 2-2 count, way outside, full count. Grounds back to Hellickson, throw to second over to first, double play 59 pitch count. Not much luck tonight for the Jays. Bottom 4th: Can Drabek get in to the 5th? Johnson leading off. 2-2 count, fly ball to Bautista in right, one down for Molina, 3-1 count, low ball four, yet another walk by Drabek. Just not his night, five walks tonight. Zobrist, third at bat in four innings, not good at all Kyle. 2-2 count, lines out to Thames but pitch count is 90! Ouch. Upton, grounds to Lawrie throw to Johnson to get Zobrist. 94 pitches. Almost 50 pitches more than Hellickson. Well at least he gets into the 5th. Top 5th: Lawrie leading off. Bounces to third, long throw just gets Lawrie, one down. Rasmus, lines to right for Zobrist to make the out, two down for Mathis. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. 8 pitch inning, Jays hitters not going deep into this guys count apart from Jose. Bottom 5th: Bullpen will be trying to keep Jays in this one now. Joyce, 2-2 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Edwin, one down. Break here as Johnson needs help for his leg. Pena, Another pitch gets away but nobody on base. 3-1 count, low ball four. 103 pitches. 51 balls tells it all.Scott. now the bullpen starts? 0-2 count, grounds to Edwin, nobody there at second so takes the out at first, horrors, two down that was a double play ball but shift was on, who’s on second very apt comedy. Poor Drabek. Rodriguez pops it up to Lawrie at third for final out. Top 6th: Johnson, 2-2 count, pops it up to Pena at first, one down. Escobar. Gets hold of this one high to left centre and over the fences home run Yunel. 3-2 game. Bautista, grounds to third, throw to first for the second out. Encarnacion. 0-2, takes both pitches. 2-2 count, yet to swing at one. Fly ball to Joyce in left centre for third out. Pitch count 83 for Hellickson and Jays have the lead. Bottom 6th: Another surprise by Farrell, here comes Drabek. 108 pitch count ??? Pitcher’s manager rolling the dice here. Rhymes, 2-2 count, singles to centre. Farrell stays put. Where is Cito when we need him. Johnson, one on, grounds to Escobar, steps on the bag and throw to Edwin for double play, finally Drabek gets a break, two down for Molina. Grounds to Edwin at first, fumbles it but takes it to the bag for the third out. Manager Farrell is off the hook with that gamble. 118 pitch count. Six walks and three wild pitches. Top 7th: Arencibia, 2-2 count, singles to right, nice at bat JP. Thames, 2-2 count, lines to right but at Zobrist for the first out of the inning. Jason Frasor now warming up in bullpen. Lawrie, 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to second over to first to get double play. Second tonight by Rays. 97 pitch count, Bottom 7th: Frasor now pitching, top of the order Zobrist. 1-2 count, singles to Bautista in right. One on for Upton, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down one on for Joyce. Shift again but I hope they know who is covering second this time. There he goes and throw by Mathis gets him. Nice tag by Escobar. Two down. 2-2 on Joyce. Pops it up left foul but catchable but nobody there with the shift right. Gamble failed that time. Strike three looking. Frasor has to do it himself. Top 8th: Rays bullpen working. Rasmus leading off. 2-1 count lines it into right another stand up double for Colby. Second tonight, Mathis, bunting 0-2, strikes out swinging. One down for top of the order. Johnson. Intentional walk to get to Escobar, Yunel will like that ! That is it for Hellickson, will not get the win tonight. Gave up eight hits but two double plays rescued him tonight along with the roof. Burke Badenhop now pitching. Yunel 2-3 tonight. 1-2 count, grounds it back to Badenhop and off his glove and everyone safe. Error to Badenhop. Bases loaded one down for Bautista, when was his last grand slam? 0-3 tonight. Takes strike one. And two. Come on Jose. Grounds to third, Rodriguez throw to Rhymes at second and ball gets away into right centre, here comes Rasmus, here comes Johnson, two runs score, error to Rodriguez. Rays second error of the inning. 5-2 Jays. Bautista at first, Escobar at third. Encarnacion. One down, 1-2 count, grounds to Rodriguez throw to Rhymes at second on to first, pulls Pena off the bag and Edwin safe. Bautista slide at second puts off the fielder Rhymes. Escobar scores, 6-2 Jays. Arencibia, two down and Edwin at first. 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging but the errors help Jays here to score three more. Bottom 8th: Davis in left for Thames. Cordero now pitching. Pena leading off. 2-2 count, bunts foul for the strikeout. Scott, 2-1 count, grounds to Lawrie in shallow right for the shift, throw to Edwin at first, two down. Rodriguez first pitch fly ball to Bautista in right for third out. Top 9th: Cesar Ramos now pitching. Rajai Davis, 2-2 count, pops it up to Rhymes at second, one down for Lawrie. Hitless tonight, 1-2 count, grounds to Rhymes at second, throw to Pena for the second out. Rasmus, two doubles tonight, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging this time. Bottom 9th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Bottom third of the order. Rhymes. 2-1 count, singles to Bautista in right. Johnson, need a ground ball here Casey. 1-2 count, takes strike three, one down. Molina, 2-0 come on Casey, low 3-0, there we go, 3-1, full count, grounds back to Janssen, knocks it down and only one option left to get Molina at first. Two down for Zobrist. Rhymes at second, Zobrist, first pitch high fly ball to Bautista in right to end this one. Jays win 6-2 and very unlikely win for Drabek ! Hellickson loses his first of the season. Huge win for the Jays in Tampa especially when Drabek was struggling the whole game. He needs to thank his manager for that win letting him stay in the game for the sixth. The good: Rasmus with his two hits. Escobar with the home run. The top four in the lineup with RBIs. Jays bullpen Fraser, Cordero and Janssen, closing Rays down. Not so good: Drabek although he gets the win had a horrible night. The Upton home run seemed to put him off stride and he was struggling throughout. The terrible: Thames mistake in the second to get caught off the bag. The Upton home run off the wire in the roof.