me and my look-a-like watched the Alomar ceremony on where are the Alomar bobble heads day

So me and my lookalike sat down at the Roger Centre and watched the Roberto Alomar ceremony together until he was asked to move back to his seat on the where are the Roberto Alomar bobble head day as the Jays announced that the first 20,000 fans would get them but at 11:40 this morning they were all gone and people were walking around with them outside of the Rogers centre while others were carrying stacks of them. So lets just say I was one of the 26,600 plus that did not get a bobble head as there were over 45,600 in the Rogers centre as Roberto Alomar and friends brought in the one of the biggest Jays crowd of the season and I thought there were more than that looking around as Kelly was there, Devo was there, Beeston was there but the biggest cheer other than Roberto Alomar coming through the crowd was for Cito and the surprise was that Sandy Alomar JR was unable to get out of his first base coaching duties with the suddenly back to earth with a bang Cleveland Indians so he had to record a video message instead.

It looked like the 1:37 start instead of 1:07 start messed with Brandon Morrow as the first 5 pitches he throw were all balls but after a conference with Jose (Molina and Bautista) he rided himself as he struck out 5 of the next 8 batters as he gave up another walk and a single while the only other out in the first two innings was a caught stealing of Endy Chavez. Then Morrow retired 10 in a row and 13 of 14 going into the sixth inning were he hit a wall head on after striking out the first two batters he faced he then gave up three straight hits including a RBI double to Michael Young and a RBI single to Mike Napoli before he struck out the side which was his 11 K of the game a season high for Morrow. Brandon Morrow ended up throwing 80 strikes in 115 pitches so after the first 5 pitches he throw 80 S and 30 B as he pitched 7 strong innings and gave up two runs on 6 hits and walked two to go with those 11 Ks. While Bullpen of Miller, Janssen, and Francisco all gave up a hit and Miller's hit scored to give the Rangers their third run of the game.

While the Jays offense was power by soon to be ex Blue Jay Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run shot his 9 homer of the seasons while hitting into a double play as the Jays have Johnny Mac and Mark Teahen who replaced him in the eighth inning as infield replacements and Rajai Davis is the only outfield replacement with Eric Thames as the DH when Brett Lawrie comes up on Tuesday. While Colby Rasmus had his first two hits as a Blue Jay and got his first two RBIs on a two run double and J.P. had a RBI sing and Johnny Mac had a sac fly as the Jays won 7-3 as the Jays were 4 for 8 with runners in scoring position while the Jays scored 5 of their 7 runs with two outs in an inning.

So Toronto does not like the Steele town known as Hamilton so Josh Hamilton played left field for the Rangers and some fans rased him non-stop or at least until they got bored of it and then they went to Endy Chavez in center field and that lasted the rest of the game and the roof opening during warm-ups got peoples attention but the kids were frustrated as the players were not throwing the balls to them in the 100 level outfield seats and there was a much bigger crowd than usual screaming for a ball today.

The Jays really have problems with bigger crowds for some reason

Tom Mehegan

Game 107 - 54 - 53 - Derek Holland four hits Jays in a complete game shutout while Escobar was thrown out of the game after a call @ first

Derek Holland went the distance on a four hit complete game shutout and it was his third in his last five starts and the Jays were only able to put together four singles and a walk while striking out six times and Jose Bastista had two of the hits in the game. While Brad Mills in his first appearance of 2011 pitched seven innings of six hit baseball with three walks ( an intentional walk included) and the big hit of the game was Mitch Moreland's two-run homer in the second with Mike Napoli's lead off single on and it made it 2-0 Rangers and then in his next appearance @ the plate Moreland got hit by a Brad Mills fastball as he loaded the bases in the fourth after retiring the first two batters of the inning but ended up getting Chris Davis to ground out to end the inning a hour or so before he would be traded to the Orioles for Koji Uehara. While Holland got into a little jam in the bottom of the second when with two outs Rajai Davis and Johnny Mac got a bunt single but then J.P. was caught looking to end the inning and Holland got some added run support when Mike Napoli hit his 15th homer in the eighth inning to make the final 3-0 Rangers.

Yunel Escobar on a ground ball Ian Kinsler who throw him out but Yunel thought he was safe so he argued the call and was ejected by first base umpire in the sixth inning so Arron Hill came off the bench to play second and Mac moved over to shortstop to finish the game. So tomorrow for the rubber match of the weekend were Brandon Morrow and C.J. Wilson battle to see who wins the game on Roberto Alomar jersey retirement and bobble head game and I will be in attendance to see it all go down.

Lets see if the Jays can win the series

Tom Mehegan

Game 106 - 54 - 52 - J.P. powers the Jays with all their offense while Lawrie is around the next corner

After Brett Cecil and Alexi Ogando five days ago in Arlington where Cecil had a four hit complete game shutout and Alexi Ogando gave up three RBI doubles in the sixth inning and tonight started a little different as The Rangers had 5 hits and a walk including a Nelson Cruz solo homer but he was taken out with an injury after striking out in next at bat through four innings. On the other hand the Jays had a double and two walks including the first time Colby Rasmus reached base as a Jay with a walk in the bottom of the fourth but that all changed in the bottom of the fifth this time when Alexi Ogando gave up back- to - back singles to Arron Hill and Travis Snider to lead the inning off which brought the ninth hitter in the Jays lineup to the plate in J.P. who had three homers in Arlington last weekend and just hit another homer which was his 17th on the season to make it 3-1 Jays after five. The Jays had only an Edwin Encarnacion single the rest of the way and the Rangers had 5 more hits during this time but the Rangers got only another solo homer from Blue Jay for a split second Mike Napoli and it was his 14th of the season to lead off the ninth inning with Jon Rauch pitching and he only gave up one more single to the next batter Mitch Moreland but Rauch retired the three batters in order to save his ninth game as the Jays won 3-2.

Brett Cecil went seven innings and gave up seven hits and struck out six Rangers and walked one and only gave up a single run and throw 94 pitches and 63 for strikes while Alexi Ogando pitched 5.2 innings and gave up three runs on four hits with four walks while also striking out four Jays and throw 103 pitches and 62 for strikes.

Other than the bottom three of the order having three straight hits in the fifth the only other two hits came from Encarnacion who is really hearing the footsteps of Brett Lawrie as it is likely either him or Rajai will be sent for assignment next week when Lawrie makes his major league debut most likely Tuesday. Talking about Blue Jays making a debut Brad Mills will finally get a start tomorrow against the Rangers and it is well deserved as he has been the Blue Jays best pitcher in Las Vegas for most of this season.

The Jays try to go three over 500 @ home and on the season tomorrow

Tom Mehegan

Game 105 - 53 - 52 - Romero and Villanueva both pick-up first July wins while Colby Rasmus is now a Blue Jay

So last night with 6 relievers in the pen Ricky Romero went 8.1 innings and gave up 4 hits and 3 walks (all the walks in the first two innings) and then 9Ks while throwing 126 pitches and 87 of those for strikes in 3-0 Blue Jays victory to tie up the series and he could have had his second complete game of the season except that with one out in the ninth Vladimir Guerrero struck out on a wild pitch and J.P. was not able to find it and Guerrero was safe at first and then Derek Lee was hit by a pitch to make it first and second and Ricky went to sit down in the dugout. Jon Rauch then came in and throw five pitches to save the game as Matt Wieters lined out and Mark Reynolds flied out to Travis Snider to give him his first victory in just over a month and J.P. hit his 16th homer in the fourth while Jose Bautista was back in the lineup and got a RBI in the first and Eric Thames had a RBI in the third inning.

