Laffey pitches well but poor baserunning decisions cost Jays

Jays v Tigers. Game two Lots of angst about Romero today but in my mind he was not the reason for the loss last night. Lousy defense and poor hitting was just as crucial in the loss. Tonight Laffey, he had better be on his game against this lineup. Escobar, on paternity leave. Well we wish them all well but his loss is not as major and Hechavarria playing short is what most fans have been waiting for. Maybe when Escobar returns he will be a different player. The good news is that Jose Bautista will rejoin the team in Baltimore and along with Morrow very definitely the morale boost this sinking team needs. Jays have beaten Sanchez earlier this season when they played the Marlins. Lineups: Jays: Davis, Rasmus, Encarnacion, Cooper, Sierra, Torrealba, Johnson, McCoy, Hechavarria and Laffey pitching. Our first look at Torrealba. Hechavarria playing at short. McCoy for Vizquel a good trade-off after last night’s performance. Tigers: Jackson, Infante, Cabrera, Fielder, Peralta, Young, Dirks, Baker, Avila and Sanchez pitching. Top 1st: Davis leading off. Grounds to second, bobbles it but recovery and throw in time to get Davis. Rasmus, one down, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Encarnacion. 2-2 count, high fly ball to left for the out. Pitch count 15. Bottom 1st: Jackson, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Infante, 1-2 count, grounds to McCoy at third, throw to Cooper, two down. Cabrera, bounces to McCoy, nice play on the half volley, throw to Cooper to end the inning. Pitch count 12. Top 2nd: Cooper, 3-1 count, grounds to Fielder, throw to Sanchez for the out. One down for Sierra. Pulls it to left, off the wall in left field corner, stand up double nice hit. One on one down for newbie Yorvit Torrealba. Full count, outside ball four. Two on one down for Johnson. Fly ball to Jackson in shallow centre, two down for McCoy. Full count, grounds to short, throw to first gets McCoy. Pitch count 36 but Jays should be bringing them in. Same old issue with runners in scoring position. Bottom 2nd: Fielder, first pitch high pop up to Davis is left. One down, Peralta, 2-0 grounds to Hechavarria, throw to Cooper, high but Cooper makes the out. Nice play. Two down for Young. 1-2 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to Cooper to end the inning. Eight pitch inning. 20 pitch count. No complaints from here. Top 3rd: Hechavarria leading off. 1-2 count, grounds to Sanchez, throw to Fielder at first, one down. Top of the order Davis. Lines it to right for the out. Two down for Rasmus. First pitch grounds to second, flip to Fielder for the out. Nine pitch inning. 45 pitch count. Bottom 3rd: Dirks, 3-1 count, high ball four. One on for Baker. Grounds to Laffey throw to Hechavarria at second over to Cooper, double play, nice play by Hech. Avila, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Another excellent inning by Laffey. 31 pitch count. Top 4th: Quick game here so far. 45 minutes for three innings. Edwin, 0-2 count, pops it up to Baker in right, one down for Cooper. Lines this hard to the wall in right just misses going out and throw back in he has to dive back in to avoid the out. Long single for David. Sierra hammers this to the left up against the wall for the catch, robbed there. Two hard hot balls there and only a single, could have been back to back home runs. Two down for Torrealba. Grounds to short, throw to second for the out. 54 pitch count for Sanchez. Bottom 4th: Jackson leading off. 0-2 count, grounds to McCoy at 3B, nice running throw to Cooper to get Jackson. One down for Infante, 2-2 count, lines this one hard to left centre, Davis bobbles the ball, Rasmus throw to McCoy on line but Infante just beats the ball. Triple for Infante. Cabrera, one down, one on. 0-2 count, wild pitch but Infante holds halfway down the line. 2-2 count, another wild pitch, bounces it in, and this time to the wall and Infante scores. 1-0 Tigers. Full count, high ball four. Laffey a little wild here. Fielder, perfect, grounds to Johnson, over to Hechavarria on to Cooper, another double play to get out of this one. Tough for Laffey to give up the run that way. Pitch count 50. Top 5th: Johnson, 2-2 count, fly ball to Dirks in left for the out. One down for McCoy. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Hechavarria. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on three pitches. 69 pitch count. Bottom 5th: Peralta , 3-1 fly ball to Davis one down for Young. Lines it to right, Sierra has it and holds Young to a single. Dirks, 1-0 count, hit and run, grounds to Johnson, throw to Cooper, two down. Baker with runner at second. Full count, singles to Sierra, throw up the line and Baker to second on the throw. Young scores 2-0 Tigers. Avila grounds first pitch to Cooper throw to Laffey for the out. Don’t blame the pitchers here, the hitters are pitiful. Pitch count 67. Top 6th: Top of the order which has been 0-6 tonight. Not good at all. Davis, 3-0 count, low ball four. One on for Rasmus, come on Colby time you connected. 0-2 count, there goes Davis and safe on the throw as Colby strikes out protecting Davis. One down for Encarnacion. OH pickoff throw sails into center and Rajai missed it as he dived back in, now he goes and safe to third., wow. 3-0 count, nothing for you to hit again Edwin. This will do as he drives it to left and Dirks drops the ball and Davis scores 2-1.Error to Dirks. Edwin to second and throw gets away. Edwin at second Mathis pinch hitting for Cooper, oh dear, hope no problem with Cooper. ??? Pops it up to Avila, two down. Sierra, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays get one back but, surely should have been more.... pitch count 86. Bottom 6th: Mathis now catching, Torrealba at first for Cooper. Does not look good for Cooper and his back. Jackson leading off. Full count, grounds to short, Hechavarria bobbles it, error to Hech. Throw to first late. Jackson safe at first. Infante, bunts to Laffey, looks at second. Throw to first to get Infante as Jackson to second. Cabrera, intentional walk, first base is open. Two on for Fielder. 2-1 count, lines it to left, Davis throw there but bounces out of the glove. Run scores. 3-1 Tigers. Peralta, two on. 2-2 count, grounds to Hech, over to Johnson, on to Torrealba not in time. Two down. Runner at first. Young, grounds to McCoy throw to Torrealba. Pitch count. 89. Top 7th: Torrealba leading off. There we go, loops it into shallow centre. One on for Johnson, once again hitless. Not long for this team, I fear Jays looking for a second baseman off season. 1-2 strikes out swinging. Just awful. McCoy, 1-1 count, hit and run and McCoy drives it past Fielder, does not even try to get it, come on Fielder at least make an attempt at a dive.. Torrealba to third. Two on for Hechavarria. There goes McCoy, safe on the throw. Two in scoring position now. 2-2 count, nice lines it to right centre, sac fly, here comes the run, 3-2 game. McCoy also to third on the play. Here comes Leyland, Jays have knocked Sanchez out of the game. Top of the Jays order now. Davis. New pitcher Brayan Villarreal. Single will do Rajai. No, grounds to Infante throw to first to end the inning but Jays have pulled a little closer. Bottom 7th: Laffey still out there. Dirks, bunting up third base line and safe at first. That is it for Laffey. Here comes Farrell. Delabar now pitching, great outing by Laffey, not supported by his offense but that is a familiar story these days with this makeshift lineup. Berry pinch hitting for Baker. Bunting. