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.