Jays fnd their power bats with Lind, Arencibia and Encarnacion going deep to win for Morrow

Jays v Athletics. Game two of two game series. After that horrible mess last night Jays will or rather should be hoping to split the series. Cordero said last night that he was to blame and has to perform or loses the job or place on the squad. I would have said he has already lost that but Jays will undoubtedly stick with him. At least until Santos returns. However Farrell does say that Casey Janssen will be closing this afternoon if they need him. Pitching is just one of the concerns with this team right now. The sloppy defensive performances leading to three errors were another symptom of a team that is by nowhere near a playoff spot. Today Farrell has addressed another issue that of Adam Lind and has him number eight in the lineup, long overdue in the minds of many fans. Encarnacion hitting cleanup which he should have been doing weeks ago with his hitting streak. He has been the best Jay hitter for weeks although in a slump on this road trip. The other outstanding issue from last night that still has fans scratching their heads is his lifting of Arencibia for Vizquel after JP already had a double. It backfired as Vizquel popped up the bunt but JP was still fuming long after the game. Only one way to prove the Manager wrong JP. Today Morrow v Ross. Lineups: Jays: Johnson, Escobar, Bautista, Encarnacion, Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Lind, Arencibia and Morrow pitching. Athletics: Weeks, Pennington, Reddick, Gomes, Smith, Ka’aihue, Inge, Barton, Recker and Ross pitching. Top 1st: Johnson, full count, inside ball four, takes a walk, Escobar with runner on. There goes Johnson, throw is wide and Kelly safe at second Escobar pops it up into shallow right for the out, no chance for Johnson to move up. One down for Bautista. Inside ball four, second walk by Ross already. Encarnacion hitting cleanup today and with two on. Strikes out swinging. Two down for Thames. Takes strike three and leaves two out there, not a good at bat by Thames. Bottom 1st: Weeks leading off, this guy was a royal pain last night for Romero. Grounds to Johnson, shovels it to Lind but not in time. Not the guy Morrow wants to see on base. Pennington, there goes Weeks but ball four, two on and nobody out. Morrow in trouble here early. Reddick with two on and nobody out. Takes strike three, one down for Gomes. There they go double steal and Arencibia drops the ball no throw. There goes the chance for double play also. This is not what Morrow wants to see in the first inning. Pops it up to Lind in foul ground, two down, Weeks holds at third. Smith, low ball four, third walk in the inning to load up the bases for Ka’aihue. Pops up the first pitch to Rasmus in shallow left centre. Morrow escapes this time but not the start he wanted. Top 2nd: Lawrie leading off. Lines it (very) hard at Weeks at second, almost knocks him over. Throw to first to get Lawrie. One down for Rasmus. Grounds to third, throw to first to get Rasmus, two quick outs. Lind, singles over Weeks into right centre, good start. One on two down for Arencibia. Lines it to centre for the out stranding Lind at first. Bottom 2nd: Inge leading off. Strikes out swinging, one down for Barton, pops it up to Rasmus, calls Bautista off to make the catch. Two down for Recker. Takes strike three. Morrow has found his zone this inning. Top 3rd: Johnson leading off. Low and outside, walk number two for Kelly. Escobar, bunting right back to Ross, throw to second and Johnson out on the throw. Not a good bunt by Escobar. Bautista going after first pitch, pops it up to Inge at third, two down. Encarnacion, grounds slowly to short, throw to second to get Escobar. Not a great inning by top of the order hitters. Painful to watch these guys sometimes. Bottom 3rd: Weeks leading off. Goes the opposite field single into left. One on, Weeks must love Jays pitchers. Pennington. Nice pitch, strikes out swinging, one down one on for Reddick. Grounds to Escobar, throw to Johnson at second for one, over to Lind but not in time. Two down for Gomes. Lines back up the middle but Johnson playing at the bag and makes a great diving backhand catch, what a play, saved a single there to end the inning. Top 4th: Thames, singles to right centre, one on for Lawrie. Slow bouncer to third, throw to first to just get Lawrie. No chance for two there as Thames in at second. One down for Rasmus. Takes strike three, two down. Recker lost track of the outs and was heading to the dugout. Lind, HERE we go... Lind hammers this one to right centre, over the scoreboard for a TWO run home run and Jays go out 2-0. Arencibia, two down. Pops it up high to first for third out, but Jays strike first again. Bottom 4th: Morrow now working with a lead for the first time