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Avila, full count, ball four. Two on for top of the order. Jackson, 0-2 count, srikes out swinging on three pitches. Wow. Infante, two down two on, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Amazing pitching by Delabar. Top 8th: Joaquin Benoit pitching. Rasmus, having a horrible time these days. 0-25 wow. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Encarnacion. 3-1 count, high ball four, one on one down for Mathis. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Sierra. 2-2 count, singles into shallow right, Edwin to third, now Sierra goes to second on the throw back in. Edwin could have scored. Two in scoring position. Gose pinch running for Sierra at second. Torrealba, two in scoring position. Lines it hard to centre, Jackson makes the out. Edwin not running has cost the Jay. Bottom 8th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Cabrera leading off, pops it up to Gose in right, one down for Fielder. 3-1 count, inside ball four, that’s ok. Peralta, 2-2 count, who slow curve ball, strikes out swinging, great pitch Casey. Two down for Young. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging on another slow curve. Top 9th: Valverde again, Mr Invincible. Jays send the bottom of the order and nobody left on the bench to pinch hit. (Apart from Vizquel.) Johnson leading off, showing bunt, ball one, 1-2 count, lines it to right for the out. One down for McCoy, pops it up to Infante at second for the out, two down for Vizquel, the last guy on the bench pinch hitting for Hechavarria. 2-2 count, singles to left, go figure. Funny game baseball sometimes. One on two down for top of the order Davis. almost hit him, come on Rajai take one for the team here. There goes Vizquel, throw down gets him, can you believe that ? surely not his call. But I doubt very much whether Farrell would have sent him. That was one crazy decision by Vizquel. Jays give another to the Tigers. Tomorrow with Verlander pitching they will be very lucky to avoid the sweep. The baseball gods are angry with the Jays: Two of the Tigers runs, one on wild pitch, one on dropped ball by catcher. Cooper injured. And in the 8th Encarnacion not going all the way home. In the 9th, who knows what Vizquel was doing try to steal with two down. The good: Has to be Laffey, that was one excellent outing against a tough hitting lineup and one in a playoff battle. Torrealba fIrst start for the Jays and also major league start at first base. The bad: Start with the last out by Vizquel in a one run game, that is the very worst and totally unforgivable. Cooper out yet again. Rasmus 0-26. Not much worse than that. Let’s end with the very good news as the cavalry reinforcements return. Jose Bautista and Brandon Morrow return on Friday, the best news.

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

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

The start of the rest of the season. Maybe.

Off day for the Jays and much needed to consolidate as they head out on the road. Yesterday’s finale with the Rangers has bothered me for several reasons. Most of us were prepared for a rough week with the three division leaders in town and a winless home stand was a reality with 13 players on the DL. However, I think not only did they play much better than the results show but that yesterday’s game could have been a whole lot closer. Firstly I don’t think the best lineup was on the field. Gomes is not a catcher, he can catch but he does not catch enough to be playing in there. The failure to block the plate on the throw from Sierra was a clear example. Mathis was on a day off until Cooper pulls out in batting practice with his tight back. But surely if Mathis was pulled in to DH and play, he would have been better in as catcher. He brings experience and would have definitely added to the defensive skills behind the plate including saving that run. In addition he would have handled Alvarez a great deal better with the pitch selection. He would not have been calling first pitch fast balls when it was clear that Rangers were going after them. Even Gomes himself admitted after the game maybe this was not a great idea. Mathis would have also been a calming influence on Alvarez when things were unravelling. Furthermore although he would have been taking a day off, Gomes is sent down after the game and Torrealba is on his way. If Jays management knew that, then surely Mathis with a day off today would have had additional rest when Torrealba is here this week. DH instead of Mathis? this is where we come to the other major concern from yesterday. Many of the Rangers hits yesterday were to centre, and to Rasmus. It was very clear to everyone that Colby was having difficulty. He was not chasing down the fly balls which he usually handles with ease. He was running gingerly and obviously that groin injury is not healed. Surely then the solution was for Colby to DH and to replace him with someone with speed in centre. Hello Antony Gose. If Gose had done nothing but chase down those fly balls to centre the run total would have been much less. His bat did not matter as Colby also had a lousy day with the bat, apart from his last at bat when he made two great swings and which makes me think his timing is back at least. I suggest that with these minor changes this game would have been very, very different. Alvarez was nowhere near as bad as the score suggests. The hits were falling in the gaps but this Jays team has some of the fastest outfielders in the division. Maybe even with those changes the Jays would have still lost the game but I maintain the score would have been a whole lot closer and the players would have approached their at bats a little differently. This brings me to the last point raising much discussion in Toronto today. That is the effort by certain players with the losing streak. Are some of them mailing it in? Certainly the most consistent player who always gives that appearance is Escobar. Taking as few pitches as possible, rarely grinding out an out and with his lack of speed is rarely able to beat out the throw to first. The pained expressions and arguments with the umpires as he strikes out yet again are wearing thin with the fans and maybe it is no coincidence that he is one of the few injury free starters this season. What is he doing or not doing that is different from the others. His glove I like but sorry Yunel, Hechavarria has a much better glove and stronger throw. BUT today maybe we see the start of the return of the injured warriors. If all goes well with the rehabs by the end of the week in Baltimore, Lawrie, Bautista and Morrow could be back in the lineups, with Lind not far behind. Even though it will presumably take a few games to get back to efficiency, add in Torrealba reinforcing the catching position for the first time since Arencibia went down and at least the lineup looks like a major league team as opposed to AAA. The bench will also be a whole lot stronger and the free ride for the opposing teams over the past weeks is over and Jays are going to spoil a lot of playoff dreams for others. Let’s go Blue Jays.

