Jays bats sleeping in Seattle

Jays put together a 6 hit attack in Seattle and came up with only two runs in the game with Brett Lawrie having the hit of the night with a two-run in the third inning but it was Moises Sierra in the same inning who followed off two (2-2) pitches before lined it for his first major league hit and they had three of their hits in that inning. The Jays lost their third in a row as they fell behind early and lost 7-2 with Dustin Ackley who lead off the bottom of the first hammering Arron Laffy's first pitch for a homer and ended the game with 3 RBIs including running out a double play ball that allowed the third run in the second inning and the Jays were down big 4-0 after two innings. With a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning Miguel Olivo put the game away with one of his two hits which was a two-run single and Brendan Ryan had three hits in the game and was apart of the bottom third of the M's lineup had 7 of their 12 hits with Trayvon Robinson two hits joined Ryan and Olivo. Arron Laffy was unable to get out of the fifth inning loading the bases and ended up given up 7 runs on 9 hits with two walks in only 4.2 innings and had his worst start as a Jay. Brett Lawrie lead the Jays with two hits while the bottom three of Davis, Mathis, and Sierra all had one hit Tom Mehegan

Jays bats continue to be silent as Snider trade only real noise

In the bottom of the seventh John Farrell comes out of the dugout and has his lineup card and is having a long discussion with the end result of Travis Snider being taken off the field for Yan Gomez who was in the dugout and Travis heads into the club house where he finds out he is heading to Pittsburgh and then comes back out and shake hands and hugs everybody in the dugout. I guess his steaks last night were so good that the Pirates wanted the receipt too as Snider was at home in Seattle and was playing for the second time in Seattle and the Jays get back Brad Lincoln who drafted in the same class as Snider in 2006 and just before Morrow was taken at 5 and he has had his Tommy surgery back in 2007 and made his major league debut in 2010 against the Nationals. The reason for the trade is that Snider is out of options and would have to make the major league roster or sent from assignment in the spring and Lincoln who has pitched out of the bullpen and started for Pirates and is under control til '18. For the Jays against the Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma as lead off hitter Rajai Davis took him deep for the only run the Jays would score in a 4-1 loss against Iwakuma who in his other 4 starts in his career had a combined 14 ks and tonight he could do nothing wrong through 8 innings as he dazzled the Jays to the tune of 13 ks on 4 hits and walked three. Ricky Romero pitched 6 innings and gave all 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits with two walks and 7 ks and it was that tricky first out of the game that put him and the Jays as gave up a double to Dustin Ackley and then followed it up with a single to Michael Saunders and then on a ball hit on the first base side of second Jesus Montero got a single but the second base ump got drilled up the pitch so it was bases load no outs. Ricky finally got that crustal double play but the M's tied up the game and then took the lead on a Kyle Seager line drive base hit but he ended up being caught stealing to end the inning. So Romero gave up four hits over the next five innings and pitched well but the hits were untimely as in the second Mike Carp singles through the infield and moves to second on a wild pitch, to third on a pass ball, and home on an error on Brett Lawrie who if he was able to make the play would ended the inning without a run scoring. He was dealing til the fifth where with one out gave up a double to Brendan Ryan and with two outs Michael Saunders doubles him home. The Jays had their chances especially the second inning where Yunel Escobar walked and Kelly Johnson put down a bunt and Iwakuma throw wildly to first and U had runners on the corners with one out Jeff Mathis hits a ball to the third baseman Kyle Seager and with Escobar hesitating he taken out at home and Anthony Gose grounded out to end the inning. Jays will have a losing record in July as they needed the last two games of the month to win the month Tom Mehegan

Jhonny Peralta destroys the Jays home stand

Once again the Jays had a chance to do greatness in their final home stand/road trip and come up empty and today it is all about Jhonny Peralta the Jays could been able squeak a victory away from Doug Fister. It was 1-0 Jays in the first on a Rajai Davis nobber that found the outfield grass and stole second which is a very difficult thing to do as in his 4 seasons and 102 games Doug Fister has allowed 7 stolen bases in 16 attempts and on a throwing error on catcher Gerald Laird moved to third and scored on a ground ball by Colby Rasmus and that was it all day off the Tigers for the highest scoring team in baseball. Jhonny Peralta took advantage of Brett Cecil not being able to put him away as he had him 0 and 2 and wasted three Cecil pitches on his way to a full count pitch that he did not waste as he hit a three-run homer his 7 of the season and Cecil did not start the inning right as he walked Delmon Young to lead off the inning and Ryan Raburn doubled his trouble putting two in scoring position Peralta with no outs. Jhonny put the icing the cake with his 8th of the season off Joel Carreno on a 1 and 2 count and was the only hit Carreno gave up in two innings of relief with two outs in the ninth as the Tigers take the finale 4-1. Doug Fister was in tight situations in the middle innings of the game as he left two on in the third as Brett Lawrie popped out to foul territory on a first pitch curve ball and then in the fourth left another two on for Jeff Mathis who had his 8 game hitting streak snapped as he grounded right to the not so little prince while in the fifth he left two on again as Edwin Encarnacion ground out to Miguel Cabrera. Fister retired 10 of his last 12 Jays he faced as he went eight and gave up a single run on seven hits with two walks and struck out 9 with a wicked curve ball that was humming today. Brett Cecil gave up 3 runs on 4 hits with 4 walks and 7 ks but it was the batters he had a chance to k and did not that hurt him because after the homer he retired the next eight Tigers he faced and after back to back walks he retired 7 batters before walking the last batter he faced Austin Jackson. So once again the long ball and one inning really does Cecil in as it was his eighth in eight starts this season.

Henderson Alvarez behind amazing D pitches strong

So Henderson Alvarez pitched 7 innings of 5 hit ball and gave up only a single run as the highest scoring team in the Majors beat the Tigers in front of 41 thousand fans 5-1 as the Jays have kept the # of Tigers fans coming down from Detroit/Windsor area very quiet. Henderson Alvarez got off on the right foot today as only allowed a single in the first inning but the Tigers did hit him hard in the inning and if it was not a great leaping gab by Brett Lawrie off the bat of the first Tigers hitter of the game Austin Jackson it may have been a completely different story as Lawrie took a double away from Jackson. Then with two outs in the first with Miguel Cabrera on first and the not so little prince at the plate Snider made a running diving catch to end the inning just before the ball would have hit the ground for a RBI double or triple for Fielder. Henderson got into a little bit trouble in the fourth with two outs and Jays 1-0 he gave up a single to Delmon Young who scored on a RBI double by Brennan Boesch but then set down five Tigers before walking Cabrera and the not so little Prince before getting two fly balls to end the inning on his way to retiring his last 5 batters of the game. Henderson Alvarez helped himself in the third inning snagging a ground ball at the mound off the bat of the not so little prince to starting an inning ending double play which was his 21 ground ball double play of the season and Rajai Davis made a good catch for the second out in the second inning off the bat of Jhonny Peralta. The Jays continued to drive home runners from third base with less than two outs as have been scoring on sac flies 65% of the time this season with it being Colby Rasmus hitting one deep enough for Anthony Gose to score in the third inning for the first run of the game. Then it was mostly about the power game as Edwin Encarnacion slugged his 28 homer of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth to put the Jays in front for good and Yunel Escobar who is in the lineup for the first time in four games put another run on the board with a solo shot to lead off the seventh and in the eighth with a Rajai Davis double on Colby Rasmus escorted him home with a two run homer to give him a two hit night and 3 RBIs. Brett Lawrie and Yan Gomez had two of the Jays 10 hits in the game as Lawrie continued his hitting streak to seven and with Adam Lind maybe going on the DL back stiffness his bat will be very important to the Jasy. The Jays also used their speed as well as they got three stolen bases off Tigers starter An/Avila Sanchez who was making his first start as a Tiger after being apart of the fire sale in Miami. The Jays also took advantage a wild pitches from Sanchez and moved up as Anthony Gose moved to third in the third to be able to score on Rasmus's sac fly. Jays finish up a six game homestand tomorrow before going West to Seattle Tom Mehegan