Tonight it was Carlos Villanueva turn to win his first game in July but it did not start very well as in the first the Orioles were hitting the ball long and hard as J.J. Hardy lead off with a homer which was followed by Nick Markakis hit a ball long enough and flirted with the foul pole but went inches foul and with two outs Vladimir Guerrero hit massive shot into the 500 level but foul and then he lonely comes back with a ball he hit just enough to get into the bullpen and the Orioles lead 2-0. In the bottom of the first Edwin Encarnacion who days seem to be numbered with Lawrie destroying Las Vegas walked in a run and Then Eric Thames came to the plate with bases loaded for the second time in the series and had a sac fly to tie the game at 2. In the bottom of the third Encarnacion and Thames went back-to-back with homers which was the sixth time the Jays had gone back-to-back this season and later J.P. had a two-run double and the Jays were up 6-2 but Villanueva had his problems in the fifth as Robert Andino lead off with a walk and it was followed by a double by J.J. Hardy and with one out Adam Jones hit a two-run single to make it 6-4 after which Villanueva got out of it. In the bottom of the inning the Jays got a gift run as the Jays had runners on the corners and the Orioles catcher throw down to Mark Reynolds at third to try and catch Encarnacion napping instead it was Reynolds who was napping and missed the throw and it was his 21st error to match his homers and Encarnacion scored and then Yunel Escobar singled Snider bulldogged his way to score and make it 8-4 Jays and in the ninth the Orioles got one back as J.J. Hardy hit his second of the game and fourth of the series to make the final 8-5.

Carlos Villanueva played well as he pitched five innings and he gave up 2 hits and a walk between the second and fourth innings with no runs scoring and finished with 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks and a K over his outing which was good enough to help the Jays win the series and Adam Lind took a sure hit away from Robert Andino as looped into no mans land but Lind got there and made the catch as he moved away from the infield and he doubled up the run at first to end the top of the sixth.

Just before Wednesday game against the Orioles the Jays made a huge move as they sent Jason Frasor and Zach Stwart to the White Soxs for Canadian Mark Teahan an utility player and starter Edwin Jackson who they flipped to the Cards with Cory Patterson, Marc Rzepczynski, and Octavio Dotel for center fielder Colby Rasmus along Trever Miller, P.J. Walters, and the returning Brian Tallet. So basically the deal is Colby Rasmus for basically guys that were not likely in the Jays future and a prospect in Zach Stewart and really the deal will depend on if Rasmus can be the everyday center fielder or will Zach Stewart find his way to the majors to stay with the Cards and will not really know how this deal works for a few more seasons but the almost 25 year old Rasmus can get his problems into his past like Escobar he maybe a keeper.

Jays are 26-25 @ home now

Tom Mehegan

103 - 51 - 52 - The Orioles spoiled Brandon Morrow's birthday party

On Brandon Morrow's 27th birthday he just did not pitch well but also did not get great defense along with Jose Molina was not trying to keep the ball in front of him and when it got past him he did not run after it instead he walked after it. Morrow was charged with missing a catch from a ball hit by Matt Wieters which came before a RBI Single by Derek Lee that put the Orioles up 4-0 in the top of the third and in the bottom of the inning the alarm bells went off for the Jays as Jake Arrieta beamed Jose Bautista in the ear flap of his hamlet and left the game and the next batter Adam Lind hit his 18th homer a three-run-shot to make it 4-3. In the top of the fourth the first three Orioles reached base as Nolan Reimold lead-off with a homer and after a single to Robert Andino and then J.J. Hardy hit his second homer of the game and 16th homer to make it 7-3 and then Arron Hill hit his 5th homer to make it 7-4 and the Orioles scored five more runs to make the final 12-4 victory Orioles. The partypoopers were J.J. Hardy who had 2 homers and 4 RBIs and Derek Lee went 4 for 5 with a homer and a two-run double and he ended up with 5 RBIs but it ended up with all the Orioles hitters got at least a hit.

The Jays were an undefeated 18-0 record last season and right now they are 4 and 3 this seasonand they are also 24 and 25 @ home this season too and it is the first Jays loss when Brandon Morrow started the game as he was 5 and 0 in his last 7 games and the Jays had won all seven games. While Ricky Romero has a chance to even the series @ 1 but the thing is that Ricky Romero has not won in over a month (June 26) and it is not because he has been pitching well as he gave up 4 runs or less in 3 of his last 4 starts and the only down size to these starts is that he has walked 14 batters in the 23 innings.

see u Thursday night

Tom Mehegan

Game 102 - 51 - 51 - Brett Cecil had a complete game shutout

Brett Cecil got his career complete game and first ever major league shutout as he throw 122 pitches and gave up 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out six Ranger batters going the distance in a 3-0 Jays shutout of the Texas Rangers and the Jays finally win one of the three games in the series. The game was a real pitches duel over the first five innings as Rangers starter Alexi Ogando came into the game with a 7-1 home record this season and through five innings had only given up 3 hits and a walk while Brett Cecil had one upped him as he had only given up 2 hits over five innings.

Then in the top of the sixth the Jays got all their offense as Yunel Escobar singled which was his second hit on the night and then Jose Bautista had a RBI double which went with his first inning walk and then with two outs both Edwin Encarnacion and Travis Snider had RBI doubles and that was all the scoring in the game. The defensive play of the game was Jose Bautista's sliding catch with the extreme shift as he had moved from third base to shallow left field and made great catch sliding on the turf to record the first out in the bottom of the sixth. In the ninth inning Nelson Cruz after getting ahead on Cecil with the count being 3 and 1 and then he fouled off six straight pitches before grounded softly to Jose Bautista for an infield hit but then Cecil finished the game striking out Mike Napoli.

Now Cecil joins Romero as the only two pitchers to have a complete game this season

Tom Mehegan

Game 101 - 50 - 51 - Rzepczynski melted in the ninth and ruined the Jays hitting for cycle in the sixth

Marc Rzepczynski melted quicker than an ice cube on a Texas night as he came in close down the game with the Jays up 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth and he got ahead of pinch hitter and a Jay for a split second Mike Napoli 0 and 2 but then walked him which was first walk by a Jays pitcher in the game. This was followed by a bunt back to Rzepczynski by Mitch Moreland and Rzepczynski barehanded it and throw to first which may or may not have pulled Adam Lind's foot off the bag so it should of been a runner on second with a good throw and came back to hurt as Rzepczynski hit the showers. Jon Rauch did a great job in the situation as he covered his position as he played Ian Kinsler's bunt and got him out at first for out one and then he covered Elvis Andrus bunt and throw home but Napoli scored but J.P. made his smartest defensive play of the game by throw to first to get Elvis Andrus out and it would of ended the game if it was not for RZepczynski's fielding error. Then after fielding gems by the likes Edwin Encarnacion (those footsteps he is hearing most of smarted him up), Arron Hill, and even a sliding catch by Travis Snider that took a run of the board for the Rangers Cory Patterson was brought into the game as a defensive replacement for Eric Thames and Michael Young hit the ball in his direction and he had no clue what was going on as he was fumbling over his own feet as the ball went over his head and Craig Gentry who was the pinch runner for Mitch Moreland scored to win the game 5-4.

So the Jays starter Carlos Villanueva throw over 30 pitches in the first inning and gave up back - to - back two out singles to Josh Hamilton and Michael Young in the first inning but got out of it without given up a run and then after that he pitched more effectively except that he kept given up hits and it turned into a run in the third (Josh Hamilton RBI triple), fourth (Chris Davis RBI single), and the fifth (Nelson Cruz RBI double) to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.

After the Jays got a gift runner of Yunel Escobar as Elvis Andrus had a fielding error but then he cut down trying to steal second before a double sandwich as Thames doubled and Lind had a RBI double which was built around a strike out of Jose Bautista to give the Jays the first run which has been a good recipe just not tonight. Then the Jays hit for the cycle in the sixth inning as J.P. hit his 15th homer which went with his inability to throw a runner out which was followed by Yunel Escobar doubled and then Eric Thames had a RBI triple who was driven in by RBI single by Jose Bautista to give the Jays the 4-3 lead.