Jays lose big in series finale with Rangers.

Rangers v Jays. Series finale. Good news next week. Bautista, Lawrie and Morrow should be back in the lineups. Lind maybe. Morrow, Lawrie and Bautista in Florida with rehab starts. Lind in Florida close to a rehab start. Today, Cooper late scratch and Johnson day off. Lineups: Angels: Kinsler, Andrus, Hamilton, Beltre, Cruz, Young, Murphy, Soto, Moreland and Harrison pitching Jays: Davis, Rasmus, Encarnacion, Escobar, Sierra, Mathis DH today, McCoy at 3B, Gomes Hechavarria at second, and Alvarez pitching. Hech at second. Top 1st: Huge crowd today, looks over 40,000. Kinsler, fly ball to left for Davis to make the out at the wall in the corner, one down for Andrus. 1-2 count, high bounce to McCoy, throw not in time to get Andrus at first. One on one down for Hamilton, McCoy not Hech out there, shift right for Hamilton, grounds first pitch playing behind first to McCoy throw to Escobar over to Edwin double play ball. The mistake by McCoy does not cost. Pitch count 9. Bottom 1st: Davis leading off. Bounces first pitch to Andrus, throw to first for the out. One down for Rasmus, Colby really struggling to get back into synch after his groin injury. 1-1 count, grounds to Andrus, throw to first, two down. Encarnacion. High fly ball to Hamilton in centre for the out. 6 pitch count but when Davis goes after the first pitch it always will be. Lawrie should be back next week and this will change, (I hope). Top 2nd: Beltre, 1-2 count, high fly ball to centre but Rasmus makes the out. One down for Cruz, 3-0 count, inside ball four, not a bad idea anyway to walk Cruz. One on for Young. One down one on. 1-1 count, perfect rounds to Escobar, steps on the bag throw to Edwin another inning ending double play. Nice. Pitch count 21. Bottom 2nd: Escobar leading off. Grounds back up the middle. First hit by the Jays. Sierra, 3-1 count, inside ball four. Two on nobody out. Mathis bunts to third, throw to first to get Mathis both runners move up into scoring position for McCoy. 2-0 count, bouncing ball to Harrison, misses it Escobar scores, Young throw to first gets McCoy, two down Sierra at third. 1-0 Jays. Gomes, he is also long overdue for a hit. Full count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 23. Top 3rd: Murphy, lines it to centre, past Rasmus and bounces over the wall, ground rule double. Soto, lines it to right, here comes throw by Sierra to the plate, close but umpire calls him safe. 1-1 game. Farrell arguing but no good, Games did not block off the plate. It will be so good to get the first team back in action. Soto at second, Moreland. Same again lines into right, throw to second as Soto scores, 2-1 Rangers. Top of the order and still nobody out, Kinsler. Lines it past diving McCoy into left, runners at second and third, runners at second and third. Bruce Walton out there, but can’t blame Alvarez too much. McCoy is not a great 3B, and Gomes is not a Mathis. Sierra is not Jose. Andrus, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. First out. Hamilton. Full count. Got him, great pitch as he swings over it striking out. Wow great pitch. Beltre two down two on. Perfect grounds to McCoy throw to Edwin for the out. Alvarez had to do it himself here. Bottom 3rd: Hechavarria leading off, had a good game yesterday. Strikes out swinging, one down. Davis. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Rasmus, come on Colby, get a hit here. Full count, bounces up the middle but not through as throw gets him at first. Top 4th: Cruz, bounces back to Alvarez, throw to Edwin, one down. Young, 1-2 count, lines to Sierra in right for a single. One on one down for Murphy, lines it into the right field corner, throw back in misses cut off but Alvarez throw to third gets Murphy at 3B. Young scores on the throw.3-1 Rangers. Two down for Soto, lines it to left another single. Moreland, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Bottom 4th: Edwin, 2-2 count, grounds to Andrus, throw beats Edwin as he runs slowly to first, I guess his heel is still hurting. Escobar, full count, grounds to Andrus, throw to first, two down. Sierra, 1-2 count, takes strike three. Tough for rookies facing this level of pitching, roll on the return of the first team. Top 5th: Kinsler, pops it up to Edwin at first, one down. Andrus, lines it back at Alvarez almost took his head off, to Rasmus in centre. One on one down for Hamilton. Lines it to the wall in left centre, here comes Andrus to score 4-1 Rangers. Double for Hamilton, Beltre, 3-0 count, inside ball four. Now you have Cruz to face. Two on one down. 2-2 count, fouling them off here. Lines it to Davis in left, here comes Hamilton to score 5-1 Rangers. Young, this one is trouble, lines it to left centre and out of here three run home run, 8-1 Rangers. Lincoln warming up in bullpen, Murphy 3-1 count, low ball four. That is it for Alvarez, here comes Farrell. Lincoln now pitching. Soto, lines first pitch to left. Two on one down for Moreland. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Kinsler. Bounces back to Lincoln throw to Edwin for the out. Bottom 5th: It will be interesting to see if Ron Washington rests any of his starting lineup or whether they pad their stats. He rested Cruz on Friday because he doesn’t like the “hard turf “ in Toronto. Time for Jays offence to get going, missing all weekend. Mathis leading off. 0-2 count, takes strike three. McCoy, this will do, lines it over the wall in left, home run for McCoy, the bench strikes back. 8-2 Rangers. Gomes, grounds to Andrus, throw to first, two down for Hechavarria. Grounds to Andrus, throw to first to end the inning but McCoy ruins the ERA of Harrison. He will not be happy. Top 6th: Andrus, 3-1 count, singles to Rasmus in centre. Hamilton, (needs the RBIs), grounds to Escobar, to Hechavarria, over to Edwin not in time for two. One down. Beltre, first pitch fly ball to Davis, two down. Cruz, also needs the RBIs, lines it to right, bounces over the wall ground rule double helps out here. Runners at second and third, two down, Washington, out to argue. Come on Ron, you have 8 already. Young, 2-1 count, lines it to centre, bounces over the wall, 10-2 Rangers. Not sure about that Colby, that was catchable. Hmm... maybe that groin is still bothering him. Murphy, 1-2, grounds to Hechavarria, throw to Edwin to end the inning. Bottom 6th: Davis, lines it to left for the out. Rasmus, grounds to first, steps on the bag for out number two. Encarnacion, 2-0 fly ball to right for the third out. Top 7th: Delabar now pitching. Soto, 3-3 today. