Jays almost steal one from the Tigers tonight but sloppy defense by Vizquel, Davis and Cooper are no help to rocky Ricky.

Jays v Tigers. Game one of three. Not exactly what we had hoped for. No Lawrie, he has been shut down for yet another week. But Rasmus is out there. Tough Tigers starter in Scherzer. Romero ? who knows, not even Ricky. But it would be so nice to see a complete game from this guy (one day). Another tough series for the Jays who are still without. Lawrie, Bautista, Lind, and Arencibia. But someone has to step up with the hits. Lineups: Jays: Davis, Rasmus, Encarnacion, Cooper, Escobar, Johnson, Vizquel, Mathis, Gose and Romero pitching. Tigers: Jackson, Infante, Cabrera, Fielder, Peralta, Young, Baker, Dirks, Laird, and Scherzer pitching. Top 1st: Davis leading off, 1-2 count, pops it up to Peralta at short, one down. Rasmus, it will be interesting to see how Colby does tonight, I thought his last at bat on Sunday was much better. Another good hit straight away centre but not far enough Jackson makes the out, that is a long centre field at 420. Maybe line it elsewhere Colby. Encarnacion, 0-1 fly ball to Jackson for the out. Pitch count 9. Bottom 1st: Jackson, grounds to Vizquel, quick throw and this one is wild over head of Cooper into shallow right, and Jackson to second. Error to Vizquel. Romero gets no break here from his fielders. Just what he needs. Infante, grounds to Escobar, throw to first for the out. Again that error by Vizquel ruins the double play opportunity, Jackson stays at second. One down for Cabrera, grounds to Cooper, he bobbles it but recovers to step on the bag, two down for Fielder. Jackson to third. 3-0 count, ball four. Two on for Peralta. Full count, ball four to load them up. Young with bases loaded and two down. 3-0 count, outside ball four, here comes Jackson, 1-0 Tigers. Walton out of dugout. Baker, 0-2 count. Fly ball to Davis in left. Thank you Omar Vizquel. You cost Romero a lot this inning. 25 pitch count. 15 extra pitches by my reckoning. Top 2nd: Cooper leading off. 3-1 count, lines it to left field corner opposite field hit, and stand up double. Escobar, grounds to short, throw to first for the out, Escobar unable to move the runner over. One down for Johnson. Full count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Vizquel, a chance to make amends for his error last inning which cost Ricky. full count, outside ball four. Mathis, two on two down. Grounds first pitch to short, throw to first, just awful. If I were a Jays pitcher I would cry over this offense or rather lack of offense. Romero getting no help at all. Pitch count 30. Bottom 2nd: Dirks, 3-0 count, outside ball four. Laird, full count, high ball four, two on for top of the order again. Jackson, singles to Gose in right to load the bases. Infante, 3-0 count, low ball four, another run scores.2-0 Tigers. Walton out there again. Bases loaded. Nobody out for Cabrera, 1-1 count, there we go, grounds to Escobar, to Johnson over to Cooper double play ball, perfect. Run scores 3-0 but that’s ok. Two outs, one on for Fielder, 0-2 count, lines it to Rasmus for the out. That is ok Ricky. Bases loaded and nobody out and only one run is good in anyone’s book. Pitch count 47. Top 3rd: Is it too much to expect this underachieving lineup to hit some and get some run support for Ricky here? Under 3 runs per game over the last 21 games, that is not going to win many games but with most of the team in Dunedin Jays backups have to come through. Gose leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Davis. 2-2 count, lines it to left for Dirks to make running catch. Rasmus. 3-1 count, outside ball four. Walk to Colby, good at bat. Encarnacion, can make a dent here Edwin. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Ricky must be weeping. I am. Bottom 3rd: Peralta, 0-2 count, grounds to Vizquel at third, this time the throw is fair for the first out. Young, singles back up the middle. Baker, 0-2. Finally, grounds to Johnson, throw to Escobar over to Cooper, double play. Finally Ricky gets some help here. Nice inning Ricky. Seven pitches. Pitch count 54. Top 4th: Cooper full count, takes strike three inside. One down for Escobar, 2-0 count, fly ball to Jackson in centre, two down for Johnson. 