The good things about tonight's game were that Eric Thames and Yunel Escobar both had two hits and the defense until the ninth inning and the Jays were 3 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left only one runner on base before the ninth inning. The bad is that Travis Snider had a horrible night at the plate striking out his first 3 at bats and the fourth at bat in the ninth inning he ended the inning with a fly out to Josh Hamilton leaving two on base and then the bottom of the ninth hurt.

Jays still need a victory before coming back to the Rogers Centre

Tom Mehegan

Jays say farewell to Jo Jo Reyes while Brett Lawrie is saying saying do not forget about me

So Jo Jo Reyes was designated for assignment as he got shelled by the Texas Rangers as he gave up 8 runs in 4.1 innings while given up 7 runs and 10 hits in 5.1 inning in the first game back from the all-star game when the Jays beat the Yankees 16-7 and he picked up the win his 5 on the season but he did give up 15 runs on 18 hits in 9.2 inning pitched over his last two starts. So with Jo Jo Reyes was 5 and 15 before he got to Toronto and he started the season 0 and 4 while setting the longest streak for not picking up a victory and since than he was 5-4 even with a 6.02 ERA but to think he was only supposed to be a starter until Brandon Morrow got ready excepted that Jesse Litch and Brett Cecil both had their troubles and later it was Kyle Drabek turn for a visit to Las Vegas. So all in all Jo Jo Reyes did to give the Jays all he had and put together some good starters so he was a good fill in guy and the only surprised is the timing of the decision as if U were going to make this decision why not when he was unable to win a game.

So the Jays have brought up left-handed reliever Wilfredo Ledezma who is 1 and 1 with 3 saves in 46.2 inning pitched with an ERA of 4.63 and he has given up 47 hits and 18 walks while 63 Ks and a 1.39 whip so with the 3 saves he maybe given a chance to close for the Jays if the closers blow more opportunities. Then next week either Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles or Saturday against the Texas Rangers the Jays will most likely go down to the farm for a starter and there are four candidates who are Jesse Litsch or Brad Mills in Las Vegas or Zach Stewart and the four is going out and making a deal for a starter.

I believe that if Jesse Litsch is ready he should be brought back up and if he not the choice I think that given Brad Mills a chance would be the right choice as he is the workhorse for Las Vegas and it would be a great reward for him.

Then there once again the BC native Brett Lawrie who has come back for a broken hand after going 0 for 7 with 5 Ks in his triple A return against the Colorado Springs he then in the following three games he is 8 for 15 with a homer, 2 doubles, and 5 RBIs so he has quickly got his bat back to where it was before his broken hand.

Lawrie maybe with the Jays in early to mid-August if he gets to the big leagues before being a September call up

Tom Mehegan

Game 100 - 50 -50 - Nelson Cruz crushed the Jays while J.P. had two solo shots

The Jays plsyed the first of three games in Arlington and it was 98 degrees at the time of the first pitch and the only thing hotter than the weather was Nelson Cruz who was 4 of 4 with a homer and 8 RBIs as he had a three-run homer, a RBI double, and a two-run single. While former Blue Jays prospect Michael Young was 4 for 4 with a RBI and scored 4 runs and these two Rangers accounted for 9 of the 12 RBIs and had 8 of the teams 13 hits.

The Rangers over the first 5 innings had 8 runs on 9 hits as they faced Jo Jo and Shawn Camp while Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis had allowed 2 walks in the first 5 innings of the game and Rangers defense was solid as Josh Hamilton went a long way for a catch while Adrian Beltre made a huge play but then left the game later a hamstring injury. While J.P. had a up and down game as he missed played a wild pitch as it was a K but the hitter Elvis Andrus reached first with no throw and then trying to throw out a runner at second and it went into the outfield and the runner advances on the error and he also struck out. So with a batting average he then hit a aolo homer in back-to-back at bats to give him 14 on the season and the Rangers take a game one 12-2 and for the Jays it is a result that need not remember the game.

The Jays need to turn it around tomorrow

Tom Mehegan

Game 99- 50 - 49 - The Jays sweep way the Mariners while the Rogers center roof closed because of extreme heat

So last night the Jays held onto a 11-6 as Travis Snider had a sac fly along with RBI single and finally a 3 run homer and it was set up by an Adam Kennedy messed up on finishing off a double play that would have finished the inning but was able to handle the throw to keep the inning alive that helped Travis have his second 5 RBI in the July. While Eric Thames ground-rule double fan interference gave him 2 RBI while Edwin Encarnacion hit his 7th homer on the season and also Adam Lind also hit a homer too but it ended up having Frank Francisco gave up a homer to Adam Kennedy in the eighth and then Octavio Dotel gave up a two-run shot to Dustin Ackley to make it a lot closer.

Today on Camp Day at the Rogers Center if it was played outside it would of felt like 50 C so the Jays decided to keep the roof closed so the did not get boiled during this early afternoon game and The game was going at a great pace with Ricky Romero and Doug Fister and the game went into the bottom of the seventh with the Jays up 2-1 and then Fister fell apart as he gave up 2 singles and 2 walks with a defensive error behind him that all lead to him being created with 2 of the 3 runners scoring earned runs and he did not get a single Jays out in the seventh. Then in the top of the eighth Romero got the first out and then 2 singles and a walk to the next three batters and Casey Janssen came in to face catcher Miguel Olivo who smacked his 13th homer of the season and it was a grandslam to tie the game at 5. Then in the bottom of the eighth Mariners reliever David Pauley came in and got two quick outs but then Mike McCoy doubled and Yunel Escobar walked and that lead to a Rajai Davis game winning two run double in his only at bat today to make it 7-5 Jays which lead to Jon Raunch to the game and as he had finished off the eighth he got the win.

Jose Bautista had a RBI single and a sac fly in the game

Tom Mehegan

Game 97 - Casey Janssen win in his return but it is Brett Cecil listening session with Farrell key to Jays win

Brett Cecil gave up 5 runs on 7 hits over the first two innings including a RBI single by Dustin Ackley in the first which was completely erased by Adam Lind's 17 homer a two-run shot in the bottom of the inning but then in the second Cecil gave up a three-run homer to No. 9 hitter Greg Halman and then a solo shot by Brandon Ryan and it was 5-1 for the Mariners. After Cecil finished the second inning Cecil sat down and had a listening session with manager John Farrell but whatever Farrell said work as Cecil pitched 5 more innings and only gave up two hits while the Jays chipped away at the lead as in the seventh inning the Jays got RBI from Yunel Escobar (double), Eric Thames (sac fly), and Jose Bautista (single) to tie the game at 5. Then it was the pick offs as in the eighth inning Shawn Camp picked off Chone Figgins at first to end the inning and J.P. caught Mike Carp napping as he lead off the eleventh inning with a double and J.P. throw in behind for the first out. Miguel Olivo was very good for the Mariners as he caught Arron Hill stealing in the eighth and Cory Patterson in the ninth but then throw the ball away trying to get Rajai Davis and he ended up on third and that as far as he got as it headed into extra inning.

The Jays went into extra innings with a 6 and 0 record @ home and it ended up getting into the 14 innings and Casey Janssen in for the 14th and helped finish off the Mariners who had 7 hits in the last 12 innings with no runs and Janssen who came off the 15 day dl picked up the win as Rajai Davis with one out singled and then stole second followed by third for the seventh time this season and like the other 6 times he scored as Johnny Mac had a sac fly to win the game and keep the Jays a perfect 7 and 0 now in extras @ home. Arron Hill had a break out game at the plate as he broke a 0 for 12 with a single and double in his next two at bats and even though Travis Snider was 0 for 6 he did shine in center field tonight.

