Yu was almost untouchable against the Jays

Yu Darvish was almost untouchable as he came across the boarder and faced the Toronto Blue Jays as he only gave up 4 hits and 2 walks as he fooled a number of Blue Jays hitters as he k'd 9 of them in his 7 innings on the mound by mixing up his pitches and keeping the Jays hitters guessing what was coming. The only guy to figure him out was Edwin Encarnacion who had half of the Jays off Darvish and was the first hitter in the major leagues to hit a homer off him and it happened in the fourth inning and it is the fourth day in the a roll that Edwin has hit a homer and ended the month of April with 8 homers and 21 RBIs. Darvish was countered by Kyle Drabek who pitched 6 innings and for the most part he was in control of the Rangers bats as he gave up 5 hits and 2 walks and k'd 8 batters and his only problems were that 3 of the five hits found gaps in the outfield for two runs and they ended up being doubles. In the second inning he gave up doubles to Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz which brought in Beltre for the Rangers first run and in the fourth Elvis Andrus doubled home an Ian Kinsler walk to make it 2-0 Rangers. Drabek pitched well enough to keep the Jays close and left with Rangers leading 2-1 and Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus both two hits off him but then Evan Crawford came in and faced two batters battled both Mitch Moreland and Craig Gentry but in the end it was the same result as both took him deep for homer to start the seventh as they went back to back and gave the Rangers the Cushion of 4-1 and was enough to win the game. The Rangers bullpen of Mike Adams and Joe Nathan a pitched a perfect inning each and Nathan picked up his 6 save of the season and helped Yu to become the first Rangers pitcher to start 4-0 since 1988 and he added a couple thousand to the attendance which was over 21 thousand. Jays turn to Drew Hutchison to even the series at 1

Edwin Encarnacion got hit after hitting a homer in every game of the series

Edwin Encarnacion swung at one pitch in the game and it was his 7th homer of the seasoson and he has hit a homer in straight games and now has 20 RBIs on the season and the homer put the Jays ahead 2-1 in the sixth inning. The next time he stepped into the batters box in the eighth inning he was plunked with a fast ball on a 1-0 count and the Jays after that work up their bats they tattooed the M's all the way out of the country as they put up a 5 spot to give the Jays a 7-1 lead with Brett Lawrie having a two-run double with the bases loaded, Rajai then came home from third when M's catcher Miguel Olivo tried to pick him off at third but it got away from theird baseman Kyle Seager, and then Jeff Mathis hit a two-run homer to close out the inning. Francisco Cordero came in on a non-save attempt and started shaky as he gave up a homer Miguel Olivo and then John Jaso doubled but he got his confidence back when Brett Lawrie made a leaping catch over by the crowd over by the third base bag and caught a ball off the bat from Munenori Kawasaki and then Cordero k'd Chone Figgins and got Dustin Ackley to ground out to end the game. The Jays in the 7-2 victory had Henderson Alvarez on the mound and he was in trouble during the game but would always settle down and leave them on base as the M's were 0 for 14 in the game and left 9 runners on and he got good defense like in the sixth inning after Kelly Johnson had a RBI single to make it 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth and Alex Liddi hit a ball to deep center field and Rasmus catch it and it would of been trouble as the next batter Kyle Seager doubled and would of been a M;s lead again but it was not. Alvarez did not have his best stuff as he gave up 6 hits and 3 walks and the only one to score off him was Chone Figgins on a 1-2 change up into the right field stands and he pitched into the seventh inning. The found the best way to get even with a questionable hit batter which is to make them pay on the scoreboard Tom Mehegan

Brandon Morrow does not a walk a M in a shutout victory

The top of the Jays order has been poorer than poor with their top 4 batters under .226 coming into the game and today they finally got things done in the third as Yunel Escobar and kelly Johnson with one out both single and Jose Bautista rips a ball on the screws to the M's third baseman Kyle Seager and he catch a break finally and he picks up a RBI on a force ball as it kicks off Seager's glove to score Escobar and then Adam Lind hits a ground-rule double to Johnson and for good measure Edwin Encarnacion has a sac fly to score Bautista before Lind is caught off second and is tagged out to end the inning and the Jays lead 3-0. Brandon Morrow was cruising into the fourth inning retiring the seven batters he faced and had only given up 2 singles so far and that is when with one out Justin Smoak tattooed a ball to deep center field which looked like huge trouble but Colby Rasmus made brilliant catch and kept Morrow focused and it was a point in the game right after the Jays get a run that the opponents usually answer back and thanks to Rasmus's catch it did not happen. Then in the top of the fifth inning Kelly Johnson calls for a simply catch off the bat of Miguel Olivo with a runner at second but Adam Lind was there and as Lind moved away their feet got tangled and the ball fell harmlessly on the turf and Johnson was charged with an error that put runners on the corners with one out but Morrow was able to strikeout Brendan Ryan and got Chone Figgins to ground out to end the inning. Those the tough situations for Morrow in the game where he kept the ball down and K'd 9 and allowed 5 hits over six innings pitched and did not walk a batter which in his 44 starts of 6 or more innings pitched is the first time that he has not walked a batter which is great thing to see. The top of the order came alive again in the bottom of the eighth inning as Johnson had his second hit of the night which was a single and Bautista had a groud-rule double as they a look at a lady in the crowd with a hat with huge eyes on top of it and a sign that read I will trade U my hat for your bat which was quite funny. Then Adam Lind was walked intentionally to bring up Edwin Encarnacion with the bases juiced and he unloaded on a ball down in the zone and sent it into the M's bullpen to set the stadium a buzz and gave the Jays a 7-0 victory. The Bullpen off Jason Frasor (gave up a single in the seventh), Darren Oliver (who set them down in order in the eighth), and Carlos Villanueva (walk the lead off hitter in the ninth and then retired the three batters in order) and ended up pitching three innings of 1 hit ball with the only walk in the game and Villanueva k'd Miguel Olivo who became the 13th M's batter to get k'd in the game. It was nice to see the top of the order make some noise Tom Mehegan

