Jays lose a heartbreaker as bullpen changes ruin a great Happ gem

Jays v Tigers. Series finale. Has John Farrell lost it? Is he cracking under the pressure of the Jays situation? Surely no other explanation for last night’s decisions. I have received more emails from blog readers on the decision to send Vizquel with the game on the line than any other for a very long time. Our Jays fan in Moscow said Farrell is always talking about percentages and yet what was the percentage situation with Vizquel stealing against Davis hitting? Of course he is absolutely correct. Insane move with a 45 year old guy, and did anybody tell Davis? as he made no attempt to swing at it and obstruct Avila. (hat tip to Paris Jay) He had a clear throw to second as Davis pulled his bat back. Yet another emailed and said surely with the top of the order at bat the odds of a hit were better than a steal but Vizquel. I agree. But Farrell maintained he had to try something as the hits were not coming. Back to today. Will this be another complete game shutout for Verlander? Against a rookie filled lineup? What are the percentages John? I don’t think many Jays fans will expect anything else today. Jays: Davis, Rasmus, Encarnacion, Johnson, Sierra, Vizquel, Mathis, Hechavarria, Gose and Happ pitching. Tigers: Jackson, Infante, Cabrera, Fielder, Peralta, Young, Baker, Dirks, Avila and Verlander pitching. Top 1st: Davis, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, three pitches. Rasmus 0-26 streak. 3-0 count, low ball four, that is great sign for Colby as he has been swinging at balls outside. Taking four today to start, good sign. Encarnacion, first pitch pop up to left, that was not a good at bat by Edwin, come on he has just walked a guy on four pitches. Two down one on for Johnson. First pitch, fly ball to centre for the out. Looks as if Edwin and Kelly want the bus out as fast as they can. They leave Colby out there not even able to steal a base. 9 pitches. Bottom 1st: Jackson, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Infante, fly ball to Gose in right for the out, two down for Cabrera, fly ball to right centre, no problem as Gose accelerates and dives full length to make highlight reel catch. Speed kills. Pitch count 9. Very nice inning by Happ. Top 2nd: Sierra, 1-1 count, high fly ball to centre but Jackson makes the out. Vizquel, playing at 3B today. Pops it up to Fielder, two down. So far only Rasmus looks as if he has come to play. Now a problem with Cabrera, here comes Leyland and Cabrera leaving the game with some sort of injury. Santiago now fielding at 3B, Mathis, two down. Pops it up to Avila, seven pitch inning, pretty bad hitting by the Jays so far. They haven’t a clue what to do with Verlander apart from Rasmus. Happ as an unenviable job today, he is on his own out there. Tigers without one their big bats but no sympathy from the other side, how about losing Fielder and Cabrera then add in three more starters, then add in Verlander. And a couple more starters. Bottom 2nd: Fielder, strikes out swinging. Peralta, full count, outside ball four. One on for Young, very nice, grounds to Hechavarria, over to Johnson, on to Edwin double play ball to end the inning. Nice. Pitch count 22. Top 3rd: Hechavarria leading off, 0-2 count, takes strike three but at least he had one more pitch than Edwin and Johnson combined. Gose, one down. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Davis. First pitch fly ball to right. There is aggressive play and bonehead hitting. Jays are with the latter right now. Nine pitch inning. Bottom 3rd: Jays hitters are really putting tremendous pressure on Happ. The way they are swinging at Verlander every first pitch he will be around for a complete game. Baker, strikes out on three pitches. One down for Dirks, full count, hammers it right back at Happ who has to duck to avoid this one. Single to Rasmus, one on one down for Avila, 2-0 count, fly ball to left and Davis makes great running catch at the wall. Two down for Jackson. 2-2 count, Dirks doing windsprints to second. Strikes out swinging. Happ is doing his part, very well. Pitch count 42, but then he is not facing wild free-swinging hitters. Top 4th: Rasmus, there we go Colby, pulls it into right and ruins Verlander's day and no hitter. And the 0-28 streak. Whew !!! Edwin now with runner on, give him chance to steal here Edwin. 