Jeff Mathis pulls out a victory for the Blue Jays

Jeff Mathis was the horo of the game for the Jays because the Tigers up 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth and with the bases loaded and two outs he stepped up to the plate and delivered a bases clearing double to put the Jays up for good and after Anthony Gose drove him home to make it 5-3 on their way to beat the Tigers 8-3.The Tigers starter Rick Porcello on the ropes in the fourth throwing 36 pitches in the inning after only thrown 31 pitches through the first three innings. All the Jays reached base and every except for Yan Gomez got a hit with Omar Vizquel in the two hole picking up two of the Jays 9 hits. Carlos Villenuva how is now 6-0 on the season is sneaking up on Ricky Romero for most wins on the Jays staff as Ricky has 8 wins and Carlos is now tied with Henderson Alvarez for second with 6 wins. It was not easy for Villanuva as he did not have a finishing pitch as he had 7 of his 29 pitches in the first inning by fouled off with Miguel Cabrera fouling off a 2-2 pitch before taken him deep for his 25 and solo shot and the so little prince fouled off the first pitch he was and on the second took him deep for the only damage in the game. He followed up his 29 pitch first with a 27 pitch second with a eight strike out Jhonny Peralta where he fouled off four pitches while Alex Avila with a 1-2 count on him fouled off four pitches in a 10 pitch walk in the inning for the only base runner and got was boring for the D that when Colby Rasmus caught out No.2 he thought it was three and started going to the dugout. In the finally three innings he faced 11 batters and gave up two singles and hit the not so little prince and got a double play ball behind him and through only 43 pitches and ended up going 5 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks while striking out 3 Tigers for a challenge of a game. Rick Porcello had only the fourth inning in trouble as gave up 4 of his 5 runs in the inning and gave up both of his walks and 3 of his 6 hits in the inning as he went on to pitch 6 innings. Edwin Encarnacion's hit drove in Vizquel in the first while Brett Lawrie's hit was a triple in the seventh and was driven home Vizquel's triple as the Jays had back-to-back triple while Travis Snider hit was his third homer off the season as he escorted Yan Gomez home after he reached base on a throwing error by Omar Infante. The Bullpen pitched well with only Darren Oliver given up a RBI single to the not so little prince as Arron Loop got four straight batters, Brandon Lyon pitched two-thirds of an inning gave up a single, and it looked like it was going to a real quick ninth for Casey Janssen is a non-save situation as he got two outs in four pitches but it took him 7 pitches to get Austin Jackson to end the game. It has been two game since Adam Lind has played and three since Yunel Escobar has played with his bad back Tom Mehegan

The top of the Jays orders powers them to victory

Arron Laffy did not have his best stuff in the Jays 10-4 win as he left fastballs up in the strike zone and early in the first two games of the series Josh Reddick showed how he used his leather and today in the first inning he used his bat as he hit a solo homer with two out. Then in the fourth he gave up an one out single to Yoenis Cespedes and after a strikeout of Chris Carter Brandon Inge then muscled just enough to put a two-run homer into the Jays bullpen and the A's were up 3-0. Tommy Milone was the starter for the A's and through three innings he had not allowed a base runner so the Jays finally turned over the batting in the fourth and the top of the order in the second at bat against him went 3 of 4 with Rajai Davis singled as the lead off hitter and with one out Brett Lawrie singled and Edwin Encarnacion followed up with his career high 27th homer a three-run bomb to tie the game. Then Arron Laffy got into trouble in the five with a couple who walks around a Coco Crisp double to load the bases Josh Reddick hit a tough double play and beat it out at first to put the A's up 4-3. The Jays top of the order the third time throw the order went 2 of 4 with singles from Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie and on a bunt single by Travis Snider they both scored as an error on Tommy Milone allowed Lawrie to score to give the Jays the lead for good. Fourth time through the order in the eighth the Jays faced Sean Doolittle and the top of the order went 1 for 3 with a walk to Lawrie and a single to Encarnacion and Lawrie scored on a Travis Snider double to give him 3 RBIs in the game and Yan Gomez sac fly brought in Encarnacion. The eighth inning finished with back-to-back doubles to Kelly Johnson, who also had a solo homer in the seventh inning, and Jeff Mathis to finish off a four run eighth inning. Brandon Lyon, Darren Oliver, and Casey Janssen retired the last 10 A's in order to finish the game after Laffy pitched the first 5.2 and gave up 4 runs on 5 hits with three walks. The middle of the lineup of Lawrie, Encarnacion, and Snider went 6 for 11 with a homer, 5 RBIs, and a walk Tom Mehegan

Jays suffer worst shutout in club history

The Jays behind Ricky Romero who came into the game having not lost to the A's and by the end of the game it was the worst shutout loss in Jays history at a staggering 16-0 and Ricky Romero did not last very long as he pitch 1.1 inning and was yanked by Farrell at 5-0 A's with one out in the second inning. So Ricky has lost complete control of his slider and the majors know that and are simply sitting dead red on fast balls and hitting them as hard as humanly possible as he went into the second inning down on a Yoenis Cespedes RBI double around two of his six walks of the night. In the second he throw fastball A's hit fast ball as they collected 3 hits and award first base 4 times (one intentional) off Ricky who record one out as scored a season tying 8 run inning and Chad Beck did not do him any favors given up two hits and allowing all of Ricky's runners to score and gave up a run of his own in two-thirds of an inning. J.P. Arencibia in that Nightmare of a second inning made it like a titanic inning as anybody feeling that there was a very slim chance of the Jays making the playoffs pull the covers over their head and went to sleep for a long winter as J.P. took a foul ball off the bat of Brandon Inge and fractured his right hand and is out 6 weeks. After the second inning it was the Coco Crisp show as he hit solo shots in third and the fifth off Andrew Carpenter who tried to stop the bleeding but did not happen but he did get through the sixth only given up three solo in four innings and the last to Chris Carter. Aaron Loop pitched two innings and gave up two runs on two hits in the eighth and Jeff Mathis now the Jays starting catcher pitched the ninth and gave up two runs and it was a stupid idea and should of not happened I do not care if U have a pitcher hitting in the ninth. The Jays could not figure out the high 60's curveball tapping out at 70 or the the low 90's heat of A.J. Griffen with the Jays getting 3 hits and two walks with 9 strikeouts in 6 innings with the hardest hit was Travis Snider in the second and Josh Reddick had spidy senses going as he climbed the fence and took maybe a homer if not a double away from him. The best defensive play was a fan that had his defensive allignment as was positioned in the middle of empty chairs and Brett Lawrie hits it right to him and just like Lawrie does he went back to his original position in the front row. Tom Mehegan

J.P. Atencibia is heading for the DL for 6 weeks

J.P. Arencibia after hitting a homer in three straight games and tonight in a disaster of a second inning where the A's tied their season high in runs in an inning with 8 and the only hit J.P. had tonight was being hit on the back of his right hand by Brandon Inge foul ball. He finished the nightmare inning behind the plate but Jeff Mathis lead off in his place to start the bottom of the second inning. J.P. will be on the 15-day DL as he will be out for six weeks with a fractured in his right hand so this will mean that the Jays will most likely be going strong with Jeff Mathis and it will be interesting what happens with Mathis catching Ricky Romero in Seattle on Monday as Ricky has been playing catch with J.P. for most of his career in the majors. After Ricky pitched 1.1 and gave 4 hits but also gave up two wild pitches along with 6 walks (one intentional) and gave up 9 runs and it maybe time to change things up as everybody is sitting red on the heat and not even looking at curve balls and it is hurting him and Mathis may have a different point of view on the situation. Injured Jays would be a strong team Tom Mehegan