Mariners have lost 10 straight and Johnny Mac came through again

Tom Mehegan

a look at some Jays on the farm that maybe brought up at sometime

Brett Lawrie is now in Dunedin Blue Jays and has played four games and in the first 3 games he is 1 for 8 with a RBI along with a K and his most recent game he played he got plunked in both of his two at bats. So this means that he will be set back maybe a couple of days and probably will not be moved up to Las Vegas until maybe this weekend or next week depending if he can get his bat speed faster.

On Thursday Kyle Drabek had another rotten start as gave up 6 runs (5 earned) on 6 hits with a walk and a K over 3 innings and maybe injured himself but may not miss a start and the sadist part is that he had a 3 run on 8 hits along with 8 Ks and a walk over 6 inning game and a run on 6 hits along with 3 Ks over 6 inning game which the two games before Thursday game. It could be a while for Drabek who should be still working on things most likely mid-August or a September call up.

Dustin McGowan has now have four rehab starts after being not able to pitch for over a year and after a .2 inning of 3 earned runs on 3 hits with a walk and a K the last 3 starts of a 2 inning no hit with 2 walks and 2 Ks, a run on 2 hits with a K over 2 inning, and a 1 hit shutout with a walk and 3 Ks. McGowen has a lot of work to do and the most important thing for him is to go into the off-season so that he will be able to work through the off-season and maybe able to put his best foot forward in spring training and maybe up with the Jays by the end of next season.

Brad Mills has been the best pitcher in Las Vegas with his 3.71 ERA with a complete game and a 3 to 1 Ks to walks (105 Ks to 32 walks) with 51 earned runs in 123.1 innings and 19 starts. Then his last start on last night as he had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning and ended up a hit through eighth inning with 2 walks and 6 Ks. He maybe given an opportunity as a September call up and he maybe able to have his major league debut as he was called up earlier this season but was not used in the game.

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Tom Mehegan

Game 96 - 47 - 49 -Phil Hughes get the better of the Jays as Granderson has the big blow

So the game was tied going into the fourth inning @ 1 as Nick Swisher had a RBI single in the first and Travis Snider had a RBI single in the second. The Yankees then had a 4 runs on 5 hits in the fourth inning and the big blow was a two run double to right field that Cory Patterson was not able catch up to and make the third out of the inning and the double made it 5-1 Yankees as Russell Martin had RBI double and Ramiro Pena had a sac fly to account for the other runs in the fourth inning.

The Jays had 3 runs on 7 hits against in the final two games of this series as C C yesterday gave up a run on 3 hits in 8 innings and today Phil Hughes gave up 2 runs on 4 hits over the 6 innings he pitched and the Jays in the very inning of this series had 8 runs on 6 hits and the down fall yesterday was that it was C C but today in front of over 36,000 fans the Jays could get base runners on base as they had 5 attempts to get a runner in scoring position and they cash in twice as Arron Hill had a sac fly for the Jays in the bottom of the fourth. The Yankees piled on with a run in the seventh with a Robertson Cano sac fly and in the ninth Curtis Granderson had a RBI single to give him 3 RBIs in the game as the Yankees won 7-2.

Jason Frasor came in to the game in the ninth to break Duane Ward's record for most appearances as a Blue Jay as Frasor has now pitched in 453 games since 2004 when the Jays traded Jayson Werth to the LA Dodgers to get him and yes I know that the Nationals just gave him the kiss of death contract (7 years/ 126 million dollars) and that he was like the backbone of the Phillies lineup but the Dodgers also gave up on him too and they just let him go and test the free agent market instead of salary arbitration. So looks to have been a good pick-up for the bullpen as he has been the glue to the Jays bullpen for a few seasons now pitching the seventh or the eighth inning more often then not.

With the Yankees series bringing in 153 thousand along with the opening series against the Twins bringing in 111 thousand and the Phillies Canada weekend series brought in 116 thousand and a Red Sox series brought in 98 thousand and finally a two game series brought in 51 thousand and Jays in 15 games have brought in over half a million fans and people think it is stupid to in the east and the Jays would be selling out playing in the central no way the fans would get bored and wait for the playoffs.

Seattle starting Tuesday (if like this click on a ad)

Tom Mehegan

Game 95 - 47 - 48 - Ricky Romero has his defense let him down as the bats are no match for C C

Ricky Romero in front of over 45,000 went 1,2,3 with the Yankees bats and then Yunel Escobar had a RBI single in the bottom of the first to give the Jays an early 1-0 lead but then in the top of the second Romero had his defense fail him as Rajai Davis missed read a Nick Swisher ground-rule double as he came in a step and then had high tail it back and could not recover and Andrew Jones had a RBI single to drive him in Brett Gardiner laced a double down the first baseline and Eduardo Nunez drove in with a ground out and a 2-1 lead after 2 innings. In the third inning Arron Hill had Robinson Cano in a run down after a Romero wild pitch and he saw Curtis Granderson going home and throw him and would of had him except that he overthrow J.P. which was an unearned run and it was 3-1 and then in the fourth Yunel Escobar went a long way to left and then had a jumping turn and throw to first to get Derek Jeter but instead he overthrow Adam Lind and a run scored to make it 4-1 as Jeter got a RBI single.

Then there was C C Sabathia had the first inning only gave up a single to Adam Lind in the fourth and an eighth inning double by Johnny Mac and he gave up a run on 3 hits over his 8 innings pitched with 8 Ks as he continued his dominance of the Blue Jays and now is 11-3 in 14 career starts against the Blue Jays and now has 14 wins on his season. Marion Rivera came in and made it interesting given up 2 hits before he was able to put the game away for the Yankees and picked up his 23 save on the season.

Now the Jays need to put this behind them and get ready for Phil Hughes tomorrow to try to win the series

Tom Mehegan

Game 94 - 47 - 47 - The Jays have won first two of four against the Yankees as they get back to 500

Brandon Morrow struggled in the first two innings as the first two Yankees reached base with Derek Jeter reaching on an Arron Hill fielding error while Curtis Granderson walked on 8 pitches and then Morrow got the next three batters in a row but it all took 21 pitches and in the second inning he throw 27 pitches as Jorge Posada singled and Russell Martin walked to open the inning and Eduardo Nunez with one out had a RBI single which tied the game @ 1 after two innings and Morrow throw 48 pitches through the first two inning. Then in his last 4.2 inning pitched and throw 64 pitches and retired 9 straight batters and 14 of his last 16 batters he faced as Eduardo Nunez and Nick Swisher singled which lead to a run on 4 hits in 6.2 inning.

Freddie Garcia fell apart in the fourth inning as Edwin Encarnacion had a RBI double which came right after a diving defensive play and throwing out Russell Martin at first and then there was a Jose Molina had a RBI single which gave the Jays a lead that they would not give up. Then in the fifth it got worst for Garcia as Arron Hill got a RBI on a force out and Travis Snider had a RBI sac fly and finally during a double steal Russell Martin throw the ball past third baseman Eduardo Nunez and the lead runner Arron Hill scored to make it 6-1. The Jays put up another run up in the eighth inning as Yunel Escobar who took Bautista's spot in the batting order who went 3 for 4 in the game had a RBI single to make the final 7-1 and 23-8 over the first two games while Dotel got the final out in the seventh and Rzepczynski got a 3 up/3 down eighth while Jason Frasor gave up 3 hits and got out of it without giving up a run and this game was played in front of a crowd of over 33 thousand.

