Farrell strange pitching decisions contribute to Jays loss

After being on the moon for the last two weeks and isolated from MLB news, where the Euro 2012, the Olympics and Wimbledon rule paramount, it is interesting to see how little has actually changed. Amazingly after the last two weeks, Jays are still close in this division race. After the Yankees the other four are within two games of each other. Given the breakdown of the Jays rotation that is an amazing achievement. The obverse of course is the “what ifs” and a fit rotation. Royals v Jays. Game four of four game series. Two excellent pitching games from Cecil and Villanueva. Can Alvarez do the same? Jays would love to win this series before heading to tough first half finish in Chicago. Lineups: Royals: Gordon, Escobar, Hosmer, Butler, Betancourt, Moustakas, Francouer, Perez, Dyson and Hochevar pitching. Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Lind, Escobar, Davis, Johnson, Arencibia and Alvarez pitching tonight. Top 1st: Gordon leading off, great pitch, strike three looking, one down for (Alcides) Escobar, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Hosmer, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Encarnacion at first to end the inning 12 pitches, great start. Bottom 1st: Lawrie flirting with .300 average. Grounds to Betancourt at second, throw to first for the out. Rasmus, quietly asserting his class in the number two spot, now with 16 home runs and on pace for 30 plus for the season. 2-2 count, doubles into the right field corner, after an eight pitch at bat. Bautista with runner in scoring position. Grounds to second throw to Hosmer at first for the out but Rasmus to third on the play. Encarnacion. Bounces to Moustakas at third, throw to Hosmer to get Edwin. Jays threaten but come up empty handed. 15 pitches with more than half for the Rasmus at bat. Top 2nd: Butler, 2-2 count, takes strike three. Number three for Alvarez already. Betancourt, bounces first pitch to Lawrie in front of Escobar, throw to Edwin for the second out. Moustakas, 2-2 count, high fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the out. Pitch count 25. So far so good. Bottom 2nd: Lind, 3-1 count, pops up ball four to Moustakas at third. Escobar, one down, fly ball to Francouer in right. Ball carried but not hit very hard. Two down for Davis. First pitch swinging right back to Hochevar, throw to first 26 pitches, thanks to Davis. Give me the eight pitch at bat by Rasmus ending in a double. Top 3rd: Francouer, bounces to Lawrie at third, bare handed play and throw to get Francouer at first. Nice play. One down for Perez, grounds to third, Lawrie can only knock it down, no play as Perez safe at first. Dyson, number nine hitter. 1-2 count, lines past a diving Johnson into centre field for a stand up double. Perez stops at third on the play. Gordon with two in scoring position. 3-1 count. Alvarez rattled here. Ball four to load the bases with only one down And Escobar at bat. Singles to Bautista in right, run scores and bases stay loaded. 1-0 Royals. Hosmer, 1-2 count, singles to Davis in left, another run scores 2-0 Royals and bases stay loaded. Butler, Alvarez playing with fire with this part of the lineup. 2-0 count, oh boy, grounds to Lawrie , throw to second gets away into right, two runs score 4-0 Royals. Error to Lawrie. still only one down. Betancourt, bullpen working. Two on, still only one out. Full count, could be his last pitch if hitter gets away. Outside ball four. No movement from Farrell, rolling the dice here. Moustakas with bases loaded yet again. 1-2 count, fly ball to Rasmus, run scores 5-0 Royals two down. Francouer with two on and two down. Full count, lines to Lawrie, this time no error and throw to Edwin to end this awful, 66 pitches, a 40 pitch inning. This game could be over already before bottom of Jays order gets a bat tonight. It will be interesting to see what Jays have here, Very humid in Toronto today and the long inning would not help the Jays hitters. But Lawrie for one owes Alvarez tonight. Bottom 3rd: Johnson first at bat, lines it to the wall in right for stand up double, good start. Arencibia, full count, WHOA JP hammers this moon shot to left and into the second level, off the facing, two run home run. 5-2 game. Lawrie chance for him to redeem himself also. Grounds to third, throw to first for the out. One down for Rasmus. Full count, inside ball four. Two on for Bautista lines it to left but out at the wall, two down for Encarnacion. 