Blog resumes July 4th

Sorry about that but I will be unable to complete blog for next two weeks. Maybe Jays will go on a two week tear, 14-0. After last night anything can and probably will happen. On the other hand pitching woes of the Jays are very unfortunate... Someone will step up and that has to include Romero. Meantime we can enjoy those bats. I can see why Alex wanted to get Rasmus, what a great young player. Adios for two weeks. Go Jays go.

Jays top four show awesome POWER with six home runs to beat Brewers 10-9 in a 4 hour roller coaster thriller

Jays v Brewers. Game two of three. Jays on the wrong end of a great game last night, excellent fight back from early 6-1 deficit. Just a matter of inches on the go ahead home run which did not seem conclusive even on the replays and certainly the Brewer fans in left field corner were far from celebrating. Thornburg a rookie replacing Marcum. Should be interesting to see whether top of the lineup can get to him early. Three home runs last night but not enough to win. However to see Jose and Edwin go deep in the same game is great to see. Both were moon shots last night, huge home runs. Jays send out Chavez who has at least pitched in the majors although tonight will be his first start. Yankees going for win number ten tonight, would the Jays could go on a run like that. Lineups: Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Davis, Arencibia, and Chavez pitching and hitting. Brewers: Aoki, Gomez, Braun, Ramirez, Hart, Weeks, Maldanado, Maysonet, and Thornburg pitching and hitting. Top 1st: Lawrie, drives it into right, leadoff single Rasmus with one on. Bunting, fouls it off. Whoa, lines this one to right and just foul of the pole. 2-2 count, grounds back to Thornburg, over to second on to first double play ball. Two down for Bautista. Pops it up to Weeks at second for final out. 10 pitch inning. Bottom 1st: Aoki, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Gomez, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, nice pitch, two down for Braun full count, drives it to Davis in left. Two down one on for Ramirez. 2-1 count. Bounces to right, great play by Escobar, barehanded stop and throw to get Ramirez to end the inning. Pitch count 20 though. He needs some big run support tonight. Top 2nd: Encarnacion, 2-1 fly ball to Aoki in right for the out. Johnson lines first pitch to Aoki in right for second out. Escobar, 2-2 count, grounds to third, three up and down, 19 pitches ! that is crazy, free swinging Jay hitters making it look too easy for the rookie. Bottom 2nd: Meantime Chavez pitched more pitches in his one inning. Hart, 1-2 count, strikes out looking. One down for Weeks, 2-2 count, strikes out looking. Maldanado, 0-2 count, grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Edwin at first. Pitch count 32. A lot better but long way to go. Top 3rd: Davis leading off, has to vary his routine a bit, no bunting here Rajai. First pitch bunting, foul, sigh. Way outside swing and misses, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Arencibia, full count, that’s better grounds it back up the middle. Chavez, one on one down, showing bunt. Ridiculous. 1-2 count, gets it down this time and Arencibia to second as Thornburg throw to first for second out. Lawrie, chance to get it going here. 2-2 count, WOWEEE drives this one high to centre and bounces off the top of the wall, home run Lawrie, 2-0 Jays. Rasmus, grounds to second throw to first to end the inning. 42 pitch count. Bottom 3rd: Maysonet, 2-2 count, fly ball to Rasmus for the out but took eight pitches. Thornburg, swinging away and drives it to the wall in centre, stand up double. Aoki, pops it up to Rasmus in left centre for second out. Gomez, 1-2 count, lines it to the wall in left centre and Thornburg scores 2-1 Jays. Braun, not the guy you want to see here. Full count, low ball four, two on for Ramirez. Another full count, outside ball four and bases loaded. Hart, 2-2 count, oh no hits him on the shoulder and here comes tying run. 2-2 game. Weeks bases still loaded. 3-0 count, Villanueva warming up in bullpen. Full count. whoa, ball four but that was great pitch, very close. 3-2 game bases still loaded. Maldanado, 3-1 count, outside ball four, another run scores 4-2 game. That is it for Chavez. Villanueva now pitching. Bases still loaded. Maysonet for second time in the inning. 1-2 count, strikes out, leaves the bases loaded. His manager will not like that. Great opportunity lost to blow the game open. Three of those runs came without a hit. Now time for Jays to payback plus. Top 4th: Bautista leading off. Fly ball to Gomez in centre, one down for Encarnacion, full count, grounds to Maysonet at short, two down for Johnson, let’s hope he has more than one pitch this time. 2-2, strikes out swinging. 57 pitch count. Thornburg cruising against weak Jays hitters tonight. So far unable to solve the AA pitcher. Bottom 4th: Thornburg, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches, normalcy returns. Aoki, bounces to Johnson, throw to Edwin, two down for Gomez, 0-2 count, takes strike three, easy three up and down inning for Carlos. They need that one. Top 5th: Escobar leading off. 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to first, one down for Davis. First pitch swinging pops it up to centre for the out. Not sure which is worse with Davis hitting, trying to bunt or swinging wildly at first pitch. Arencibia, full count hammers this on to right centre and bounces over the wall. Ground rule double for Arencibia, Villanueva, 2-2 count, hits it hard to right but right at Ramirez, nice at bat though Carlos. You made him work a lot harder than some of your colleagues. Pitch count 75. Bottom 5th: Braun leading off. 2-1 count, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Edwin, one down. Ramirez, full count, low ball four. One on one down for Hart, pops it up to Bautista in right, two down. Weeks, lines it to Davis in left, Braun stops at second. Two on for Maldanado, 2-2 count, takes strike three. No damage done. But can his own hitters do some? Top 6th: So far Thornburg has owned the Jays apart from the two run home run, no offence tonight from Jays hitters, Lawrie excepted of course. They are fortunate it is not Marcum tonight. Lawrie leading off. 2-2 tonight. Drives this one hard and deep to centre to the wall for the out. Gave it his best. One down for Rasmus. WHOA Colby, hammers a moon shot to right, home run Rasmus to make this a one run game 4-3. Bautista, hammers this one to left and just foul. THIS TIME YES JOSE, hammers hard to left and into the second deck seats, wow. Number 21 for Jose. Back to back 4-4 game. Thornburg in shock. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, OH WOW EDWIN my man, demolishes this pitch and high to left centre and almost out of the ball park ??? 5-4 Jays. Back to back to back home runs for the Jays. And sayonara to Thornburg. Those three hits were incredibly hard hit pitches. Tim Dillard sidearmer now pitching. Johnson, one down, 2-2 count, lines to third, throw to first, two down. Escobar, bounces over the pitcher, beats out the throw at first. Davis, takes ball one, that is different. Full count. Ball four, two on for Arencibia. He would love to hit one out. That’s ok JP, singles to left and here comes Escobar from second, 6-4 Jays. Davis to third. Cooper pinch hitting. Full count as he swings at ball four. Grounds to third, throw to first for third out. Disappointing with Cooper but at least Jays get the lead back with a power show. Jose also climbing the list of HR hitters again. Two ahead of him now. Dunn and Hamilton. Bottom 6th: Coello pitching for second night in a row. Maysonet leading off. 0-2 count, lifts it over the head of Edwin at first, “excuse me” hit but they all count. Pinch hitter Morgan for Dillard, 0-2 count, oh boy another “excuse me” hit to left, bounces in just fair. Nobody out for Aoki. Top of the order. 1-2 count. strikes out, huge out. One down for Gomez, need a ground ball here. 3-0 count. High ball four. That might be it for Coello, yes indeed Farrell almost running out there. Jason Frasor now has the difficult task. Braun with bases loaded. full count, trying to be too fine Jason. That is what happened to Chavez. Low ball four, here comes run five. 6-5 Jays. Ramirez with bases still loaded. You could see this coming, huge hit to left and this one is out of here grand slam Ramirez and Brewers retake the lead 9-6. Hart, 0-2 count, strikes out on three pitches, too little too late Jason. Two down. Weeks, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging to end this but Fraser gives back the lead. Not good at all, especially when Jays had the momentum after the fifth breakout power. Top 7th: Jays hitters must shudder every time a reliever comes in. Start all over again. Lawrie, Manny Parra now pitching. Full count Fly ball to Aoki in right. One down for, Rasmus, 2-1 count, fly ball to centre for the second out. Bautista two down, 3-0 count, ball four, Jose getting used to this. Encarnacion will they pitch to him? Inside ball one, maybe not. High ball two, Edwin not biting. Swings now at ball three, and ball four, 2-2 count, but not ball five, full count. singles to left and Jose going to third on the throw gets away and here he comes to score, yes aggressive base running by Jose 9-7 game. Edwin to second. Johnson who has done nothing tonight, Time to step up here Kelly. 0-2 count. Lucky guy, strikes out but ball gets away to back stop and Kelly safe at first Edwin to third. Escobar now can he just keep it going? 2-2 count, yes that’s all you have to do Yunel, singles to left, here comes Edwin 9-8 game. Two on two down for Davis, oh boy. Wild pitch and both runners move up into scoring position. Base hit here Rajai will do it. 2-2 count, way outside, full count, fouls it off. Strikes out swinging on ball four. But Jays get within one again. Jays have outhit the Brewers 11-7. Can the bullpen hold the Brewers here? Red Sox have won tonight so a Jays loss here will send them to the bottom again. Bottom 7th: Cordero, Farrell has little choice. Maldanado smashes it to third but Lawrie makes great catch, one down. Maysonet, 2-2 count, grounds it back up the middle. Kottaras pinch hitting for Parra. Oh boy lines it hard to right centre, Rasmus fumbles the catch at the wall, into his glove then out as he hits the wall and unable to gather it again. Runners at second and third, no error given. Aoki, grounds to Cordero, tags him out as. runners hold, two down for Gomez. Pops first pitch up to Edwin at first and Jays escape major trouble there. Top 8th: Jays get a life there can they capitalize now? Frankie Rodriguez in the way here though, Arencibia leading off. 2-2 count, takes strike three inside, JP does not agree. May have a case as well. Vizquel, pinch hitting drives it to Aoki in right for the out. Two down for Lawrie. Full count, strikes out swinging. Bottom 8th: Darren Oliver now pitching. Braun leading off. 3-1 count, lines it to first, great diving catch by Edwin, very nice, One down for Ramirez. 0-2 count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down for Hart. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Another great pitching job by Oliver, he has been superb all season. Top 9th: Top of the order to face Axford, you can’t ask for more with a one run game. Rasmus to lead off. Axford had the save last night. Colby showing bunt. Not anymore, 3-1 count. WHOAAAAAA Colby does it again lines it to right and just over the wall, home run number two for him tonight. 9-9 game, very nice. Bautista with nobody out. 3-1 count, I don’t believe it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jose lines it to right opposite field shot second deck facing, back to back again 10-9 Jays. Encarnacion, still nobody out. WOW... It is the opposite field hit that is just as if not more important here for Jose. 2-2 count. Casey Janssen now working. Way outside full count, almost falls over with that swing as he strikes out. First out of the inning for Axford. Johnson, time for others to step up as well here. 0-4 night for Kelly. Grounds to second throw to first for second out, not good at all Kelly. 0-5 night. Escobar, keep it going Yunel. 2-2 count. Lines to centre but running catch by Gomez for the out. Now Casey can you save this thing? Bottom 9th: Janssen now pitching for the save. Weeks leading off. 1-2 count, Casey gets that low inside corner important for him. Strikes out swinging, one down. Maldanado, pops it up to Escobar in shallow left, two down. Cody Ransom pinch hitting for Maysonet, 1-1 count, lines it past a diving Escobar, this roller coaster is not over yet. One on for Taylor Green pinch hitting. Full count, come on Casey. There we go, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Edwin for final out. Jays win huge comeback game 10-9. One of the most exciting games this season. Four hours. WOW. The excellent: POWer from top four Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista and Encarnacion all going deep. And then in the 9th Colby and Jose back to back again to win this thing. The good: Darren Oliver gets the win. A great prize for his consistent excellence Defensive play by Escobar first inning. Lawrie single and home run first two at bats. Not good: First pitch swinging by the Jays hitters not good at all Fraser gives up grand slam in the 6th to give the lead back to Brewers. Seven walks by Jays pitchers. The by the way good news. Finally Yankees lose one, streak ends at 10. Now let’s have a losing streak and bring them back to the pack.