it was a wild night at the Rogers Centre as the M's hit a slam to win

The game tonight was insane as the crowd in the all-u-can-eat section was completely nuts as there was a yankees fan and the crowd to try and get him kicked out of the Rogers centre and this happened at the same time as J. P. Arencibia tried to score from from second on a Adam Lind single in the bottom of the seventh when the game was tied at 2 and was called out at home on a throw from Ichiro and the went nuts for that too. The high point for the fans was when Eric Thames hit his second homer of the season and then Lawrie singled up the middle and got to third on a pick off attempt by M's pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen that went down the first base line and J.P. had a sac fly to go up 5-3. The worrying started in the top of the ninth with Francisco Cordero on the mound for the Jays and after fly ball out to start the inning but then Michael Saunders hit his second homer of the season to make it 5-4 and then Cordero lost everything after Miguel Olivo popped out to Yunel Escobar it all came tumbling as Kyle Seager reached base on a throwing error by Brett Lawrie and then pinch runner Munenori Kawasaki got all the way to third as J.P. throw behind him and went down the right field line and he ended up on third. John Jaso had a RBI single to tie up the game and Dustin Ackley who was intentionally walked tried to score to give the M's the lead but was gunned down by Kelly Johnson who got a relay throw from Colby Rasmus. In the tenth inning Luis Perez came in and after Ichiro grounded out and then he gave up three straight singles which lead to Michael Saunders stepping up and unloading on a grand slam to put the game in the bag as the M's won 9-5 and the Jays are 4 and 6 at home season. The Jays got a luke warm performance from Ricky Romero who only gave up four hits but also gave up four walks and two of them came back to score and then gave up a homer to Jesus Montero which was his third of the season. Eric Thames had three hits including twi sungles to go with his homer and Edwin Encarnacion had a homer and double while Colby Rasmus had a double and triple in the game. Brett Lawrie had a tough night as he had two throwing errors that created runs for the M's. Also at the game a M's fan came with a group and was being ripped apart all night by the people he came with him. It is time for a T O team to start winning at home as the visitors are having too much fun in T O Tom Mehegan

O's sweep Jays with two bombs in the east

The O's swept away the Jays as they took control in a 2-2 game in the bottom of the eighth inning as their first three batters reached base as Adam Jones homer to break the tie and then Matt Wieters which was followed by a two-run jack to Chis Davis to give the O's a 5-2 victory and now the Jays are tied with the Twins having given up 20 homers this season. The Jays had taken a lead when Eric Thames hit a ball down the first baseline for the first two Jays runs in 20 innings and it was originally called a two-run triple to give the Jays a 2-1 in the sixth but later it was changed to an error on O's first baseman Nick Johnson. Drew Hutchison pitched well for the Jays into the fifth inning and then it all crumpled down as he walked Chris Davis who scored on a sac fly by Ryan Flaherty and in the sixth the defensive let him down when Yunel Escobar tried to magic happen and throw the ball past Edwin Encarnacion when the runner Adam Jones was already safe and the O's scored to tie it up @ 2 as Nick Markakis scored. Hutchison gave up 2 runs on 6 hits with 1 walk and 2 Ks and it was Nick Markakis had three of the hits off of Hutchison and was a good performance but it was the bullpen of Janssen and Oliver let the team down tonight. O's starter Brian Matusz who came into the game with over a 6 ERA only gave up 4 hits and no earned runs over 6 innings with two walks and 3 Ks but it was Darren O'Day with his side arm deliver fooled the Jays again as he pitched 2 innings and faced only 6 batters and K'd 3 of them and allowed the O's to make the late inning comeback. It was a very strange way to go 4-3 on a road trip and are now trailing everybody in the east except the Soxs who are only a game and half behind the Jays Tom Mehegan

Jays shutout by O's as the O's have their number so far this season

So for the third series in a roll against the AL East they can at best win a1 of 3 games in a series as they have lost 4 games in a row against the AL East and are 4-5 this season. Tonight the O's continued their dominates against the Blue Jays as they shut them out 3-0 and are now 4-1 against the Jays this season and Kyle Drabek was the Jays starting pitcher and he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings with 3 walks and 3 Ks and gave up two solo homers by Wilson Betemit in the second inning and then Chris Davis in the fourth inning. He got very lucky twice in his 6 innings to get a double play as he got one in the third just before J.J. Hardy hit a double in the third so it did not allow a run to score and then in the fourth just before Chris Davis's homer Matt Wieters grounded into a double play which other wise would of been a much more powerful homer. The Jays caught a break in the top of the fourth with two on Brett Lawrie hit it to Hardy at short and the ump gave Lawrie the benefit of the doubt because he runs out everything and was called safe to load the bases but Colby Rasmus got k'd to end the inning. The only other chance the Jays had was in the top of the ninth when Adam Lind singled and Eric Thames hit a ball back to the O's pitcher Pedro Strop and was safe and it was first and second no outs but the Jays did not get another hit. This was after Adam Jones doubled home a walk on the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-0 and O's pitchers only gave up 6 hits and a walk including their starter Jason Hammel who struck out 7 Jays over 7 innings and gave up only 4 hits and only got into trouble in the fourth when the bases loaded. Drew Hutchison pitching tomorrow to save the Jays a game in this series Tom Mehegan

Eric Thames hit a ball onto Eutaw street but the O's still won

Eric Thames hit the ball onto Eutaw Street and it was a solo blast in the third inning to tie the game up at the time @ 1 after the O's scored a run in the first inning as Henderson Alvarez allowed the first three batters to reach base as he gave up a single, a double, and then a walk and scored their first run when Adam Jones grounded into a double play. Then Alvarez retired 8 of the next 9 batters only walking Wilson Betemit and then in the fourth inning with one out Matt Wieters hit a ball deep into the left field corner and Eric Thames ran along way as they had a defensive alignment focused on the right side of the field and Thames caught up to the ball and the ball hit his glove over the low wall at the same time as he ran into the wall and the ball went over the wall to give the O's a 2-1 victory and are now 3 and 1 against the Blue Jays. Alvarez retired 11 of his last 13 batters he faced as he only gave up two singles and only gave up 5 hits and two walks along with no Ks but had 15 ground balls for outs and only 5 fly ball outs and he still has only 1 win in his career of 14 starts and 9 quality starts. The Jays struggled to put together hits against the O's starter Tommy Hunter who only gave up three hits and three walks over 6 inning pitch and he throw 103 pitches and the bullpen two hits over the last three innings. Eric Thames had two of the Jays 5 hits in the game Tom Mehegan