So I saw another another drunken idiot ran while security was asleep and just wait when he reached the center field fence because he had no clue after getting to the center field fence what to do while arrived security. Also Eric Themes left the game in the after the 6 inning and needed an IV but will be in the lineup tomorrow and Bautista most likely back on Sunday. Looking at the pitching match up is a great one as Ricky Romero and CC Sabathia go head to head and if it is like their battle in New York where Romero had a run on 7 hits over 7 innings and had a 2-1 lead but the bullpen blow it really good as the Yankees won the game 3-2 while CC had a complete game and has a 10-3 career record against the Jays.

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Tom Mehegan

game 93 - Bautista hurt as Jays romp over the Yankees

The story of the game will not be Bartolo colon pitching only two-thirds of an inning or that the Jays scored 8 runs on 6 hits as the Jays sent 12 to the plate in first inning but instead it will be Jose Bautista sliding into third to end the bottom of the fourth inning as the Yankees got a double play to end the inning. So now what seems to have happened to Bautista the first report from the Jays is that it is a sprained ankle as his foot get catch in the dirt but he was able to leave under his own power even though he limped off and as of right now is day-to-day.

So the Jays brought 12 batters to the plate and only Adam Lind did not reach base in the first inning as 5 Jays reached base by getting hits, 2 batters reached by walks, and J.P. reached on an error by Yankees third baseman Eduardo Nunez as 5 of the 8 runs scored in the Jays first inning were unearned as everyone except Lind scored a run in the inning. So Jays got a two run double by Eric Thames which was his second double as he had scored on his first while Arron Hill had a two-run single while Rajai Davis, Travis Snider, and Yunel Escobar all had RBI singles and the final run scored on a balk by Yankees relief pitcher Luis Ayala. Bartolo Colon lasted two-thirds of an inning and throw 42 pitches and 25 of them for strikes but it was the error that cost him as Eduardo Nunez could of stepped on third and the inning would of been over while the Jays had 7 straight batters reach base with two outs. In the second inning Adam Lind finally reached base and when he crossed the plate it signaled that all the starters had reached base and scored as the Jays were leading 9-0.

After the second inning the Jays were quite for a while as the Yankees fought back only like they could as they put up a 4 spot in the third with Andrew Jones homering to open the inning and Curtis Granderson had a two-run triple and scored on a Mark Teixeira ground out but it would of been worst if it was not for a great catch by Travis Snider to end the inning. Then in the sixth inning Andrew Jones came to the plate with two on and smacks his second homer of the game and it was 9-7 but then Luis Perez came in and struck out Granderson with 2 on and one out and then Teixeira grounded out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth Edwin Encaracion had a two-run single to give himself 3 RBIs in the game and in the seventh J.P. had a RBI double and that made it so that all starters had a hit and then scores on a RBI single by Eric Thames who also had 3 RBIs in the game and finally they scored three more runs in the eighth inning as they cemented the victory 16-7 as they pounded out 20 hits against the Yankees tonight in front of a 37,000 plus fans and of course lots of Yankees fans.

Luis Perez's 1.2 innings of two hit shutout and Shawn Camp the hit eighth took it to the ninth as Jo Jo pitched 5.2 innings and gave up 7 runs on 10 hits and a walk to go with 2 Ks which all lead to the ninth inning and the return of Frank Francisco who last we saw a week ago was having hissy fit in the visitors club house in Cleveland and tonight he finished the game and gave up a single hit.

The Jays had a fun day against the Yankees and now have won four in a row and I am going to the game tomorrow

Tom Mehegan

Game 92 - 45 - 47 - The Blue Jays go into the all-star break on an extreme high

Brett Cecil sent the Indians into the all-star break battered and bruised as the Jays won 3 of 4 from them and if Frank Francisco had not completely gone nuts it would of been a complete sweep and the Indians pitching could not handle the Jays as they gave up 7 more runs today in a 7-1 Jays victory. The Jays outscored the second place Indians of the AL central 27-17 in the four game series and the Jays bats are heating nicely and the starting pitching as been out of this world recently so if the bullpen can come together and put up some good relief outings the Jays would be unbeatable.

Brett Cecil pitched 6 innings and gave up a run on 6 hits but his pitch count got really up there with the 3 walks up in his 6 innings he gave especially in the first inning when he loaded the bases with a pair of walks which was followed by a single but got out of the inning without given up a run. Brett Cecil's 6 Ks are a good sign heading into the all-star break on super high and hopefully comes back with a great performance after over a week off. Luis Perez pitched a couple of innings of 1 hit shutout ball with 2 Ks along with 2 walks and Jason Frasor finished things off with a 1 hit shutout ninth inning that also included a walk.

The Combo of Eric Thames and Jose Bautista were 5 for 9 with a homer and 4 RBIs as Eric Thames had his fourth career homer as in the third inning when Yunel Escobar singled and that was followed by a two-run homer to open the scoring and then Jose Bautista finished the scoring in the 6 inning with a two-run double before heading to Arizona for the all-star break as Johnny Mac played the last three and half innings of the game for him. The other 3 Jays runs came in the 5 run third inning as J.P. had a RBI single and Cory Patterson had a two-run ground rule double while the Indians got there only run when Jack Hannahan had a RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Blue Jays except for Bautista everyone else will have a break until the Jays face the Yankees starting a 4 game series at the Rogers centre starting on Thursday and lets see how the rest will effect the Jays (positively or negatively).

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Tom Mehegan

Game 91 = 44 - 47 - Jose Bautista has 31 homers before the All-star break with one more game left

On the day where a guy had to be escorted out of the stands after catching Derek Jeter's 3000th hit which was a homer Jose Bautista had 2 homers with his second of the game happened in the top of the tenth when he lead off with his 31 homer of the season as John Rauch gave up 4-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth when Travis Buck on the eleventh pitch of the at bat RBI doubled to the wall left field. Travis Buck had been the goat going into the ninth inning as he tried to make a shoe string catch with 2 outs in right field and the ball went under his glove and then he compounded his blunder with his throw to try to get Travis Snider who was getting back to first after going a little to far after his single and the ball went off him and into foul ground which allowed Eric Thames to score on the throwing error to make it 4-3 Jays.

So the game started with the Blue Jays with one out collecting 2 singles that sandwiched a Bautista walk and included an Adam Lind RBI single to make it 1-0 Blue Jays after the first inning. In the third inning Jose Bautista broke a 1-1 tie with his 30th homer of the season and it came 18 days earlier than last year as he hit number 30 last year on July 27 and then in the fourth inning Jose Molina had a RBI double that scored Travis Snider and made it 3-1 Blue Jays.

The Jays starter tonight was Brandon Morrow was in his element as it was a night game where opponents were hitting .198 and he had a 3.20 ERA and it was on the road where he is a perfect 4-0 this season and opponents are hitting .202 and his ERA is 2.88 which is far cry from day stats of opponents batting average of .299 and a hefty 7.11 ERA and @ home where opponents hit .278 and he has an ERA of 6.87 with a record of 1-4. So tonight he pitched 8 innings gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and throw 109 pitches (s - 68 / b - 41) and his biggest problem was walking Indians catcher Carlos Santana twice and he scored both times on a sac fly in the bottom of the second and on a two-run homer by Grandy Sizemore his 9th on the season. He retired the last 6 batters he faced and 14 of 15 and he struck out 8 batters in the game and could of attempted the complete game as he had pitched 116 pitches earlier this season and can not fault Rauch as he was battling Buck for all he worth as he got a head 0 and 2 and Buck fouled off 6 pitches in the at bat while 2 balls as well.

