Jays fight back with home run power from Lawrie, Bautista and Encarnacion but fall short to the Brewers

Jays v Brewers. Game one of three. Jays on a high after the sweep of the Phillies and hope to keep it going in Milwaukee to start off this nine game road trip which ends with three in Boston. Lawrie back where he started and will want to make a statement. Drabek will have Tommy John surgery tomorrow. Lineups: Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Escobar, Davis, Arencibia, Vizquel, and Alvarez pitching and hitting. Brewers: Aoki, Morgan, Braun, Ramirez, Hart, Weekes, Kottaras, Maysonet, Wolf pitching and hitting. Top 1st: Lawrie, second pitch, hammers this one into centre, home run no doubt, second deck, centre field. That is a statement to Brewers management, see what you gave away. 1-0 Jays. Rasmus, 0-2 count, singles up the middle. Bautista, one on 2-0 count, lines it high to Ramirez in right field corner for the out. Encarnacion, one down one on. full count, fly ball to Morgan in right centre for the second out. Escobar, grounds (first pitch) to third. Throw to first and Escobar leaves Rasmus at first, did not even give him chance to steal second. Jays strike first but could have been more. Pitch count for Wolf 17. Bottom 1st: Aoki, 2-1 count, bunting to Alvarez, nice play Henderson and throw to Edwin for the out. Nice play. One down for Morgan, singles up the middle. Braun, lines it to Davis in left, two on, one down for Ramirez. 3-1 count, low ball four, bases loaded. Hart, lines it to Bautista in shallow right, Morgan holds, smart guy. Two down bases still loaded for Weeks. Full count, singles to Rasmus, two runs score, throw to Lawrie to get Ramirez. Nice play by Colby. Jays already down 2-1. Pitch count 23, not good. Top 2nd: Jays start from behind this time. Davis, singles to right. Now let’s get going Rajai. Arencibia, fly ball to Braun in left for the out. One down for Vizquel. 1-2 count, there he goes, throw down by Kottaras gets him at second.2-2 count, two down now. Singles to right centre, Alvarez. Two down one on, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 30. Bottom 2nd: Kottaras, 1-2 count, fly ball to Davis, makes great over the shoulder play to make the catch by the wall. Great catch. One down for Maysonet. 1-2 count, lines it hard to left centre off the wall, stand up double. One down for Wolf. Singles to left centre off the glove of Escobar. Runner at third, top of the order again. Aoki, squeeze play and Alvarez misses the ball. Here comes the run 3-1 Brewers and two on base, one down for Morgan. Full count, inside ball four. Bases loaded yet again. Braun not the guy Alvarez wants to see here, this could be the game. 0-2 count, grounds to Lawrie dives to get runner at third, run scores 4-1 two down. Two great plays by Lawrie, one to stop the line drive and the other to dive for the out. Ramirez, this is trouble lines to right centre, two runs score 6-1 Brewers. Hart fly ball to Rasmus in centre to end this mess. 47 pitches in two innings is not major league stuff Henderson. Top 3rd: Jays hitters have a lot of work to do, Lawrie, lines first pitch over the head of Braun in left, stand up double, good start. Rasmus, full count, high ball four, two on for Bautista, long overdue for home run Jose. 1-2 count, no it hits him on the foot, Bases loaded for Encarnacion and nobody out. Oh boy, grounds to third on to second over to first double play even if Lawrie scores 6-2. Come on Edwin get it in the air. Escobar, Rasmus at third. Fly ball to centre for the third out. Awful. Nobody out bases loaded and they get one run. Bottom 3rd: Time for Alvarez to have a good inning. Not fooling anyone so far. Weekes, 1-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to first not in time, tough play for Lawrie. One on for Kottaras, singles to Bautista in right, two on and nobody out. Maysonet strikes out one down for Wolf, grounds to Alvarez throw to Edwin two down but runners in scoring position for top of the order. Akio third time to bat in three innings !!! lousy pitching. 2-1 count, bunting to Alvarez, makes the play this time throw to Edwin for the out. Brewers did not score but Alvarez at 62 pitches, might not make it through the fifth inning at this rate. Top 4th: Davis leading off. Grounds to second, throw to first, one down. Arencibia, this guy is also long overdue for something good. Lots of talk about D’Arnaud these days and not surprising. JP has only a couple more months to show that he is numero uno. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Vizquel. Strikes out swinging, much too easy for the Brewers tonight. 56 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Morgan, grounds to Vizquel, great play and throw to get Morgan diving to the bag. One down for Braun, 2-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Edwin for the second out. Ramirez, 2-1 count, grounds through the gap between Lawrie and Escobar to Davis in left. One on for Hart does exactly the same play, two on. Laffey warming up in bullpen, Weekes, two down two on. 2-2 count, pops it up to Vizquel. 81 pitch count. Top 5th: Alvarez or pinch hitter? The latter. That is it for Alvarez tonight. Mike McCoy hitting, singles back up the middle. Lawrie 2-2 tonight. 