Jays fight back with home run power from Lawrie, Bautista and Encarnacion but fall short to the Brewers

Jays v Brewers. Game one of three. Jays on a high after the sweep of the Phillies and hope to keep it going in Milwaukee to start off this nine game road trip which ends with three in Boston. Lawrie back where he started and will want to make a statement. Drabek will have Tommy John surgery tomorrow. Lineups: Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Escobar, Davis, Arencibia, Vizquel, and Alvarez pitching and hitting. Brewers: Aoki, Morgan, Braun, Ramirez, Hart, Weekes, Kottaras, Maysonet, Wolf pitching and hitting. Top 1st: Lawrie, second pitch, hammers this one into centre, home run no doubt, second deck, centre field. That is a statement to Brewers management, see what you gave away. 1-0 Jays. Rasmus, 0-2 count, singles up the middle. Bautista, one on 2-0 count, lines it high to Ramirez in right field corner for the out. Encarnacion, one down one on. full count, fly ball to Morgan in right centre for the second out. Escobar, grounds (first pitch) to third. Throw to first and Escobar leaves Rasmus at first, did not even give him chance to steal second. Jays strike first but could have been more. Pitch count for Wolf 17. Bottom 1st: Aoki, 2-1 count, bunting to Alvarez, nice play Henderson and throw to Edwin for the out. Nice play. One down for Morgan, singles up the middle. Braun, lines it to Davis in left, two on, one down for Ramirez. 3-1 count, low ball four, bases loaded. Hart, lines it to Bautista in shallow right, Morgan holds, smart guy. Two down bases still loaded for Weeks. Full count, singles to Rasmus, two runs score, throw to Lawrie to get Ramirez. Nice play by Colby. Jays already down 2-1. Pitch count 23, not good. Top 2nd: Jays start from behind this time. Davis, singles to right. Now let’s get going Rajai. Arencibia, fly ball to Braun in left for the out. One down for Vizquel. 1-2 count, there he goes, throw down by Kottaras gets him at second.2-2 count, two down now. Singles to right centre, Alvarez. Two down one on, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 30. Bottom 2nd: Kottaras, 1-2 count, fly ball to Davis, makes great over the shoulder play to make the catch by the wall. Great catch. One down for Maysonet. 1-2 count, lines it hard to left centre off the wall, stand up double. One down for Wolf. Singles to left centre off the glove of Escobar. Runner at third, top of the order again. Aoki, squeeze play and Alvarez misses the ball. Here comes the run 3-1 Brewers and two on base, one down for Morgan. Full count, inside ball four. Bases loaded yet again. Braun not the guy Alvarez wants to see here, this could be the game. 0-2 count, grounds to Lawrie dives to get runner at third, run scores 4-1 two down. Two great plays by Lawrie, one to stop the line drive and the other to dive for the out. Ramirez, this is trouble lines to right centre, two runs score 6-1 Brewers. Hart fly ball to Rasmus in centre to end this mess. 47 pitches in two innings is not major league stuff Henderson. Top 3rd: Jays hitters have a lot of work to do, Lawrie, lines first pitch over the head of Braun in left, stand up double, good start. Rasmus, full count, high ball four, two on for Bautista, long overdue for home run Jose. 1-2 count, no it hits him on the foot, Bases loaded for Encarnacion and nobody out. Oh boy, grounds to third on to second over to first double play even if Lawrie scores 6-2. Come on Edwin get it in the air. Escobar, Rasmus at third. Fly ball to centre for the third out. Awful. Nobody out bases loaded and they get one run. Bottom 3rd: Time for Alvarez to have a good inning. Not fooling anyone so far. Weekes, 1-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to first not in time, tough play for Lawrie. One on for Kottaras, singles to Bautista in right, two on and nobody out. Maysonet strikes out one down for Wolf, grounds to Alvarez throw to Edwin two down but runners in scoring position for top of the order. Akio third time to bat in three innings !!! lousy pitching. 2-1 count, bunting to Alvarez, makes the play this time throw to Edwin for the out. Brewers did not score but Alvarez at 62 pitches, might not make it through the fifth inning at this rate. Top 4th: Davis leading off. Grounds to second, throw to first, one down. Arencibia, this guy is also long overdue for something good. Lots of talk about D’Arnaud these days and not surprising. JP has only a couple more months to show that he is numero uno. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Vizquel. Strikes out swinging, much too easy for the Brewers tonight. 56 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Morgan, grounds to Vizquel, great play and throw to get Morgan diving to the bag. One down for Braun, 2-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Edwin for the second out. Ramirez, 2-1 count, grounds through the gap between Lawrie and Escobar to Davis in left. One on for Hart does exactly the same play, two on. Laffey warming up in bullpen, Weekes, two down two on. 2-2 count, pops it up to Vizquel. 81 pitch count. Top 5th: Alvarez or pinch hitter? The latter. That is it for Alvarez tonight. Mike McCoy hitting, singles back up the middle. Lawrie 2-2 tonight. 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to second over to first not in time to get Lawrie. One down one on. Rasmus, full count, Wolf distracted by Lawrie at first and rushing his pitches. Rasmus grounds back to Wolf throw to second to get Lawrie over to first not in time to get Colby. Two down one on for Bautista, hitless again tonight. Fly ball to right centre for the out. Jose in one of those ruts. Pitch count 72. Bottom 5th: Laffey now pitching. Kottaras, 2-1 count, grounds to Edwin at first, takes it himself for the out. One down for Maysonet, 2-1 count, fly ball to Bautista for second out. Wolf, grounds to Escobar, long throw to Edwin to get Wolf. Nice play Yunel. First three up and down inning for Jays pitching tonight, gives the offence a chance although last three Brewers innings have been scoreless. Top 6th: Encarnacion leading off. Wolf still out there. Lots of pitches left at 72. Edwin 1-2 count, a ROCKET with red glare goes bursting into second deck off the bat of Edwin. A moon shot, home run Edwin and cuts the lead to three, 6-3 Brewers. Escobar, tries his version and dies in shallow left for Braun to make the out, one down for Davis. Bunting great bunt but rolls foul. 2-2 almost hits him. Low but called out, tough call. Two down for Arencibia, average dropping fast, now .216. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays get one back but still need four. Orioles have already lost, Yankees in progress but winning. Bottom 6th: Top of the order again for fourth time, everybody has at least one hit tonight. Aoki, lines to centre but right at Rasmus for first out. Morgan, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. Very nice Aaron Laffey. Brain, that is it for Laffey, Coello now pitching to Braun, two down. Double switch Gomes now catching, interesting move. Hitting number nine for the pitcher. 0-2 count, takes strike three, very nice. Bullpen keeping the team in this one but can the bats respond? Top 7th: Jays hitters running out of chances. Vizquel leading off, 3-0 count, Wolf is done. Full count, singles into left, nice at bat by Vizquel. Gomes, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for top of the order Lawrie. Here comes the manager, Wolf is done. Was he left in too long here? Kameron Loe now pitching. Grounds to short, throw to second over to first not in time to get Lawrie, two down. Rasmus, there goes Lawrie and slides headfirst into second no throw. Stolen base. Full count, Lawrie will be running. Low ball four. Two on for Bautista, if ever we need a big hit it is here Jose. AND THERE SHE GOES... high into left field seats three run home run to tie this one up, 6-6 wow, classic Jose shot. Encarnacion, 2-0 count, lines a bullet to short, great catch for third out but Jays have come all the way back here after being down 6-1. Bottom 7th: New ball game here. Coello still out there. Ramirez, whoa very close here, just misses foul pole in left. Manager Roenicke out there and review of this one, could indeed have hit the padding. But the fans down there did not react much, yes umpires say yes and Brewers take the lead again 7-6. Hart, bounces over head of Coello to Escobar throw to Edwin for the out. Weeks, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down. That is it for Coello, Darren Oliver in to face Kottaras. Colleo threw 14 pitches, 12 for strikes, I think Farrell will like that. The home run was a matter of inches. Maldonado, pinch hitting for Kottaras, grounds first pitch to Escobar throw to Edwin for third out. One pitch one out, I like it. Top 8th: Escobar leading off. Francisco Rodriguez now. This is getting serious. 2-1 count, lines a bullet past Rodriguez, life before his eyes, to Weeks at second, makes great diving play at second and throw beats Escobar, he is so slow. One down for Davis. Lines it to centre for Morgan to make the out, two down for Cooper pinch hitting for Oliver. 2-2 count, pulls it to right, one on for Vizquel, lines this to right Hart makes a great diving catch to get the out on the line at first base. Robs Vizquel of a hit and maybe even a run if it had gone into the corner as Cooper was off and running. Two great defensive plays by the Brewers. Bottom 8th: Cordero, hang on everyone. Maysonet, bunting to third, Lawrie throw wild and into right field Maysonet to second on the error. Not good Brett. Green pinch hitting for Rodriguez. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, that is huge out. Aoki, 2-2 count, strikes out, two down for Morgan. 3-1 count, you don’t want to face Braun, groan, high ball four, not good, two on two down for Braun. WHOA pops it up to Bautista in right for third out. Big escape there. Top 9th: John Axford to close it out 11 saves in 14 opportunities, not unbeatable. Top of the order for the Jays. Mano v Mano. Kelly Johnson pinch hitting for Gomes leading off, pulls it high to Carlos Gomes in right centre to make the out, one down for Lawrie, he wants to make up for that error although it didn’t hurt in the end, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Rasmus. First pitch swinging, high fly ball to left for the final out. Jays lose a squeaker 7-6 but they had their chances. A 6-1 lead after two is not the ideal way to start a game. The excellent: Has to be Bautista with that three run home run. But Lawrie and Encarnacion also home run power tonight. Good to see both Jose and Edwin going deep, the pitching rotation will need them to step up their game whilst they are shorthanded. Great defensive plays by Lawrie. The not so good: Alvarez, lousy start to out Jays down by five after only two innings. The missed squeeze play by Alvarez in the second which lead to four runs was the difference. Jays were fighting to get back into this all game. The final run from a home run which was just inches from foul. Escobar and Arencibia 0-7 tonight.

Rasmus day at the park for Jays sweep of the Phillies in front of sellout Fathers Day crowd

