Hapless Jays continue losing streak in Oakland.

Jays v A’s. Game one of four. Jays stagger into Oakland on a four game losing streak, beaten up badly by the lowly Mariners. Oakland 19-5 in July. We can but dream about such a month for the Jays. Less pressure on Jays after Seattle and that huge Canadian crowd not least the Lawrie family following. Maybe Brett can relax and concentrate on his job. Farrell has half of a bullpen that needs work, this series might change that. Lineups:Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Cooper, Davis, Gomes, Gose and Alvarez pitching. Cooper still at 1B, let’s see if Edwin can get into the game with his hits because he has been looking very disinterested as DH. This lineup remains pitifully weak, they are going to have to scratch for runs one way or another if they hope to win this or any other game for the next while until they get some heavyweight hitters back.. A’s: Crisp, Smith, Reddick, Cespedes, Moss, Inge, Kottaras, Rosales, Sogard and Colon pitching. Top 1st: Lawrie, 1-2 count, pops it up to first base. One down. Rasmus, great bunt and no throw Colon much too slow to get to that. One on one down for Edwin, time this guy proved he is the leader of this team. He is one of his slumps at the wrong time. 0-11 wow. Make that 0-12 as he pops it up to Reddick in shallow right. Two down for Johnson. Lines this to left centre but robbed by Cespedes making a great running diving catch. Kelly cannot believe it. Those are the breaks that the Jays are not getting these days. Bottom 1st: Crisp, grounds to Cooper, takes it himself for the out. One down, Smith, grounds to Johnson, throw to Cooper for the second out. Reddick who feasted on the Jays pitching in Toronto. 1-2 count, lines it into right. One on two down for Cespedes. High chopper to Escobar throw to Cooper for the third out. Good start for Alvarez. Top 2nd: One very small crowd here, looks like well under 10,000, obviously Jays not an attraction but we may start to see this size crowd in Toronto after this road trip unless this team turns it around. Escobar, first pitch swinging grounds to short, throw to first, one down. What can we say about that guy? Please trade him Alex. Cooper, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Davis, 0-2 count, bounces to second, throw to first, seven pitches for the inning. Awful, just awful hitting by the Jays. Bottom 2nd: Moss, grounds to Cooper takes it himself to the bag for the out. One down for Inge. Fly ball to Gose in right, two down. Kottaras, 2-2 count, Henderson thought that a strike. Full count, low ball four. Rosales, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 30. Top 3rd: Gomes, full count, grounds to third, throw to first, one down but at least he took five more pitches than Escobar. Gose, 0-2 count, grounds to first, takes it himself for the out. Two down for Lawrie. 1-2 count, high chopper to second throw to first, three up and down for Colon. Easy pickings tonight. 33 pitches 26 strikes. Bottom 3rd: Sogard, 1-1 count, lines it up the middle to Rasmus. Number nine guy, leadoff single. Top of the order again Crisp. Wild pitch, what would a Jays game be without at least one of those? Sogard to second, full count, Crisp ready to walk, tough, fly ball to Gose for the out a bullet to third just off the bag but great throw, would have had him online. One down one on for Smith. 2-2 count. Singles to Gose, here comes Sogard to score 1-0 Athletics. One on one down for Reddick. Hammers it into right field seats, Reddick loves Jays pitching. 3-0 A’s. But if you throw it down the middle and leave it up, sayonara. Cespedes, full count, inside ball four, not even close. Some one settle him down. Here comes Walton to do just that. Moss, 1-2 count, High fly ball to right but this time Gose has it for the out. Two down. Inge, 2-1 count, Alvarez getting wild now in his control. Fly ball to Rasmus to bring this agony to a close for one inning at least. How about a 30 !!!! pitch inning to give you a headache. Pitch count now at 60, that new bullpen will be getting lots of work tonight. Top 4th: Rasmus, lines it into right centre, Colby 2-2 tonight and the only hitter to date providing any leadership on this road trip period. Encarnacion, pops it up to first base, 0-13 our Edwin and back to last season’s dismal performances when most fans wanted to see his back. Johnson robbed last at bat, drives high to centre for the out, Colby stuck at first. Escobar, 3-0 count, Colon taking pity on the Jays here. 3-1, pulls it to short throw to second but Colby beats it out, he was running on the play, huge error by the short stop, he forgot that Escobar is the slowest runner in the league, he had lots of time to get him at first. A big break here for the Jays, two on, can they make hay. Cooper, first pitch swinging fly ball to centre for the out. That was one horrible at bat by Cooper, totally out of his depth at this level so far. Bottom 4th: Kottaras, fly ball to Davis in right for the out. Rosales, grounds to Escobar, throw to first for second out. Sogard, 3-1, fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the out. Pitch count 69. Top 5th: Just over an hour to play four, these guys are in a hurry tonight. Davis first pitch of course, grounds to third throw to first one down. Maybe someone should tell him perhaps to change this because it is not working for him. Gomes, takes strike three, two down. Gose, please don’t try to bunt here. Shows bunt strike one. I give up. Grounds to short and beats out the throw to first. Speed but what can the Jays do with it? Lawrie, 0-2 tonight, make that 0-3, fly ball to right for the out. 54 pitches for Colon for five innings, walk in the park for him tonight. Bottom 5th: Top of the order Crisp. Full count, Crisp looks likes Eric Thames. Lines to Davis in left, NO, Rajai loses it in the lights and triple for Crisp and so it goes on for Davis. Who mentioned that word Snider? Smith, grounds back to Alvarez, throw to Cooper, one down. Crisp holds. Reddick, intentional walk. Cespedes with runners at the corners, full count, inside ball four to load the bases. Happ working in bullpen, nobody out there talking to Alvarez come on. Moss, bases loaded. I LIKE IT, grounds back up the middle off the foot of Alvarez to Escobar, steps on the bag throw to Cooper double play ball. WOW, the baseball gods smiled, a sign here friends. Pitch count 90. Top 6th: Rasmus leading off, 2-2 tonight. 