Jays use long ball to sweep away Royals

Brandon Morrow pitched well over 6.2 innings pitched and gave up a solo homer on 7 hits and a walk while using his 3 Ks as important outs to get him out of jams as in the second he allowed a lead of homer to Eric Hosmer and with one out Mike Moustakas doubled and later moved to third on a passed ball by J.P. but Morrow K'd Brayan Pena and got Mitch Maier to ground out to end the inning. In the third Alcides Escobar doubled moved to third on a sac bunt by Chris Getz and then Morrow K'd Alex Gordon and then got Billy Butler to ground out to end the inning and with a Brayan Pena double on in the fifth inning he was his own best friend by fielding a ball at the mound and getting Pena out at third. The Jays got a run in the first inning from a Kelly Johnson homer and then took the lead in the sixth inning on Jose Bautista's third homer of the season a two run shot that the Royals left fielder missed judged and jumped for the ball but he missed timed it and it went into the bullpen and then the Jays got an insurance run in the ninth when Rajai Davis singled home a Brett Lawrie triple to make the final 4-1 as Francisco Cordero faced three batters thanks to another double play and got his second straight save while Luis Perez got four ground ball outs to getting the ball from Morrow and given it to Cordero after given up a double to Chris Getz . The Jays two homers and a triple were more effective than the Raoyals homer and 4 doubles as both teams had 10 batters reach base but in the end the Jays get their first 4-game sweep in 9-years to now be tied with the Yankees @ 10-6 and have a share of the AL east lead. Tom Mehegan

Brett Lawrie steals home while Romero pitched well

With Jays up 4-2 in the eighth inning Brett Lawrie was successful in stealing home as he was on third J.P. Arencibia was on first and J.P. stole second base and when Royals catcher Humberto Quintero throw to second Brett Lawrie ran home and beat the return throw and was safe after earlier this season he tried to beat the pitchers throw home and was not successful. The Jays won the third game in the four game series with the Royals behind a 8 inning pitching performance from Ricky Romero and gave up two runs on 5 hits and 2 walks and he got into trouble in the bottom of the fifth as he gave up singles to Jeff Francoeur and Mike Moustakas which was followed by a walk to Humberto Quintero so the bases loaded with no outs. This lead to a defense flip up as Omar Vizquel throw to Yunel Escobar for one out and then Yunel overthrow Edwin Encarnacion at first base just allowed a second run to score and then Romero got back-to-back ground balls to get out of the inning. After this Romero gave up only a walk and Brett Lawrie had a throwing error for the only two base runners in his final three innings pitched and the throwing error was erased when Jason Bourgeois was picked off of first and Romero only pitched to 10 batters in those last three innings. The Jays put up four runs in the top of the fifth inning as Yunel had a RBI single, Jose Bautista had line drive RBI single, and it was ended with Brett Lawrie had two-run single as the Jays batted around in the inning. Yunel Escobar was the only Jays hitter to have more than one hit as the Jays had 8 hits in the game and J.P. has a 4 game hitting streak with a single in the eighth inning and is now hitting almost .200 (.196) after hitting .060 before the hit streak started. Francisco Cordero had his first chance to save a game for the Jays as Sergio Santos was put on the 15-day DL with soarness in his right throwing arm and Cordero gave up two hits and a walk in the ninth and allowed a run and then got a ground ball from Brayan Pena who hit to Omar Vizquel who started a game ending double play as he throw to Yunel who throw to Edwin to end the game. Jays have won three games in a row and Brandon Morrow on the bump tomorrow for the series finale Tom Mehegan

Drew Hutchison wins his MLB debut thanks to great D

Drew Hutchison was very nerous in his debut as throw only 9 first pitch strikes to the 25 batters he faced so he had to battle from behind in the count for 5.1 innings and he lost the strike zone completely from time to time as he fell behind a few batters 3-0 and had to have J.P. Arencibia and Bruce Walton had to come out to set him straight at least twice and it some times worked and sometimes it did not. The thing that work was the infield defense that got him out of a few jams starting in third inning when with two on and one out Eric Hosmer grounded to Kelly Johnson started an inning ending double play and was the first of four double plays turned by the Jays and in the Royals four run five inning Brett Lawrie got a ground ball from Billy Butler and first and second no outs where he stepped on third and throw to first for a double play which was huge because the next batter Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer off Hutchison to make it 5-4 Royals. He throw 99 pitches and 55 for strikes and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits along with 4 Ks and 3 walks and gave up two homers with Alex Gordon hitting a homer in the first for Hutchison's career hit given up and had all four Ks in the first three innings. Darren Oliver came in with runners on the corners in the sixth inning and with Mitch Maier at the plate J.P. Arencibia framed a strike three perfectly and then Bautista caught out number three to end the inning to keep the Jays up 6-5 after Colby Rasmus hit two-run homer in the top of the inning. The best double play was started by Brett Lawrie who dove to get a ground ball to start a round the horns double play and the last one was on the last pitch of the game in a 9-5 Jays lead with a single and walk on and the tying run on deck Kelly Johnson started a double play with an Alex Gordon ground ball that he tossed Yunel who throw to Lind as Carlos Villenuva got a two-inning save in the 9-5 victory. Saying all that the Jays bats were super hot and they started to smoke in the fourth inning as they batted around and scored four runs off Royals starter Luis Mendoza when the Royals were still up 1-0 and it was the bottom of the order that did damage as Colby Rasmus had RBI single to go with his two homers in the game as he also had a solo shot in the seventh to make it 9-5 and J.P. had a RBI single as he had two more hits in the game. Edwin Encarnacion RBI single in the inning and later had a 7 inning two-run homer to give him four on the season and 13 RBIs to the team in both categories while Yunel Escobar got the last RBI with a single. The Jays defense has been amazing this season as they now have 20 double plays and a triple play to really cut down on the damage opponents can do with the added base runners as Jays pitchers have also been walking a lot and not just in the past two games where the Royals have received 12 free bases and have only scored 8 runs in the two-games. Jays have their ace on the mound and the Royals are staring into a 10-game lossing streak Tom Mehegan