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to second over to first not in time to get Lawrie. One down one on. Rasmus, full count, Wolf distracted by Lawrie at first and rushing his pitches. Rasmus grounds back to Wolf throw to second to get Lawrie over to first not in time to get Colby. Two down one on for Bautista, hitless again tonight. Fly ball to right centre for the out. Jose in one of those ruts. Pitch count 72. Bottom 5th: Laffey now pitching. Kottaras, 2-1 count, grounds to Edwin at first, takes it himself for the out. One down for Maysonet, 2-1 count, fly ball to Bautista for second out. Wolf, grounds to Escobar, long throw to Edwin to get Wolf. Nice play Yunel. First three up and down inning for Jays pitching tonight, gives the offence a chance although last three Brewers innings have been scoreless. Top 6th: Encarnacion leading off. Wolf still out there. Lots of pitches left at 72. Edwin 1-2 count, a ROCKET with red glare goes bursting into second deck off the bat of Edwin. A moon shot, home run Edwin and cuts the lead to three, 6-3 Brewers. Escobar, tries his version and dies in shallow left for Braun to make the out, one down for Davis. Bunting great bunt but rolls foul. 2-2 almost hits him. Low but called out, tough call. Two down for Arencibia, average dropping fast, now .216. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays get one back but still need four. Orioles have already lost, Yankees in progress but winning. Bottom 6th: Top of the order again for fourth time, everybody has at least one hit tonight. Aoki, lines to centre but right at Rasmus for first out. Morgan, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Very nice Aaron Laffey. Brain, that is it for Laffey, Coello now pitching to Braun, two down. Double switch Gomes now catching, interesting move. Hitting number nine for the pitcher. 0-2 count, takes strike three, very nice. Bullpen keeping the team in this one but can the bats respond? Top 7th: Jays hitters running out of chances. Vizquel leading off, 3-0 count, Wolf is done. Full count, singles into left, nice at bat by Vizquel. Gomes, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for top of the order Lawrie. Here comes the manager, Wolf is done. Was he left in too long here? Kameron Loe now pitching. Grounds to short, throw to second over to first not in time to get Lawrie, two down. Rasmus, there goes Lawrie and slides headfirst into second no throw. Stolen base. Full count, Lawrie will be running. Low ball four. Two on for Bautista, if ever we need a big hit it is here Jose. AND THERE SHE GOES... high into left field seats three run home run to tie this one up, 6-6 wow, classic Jose shot. Encarnacion, 2-0 count, lines a bullet to short, great catch for third out but Jays have come all the way back here after being down 6-1. Bottom 7th: New ball game here. Coello still out there. Ramirez, whoa very close here, just misses foul pole in left. Manager Roenicke out there and review of this one, could indeed have hit the padding. But the fans down there did not react much, yes umpires say yes and Brewers take the lead again 7-6. Hart, bounces over head of Coello to Escobar throw to Edwin for the out. Weeks, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. That is it for Coello, Darren Oliver in to face Kottaras. Colleo threw 14 pitches, 12 for strikes, I think Farrell will like that. The home run was a matter of inches. Maldonado, pinch hitting for Kottaras, grounds first pitch to Escobar throw to Edwin for third out. One pitch one out, I like it. Top 8th: Escobar leading off. Francisco Rodriguez now. This is getting serious. 2-1 count, lines a bullet past Rodriguez, life before his eyes, to Weeks at second, makes great diving play at second and throw beats Escobar, he is so slow. One down for Davis. Lines it to centre for Morgan to make the out, two down for Cooper pinch hitting for Oliver. 2-2 count, pulls it to right, one on for Vizquel, lines this to right Hart makes a great diving catch to get the out on the line at first base. Robs Vizquel of a hit and maybe even a run if it had gone into the corner as Cooper was off and running. Two great defensive plays by the Brewers. Bottom 8th: Cordero, hang on everyone. Maysonet, bunting to third, Lawrie throw wild and into right field Maysonet to second on the error. Not good Brett. Green pinch hitting for Rodriguez. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, that is huge out. Aoki, 2-2 count, strikes out, two down for Morgan. 3-1 count, you don’t want to face Braun, groan, high ball four, not good, two on two down for Braun. WHOA pops it up to Bautista in right for third out. Big escape there. Top 9th: John Axford to close it out 11 saves in 14 opportunities, not unbeatable. Top of the order for the Jays. Mano v Mano. Kelly Johnson pinch hitting for Gomes leading off, pulls it high to Carlos Gomes in right centre to make the out, one down for Lawrie, he wants to make up for that error although it didn’t hurt in the end, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Rasmus. First pitch swinging, high fly ball to left for the final out. Jays lose a squeaker 7-6 but they had their chances. A 6-1 lead after two is not the ideal way to start a game. The excellent: Has to be Bautista with that three run home run. But Lawrie and Encarnacion also home run power tonight. Good to see both Jose and Edwin going deep, the pitching rotation will need them to step up their game whilst they are shorthanded. Great defensive plays by Lawrie. The not so good: Alvarez, lousy start to out Jays down by five after only two innings. The missed squeeze play by Alvarez in the second which lead to four runs was the difference. Jays were fighting to get back into this all game. The final run from a home run which was just inches from foul. Escobar and Arencibia 0-7 tonight.