Phillies v Jays. Final game of series. Crowd lining up early today and not just for the giveaway helmet. It is Father’s Day and also opportunity for the sweep of the Phillies. What a crazy week, swept by the Nationals, losing three starters and on verge of the sweep, exactly why one should never give up on this team in June. Incredible crowd here today, must be well over the 40,000 for second consecutive game. Great opening pitch by Ricky Romero’s dad to Ricky, from the mound, one amazing strike bang, no doubt about it. Sign him up Alex. Jays introduce all the players fathers eleven of them, who have flown in for this. Top 1st: Cecil looks so different with the loss of weight, evidently at least thirty pounds through the off-season conditioning. Rollins, grounds to Gomes at first, one down. Polanco, strikes out looking. Pence, strikes out swinging. Nice start for Cecil. Bottom 1st: Lawrie leading off, hammers first pitch to Mayberry in left, stand up double for Lawrie. Rasmus, lines this one to almost the same place to the wall Lawrie waits for the catch but now takes off and scores easily. 1-0 Jays with Rasmus at second. Great start. Bautista with Rasmus in scoring position and nobody out. Ball four for Jose and two on nobody out. Encarnacion, OH NO!!!! Bautista is picked off at first, what was he thinking? He had taken a lead at first and was very slow to get back on the snap throw by Ruiz. One down one on, Encarnacion strikes out swinging, just like that two down. Johnson, that’s better, singles up the middle to Victorino, here comes Rasmus to make it 2-0. Escobar, two down and runner at first, fly ball to Victorino in centre to ends the inning. Promising start but could have been better. Top 2nd: Cecil now has a lead to work with. Thome, gets hold of this one, oh dear, into the seats in right centre, home run Thome and his #100 with the Phillies to go along with the Indians and White Sox, only the 4th player in MLB to do that. 2-1 Jays. Victorino, strikes out swinging. One down. Ruiz, strikes out looking, does not like the call. Luna, fly ball to left but Davis has it for the third out. Phillies get one back but that is all. Bottom 2nd: Gomes, getting more playing time now and Cooper on the bench again today. Gomes grounds this one to Rollins at short, throw to Luna at first, two down. Davis, strikes out swinging, two down. Mathis pops it up to Luna at first to end the inning. Top 3rd: Mayberry, oh NO, fly ball to left but over the head of leaping Davis into the Jays bullpen, home run Mayberry, 2-2 game. Short-lived lead for the Jays. He likes hitting here, that is his second home run of the series. Martinez, grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Gomes at first to get Martinez, one down. Rollins, fly ball to Davis in left, two down. Polanco ball four, rough inning here for Cecil. Pence, singles to left and oh dear, Lawrie as he always does dives in front of Escobar but defects the ball off his glove and past Escobar. Escobar had that covered, one of the problems with that range of Lawrie frequently overlapping Escobar territory. Escobar had a much easier play on that ball. Two on, Polanco to third for the dangerous Thome who has already hit Cecil out of the park today. Not this time grounds to Johnson at second and throw to Gomes to get Cecil out of trouble. Bottom 3rd: Lawrie grounds to short, Rollins throw to Luna at first, one down for Rasmus. Rasmus, fly ball to Mayberry in left for the out. Bautista, a chance to redeem yourself here Jose. Not this time, grounds to Polanco at third, throw to first to end the inning. Jays go quickly and quietly for Kendrick. Top 4th: Victorino, pops it up to second but Johnson unable to get to it, difficult chance and safe at first. Just a looper. Ruiz one on lines it to Escobar, great diving catch by Yunel, highlight reel, Yunel will love that. Luna, there goes Victorino and safe on the throw by Mathis. Luna loops this one into shallow right, Bautista running in hard makes a great catch and throw to second doubles up Victorino. Great play Jose to end the inning and help out Cecil and also redeem yourself there. Bottom 4th: Encarnacion, grounds to Polanco at third, lone throw not in time, nice speed by Edwin to beat that one out. One on for Johnson, groan, grounds it to Rollins at short, over to second on to first, double play ball. Escobar, two down, grounds it back up the middle for a single. Gomes, he hits him as he turned away from that pitch, looks as if it were his leg, two on for Davis, grounds it back up the middle to Victorino, here comes Escobar chugging around the bags to score, 3-2 Jays, that double play now looks bad. Mathis with two on and two down, strikes out swinging. Jays get another but could have been more. Top 5th: Mayberry, lines it to Bautista in right for a single. Martinez fly ball to center but Rasmus makes nice catch, one down one on for Rollins. Strikes out swinging, two down. Polanco lines to Escobar, fumbles this one and error to Yunel. Mayberry moves up to second Two on for Pence, fly ball to left but Davis makes the out and preserves the lead for Cecil. But Cecil seems to be labouring the last two innings. It is a little tougher in the majors. After all he has spent most of his last games in AA league. Bottom 5th: Lawrie, ball four and on again for Rasmus. Colby gets hold of this one and no doubt about it to right field seats, home run Colby and Jays blowing this one open 5-2. The Lawrie-Rasmus combo strikes again. Still nobody out. Bautista pops it up to Polanco at third, one down Encarnacion pops it up to Luna at first, two down. Johnson fly ball to centre, Victorino makes the out. Jays get two more for Cecil. Top 6th: Luis Perez now pitching. Thome, grounds to Gomes at first, one down. Victorino, drives it to Bautista in right, single for Victorino. Ruiz, line it to Rasmus, another great catch by Colby. Luna, pops it up to second for Johnson to make the out. Good inning from Perez. Bottom 6th: Escobar, fly ball to Victorino in centre, one down. Gomes, strikes out swinging, two down. Davis fly ball to Mayberry in left. Quick three up and down for the Jays. Top 7th: Mayberry pops it up to Gomes at first, one down. Martinez, fly ball to Davis in left for the second out, Rollins, strikes out swinging. Nice three up and down for Perez. Bottom 7th: Mathis leading off. Lines this one to left and safe at second on a very weird dive to the bag. He started out too early on that one but safe is what matters. Lawrie lines out to pence in right, one down one on and pitching change for Rasmus. Jake Diekman now pitching. Colby singles to Pence in right here comes Mathis to score, 6-2 Jays. Pence kicks the ball as he fields it and is charged an error, Colby does not get the RBI. That seems unfair as it would have taken a perfect throw by Pence to get Mathis as Ruiz would be facing away from Mathis when the throw came in. Bautista with Colby at first, oh no, Colby is picked off here and tagged out by Rollins. Two down, Bautista fly ball to centre for Victorino. Jays get one more. Could have been more. Top 8th: Perez out there for a third inning. I have no problem with this, he is pitching well. Polanco, strikes out swinging. Pence fly ball to Rasmus, makes it looks so easy out there. Is definitely on his game today. Thome, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Gomes and a great inning by Perez. Bottom 8th: Here comes Papelbon to loads of jeers around the stadium, Jays fans never forget a Red Sox player. Encarnacion leading off, ball four, leadoff walk, fans like that and let Papelbon know it. Johnson, grounds back to Papelbon, nice grab, throw to second to get Edwin but no chance for two. As Edwin makes nice defensive slide into second base. One on one down for Escobar, strikes out swinging, two down. Gomes, strikes out swinging, not a good night for Gomes. Papelbon gets the better of jays this inning at least. Top 9th: Jason Frasor now pitching. Perez had great three innings in relief. Victorino grounds back to Frasor, throw to Gomes for first out. Ruiz, takes strike three, two down. Luna, grounds to Lawrie at third, very long throw by Brett but unable to get him. One on two down. Mayberry, singles to Rasmus in centre, two on two down. Pinch hitter Fontenot for Martinez. Grounds to Escobar, takes it himself to the bag for the out. Jays win big today 6-2 and sweep the Phillies. The excellent: Rasmus day today with three hits 3 RBIs and robbed of another. Highlight reel plays in the outfield by Colby. As well as the double play by Jose. We have to say it today RISP 4-7. One of the best for a long time. The good: Cecil, have to give the guy some credit, must have been tough outing for him and loads of pressure to do well but he did well enough to get another start. Was very deliberate and slow in his pitching and obviously concentrating on every pitch. Two home runs but five strikeouts and much better only one walk. That in itself is a plus for the walk-happy Jays pitching rotation. The not so good: Base pad running yet again. Bautista picked off, Rasmus picked off. Hopefully these things can improve over a long season.

Jays come from behind extra innings win but Romero continues to struggle

Phillies v Jays. Game two of three. Jays coming off excellent start to the series last night except for Hutchison of course. Tough game today for Jays with Cliff Lee pitching. Romero missing in action far too long this season and last outing a four inning game, at least he should have lots of energy. Lineups: Phillies: Rollins, Polanco, Pence, Thome, Victorino, Wigginton, Mayberry, Schneider, Martinez, and Lee pitching. Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Gomes, Arencibia, Davis and Romero pitching, Top 1st: Rollins, 1-2 count, grounds back to Romero, throw to Encarnacion at first, one down for Polanco, full count, lines it to the wall in right centre, stand up double. One on one down for Pence. This is trouble, lines it into left and bounces into the crowd, ground rule double, here comes Polanco to score, 1-0 Phillies, Thome, does not like the clay at home plate, grounds crew fixes, now he can dig in there. Runner in scoring position at second. One down, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Victorino. 2-2 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Edwin for the out. Ricky puts Jays behind early. Bottom 1st: Lawrie, lines it to right but Pence makes the catch, one down for Rasmus, fly ball to Mayberry, two down. Bautista, pops it up to Wigginton. Seven pitch inning for Lee. Top 2nd: Wigginton, fly ball to shallow centre, Rasmus makes great running catch. One down for Mayberry. Full count, fly ball to Rasmus for out number two. Schneider, hits him, just catches his shirt. One on two down for Martinez. Lines to left in front of Davis. Two on for Rollins. Singles to Davis, bases loaded for Polanco, pitch count already 40. Grounds to Escobar, throw to second to get Rollins. But Romero in early pitch count trouble. Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion, bat flies into the crowd. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Johnson. Grounds to Martinez at second, throw to Wigginton at first, two down. Escobar, lines this one to left and this one is carrying over the wall in left into the Jays bullpen. 1-1 game. Arencibia, strikes out looking. But this one is all tied up. Top 3rd: Pence leading off, grounds to Lawrie at third, throw to Edwin at first, one down for Thome, shift right, 1-2 count, grounds to Lawrie playing shallow right, throw to Edwin at first two down. Victorino, lines it into left, one on two down for Wigginton, there goes Victorino, and Wigginton lines it past Escobar into left, Victorino all the way to third. Romero in trouble again. Mayberry, two on two down. Drives this one hard to left and this one is out of here, into Jays bullpen in left. 4-1 Phillies. Schneider. 1-2 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Edwin for the out but Phillies have reached Romero early, Déjà vu the Braves last weekend. It was 4-0 when Ricky left the game before Jays stormed back to win big. Bottom 3rd: Lee staked to a big lead, not the guy you want to give a three run lead. Romero hissy fit when he goes down the tunnel slamming his hand against the concrete wall, not a very smart thing to do Ricky, you may need that hand if you continue to pitch. Farrell follows him down there. That’s interesting. Arencibia leading off. Grounds to Rollins at short throw to Wigginton for the out. Davis bunting, foul, singles back up the middle. Lawrie, 2-0 count, there goes Rajai, pops it up to Wigginton behind first, and oh he drops the ball. Davis had to stop and retreat and then go when it dropped, now at second Lawrie a first, tough luck. Rasmus, there goes Rajai first pitch and throw too late, One down runner at third and first. Colby lashes it to third, here comes Davis to score, Lawrie to third on the play, 4-2 Phillies, Jays threatening here. One down runners at the corners for Bautista, High pop up to Martinez, two down for Encarnacion, 1-2 count, there goes Rasmus, he is hung up now here comes Lawrie throw home and he is out t end the inning, Not very smart base running. Top 4th: Martinez, 2-1 count, pulls it to Lawrie at third, throw to first for out. Top of the order again. Rollins, 3-1, ball four, one on one down for Polanco, there goes Rollins, ooops a throw over and they have him picked off as he runs into the tag by Escobar. Two down, 1-2 count, Polanco strikes out swinging to end the inning. Bottom 4th: Encarnacion, gets another chance after being left at the plate last inning, 2-2 count, lines this one hard to Victorino centre but out at the wall. Nice shot Edwin. Johnson, bounces first pitch to second, throw to Wigginton, two down. Escobar, singles back up the middle. Gomes, lines this one to centre and oh no, it bounces over the wall, Escobar has to go back to third, ground rule double, robs Jays of a run here. Arencibia, high fly ball to left for the out, Jays lose a tough run there. Top 5th: Pence, grounds to Lawrie, throw to first for the out, one down. Thome, shift right one down grounds to Escobar playing at the second base bag. Two down for Victorino, 1-1 pops it up to Bautista in shallow right to end the inning. BUT 85 pitch count for Romero Bottom 5th: Davis bunting but everyone waiting for it and Polanco throw to first for an easy out, First pitch as well. Lawrie, one down. 1-2 count, pops it up and nice over shoulder catch by Martinez behind first base, helping out Wigginton there, but what I like is that he used two hands to make the catch. Rasmus, pulls it to right. Bautista two down one on. Hammers this one high to left but dies on the track for Mayberry to make the out. Nice shot Jose. 56 pitches for Lee, 30 !!! less than Romero. Top 6th: Romero still in there but probably his last inning. He is hanging in there but another disappointing outing from him. Wigginton, 2-2 strikes out swinging, one down. Mayberry, full count, fly ball to left for Davis to make the catch. Two down. Schneider, hits him in the back. Second time today. One on one down for Martinez, 0-2 count grounds to Lawrie, throws it away at first, error to Lawrie runners at second and third. This could hurt big-time. Coello warming up in bullpen. Rollins, 2-2 count, pops it up the error guy Lawrie. 108 pitch count. 52 more than Lee and therein is a major difference here today. Bottom 6th: Lee only 14 balls this afternoon for the first 15 outs. Jays have had their chances this afternoon against Lee. Encarnacion, 0-2 count, takes strike three, not even a swing from Edwin, his body language says it all. Johnson hitless today, 0-2 count, finally a hit for Johnson, he will take anything these days. Escobar, 2-2 today. full count, singles back up the middle, third hit for Yunel off Lee. Two on, one down for Gomes, a great double last at bat and robbed of an RBI by the ground rule double. Terrible, grounds to Rollins at short, throw to second over to first. Double play. Yet again blown chance to do something to Lee. 72 pitch count for Lee. Should be able to go the distance today unless a dramatic change in Jays hitting. Top 7th: Robert Coello now pitching, Romero unable to rest the bullpen today when they most needed it after yesterday’s great effort. Polanco, 0-2 and drives off glove of Coello, safe at first. Pence pops it up to Bautista in shallow right. Thome, shift right on, 0-2 count, takes strike three, very nice Coello. Two down for Victorino. Pops it up to Escobar for third out, excellent inning by Coello showing Romero how it is done. Impressive against numbers 2-5 of the lineup. Bottom 7th: Arencibia, another hitless player. 0-2 count, fly ball to Victorino in centre, stays hitless. One down for Davis. 2-2 count, lines it to Martinez at second. Two down, nice catch. Lawrie, singles back up the middle for his second hit today, hitting is not his problem, staying on base is. Rasmus two hit today himself. Grounds back to Lee, throw to first for the out. Pitch count 85. Top 8th: Coello still out there. Wigginton leading off. 2-2 count, takes strike three, froze him. Mayberry, strikes out swinging, two down. Coello, 16 pitches 14 strikes. THAT is pitching. Schneider, full count, high ball four. Martinez, full count, high ball four. Two on for Rollins. Drives it to right over the head of Bautista bounces over the fence ground rule double for a run. 5-2 game. Polanco with two in scoring position, fly ball to Davis in left. Bottom 8th: Bautista leading off. Jays now need three. Jose 0-3 today. 3-1 count, way high ball four. One on for Encarnacion, this will do lines it to left, Mayberry throw to cut-off Rollins who throws it to second to get Edwin but wild throw gets away into no man’s land in right here comes Jose to score, nobody there to back up second. Edwin going all the way and beats the throw to score. 5-4 game, Edwin exhausted. Johnson now loops it into left. Here comes manager Manuel. That is it for Lee. How things change quickly. Chad Qualls now pitching One on nobody out for Escobar, Yunel 3-3 today, 1-2 count, pops it up to Martinez, drops it but infield play, Escobar had given up and did not run, that could have been double play. Cooper, pinch hitting. Lines it down the line in right. Johnson to third. Two on one down for McCoy pinch running for Cooper at first. Arencibia lines it into left here comes Johnson to tie it and McCoy to third with Arencibia to second. 5-5 game. Davis, fly ball to Mayberry, throw is awful but McCoy was holding and does not run. Not good. Lawrie, two down two on. Don’t be a hero, just a base hit will do. Fly ball to Mayberry. Lawrie golden opportunity lost. Top 9th: Janssen now pitching, Pence, 2-2 count, takes strike three. One down for dangerous Thome, bounces back to Janssen, throw to first for second out. Victorino, bunting ?? foul, 1-1 count, looked a strike from here ump. 1-2 count. Grounds to Lawrie at third, throw just beats him, he is fast. Casey did his job now over to the top of the order to do theirs. Bottom 9th: Michael Schwimer pitching. Rasmus leading off. Full count, strikes out swinging. Bautista, the only starter without a hit today. 2-0 count, may not get much here to hit. 3-1 count, drives it to left but Victorino makes the catch, two down for Edwin. 3-1 count, full count, ball four. Johnson with one on, keep it going Kelly. 2-4 today. 2-2 count, pops it up to Mayberry in left. Extra innings game but look who is coming in. Top 10th: Yes Cordero is the pitcher, hang on folks. This could be rough. Wigginton first pitch fly ball to Davis in left, Mayberry. Full count, strikes out swinging, two down. Schneider, ball four, come on. Pinch runner Juan Pierre, not the guy you want to see there. Fontenot pinch hitter. 1-0 count, there goes Pierre, Arencibia throw into centre, lousy throw but Pierre unable to get to third, get a break there. 2-2 count, fly ball to Davis and Cordero just escapes damage. Bottom 10th: Kratz now catching. Joe Savery pitching, Escobar leading off. 3-4 today. Just a base hit Yunel, 3-1 count, high ball four, one on, that’s the way Yunel. McCoy please do NOT bunt Mike. Oh man, don’t do it, tries to bunt, Whoa, now a balk on Savery, tried for pick off. Good as McCoy does not have to bunt and that is good in my book, a base hit is all you need. Yunel at second nobody down. Bunts again, foul, come on guys this guy cannot bunt, we all know that. Tries again ???? 1-2 count. now he takes it off, 2-2 count, that’s better bounces to short and Yunel to third on the play as throw to first to get McCoy. Did the job but what a palaver. Arencibia, just a base hit will do, escapes there as he lifts it to first in foul ground but Wigginton cannot get there, 1-2 count. Strikes out swinging. Jays 2-9 with runners in scoring position today. Davis, two down. 0-2 count, Lines it to centre splits the fielders, playing shallow to cut off the run and this will do it bounces over the wall, here comes Escobar. Jays win 6-5. The excellent: Davis, walk off double to win this in extra innings. The good: Coello two relief innings to hold Phillies to one run. Escobar home run. Janssen to hold the Phillies scoreless in the ninth. Jays hitters come through today with 15 hit attack and spread throughout the lineup. Escobar with three hits, Johnson with two. The not so good: Romero once again poor outing and lucky to go six. RISP 3-10 today. Great Crowd @ 42,000.