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Moreland, 2-1 count, lines it to centre for stand up double, seems like every hit is finding gap. Another day these are all fly ball outs especially to Rasmus. Kinsler, like this one, fly ball to Rasmus for the out, two down for Andrus, 1-2 count, strikes out swinging. Delabar makes easy work of the top of the order. Bottom 7th: Escobar leading off. Harrison still out there? Washington taking no chances on a comeback by the Jays ? but seriously this is a time for confidence building innings for this struggling. where the rookies get a chance to get some innings behind them.1-2 count, fly ball to centre for the out. Sierra, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Two down. Mathis, 0-1 count, fly ball to left to end the inning. Top 8th: Brandon Lyon now pitching. Gentry now pinch hitting for Hamilton, maybe a little late Ron. Bounces to Escobar, throw to Edwin for the out. One down. Beltre, 0-3 today so he needs more bp. 2-2 count, pops it up to Hechavarria, two down. Martin pinch hitting for Cruz, full count, low ball four. One on two down for Young. 5 RBIs today, he needs more? Sorry Michael, not this time. Fly ball to Rasmus for the out and end of the inning. Bottom 8th: I don’t understand why Harrison is still out there. McCoy, pops it up to Gentry, one down. Gomes, 0-2, strikes out swinging. Hechavarria. Grounds to short, throw to first. Not sure that McCoy, Gomes and Hechavarria are exactly confidence building outs for Harrison but will help with his stats. I don’t expect him to face the top of the order in the 9th. Top 9th: Jenkins ( the Jays rookie) getting some more work. Murphy, lines it over the wall in right centre. Home run for Murphy. 11-2 Rangers. Soto, grounds to McCoy, throw to first, one down. Moreland, pops it up to Escobar for second out. Kinsler, full count, inside ball four. Andrus, one on two down. 2-1 count, loops it over Escobar into left. Two on two down for Gentry. Grounds to McCoy at third, throw to Edwin. Rangers leave two out there. Bottom 9th: Will he or won’t he? Ha, I should have placed a wager, no way is Harrison risking his ERA, top of the order, Mark Lowe now pitching. Harrison only had 90 pitches plus chance for a complete game. Gose grounds to second, throw to first for the out. Rasmus, now that is a Colby swing as he lines this one foul but a great swing we have not seen since his injury. There is another one as he lines to left for the out, but they were two excellent swings by Colby, he is back. Edwin two down. 3-0 count poor Edwin not giving him anything even with 11-2 lead. He goes after ball four. Full count, Edwin fouling off those balls outside. Grounds to third, throw to first to get him. But Edwin gave them that one going after four pitches outside the zone. Jays lose this one BUT the surprise is not that Rangers scored 11 today but that they did not score 11 every game. They were basically playing against a team with only four regulars. And yet only managed three runs in the first two games. They would not be pleased with those performances and in fact did not have a good road trip before Toronto. The good: Two inning ending double plays. Also, watching Colby Rasmus last at bat where he had two excellent swings where he had been scrambling throughout his other at bats since his return from injury. This time last week I dreaded the home stand of nine games against the three division leading teams. I thought it would be a disastrous 0-9 home stand. Jays took one from each of them and should have had two off the Rangers. Not so good: Not sure it was a great idea with Mathis DH and letting Gomes catch. Even though Cooper was a late scratch and it was day off for Mathis, there is another day off tomorrow and he could have played today. They needed the experience behind the plate today, firstly with Alvarez pitching, but also for the Sierra throw and blocking off the plate, let alone calling the pitches when Alvarez was in trouble. Unfair on Hechavarria playing at second, unable to turn double play which Johnson would have had no problem with. If he is going to play put him at short for Escobar or at third, McCoy could play second. The miss by McCoy would have been stopped by Hechavarria. Jays hitting gone south but the reinforcements are on their way back and it will be contagious once they start. Alvarez ??? may be the bullpen for him as long reliever when Morrow is back.

Villanueva another gem as Jays lose one they should have had.

Rangers v Jays. Game two of three. A great win for the Jays last night but it is asking a lot to expect them to win two in a row against this Ranger team. They do have a good chance with Villanueva pitching today but Jays have to face Roy Oswalt. Still without the big bats but the good news is that two of them could be back next week. Lawrie and Bautista to go along with Rasmus, would make that top three a lot better for Edwin in front of him. Lineups: Rangers: Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Beltre, Cruz, Murphy, Moreland, Gentry, Martinez and Oswalt pitching. Interesting to see Oswalt coming out of the bullpen, pitching for Dempster today who evidently lost his passport and could not cross the border. I think a lot of teams would like Oswalt experience as a back up starter !!! Jays: Davis, Rasmus, Encarnacion, Cooper, Escobar, Johnson, Mathis, Gose, Hechavarria and Villanueva pitching. Rasmus back in centre, he will be a lot happier but still need to get the hitting stroke back. Top 1st: Kinsler leading off, lines right back at Villanueva for the out. Nice catch Carlos. One down for Young, strikes out swinging, two down for Hamilton fly ball to centre for Rasmus to make third out,, three up and down for Villanueva. Bottom 1st: Davis strikes out swinging. Rasmus, good to see him back in the field but still struggling to find this swing, grounds to Moreland at first for the out. Two down for Encarnacion grounds Young at short, throw to Moreland. Top 2nd: Beltre, fly ball to Rasmus in centre for first out. Cruz grounds to Villanueva throw to Cooper, two down. Murphy grounds to Johnson at second, throw to Cooper. Another three up and down for Carlos. Bottom 2nd: Cooper fly ball to Hamilton in left, one down. Escobar takes strike three. Two down for Johnson, strikes out swinging. Oswalt matching Villanueva right now. Top 3rd: Moreland singles to Gose in right. One on for Gentry, grounds to Hechavarria throw to Johnson to get Moreland at 2nd. Gentry to 1st. Martinez, there goes Gentry and throw by Mathis gets him at second, great throw Jeff. Two down. Martinez grounds to Escobar throw to Cooper to end the inning. Bottom 3rd: Mathis leading off, grounds to Kinsler at second, throw to Moreland for the out. Gose one