3-1 count, grounds to short throw to second gets Rasmus at second. 50 pitch count. Top 4th: Alvarez getting another chance. Perez grounds to Escobar throw to Edwin, one down. Dyson, same play, to Escobar to Encarnacion at first, two down. Top of the order Gordon, singles to Rasmus in centre, one on two down for Escobar, full count, hit and run Gordon going and Escobar lines it to Davis in left for a double. Gordon held at third, he could probably have secured in Davis arm. Two in scoring position for Hosmer, grounds first pitch to Edwin throw to Alvarez covering for third out. No damage done. 77 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Lind leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Escobar. Lines it the wall in right centre, but Escobar chugging into second, his lack of speed hurting his chance for a triple there. Davis, bunting, cannot get it down. Lines this one right at Betancourt at second for the out throw to Alcides Escobar and doubles up Jays Yunel Escobar already halfway to third. Jays base running haunts them yet again. Pitch count 60. Top 5th: Butler, grounds to Escobar, throw to Edwin, one down. Betancourt, grounds first pitch to Escobar, throw to Edwin two down. Moustakas, 1-2 strikes out swinging. 85 pitch count. Eight pitch inning for Alvarez. Bottom 5th: Johnson leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Arencibia, one down. 1-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to first gets away from Hosmer and Arencibia safe on the error. Lawrie, fly ball to Dysion in centre, two down for Rasmus bounces to first and oh dear Hochevar dies not get to the bag and Rasmus safe. Whoa. Great speed by Colby there. Hochevar right foot hit the bag at an angle trainer and manager out there, leaving him in there for Bautista, big at bat here with tying run, two on and two down. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Top 6th: Francouer grounds to Escobar, throw to Edwin, one down. Perez singles to Bautista in right. That is it for Alvarez 94 pitch count but victimized tonight by Lawrie. Luis Perez now pitching, one down one on. Dyson pops it up to Rasmus in shallow centre for second out. Gordon, high pop up to Davis in left to end the inning. No damage done. Bottom 6th: Tim Collins replacing Hochevar. Encarnacion leading off. Full count, pops it up to Francouer in shallow right. One down for Lind, lefty-lefty, 0-2 count, strikes out. Need a pinch hitter there John. Two down. Escobar, full count, high ball four. Davis, two down and runner at first. 0-2 strikes out on high fast ball. Top 7th: Alcides Escobar leading off. 2-1 count, grounds to Yunel Escobar, throw to Edwin, one down. Hosmer bounces first pitch to Johnson at second, throw to Edwin two down. Here comes John Farrell. 13 pitches ??? I don’t get it. I hope Farrell does. Sam Dyson in today from New Hampshire AA. And facing Butler ??? 3-0 count, Inside ball four. That was some decision that backfired for Farrell. Surely Perez could have taken the third out????? Betancourt, 0-2 count, oh boy, throws it high over the head of Betancourt to the backstop, Butler to second. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, BUT that was a very risky call by Farrell. Plus I don’t think it helps Perez much by getting him up and only throwing 13 pitches. He is a long relief guy and could be pitching at least two innings here. This is how arms go south in September if not before. Bottom 7th: Johnson grounds back up the middle, Escobar makes the play and throw to Hosmer at first for the out. One down for Arencibia, hammers this one high to left centre and just gets over the wall second home run tonight for JP. 5-3 Royals and that is it for Collins. Greg Holland now pitching. Top of the order Lawrie 2-2 count, takes strike three down the middle. Not good at bat by Lawrie. Two down for Rasmus. Pops it up to Escobar at short. Jays get one back but they need more and running