Jays bullpen not able to finish the seventh

Just like the first game on the road trip a close game was turned into a blowout for the opponents as the A's were up 2-1 with no on and two outs in the top of the deventh inning and by the time the Jays got that final out in the seventh it was 7-1 A's and it was basically over with the A's bullpen shutting down the Jays and take the opener 7-2. So Chad Beck came into the game to start the seventh and got two quick outs before given up a double to Brandon Hicks and RBI triple to Jamie Weeks and that brought in J.A. Happ who gave up a RBI double to Coco Crisp and then he walked the bases loaded which brought up Yoenis Cespedes for the kill shot as he had a three run single to cap the inning. J.A. Happ when he finally got out of the inning settled down and retired the last 7 A's of the game so Farrell may look to bring him in to start innings as he is more of a starter. The Jays ended up getting an extremely impressive outing from Brett Cecil who looked to be on the same page as J.P. Arencibia tonight and throw in his curve ball in the right situations for strikeouts and ended up getting 8 Ks and gave up two runs on 5 hits with 2 walks. For Cecil it was one pitch again to put him in the loser cycle and it was a juicy fat sinker that did not sink and Derek Norris took him deep for a two run homer in the second. Travis Blackley started for the A's and he pitched very well and kept the Jays off balance for seven innings and gave up the same 5 hits and k'd the same 8 Jays and did walk one instead of two and gave up the same amount of homers as Cecil but it was a solo shot to Travis Snider in the third. The Jays could of pounced on him in the first couple of innings as he fell behind a few Jays and worked his way back and the first hitter for the Jays Brett Lawrie set the tone for the Jays as he singled and moved to second on a wild pitch but when Colby Rasmus hit a ball to Josh Reddick Lawrie tried to advance to third and it was close but was erased at third by a great throw. Lawrie had three hits in the game including a double and J.P. Arencibia hit his third homer in the ninth in as many games. It is a key homestand with the wildcard leading A's in town and the central leading Tigers on the weekend Tom Mehegan

Travis Snider is back in a big way

Travis Snider is back and is doing everything righ so far as he showed in the first two games of the series that he knew how to play left field at Fenway while collecting a hit in both games and today he showed how he could swing the bat as he hit a homer into the outfield camera bay for a two-run shot in the fifth to put the Jays up 11-4 on their way to crushing the Red Soxs 15-7. Travis had a sac fly in the eighth inning and is hitting 4 for 11 (.367) with a homer and double in his first three games of the season. The Jays faced Jon Lester and the Jays batting order coming in were hitting .193 with two homers against him but Brett Lawrie back in lead-off set the tone for the game as on the first pitch of the game a sinking fastball that just like Encarnacion and Arencibia did last night took the pitch to the parking lot and the Jays did not look back. The Jays pounded out 15 runs on 18 hits and they swept away the Soxs for the first time since September 2009 as they put up five spot in the first and a four spot in the eighth inning as they batted around both innings and Lester did not have much fun he gave up 8 runs in the first two innings and left the game given up 11 runs on 9 hits with four homers and 5 walks and the Jays hit .529 (9 for 17) against him in the game. In the 18 hit attack Brett Lawrie had two hits and scored three runs while Yunel back in the two spot had three hits and scored two runs and Colby Rasmus had a two-run single in the eighth and scored twice. Edwin Encarnacion had a RBI single in the first and a sac fly in the eighth and Arencibia had a three-run shot in the second and ended up with 4 RBIs and Rajai Davis had three hits including his sixth homer of the season as he went back to back with Arencibia in the second and drove in two runs in the game. The Jays had a complete performance from their offense as 10 players got a hit including Adam Lind off the bench while Omar got two more hits to move up the hit list with 2858 hits in his career. Henderson Alvarez was the starting pitcher and like most starts he struggled coming out of the bullpen as he allowed an Adrian Gonzalez three-run homer and then settled down eight in a row heading to the fourth and loaded the bases and got out of it with only given up a sac fly RBI to Mike Aviles as he lost his control a little. In the fifth he gave up a lead-off homer to Jacoby Ellsbury and it looked like he was going to get through 6 innings by retiring the last six batters he faced but a Ryan Sweeney fly ball to Rajai Davis was lost in the sun and Alvarez gives two more runs as he is unable to get out of the sixth. He gave up 7 runs on 8 hits and walked only one in 5.2 and his performance would of been much better if Rajai did not lose the ball and of course the first inning troubles once again. Arron Loop came and settled everything down retiring his 7 batters and Andrew Carpenter made his Blue Jays debut with a clean ninth inning Tom Mehegan

Edwin Encarnacion and J.P. crush balls into the parking lot

So Arron Cook had the Jays number going into the sixth inning and was getting ground ball after ground ball as he had 12 ground balls outs to 2 fly ball outs amd he was as comfortable at Fenway park with a 3-1 lead on only two hits and no walks and got two quick outs to start the inning. Then with two outs he walked Colby Rasmus and he had only walked two in the game in 29.2 innings and then Edwin Encarnacion came up and waited for his pitch and when he got it he sent it completely out of Fenway park to tie the ball game but unlike Jose Bautista's a few weeks back he did not dent a car. Cook had only given up two homers in his first 5 starts this season and when J.P. Arencibia tried to do the same thing as Edwin in the seventh and succeed by hitting a ball into the parking lot too it gave the Jays the 4-3 lead that they would not give up on their way to a 7-3 win over the Soxs of Boston. Brett Lawrie was back in the lineup and it felt like had not missed a beat probably because he has not as he put the Jays on the board with a sac fly RBI in the third and then closed out the three run seventh with a two-run double as he now has 30 RBIs of his 37 on the season with runners in scoring position and is hitting .323 in this scenario. He also has 17 RBIs with two outs in the inning and is mister clutch for the Jays. Carlos Villanueva pitched 6.1 tonight given up 3 runs on 4 hits and two walks and it was the second inning that did all the damage against him as three of the four hits he gave up were with no outs in the inning and Jarrod Saltalamacchia sneaked his 18 homer into the Red Soxs bullpen for a three-run sneak to give the Soxs an early 3-0 lead. He smoked the Soxs given up a he gave up a single and two walks in his last 5.1 innings and got 8 grounds to 4 flyouts and k'd 5 Soxs in the game to pick up his 5 victory against no defeats. J.A. Happ made his debut with the Jays getting the last two outs of the seventh on 5 pitches and Brandon Lyon made his return with the Jays as he had 1-2-4 ninth inning on only 11 pitches as Colby Rasmus's sac fly RBI in the ninth made it a non save opportunity for Casey Janssen. Jason Frasor is shut down for a couple of weeks and has got a brave face but it sounds like his third Tommy John may happen but he does not want to go there Tom Mehegan