down, ball four. This should be interesting. Hechavarria, there goes Gose safe at second. Whoa, now balk called here and Gose to 3rd. Still only one down, chance here for the Jays. Hechavarria singles to left Hamilton. Here comes Gose 1-0 Jays. Hechavarria first major league RBI. Davis one on strikes out swinging. Rasmus two down one on, grounds to Kinsler throw to Moreland to end the inning but Jays strike first. Top 4th: Kinsler fly ball to Davis in left, one down. Young grounds to Hechavarria throw to Cooper. Two down. Hamilton fly ball to Gose in right to end the inning. Three up and down for Villanueva. Bottom 4th: Edwin leading off, he hits him. Cooper, one on, another balk called Edwin to 2nd thank you very much. David Cooper lines out to Beltre at third. Escobar fly ball to Murphy. Johnson two down one on, ball four. Two on for Mathis, strikes out swinging. Top 5th: Beltre, fly ball to right centre and OH DEAR Gose drops the ball, lost it in the sun and this one bounces over the fence, ground rule double. Cruz, oh boy, first pitch, gets hold of this one high to left and over the fence, two run home run and just like that Rangers take the lead 2-1. Gose must feel awful. Murphy fly ball to Rasmus in centre for the first out of the inning. Moreland strikes out swinging. Two down. Gentry pops it up to out to Johnson. Jays find themselves behind again. Bottom 5th: Gose singles to Gentry in centre. Hechavarria, bunting, throw to Moreland for the out as Gose to 2nd. Davis bunting pops it up to Beltre for the out at 3rd. That is it for Oswalt. Only 62 pitches today. Robbie Ross now pitching. Rasmus pops it up to Beltre at 3rd to end the inning. Top 6th: Martinez grounds to Johnson, throw Cooper, one down. Kinsler strikes out swinging. Young ball four, two down one on for Hamilton, perfect, grounds to Escobar makes the third out. Bottom 6th: Encarnacion strikes out swinging. One down for Cooper, here we go, singles to Hamilton. Escobar, finally a hit, singles on to Murphy in right. Cooper to 2nd. Two on one down. Johnson takes strike three. Mathis singles to Kinsler to load the bases. Cooper to 3rd. Escobar to 2nd. Two down for Gose, strikes out swinging. Jays lose a great chance to tie it up. Top 7th: Beltre singles to Rasmus. Cruz, we have been here before, not this time as he strikes out swinging. One down and that is it for Villanueva. They are keeping his pitch count down to help him get to the end of the season without blowing up like last season. He does not like ti but knows that it is for the best. Plus there is a great bullpen now. 86 pitches to get into the 7th is perfect. Carlos very rarely disappoints and after Happ last night two good back to back outings by the starters, that IS good. Loup now pitching, Murphy grounds to Johnson throw to Escobar to get Beltre at second. Murphy to 1st. Moreland, whoa, he is picked off. They have Murphy picked off stealing 2nd. Loup to Cooper to Escobar. Very nice to end the inning. Bottom 7th: Tanner Scheppers now pitching for Ross. Hechavarria leading off, this looks good as Hech lines it to right and bounces over the wall, ground rule double. Davis now with runner in scoring position. Singles to Hamilton in left, Hech to third as Butterfield holds him up, that could have been interesting if he had let him try to score. But with nobody out and top of the order, no need. Rasmus now with two on, there goes Davis and safe at second. Rasmus, groan, pops out to Beltre at 3rd. Edwin with two in scoring position but base open and sure enough, they are not pitching to him, that steal by Davis is hurting them here. Bases loaded for Cooper. One down. Just a fly ball here David. That is it for Scheppers, Kirkman now pitching. Cooper fly ball to Hamilton. Two down for Escobar, oh boy, fly ball to Gentry. Jays waste golden opportunity here to get ahead, two in scoring position with nobody out, that is pretty bad hitting by Rasmus, Cooper and Escobar. Second inning in a row they had their chances. Top 8th: Escobar now arguing with umpire, here comes Farrell, no joy either. Escobar has been thrown out of the game by HP umpire. I guess he must have said something to him after that out. Such a showboat is Escobar. McCoy in for Escobar, playing third base. Hechavarria to short, no problem there. Moreland singles to Davis in left. That is it for Loup. Chad Jenkins now pitching. Gentry bunting, NO, pops it up to Jenkins who throw s it away and Moreland to second on the throw and error, that was double play ball. Pinch-hitter Leonys Martin for Martinez. Strikes out swinging. Kinsler two down, wild pitch and Moreland to 3rd. Nothing going right here for Jays. Kinsler, that’s better, lines it to Johnson makes a great catch in shallow right centre. Bottom 8th: Soto in for Martin, as catcher. Mike Adams now pitching. Johnson leading off, grounds to Moreland. One down for Mathis pops it up to Young at short. Gose, two down, bunting ???? grounds to Adams throw to Moreland. I hope that was not a called play. Top 9th: Young, grounds to 3rd, great play by McCoy, throw to Cooper, one down. That is for Jenkins. Darren Oliver now pitching. Hamilton lines to Davis for out number two. Beltre pops it up to Cooper. Three up and down but Jays have not shown that they can get that run they need. Bottom 9th: Andrus in for Young at short. Closer Joe Nathan now pitching. Hechavarria strikes out swinging. Overmatched there. Davis takes strike three. Two down last chance for Jays. Rasmus grounds to Kinsler throw to Moreland. Jays lose a close one BUT this is one they should have won. Far too many left in scoring position. This one that got away and would have been a huge win if they could have pulled it off. Rangers know they are very lucky to win this one. The good: Villanueva. The bullpen of Loup, Jenkins and Oliver to keep this hot hitting to Rangers team to only two runs. Let’s give Hech a star today for his multi-hit game. Double and a single and of course his first major league RBI. The terrible: 3 -13 runners in scoring position, this is terrible, really. Just one more hit would have won this game in the sixth and the seventh innings. The not so good: Escobar getting thrown out of a one run game, whilst I think Hechavarria is an improvement at short, Escobar right now is one of the remaining starters of this team. Needs to show a lot more restraint and less hot-dogging in my book. I for one cannot wait until he is part of a trade package out of Toronto. Gose losing the ball in the sun. Would Jose have had it ? Probably but Jose is not playing. On the plus side Gose made the only Jays run. Others needed to come through with the bases loaded in successive innings.