Jays end the losing streak but lose another pitcher as they shutout the Phillies

Phillies v Jays. Game one of three. Interleague continues. What is wrong with everyone? Around Toronto these days all we hear is people jumping off the bandwagon, the season is over, the sky is falling. I definitely do not agree. In this division the standings change weekly and the Jays are far from finished in mid-June. Losing Drabek as far as I am concerned is no great loss. He was not pitching well and the recall of Cecil may well prove to be an even better bet and improvement of the rotation. But the problems are not just the pitching, the lack of major run support is hurting this team just as much as lack of pitching. Bautista and Rasmus are probably the only two who have been hitting with any consistency over the last few weeks. Some, sorry, many of the others in the lineup need to produce. Very disappointed in Arencibia, Cooper, Johnson and Escobar. Lawrie is showing some positive signs justifying continuing the 1-2 experiment at the top with Rasmus. Encarnacion at least has an excuse with his wrist injury and is still not back to normal but then again he always has been a streaky hitter in the past and can get hot at any time. This series more inter-league and Jays are catching the Phillies when they too are struggling at the bottom of their division. Opportunity for Jays to at least take two of three this weekend and start the upward climb. Lineups: Phillies: Rollins, Pierre, Pence, Thome, Victorino, Ruiz, Wigginton, Fontenot, Martinez and Vance Worley pitching Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Cooper, Arencibia, Davis and Hutchison pitching. Top 1st: Rollins, grounds to Johnson, throw to Cooper at first for the out. I always feel better when Rollins is out. Pierre, one down. 0-2 strikes out swinging, very nice Drew. Two down for Pence. NO, Hutchison steps off and calls the trainer, he is injured. He is walking off. Oh boy, three in a row this week. That is unbelievable. Aaron Laffey now pitching. Whoa. Three of the starting rotation now injured. This is crazy. Nine pitches !!! full count, Ball four. Thome, two down one on. Lines to Lawrie playing shift right, throw to Cooper for third out. Bottom 1st: This is where the offence has to come through and give a boost to the pitching. Get a few runs on the board this inning. Lawrie, grounds to Fontenot at third, throw to Wigginton at first, one down for Rasmus. Lines it hard to centre but Victorino makes the catch. Two down for Bautista, full count, ball four, yet another walk for Jose. Encarnacion, 0-2 count, there goes Jose, throw gets him at second. Top 2nd: Victorino, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, Ruiz, one down. Lines to Davis in left, one on one down for Wigginton. Need a ground ball here Aaron. 3-1 count, low ball four, two on. Fontenot, full count, fly ball to Davis in left, two down. Martinez, 1-2 count, grounds to Johnson at second throw to Cooper. Laffey doing the job but not easy 32 pitches already for four outs. Give the guy some run support, lots of it. Bottom 2nd: Encarnacion left on base last inning. Grounds back to Worley, throw to first, one down. Johnson, 2-2 count, grounds back up the middle wakes up the crowd. One on one down for Escobar. There goes Johnson but Yunel fouls it off. 2-2 count, grounds to short, over to second, on to first, another double play from Escobar. Top 3rd: Villanueva ??? now pitching. Ok John, I thought Laffey could pitch more than two. Rollins, grounds to Cooper at first, diving to save that one and throw to Villanueva for first out. Nice play. Pierre, grounds to Cooper, takes it himself for the out, two down for Pence. Lines to left Davis throw almost gets him Pence safe at second. Thome, runner at second. Shift right, full count, ball four. Two on for Victorino. 0-2 count, pops it up to Arencibia for third out. Jays pitchers making it tough each inning. Bottom 3rd: Can anyone hit on this team tonight? Bottom third of the order. Cooper leading off. Has cooled of a lot since he started the season. 3-1 count, pops it up to left for Pierre to make the out. Arencibia, pops it up to Martinez in shallow right, two down for Davis. Lines it hard to left, off the top of the wall. Stand up double for Rajai, Lawrie, 1- 2 count, lines opposite field hit high to right bounces of wall half way up as Davis scores 1-0 Jays. Stand up double for Lawrie. Rasmus, 1-2 count, takes strike three. Jays get going first here. Top 4th: Ruiz leading off. Full count, outside ball four. Wigginton, 1-2 count, strikes out as he cannot hold up his swing. One down for Fontenot, great curve ball, 0-2, perfect grounds to Cooper steps on the bag and throw to Escobar at second, double play ball. Bottom 4th: Bautista, 0-2 count, lines it the other way into right, leadoff single. Encarnacion, lines it to third, throw to second is wild and all the way to right field corner here comes Jose all the way from first. 2-0 Jays, and Edwin to third on the error. Johnson now with runner at third. Nobody out. 1-2 count, oh boy takes strike three, awful. Come on Kelly. Escobar, one down. 2-0 we don’t need a walk here Yunel. 3-1, that’s better bounces it to short, here comes Edwin 3-0 Jays as Escobar out on the Rollins throw to first, two down. Cooper, 2-2 count, terrible takes strike three. Not good David. One run for three outs. That was not very good hitting by the Jays. Johnson, and Cooper. Top 5th: Martinez, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Rollins, 3-1 count, pops it up and drops in between Lawrie and Escobar down the third base line, stand up double for Rollins, Pierre, lines to Davis in left, two down for Pence.1-2 count, pops it up to Bautista for third out. Bottom 5th: Arencibia, takes strike three, one down. Davis, full count, ball four, Rajai walks, Lawrie. One down. There goes Rajai, Lawrie foul tip and no throw. 1-2 count. Pops it to first, for the out. No chance for Rajai to move up. Rasmus, two down one on. Grounds it to first, Wigginton takes it himself. Jays are not making the most of their chances here and may regret it later in this game. Top 6th: Jason Frasor now warming up in bullpen. Villanueva at 50 pitch count. Thome, 0-2 count, takes strike three. Victorino, takes strike three, two down for Ruiz. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. Very nice pitching Carlos. Bottom 6th: Jays have been threatening to blow this game open for last two innings, can they do it this time? Bautista leading off. Brian Schneider now catching for Ruiz. Fly ball to Victorino in centre. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, high strike out. Edwin does not like that but umpire has been calling it all night. Two down for Johnson, 0-2 count, grounds to Rollins and safe at first on the play, no throw. Escobar, grounds back to Worley throw to first for the out. Top 7th: Frasor now pitching. Wigginton, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, one down. Fontenot, 2-2 count, nice pitch freezes Fontenot for the out. Two down for Martinez, full count, misses ball four. One on two down for Rollins. Darren Oliver working in bullpen. 1-2 count, lines to Johnson playing shallow right throw to Frasor covering first for the third out. Bottom 7th: Cooper leading off. Worley still out there at 93 pitches. 3-1 count, fly ball to Victorino, one down for Arencibia. 3-1 count, lines it to Victorino in centre, two down for Davis. Grounds to third, throw to first to end a quick inning. Jays hitters owe this lead to that error by Fontenot. Top 8th: Darren Oliver now pitching. Pierre leading off. 0-2 count, singles into centre, one on for Pence. Lines it at Johnson throw to Cooper, but Pierre dives back in time to avoid doubling up. One down, Thome, 3-1 count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre, two down for Victorino. There goes Pierre, throw in time but umpire says no way, Johnson does not agree. Here comes Farrell to argue. 1-2 count, OUCH, hits him on the hand. Two on two down for Schneider, double steal, throw to second high and called safe, Farrell out there again. Still no joy. 1-2 count, strikes him out looking. Great pitch Darren. Bottom 8th: It would be nice to get a couple more insurance runs here. Top of the order to do it as well. Michael Schwimer now pitching. Lawrie leading off. 2-2 count, drives it to the wall in centre, stand up double. But they have to bring him in. Rasmus, swinging away, full count, oh no no no. Lawrie going Rasmus strikes out throw to third, double play ball, wow that hurts. I thought they were holding Lawrie after the last time he did that. Bautista. Lines it to left for the out. That was one horrible inning. I hope that does not come back to haunt them tonight. Top 9th: Janssen now pitching. Bottom of the order, Wigginton. 2-1 count, fly ball to Bautista in right, one down for Fontenot. 1-2 count, bounces wide of Johnson, makes a great play but throw not in time. One on one down for Polanco pinch hitting for Martinez. 0-2 count, bounces to Escobar, flip to Johnson who is taken out by Fontenot slide, two down for Rollins pops up first pitch to Rasmus in shallow centre to end this one. Jays win their first and break that losing slide. The very good: Jays bullpen tonight shutout Phillies bats after losing their starter Hutchison after only nine pitches. That was impressive. Davis and Lawrie with their doubles off the wall both of which just missed going out. The not so good: 1-7 runners in scoring position for the Jays. Lawrie thrown out at third stealing and back end of double play with Bautista on deck. Tampa, Baltimore and Yankees all winning but still in progress. Red Sox lost earlier to the Cubs so the Jays back to .500 and in fourth position. One game at a time.

