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.