Happ beats Texas Darvish with bullpen support, speed and Edwin power

Rangers v Jays. Game one of three. Out of the frying pan into the fire the saying goes. Jays thought White Sox were bad enough, Rangers are far tougher. Firstly the sadness over the death of the fan from last night’s game who died from his heart attack. Puts it all in perspective for everyone, this is only a game friends. Darvish v J. Happ tonight. Darvish supposed to be struggling. Lots of walks but this Jays team hardly the most patient at bats. We shall see. The good news, Edwin is back in the lineup and next week the start of the DL return. Lead by Morrow, Lawrie and Bautista now being touted as returns. Such riches. Lineups: Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Hamilton, Beltre, Young, Murphy, Soto, Gentry, Olt and Darvish pitching. Jays: Davis, Johnson, Encarnacion, Cooper, Escobar, Sierra, Vizquel, Mathis, Gose and Happ pitching. Edwin back but Rasmus resting, you could see last night he was much too tentative at his at bats. Not ready yet. Rosie Mclennan gold medalist for Canada throwing out first pitch. Can Happ give Jays a great supporting effort tonight? Top 1st: Kinsler leading off. 3-0 count, come on Happ. There we go a strike. 3-1, full count, strikes out swinging. One down. Andrus, grounds to Escobar, throw to Cooper, two down. Hamilton, this is the guy they want to sit down fast. Lines it right at Escobar to end the inning. Nice start for Happ. Pitch count 10. Bottom 1st: Davis, 1-2 count, lines hard to Olt at third, throw to first for the out. Johnson, 3-1 count, outside ball four. One on one down for Edwin. HERE WE GO, Edwin hammers this one, high to left inside the foul pole and into the second level seats 2-0 Jays. Problem is we were here with the White Sox and gave the lead away. Cooper, grounds to first, Young to Darvish, for second out. Escobar, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging. Jays get the start they wanted and needed. Pitch count 18 for Darvish. Top 2nd: Beltre, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Young. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for Soto. 3-0 count, full count, strikes out swinging, wow. Strikes out the side. Yes Jay Happ. Pitch count 26. Bottom 2nd: Happ giving Jays offense some space here. Can they capitalise? Sierra leading off. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down for Vizquel. 2-2 count, lines it hard to right but Young makes the out. Two down for Mathis. 0-2 count, takes strike three. Darvish settling in here not good. Pitch count 34. Top 3rd: Soto, 1-2 count, takes strike three, number five for Happ. Gentry, 2-2 count, takes strike three. Wow. Olt, full count, strikes out swinging. Ridiculous. Seven strikeouts in first nine. Pitch count 42. Is Romero watching this, see the ball throw the ball no nonsense tonight, no hesitation, no second and third guessing, just throw. Bottom 3rd: Gose, full count, hits him, free pass for Gose. One on for Davis, this should be fun. There he goes, first pitch and easily safe on the throw to second. Wow. 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down. Johnson, grounds to first, throw to Darvish for the second out as Gose goes to third. Edwin, full count, strikes out swinging. Pitch count 53 after three innings. Jays like that. Top 4th: Top of the order, Kinsler. Full count, high ball four. One on for Andrus, 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down one on for Hamilton. Shift right on. 0-1 count, grounds to Cooper, steps on the bag but nobody at second for double play. Two down for Beltre. Pops it up to Johnson for third out. Pitch count 61. Bottom 4th: Jays need some more runs here, two will not be enough against Texas. Cooper leading off. Full count, strikes out swinging, one down for Escobar. Grounds to Kinsler, throw to Young, two down. Sierra. 2-2 count, loops it into shallow centre for Andrus to make over the shoulder catch. Pitch count 67. Top 5th: Young, loops it into shallow centre and first hit off Happ. One on for Murphy. 1-2 count, grounds it back up the middle, two on nobody out. Soto. Bunting, 1-1 count, this time, and Happ throw to first for the out. One down but both runners in scoring position, Gentry, 1-1 count, grounds to Johnson, throw to first for second out as Young scores 2-1 Jays. Runner at third, two down. Olt, 1-2 count, lines this one to left and Davis makes nice running catch as he bangs up against the wall. Close but that’s ok, still an out. Happ buckled but did not break. Pitch count 78. Bottom 5th: Bottom of Jays order, Vizquel. Loops it to right centre for Gentry to make the out. One down for Mathis, full count, strikes out swinging, two down. Gose, 2-1 count, loops it into shallow centre and Gentry unable to catch it, bounces off his glove, and there goes Gose all the way to third. First major league triple for Gose. SPEED... Davis runner at third. Here he comes as Davis singles to centre, 3-1 Jays. Johnson now with Davis at first for now at least. Darvish distracted here by Rajai. 1-1 count, there he goes, throw not in time and Davis safe at second. There he goes to third as strike to Johnson, 2-2 count. Strikes out swinging but Jays get that run back for Happ. Speed rules for this Jays team. Darvish now at 86 pitch count. Top 6th: Kinsler, 2-2 count, pops it up to Sierra for the out but that took nine valuable pitches. One down for Andrus, full count, same again, pops it up to Sierra, two down. Hamilton, 0-2 count, grounds to Vizquel playing at second with the shift right, throw to Cooper for third out. Pitch count 98 and it could be the last hitter for Happ tonight. Delabar was warming up in the bullpen. Bottom 6th: Encarnacion leading off. Bounces softly back to Darvish, throw to Young, one down. Cooper. 2-1 count, grounds to Andrus, throw to Young, two down for Escobar. 2-1 count, pops it up to Kinsler for third out. 96 pitch count. Will he be back out again? Top 7th: Bullpen has to hold them now, that is it for Happ. Delabar now pitching. Beltre. 3-1 count, not getting those outside calls. Ball four. One on for Young. First pitch pop up to Sierra in shallow right. Not a good at bat after Delabar had just walked a guy. One down for Murphy. Full count, there goes Beltre and Murphy singles to Sierra in right. Two on, runner at third for Soto. Only one out. Here comes Bruce Walton. 1-2 count, strikes out swinging, two down for pinch hitter Nelson Cruz. 3-0 count, come on Steve. 