J.A. Happ is finally a Blue Jay

J.A. Happ is the guy in the deal that the Jays wanted they have wanted him so much that he was the pitcher that the Jays had asked for in the Roy HAlliday trade with the Phillies and instead got Kyle Drabek and Happ was moved to the Astros in the Roy Oswald trade. J.A. Happ, 29 years old is in the Jays control for two more seasons after this one and that is what Alex Anthopoulos likes and right now he will be put in the bullpen but if Brett Cecil has another outing where he does not trust his catcher's decision making Happ will replace him in the rotation. He has a 32 and 33 record with an ERA of 4.92 and really is trying to get back to his 12 and 4 season with the Phillies with an ERA of 2.93 but after being an Astros club house where losing is very common hopefully he can get the confidence in Toronto with a solid team and make something out of himself over the next couple of seasons. Jays get Brandon Lyon back who started his career in Toronto in 2001 and will be able to give the Jays some help in the bullpen with an inning here and there to make sure that Frasor, Oliver, and Janssen not tire out. While they also get David Carpenter who has been sent down to triple A and maybe a solid arm in the bullpen as most of the Jays bullpen are going to be free agents and even though the Jays want to retain the better relievers who know with Free Agents. The Jays have shipped out Francisco Cordero who did not work here and Frank Francisco who is an utility player at best and did not fit the team so for the Astros it comes down to the 5 prospects the Jays gave them who are right-hander Asher Wojciechowski, catcher Carlos Perez, and right-hander Joe Musgrove along with others. These are nowhere near the prospect talent that the Jays still have in their system and if they can work magic with either Happ or Carpenter it will be a solid deal for the Jays. It is filler move not a contender move Tom Mehegan

Jays beat Soxs 6-1 behing great D and early runs

Arron Laffy was a natural at Fenway park and Travis Snider in his first game in the 2012 season looked like a pro in left field as he took two balls off the green monster made sure they were only singles. Arron Laffy pitched 7 outstanding innings against the always dangerous bats of the Red Soxs in a 6-1 Jays victory where Laffy gave up 8 singles and no walks while 4ks in seven scoreless innings as he needed only 88 pitches in the game and finished seven innings for the tenth time in his 53 career start and it even more impressive against the Red Soxs. Colby Rasmus had a triple in first to get things rolling in the first as he scored the first of two runs in the first inning even though it does not look like he actually touches the plate and in the second he picked up a two-run double for his two hits and 2 RBIs. Adam Lind picked up two more singles as he is now hitting .239 while picking up a RBI in the five inning to make it 5-0 and Edwin Encarnacion and J.P. Arencibia both picked up RBIs in the first and collect a single in the game. The Boys are back in town and Snider along with in get defensive picked up a double off the monster in the ninth and scored on Yan Gomez RBI double that made it 6-0 and Anthony Gose walked twice and struck out twice and is maybe not ready with the bat but he is trying and doing well in right field. The Red Soxs had 9 singles which is hard to believe as they crush the competition with extra base hits especially doubles and Mike Aviles had a RBI ground out in the ninth inning. Will Middlebrooks and Kevin Shoppach both had two singles and Josh Beckett pitched 6 innings but gave up 5 of his 7 hits and 2 of his three walks while allowing 4 of his 5 runs in the first two innings and just could not get himself out of that ditch. Brett Lawrie says he will be in the lineup tomorrow Tom Mehegan

Brett Lawrie does his best Evil Knievel impression and pays for it

So Brett Lawrie in the third inning decided to do his best Evil Knievel impression when he went over to the camera bay off the bat of Nick Swisher and when he got to the camera bay he lean in and than then fell in with nobody around and fell hard. He was taken out of the game immediately for Yunel Escobar and Omar moved over to third and Lawrie was sent for x-rays and they came back negative and is out day6-to-day with a leg contusion. The Game did not start well for the Jays as Ricky Romero with a Derek Jeter double to lead off Nick Swisher found a hole in the D and Jeter scored and with Mark Teixeira up Romero got ahead of him 0-2 and could not put him away so on a 2-2 pitch he hammered a two-run homer to make it 3-0. Then with one out Rajai Davis decided to jump for Robertson Ceno ball that was hit to the wall and it turned out that Davis did not need to jump as he missed the ball completely and he would of been in perfect position to catch the ball if he did not jump for it and Cano got a double and scored on an Andrew Jones single and the Jays were down 4-0 after one. Ricky lost his control in the fourth and gave up a run with one out he went double, walk, double, walk and was helped by a double play ball to end the inning. In the sixth with one out he gave up a single to Jayson Nix and with two outs he gave up back-to-back hits score the sixth and final run of Romero who pitched innings and gave up 6 runs on 12 hits with 2 walks and 2 ks did not have his best stuff early. The Jays faced Hiroki Kuroda who came into the game in his last two starts given up 11 runs on 18 hits in only 13 innings but today he fooled the Jays bats on 4 hits over seven innings and only walk one and did not give up a run before the rains came in the bottom of the seventh. As thing go from bad to worse it looks like another lost season with the everyday shortstop and second baseman being shopped hard by AA Tom Mehegan

Brett Cecil needs a kick in the butt

Brett Cecil came out at the start of the game and got hit hard as he got hit hard in the first and they were right to Jays fielders as Granderson lined out to Ben Francisco and A-Rod lined sharply to Brett Lawrie but in the second just could not get an out until it was too late as Robertson Cano singled through the infield and after Nick Swisher walked Andrew Jones slammed a three run homer for all the scoring off Cecil. He did not get scored on in the last four innings he pitch bur it did not mean that he was pitching or even on the same page as his catcher Jeff Mathis as he and Mathis argued for the next two innings as gave up a double to Teixeira in the third and especially in the fourth as it was like pulling teeth as he did give up a walk and a single and throw 21 pitches to his five batters of the inning put he shock off Mathis constantly and when Mathis came to the mound he would take him back on the immediately and most likely said just listen to me I know what I'm doing. When the fourth inning was finally over Farrell took Cecil aside and said like he has been saying for weeks listen to Mathis and let him call the game and he finally did as he retired the last 7 batters he faced and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits along with two walks and 5 ks. The Jays defense in the seventh was really bad and out of position and the Yankees took advantaged of Sam Dyson who had a Jayson Nix hit a ground ball through the infield and scored on a ball off the bat of Chris Stewart that went off the glove of Brett Lawrie and went into the left field corner and Rajai Davis made things worse as he air mailed the ball into the infield and it ended up atound the mound and Mathis got it and Stewart ended up on third. By the end of his appearance Dyson faced 6 batters and got one out on a force plsy and was charged with 3 runs on four hits and a walk and the Yanks were up 6-0. CC Sabathia had only two 1-2-3 innings in the sixth plus innings he pitched and hw throw only 21 balls on his 87 pitches but only allowed a single runner on base in an inning as he gave up four hits and a walk. The Jays were able to use a ground-rule double from Mathis and he was moved around by loud outs for the first Jays run in the eighth and in the ninth with one out and runners on the corners Anthony Gose got his first major league hit in his second at bat as he bunted and the Yankees pitcher was indecisive and looked at second first and Gose was safe at first to load the bases. Then Rafael Soriano with one out and the tying run on deck faced J.P. and he lined out to Teixeira at first and Gose was too far off first base that he was tagged out to end the game and the Yanks take the first two games with a 6-1 win. Edwin Encxarnacion and Adam Lind had four of the Jays 7 hits and Edwin had two of the four Jays doubles in the game. I hope Bett Cecil has learned his lesson and listen to Mathis and let him call the game Tom Mehegan

Jose Baustista out, Athony Gose in as the Jays move on

So Jose Bautista is going on the 15 day DL and his after the all-star break slump will be a little bit different because when he returns in two or three weeks and it will take him a bit longer than that for him to get his power back so it will be tough for him to get to that 40 homer mark. He will be replaced by the other half of the Roy Halliday deal in Anthony Gose who will most likely be batting ninth in the Jays order tomorrow afternoon at the new Yankee stadium in the finale of the three game series. He is a high energy guy who loves the spotlight and wants to make an impact in games and had more energy and outgoing than Brett Lawrie which means he is very active and will likely be playing in left field with most likely Rajai Davis. He has played 67 games and is hitting .333 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs along with 21 doubles and 2 triples with 19 walks and 59 ks in Vegas and looks like he will be a good replacement for Bautista but nobody will actually replace Bautista and climb into the playoff picture a lot harder. The lineup has changed a bit tonight with Rajai Davis moving up to lead off and Brett Lawrie takes Jose Bautista spot in the three spot while Jeff Mathis will be catching and batting ninth tonight and tomorrow J.P. will move up to eighth so Gose bats just before Rajai who has the best speed on the team. It going to be a tough time without Bautista but everybody is going through it Tom Mehegan