Jays disappoint sellout crowd as they are swept by the Nationals despite home run 19 by Jose

Nationals v Jays. Series finale. Jays fans expecting the worst today and the sweep. Drabek hardly inspires any confidence and right now the bats are also silent with the exception of Jose who is and Colby Rasmus hitting his stride at a good time but on their own I am afraid until Edwin gets his timing back after his injury. Today Nationals number one pitcher Strasbourg. In comparison Jays number one Morrow is on the DL. If they do get swept today Jays will fall below .500 for first time this season. Problem I have with Harper is that the hype detracts from the real guy. My theory is that the media have made him into some sort of invincible five tool player, the Tiger Woods syndrome which the media promote for TV $ and the players start to believe and react accordingly to the hype until they are psyched out by the guy before he even gets to bat. Ten weeks of a season is far from being an accurate guide. Talent yes indeed in buckets, but Superman ? I don’t think so, we may yet see the Jeremy Lin factor at work later in the season. Lineups: Nationals: Lombardozzi, Harper, Zimmerman, Morse, Desmond, Espinosa, Moore, Ankiel, Flores and Strasburg pitching. Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Cooper, Escobar, Johnson, Arencibia, Davis and Drabek pitching. Top 1st: Another amazing crowd here must e over 40,000. Schol day but also end of term, post-exams for many. Noise will be great but can the Jays feed of it? Lombardozzi strikes out swinging. One down for Harper, grounds Johnson at second, throw to Encarnacion at first, two down. Zimmerman fly ball to Bautista in right for a three up and down inning, what a change !!1 Bottom 1st: Lawrie singles to Zimmerman and safe at first, nice start Brett. Rasmus strikes out swinging. Bautista grounds to Desmond at short, throw to Espinosa at second. Bautista to first. Two down one on for Encarnacion strikes out swinging. Top 2nd: Morse singles to Rasmus in centre. Desmond, ball four and walks. Two with Morse at second. Espinosa grounds to Encarnacion at first, no chance for two. Morse to 3rd. Desmond to 2nd. Drabek in early trouble here, ground ball will not help him much. Moore lines to left and bounces over the wall, ground-rule double 2-0 Nationals. Still only one down for Ankiel, fly ball to Bautista. Two down for Flores grounds to Johnson throw to Encarnacion to end it but Jays already playing catch-up. Bottom 2nd: Cooper strikes out swinging. I think we have seen enough of Cooper, pitchers have already adjusted to him but he has not. Escobar fly ball to Harper in right, two down for Johnson. Kelly singles to Lombardozzi in left. Arencibia, another in a slump, strikes out swinging. Top 3rd: Lombardozzi fly ball to Bautista in right, one down for Harper. Lines to Bautista in right for a stand up double. One on one down. Zimmerman singles to Lawrie. Harper to 3rd. Morse grounds to Escobar, on to Johnson over to Edwin at first, double play ball. Very nice. Bottom 3rd: Davis fly ball to Ankiel in centre, Rajai all the way to third on the play, his second triple of the season. Lawrie grounds to Desmond at short, throw to first baseman Moore at first, not in time and Rajai Davis scores.Finally. 2-1 Jays. Rasmus strikes out swinging. Bautista, YES JOSE, once again, high fly ball to left and over the wall, yet another home run for Jose, number 19. WOW !!!! 2-2 game. Encarnacion grounds Desmond at short throw to first baseman Moore. Top 4th: Desmond fly ball to Rasmus, one down for Espinosa singles to Bautista. One on for Moore, goodbye to this one, two run home and the first for Moore, it would be off Drabek. 4-2 Nationals. Ankiel singles to Rasmus. Flores ball four two more on. Lombardozzi grounds to Encarnacion throw to Escobar. Rick Ankiel to 3rd. Flores out at 2nd. Steve Lombardozzi to 1st. Bases loaded for Harper, grounds to Johnson at second throw to Escobar to get Lombardozzi. What an ugly inning by Drabek. Just awful and very lucky to escape with only two more runs. Bottom 4th: Cooper grounds Moore at first, one down. Escobar grounds to short, Desmond throw to Moore at first for the second out. Johnson takes strike three. Jays answer to that long inning by the Nationals, this team looks a tired depressed bunch and they are certainly doing that to their fans right now. Top 5th: Zimmerman pops it up to Johnson. One down. Drabek now injured, holding his arm, that is it for Drabek. Laffey now pitching and could even be an improvement on Drabek the way he has been pitching. But then again if he has been pitching with an injury it could explain his poor pitching record. Morse grounds first pitch back to Laffey throw to first for Encarnacion to make the second out. Desmond grounds to Johnson throw to Edwin for the out. Efficient pitching from Laffey making a play here for the rotation ??? You have my vote Aaron. Bottom 5th: Arencibia strikes out swinging. One down. Davis singles on to Harper in right, one on one down for top of the order. Lawrie there goes Rajai they have him picked off and out at second. Two down. Lawrie fly ball to Harper for third out. Jays are getting no breaks from the baseball gods. Top 6th: Espinosa grounds to Lawrie throw to Edwin Encarnacion. One down for Moore hammers this one to centre and over the wall, his second home run of the game and season. Ankiel strikes out looking. Flores grounds to Lawrie throw to Encarnacion to end this one but National keep slugging away. Bottom 6th: Rasmus leading off, strikes out swinging. Bautista ball four, how many walks is that given by this team, must be 5 or 6 in less that three games ???? Encarnacion, wild pitch by Strasburg and Jose to second. Even Strasburg is mortal. Fly ball to Lombardozzi in left, two down. Cooper fly ball to Ankiel in centre. Top 7th: Lombardozzi strikes out, one down for Harper, grounds to Lawrie throw to first for Encarnacion to make the out. Harper not having a great day today. Zimmerman grounds to Escobar at short, throw to first for Edwin to make the out. Bottom 7th: Stammen now pitching. Escobar singles to Ankiel in centre field. Johnson one on, strikes out swinging. One down for Arencibia grounds back to pitcher Stammen throw to Moore at first but Escobar moves to 2nd. Davis now hitting, there goes Escobar and safe at 3rd. Davis, strikes out swinging. Top 8th: Morse leading off grounds to third for Lawrie to make throw to Encarnacion. One down. Desmond gets hold of this one fly ball to left and over the fence, home run to Desmond. 6-2 Nationals. That is it for Laffey, here comes Cordero. Espinosa ball four, great start by Cordero, manager Farrell must take vallium to get him through these games. Moore fly ball to left for Davis to make the out. Ankiel, lines out to Johnson for the third out. Bottom 8th: Lawrie leading off, grounds Desmond at short, throw to first base Moore. One down. Rasmus lines this one hard to left-centre field, bounces over the wall, ground rule double. Bautista strike three looking. Encarnacion ball four, two on for Cooper, strikes out swinging. May have had his last at bat for a while in the big league, leaves to more on base. Not good, not good at all Cooper. Top 9th: Janssen now pitching, not much point letting him sit in the bullpen waiting for a call for a save. Not with the Jays right now anyway. Flores fly ball to Rasmus. One down. Lombardozzi grounds to Edwin throw to Casey for second out. Harper takes strike three. Harper looking ordinary today. My theory exactly. Bottom 9th: Brad Lidge now pitching. Escobar strikes out swinging. Johnson lines to centre for Ankiel to make the catch. Two down for Arencibia, grounds to Moore at first, takes it himself. Finally the agony is over. The result was never doubted even before this game. Nationals outplayed the Jays in every category. Very few of the Jays can hold their heads high after this debacle. Yes Washington is division leader and yes they have a good team but this Jays team beats themselves time and time again. Today’s RISP 0-6.They had seven hits and only two runs. Nationals had nine but four more runs. Both Strasburg and Harper were normal mortals today but even normalcy was too much for this lineup. Changes have to be made. Cooper has to go for a start. Arencibia may have to sit and watch D’Arnaud for 100 at bats, that seems to be the magic number for management. If Drabek is gone to injury, he will not be missed by the fans, a chronic underachiever but unfortunately he is not the only one, add in Romero and Cordero to that list. Jays will fall to the bottom if Boston wins later tonight and maybe that is a good thing. There will be no more expectations from the fans that this team somehow had more talent than they actually have out the