2-2 count, singles into right centre. Good at bat by Kelly. One on two down for Vizquel. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 67. Bottom 4th: Dirks, 2-1 count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the out. One down for Laird, grounds to Vizquel at third, throw to Cooper, two down. Jackson, 2-2 count, lines it to right over Gose, stand up double for Jackson. Infante, 1-1 count, grounds to Vizquel, throw to Cooper for the out. Another good inning for Romero. Pitch count 70. Only three more than Scherzer, the difference ? Tigers offense give Scherzer some runs. Top 5th: Now can Jays hitters be patient and push his count over 80 this inning? Mathis leading off, 1-1 count, grounds to Peralta at short, throw to Fielder at first, one down for Gose. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging on the pitch inside again. Two down for Davis, lines it into left, one on two down for Rasmus. Colby your turn now. Now Davis gives Scherzer something to worry about. Not going. 0-1 count, there he goes, Colby fly ball to centre for Jackson to make the out. Pitch count 79. Bottom 5th: Cabrera, 2-1 count, grounds it off the foot of Romero to Escobar, throw to Cooper for the out. Ricky ok. Fielder, oh great curve, 0-2 count, lines this one to left centre, Davis bobbles the ball and Fielder to second. Peralta, fly ball to Gose in right. Fielder not even thinking about it. Stays at second. Two down for Young. 1-2 count, bounces to Vizquel, throw to Cooper gets him. Another good inning by Ricky. Pitch count 83. Top 6th: It would be nice to see some offense here. Encarnacion leading off, 2-0 count, YES Edwin, High fly ball to left and this one is OUT OF HERE, inside the foul pole in the corner, home run Edwin. 3-1 Tigers. Cooper, 2-01 count, lines it into left field corner, another opposite field hit for Cooper. Escobar, has to do his bit here. 2-2 count, grounds to Peralta, throw to second over to first, double play ball, once again Escobar unable to move the runner over. Surely Farrell has to start to think of moving him down the order, he is killing any rallies the Jays have. Two down for Johnson. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 97. Bottom 6th: Baker leading off. 3-1 count, ball four inside. One on for Dirks, lines it to left and Davis yet again fumbles the ball, both runners move up, two in scoring position for Laird. 3-1 count, low ball four. Bases loaded for Jackson. Mound conference. 2-2 count, grounds to Vizquel, throws home to get Baker.Throw to first not in time. One down bases still loaded. Infante. NO, grounds to Cooper, looks at home then goes back to first not in time AWFUL play by Cooper. run scores but that was terrible defense by Cooper. Ricky victimised tonight by Vizquel, Davis and Cooper. 4-1 Tigers and that is the end of day for Ricky. Brad Lincoln now pitching. Bases loaded one down. Cabrera fly ball but gets under it and easy out for Rasmus, two down and only one run scores, 5-1 Tigers. Jays get a break here. A single would have scored at least two. Fielder two down two on. Full count, outside ball four. Sort of semi intentional here. Bases loaded. Peralta, 2-2 count, pops it up to Gose for the out. Lincoln did his job to minimise the damage. But Jays defense is awful tonight. Top 7th: Scherzer padding his own stats here against the bottom of the order. Either that or the bullpen is shaky. I guarantee he will not be out next inning to face top of the order. Vizquel, 3-1 count, lines to Jackson for the first out. Mathis, 2-2 count, lines it to Cabrera for the out. Stuck in the webbing of his outstretched glove. Gose. 2-2 count, takes strike three. Bottom 7th: Young leading off, 0-2 count, lines it back off the thigh of Lincoln no throw. Here comes trainer and Farrell, Lincoln is out of the game, here comes Loup. Berry in LF for Baker at the plate with runner at first. Bunting back to Loup, I think he had a chance to get Young at second but throws to first, one down. Dirks, grounds to Vizquel, throw to Cooper two down for Laird. Runner Young holds at second. 