Jays turn their first triple play since 1979 and win the game

Kyle Drabek gave up only 4 hits over 5.1 innings but he was extremely wild as he gave up 6 walks in the game which is crazy 1.5 walk to a hit in his start and he only gave up two runs (one earned) in the game with Mike Moustakas hitting a solo homer into the bullpen in the second inning and Jeff Francoeur came home on a wild pitch by Drabek to make it 2-0. What kept the Jays in the game was their defense which had a center piece of the first Jays offical triple play in 33 years (since 1979 and the fourth in the Jays history) that happened in the bottom of the third when Eric Hosmer lined a ball to Adam Lind who went down and catch the ball and ran to first to double up Yuniesky Betancourt and throw to second to erase a lead off a double by Alex Gordon and that helped the offense as before the triple play Luke Hochevar, the Royals starting pitcher had only allowed a hit batter to Jose Bautista in the first 3 innings and struck out 5 of the 10 batters he faced and the Jays only put the ball into play 3 times and only Yunel Escobar in his second plate appears got the ball into the outfield. After the triple play Kelly Johnson walked in the fourth which was the beginning of the bats waking up as in the fifth Eric Thames singled, Colby Rasmus walked, and J.P. Arencibia had his first on two RBI singles to cut the lead to 2-1 as Hochevar was done after five with ankle problems. The Jays got a double play behind Drabek with of course a walk on and in the sixth with a walk and a single on Luis Perez came in and struck out both Mike Moustakas and Humberto Quintero to end the inning and he continued into the seventh he got two quick out with another strike out and a ground out and after he got into trouble with walk and a single he then struck out Eric Hosmer looking to end the inning and he had 4 strike outs in his 1.2 innings pitched. In the top of the eight Greg Holland came in and simply could not throw a strike to save his life as he throw 22 pitches and faced 5 batters and 3 of them where turned around for hits as Colby Ramus doubled and J.P. singled him home for a 2-2 tie then Escobar walked while the very rare decision to intentionally walk Kelly Johnson to get to Bautista (it was a 3-0 count and the fourth was intentional). Holland actually stayed into pitch to Bautista who hit a RBI single after barely missing a pitch before to give the Jays the lead 3-2 and with Jose Mijares on the mound Edwin Encaracion had a sac fly to make it 4-2. Sergio Santos pitched the ninth inning and got into a little trouble with one out he gave up a double to Alcides Escobar and with two outs he gave up a RBI single to Yuniesky Betancourt and because it was only 4-3 he still had a chance to shut the door and he did as he got Eric Hosmer to ground out to Kelly Johnson to end the game. J.P. Arencibia has tripled his hit totals in just over 24 hours as he came into last night game with only 2 hits and like a .060 batting average and after two hits in his last two games he is now hitting .154 and has 7 RBIs this season while Santos has not had a save opportunity in over a week and still put his best foot forward and got the job done. Kyle Drabek had a serious set back as he throw 100 pitches and 49 for balls and at least it is only one start and it will be interesting to see he bounces back from this. Lets see if the Jays can make it 9 loses in a row for the Royals tomorrow night Tom Mehegan

Alvarez will be soar tomorrow and Evan Longoria has a big game

Evan Longoria had a three hit game and scored twice and had 4 RBIs and he started the game well for the Rays as he had a RBI single in the first inning but his big hit was a two-run homer in the fifth inning and it finished a three-run inning to give the Rays a 6-3 lead and also had a ninth inning RBI single in a three-run ninth inning to put the final 9-4 as they win the series and the Jays had a losing home stand to open the season. Henderson Alvarez was struggling from time to time including a two-run second inning where it got very scary for Alvarez when Sean Rodriguez hit a two out base hit to Jose Bautista who throw it well to home but bounced just in front J.P. and got passed him and hit Alvarez who was behind J.P. and got hit near his collar bone as a run scores on a Bautista error. Alvarez was down on the turf for a good bit but stayed in the game and if it was not for the short hop the inning would of been over and things may of been extremely different as it would of been still tied at 1 as Adam Lind had a RBI double in the bottom of the first. Alvarez after giving a RBI single to Desmond Jennings he retired the order until Jennings came up in the fifth inning he gave up a solo homer to break a 3-3 game and then later in the inning Longoria hit his homer to make it 6-3. Alvarez retired the next 5 batters until Adam Lind was unable to handle a Jennings ground ball and was unable to get the ball to Alvarez @ first and he pitched 6.1 innings and gave up 6 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 4 Ks and it will be very interesting to see what happens in the next couple of days as may be feeling the sting of the hitting him and may miss a start. The Jays had a chance to get Alvarez his second win in his career after Jeremy Hellickson left the mound for the Rays after 5.2 innings pitched and giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits with three walks and 4 Ks. In the sixth inning the Jays loaded the bases with a walk on either side of a single from Kelly Johnson but with the score 6-3 Adam Lind lined out sharply to Carlos Pena to end the inning and that was the best chance late for the Jays making a comeback as they were 2 of 11 with men in scoring position and left 12 runners on base in the game. Jason Frasor had problems in the ninth and gave up three runs on 3 hits and a walk including a two-run double by Luke Scott and the Jays got a rally in the bottom of the inning and scored a run Lawrie ground out and fell five runs short. Drew Hutchison has brought up to pitch Saturday Tom Mehegan

The Rays went deep four times off Jays pitching

The Rays took the Jays for a ride as they hit four homers off Jays pitchers in a 12-2 Rays run away victory with Brandon Morrow given up three homers in his 6 innings of work and gave up 6 runs on 8 hits and it started very quickly as the second batter that he faced Ben Zobrist smacked a two-run homer and then gave up solo shots to both Matt Joyce and Sean Rodriguez in the sixth inning. Brandon Morrow was throwing first pitch balls to 15 of the 28 batters he faced and when he throw a first pitch strike the Rays were all over it and turned it around more often then not got a hit on those first pitch strikes. David Price did not get comfortable until the third inning as the Jays put up a run in the first on a Bautista RBI single and then scored a run on a Jeff Mathis solo homer in the second inning and then Price retired 7 of the next 9 batters to get into the fifth inning and then Kelly Johnson hit into a double play with a lead off single from Yunel Escobar. He gave up a single in the sixth before Wade Davis came in and shut the Jays down until the eighth inning where the Jays got two on with one out in a 6-2 Rays lead but both Colby Rasmus and Eric Thames got K'd by Joel Peralta. Carlos Villanueva came in after not pitching in over a week and it showed as he hit Jose Molina and then Sean Rodriguez reached on a fielding error by Brett Lawrie and with one out he intentionally walks Ben Zobrist to load the bases and walked in a run as he walked Carlos Pena and then Evan Longoria had a RBI single and then Luke Scott smoked a grandslam and Villaneuva gave up 6 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks, a hit batter, and a fielding error as he faced 9 players and throw 34 pitches and only throw a strike half the time. Henderson Alvarez will pitch the rubber match of the series and the homestand as they are 4-4 on the homestand with one final game before going to KC Tom Mehegan