Jays go for the series win in Cleveland before the all-star game

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Tom Mehegan

Game 90 - 43 - 47 - Rajai Davis and Travis Snider produced all the offense as the Jays piled on the Indians

So Jo Jo Reyes had a pretty good pitching performance going into the sixth inning as he had given up only 2 runs on 6 hits but did have 3 walks along with no Ks and then got the first 2 batters out in the sixth but than hit a wall as he gave up back-to-back singles which brought last nights hero Travis Hafner to the plate where he reached on a Yunel Escobar error which was one of the two errors on the night which lead to a run scoring so Reyes gave up 3 runs on 8 hits over 5.2 inning. Then there was Travis Snider who went 3 for 5 with 5 RBIs and 2 run scored to lead the Jays as he opened the scoring with a ground out in the second inning and then in the sixth inning hit a two-run homer (2) and finally had a two run double (9) in the ninth. He was not the only run producer in tonight's 11-7 Blue Jays win as Rajai Davis after having very close to worst hitting month in Major League history has turned it around nicely over the last few games including tonight's 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs and scored 2 runs as he had a two run single in the second and had a RBI single in the fourth and then in the sixth grounded into a force out and then with two outs he was on second and stole third and on the missed played ball by Jack Hannahan that went down the third baseline he scored. Finally Rajai Davis in the eighth inning he had a RBI double to drive in Travis Snider as either Davis or Snider factored into every run in the game as one of them either got the RBI or scored the run in the game.

Just like last night the Jays had a commanding lead this time 9-3 going into the bottom of the eighth inning and this time it was Shawn Camp coming in and not getting anyone out as he gave up singles to all four batters he faced and when Jason Frasor came in to save the day again he first meet Travis Hafner who he struck out and then the only hit he gave up in his inning of work was a two run double to Travis Buck to make it 9-6 but Frasor retired the next two batters to end the inning. Then to close out the game Jon Rauch came in with the score now 11-6 and he got a strike out and ground out of the first two batters he faced but then gave up singles to Lou Marson who then stole second and finally scored on a RBI single to Micheal Brantley which brought Asdrubal Cabrera to the plate and Rauch struck him out to end the game.

Jays finally win another game

Tom Mehegan

Game 89 - Frank Francisco throws garbage as the Indians return from the parking lot to win the game

So after Jose Bautista hit a solo homer (29) in the top of the ninth which was the first hit for the big three of Thames, Bautista, and Lind the Jays went into the bottom of the inning up 3-0 and the Indians had only 6 hits going into their last chance and Frank Francisco came as he was warming up for a save opportunity and still came in and he mailed it in as he throw 11 pitches to the three batters he faced and gave up a single, a double, and finally finished with a walk to load the bases. Then Luis Perez came in and struck out Micheal Brantley for out one and then he gave up a RBI single to Asdrubal Cabrera which was followed by a hanger to Travis Hafner whose 8 homer of the season was a moon shot and it gave the Indians a 5-4 victory and the big question was why John Farrell sent Jason Frasor to the showers after facing one batter in the bottom of the eighth and got a double play to end the inning on 5 pitches and he should off been left on the bench just in case the Jays got a run in the ninth to make it a non save appearance for Frank Francisco.

So the Jays got a RBI single from Travis Snider who has done a nice job in his first four games back from Las Vegas and then in the fourth inning the Jays got a RBI single from J.P. and a RBI single from Rajai Davis to make it 3-0 Jays but they could of blown the Indians to Kingdom come as Eric Thames had the bases juiced and grounded out to end the inning.

So the Jays got a great from Carlos Villenuva who pitched 6 innings and gave up 6 hits and 2 walks while stiking out 7 and continues to be the third best Jays starter behind Romero and Morrow. It is a mystery to me why John Farrell has given Francisco opportunity after opportunity when even Jon Rauch was dismissed from the closer job almost immediately after having a perfect April or why nobody else has been given a chance like Rzpczynski or someone from the farm.

Lets hope the starting pitching continues to be good and lets hope Farrell can press the right button

Tom Mehegan

Game 88 - 42 - 46 - Ricky Romero hit the Green Monster hard in the fourth

So Ricky Romero came in to the game against the Red soxs 2 and 5 in his 11 starts against them and tonight he gave up a homer to the first batter of the game Jacoby Elisbury which tied the game at one and then Kevin Youkilis lead off the second with a shot over the green monster to make it 2-1. While Tim Wakefield's knuckler was hittable as the Jays scratched out runs in first when Jose Bautista had a RBI single scoring the returning Yunel Escobar and then in the third inning Jose Bautista had a sac fly to score Rajai Davis and it was 2-2 and that was followed by an Adam Lind RBI single to score Yunel Escobar and made it 3-2 Jays.

After the homer to Kevin Youkilis Ricky Romero got the next 8 of 9 batters as he only gave as walk to Marco Scutaro and then Romero hit his first huge since the third inning of the Justin Verlander no-hitter game as he with two outs 6 straight batters reached base as he gave 3 doubles, 2 singles, and a walk including s Darnell MacDonald RBI single, Yamaico Navarro RBI double, and Jacoby Elisbury 2 run double and the Soxs had a commanding lead 6-3. Ricky Romero had given up 2 runs on 3 hits and walk in his first 3.2 innings pitched and then gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks to the last 10 batters he faced as he pitched 4.1 given up 6 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks.

The weirdest part of the game was when Jose Bautista called out on a strike 3 called to end the seventh and he turned to home plate umpire Tim McClelland and put his hands out in the why pose and then turned a walked back to the dugout and McClelland was looked at him all the way back to the dugout basically see if Bautista did something so he could toss him but nothing happened.

The Jays got 9 hits and walk off Wakefield over seven innings but could not put together any runs after the third inning and when the rains came in the top of the eighth inning and the tarp was finally unraveled it was a good half an hour of rain before thing started again and when it did it lead to another Papelbon ninth inning so with one out JP was hit and was in a lot of pain and McCoy was brought in to run for him and stole second and then with two outs Yunel Escobar had a RBI single to make it 6-4. Then Eric Thames came up as the tying run and Bautista was on deck hoping for another chance at Papelbon but it was not to be as Thames struck out swinging to end the game.

So in the end lets hope J P is not even more hurt than he was already and hopefully does not miss a huge amount of games while it was nice to see Escobar back as he went 4 for 5 with a RBI and 2 runs scored and Snider had two more hits in his second game back.

It is too bad the Jays did not get another chance at taken the middle game last night and winning the series

Tom Mehegan

Game 87 - The Jays almost tied it against Papelbon

Jonathan Papelbon came in to finish off the Blue Jays as the Soxs cane in with a 3-0 lead and then the Jays hammered him around the ball park as Cory Patterson singled to open the inning with a single and that was followed by Jose Bautista who hit his 28 homer on the season to make it 3-2 Soxs. Then after an Adam Lind strike out Edwin Encarnacion singled which was followed by JP's third walk of the game with two out and that was followed by a Johnny Mac single and Encarnacion tried to score the tying run but was thrown out at home plate to end the game and the Soxs won 3-2 to even the series @ 1.

The game was a good pitchers duel with Jon Lester who pitched 4 inning and left with an injury and only gave up a walks to JP and struck out 5 batters and than the Soxs bullpen before Papelbon came in they only gave up 2 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings while Brett Cecil pitched a complete game where he gave up 3 runs on 7 hits along with 2 walks and 6 Ks.

The Ball park had some strange happens in the game which could of changed the game around as Jason Varitek had a 320 ft RBI double off the wall in second inning while Jose Bautista had a 420 ft fly out in the fourth inning and that would off been a homer in the other stadiums. Also the Jays had second and first in the sixth inning Cory Patterson caught stealing third when Matt Albers turned to throw to third without steeping off the rubber and it ended the inning. The Red Soxs got another run in the second when J.D. Drew had a RBI single and then in the third inning Dustin Pedroia hit his 8 homer on the season and it was a solo shot.