Jays played with fire and got burn and lost Bautista

The Jays and Henderson Alvarez played with fire and did not burned as a single and a couple walks in the first Nick Swisher struck out to end the inning. Then in the eighth with Jason Frasor on the mound in a 2-2 game faced Mark Teixeira with one out and had been dominating him given up only one hit in 14 bats but on a 2-2 pitch Frasot hit him to load the bases again and faced Swisher again and he got stuck out again and it was a bad night for him. Then with two outs Frasor fell behind Raul Ibanez 3 and 1 and had to throw a strike and he got third degree burns as Ibanez launched a rocket to the left field corner and it landed in the second deck to give the Yankees a 6-2 lead. The Jays in the ninth did put together hits as with one out Kelly Johnson walked, Rajai Davis, singled and J.P. singled and Johnson scored on a fielding error on Dwayne Wise but Brett Lawrie popped up and the struggling Colby Rasmus was caught looking at strike three to end the game. The big story in the game was Jose Bautista who in the top of the eighth just missed a pitch that went very far but went very foul and he was crumpled on the grass holding his wrist as the wild Bautista swing had followed through and the bat was left in his left hand and when brought back up he dropped it in pain and was taken out of the immediately for Frank Francisco. The wrist injury may of happened in the sixth inning when Bautista scored from first on an Edwin Encarnacion double to tie the game at 2 when he slammed the same left hand hard on the plate as he slide around Yankee catcher to score the run. So as a wrist injury is a nagging one it maybe a couple of days or a couple of weeks or even a month or so if surgery is needed and we will get a better understanding after the x-rays but the talk between Farrell and the trainer was a long listening session for Farrell so it may not be a good thing. Henderson Alvarez after it was all said and done kept the ball down and gave up two runs on 5 hits with four walks and 6 ks but he did struggle through the first 2.1 innings of the game as he could not figure out the ump strike zone as he throw 70 pitches over the first three innings. Then he figured it out and retired 9 straight Yankees before given up a walk and a single before getting a double play to end the inning and he throw only 26 pitches over his last three innings and got hurt in the game by a Russell Martin solo homer that was down and Russell used all his power to lifted it into the seats in left field by inches in the first and back to back doubles in the third by A-rod and Ceno. Adam Lind still has that hitters touch as he hit a solo jack to get the Jays on the board in the fourth Tom Mehegan

Carlos had the flair and the Jays had the bats in the third

Carlos Villanueva in his fourth start of the season had a bit a flair for the dramatics in the jays 3-0 shutout of the Indians as he walked two batters in the sixth inning and after pitching coach Bruce Walten came out to give him a breather and Farrell gave him Casey Kotchman as his last batter of the game because if he did not get him out Jason Frasor was coming in but Villanueva struck out Kotchman to end the inning and give him a new career high in Ks as it was his eighth of the game. Villanueva scattered 3 hits over his sixth inning along with his 5 walks and he still had the flair early on in the game when Micheal Bradley picked up his eighth hit of the series to lead off the second inning with a double and Kotchman flied out to Bautista and Bradley tagged and moved to third so Villanueva had a runner at third with one out and he battled Johnny Damon and got him to pop up to Kelly Johnson and then struck out Jack Hannahan to end the inning and he used a strike out of Damon to end the fourth with two on. In the fifth inning Villanueva got a great defensive gem by Edwin Encarnacion who snagged a ball at the first base bag off the bat of Asdrubal Cabrera and stepped on first and throw out Hannahan at second for an unusual double play and Villanueva with runners in scoring position he did not allow an Indian hit as the Indians went 0 for 7 in the game with runners in that situation. Kevin Lowe almost went pitch for pitch with Villanueva as he gave up three hits and four walks over his sixth inning and he had 5 ks instead of the 8 Villanueva but the game was decided like yesterday in the third inning as Lowe lsot his control as he walked Kelly Johnson and with one out J.P. singled in Johnson with the first run of the game with one out. Then with two outs the heart of the order did it stuff as Colby singled in J.P. and after Bautista singled Encarnacion and Lind both walked and Lind's drove in the third run of the game. Darren Oliver had a great two inning save to finish off the Indians and win the series for the Jays and Jose Bautista ended up with two of the Jays 5 hits in the game Tom Mehegan

Edwin Encaracion hits homer into Roger Centre Restaurant

Early for the Jays it looked extremely disappointing as they were given gifts from Ubaldo Jimenez who walked four over the first two innings but the Jays only mustard one hit from Adam Lind who had a two-run double in the first inning and it looked bad when Bastista showed up the home plate ump on a 3-1 count and it was called a strike and thankfully he walked on the next pitch and scored on the Lind double. In the third inning with 13-year-old Taylor from London doing the PA announcing apart of the the Jays kid Saturday promotion and it sparked an outburst by the Jays bats as they enjoyed having Taylor announcing that they went through the batting order one and a half times in the inning. It started with a Bautista double and was driven home by Edwin Encarnacion 24 homer of the season and after a Lind single he was driven home by a Yunel Escobar two-run homer and then after Rajai Davis struck out it was a double derby as Kelly Johnson, J.P. Arencibia, and Brett Lawrie went back-to-back-to-back with doubles. Then after a Colby Rasmus strike out Bautista and Encarnacion both walked and Adam Lind put the cherry on top of a 8 run on 8 hits with 6 extra base hits (four doubles and 2 homers) in the third inning as he had his third a two-run double and was three for three during the first three inning with four RBIs. When Edwin Encaracion hit his second homer in the game for his ninth time in his career in the fifth with a solo shot given the paying customers in the Rogers Centre restaurant a little something extra as it landed in the restaurant just like Carlos Delgado Jose Canseco have done is the past and put the Jays up 11-4. It looked like it was over especially after Aaron Loup faced 6 batters and retired them all but then Jesse Chavez came in and challenged the Indians batters and lost as he faced four batters and gave up three hits and a walk including two two-run homers and is on the first flight to Vegas which for Jays is not a good thing #triple A. It made it a lot closer than it needed to be and Andrew Carpenter came in and was hit and miss as he walked two along with a strike out and a foul ball pop up. Casey Janssen who should of not had to work today but came in and got the final four outs after given up a RBI single to Travis Hafner to make the final 11-9 as Janssen was strong and is 13 of 13 as Jays closer and got a great catch from Rajai Davis. Arron Laffy did not pitch as well as he had before but in the strange game of baseball he picked up his first win as a Jay against the team that drafted him as he pitched 5 innings and gave up 4 runs on 8 hits with three walks and got a great throw by Rajai Davis who throw out the runner at the plate to end the fifth inning.