out of time to do it. Top 8th: Dyson out of there and Jays fans worst nightmare, Cordero now pitching. Moustakas, singles to Rasmus in centre. One on for Fancouer. Grounds it up the middle, no play possible by Escobar and Johnson collide going for the play. Two on and nobody out, wait for the boos any minute. Perez, singles first pitch to left, bases loaded and nobody out. Why oh why is this guy still on this team and pitching?? Another weakness of Farrell and his handling of the pitchers. Dyson, bases loaded and nobody out. Bounces to Johnson, throwing home to get lead runner. One down but bases still loaded for Gordon top of the order. Singles first pitch to Bautista, here comes the run number six and bases stay loaded. Escobar, 6-3 Royals, one down and bases loaded. Strikes out swinging, two down. Hosmer. Grounds to right. Johnson nobody covering first, now Cordero runner safe throws to home plate second runners scores, two more runs, Now Farrell comes out, he has the weirdest sense of timing. 8-3 game and boos are loud and clear. Surely he will be out after this latest. Another rookie Drew Carpenter now pitching two down two on. And game way out of reach even for this team of hitters. Butler, first pitch swinging lines to Bautista for the out. But Farrell and Cordero have ruined this one. Bottom 8th: Crow now pitching for Royals. Bautista leading off but even he cannot score five. Grounds to third, throw to first, one down. Encarnacion. 3-0 count, outside ball four, semi-intentional walk there. Lind, singles back up the middle. Two on one down for Escobar. 2-0 count, singles to left, here comes Edwin hesitating a little there rounding third but beats the throw. 8-4 Royals, two on for Davis. Runners at first and second. 2-1 count, grounds to third, throw to first, two down runners move in to scoring position. That is it for Crow. Jose Mijares to finish it off. Ben Francisco pinch hitting for Johnson, YES Ben, lines it to the wall in right centre, both runners score, and Ben all the way to third, two RBI triple. 8-6 game. That is it for Mijares. Arencibia with Francisco at third. Herrera now pitching. Grounds to third, throw to first just beats Arencibia. Jays get three back but will it be enough? Top 9th: Carpenter still pitching. Vizquel in at second for Johnson. Betancourt leading off. Hammers this one high to left and over the fence. Home run and run number nine for Royals. 9-6 game. Moustakas grounds back to Carpenter, throw to Edwin for the out. One down for Francouer, strikes out swinging, two down for Perez, ground to third, Lawrie unable to make a play. Of his bare hand. One on two down for Dyson, lines this high to right over Bautista and off the wall, Perez holds at third, Dyson at second. Two more in scoring position. Top of the order Gordon, fly ball to Bautista in right for third out but Jays need three to tie. Bottom 9th: Lawrie leading off. No need for heroics Brett, just get on base. Jonathon Broxton closing this one out 20 save guy. Three blown. Lawrie grounds to first, throw to Broxton in time, to get Lawrie, one down. Rasmus, 2-2 count, singles to right. This guy continues to impress. Bautista not a good night for Jose tonight 0-4. 2-0 count, keeping the ball away from Jose here. High 3-0. Takes it, 3-1. Lines it hard to left, great catch at third and throw fto first to double uo Rasmus. Not a great way to end that one. But the problem tonight lay in John Farrell’s strange pitching changes and another awful outing by Carder who surely had [played his last game as a Bloue Jay. The very good: Arencibia tonight with the two home runs. But also Rasmus again, a great eight pitch at bat in the first for a double and another good at bat in the ninth to get on base. Ben Francisco pinch hit triple and two RBIs. Terrible: John Farrell handling of the pitchers. Luis Perez faced four hitters and used only 12 pitches. Two quick outs for Perez in the 7th and he is pulled for the rookie Dyson who faces only two and threw 12 pitches. Stranger still he is pulled for Cordero to start the 8th. Cordero was in trouble from the start and faced seven and threw 20 pitches. Cordero but he should not even be out there. Not good: Lawrie cost Alvarez in the third,