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Tom Mehegan

Blue Jays future defensive lineup which will happen sooner than later

The Toronto Blue Jays future defensive line-up

first baseman - Adam Lind who is hitting .310 ( 72 for 232 ) with 16 homers and 50 RBIs with 8 doubles and 21 walks and 46 Ks with good enough defense to get the job done at first and most importantly he has been more productive when playing first than when he is a DH.

Second baseman - Arron Hill is hitting .246 (66 for 268) with 4 homers and 33 RBIs with 13 doubles and a triple with 14 walks and 37 Ks and is good enough defensively and is not a liability @ second but he must likely will be on a different team or will be signing a lesser contract than his 8 million dollar extension for next season.

Shortstop - Yunel Escobar is hitting .289 (86 for 298) with 9 homers and 29 RBIs with 12 doubles and 3 triples with 35 walks and 37 Ks and can make great plays as the shortstop defensively and has a great upside for the future.

Third Baseman - Brett Lawrie

Catcher - J.P. Arencibia is hitting only .216 (50 for 232) with a 12 homers and 36 RBIs with 9 doubles and 3 triples with 17 walks and 66 Ks and he is weak with the bat because off his injured thumb which he injured a month or so ago in the opener of the Houston Astros while catching so when he gets his thumb better he will hit better and hopefully cuts down his Ks. Defensively he is getting better as the catcher as he works harder defensive than Jose Molina and has a lot better upside as he is the catcher of the future and he needs to learn to stop throwing from his knees and quickly get to his feet trying to throw out steal attempts as it would be more effect throwing out runners.

Left Fielder - Eric Thames is hitting .325 (26 for 80) with 3 homers and 9 RBIs with 5 doubles and 2 triples along with 5 walks and 23 Ks but is heating up with bat as he is getting better contact with the ball and sending it a long way for his homers and if he can cut down on his Ks he would be much better hitter. He will be better off in left fielder than right defensive because that is the position he has played the most in the minors and will be a solid player especially if the Ks do not catch up to him.

Center fielder - Travis Snider hitting in his last 10 games with the Las Vegas 51s was .525 with 8 doubles and 5 RBIs with 2 triples along with 2 walks and 3 Ks and if he can get better contact with ball it may start leaving the yard again like in the past. Playing center field if he gets more comfortable in that position he would look better than Rajai playing the position and I am not need to close my eyes every time a ball into the outfield which would be nice.

Right Fielder - Jose Bautista the all-star is amazing as he is hitting .329 (91 of 277) which is much better that his average last season and he has 27 homers this season which is half of his total of last year and is much better than expectation coming into this season with 56 RBIs and had 14 doubles and a triple along with 70 walks and 50 Ks. Bautista is most comfortable in Right Field so that would better his performance in the long term as a Blue Jays.

The bench

Johnny Mac - great late defensive replacement especially at third in the ninth inning

Cory Patterson - Will be the four outfielder and maybe have a chance to DH and maybe only focused on the batting part of the game and he may be a better hitter.

Rajai Davis - If he can get back to hitting he will be useful at DH because if he can get on base he can create trouble for the pitcher and catcher with his speed and if he can hit he would a good DH otherwise he will be designated for assignment.

Edwin Encarnacion - is hot right now but the only place he can be put in the lineup will be at DH and if he can not do this job then he will be gone.

Mike McCoy - would be another infield replacement and if an infielder gets a day off he can fill the spot but the bat is as bad as Johnny Mac is which is a statement in its self.

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Tom Mehegan

Game 86 - 42 - 44 - Jays crushed Lackey as Snider returns

Jon Lackey really did not have anything as he gave up 7 earned tuns on 9 hits over his 2.1 inning pitched and it began with the lead-off hitter Rajai Davis who came off a 3 for 4 day yesterday and he had his 14th double of the season with one out and Jose Bautista at the plate and Rajai Davis stole third Kevin Youkilis missed the ball and it went into the outfield and Rajai Bavis scored and the Jays were up 1-0. In the second inning the Jays jumped on Lackey even more as Arron Hill hit a solo homer with one out and then Travis Snider in his first at bat in a long while in the majors he doubled and that lead to Johnny Mac's RBI single and the Jays lead 3-0. In the fourth inning the Jays took Lackey completely apart as he gave up 4 singles to the first 5 batters he faced and the sixth batter faced in the inning was Travis Snider who doubled again and this time got a two run double and it was the last batter Lackey faced in the game and both Adam Lind and Arron Hill got a RBI single and the Jays lead 7-0 after three innings.

Then the Red Soxs reminded us that it was Fenway Park that the game was played at and in the fifth inning after Morrow had gave up a wild pitch on a strike out, two single, and a hit batter over the first four innings but then in the fifth inning with the first two batters of the inning retired but it took six more batters to get the final out of the inning to have a chance to win the game. In the inning Jacoby Ellsbury had a 2 run triple and Adrian Gonzalez had a RBI double and a fourth run scored when Jose Molina was charged with a pass ball on a ball four and Ellsbury scored and it was 7-4 after 5 innings. Then the Jays got a run in the seventh and eighth inning as in the seventh Adam Lind walked and then on a fielding error on third baseman who was now Yamaico Navarro, as Youkilis was hit by a pitch and taken out of the game, he went all the way from first base to score as Edwin Encarnacion was the batter who hit the ball and ended up on second base and then in the eighth inning Rajai Davis had a RBI double and it was 9-4 going into the bottom of the eighth. In the bottom eighth Jarrod Saltalamacchia had two run triple and that is when J.D. Drew had a sac fly to make it 9-7 Jays and then Frank Francisco came in to finish off the game and only gave up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury to open the inning and then he struck out the next three batters to end the game for his 10 save of the season.

So Travis Snider was in the lineup today and when he came up from Las Vegas and make this happen the Blue Jays sent Jayson Nix for assignment which is the piece to fall to put the future starting lineup and the last piece will be when Brett Lawrie is healthy which maybe even longer than expected as he is not healing the way they expected but when he does come up it will be Encarnacion time to go.

Jays finally get the upper hand on bosoxs

Tom Mehegan
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Game 85 - 41 - 44 - Bautista and Thames went back - to - back off Cliff Lee

So the second in was a scary movie for Jo Jo Reyes but instead of been attacked by a knife it was pitches being left up high in the strike zone as he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits including two ground rule doubles and Jimmy Rolens had a two-run single to lead the scoring for the Phillies. The the Jays look when there at bat at Cliff Lee who came into the game 3 straight shutouts and 33 straight scoreless innings and lets not forget he only gave up a single run in all of June and finally when his teams give him a 4 run lead in his Major League career he is 92-6 in those games.

Then Jo Jo Reyes pitched four more inning and gave up 3 singles and 2 walks to the Phillies but did not give up another run to give the Jays a chance to fight their way back into the game and with 35 scoreless innings under his belt Cliff Lee meet his ache numinous Rajai lead off the third with a triple and was driven in by a RBI ground out by Johnny Mac and then with one out in the fifth inning he singled and with two outs stole both second and third and Arron Hill had a RBI single and that made it 4-2. Then in the sixth inning Jose Bautista and Adam Lind opened the inning with back-to-back singles and they both moved up an extra base when Phillies left fielder Ben Francisco throw the ball away and was charged with an error which lead to Juan Rivera hitting a ball to shallow center field to Shane Victorino and when Victorino caught his spike and fell to the tarf after catching the ball Bautista scored as Rivera got a sac fly RBI to make it Phillies 4-3.

Marc Rzepczynski faced 5 batters after replacing Reyes and retired the four in order before given up ground rule double to Shane Victorino and that was when Octavio Dotel came in and caught Victorino napping between second and third and was caught in a costly run down as the batter at the plate Raul Ibanez came off the bench and doubled and would of had a RBI if Victorino was not caught napping.