2-1 count, fly ball to Gose. Top 8th: Davis leading off. Needs to make up for is terrible fielding tonight. Totally lost out there in left. Ex-Jay, Dotel now pitching. 0-1 count, grounds to Peralta, throw to first, one down for Rasmus. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Edwin. Way outside half way to first, and to the wall, pitching around Edwin? way inside, 2-2 count. Pulls it into left. One on two down for Cooper, he needs to redeem himself for that error. A home run would help him. 2-2 count, this will do David, lines it to right centre, all the way to the wall and here comes Edwin to score 5-2 game with Cooper at second, Escobar last chance in my book Yunel. 0-2 count, there we go, easy isn’t it Yunel? Lines it into right field corner, opposite field hit, and here comes Cooper to score , 5-3 game. Finally Yunel comes through with key hit. Johnson, ooops that is it for Dotel, Leyland getting concerned here. Call to the bullpen, Phil Coke now pitching. Pinch hitter Sierra, the tying run at the plate, very nice. Can he come through though? 1-1 count, back up the middle, Escobar to second, clutch hit by Sierra. McCoy pinch runner for Sierra. Two on two down for Vizquel, ooops here comes Leyland again. Really concerned now. Joaquin Benoit, the big gun now pitching. Vizquel chance to redeem himself here, keep the line going Omar. Terrible, first pitch !! pops it up to third, that was not repeatable. One pitch. Surely you take a couple. But despite Vizquel, the Jays get two back and are making it interesting. Bottom 8th: Brandon Lyon now pitching. Has to hold the Tigers here. McCoy at second, Jackson grounds to Escobar, throw to first one down. One pitch. Infante, fly ball to Gose in right, two down. Cabrera, 1-1 count, bounces to Escobar, throw to Cooper. Three up and down, nice pitching. Top 9th: Jays now face the big guy Jose Valverde, he of the 23 saves but has blown four. He is human guys. Mathis leading off. Need base runners Jeff. Way outside to the wall. Too bad nobody at third. Full count. Mathis making him work for the out. Too bad Vizquel did not do this last inning. Perfect, lines it to left and over the head of Berry to the wall, stand up double. great at bat by Mathis. Gose now runner at second, Bunting ? yes but ball one. Bunt off as he swings through this one, 3-1 count, Leyland having a fit in the dugout. Pops it up to short, one down. Davis, hits him on the arm, first pitch, two on one down for Rasmus, now Colby, this is your time. Here comes the pitching coach. No room for error guy but he has been very erratic so far. 2-1 count, lines it to Jackson in centre for the second out. Edwin two down two on. Strike one, Edwin disagrees, umpire says sorry, strike one. 0-2 count, strikes out, cannot hold up. Tigers VERY lucky here, they almost gave this one away. My earlier comment in the 7th may be true about the bullpen, it certainly was shaky. The good: Weird as it sounds, Jays had their chances to win this one. This one not what it looked like. Yes Romero had eight walks BUT some lousy defense and poor situational hitting were the issues tonight. Jays out hit Tigers 10-8 even with this AAA lineup. However 1-8 in scoring position does not really help the situation. More good: Lincoln, Loup and Lyon again scoreless relief to keep this team in it. Not so good: 1st inning Vizquel error puts Jays behind 1-0. Cooper in the 6th, two runs score after his error. Poor hitting Vizquel, Escobar, Rasmus. Gose strikes out three times. Just not ready but Jays have to put somebody out there, could be Sierra tomorrow though. More not so good: Ricky and the 8 walks. Several innings were excellent, the 1st would have been but for Vizquel which not only cost Romero a run but also 15 additional pitches which would have done a lot for his confidence starting this game. Yet the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings were good. In the 2nd inning, bases loaded and nobody out and only one run is good. He is much closer than his stats tonight show, this could have easily been a different ballgame. Rained out in Dunedin for Bautista and Lind rehabs. Nothing much going right for the Jays tonight. BUT don’t forget the Jays lineup and the opposition are two major factors, not excuses but facts.