Adam Lind had three RBIs and Evan Longoria had three errors

Adam Lind had a very good night going 3 for 3 with a two-run homer in the third to make 4-0 and had a RBI singled in the the eighth to make it 7-3 to go along with a single in the first and a walk in the sixth inning. Evan Longoria nightmare of a bottom of the third inning as he simply dropped a ball hit on the ground to him by J. P. Arencibia who safe on his first error of the game and next batter is Yunel Escobar hit a ball to him and he over ran it and had to turn and pick up the ball and Yunel is on on his second second straight error. So when Kelly Johnson grounds back to the pitcher it should of been inning over and the Jays still only be up 1-0 on Jose Bautista's second homer of the season in the first but instead the pitcher gets Yunel out at second and Bautista comes back to the plate and has a sac fly followed by Adam Lind's homer and its 4-0 Jays on three unearned runs. Longoria's long fielding night continues in the sixth inning with two walks on Eric Thames hits dribbler past the mound on the third base side so Longoria charges the ball and should eaten the ball and it would of be bases loaded but instead he throw to first and missed Carlos Pena and it allowed Bautista to score and make it 5-2 and Eric Thames gets to go to second on the throw and it was his third and final error of the night. Ricky Romero did have his ace stuff as he gave up 3 runs on 8 hits along with 3 walks and 4Ks and allowed a runner reached bases all his 6 innings plus and in the first inning Carlos Pena singled and was gunned down going for second and in the second and fourth inning the Jays erased the runner with a double play while the third Chris Gimenez doubled and was left at second. Then in the fifth inning Romero got into a lot of trouble as he gave up three hits and a walk in the inning including Reid Brignac having a RBI single and Chris Gimenez RBI single as he gave up two runs and in sixth another single was erased by the third double play and Matt Joyce homered to open up the 7th inning and then Romero walked Sean Rodriguez and then it was turned over to the bullpen. The Pen was the best it has been in the early part of the season starting with Jason Frasor who went one, two, three through the Rays with two Ks and in the eighth inning Francisco Cordero gave up a single and a walk along with 2Ks and an Evan Longoria fly out. In the ninth inning Sergio Santos came in after Brett Lawrie hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning and was 7-3 and Santos gave up a single that was erased by the fourth double play on the game to end the game. Jays are now tied with the O's for first place in the AL east with a record of 6-4 Tom Mehegan

Jays send 13 lucky batters to the plate in the sixth

The Jays were behind early again and this time it was because of their starting pitcher Kyle Drabek who dropped a throw while covering first from first baseman Edwin Encarnacion to allow Wilson Betemit to reach base in the second inning and after a Chris Davis double to put him on third he scored on a ground out by Ronny Paulino to make it 1-0 O's. It took until the fourth inning for the Jays to even the score as Brett Lawrie hit his first homer of the season another solo shot and in the top of the sixth the O's took the lead again with two outs when Adam Jones smoked a 2 and 1 ball into the stands to make 2-1 O's. In the bottom of the sixth inning the Jays spent 13 batters to the plate and scored 7 runs as the bats woke up and it started with Bautista who hit his first double of the season and that was followed by Edwin Encarnacion's two run homer to give the Jays the lead for good at 3-2 but they continued as Ben Francisco singled. Then with two outs the Jays got 7 batters to reach base in a row as Rajai Davis walked, Jeff Mathis RBI single to make it 4-2, Yunel Escobar had a two run double to make 6-2, Kelly Johnson had a RBI double to make it 7-2, and then Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion walked to load the bases, and Brett Lawrie was hit by a pitch to make it 8-2 Jays. Former Jays closer Kevin Gregg gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks along with a hit batter in a third of an inning in the sixth inning. Jays scored an extra run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Brett Lawrie had a RBI single to score Edwin Encarnacion to make the final 9-2. The Jays got their fourth straight starter that completed 7 innings so that all four Jays starters finished the 7th inning in their second start and this time Drabek pitched 7.1 innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on 6 hits with 6 Ks and only one walk (right after the long break of the bottom of the sixth). He stayed ahead of the O's batters and throw 63 strikes in the 103 pitches and had two pretty good starts and is now 2-0 this season. The Jays got performances from their hitters as they had 8 extra base hit in the total 13 hits in the game lead by Yunel Escobar had three hits amd two RBIs while Edwin Encarnacion (2 RBIs), Brett Lawrie (3 RBIs), Ben Francisco, and Jeff Mathis (one RBI) all had two hits in the game. The Jays got a single win against the O's in the series but lets hope that the Bats stay aline when the Rays vome to town on Tuesday Tom Mehegan