Bautista goes deep for number 18 but Jays lose the series to Nationals

Nationals v Jays, Game two of three. Jays having lots of problems with the Nationals, maybe tonight Alvarez can give them something because they will not get it in the finale against Strasbourg. If they lose tonight they could be swept tomorrow and also fall below .500 which is not good at all. The other bad news, Vladdy released from his Jays contract.Not many fans are happy with that news. Brett Cecil promoted to AAA because the realy bad news is that Morrow is on the 15 day DL. Uphill battle for Jays pitching staff now but maybe Romero will smarten up, we can but dream. Lineups: Nationals: Lombardozzi, Harper, Zimmerman, LaRoche, Morse, Desmond, Espinosa, Ankiel, Solano and Wang pitching. Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Cooper, Davis, Mathis and Alvarez pitching. Top 1st: Lombardozzi lines to Rasmus in centre, one down. Harper singles to Bautista, one on. Zimmerman, grounds to Alvarez, throw to Encarnacion, two down. Harper to second on the play. LaRoche pops up to Encarnacion for third out. Pitch count 19 for Alvarez. Bottom 1st: Lawrie, singles to Harper in right. Rasmus, there goes Lawrie and safe on the throw, no he is out, came off the bag after he slid home safe, tough out, two down for Jose, ball four, not giving the poor guy anything to hit again, game plan for Nationals. Encarnacion, wild pitch Jose to second. Now Jose takes third no throw, nice Jose. 2-2 count, grounds to short, throw to first to end the inning. 15 pitch count for Wang. Top 2nd: Morse 2-2 count, trickles into right on the line, flukey hit, with Edwin playing off the bag. One on for Desmond, grounds to Escobar, steps on the bag and throw to first, double play ball. Nice. Espinosa, lines to left over the head of Davis. Stand-up double. Two down one on for Ankiel. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Nice pitching. 36 pitches Bottom 2nd: Johnson, 2-0 count, grounds to Zimmerman at third, throw to LaRoche at first to get Colby. One down for Escobar, lines to Espinosa, throw to LaRoche for the out. Cooper, 2-2 count, pops it up for Lombardozzi. Pitch count 28. Top 3rd: Solano, grounds to the left of short, great play by Escobar, throw to Encarnacion for the out, great play Yunel. One down for Lombardozzi. Full count. Grounds to Encarnacion throw to Alvarez, two down. Harper, first pitch hammers it to centre, home run, why are they not walking the guy? Nationals are doing it to Jose most of the time. Three walks already this series. 1-0 Nationals. Zimmerman, 0-2 strike out looking on three pitches. Next time walk Harper. Pitch count 48. Bottom 3rd: Davis, swings at ball one and takes strike two. That’s our Rajai. Strikes out swinging. Mathis, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Lawrie. Hits him, sure. Wang is an ex-Yankee, I wonder if Jays hit Harper what would they say? Rasmus, two down one on. 2-0 count, Wang has lost the strike zone now. Three in a row including the hit on Lawrie. Four in a row, 3-0 count. Colby gives him one. Lines to Harper in right, throw not in time to get Lawrie. Harper throw off target, Brett in standing up. Bautista, full count, way outside, walk number four for Jose in two games. Encarnacion with bases loaded, make them pay Edwin. Here comes the pitching coach. 1-2 count. strikes out looking. 54 pitch count for Wang, ouch a 26 pitch inning. Top 4th: LaRoche, 2-1 count, drives it to right centre, double for LaRoche. One on for Morse. 2-2 count, lines it Lawrie at third, looks LaRoche back and throw to first for the out. Nice play Brett. Desmond, full count, swings at a pitch way outside, two down. Espinosa hammer this one to centre. Home run and two more runs score. 3-0 Nationals. Ankiel grounds to Johnson on first pitch to Encarnacion but damage is done. 67 pitch count. Bottom 4th: Jays need to get some of those hits counting. Johnson leading off. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Escobar, first pitch grounds to second to Espinosa, throw to first two down. Cooper, 3-0 count. Ball four. One on for Davis. way inside, five balls in a row, seems to lose it occasionally. Six in a row. Seven, ball four a two walks in a row. Eight balls. Not good. But Jays have to make something of it. Mathis. Ball one, here’s a strike, another ball outside, 2-2 count, takes strike three, guessed wrong there Jeff, leaves two more on. 73 pitch count. Top 5th: Solano singles to Rasmus in centre. Lombardozzi, need ground ball here Henderson. Singles to Bautista in right, now he is in trouble. Harper two on and nobody out. 2-1 count, grounds to Encarnacion throw to second to get Lombardozzi, back to Edwin, no chance for two. One down two on for Zimmerman, there we go grounds to Escobar, to Johnson over to Edwin double play ball. Perfect. Pitch count 80. Bottom 5th: Lawrie, 3-1 count, 39 balls on 75 pitches ouch...control. Ball four to walk Lawrie. Walk number five for Wang, could be why Yankees let him go. Rasmus, Another ball, now out comes the coach. Grounds to Espinosa at second, no chance to get Lawrie at second, speed. Throw to first to get Rasmus, one down but runner in scoring position, Bautista, if they pitch to him. Almost hits him 1-0, way outside ball two, sorry Jose. 2-1 count, way inside, 3-1 count, high and inside BUT Jose hammers this one, and that is hitting friends. That pitch was ball way high. 3-2 Nationals. Number 18 for Jose. Encarnacion come on Edwin, nobody out. 2-2 count, hammer it high to left but dies in the track, almost Edwin, two down, Johnson. Singles to left, keeps it going here. Escobar, please not first pitch Yunel. Not with this guys control. Grounds to Espinosa fumbles it but still time to throw Yunel out at first. Jays get two back. Can Alvarez hold them now? 95 pitches for Wang but only 48 strikes and there is his problem, tonight at least. Top 6th: LaRoche fly ball to Davis in left, one down. Morse, grounds to Johnson, throw to Edwin, two down. Desmond, grounds to Escobar, throw high to Edwin at first for third out. Whoa five pitch inning. 85 pitch count. Bottom 6th: Ross Detwiler now pitching. Cooper, first pitch, fly ball to centre for the out. Not good David. Davis, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Mathis. Fly ball to centre for three quick outs. Not good at all by the bottom of the order. May see all three changes tomorrow. Top 7th: Espinosa, full count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Edwin, one down. Ankiel, grounds to Johnson, throw to Encarnacion two down. Solano, 0-2 count. NOT good. Leaves it up and hammers it over the wall in left. Not good at all to number nine, first major league home run for Solano. Lombardozzi, 2-2 count, pops it up to Rasmus for third out. 4-2 Nationals. Pitch count 101 and that will be it probably for Alvarez. Too bad as he had been in a groove the last two innings, one mistake. Bottom 7th: Top of the order for Jays. Lawrie. Detwiler pitching. 2-1 count, lines it to right Harper makes the catch. One down for Rasmus. 3-1 count, hammers this one but just dies at the track in right for Harper, whoa that looked good. Two down. That is it for Detwiler, lucky guy as well with those first two outs. They were hit very hard, on Sunday in Atlanta they dropped in, tonight not so lucky. Craig Stammen now pitching. Bautista, 2-0 count, does anyone pitch anymore to Jose? 2-2 count, that will do as Jose lines it into left, stand up double. Nice night for Jose. Encarnacion now, have to bring him in Edwin. That was the pitch Edwin, takes it. Strike one. Ouch. Full count, high fly ball to centre, just misses as it dies on the track again. Bottom line however is that Edwin is getting that stroke back after his injury and that is good news. Another game and he will have two home runs. Be patient Edwin. Top 8th: Harper leading off, will they walk him? Darren Oliver now pitching. Bunting to first, spins away from Edwin and Harper on base again. Error given to Edwin. Zimmerman, there goes Harper, they have him picked off, nice play as he slides into the tag. Very nice. One down 1-1 count, I think teams will start to do that as soon as Harper gets on base, pitch out or wait and catch him. 2 -2 count takes strike three, two down. LaRoche, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Nice inning by Oliver yet again. Bottom 8th: Sean Burnett now pitching. Johnson, grounds to first, Johnson hesitates and too late now as LaRoche throws to Burnett for the out, have to hustle Kelly even if you think it foul. Escobar, not a good night for Yunel tonight with the bat. Pops it up to Espinosa at second, two down for Arencibia, pinch hitting for Cooper. Pops it up to short for third out. Top 9th: Boston winning 2-1, Baltimore 8-2, Yankees tied with Atlanta 4-4 and Tampa losing to the Mets 4-2. All still in progress. Frasor now pitching. Morse leading off. 2-2 count, pops it up to Encarnacion, one down. Desmond, full count, outside ball four. One on one down for Espinosa, 1-0 count, Bruce Walton out there. Evan Crawford warming up in bullpen. 3-0 count, could be your last hitter Jason. There goes Desmond, 3-1 count. Safe at second. Full count. strikes him out, nice pitch Jason. Two down. But that is the end of your night. Crawford to face Ankiel with two down and runner in scoring position. Full count, grounds to Edwin takes it himself for the out. Bottom 9th: Jays need two but bottom of the order guys to try to get on base. Tyler Clippard now pitching to save. Davis leading off. Patience Rajai. Outside ball one. 2-1 count, knocks him down, way up and in, nasty. Full count, strikes out swinging at ball four. One down for Omar Vizquel, pops it up to short, two down. Lawrie, just get on base Brett. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays lose the series and in great danger of being swept tomorrow because they will be facing Nationals best pitcher in Strasbourg and sending Drabek against him ? I would not guess the odds on that one. And currently at .500 they could drop below which will not be good at all. The excellent: Nothing much tonight apart from Jose home run number 18, two hits and two walks tonight as Nationals try not to pitch to him. That was it. Jays 1-5 with runners in scoring position. Same old problem.

Jays lose Morrow but make it close losing 6-3 to Nationals

Washington Nationals v Jays. Game one of three. Jays flew home last night from Atlanta on a high with those bats a booming, but yet another series against division leaders, this time Washington Nationals leading the east. All the hype about teenager Bryce Harper, who sounds like a younger Lawrie. Averages and stats are all in favour of Lawrie but I think it is impossible to compare these two from different decisions and leagues. We shall see. Plus of course on Wednesday Stephen Strasbourg pitching. Lots of interest in this series for the fans. Nationals: Lombardozzi, Harper, Zimmerman, LaRoche, Morse, Desmond, Espinosa, Bernadina, Flores and Jackson pitching. Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Cooper, Arencibia, Davis and Morrow pitching. Top 1st: Lombardozzi, 1-2 count. Lines it into right field corner for stand-up double. Bryce Harper, 2-1 count. oh no. Morrow is hurt, pulls up after that pitch. Pointing to his side. Did he pull a muscle? Nine pitches and he is out of the game. Not good for the Jays. Today and for the future. Chad Beck now pitching. This will be a committee effort tonight. What a terrible start to this series and to Morrow their best pitcher. Zimmerman, lines to Bautista in right. Here comes Lombardozzi, throw not in time. Just. 1-0 Nationals, one on for Zimmerman. Lines it off the glove of Cooper, that could have been double play. Error to Cooper. Harper to third. LaRoche. Pops it up to Cooper for the out. One down for Morse. Fly ball to Bautista, Harper tags and scores 2-0. Throw not in time. Two down for Desmond. 1-2 count. Grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper. What a start to this game. Bottom 1st: Edwin Jackson pitching. Lawrie, grounds to LaRoche at first, takes it himself for the out. Rasmus, 2-1 count, WHOA Colby, launches this rocket into right field seats second deck, wow. No doubt with that swing. One day that is going in to the fifth deck here in Toronto Rogers Centre, he has that type of Delgado-Green swing. Home run all the way. Very nice Colby. 2-1 Nationals. Bautista, full count. Outside ball four. Jackson playing safe here, not going to let Jose hit another. One on one down. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging as his bat goes flying into the crowd. Two down for Johnson. 1-2 count, there goes Jose as Johnson grounds to second, throw to LaRoche for the out. Jackson up to 24 pitch count and Jays fight back. Top 2nd: Espinosa, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Bernardina, grounds to Copper at first, takes it himself for second out. Flores, lines it to right and Bautista makes yet another highlight reel catch both feet off the ground as he dives horizontally. WOW. And result is a quick three up and down inning for young Beck. Bottom 2nd: Escobar, grounds to Espinosa at second, throw to first, one down. Cooper, owes the team one for his error which lead to the second run. Grounds up the middle, Espinosa nice play and throw to get Cooper, two down. Arencibia, lines it hard to Zimmerman at third knocks it down and throw not in time. One on two down for Davis. Lines first pitch to right for Harper to make the out. 34 pitch count. Top 3rd: Lombardozzi, grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Cooper at first, one down for Harper. 3-0 count, Beck staying away from him. High ball four. One on one down for Zimmerman, there he goes, throw not in time, stolen base Harper. 2-1 count, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper for second out. Adam LaRoche, oh dear, he hammers this one high to right, second deck home run, 4-1 Nationals. Morse lines to right for a single. Desmond, pops it up to Johnson at second to end the inning. Bottom 3rd: Top of the Jays order. Lawrie. 1-1 count, lines into left field for a single. Rasmus, 2-1 count, there goes Lawrie, grounds to second throw to first for Rasmus but Lawrie safe at second, one down for Bautista. Grounds to short, throw to first to get Jose. Lawrie retreats at second. Two down. Encarnacion, 1-2 count, grounds to second throw to first to get Edwin and end the inning. 45 pitch count. Top 4th: Espinosa full count, strikes out, one down. Bernadina, 3-0 count, high ball four. Flores with one on one down. 1-2 count, wild pitch, gets away from JP and Bernardina all the way to third. Slides into third base and is hurt, there was no need for that slide, there was not even a throw, a bit of hot dogging and he paid the price, tough lesson. Now leaving game limping. Nady is the replacement. Full count, strikes out swinging, huge out with that runner at third, two down. That is it for Chad. Did a nice job replacing Morrow like that. Luis Perez now pitching. Top of the order Lombardozzi. 0-2 count, grounds to Lawrie great stop, turns 360 and throw on the run to Cooper for the third out, great play Brett saves a run as well. Bottom 4th: Johnson, first pitch fly ball to Lombardozzi in the left field corner for the out. One down Escobar, full count, rounds to short, throw to first, two down. Cooper, 1-2 count, grounds to second, throw to first for a very easy three up and down for Jackson, Cooper not hustling down the line there, not good at bats by the Jays hitters there. Pitch count 57. Top 5th: Harper again, bunting, fouls it off, not perfect after all. 0-2 count, singles to right. One on for Zimmerman, lines to Bautista in right, Harper going to third, that is not very smart as Jose throw beats him by a mile. Lawrie was waiting for him with the ball, liked that tag. Never run on Jose kid. One down one on. LaRoche, 2-2 count, another pitch gets away off the glove of Arencibia. Zimmerman to second. Fly ball to Rasmus in centre. No way is Zimmerman tagging. Two down for Morse, grounds first pitch to Johnson, throw to first for third out. Bottom 5th: Arencibia, pops it up to Lombardozzi, one down. Davis, 0-2 count, goes around, two down. Lawrie, bounces to LaRoche at first who takes it himself. Eight pitch inning. Top 6th: Desmond, 0-2 count, lines to Bautista in right for a single. Espinosa, lines to right but Johnson knocks it down but not able to throw to first. Two on for Nady, 1-2 count, grounds to Escobar, over to Johnson on to Cooper for the double play. Two down for Flores, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Nice pitching Luis. Now for the bats to get going here. Bottom 6th: Rasmus leading off. Lines it to Nady in right for the out. Bautista, will Jackson pitch to him this time? 3-0 count, Jackson not giving Jose anything here tonight period. Jose does not even get in the box here, dares him to throw a strike, and Jackson throws low, ball four. Jose second walk tonight but Jackson is not throwing to him. Nice way to prove the point and show up Jackson. I think the fans came to see the hitters Jackson. Encarnacion, 2-2 count, fly ball to Nady in right. Johnson, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Top 7th: Lombardozzi bunting up the third base line, and stays fair. No throw. One on for Harper, singles up the middle. Two on for Zimmerman but that is it for Perez. Frasor now pitching. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for LaRoche, singles to Davis in left to load the bases. Morse, need a ground ball Jason. 2-0, not like that. Pops it up to Rasmus in shallow centre, runner Lombardozzi at third holds. Two down. Desmond, lines to Jose in right, one run scores but Harper holds at third, lesson learned. 5-1 Nationals. Espinosa, bases still loaded. 1-1 count, nice grounds to Cooper throw to Fraser covering to get out of this one. Nationals could only get one across with bases loaded and only one out, very nice pitching. Bottom 7th: Can Jays build on that victory there? Escobar, first pitch fly ball to right for the out. I guess not. Cooper, 2-2 count, pops it up to short for the out, two down for Arencibia, a game he wants to forget. Full count, bounces one in for the walk. He would not be happy with that pitching and the manager immediately on the phone to the bullpen. Walking Arencibia is nothing to be pleased about Davis. Lines to first, knocks it down for the out. 94 pitch count and considering the number of first pitch outs made by the Jays as tonight he is very lucky to still be in the game. Top 8th: Cordero pitching, as if the Nationals need any help here tonight. Ankiel 3-0 count, the same old Cordero, there it goes lines it into left field seats, home run 6-1 Washington. Flores fly ball to Bautista in right, stand up double. One on and nobody out. Top of the order. Lombardozzi pops up to Johnson, one down Harper base open, but he ye are pitching to him3-0 count, full count, strikes out swinging, go figure. The worst Jays pitcher gets Harper out and after 3-0 count. Zimmerman two down one on, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper but Cordero puts the game out of reach for the hapless jays tonight. Bottom 8th: Jackson still out there, that could be big mistake. Top of the order Lawrie, 2-2 count, bounces back to Jackson throw to first, one down. Rasmus, outside not pitching to Colby either, ball two but he goes after it, pops it up to shallow left for the out. Two down. Bautista, will he pitch to Jose? Probably because one run here is not going to do much damage. Jose going after them all, swinging at pitches outside, 0-2 count, fly ball to right for the out. That was frustration at bat. Top 9th: Villanueva now pitching. LaRoche, pops it up to Lawrie for the first out. Morse 1-1 count, fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the second easy out. Desmond, bounces off the plate and Arencibia tags him out, easy inning for Villanueva. Bottom 9th: Jackson still out there, he wants the easy outs here. Encarnacion, Edwin has other plans and hammers this to centre just misses going out of the park off the wall stand up double and here comes the manager, reality over ego for Jackson this time. Sean Burnet now pitching, lefty lefty matchup Johnson at bat with runner at second. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Escobar, please don’t swing at the first pitch Yunel. Thank you. Full count, foul tip for the second out. Gomes pinch hitting for Cooper, WHOA Jan, hammers this one to centre and over the wall, two run home run for Gomes, 6-3 game. Arencibia, first pitch grounds back to Burnet off his glove to short, throw to first for the out. That about sums up Arencibia’s game tonight as well. This game was over after nine pitches when Morrow went down. Hard to overestimate the impact of your number one pitcher out of the game in the first inning. Not many teams are going to recover from that. Not least he impact on the bullpen. Beck and Cordero are not going to win many games. AAA rookie Beck did his best and held them to three runs but the game was over early. Take away this three runs and this game would have been interesting in the 9th and probably a different result. Jays hitters continually getting themselves out with the first pitch swinging did not help much either. Jackson refused to pitch to Bautista. But Jose showed the Washington rookie Harper a valuable lesson when he threw him out at third from right field, that is how the master does it son. Excellent: Rasmus home run rocket to right. Two incredible defensive plays by Bautista in right, a highlight reel catch and a laser bullet throw to the plate to get Harper 7th inning Nationals could only get one across with bases loaded and only one out, very nice pitching. Gomes pinch hit home run. The not so good, yet again as all season long the first pitch outs by Jays hitters. Verdict on Morrow is an oblique strain in his left side, day to day for now,

