Jays win big in series finale 6-4 with power,speed, defense and pitching

Orioles v Jays. Final game of the series. Orioles going for the sweep tonight and the way Jays have played the first two games this should be no problem. Jays have not scored a run in 18 innings, Orioles meantime have 16.. Even if Morrow pitches a no-hitter they will still not win until this team starts hitting. Very frustrating as we are not talking about the rookies lack of production, we are highlighting the older players, Davis, Rasmus, Lind, Johnson, Escobar, not a single one of these players is producing. Edwin is the ONLY consistent player producing but now other managers are giving intentional walks to Edwin to get to the others for the easy outs. The other fallout of course is that extra pressure is being placed on the pitching staff which leads to errors by the pitchers. Probably this team will win another game this month but for now it does not seem very likely with these players. Forget playing for pride, how about playing. There will be no mercy given by these Orioles, they want a playoff spot and right now they are leading the division. The Jays to them right now are three wins in the column and then off to NY to play tough meaningful games. At least no problem with rain in the stadium tonight, the embarrassing photographs and video have been widespread across the continent already. I wonder how that played in Rogers Boardrooms today. Lineups: Orioles: Markakis, Hardy, McLouth, Jones, Wieters, Davis, Reynolds, Quintanilla, Machado and Gonzalez pitching. Jays: Davis, Rasmus, Encarnacion, Lind, Escobar, Johnson, Gose, Torrealba, Hechavarria, and Morrow pitching. So much for blowing up this lineup to get some life into them, stand firm everyone. Two changes Torrealba catching and Gose back in right field. Top 1st: Jays fans are voting with their feet again, this looks a very empty stadium. Last night 13,000 (before the rain) which was bad enough. Tonight way under that total. No fans no revenue. Markakis leading off. 2-1 count, bounces to Edwin at first, awkward throw to Morrow but makes the out. One down for Hardy. High pop up behind the mound, all the infield converge, Escobar makes the out. Two down McLouth. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Pitch count 10. Bottom 1st: Davis, 1-2 count, fly ball to Markakis in right, one down. Rasmus, not sure what to think of Colby these days. 0-2 count, opposite field fly ball to McLouth in left for the out. Two down for Edwin. What will they throw at him tonight? Hammers this one high to left, McLouth waits for it, to end the inning, just underneath it Edwin. 11 pitch count Top 2nd: Jones, 2-1 count, hammers this one high to left and into the seats, no doubt about that one. 1-0 Orioles. Wieters, full count, inside ball four. Davis with one on and nobody out. This guy has seven home runs against the Jays this season. 3-1 count, pops it up, Escobar cannot make the catch as it drops foul. Difficult catch but catchable. When nothing goes right, everything can and does go wrong. Full count, inside ball four. Not a bad decision anyway with Davis. Two on nobody out for Reynolds. 0-2 count, waves at strike three, that was a horrible wave. One down two on for Quintanilla, 3-0 count, low ball four, to load the bases. One down for Machado. Here comes Bruce Walton. Tell him you are fed up with lack of any run support Brandon. Bounces to Johnson, throw to Edwin for the second out as another run scores. 2-0 Orioles. Markakis with two in scoring position. 2-1 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Edwin for third out. Morrow escapes here with only one run after loading the bases, Manager Showalter will not be happy with that. But Orioles in the driver’s seat early against a team that has not scored ANY runs in the last 19 (ouch) innings. Pitch count ugly at 40. Bottom 2nd: Lind, 1-2 count, grounds softly up the middle, misplayed by Quintanilla and Lind safe at first, throw is way up the line. Orioles getting sloppy here. Escobar, lines it to Markakis in right, one down. Johnson, lines this one to centre and Lind chugging (literally) around the bases, here comes the throw and wow Jays have scored a RUN friends... after a run of 19 scoreless innings. 2-1 game, stand up double for Johnson. Torrealba, grounds to Hardy, Kelly caught out there, and now goes back as throw to first gets Torrealba. Two down for Hechavarria, full count, Kelly will be running. Grounds to Machado, throw to first to get Hech but he battled at least for nine pitches. Jays are on the board, we have to say that because we have not been able to all week. Pitch count 27. Top 3rd: Hardy, lines to centre for Rasmus to make the out. One down for McLouth. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the out. Two down, Jones, 1-2 count, strikes out looking to end the inning. Very nice Brandon, three up and down. Nine pitch inning. Pitch count 49. Bottom 3rd: Quick inning by Morrow gets Gonzalez back out there, now can the hitters do some damage? Gose leading off. Bunting but foul. Fly ball to left but McLouth drops the ball as he slides into the wall. Gose, 1-2 count, taps it in front of the mound and look at that hustle, we have not seen much of that recently. The throw to first just gets him. One down for top of the order Davis, hammers this one to left and this one is OUT OF HERE into the Jays bullpen, home run for the Jays, 2-2 game, let’s go Blue Jays. Rasmus, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Edwin. Pops it up to Markakis in shallow right. Pitch count 38. But Jays have found some bats tonight. Top 4th: Wieters, 2-1 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Edwin, one down. Davis, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, nice pitching. Two down for Reynolds, 0-1 count. Checked swing tapper in front of the mound, Torrealba throw to Edwin to end the inning. Pitch count 60. Bottom 4th: Lind who got it all going tonight. Full count, low takes strike three. Adam was about to walk. Escobar, 0-2 count, grounds to Quintanilla at second, throw to first for the out. Two down for Johnson. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Pitch count 54. Top 5th: Quintanilla, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, number five for Brandon tonight, one down for Machado. 