Henderson Averaz was let down by the Blue Jays

Henderson Averaz pitched 7 innings and gave up three runs on 6 hits with a walk and a strikeout and hit two batters and after not having his stuff in the first inning and loading the bases as J.J. Hardy singled, Nick Markakis walked, and Adam Jones was hit by a pitch and then Matt Wieters had a ground out RBI to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead and settled down til the fourth. In the fourth he throw a bad pitch and Chris Davis unloaded on it with a runner on to make it 3-2 Orioles and Averaz throw 97 pitches and 60 of them for strikes which was a good thing about the game. The bad was that the Jays were 3 of 7 with runners in scoring position but left 6 batters on base like when they scored a run on a RBI single by Colby Rasmus in the second inning and with one out the Jays would have the bases loaded with one out in a 1-1 game and Kelly Johnson struck out and then with Jose Bautista at the plate Brett Lawrie tried to steal home and the pitch got to the plate before Lawrie did to end the inning. Then in the sixth the Orioles went to the bullpen for Matt Lindstrom and the Jays sent 7 batters to the plate and the Jays tied the game @ 3-3 when with one outs and runners on the corners the Jays got a sac fly RBI from Eric Thames and after a walk to Brett Lawrie to put runners on first and second and Colby Rasmus had his second RBI single of the game and then J.P. battled Lindstrom in 10 pitch atbat but ended up striking out with runners on the corners and the Jays took a 4-3 lead into the eighth inning. In the eighth inning the Jays went to the bullpen for Casey Janssen who with two quick outs had a battle with Wilson Betemit and the sixth pitch of the atbat he throw a bad pitch and Betemit unloaded on it and it was 4-4 going into the ninth for the Jays fourth blown save of the season which means in half the Jays games the bullpen has been in a position finish off an opponent and did not. In the ninth the Jays gave the ball to Francisco Cordero and Chris Davis singled and after Robert Andino was caught looking Nolan Reimold stepped up and on a 1-0 count he unloaded on his second and the Orioles sixth homer of the series and they one the game 6-4 on Nolan Reimold two-run homer. In the ninth a potato was thrown on the field as Colby Rasmus was at the plate and then he had his third hit of the game which is the second time as a Jay that he has had a three hit game Tom Mehegan

The Jays smoked the ball but the bullpen in the end blow up

Orioles hall of famer Jim Palmer was watching batting practice and he said that they should open the roof as the Jays launching bombs into the seats and it carried into the game as there was 7 homers launched during the game as the Orioles came back in the bottom of the eighth against a subpar Darren Oliver who came into the game with the Jays holding a slim 5-4 lead with a runner at first and one out. This was after Jason Frasor come in ans given up a single to Nolan Reimold before striking out J.J. Hardy and Oliver loaded the bases around a strike out of his own but then Wilson Betemit was sitting dead red on a fastball and smacked a two-run single to take the lead. The Orioles got an insurance run in the ninth when Nolan Reimold went yard and the Orioles won the game 7-5 but before the Jays had one last gasp in the ninth with runners on first and second with Yunel Escobar at the plate and two outs and flied to Nick Markakis to end the ball game. Brandon Morrow was leaving the ball up in this game and the Orioles were sending those fastballs up, up, and out of here after Markakis a RBI sac fly in the first and Adam Jones had a ground ball RBI single in the third he then gave up a Robert Andino homer to tie the game in the fifth @ 3 and Adam Jones went yard in the sixth. Morrow found his way to seven innings of 4 runs on 6 hits with 4 Ks and a walk and Orioles biggest hit in the seventh was Chris Davis bat that went further than any ball in the inning as it went fly down the first base line and hitting the wall in foul ground where a fan picked it up and a staff member was there immediately to ask for it back. The Jays went deep four times as Kelly Johnson hit a solo shot in the first with one out to make it 1-1 and then Colby Rasmus and Yunel Escobar hit solo shots in the fifth around J.P. fly out to give the Jays a 4-3 lead and with the game tied in the sixth Edwin Encarnacion went yard with another solo homer to give the Jays a 5-4 lead. The other Jays run was an unearned gift from the Orioles who after Bautista hit a bouncing ball base hit Adam Lind hit a ball to Nolan Reimold who missed it completely and it turned into two base error on him and Bautista snucked around the Orioles catcher to score a run and Eric Thames reached base when first baseman Chris Davis dropped the ball and there were runners on the corners but Brett Lawrie did not make them pay as he grounded out to end the inning. The Jays will need the next two games and put together more hits then the 7 hits they had tonight as four of them were solo homers Tom Mehegan

Ricky Romero pitched great to win a series against the Red Soxs

Ricky Romero took into the ninth inning and ended up out pitching John Lester to win the series against the Red Soxs in a 3-1 victory and Sergio Santos came in with a runners on first and second with one out and he struck out Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz grounded out to Yunel Escobar to end the game for his first save as a Jay. The Boston Red Soxs scored the first run in the top of the third as Ricky Romero gave up all three of his hits and gave up his only run as Jacoby Ellsbury had a RBI single but the came back hard in the bottom of third as John Lester gave up single to Eric Thames which was followed by a triple to Rajai Davis who then scored on a Yunel Escobar sac fly to give the Jays a 2-1 lead and Lester did not give up another hit until the eighth inning. Then in the eighth inning Rajai Davis walked and then stole second and scored on a Yunel Escobar single to give the Jays some breathing room. It was an ace vs ace classic with Ricky Romero wanted to win the series and bounce back from a four inning start in Cleveland and he did not give anything between the fourth and the ninth inning and ended up given up a single run on 3 hits and two walks to go with 5Ks and throw 104 pitches with over 60% strikes (63s-41b). John Lester kept the Red Soxs in the game and tried to get them back on the right track and he had a complete game three hitter and throw 116 pitches and 63.8% strikes and he just did not get the offense he needed to win and only gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and two walks. The Jays have won the first two series Tom Mehegan

Kyle Drabek makes a statement with his first start of the season

Kyle Drabek stayed in front of the Boston Red Soxs over his first five innings especially in the first two innings as he struck out one in the first and then struck out the side in the second for all his four strike outs in his start. Kyle Drabek made it an easy call for the blue Jays to keep Kyle Drabek as their fourth starter as he picked up a win as the Jays won 7-3 and Drabek gave up a run on three hits and three walks and throw 91 pitches and 51 strikes but he had thrown 73 pitches with 45 strikes and 28 balls through 5 innings and gave up two hits and one walk. He was spent after five innings and was up 2-0 and then he through twice as many balls in the sixth and walked Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia doubled and Adrian Gonzalez had a sac fly to cut the lead in half @ 2-1 and then he walked David Ortiz to load the bases and then Jason Frasor got a ground ball double play ball to end the inning. Then the Jays unlike last night were able to comeback with more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning they got a walk from Edwin Encarnacion walked and stole second and Brett Lawrie grounded to Nick Punto at short who bubbled it and both were safe and after a pitching change where Justin Thomas replaced Daniel Bard and Lawrie stole second and Eric Thames walked to load the bases and J.P. with only one hit going into the at bat and he had a two-run single to make it 4-1 and now has two hits and 5 RBIs and Colby Rasmus had a sac fly to make it 6-1. In the seventh Edwin Encarnacion hit a bomb to make it 7-1 but it got closer in the top of the ninth with Casey Janssen on the mound and after two Ks and then the Soxs got two singles, a ground rule double, and a walk and Kevin Youkilis was on deck and was the tying run but Janssen finally caught David Ortiz with strike three to end the game. Daniel Bard had trouble in the game as he gave up 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 plus innings and struck out 6 and walked one and Edwin Encarnacion had had two hits both scoring and getting a RBI on. So with tomorrow being an afternoon game hopefully the idiots are not there as one ran around the field and then taking down by the police but at least Romero will be pitching so it looks like the Jays can take the series Tom Mehegan