So The Jays go into the bottom of the eighth inning with Eric Thames leading off against Cliff Lee down one run and he smacked his third homer of his career to tie it up at 4 and that brought the leading vote geter for this July's All-star game and the starting Right fielder Jose Bautista set-up to the plate and hit his 27th homer of the season which gave the Jays a 5-4 lead. The next batter Adam Lind singled and with one out Edwin Encarnacion set to the plate and he must be feeling the heat of Bautista being the new third baseman and Travis Snider soon to rejoin the team as he is heating up with the bat as he hit his sixth homer of the season and it gave the Jays a 7-4 lead going into the ninth inning it was also his 4 homer in his last 8 games.

In the ninth inning Juan Rivera after his mishap in the ninth inning on Canada Day was lifted for a defensive replacement in Cory Patterson and Dotel stayed in the game and finished the Phillies 1-2-3 to finisah the game and give the Jays one win in the three game series where at worst they should of been 2 and 1 in the series. Rajai Davis fell a homer shy of a cycle as he went 3 for 4 with a single, double, and triple and lets hope he can build on it as his last month has been disgusting to watch at the plate while the outfield defense is a scary movie in its self.

The Jays have sent Jayson Nix for assignment and he is the first change with the big league team but will not be the last and if U like this blog please click on an ad U do not need to buy anything

Tom Mehegan

Game 84 - 40 - 44 - Alcohol and the home plate umpire made the Rogers centre explode

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In the ninth inning the Rogers centre exploded when in top of the inning a fan with enough liquid courage decided with two outs to enter the field of play and two security agents take him down hard and may of been hurt and then two police officers came over to put cuffs on him and it took them over a minute to get him back up and he is finally escorted out of the stadium through the Phillies bullpen. So the guy spent over 30 dollars on beer as he must of had like 3 beers and now is in jail for the night and might be on the Rogers Centre wall of shame. Then back to the action after Ryan Howard walked and there were runners on first and second with Jon Rauch pitching Shane Victorino singled to Rajai Davis who throw home to try and cut Chase Utley down at home and J.P. caught the ball a little bit towards the first baseline and had to dive back across the plate to tag Utley and his foot crossed the plate before the tag and but up the Phillies 5-3. This is where thing got weird when Jon Rauch questioned home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez who immediately tossed Jon Rauch from the game and he got into Marguez's face and John Farrell came out to argue the call but first had to hold the 6'10 Rauch back and he tried to hold his shirt and it was torn off and it was hanging from her paints and Rauch completely tore it off and was left with his black under shirt. Then John Farrell came back and showed the umpire where the plate was and this was because Roy Halladay had a very friendly strike zone with him getting called strikes on the outer white calk of the batter's box and the Jays did not get the friendly strike zone. Then John Farrell after he changed the pitcher and was on his way back to the dugout and had a couple more words for Marguez who then tossed Farrell from the game.

The crowd loved the whole Jon Rauch thing and cheered all of it and also loved the John Farrell demonstration as well while they also said "U suck" to the Umpire throughout the remainder of the top of the inning and they also started to throw beer cans and soft drink cups onto the field during the exaction delay.

The game began with Carlos Villanueva walking the first two batters as he throw 8 balls in his first 10 pitches and with one out Ryan Howard had the first hit of the game which was a RBI single and that was it for the first inning for the Phillies but Carlos did have some nervousness as throw 14 balls in his 24 first inning pitches. In the bottom of the fourth Jose Bautista lead-off with his 26th homer to tie Teixeria for the major's lead in homers and it tied the game at 1 and in the top of the fifth inning Jimmy Rollins had a RBI ground rule double to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead and was because Rajai Davis missed played the ball and could not get back catch the ball. In the bottom of the inning the Jays took their first lead of the game when Johnny Mac had a RBI single and Eric Thames had a soft RBI single and the Jays had a 3-2 lead and this lasted until the top of the seventh when Luis Perez came out of the bullpen to replace Carlos Villanueva and the first batter he faced was Chase Utley who hit a two-run homer which was his fourth hour of the season and that gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead.

Roy Halladay got huge respect before the beginning of the game when the crowd roared every time he walked on the field and when he came out in the bottom of the first before throw his first pitch of the game he got a standing O. He pitched a complete game given up 3 earned runs on 8 hits with 8 strike outs and a walk and Carlos Villanueva held strong against the mighty Phillies as he pitched 6.2 inning and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits but did walk 4 batters and struck out 3 and after the first inning he throw 82 pitches with 47 s and 35 b and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks so he was a bit better after the first inning.

The Jays got just over 44,000 today and so far just under 90,000 in the first two games of the series

Tom Mehegan

Game 83 - 40 - 43 - Howard single betters Bautista and Thames homers while Drabek had a good performance on the farm

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Ricky Romero had some nervousness as he could not throw strikes in the first inning as he walked Jimmy Rollins on 6 pitches and in his 19 first inning pitches he throw 9 balls and 10 strikes but did not give up a run and in the bottom of the inning Yunel Escobar got hit by the third pitch of the game from Kyle Kendrick of the Phillies and then had to leave the game for Arron Hill who was supposed to have the game off. Then with one out Jose Bautista had a ground-rule double and then with two outs Edwin Encanacion had a 2 run double to open the scoring and in the third inning the Phillies got on the board when Ben Francisco had a RBI double to cut the Jays lead in half as the Jays lead 2-1. In the third inning the Phillies Shane Victorino tied up the game with a RBI single but it stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth inning where Eric Thames continued his power dominance as he hit a 2-run homer which his second homer in three game and it gave the Jays a 4-2 lead and Carlos Ruiz had a RBI single in the sixth inning and then in the seventh inning Shane Victorino had a RBI triple and then Ben Francisco had a RBI sac fly to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead. Then in the bottom of the inning Jose Bautista hit his 25th homer of the season which was a 2-run homer to give the Jays a 6-5 lead but Frank Francisco had a huge problem closing the game out as he walked Placido Polanco and then Juan Rivera missed read a ball off the bat of Chase Utley which should of been the first out but instead it was a double and then Ryan Howard had a two-run single to give the Phillies a 7-6 lead. Marc Rzepczynski came in and did not allow a run with the two batters he faced as Domonic Brown ground to Bautista and Carlos Ruiz ground out to Johnny Mac to give the Jays a chance to come back but Phillies closer faced Rajai Davis, Johnny Mac, and Arron Hill and he tired them 1-2-3 to close out the game.

The Jays had a really good chance to win the opener but it just was not meant to be even though Thames and Bautista both homered in the same game for the first time and hopefully they will begin to be a huge power plant along side Adam Lind to make the middle of the lineup a terror for the rest of the league. While the bottom of the order of like Edwin Encarnacion, Rajai Davis, and the third baseman are the worst bottom of the order in the majors so the Jays are going to be around the 500 make until Brett Lawrie or Travis Snider come up and some of these guys are sent packing like Encarnacion and Rajai Davis or Cory Patterson.

The Jays had a huge crowd of over 45,000 fans in the stands and it will not be the biggest crowd of the weekend and it will end up to be 110 - 120 thousand for the weekend series.

Down on the farm Kyle Drabek had a 1 run on 6 hits in the 6 innings pitched with 3 Ks and most importantly did not walk a batter. The problem with Drabek is that in his last 2 starts he has pitched 4.2 inning where he gave up 10 runs (9 earned runs) on 12 hits and walked 10 batters and struck out 4 batters so it may ended up being a while until he gets his stuff straighten out. Also on the farm Travis Snider took his first 4 at bats in two weeks and went 0 for 3 with a walk but in the end Travis Snider is learning to play center field and maybe back in a week or longer so when he comes back he will be the starting center fielder so Rajai maybe the first to go.

Roy pitching tomorrow in front of almost 50,000 fans

Tom Mehegan