3-1 count, outside ball four to load the bases. Twp warming up in bullpen Loup and Lyon lefty righty. This should have happen two games ago. Olt, strike one, 2-2 count, full count. Grounds to Vizquel but he fumbles the ball. Man. Run scores. Error to Vizquel. That was a play he could make in his sleep. An easy out. 3-2 game. Bases still loaded and Delabar has to leave the game. Lyon now pitching. Kinsler, grounds to Escobar, throw to Johnson for the third out. Vizquel owes Delabar tonight, let’s hope Jays can get the run back. Bottom 7th: Darvish still out there, let’s hope that is a big mistake. Sierra leading off. 2-2 count, bounces back to Darvish, throw to first, one down. Vizquel, make amends here for that run Omar. Full count, strikes out swinging. Two down for Mathis. 2-2 count, strikes out swinging. Top 8th: Lyon still out there. Top of the order for Rangers. Andrus,1-2 count, strikes out swinging. One down and here comes Farrell. Lefty Loup now pitching. Hamilton, one down. 2-2 count, strikes out but ball gets away and Mathis long throw to get the out. Nice play by Mathis and Cooper at first stretching wide for the throw. Two down. That is it for Loup, did his job in getting Hamilton. Brad Lincoln now pitching. Beltre, way inside almost hits him. 1-0 count, loops it into shallow left. One on for Young. Grounds first pitch to Johnson, throw to Cooper for the out. Nice job by the bullpen, one more inning. Bottom 8th: Can the Jays get some insurance here? Alexi Ogando now pitching. Gose leading off. 1-2 count, takes strike three, one down for Davis. 0-2 count, lines it to left but Murphy makes the out. Two down for Johnson. 0-2 count, lines it to right and bounces over the wall in the corner ground rule double. Two down one on for Edwin. Mound conference with the coach on how to deal with Edwin. Pitch him away and walk him. McCoy pinch running for Johnson. Intentional walk to Edwin, here come the boos. Wait until Jose and the others are back in the lineup. Two on for Cooper. Hit it out David. 0-1 count, bounces to Kinsler, throw to second to get Edwin. Top 9th: Casey Janssen now pitching. Murphy, 0-2 count, strikes out swinging, one down for Soto. 3-1 count, pops it up to shallow centre, Gose and Escobar collide but Gose makes the second out, Cruz now, (very) dangerous hitter. 1-1 count, bounces to Johnson, throw to Cooper. Jays win a huge win. The good, no the VERY good: J. Happ outpitching Darvish for the win. The bullpen once again coming through bigtime. Delabar, and the thre L’s. Loup, Lyon and Lincoln. Not least Brandon Lyon getting third out with bases loaded in the 7th. Janssen for the one two three save. It cannot be overstated, this Rangers team is first in so many offensive categories are leading the division and will be in the playoffs. The Jays badly beaten up with injuries. The top three in the order (Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista) missing and the numbers five and six (Lind and Arencibia) missing and they beat the Rangers. You would have great odds in Vegas tonight on this happening. Let’s not forget the new weapon of this young team, SPEED. Gose triple off a broken bat looper that should have been a single that he turned into a triple. Davis with his two stolen bases. This is an element long missing from the Jays team but such an exciting and productive element with these two. The not so good: Just one minor grumble, the error by Vizquel which lead to the second Texas run. But tonight we celebrate a huge win by this gutsy lineup. Looks like Boston and Baltimore both losing tonight. Yankees win and Tampa just getting underway on the west coast but for tonight at least Jays get one game closer to Boston.

White Sox home run power sinks Jays tonight as they lose 7-2

White Sox v Jays. Final game of four game series. Farrell tries to explain last night’s pitching to Dunn by Lincoln, but I still do not understand why there was not a lefty warming up with Lincoln for just that situation. He states that Lincoln can get lefties out but he had both Loup and Oliver. Surely Oliver in that situation. In fact Romero himself made a good case for pitching to him having held him hitless in the previous two at bats. Ah well on to tonight and more bad news Encarnacion now out after that play last night where he caught the ball then fell heavily to the ground and dropped the ball allowing the first two runs to score. Initially he clutched his shoulder but shook it off. I guess not. Tonight’s lineup looks like Vegas. This could be a horrible night for us. Interesting crowd to start, Section 100 looks half empty but I can see 500 with a very large crowd so it could be another 20,000. Amazing when you think Jays are playing so badly with an AAA lineup. Lineups: White Sox: DeWayne Wise, Youkilis, Dunn, Rios, Pierzynski, Ramirez, Viciedo, Flowers, Olmedo and Liriano pitching. Jays: Davis, McCoy, Rasmus, Escobar, Cooper, Sierra, Johnson, Mathis, Hechavarria and Laffey pitching.This is a crazy lineup, Three regulars and one of those Rasmus, is still recovering from the groin injury.Not much power in this group, this could be embarassing but they have to play them. Top 1st: Wise fly ball to Sierra in right. Youkilis grounds to Escobar. Safe at first on an error by Escobar. Not awake yet Yunel? Dunn with one on, ball four. Two on, Rios grounds to Escobar flip to Johnson to get Dunn, no chance to get Rios at first. Youkilis at 3rd. Pierzynski fly ball to McCoy to end this one. Bottom 1st: Davis fly ball to Rios in right, one down for McCoy, fly ball to Dewayne Wise in centre, two down. Rasmus grounds to Dunn throw to Liriano covering first for the out. Colby had to run hard on that grounder and looks ok as he runs back to the dugout. Top 2nd: Ramirez grounds to Hechavarria at third, throw to Cooper, one down. Same again, Viciedo grounds to Hechavarria throw to Cooper, two down. Flowers grounds to Hechavarria throw to Cooper. All three outs the same. If Laffey can keep doing this he will have a great game. Bottom 2nd: Escobar leading off, fly ball to Rios, one down. Cooper, there we go David, singles to Rios. One on one down for Sierra, YES MOISES my man, launches a rocket, seriously, very very high and this one is coming down over the wall, two run homerun tour Jays out ahead, 2-0. Amazing height on that helped it get over the wall. This is the second home run for Sierra this series, not bad for a rookie. Johnson takes strike three, two down. Mathis grounds to Ramirez at short and this throw is wild and gets away. Mathis stays wisely at first; he is not exactly Usain Bolt. Hechavarria grounds to Youkilis at third, throw to Dunn for the out but Jays strike first. Top 3rd: Olmedo strikes out swinging. Wise, one down, OH NO !!! high fly ball to right and this one is watched by Davis as it goes over his head and the wall. Homerun and White Sox pull one back immediately. 