3-1 count, lines to left and fan interferes, ground rule double, that could have made a triple. Markakis, full count, pops it up to Davis in left, nine pitch at bat by Markakis. Two down for Hardy. 2-1 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Edwin for the out. Pitch count climbing though, 83 through five. He needs a quick 10 pitch inning. Bottom 5th: Jays bats can help Morrow here. Bottom of the order though. Torrealba leading off. 0-2 count, grounds to Quintanilla at second, throw to first to get Torrealba. One down for Hech. 2-2 count, takes strike three, two down for Gose. Full count, this is trouble, lines it into the left field corner and there he goes stand up triple, speed wow. Davis bring him in Rajai. Grounds to short, Gose scores but throw to first gets Davis. Pitch count 70. Top 6th: McLouth, full count, strikes out swinging but six pitches to do it and he does not have many left in the bank. Jones, one down. Singles to Davis in left. One on one down for Wieters. Perfect, grounds to Johnson throw to Escobar, takes his time but throw to Edwin is there for double play ball. Just what the doctor ordered for Morrow’s pitch count. 92 pitch count. Bottom 6th: Rasmus, 0-2 night, lines it to right centre where Jones makes great running catch to rob Colby of a double. Edwin, 0-1 count Edwin cannot believe it, looked outside to him. High fly ball to Jones in centre for the out. A lot of frustration on that swing and Edwin hammers his bat into the ground. Two down for Lind. Full count, grounds to third, throw to first to end the inning. Pitch count 80 for Gonzalez. Top 7th: End of the night for Morrow, Steve Delabar now pitching. Davis, careful Steve with this guy. 1-2 count, takes strike three, great pitch. One down. Reynolds, 2-2 count, strikes out, umpire does not agree Torrealba had it, strikes out swinging. Two down. Quintanilla, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, Very nice inning by Delabar. Bottom 7th: Escobar, this will do Yunel, lines it into left field corner and motors around for double to beat the throw. Johnson now with runner in scoring position, please no bunting, hit away Kelly. Bunts it foul, does it this time oh throw is late at first, Johnson beats it out. Runners at the corners. Nobody out, Torrealba, another bunt? Mound conference... they are expecting the bunt. Low ball one, full count, high pop up to first, one down for Hechavarria, 0-2 tonight, low ball one, YES he does it, bunts and here comes Escobar to score as Gonzalez tries to flip the ball but goes wide of Wieters and runners now at the first and second. Perfect suicide squeeze as Yunel was halfway down the line before Hech put it down. 3-2 Jays. They will be cheering that score in New York. That is it for Gonzalez. Luis Ayala now pitching, Gose, would love that triple right now. 1-2 count, lines it to short and off Hardy’s glove, bases loaded. One down for Davis, this will do as he lines it up the middle, here comes Johnson, here comes Hech and right behind him is speedster Gose. Jones throw to third gets away and three runs score, 6-2 Jays. WOW Yankees crowd will love that even better. Davis all the way to third. Brian Matusz now pitching. Rasmus with Rajai at 3rd. 0-2 count, oh boy strikes out swinging on three pitches. Edwin two down with Davis at 3rd. Showalter takes the bat out of hands of Edwin, intentional walk. Wait until Bautista is back next season, Edwin will get some pitches to swing at. Yet another mound conference, Orioles getting as bad as Yankees and Red Sox in delaying the game. Lind, way high and inside, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Top 8th: Delabar still out there. Machado leading off, 1-1 count, singles back up the middle. That is it for Delabar. Darren Oliver to face top of the order Markakis. Jays are not out of this one yet. High fly ball to Davis in left to make the out. One down one on for Hardy. 3-1 count, high ball four, come on guys. Two on one down for Lew Ford pinch hitting for McLouth, 2-1 count, umpire not giving Oliver the strikes, full count, Oliver does not want to put the tie run at the plate. Break there with foul ball into left. Pops this one up but just foul. Oh my, Ford grounds to Hech at third, over to Johnson on to Edwin double play ball to end this threat, great pitch and play by the defense. Now one more inning. Bottom 8th: Tommy Hunter now pitching. Escobar leading off. 1-2 count, grounds to Machado, throw to first, one down, Johnson. 2-3 night with double and a single. 0-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first two down for Torrealba. Hitless tonight. 2-2 count, bounces up the middle Hunter jumps to make the play, throw to first for the out. Top 9th: Casey Janssen in now. Not a close situation. Needs the work. Jones leading off. 3-1 count, low ball four. Wieters, grounds to Johnson, throw to Escobar, throw to Edwin is wide, one down and Wieters at first. Davis, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, great pitch. Reynolds, two down one on. Whoa, hammers this to centre and this one is out of here, two run home run to Reynolds, 6-4 Jays. Quintanilla, 2-2 count, crowd on their feet, first time this week !! takes strike three and Jays ruin Orioles attempt to get top spot in the division, not in our house friends. Yankees also beating the Rays 6-4 but not over yet. The excellent tonight: Firstly and most importantly Jays did not roll over tonight. Speed, defense, hitting and great pitching, all came together for the excellent win. Morrow to keep this team in the game for six. Hech with his glove and bat. Gose with his speed tonight I think was the spark that got these guys going, energy and speed into the lineup. Makes us realise how we have missed Lawrie with his hustling. Nine hits, six runs, 4-10 RISP, two double plays. Two hits each for Davis, Johnson, and Gose. The first team comes through but with some help from the rookies. Jays did it without the big bats tonight, Rasmus, Edwin and Lind 1-11. Maybe Fenway is just what these guys need to hammer the doubles off the wall and for Colby to get them down that short right field pole. Now everyone heads to Boston for the off day but on Friday we may see both Lawrie and Arencibia back.