Jays erupt with season high 18 hit 12-4 win despite poor outing by Romero

Jays v Braves. Series finale. Jays have already lost this series and are fighting for respectability and avoiding a sweep today. Lots to fight for and not just avoding the sweep. Romero despite his record has hardly been the ace of the staff for most of the season. A good outing today will help in that respect. But the problem right now is not just pitching. The hitting or lack of and specifically with runners in scoring position is a huge issue. Bautista the one and only exception this weekend. Arencibia, Lawrie, Johnson, Rasmus have all been missing somewhere. Braves pitcher today is Julio Teheran from AAA and his first major league start so you know he will give the Jays a rough time. Rough weather forecast thus they would love a good lead by six innings. Jays: Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Cooper, Arencibia, and Romero pitching and hitting. Braves: Bourn, Prado, Jones, Uggla, Diaz, Freeman, Ross, Simmons, Teheran pitching and hitting. Top1st: Lawrie, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Rasmus, first pitch high fly ball to centre for second out. Bautista, full count, takes strike three. Pitch count 11. Bottom 1st: Bourn, pops up to Escobar at short. One down for Prado. Grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper playing at first today, two down, Chipper Jones back off the DL. Bounces back to the mound, Romero makes nice athletic play here to field and throw to Cooper to help himself and end the inning. 11 pitches. Top 2nd: Encarnacion playing in left field today. 2-2 count, loops it into shallow left for a single as his bat shatters. One on for Johnson, raining hard now. Braves don’t mind it is rained out, they already have the series. Plus it is a lot worse for Jays to have come for one game later in season. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down one on for Escobar. 2-0 count, lines it to Diaz in right for the catch. Two down for Cooper. Pops it up to Jones at third. Pitch count 27. Bottom 2nd: Uggla, hits him on the foot. Leaf off guy is on base. Diaz, lines it to right behind Bautista to the wall, Uggla to third and Braves have two in scoring position with nobody out. Romero in big trouble early. Freeman, fly ball to Rasmus in centre and oh NO he drops it as he was transferring ball from the glove, oh boy .. here comes Uggla to score, error to Rasmus. One down but Uggla scores, he had held at third on the catch was not coming home until Colby dropped the ball. 1-0 Braves. Diaz to third. Ross first pitch lines it to left. Diaz scores 2-0 Braves. Ross at first. Simmons, 2-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper two down as Ross moves to second. Teheran the pitcher. Grounds under the glove of Romero to Escobar, throw to Cooper for the out. BUT Braves strike first and he way Jays have been hitting two runs might be enough to win this game. 29 pitches. Top 3rd: Arencibia leading off. Long overdue for a good hit. 1-2 count, takes strike three, does not agree, he is just in a bad slump. Romero, grounds to first, Freeman throw to Teheran for the second out. Lawrie, 2-1 count, fly ball to Prado. Easy three outs for Teheran. These Jays hitters are awful, we will start to see their frustration building soon. 38 pitches for three innings by Teheran. Bottom 3rd: Bourn lines first pitch to left, stand up double. Will he steal third and Arencibia throw it away again? Prado, 2-0 count, oh boy, bunts and Romero throws it wide of Johnson to pull him off first. When things go wrong they really go wrong for these hapless Jays. Two on nobody out and Bourn at third. Jones, grounds to Escobar, over to Johnson on to Cooper double play ball but Broun scirse thiurd run. That is all Braves want. Two down for Uggla. Loops it into left, one on two down for Diaz. Singles to right, two on two down, four hits this inning, Romero is terrible. No action in the bullpen yet, Farrell is probably in shock. Freeman, almost hit him inside. 2-0 count, in danger of loading the bases here. Singles to left, another run scores 4-0 Braves. Now Walton out there, too late today, seven hits already. Ross, 2-0, Roemro unable to throw strikes now. 3-0 count, one more to load the bases. There‘s a strike as Ross lets it go. Full count. low but umpire calls it a strike to help Romero here. Maybe had sympathy for Ricky. 46 pitches. Top 4th: Jays have a mountain to climb here based on their current poor hitting. We shall see if they want to get to the airport and back to home cooking or make a fight of a rookie pitcher. Character time. Rasmus to start. 2-0 fly ball to centre for the first out. Bautista, lifts it to Diaz in right three pitches two outs. Encarnacion, pops it up to Uggla at second, five pitches for the inning. Not good. Pitch count 43. Bottom 4th: Simmons leading off. Grounds to Lawrie, throw to Cooper for the out. One down for Teheran. Almost hit him, that would be the final straw for Romero. 3-0 count, on the pitcher ??? Takes strike one to help Ricky out here, ball four, oh wow, rock bottom for Ricky today. Top of the order Bourn, 2-0, he is just out of this game here.31 strikes 24 balls 3-0 count, Bourn takes it to help him out. 3-1 count, high ball four, two on, Prado. 0-2 count, singles up the middle to load the bases. Jones, 2-0 count, bounces in front of the mound, Romero throw home to get Teheran, two down bases still loaded. Uggla, 1-2 count, lines it to Escobar for the out. Romero luck changes. Pitch count 69. Ugh. Top 5th: Johnson leading off. So far all this game is all Braves. 0-2 count, fouling them off here but unable to make them count. Seven pitches more than the whole last inning. Now he singles it to right center, good start. Eight pitch at bat for Kelly. Someone is trying. Escobar, 3-0 count, inside ball four, is that the first time Jays have two hitters on base this weekend? Seems like it. Two on for Cooper. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Arencibia, full count, singles to Bourn in centre. Bases loaded. Gomes pinch hitting for Romero. 1-2 count, fouling them off but we need hits here. That will do singles to left, good at bat by Gomes, Johnson scores, 4-1 Braves. Escobar had to wait to see if ball was caught. Bases still loaded for Lawrie. That is it for Teheran but he outpitched Romero today, not bad for an emergency start for rookie minor league pitcher. Livan Hernandez now pitching. Lawrie hitkess today. Loops it into right, here comes Escobar, 4-2 Braves. Bases stay loaded. Rasmus, he owes Romero. Singles to right and here comes Arencibia followed by Gomes and this game is all tied up 4-4. Colby redeems himself here. Bautista now can really blow this one open. Two on one down. Singles to centre, Lawrie scores, 5-4 Jays. WOW !!! Encarnacion, Romero wishes he were still pitching. Runners at first and second, lines it to the wall, and here comes Rasmus to score 6-4 Jays. Double for Edwin. Johnson, started this off. Two in scoring position. Pops it up to short for second out. Escobar runners at second and third. Just a base hit here Yunel. Full count. Pops it up to short to end the inning. Jays break out finally. Bottom 5th: Villanueva now pitching, Diaz leading off. 2-0 come on Carlos, strikes man. That’s better, fly ball to Encarnacion in left. Freeman lines to right and just beats throw by Jose at second. Ross, 1-2 strikes out swinging. Two down. Simmons, full count, OH WHAT A CATCH !!! lines this high to left and Edwin the man makes a fine running backhand catch at the wall, yes the very same Edwin who had such a miserable time in the field last season. Saves the day here. Top 6th: Cooper, high pop up to Diaz in shallow right, one down. Arencibia, drives it to right for Diaz again, two down. Villanueva hitting. 1-2, lines it into centre, base hit for Carlos. Big grins all round. Lawrie. THATS more like it drives it to left seats and out of here, 8-4 Jays. WOWeee. Brett gave Carlos a break there without having to stay on the bases and/or run base to base. Rasmus, 2-2 count, WOWEEEE he hammers this rocket to right and into the seats, typical Rasmus sweet swing, home run all the way. 9-4 Jays. Back to back. Bautista, 2-1 count, grounds to third, throw to first for the out but Jays add three more. Bottom 6th: Villanueva still out there to soak up some innings. Davis in left, Edwin at first. Francisco Grounds to Johnson, throw to Villanueva who was stepped on by Francisco, one down. Bourn, slow bouncer to Escobar, no chance for a throw. Prado, 1-1 count, grounds to Lawrie, throw to first to get Prado, no chance to get Bourn. Jones with two down and runner in scoring position. 2-0 count. Bourn takes third. 3-0. Put him on Carlos. Low ball four. Two on two down for Uggla, 2-0 count, come on Carlos. Frasor now working in bullpen. 3-1 count, perfect grounds it to Villanueva throw to Encarnacion for third out. Top 7th: Christian Martinez now pitching. Encarnacion leading off. 2-3 today, his stroke coming back after his injury. 2-2 count, singles back up the middle, 3-4 today. Johnson, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Escobar, full count, singles to left centre. Edwin to third. Rajai Davis, singles to right, here comes Edwin and Jays have double figures 10-4 Jays. Escobar at third. Arencibia, fly ball to Diaz, here comes the throw Escobar scores 11-4 Jays. Two down. Omar Vizquel now pinch hitting for Villlanueva. He singles to right, Davis all the way to third on the throw. Lawrie, 2-2 count, takes strike three but Jays get two more. Bottom 7th: Darren Oliver now pitching. Diaz, pops it up to first great catch by Edwin at the wall. One down for Freeman, full count. Strikes out swinging, two down. Ross, full count, low ball four. Simmons, 3-1, come on Darren, making tough work of this last out. Full count, strikes out looking, that low strike zone again but Jays not complaining. Top 8th: Rasmus leading off 0-2 count, drubs it to right centre, stand upo double, three hits, home run, single and double. Bautista up the middle but great play by Wilson and Rasmus caught between bases and tagged out. Encarnacion also has a three hit day. One out one on. 2-2- count, strikes out swinging, two down. Johnson, oh yes, very nice Kelly, drives it to right centre all the way to the wall and here comes Jose 12-4 Jays with Kelly to third for his first triple of season. Escobar, chance for another RBI Yunel. 1-2 count, no grounds to second, throw to first for the out. Jays add another. Bottom 8th: Chad Beck now pitching. McCoy in for Johnson at second. Francisco, 1-2 count, singles to Bautista in right. Bourn with one on, drives it to right, Oh WOW great diving catch by Jose in right, great highlight reel catch. Prado fly ball to right centre, OH wow another great catch by Colby, lines it to right centre and Rasmus robs Prado of a double. Two down for ex-Jays Hinske. Grounds to McCoy throw to Edwin for the out. Beck gives big thanks to Jose and Colby. Top 9th: Durbin finishing off. Davis leading off. Bounces to short, throw to first, one down. Arencibia, 1-2 count, strikes out looking. Two down for McCoy, full count, singles to left, Lawrie one on two down. 3-1 count, outside ball four, two on for Rasmus. Colby needs a triple for the cycle. Robbed by Freeman as he lashes it to first, Freeman makes the out, nice catch by Freeman. Bottom 9th: Casey Janssen now pitching has not pitched on the roadtrip. Needs some work here. Wilson lines to McCoy for the out. Diaz, 2-2 count, nice lay Edwin, grounds to short, throw to first Edwin stays on the bag for the out, nice play Edwin. Two down for Freeman. 0-2 count, singles to centre, keeps it going. Ross, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays win huge as the bats finally break out and stop the losing streak at three. The excellent: How about 18 hits, home runs for Lawrie and Rasmus, three hits for Lawrie and Rasmus. Defensive plays great catches by outfield Edwin Jose and Colby all three. RISP how about 7-14, long time since that type of damage by this team and after going 1-19 they were due. 11 hits for the top five in the order. Five huits and six RBIs for 1-2 in the order today. Probably saved their positions today. The good: Top of the order doing the damage today. The not so good: Romero yet again another bad outing. Eight hits, four runs, two walks in only four innings. An early shower for Ricky. But unfortunately he raises more questions than answers. Too bad that the run outburst happened too late for him but he had dug a deep hole for the Jays hitters.