today. Smith, strikes out looking. One down for Ka’aihue. High fly ball to right, but Bautista makes the catch right at the wall, almost but not quite trouble. Two down for Inge. Pulls this to left all the way to the wall for a stand up double. Barton, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Top 5th: Johnson, two walks tonight, not this time as he grounds to second, throw to first for the out, one down for Escobar. Grounds first pitch to short, throw to first for the out, Two down for Bautista. Gets hold of this one and hit hard and high to centre, but the deepest part of the park and Reddick makes the out at the 400’ wall. Jose has been very close in the last couple of game, good sign. Bottom 5th: Recker leading off. Strikes out swinging. One down for Weeks. Strikes out swinging, two down for Pennington. Outside ball four. Reddick, one on two down. Low ball four. Walk number four for Morrow today. Two on for Gomes. Here comes Walton to talk it over. 94 pitches for Morrow. Lines it to Thames in left, here comes the runner and the throw is way off and beats Arencibia but Morrrow backing up has it. 2-1 Jays. Smith with two on, two down. Reddick at third. Luis Perez working in bullpen, Pops it up to Escobar at short to end the inning but A’s have one back. Top 6th: Encarnacion, grounds to Inge at third, throw to first, one down. Thames. Grounds to second, throw to first, two down. Lawrie. Lines it to the wall in right centre, stand up double for Brett. Rasmus, A’s bullpen working with Figueroa. Loops it into shallow right, here comes Lawrie to score 3-1 Jays. That is it for Ross. Figueroa now pitching. Lefty lefty matchup. Lind, with runner at first and two down. Pops it up in foul ground for Barton to make the catch and end the inning. Bottom 6th: Ka’aihue, first pitch fly ball to Rasmus in centre. Inge, takes strike three. Barton two down. Strikes out looking, number ten for Morrow tonight. 114 pitches. Nice going considering that long first inning and the four walks. Top 7th: Arencibia, leading off. WHOA JP, gets hold of this one and rocket moon shot to left. Way back in the seats. He really did launch that one. 4-1 Jays. That felt good JP after last night’s benching for Vizquel. Johnson strikes out looking, One down. Escobar. Way inside ball four. One on for Bautista. Hit it hard last time up. Oh dear grounds to third, over to second on to first, double play ball to end the inning. Bottom 7th: Now the bullpen to hold the three run lead. Luis Perez now pitching. Recker leading off. 3-1 count, high ball four. One on for Weeks. 2-0 count, Perez having real trouble here with strike zone. 3-0 count, Villanueva warming up, no way is Farrell letting this one get away. High pop up to Lind for the out. Pennington, singles to Rasmus in right centre, Recker all the way to third. Reddick. One down two on. Singles to Bautista in right, here comes Recker to score, 4-2 Jays. That is it for Perez. Villanueva now pitching. Gomes, one down two on. Strikes out swinging, huge pitch. Two down for Smith. Fly ball to Tames for third out. Top 8th: Encarnacion leading off, Jerry Blevins now pitching another lefty. WHOA Edwin, gets hold of this one bigtime, drives it to left centre for massive home run. 5-2 Jays. Thames, fly ball to centre for the out. Lawrie. Grounds to second, throw just beats him. Two down for Rasmus. Cannot hold up and strikes out but Edwin has given Jays a three run cushion again. Bottom 8th: Davis in left for Thames. Ka’Kaihue, strikes out, one down for Inge. Singles to Davis in left. Barton, strikes out swinging. Two down. Casey Janssen stretching. Recker, pops it up to Lind at first, makes a nice backhand catch backpedalling. Top 9th: Lind leading off. 2-3 day. Excuse me hit pops ball to Inge at third, just hit the end of his checked bat. Jim Miller now pitching. One down for Arencibia, strikes out swinging two down. Johnson grounds to Weeks at second, throw to Barton at first to end the inning. Bottom 9th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Facing the top of the order. Weeks leading off, grounds to Johnson, throw to Lind for first out. Pennington, strikes out looking. Reddick, fly ball to Ramus in centre and Casey does good job. Jays win big 5-2 today behind POWER bats finally, Lind, Arencibia and Encarnacion with home runs. The excellent: Morrow win with his 10 strikeouts and despite rough start. The home run kings Lind, finally, Arencibia statement to his Manager about last night pinch hitting with Vizquel and finally Encarnacion to break his road slump. The good: great diving backhand catch by Johnson. Not so good: Rough first inning for Morrow. Lucky to escape without damage. Jose although no home runs he did hit the ball to the wall twice and appears close with his timing. Maybe the Minnesota series to do a Hamilton four home run night.