Johnny Damon takes himself out of game because of Jays fans

It is the surprising that Johnny Damon formerly of the Yanks, Red soxs, and the Rays along with other and now with the Indians came into the Rogers centre and after a couple of innings of the fans ripping Micheal Bradley with lines like U should not be wearing 23 only good players wear that number U should be wearing zero it fits U better along with Ramus is better than U. Then it began with Damon starting with did U ask your wife if U could cut your hair and then the kicker as the chant lets go Blue Jays, Damon sucks carried on for innings. The Indians scored the only run of the game in a 1-0 victory off the bat of Travis Hafner leading off the second inning as he took a 0-1 pitch from Jay starter Ricky Romero over the fence in right field as it was a pitching duel as the Jays got five hit off Indians starter Justin Masterson over seven innings and a walk with the first two hits being erased by double play balls in the second and third inning. While Romero scattered 6 hits and two walks and deserved a better fate but with all this said in the bottom of the sixth with Damon having two of the hits off the Jays the announcer comes on and says a defensive change for the Indians in left field Aaron Cunningham. When U think that Johnny left the Soxs and cut his hair and shaved his beard off to go to the Yankees and then had to go back time after time to Fenway and lets just say they did not take kindly to him charging everything he was to become a Yankee so him taken himself out of the game in Toronto is simply weird. Also Shin-Soo Choo had the biggest fan club in the stadium and it truly helped the attendance of over 32 thousand and lets just say leaving the stadium was a nightmare as there were school buses blocking everything and with the heat nobody around the Rogers Centre were moving whichn was insane getting through in the heat of the night. It was another tough back breaking lose for the Jays Tom Mehegan

Anthopoulos takes a bite of a gamble on Encarnacion

Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has been a busy man during the all-star break as he has hammered a three-year deal with Edwin Encarnacion to keep him in the fold long term as he and Edwin agent agreed to a 3 year/27 million dollar deal with a club option for a fourth year worth 10 million dollars. This deal is a bit of a risk amount is not huge for a guy who is having a career as he is 3 homers and 18 RBIs away from matching his career high in both categories and is walking (37) more while striking out (56) more as as well. This season the most impressive thing is his almost .300 (.295) batting average and he has found a fit at first base. The risk comes from his streaky nature of when he is on the ball is flying and when he is not he is so bad that twice he has been sent to the minors and the Jays in their three seasons with him on their team he has been put on waivers twice as well and even spent a couple days in Oakland's organization before they realized they did not want him and he was brought back by the Blue Jays. So the question will be what kind of player will Edwin be next season will he be that kind of player who is comfortable with his security and becomes the not so good Edwin that nobody wants especially at 9 mil a season or will he take the lessons he has learned and fits in behind Jose Bautista who seems to have had a hand in this deal as well and build up his numbers and become a more consent player of will be getting an even better contract as a 32 year old in three seasons. At least it is not a Vernon Wells or Alex Rios deal that could not be stomached when their bats straight south Tom Mehegan

Toronto Blue Jays first half MVP the fans

Toronto Blue Jays at the all-star break are 43-43 and it has been a first half of near misses because if they had a chance at a 6-2 home stand they would lose the finale and go 5-3 over they sweep one team and then get swept by the next team they face. It would be not a stretch that the Jays could have a 48-38 record by just winning 5 of those season changing games and be in the middle of the wildcard picture instead of being 2.5 games behind the Orioles for the second playoff spot. First half MVPs The biggest MVP in the first half has been the Toronto Blue Jays fans who have been coming out in a lot bigger numbers this spring/summer as the Jays had 22,203 last season through 42 games and this season they have averaged 26,379 which is a boast of 18.8% in attendance this season. So the Jays have had an extra 175,366 and if the average ticket of 30 dollars would be bringing in 5.26 million dollars and merchandise has been way up at least 60% and the new jerseys are everywhere and the crowd coming into the Rogers Centre are less stupid as the past couple of seasons so lets hope the Jays can stay close and give the fans a reason to continue making the trip to the stadium. Batting Edwin Encarnacion is diffidently the offensive MVP this season with his 23 homers and 58 RBI are on pace to lap his career best in both categories but it his July numbers that are extremely impressive as he has only one homer and 3 RBIs but is still swinging a hot bat hitting .375 (9 for 24) and has 7 walks and only 2 ks which for a streaky player like Encarnacion in the past when the power is cut the drops like a rock in past seasons so this is a great change and is almost at .300. The move of both Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus into the top of the order has created a great increase in runners on for Bautista and Encarnacion who numbers recently Bautista have exploded as he has had 52 of his 65 RBIs in June and May while Colby Rasmus has 32 RBIs in his past 32 games (june/july) after having 20 in his first 20 games. After the break it will be important to have Adam Lind turn the fab 4 into the magnificent 5 while it will be very interesting to see how Bautista is effected by the home run derby as he only had 12 homers and 38 RBIs and a drop of .77 in his batting average in his last 65 games. Pitching The early pitching MVP was by far Brandon Morrow who in 13 games had a lot of good stuff behind his 7 and 4 record especially the 3.01 ERA and more impressively his WHIP of 1. His three complete game shutouts this season was a great combination of ground balls and keeping the pitch count down and focused on getting a ground ball and letting the infielders take care of the rest and the opponents were batting .179 against him. Then he started the elbow injury crew that have been quite a few with a couple close ones but then a lot of not so good and extremely scary stuff. After Morrow it has been Casey Janssen who has finalized the back of the bullpen where Jason Frasor, Darren Oliver, and he get a lead going into the seventh inning and U can almost put it in the win column. With Casey Jannsen who has 12 saves on the season and in those 12 save opportunities as the closer he has given up 4 hits in 12.1 innings pitched with 10 ks and a walk. While Darren Oliver has held opponents to batting average of under 2 and has a whip of 0.92 while Jason Frasor has not given up a run in 14 of his 17 appearances in June and July and gave up 4 runs in 14.2 innings pitched. The Francisco Cordero and Sergio Santos mess has been very bad especially Cordero who was unsble to close games as a Jay and even when he is able to get ground balls something always go wrong and he gets booed off the field. While Sergio Santos just has not been around and it does not feel like he will be around as a Jay for whatever the reason. Tom Mehegan

Jays flix their muscles

The Jays bats took care of business early and often as they squeaked out a 11-9 victory that they never trailed in the game and it started in the first when Dylan Axelrod of the Chisoxs walked lead off hitter Rajai Davis and he escorted home by a two-run homer Colby Rasmus who had 3 RBIs in the game and then Bautista walked and was escorted home by Edwin Encarnacion who had hit his first homer in July. Brett Cecil gave up a three-run homer to Alex Rios in the bottom of the inning as he had 3 hits and four RBIs while scoring all three times and the Jays got another run on a ground rule double by Rasmus and the biggest play for Cecil happened in the bottom of the second inning when with a runner on first got a double play ball off the bat of Tyler Flowers and a k to have a quick inning. The Jays went to work again in the third when Kelly Johnson hit his first homer since May 28th as he had a two-run digger to put the Jays comfortable in first 7-3 and Jeff Mathis hit a solo shot to lead off the fourth and the Jays went into the fifth inning with a 8-3 lead and had all their four homers in the game. Cecil in the fifth could not get the job done as he faced 5 batters and four of them scored and Jesse Chavez came out of the bullpen and gave up a two-run triple to Alexei Ramirez and it was 8-7 and then Chavez flirted with danger as he was leaving pitches up in the zone and the Chisoxs hitters were swinging under them and he k'd the next two batters to end the inning and start the k road for the Jays bullpen as they got 9 strike outs in the final 4.2 innings of the game. Cecil pitched 4.1 innings and gave up 7 runs on 6 and walked 3 and k'd 5 and just was not able to work through the fifth so Jason Frasor was able to pick up the win as he came in for Luis Perez in the seventh as Perez had the usually motion to the trainer as he pointed to his inside of his arm near the elbow and he was in pain and had to leave with men on the corners and Jason Frasor came in with the Jays up 11-8 and allowed the runners on third to score and then after a balk and an intentional walk k'd the last two batters he faced and Darren Oliver gave up a single to Kevin Youkilis who had a RBI double earlier in the game got a k before Casey Janssen came in and got a k and fly out to end the inning and then gave up two singles in the ninth and still got a k and an pop up and finished off the game with k of Alejandro De Aza. The Jays bounced back with a four run sixth after the Chisoxs 5 run fifth lead by a double into the left field corner by Bautista that brought in Colby who walked and had Rajai Davis second on a wild pitch on ball four and had walked and stole second and third apart of his 3 steals of the game. Adam Lind finished off the Jays scoring in the inning with a RBI double to score Bautista and really fitting into the five spot in the order behind the fab five and the Jays took advantage of the 9 walks in the game that the young Chicago pitching staff allowed in the game. Jays go into the all-star break with a 43-43 record and hopefully the time off will help Brett Lawrie who did not play with back soreness Tom Mehegan