Jays lose another with limp hitting display despite home run 17 from Bautista

Jays v Braves Game two of three. Everyone wants Hutchison to end the losing streak here, that is very unfair. He is the young rookie on the rotation and if the others, such as Romero and Drabek cannot get it done why should he get the pressure. Despite that, Hutchison has shown far more poise out there than Drabek ever shows and also Romero who is so intense, never appears relaxed throwing. Lineups: Jays: Rasmus, Bautista, Encarnacion, Johnson, Escobar, Davis, Mathis and of course Hutchison hitting and pitching, as if he did not have enough pressure. Braves: Bourn, Prado, McCann, Uggla, Heyward, Freeman, Simmons, Constanza, and Hanson pitching. Top 1st: Lawrie, grounds to Simmons at short, throw to Freeman at first. Rasmus, one down, full count, strikes out swinging, two down for Bautista. 3-0 count, inside ball four. One on two down for Encarnacion. Ball one outside, 1-2 count, pops up to Simmons at short. 17 pitch count. Bottom 1st: Bourn, full count, singles to Bautista in right. Prado, there goes Bourn, good throw by Mathis but no chance to get Bourn, steal number 16 for Bourn. 2-2 count, grounds to Encarnacion for the out as Bourn goes to third. McCann, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Uggla, 2-2 count, pops up to Escobar, nice pitching by Hutchison. 21 pitch count. Top 2nd: Johnson, singles into right. Escobar, there goes Johnson, Escobar lines to Heyward in right but Kelly has to get back fast to avoid doubling up. One down for Davis. There goes Johnson but pitch out and they get Johnson at second, good call by someone. Two down. Davis lines to Heyward in right. 26 pitch count. Bottom 2nd: Heyward, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Freeman, singles up the middle. One on for Simmons, high pop up to Rasmus in centre, two down. Constanza, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging to end the inning. 32 pitch count. Top 3rd: Mathis leading off, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging. One down for Hutchison. First major league at bat, hit it out Drew. 1-2 count. Grounds to Simmons at short, throw to Freeman at first, two down. Lawrie. 2-0 grounds to Simmons, throw to Freeman to end the inning. 38 pitch count. Bottom 3rd: Hanson, strikes out swinging, one down for Bourn, singles up the middle to Rasmus, one on one down. Prado, fly ball to Rasmus for second out. McCann, ball four, two on two down for Uggla, oh boy Uggla gets hold of this one, high to centre and over the wall, three runs score, that hurts, 3-0 Braves. Heyward, got him, strikes out swinging but Hutchison made a big mistake to Uggla. Top 4th: Jays have some catch-up to do help out Hutchison here. Rasmus, who has had a miserable weekend so far. Hanson cruising however through the first three innings. Grounds to second, throw to Freeman for first out. Bautista, high to left but Bourn makes the catch close to the wall. Two down for Encarnacion. Grounds to third Prado nice stop and throw to Freeman. Six pitch !!! inning. This team is playing as if they want out on the town early. Hanson is hardly Cy Young but he is looking like it to the Jays right now. Pitch count 44 after four. Bottom 4th: Freeman, 1-2 count, bounces back to Hutchison, throw to Encarnacion for the out. One down for Simmons, 2-2 count, grounds to Lawrie, quick throw to Encarnacion for the second out. Constanza, grounds hard to Lawrie, knocks it down but fumble and no chance for throw. Hanson, grounds to Lawrie, throw to Encarnacion. 67 pitch count. Lawrie a busy guy that inning. Top 5th: Johnson, full count, grounds to second, throw to first, but that was the best patient at bat by a Jay since Jose first inning. Kelly made him throw more pitches than he pitched the whole last inning. Escobar, 1-1 singles to centre left. Davis, wild pitch, that will do, Escobar moves up to second. 1-2 strikes out swinging. Mathis, two down. First pitch, what is wrong with these guys. Grounds to third, throw to first. Awful. 59 pitch count. The major difference between these two teams ? PATIENCE, how many Braves hitters have been out on first pitch. Bottom 5th: McCoy now in for Davis, another injury. Bourn who has had his way with the Jays today. 2-2 count, grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Hutchison just gets him on the throw. A big out. One down. Prado, 2-1 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Encarnacion, two down. McCann, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. 81 pitch count. Jays bullpen will be in this one. Top 6th: Hutchison leading off, 2-1 count, bounces back to Hanson throw to first, one down. Lawrie, has not done much leading off since that first game and maybe time to end the experiment John. Full count. Hanging tough here fouling them off but too little too late today. Pops it up to Freeman at first, ten pitch at bat but ends the same way, two down for Rasmus, also in his own slump since that first game hitting second. 3-0 count. Takes it all the way 3-1, finally a hit, lines it to Heyward in right. One on two down for Bautista. YES JOSE !!!!!! he does it again, hammers this rocket to left field seats, number 16. 3-2 Braves. Encarnacion lines this one very hard to Prado at third, off his glove and Edwin to first on the play, two down one on for here comes the pitching coach. Johnson hammers this one to left but caught at the wall by Constanza. Almost but not quite. Jays bats finally come alive. Pitch count 82. Bottom 6th: Could be the last one for Hutchison, Uggla strikes out swinging. Heyward, pops it up to McCoy in left. Two down for Freeman. Full count, grounds to Lawrie who is plays this to the second bag side of Escobar, great play and throw to Encarnacion for the out. 96 pitches. May get out there for another. Top 7th: Escobar leading off. 2-2 count, lazy pop up to Heyward in right, that was high ball three Yunel. McCoy one down. Full count, soft liner to right centre and Heyward makes great diving catch. Mathis, first pitch, what is wrong with these people, fly ball to Heyward. 97 pitch count for Hanson. He should have been out here a long time ago if Jays hitters had shown some patience. Bottom 7th: Simmons leading off, goes down for the first pitch and lines it to left, into the seats, home run, 4-2 Braves. Constanza bunts to third, Lawrie unable to make the throw and safe at first for Constanza. Hanson, bunting foul. 1-2 count good one up the first base line. Throw to Encarnacion, gets Hutchison, one down one on. That is it for Hutchison. Luis Perez now pitching. Gomes in for McCoy. Bourn, lines this one to left and here comes the runner 5-2, Bourn at second, one down for Prado, grounds to Johnson, throw to Encarnacion for the second out. McCann with runner at third, grounds to Encarnacion, throw to Perez for the tout. But Braves are building bi lead. Top 8th: Gomes leading off, 3-0 count, takes it down the middle, I give up. Full count, strikes out swinging. Gomes has a lot still to learn. One down for Lawrie. Bourn, lines it hard to in centre, two down. Rasmus, 2-2 count, taps it slowly back to pitcher Hanson throw to first for the third out, Bottom 8th: Perez in for a second inning. Uggla ball four, one on for Heyward, strikes out swinging, one down. Freeman, strikes out swinging. Hutchison mowing them down here. Pops it up to Johnson backpedalling into shallow right centre to make the catch and third out. Top 9th: Craig Kimbrell now pitching. Bautista the only hitter with any pride tonight. 20-2 count. Lines it high to the wall in left for Bourn to make the catch at the wall. One down. Encarnacion, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Johnson, 1-1 grounds to second, throw to first for the out. Mercy. Jays hitters totally outplayed today. No clue whatsoever, uncontrolled swinging at first pitches. Outs early in the counts and gave little support to Hutchison. Braves go for the sweep tomorrow and the way Romero has been pitching this could be an embarrassing sweep. The good today: Two things only. Jose home run number 17 to get them within one and strange as it sounds young Hutchison kept them in the game after the Uggla three run shot until the 7th and that is all you can ask from your pitcher. The rest is up to the offence which once again was lost in transit. The not so good: Very sad spiritless performance by this team today and highlights the missing links. The 1-2 leadoff experiment at the top has to end. One great game in five is not enough. Tomorrow watch for return to the previous 1-2. Escobar and Johnson. In fact Lawrie could benefit from a much lower position in the order and make him hit his way up. Right now he is a mess. Fortunately his glove is making up for his hitting deficiencies.