Sergio Santos needs to his finishing pitch as he blow the home opener

The Jays were up 2-1 going into the ninth inning and Sergio Santos came out of the bullpen to cheers and chanting and by the time he left he was booed and different chanting i.e. Santos suck. It was a tough two-thirds of an inning for him especially after Dustin Pedroia welcomed him with open arms as he sent his first pitch down the left field line and Eric Thames throw a great pitch to second but Kelly Johnson was not in good position after receiving and had to dive at Pedroia and did not tag him in time and then J.P. did not do him any favors as he allowed the next pitch get away from him and Pedroia was standing on third with no outs. Alex Gonzalez worked Santos for a sac fly after it was a 2 and 2 count and he had 3 chances to put him away and it was tied and Santos still had a chance to have it stay tied and allow the Jays a chance at another comeback in the ninth but after finally striking out Kevin Youkilis on four pitches. It looked like he could get out of it as he faced David Ortiz and was ahead 0 and 1 and then walked him on four pitches and then he faced Cody Ross and was a head of him 1 and 2 and had 3 pitches to put him away but instead walked him. Then there was meeting on the mound before he faced Ryan Sweeney who hit a single to score Ortiz and after a wild pitch to score Ross to make 4-2 Soxs he faced Jarrod Saltalamacchia and was ahead of him 1 and 2 and had five pitches to put him away but instead walked him and Santos left throwing 33 pitches and 18 for strikes. Santos had many chances to keep the Jays in the lead or tied but could not find that pitch he got 1.5 Ks/IP and I am thinking it will weight on him until he gets his first save as a Jay and then things will change and after throwing almost two innings worth of pitches he may not be available if the opportunity happens so the best thing would of been if Luis Perez had not taken it upon himself to run across the white line in the season opener in Cleveland Santos would of had a three-run save opportunity. The sold out crowd was insane to say the least as there fans who had drunk stuff before getting to the game and then things were thrown onto the field and finally at least two different times there were the goodbye song sung to fans and even a fight broke out in the crowd too. Colby Rasmus was a fan favorite after he had a diving catch for out number two in the top of the third and then with one out he tripled and driven home by Kelly Johnson who then was driven home by Edwin Encarnacion for the only two runs the Jays scored and Rasmus had a number Colby chants throughout the game. The Jays in the end worked Soxs starter Felix Doubront very hard as he throw over 100 pitches in five innings as he gave up 4 hits and 3 walks put could not finish off him and take control of the game but just did not get the hit at the right time in the Soxs 4-2 victory. Henderson Alvarez really only throw one bad pitch in his six inning and it was a fastball to Dustin Pedroia who launched a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning and gave up only a run on four hits and a walk but fell behind batters and when ahead he could not get strike 3 as he only two Ks in the game. Kyle Drabek on the mound tomorrow to try to even the series Tom Mehegan

Carlos Santana had a day for the Indians as the Jays come up short

Carlos Santana had a great day for the Indians as their catcher hit home runs in the Indian's 4-3 win as he lead off the Second inning with a home run as Jays started Joel Carreno struggled mightily in the second inning he gave up two runs on 3 hits and 2 walks as he throw 39 pitches and faced 8 batters with Jack Hannahan getting the other RBI on a two out RBI single to go up 2-0. In the fourth inning the Jays tied up the game when Kelly Johnson lead off the inning with a single and with one out Adam Lind reached base on a Jack Hannahan fielding error and Johnson was driven in on an Edwin Encarnacion RBI double and Lind scored on a sac fly by Brett Lawrie off Indian's starter Derek Lowe. Joel Carreno settled down until with two outs Shin-Soo Choo singled which brought Carlos Santana to the plate and he charged up his second homer of the day/season to give him a three RBI day and his second career multi-homer game and gave the Indians a 4-2 lead. In the top of the eighth inning Adam Lind singled in Johnson off Joe Smith and the Jays had first and second and one out when the Indians went to their bullpen for Vinnie Pestano who stuck out both Encarnacion and Lawrie to end the inning. The Indian's closer Carlos Perez came in and still did not have his stuff yet as he throw 28 pitches and gave up a single to Eric Thames which is his first hit in the 2012 season and then the Indian's shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera charged a ground ball hit by pinch hitter Ben Francisco and Kelly Johnson loaded the bases with a walk. Then Jose Bautista to the plate who got as commanding land in the count @ 3 balls and 1 strike but Perez challenged Bautista and he got under ball popped it up to Asdrubal Cabrera to end the game and give Perez a tough save and the Indians their first win on the season. Joel Carreno went through 6 innings and gave up four runs on 6 hits and 4 walks in major league first start and except for Santana he basically handled it well and the Bullpen of Carlos Villanuenva and Jason Frasor pitched shutout inning and they each only gave uo a walk each. While Derek Lowe pitched seven innings and gave up two runs on 5 hits with a walk and a K and picked up the victory. Home Opener Tomorrow Tom Mehegan

Brandon Morrow starts the season right but the Jays have to wait for extras for the win