Jays all-star daze is horrible for their playoff chances

For the third game in a row the Jays have been their own worst enemy and what should be a 5 game win streak and be matching their season high of 5 games over 500 and being a game behind the Orioles and a game and a half behind the Angels for the No.1 wild card spot but after a 2-0 loss to the White Soxs they are a season low of a game under 500 and is four games behind the Orioles and 4.5 behind the Angels. The Jays are in a big all-star daze as Jose Bautista with one out in the ninth got a double with Edwin coming up but Bautista decided to try and stretch it into a triple but Youkilis tagged him to end the game which is not even a major league mistake and it is a rookie ball mistake. When Edwin came up he may of been able to turn around a ball instead of striking out to end the game as he had already been able to get one of the Jays hits in the game and has that bat that Bautista has had the past two seasons and get that solid hit to bring him in. Adam Lind was left on deck and has gone 10 of 38 (.263) since returning and half his hits are x-base hits (4 homers and a double) so the Jays really had the chance to tie up the game if not get the lead and have the chance to bring in Janssen to finish the game. Ricky Romero throw alot of pitches in the game 105 over six innings and did walk 3 but only gave up 4 hits while on the mound and it was only one of them that hurt him and it was a two-run homer by Kevin Youkilis in the fifth inning with two outs in the inning and Alexei Ramirez had started the inning with a ground ball single and was escorted home by Youkilis. Ricky Romero only got himself in real trouble in the fourth when he gave up a walk and ground ball single and was helped by a double play ball off the bat of Alex Rios and he had 10 ground ball outs to 4 fly ball outs and he gave up two ground ball base hits and a line drive hit along with the homer. Ricky did get out of the first with one out with runners on the corners and got a key k of Paul Konerko one of his two ks in the game and it is something to really build off of for the second half for Romero and is the second straight game of being able to get ground balls. The Jays had trouble against Gavin Floyd who pitched 7.2 innings and was able to keep the Jays off balance and did not have more than a single runner on base during his outing and gave up 4 hits and two walks and 3 ks. Jays will need to get awake up call for tomorrow and hopefully Brett Lawrie will be back in the lineup as he left with a back injury Tom Mehegan

Jays throw away another one

The Jays early on had Jake Peavy struggling to catch his breath in the 90 degree weather in Chicago as had two on the first but did not get a run and then all the Jays could mustard was a solo shot to lead off the inning for the Jays only run until a run in the ninth as they fall to the Chisoxs 4-3. In the third the Jays left a single and a walk on and in the fourth they left a single on and through the first four innings the Jays had 5 hits and two walks and stranded 6 runners. Jake Peavy settled down retiring the last 11 batters and Matt Thornton retired the last two batters of the eighth and the Soxs retired 13 straight Jays going into the ninth were their closer Addison Reed walked Encarnacion and Adam Lind singled him to third where Yunel Escobar gets under a 1-0 pitch and he gaps it and two runs should of scored but it hung up in the air a little to long and instead it was a very long sac fly and Rajai Davis grounds out into a double play to end the game. Arron Laffy for the Jays was dealing through four innings on two hits and a walk and only had a 1-0 cushion going into the fifth and that is when Rajai Davis's D brings the Jays down as with a Dayan Viciedo double to lead off Alexei Ramirez singles to Rajai who picks it up and throws home to try and get the runner the ball has way too much air under it and misses everyone as it goes to the backstop and Ramirez is standing on third in a 1-1 game. The next batter Gordon Beckham loops a ball in between Brett and Rajai so Lawrie flips the ball to Rajai and it goes right off his glove and Gordon is on second because Rajai could not catch the ball and then with two outs Gordon scores on a Youkilis RBI single and caps a three-run inning where Rajai's mistakes cost the Jays two bases and an unearned run to Laffy. In the sixth with one out A. J. Pierzynski hit a homer off Laffy to give the Chisoxs a 4-1 lead and finish their scoring as Laffy pitched 6 innings and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on eighth hits and a walk and like his other two starts this deserves a better result as he picked up his first lose of the season. While Jesse Chavez pitched the final two innings for the Jays and gave the Jays a chance to make the comeback that did not happen. Two more games until the break the Jays need to battle stronger then their last two games Tom Mehegan

J.P. had a two homer game but Royals put up two crocked numbers

J. P. Arencibia had a strong game today as he had a two homer game against the Royals as he went deep off Luke Hochevar in the third inning to get the Jays back on the right foot as the two-run homer cut into the Royals 5-run third inning and made it 5-2. He then hit a solo homer in the seventh inning off Tim Collins to cut the lead to 5-3 but after the Royals had a three-run eighth inning the Jays came back with their own three-runs lead by the two out pinch hit two-run triple that Ben Francisco had which was his first pinch hit and two RBIs on the season and then J.P. grounded out to end the inning. In the ninth Yuniesky Betancourt lead off with his sixth homers on a 1-0 pitch from Andrew Carpenter who was making his major league debut and the Jays were unable to bounce back from a 9-6 deficit with the fab four in the bottom of the ninth. The Jays pitching kept the ball down all game with a few exceptions as they only gave up the solo homer and it started with Henderson Alvarez who throw 94 pitches through 6.1 innings and kept the ball down as he 10 ground outs to 2 fly outs. He got frustrated in the third inning when he throw 41 pitches and he got four ground balls that found the gaps in the defense for hits and the only line drive hit was by Eric Hosmer who hit it after Alvarez felt he got a k of him for out number two. The inning ended up being a huge 5 run inning and he only gave up one extra base hit which was a double and he gave 5 of his 8 hits and his 2 walks in the inning. In the eighth inning Frank Francisco came in and got more ground balls as got two ground balls to start the inning but they both found gaps in the D for singles and a dying quill single loaded the bases. Then with one out Alex Gordon hit a soft single in front of Jose Bautista but then with two outs Francisco was his own worst enemy as on an inning ground ball off the bat of Eric Hosmer to Kelly Johnson Edwin was too far away from first and Francisco needed to cover the bag and he arrived late which cost him two run as Jarrod Dyson who was on second did not stop at third and made it around to score the third run of the game. Salvador Perez had a four hit night for the Royals who was born in Valencia, Venezuela the same place as Henderson Alvarez and is the same age as him and he had two of his hits off Alvarez while Eric Hosmer had three of the Royals 8 RBIs. Tom Mehegan

Carlos Villanueva keeps the Royals off balanced

Carlos Villanueva kept the Royals off balanced in his six innings of work where he shut them down on 4 hits and did not allow a run to score a run and he only faced 21 batters and he reached his career high of 7 Ks. He got great defense behind him with a great double play started with Kelly Johnson throwing to Yunel Escobar who stepped on the base and then flew into the air and got it to Encarnacion at first. He only gave up 3 singles and a double and the Bullpen of Jason Frasor, Darren Oliver, and Casey Janssen finished off the 4-1 victory and the only reason why the Royals got on the board when Rajai Davis did not position himself properly and should of gotten in front of the ball when Jeff Francoeur hit a triple with two outs bringing in Mike Moustakas. The Jays collected 12 hits and all the Jays collected a hit in the game and moved up on a lot of fly balls including Kelly Johnson, Yunel Escobar, and Rajai Davis all had a Sac fly RBI and they drove in the first 3 runs of the game and Colby Rasmus who started the seventh inning with a single and moved up on back-to-back fly ball outs and then scored on a Yunel Escobar single and he was the last Jays to get a hit and he got two RBIs in the game. Jose Bautista had two singles in the game but in the second inning he came up with bases loaded and he struck out and he could of put the game out of hand and it is very interesting that he has hit .190 with the bases loaded in his career. Brett Lawrie had two singles to go with his three strike outs in the game and Edwin Encaracion also had two singles as well. Jays start the second half on the right foot Tom Mehegan