2-2 count, high fly ball to centre for the out. One down for Encarnacion, 0-13 slump. 1-1 count, finally a hit, as he pulls it to left for a single, that will have to do. First time he has seen first base for a long long time. Johnson now, one on one down. 0-2 count, high fly ball to right centre but not far enough out at the wall, two down for Escobar. Delabar now warming up. Escobar lines this one to the wall in left centre and Edwin makes it to third, first time a Jay has visited third tonight. Two on for Cooper, time for you to produce. Just a base hit that is all we ask for. 3-1 count, outside ball four, bases are loaded, wow when did that last happen with this Jays team? Davis chance for redemption here, just a base hit Rajai. No, grounds to first, for the out. Pitch count 77. Bottom 6th: Inge, 3-0 count, high ball four. That should be it for Alvarez, yes here comes Farrell furious. A four pitch lead off walk would get any Manager fuming. Alvarez may have seen his last start for a while. Delabar now pitching, Kottaras, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging but ball gets away and Inge to second. One down for Rosales, full count, Delabar not as sharp as he was his last outing. Outside ball four. Not what the manager wanted Steve. Two on one down for Sogard. 1-1 count, pops it up to Rasmus in shallow centre, two down. Top of the order Crisp with two on. Another full count, fly ball to shallow right centre, Colby makes a great running catch in front of Gose. Jays escape once again. Top 7th: Gomes leading off, very quiet 0-2 tonight, maybe catching is taking all his concentration but Jays have no choice right now. 2-0 count, grounds to third, throw to first gets him, one down for Gose, please, please do not try to bunt here. Think. First pitch fly ball to centre for the out. Groan. Two down for Lawrie, 0-2 count, fly ball to right for the out. Pretty bad hitting by Jays and maybe time to move Lawrie down the order. Bottom 7th: Happ now pitching. Carter pinch hitting. Full count, ball four, oh boy. One on for Reddick, bad things happen with this guy. 2-2 tonight. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, yeah. One down, Cespedes, full count, ball four. Two on, one down for Moss. Singles to Rasmus in centre. Carter holds at third, Bases loaded. Inge, 1-1 count, singles to Davis in left, Carter scores 4-0 A’s. Bases stay loaded. Kottaras, 2-2 count, whoa takes strike three, two down. Not sure the manager would like that at bat. Rosales, 2-0 count, Fly ball to left and Rasmus takes it from Davis for third out. I don’t blame him with Rajai’s record in left. Not a pretty inning by Happ but could have been a whole lot worse. Top 8th: Jays running out of time here. Rasmus leafing off. 2-3 tonight. Colon still out there on 85 pitches. Hammers this to right but again just short of the wall for Reddick to make the out, one down. Encarnacion, single last at bat to break his slump. Full count, singles to left. Maybe just maybe Edwin out of his slump. One on one down for Johnson, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Escobar. Grounds (first pitch) to short throw to first. Bottom 8th: Happ still out there. One day Farrell has to get Oliver and Janssen into a game. They have not pitched for almost a week. Sogard, bunting, not sure why with a four run lead against the Jays. 0-2 count, lines it into right, stand up double. Top of the order Crisp, 0-2 count, grounds to Escobar, looks Sogard back and throws to Cooper at first, one down, Carter, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down. Reddick, full count, very nice, strike him out swinging. Great work by Happ. He struggled for two innings but did not give up too much. Top 9th: Doolittle to finish Jays off here. Cooper, Lines it to the wall in left centre, stand up double, finally a contribution from Cooper. Is it too late? Davis, do NOT bunt. Need base runners Rajai. 2-2 count, grounds to first, and no throw as Doolittle much too late to the bag. Cooper to third. Two on still nobody out, Gomes. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Gose, that is it for Dolittle. Closer Ryan Cook now pitching. Sierra pinch hitting for Gose. 2-1 count, grounds to second throw to the bag to get Davis over to first not in time and Sierra safe. Cooper scores, 4-1. Finally Jays get on the board although much too late now. Lawrie, two down runner at first. 1-2 count, bounces up the middle. Sierra to third, Lawrie at first. Two on two down for Rasmus, actually the tying run !!! 1-1 count, bounces it to second steps on the bag to get Lawrie. Jays lose another. The good: A flurry in the ninth but far too late. Only Rasmus tonight with anything positive with bat and glove but could not come through in the ninth. But then no one else did all game. Encarnacion finally gets a hit but he is the big bopper not the singles guy and his contribution is sadly lacking right now. The rest of the lineup is minor league. The not so good: Everything. Pitching, fielding and not least lousy hitting, Recipe for a long losing streak. Davis once again a liability in left. The curse of Snider is now over this team. Now at five and this team looks down and out and in for a long losing streak despite the pitching. It takes runs to win games and this team right now is unable to string more than one together.