Brandon Morrow had an outstanding pitching in his first start of the 2012 Blue Jays season as he went 7 innings and gave up only one hit which was hit long and hard by Jason Kipnis who hit it into the stands for a two-run homer in the bottom of the five inning which was right after Casey Kotchman who reached on a throwing error by J.P. Arencibia who throw wild of Adam Lind at first and pulled him off the base. The only problem that Ubaldo Jimenez was just that much better as he did not allow a runner to reach base until the eighth inning when Kelly Johnson walked and then Adam Lind walked and when Jimenez throw a wild pitch to move up to second and third and then Brett Lawrie got the Jays first and only hit off him which was a two-run single to tie up the game and he also only gave up the two walks while Morrow gave up three. In the ninth inning Joe Smith came in for the ninth and the first batter he faced was Kelly Johnson and Kelly Johnson just got enough of the ball to get it over Michael Brantley glove and into the stands and then Jose Bautista got hit with a pitch and went first to third on a two out Brett Lawrie single but Thames was final out of the inning. Then Sergio Santos came in for his first save appearance of the season and he only throw one bad pitch which created a blown save as Asdrubal Cabrera who parked it into the stands as he left up high and it sent the to extras as it was tied at 3-all. Casey Janssen came in and pitched a perfect tenth and eleventh and then in the 12th inning the Jays got him the lead as Edwin Encarnacion doubled to open the inning and then Brett Lawrie got his third straight hit another single while going o for the season before that and Rajai Davis who came in to pitch hit for Eric Thames in the 9th came up with a two-run double to put the Jays up 5-3 and then he stole third and Colby Rasmus singled him home to make it 6-3. Kelly Johnson cashed in Rasmus with a single and the Jays are 2-0 in extras as Francisco Cordero came in and finished it off 7-4. Jays are finding ways to comeback late in games and that is a great sign Tom Mehegan

J.P. Arencibia ended the longest home opener with a bomb

J.P. Arencibia ended the longest opening day game in baseball history as he hit a three-run home run in the top of the 16th inning as the Jays won 7-4 which was setup by Brett Lawrie who started the inning by walking and then Omar Vizquel the oldest shortstop in history had a hit and run situation and hit it back to Jairo Asencio who throw wide of second base and it was first and second for Arencibia. The Jays actually was looking at losing their first game of the season as they went into the ninth inning down 4-1 as the Indians got eight amazing innings of one run and two hits with 10 Ks and 11 ground ball putouts and only served up 5 fly balls including three putouts and a Bautista's sole homer along with Lind's double. The Jays starter was Ricky Romero who had a bad second inning where he gave up 4 runs on two hits and two walks and he gave up another hit and walk in the final three innings of his 5 innings performance as he struggled through the Cleveland cold. In the top of the ninth inning Chris Perez, the Indian closer, came in and was not able to throw strikes as throw 31 pitches and 17 for strikes in 0.2 inning where he gave up 3 hits and 2 walks and gave up a sac fly to Batista and then a two-run double by Edwin Encarnacion that hit off the top of the fence and the wind kept the ball in the park to tie the game at 4. In the bottom of the ninth Travis Hafner singled to lead off the inning and moved up to second on a Colby Rasmus error and was on third with one out on a sac bunt by Aaron Cunningham and could not advance on a ground ball by Casey Kotchman which went right to first baseman Jose Bautista who froze Hafner @ third. In 12th innings both team had bases loaded with the Jays having the bases loaded by a two out intentional walk to Batista and Rajai Davis who pinch ran for Adam Lind in the top of the ninth and hit a ball hard to the wall that was caught by Aaron Cunningham. In the bottom of the inning the Indians loaded the bases with one out as Luis Perez could find the plate against Michael Brantley which made J.P. need to knock down pitches and Omar Vizquel came in to replace Eric Thames and became a fifth infielder and the next pitch Asdrubal Cabrera hit the ball on the ground to Yunel Escobar and end the inning on a double play. Then in the fifteenth inning Kelly Johnson walking and Jose Bautista singling it brought Rajai Davis to the plate and bunted the ball up to the third baseman Jack Hannahan who let it drop and turned it into a double play because Rajai decided to leave the batters box and instead of first and third one out it was third and two outs. The Jays used all 7 relievers in the game which ended with Sergio Santos who got the final two outs on ground outs after walking the first batter he face in a non-save opportunity as he did not start the inning. The pitching gems where Luis Perez who walked as many as he struck out 3 but still pitched 4 innings of no hit innings to keep the Jays in the game while Carlos Villanueva pitched one hit ball through 2.1 innings while walking and K'g 2 batters. While Jose Bautista had 3 hits in 4 official at-bats while Encarnacion and Escobar both had 2 while the Indians got their biggest hit of the game from Jack Hannahan hit a three-run bomb in the second inning and was the only Indian with more than one hit in the game. Best news for both teams is that tomorrow was the backup date for the opener so no game tomorrow so the pitchers have until Saturday to get ready to pitch again Tom Mehegan

Jays have three rookies in their starting rotation

So the Jays have set the first five starting pitchers on the season and it includes three rookie pitchers and of course it begins with Ricky Romero who had a record of 15 and 11 with a 2.92 ERA and 178 Ks in 225 innings pitched last season. Then the water gets very very murky as the No.2 pitcher is Brandon Morrow who can either pitch at home or on the road but not both as last season he was 6 and 3 on the road with a 3.07 ERA and that is much different than he did @ home where he was 5 and 8 with a 6.31 ERA. This was the opposite of what happened in 2010 when he was 8 and 1 with a 2.74 ERA @ home and 2 and 6 with a 6.72 ERA on the road and he pitched 13 games on both the road and home so he is a very big mystery. Then three,four, and five are rookies with Joel Carreno being the No. 3 in the rotation will have his MLB debut on Sunday after going 7 and 9 with a 3.41 ERA in New Haven (double A) and pitched 15.2 inning and a 1 and 0 with 1.15 ERA in 11 relief appearance with the Blue Jays. Then there is Henderson Alvarez who was 1 and 3 with 3.53 ERA in 63.2 innings in his 10 starts with the Jays last season with 64 hits and 40 Ks while the No.5 will be Kyle Drabek who was 4 and 5 with a 6.06 ERA in 18 games and 14 starts as he spent time in both Toronto and Las Vegas and will hopefully be able to take advice well and use it to his advantage. It looks like after the five game of the season someone will be sent down to the minors for a few weeks and that will most likely be Drabek or Carreno which ever has a worst start in the next week. A good start will help the Bullpen stay strong and hopefully get closer to the magical 1000 innings pitched for the starters Tom Mehegan