2-1 Jays. Youkilis takes strike three, not happy. Dunn, takes strike three, he has not been happy period tonight. Bottom 3rd: Davis fly ball to Viciedo in left. One down for McCoy, takes strike three. Nobody is very happy with this strike zone but it looks as if he is calling the same for everyone. Rasmus pops it up to Olmedo at second. Liriano is at 30 pitches for three innings. Not sure whether it really is his great pitching or the usual swing happy Jays bats getting themselves out. Top 4th: Laffey meanwhile has about 20 more pitch count than Liriano. If Dwayne Murphy ever left the Jays, I wonder what style of coach they would bring in? Patience at bats and drive up the pitch count as Yankees and Boston. Or the free swinging of the Murphy’s of the world. Rios fly ball to Davis. One down for Pierzynski, grounds to Cooper throw to Laffey. Two down for Ramirez, fly ball to McCoy in centre. Bottom 4th: Escobar grounds to Ramirez at short, throw to Dunn. One down for Cooper, strikes out swinging. Two down for Sierra, grounds to Youkilis throw to Dunn to end the inning. Top 5th: Jays just cannot get anyone on base. Viciedo, oh boy he drives this to left and band against the bullpen wall, home run 2-2 game. We could see that from our seats that was a line drive but he hammered it very hard (clobbered might be more accurate) it was out of here so very fast. Flowers, OH NO!!! another one, this time a fly ball to left that is over the wall. Back to back home runs to upset Laffey. 3-2 White Sox game. Olmedo bunting, grounds to Laffey throw to Cooper. Cheers for the first out. Dewayne Wise strikes out swinging. Two down for Youkilis, fly ball to Davis. But the damage is done and White Sox are ahead for the first time tonight. Bottom 5th: Johnson grounds to Ramirez at short, throw to first base Dunn. One down for Mathis, strikes out swinging. Hechavarria, two down, strikes out swinging. Three up and down. Top 6th: Dunn, takes strike three, we love that. Adam not happy with that call. Fans tell him to start walking. Rios fly ball to McCoy in centre, two down. Pierzynski grounds to Hechavarria throw to Cooper to end this one. Bottom 6th: Davis strikes out swinging, one down for McCoy grounds to Youkilis at third, throw to Dunn. Two down for Rasmus, grounds to Youkilis throw to Dunn. Good chance for Colby to run again, he seemed to be ok. Top 7th: Delabar now pitching for Laffey. Ramirez grounds to Cooper throw to Delabar. One down. Viciedo, ball four and walks. One on one down for Flowers, pops it to Johnson. Olmedo, two down, fly ball to Davis in left. Yet another good relief inning by Delabar. Bottom 7th: Escobar, ball four and leadoff walk. Cooper grounds to Olmedo throw to Ramirez to get Escobar, Cooper safe at first. That is it for Liriano, Canadian Jesse Crain now pitching. Gose pinch running for Cooper. He could be the tie run. Someone has just run on the field carrying what looks like a defibrillator. I hope not. There is group of people in the front row to the left of the Jays dugout and camera bay. Sierra batting, there goes Gose and throw not in time. Big at bat for Sierra if he can bring Gose in here. 2-2 count, now the second base umpire has called the umpires together and they are stopping play to allow the EMS people to work on the poor fan. Not looking good. Now they are driving him off to the leftfield corner gate and hopefully a quick ride to the hospital and let’s hope he/she will be ok. Very upsetting for everyone watching here, eerily quiet now, none wants to be cheering here but this is a key at bat. Sierra strikes out. Two down. Anther coaching visit, probably to calm down Crain, it must have been rough for Sierra also; no way would he be concentrating. Johnson fly ball to Wise in centre and Jays leave runner at second once again. Top 8th: Gomes in for Gose, at first base. Darren Oliver now pitching. Wise pops up to Hechavarria at third, one down. Youkilis singles to Davis in left, one on one down. Dunn wild pitch by Oliver, Youkilis to 2nd. Ball four Dunn walks. Two on nobody out for Rios. There she goes hammered to left and over the wall, three run homerun for Rios, of all people. That really hurts. Pierzynski, grounds to Hechavarria throw to Gomes at first, two down. Lyon now pitching for Oliver. Ramirez, two down, lifts this one high to left and this one is out of here, homerun number five and 7-2 White Sox. Viciedo , two down takes strike three to end this but four runs have probably put this one away. Lots of fans agree as they file out. Bottom 8th: Myers now pitching. Mathis grounds to Youkilis. Safe on the throw. Pinch-hitter Vizquel for Hechavarria. That’s too bad because I think Hech has been hitting the ball hard, give him a chance here John. Oh dear, Vizquel grounds to Olmedo at second to Ramirez over to Dunn. Double play. Davis lines this one into the left field corner, stand up double, that would have scored Mathis. McCoy, two down and runner in scoring position, fly ball to Rios in right. McCoy once again unable just to hit a ground ball for a single, has to lift it. Top 9th: Vizquel at third. Casey Janssen getting some work. Flowers takes strike three. Olmedo grounds back to Casey flip to Yan Gomes at first for second out. Dewayne Wise two down grounds to Gomes. Six pitches three outs. But alas too late to help the Jays tonight. Bottom 9th: Philip Humber now pitching, last chance for the Jays. Rasmus strikes out swinging. Escobar fly ball to Rios in right, two down. Gomes, first at bat, strikes out swinging. Jays lose big tonight. White Sox five home runs. Laffey good but just not good enough. He has earned another game and maybe will get some run support. The good: Laffey, Delabar and Janssen. Oliver not so hot tonight. Chose the wrong night to give up the home runs. The not so good: I don’t think too many people were concentrating on the game after the fan was wheeled off the field with the EMS workers visibly working on him/her. For the players right there it must have been doubly upsetting. The game was secondary tonight friends. That fan had family, friends somewhere who are now in shock. Let us pray hard and hope for a happy ending.