1-2 count, lets one go there that was right down the middle. At least Colby is distracting Verlander. YES, Edwin connects on this one, and it is high and out of here in left centre, way back, here comes Colby, we have to mention that as he has not done that crossing home plate for a very long time. And here comes Edwin, 2-0 Jays. Johnson, first pitch, fly ball to right,. First out of the inning, one pitch, awful. Sierra, grounds to Santiago at 3B, throw to Fielder for second out. Vizquel, 2-1 count, pops it up to Jackson in shallow right for third out. Jays go out ahead of the maestro Verlander. Pitch count 39. Bottom 4th: Infante, 2-2 count, singles into right One on for Santiago, OH WOW, pops it up to Edwin in foul ground and throw to Johnson covering at first, they get him. Infante had gone too far to second on the pop up, wowee great double play. Fielder, 1-2 count, grounds to second and a great fielding play by Hechavarria to take the ball on first base side of the bag throw to Edwin to get Fielder. Great coverage by Hech. 55 pitch count. Happ is getting some great defense today. Top 5th: Mathis leading off. 0-2 count, strikes out, ball gets away from Avila but throw to first gets Mathis. One down for Hechavarria. Lines it to right for the out. Gose. 2-0 count, drives it into centre but Jackson makes nice running catch to rob Gose of a hit. Pitch count 47 !!! thanks to the free swingers. Bottom 5th: Peralta, 1-2 count, lines it to left but very nice catch by Davis, good catch. Young lines it through Johnson into right centre, he backed up too far, no error given, one on one down for Baker. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Dirks. Pops it up to Mathis at the wall. Nice basket catch to end the inning. Pitch count 65. Top 6th: Top of the order Davis leading off. Just foul down the 3B line. 2-2 count, just foul again down the line. Hits him on the hand, that hurt him. Here comes the trainer and Farrell. Rasmus, on base twice today, Rajai can disrupt Verlander here. 2-0 count, there he goes and throw is there, 3-0 count, ball four, second walk for Colby and third time on base, very nice. Encarnacion, 0-2 count, takes strike three, Edwin does not agree. Johnson, two down one on, does NOT swing at first pitch progress. Full count, Verlander arguing with the home plate umpire, tough. Kelly fouling several off here. Takes strike three, Kelly arguing. Now Farrell now Leyland everyone unhappy. Pitch count 68. 21 pitch inning for Verlander, not used to that. Who says one has to be first pitch aggressive? Jays are achieving more by NOT swinging at that pitch. Bottom 6th: Avila pops it up to Davis in shallow left. One down for Jackson, full count. Inside ball four. May be time to get bullpen working Farrell, someone looks tired. Infante, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down one on for Santiago. Grounds to Hechavarria, throw to Johnson to get Jackson to end the inning. Pitch count at 80 which is close to his limit. Top 7th: Jays would love to add one or two more. Sierra leading off. 2-2 count. Way inside and high, full count. Strikes out swinging. One down. Vizquel, 0-2 count, strikes out. Mathis two down, 1-2 count, takes strike three. Pitch count 82. Bottom 7th: Fielder leading off. Will Farrell use the bullpen to close this one down? Leave Happ on a high note. 2-1 count, high fly ball to Davis in left for the out. One down for Peralta. Loops it into shallow centre for a single. One on one down for Young. Pops it up to Edwin at first, two down. Brandon Lyon working in bullpen. Baker, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Excellent seven innings by Happ. 93 pitch count. Top 8th: Hechavarria leading off. 0-2 count, singles back up the middle, way to go Hech. Gose now, bunting? Yes but foul, 2-2 count, way outside, full count, takes strike three inside. Ouch. That was a god at bat until that pitch. One down for top of the order. Davis, singles into left, Hech to second, Deja vu last night.. They should have let Davis hit. Rasmus, now has he solved Verlander today? 1-1 count, showing bunt and takes strike two. Strikes out swinging. First time out today for Colby, he will take it. Edwin two on and two down. 1-1 count, grounds to short, throw to second for third out. 101 pitch count. Not sure about Colby trying to bunt in that situation. Even if he did it and was out at first that left the base open to walk for Encarnacion. Plus Colby had shown that he could handle Verlander with on base three times in first three at bats. Would be interesting to see who called that at bat. Bottom 8th: Happ out there again. Dirks leading off lefty, lefty match up. Full count, three balls in a row, goes after ball four and fly ball to Davis. Happ lucky there. One down for Avila. Full count, high ball four. That is it for Happ Farrell out of the dugout. Brandon Lyon now pitching. Great ovation from the Detroit crowd as he leaves. Jackson, singles first pitch to left centre. Two on one down for Infante. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down. Boesch pinch hitting for Santiago. Oliver now pitching, lefty lefty matchup. Two on two down. Grounds it up the middle, past a diving Hechavarria, here comes the run and here comes trouble Fielder with two on and two down. OH BOY, wild pitch. Can you believe it? Run scores and this game is tied up 2-2. Crazy. 3-0 count, put him on, outside and they do it. Peralta, Walton now out to talk about matchups. Oliver stays there. Two on two down. 0-2 count, grounds to Vizquel at third steps on the bag. That is one awful way for Happ to get no decision. Top 9th: Not looking good here with the top of the order last inning. If Jays are going to win this they have to get something from Johnson, Sierra and Vizquel. Odds are back with Detroit and Verlander. Johnson, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Sierra, 2-2 count, fly ball to Boesch in right centre, two down for Vizquel, grounds to Infante at second, throw to first for the out. Bottom 9th: I guess the good is that Jays take Tigers to the bottom of the 9th for the first time in the series but this is a real downer after Happ pitched so very well. For the second game a wild pitch by the Jays had a hand in the result. Brad Lincoln now pitching. Young, 2-2 count. Grounds to Johnson, throw to Edwin for the out. Baker fly ball to Gose, two down. Dirks, NO, here comes Farrell again, leave Lincoln in there. Now Loup, lefty lefty matchup. Sometimes Farrell over manages. Let us hope this is not one time. Pops it up to Rasmus for the out. Extra innings game. Top 10th: Jays get another chance to get a run. Dotel now pitching. Mathis, 2-1 count, this will do singles into centre. Good start. Hechavarria, bunting but no good. This time he does it and Mathis to second. One down. McCoy pinch running. Gose, lines it to right center Jackson makes great running diving catch to rob Gose and the Jays of the run. Davis, 1-2 count, there goes McCoy and safe at 3B. Lines it to right and Boesch makes the catch to rob Davis and the Jays yet again. Bottom 10th: Bullpen has to come through again. Avila, Loup still out there.1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Jackson. Bounces to short, but no chance for a throw. Infield single. One on one down for Infante. Singles to Rasmus, two on for Boesch. Full count, takes strike three, great pitch. Boesch unhappy and so he should be, should have swung at it. Two down for Fielder. 0-1 count, perfect grounds up to Hechavarria steps on the bag for the third out. Great pitching by young Aaron Loup. Top 11th: Rasmus leading off. Your time Colby. Phil Coke now pitching, lefty lefty matchup. Full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Edwin, Leyland now out to change pitchers. Joaquin Benoit now pitching. One down. 2-2 count, pops it up to Peralta. Two down for Johnson. 0-4 today. 0-2 count, grounds to Infante, throw to Fielder at first to end the inning. Bottom 11th: Chad Jenkins now pitching. Peralta, 2-2 count, singles to Davis in left, one on for Young. Grounds to Vizquel, over to Johnson over to Edwin not in time. One down for Baker, pinch runner Berry for Young. 1-0 count, there goes Berry and safe on throw to second. 3-0 count, ball four to put him on, two on one down for Dirks. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches, wow. Two down for Avila. Lines to Gose in right, here comes the throw here comes the runner to score. Jays lose a heartbreaker 3-2. The very good. Excellent seven innings by Happ. Rasmus two walks and a hit, in first 3 at bats, breaking that hitless drought and looking a whole lot better. Edwin home run. Excellent defensive plays from Gose and Davis. Loup in the 10th getting Fielder with two on base. Not so good. Far too many Jays out on first pitches which enabled Verlander to go deep in the game. Farrell strategy backfired as the only guys who got on base were those who did not get out swinging early. Farrell use of the bullpen also backfired with Oliver when Lyon was looking good with the first two outs. Percentages ??? how about the game situation. Jays fly off to Baltimore to reunite with their leaders. Bautista and Morrow, maybe catalysts for good things for the rest of the season. Look at those Mariners, bottom of the west, have won 8 in a row. There’s hope for the Jays