Roof opening brings Jays to life

The Roger Centre Roof was closed for the first three innings and Brett Cecil got into a bite of trouble and was down 3-0 after three innings as he gave up three runs in the third as he gave up back-to-back singles to Jeff Francoeur and Salvador Perez to open the inning and with still no outs yet Jason Bourgeois cleared the bases with a two-run triple and driven home by a sac fly from Alex Gordon. This was all that Brett Cecil gave up over 6 plus innings as he only a single and walk to open the fourth inning before leaving after given up his second x-base hit of the game to Mike Moustakas a double and Cecil bunched his 5 hits and a walk and battle to pitch very well in the game. In the bottom of the third with the roof rolled back the Jays put up another 6 spot on their opponents as they collected 8 hits in the inning and sent 11 batters to the plate against Vin Mazzaro who with the roof closed had the only two hits he had given up be erased and had faced the minimum 9 batters through the first three innings. So in the fourth inning the Jays did it with small ball as Colby Rasmus had a bunt single and Edwin Encarnacion had a RBI single on an infield hit and they played long ball as with the game tied at three Adam Lind took Mazzaro deep for the only long ball of the game a three-run shot to finish the scoring in the game as it made the final 6-3. The Jays collected 3 more hits and a walk over their last four times to the plate as everybody had at least one hit as the Jays collected 13 hits while the Jays only gave up a double to Jarrod Dyson as Jason Frasor in the seventh, Darren Oliver in the eighth, and Casey Janssen retired 9 of the last 10 Royals they faced to shut the roof on the Royals. It took them 25 pitches to finish off the last 9 outs of the game and Casey Janssen was on fire in the ninth like he just had better things to do than face the Royals as went after their all-star Billy Butler and struck him out in three pitches and only throw 7 pitches in the ninth. Jays are 41-40 after the first half Tom Mehegan

David Pauley is the Blue Jays white flag

David Pauley came into the game with the Royals up 6-3 with no outs in the seventh and runners on second and third and he got ahead of Billy Butler 0 and 2 and after Butler fouled off four straight pitches he then hits the guy going to the all-star game instead of Edwin Encarnacion to load the bases. With the bases juiced he allowed a RBI single by Yuniesky Betancourt and then with the bases still juiced he gave up a grand slam to Mike Moustakas to make the final 11-3 and he finished the game retiring 9 of the last 10 batters he faced. Ricky Romero was good for the first 6 batters and only allowed a single as he throw 15 of his 20 pitches for strikes and he struck out the first two batters in the second but the Jeff Francoeur walked and Ricky really unrivaled as he gave up a two-run homer to Salvador Perez. Then in the third he allowed two RBI doubles to Yuniesky Betancourt and Mike Moustakas and in the fourth he gave up two singles around a double and Alex Gordon single drove in a run and a wild pitch by Ricky Romero brought in another run. He gave up two runs in the second, third, and fourth and then again in the seventh as he was charged with 8 runs on 11 hits and three walks while striking out four and throw 49 of his last 84 for strikes but they were not very well positioned strikes and they were being hit really really hard. The Jays had 6 hits in the game and 5 of them from the fab 4 with Lawrie getting a double to lead off the game for the Jays as they had Royals starter Everett Teaford who had not lasted longer than 5 innings in his 5 starts this season and after Lawrie Rasmus had a sac fly to move his to third and Bautista walked while Encarnacion was hit by a pitch to load the bases and he had thrown 10 pitches and the two strikes were hit properly. Then Yunel Escobar came to the plate and grounded out on a 1-2 pitch and then on the first pitch Kelly Johnson got he hit right to Alex Gorden in left field to end the inning. From then on the Jays could scatter 5 hits over his other six innings and just could not square up his pitches to have any kind of rally in the game as Bautista had two hits including a solo homer in the third and Edwin followed that up with his hit a single but get anywhere close to home as Escobar ended the inning while Colby Rasmus hit his solo homer in the fifth. Jays need some pitching help but will they get some that is the question Tom Mehegan

Jays battle back but the bullpen does not show up

So the Jays went into the eighth inning tied 3-3 and coming back from a three run deficit in the sixth but Francisco Cordero comes in and faces 5 batters and allowed 4 hits and 3 for extra bases and got really lucky that J.P. make a caught on a foul ball for the only out he record but Cordero gave up three runs as he totally looked foolish in the game and got booed off the field by almost 35 thousand. So Cordero looked really silly when he got upset with a pitch off the plate Mark Trout and then leaves the next pitch up in the zone and the all-star tattoos it for a lead off homer and then Mike Trumbo cracks a two-run homer. Jesse Chavez came in and clean up Cordero mess in the eighth as he got two quick outs but came back in the ninth forgot how to pitch he gave up three singles and a walk along a sac bunt and sac fly as he was charged with 4 earned runs and everybody was running for exits but Rasmus did pad his stats in the ninth with three run homer to make it 10-6 Angels and a split series. The tone was set very early as in the first Rajai Davis who was playing right field for all-star Jose Bautista (who DH) caught an Albert Pujols fly ball but as he tried to throw the ball in he dropped it and Trout who was moving up on the play to third did not stop and scored the first run of the game with smart base running. In the bottom of the inning Jose Bautista strikes out swinging and the ball just flies and instead of running to first because he know he did not tip it he waits for the ump James Hoye and as the catchers waiting for a call from the ump he just standing there. On the play the only person paying attention is Colby Rasmus who was on third but because Jose just stood at home for a long time before running it was incorrectly called a foul ball and two pitches later Bautista lines out into a double play as Rasmus was running on contact with one out. This started a very confusing game for James Hoye as he in fourth inning starts to bring his hand up to call a strike but thinks better of it and makes the right call on Encarnacion on a pitch quite a bit off the plate and he walks and Mike Scioscia looking for a gift and wants it called a strike even though he did not go up with hands for a strike and made sure everyone know it was a ball. Scioscia had a talk with Hoye and the crew chief and was very animated and looked very silly but not as much as he did in the sixth inning when Hoye calls Lawrie safe at home on a collision play with the catcher as the catcher did not tag him and Lawrie did not touch the plate but then a made dash for home was clearly one by Lawrie's foot touching the plate before the catcher tagged him and Scioscia went nuts and was ejected from the game. The game all in all started with two starters dealing extremely well as Aaron Laffey pitched 6 strong innings and only gave up 4 hits and truly only had one pitch that cost him as Alberto Callaspo hit a two-run homer to give the Angels a 3-0 lead. While C.J. Wilson for the Angels heads into the sixth inning given up only two singles, two walks, and a hit batter but in the sixth he turned into a pumpkin as nothing went right for him and lost the strike zone completely as he walked three and had his defense just fall apart in the inning as Howard Kendrick boots a double play ball and he only gave up one single and two runs scored in the inning. Colby Rasmus helped the Angels in the sixth when he charged home on a shallow fly ball to Torri hunter and was out at the plate for a double play and maybe Adam Lind with one out comes up with the bases loaded and does something to help the Jays take the lead but J.P. still hit his 11 homer a solo shot in the seventh to get the Jays even. Royals for four need the series if not the sweep as their pitching is in worse shape than the Jays Tom Mehegan