Brandon Morrow and the outfield steal one from the Rays

So the game came down to the top of the ninth with the Jays up 2-1 and Closer Casey Janssen on the mound and after a Jeff Keppinger single to open the inning. He was replaced by Elliot Johnson and on a single by Carlos Pena to right field and Johnson tried to score the tying run and Moses Sierra throw a frozen rope to Jeff Mathis at the plate and Johnson tried to hit Mathis as hard as possible to knock the ball loose but Mathis held on to end the game. Elliot Johnson got the worst of it as Mathis went in tagged him and immediately fell back as Johnson went full speed onto home plate as he dove onto it and had to have a coach take him under his arm and walked him back to the dugout. This was not the only outfield assist in the game as Rajai Davis with first and second with one out in the second inning of a scoreless game Ryan Roberts singled to left field and Matt Joyce tried to score from second and Mathis blocked the plate and Rajai throw a perfect throw to the plate to get him. After Desmond Jennings to lead off the third inning and then B.J. Upton singled Brandon Morrow settled down and retired 14 of the last 17 hitters while given up three separate doubles that did not hurt him. He went 6.2 innings and gave up a run on eight hits with a walk and 5ks and has continued to throw strikes and not walk batters as 67 of his 102 pitches were strikes and he has been able to fight out of jams that would of sent him to the showers early. Steve Delbar got four outs and 2 ks to get the Jays to the ninth and Janssen even though he gave up two singles still picked up save 19 and gotten saves in the last 3 games and had an opportunity for four in five if it was not for Jeter's homer Monday which means the Jays are getting the lead into the seventh so that the pen can do what they have been doing all season. The Jays were out hit 10-4 but out homered the Rays 2-1 as Moses Sierra hit his third to lead off the bottom of the third to tie the game up and then Edwin Encarnacion with one in the fourth hit a monster shot for his 34 homer of the season and sent the fans home happy along with picking up two hits in the game. The Rays have now lost 11 games when their pitchers in a game have given up two of fewer runs in a game including at least 6 in August and now to help to try to get more offense they have picked up Ben Francisco (yes that guy who was on the Jays bench most of the season). Jays are getting the pitching again Tom Mehegan

Carlos Villanueva and the bullpen shutout the Rays

Carlos Villanueva has been the best starter for the Jays over the last two seasons with 10-7 record and given up 139 hits in 138.2 and 64 earned runs (4.15 ERA) in 24 starts over the last two seasons and is really putting together a good resume for the Jays and the rest of the league to take notice and will be making some coin as a free agent in the off season. So Carlos Villanueva came into the game with a 0-4 record in the month of August and came in and just controlled the Rays on 5 hits over 6 innings and a walk while he k'd 7 batters. He gave up two singles to open the second and then after a sac bunt he got a pop up behind the plate and a strike out to end the inning and retired 9 straight batters including striking out 6 straight to tie a team record and in the fifth with two on Rajai Davis made a diving catch to end the inning. The Jays came out of fire in the bottom of the first against Matt Moore who had come into the game with a 4 game win streak and had given up 7 runs in his last 6 starts and they attacked him before he could get comfortable as Edwin Encarnacion walked which was followed by a single by Adam Lind and Yunel Escobar walked to load the bases which lead to Kelly Johnson hitting a two-run double that accounted for the only runs of the game. Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar both had two of the Jays 7 hits in the game which was huge for the middle field of the Jays who have been underachieving with the bats. The Rays losing 2-0 is the 6 time in August that they had been shutout and 4 of the first 5 were 1-0 shutouts and they are still in the heart of the playoff race only 1.5 behind the A's and O's. The reason for this is pitchers like Matt Moore 6 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings and held the Jays off the board after the first inning. The Jays bullpen of Darren Oliver, Brad Lincoln, and Casey Janssen who picked up his 18 save in 21 opportunities went 9 up and 9 down with 4ks to close the game down like the bullpen has done so well this season even though they not been put in the position with a lead after 6 innings. Jays stop a 5 game losing streak against the Rays Tom Mehegan

Yunel Escobar had a four hit game to beat the Yanks

Yunel Escobar who has been one of the few healthy Jays all season but had been struggling hitting in the .240's and had been on the trade block at the end of July came through with a four hit game to carry the Jays to a series win against the Yanks 8-5. Escobar was 4 of 5 with three doubles and a homer and collected 5 RBIs in the game and it started in the third with the Yanks up 2-0 heading into the inning and the Jays came up with three unearned runs off CC Sabathia thanks to Jayson Nix's error where he left an Adeiny Hechavarria ground ball on the ground and Escobar came up third straight two out hit to give the Jays a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning Rajai missed read the ball off the bat of Curtis Granderson and started in for the ball and then realized the ball was hit harder and moved back for it but it went over his head for a two-run double and he would later bobble a ball that would not cost the Jays. Yunel Escobar crushed a ball off in the sixth inning with a runner on and Ichiro did not move back to even try to get it because it was that smoked and it gave the Jays a 5-4 lead and then the Jays and Yanks put up a run in the eighth as Escobar scored on a Jeff Mathis sac bunt and then Brandon Lyon gave up back to doubles to open the inning and Russell Martin was good friends with the third base and the ball hit the bag and it scored the Yanks run. Escobar had his third double in the ninth inning with the bases loaded against Joba Chamberlain and he drove home two more runs and Casey Janssen had a clean ninth for his 17th save. J.A. Happ is dueling with best pitchers in baseball as he has pitched against Yu Darvish, Justin Verlander, and now C.C. Sabathia and it may off not of been his best outing but he still was able to keep the Jays in a game against Sabathia. The sore part of his outing was him walking 5 against the tough Yanks batters (one intentional) and did not look good after the second inning after striking out the side and he went into the club house and got fixed up and lasted 5 innings and almost 100 pitches but 5 walks and 6 ks will do that to pitchers. In the end he only gave up 4 hits leading to 4 runs and the two run mistake by Rajai did cost him but it was not credited as an error but should of been. C.C. Sabathia went 7 and gave up 5 runs but on 2 earned on 9 hits and a walk to go with his 8 ks and Granderson ended up with 3 RBIs with a RBI ground out. Kelly Johnson had two much needed hits and Adam Lind continues his return with two more hits Tom Mehegan

Jays shutdown Bautista and get bad news on a prospect

In a year that it felt like it could not get any worse for the Jays they got even worst as their first supplementary in the first round pick in this years draft Marcus Stroman was suspended by baseball for 50 games after having a positive drug test for having methylhexaneamine in his system. He says that he took it as apart of a over the counter supplement that he got from a chain store and it seems like the Duke University pitcher need something to give himself some more energy and make himself less tired. Stroman who was looking like the most polished prospect in the draft and had the best chance to make a major league roster this September when the rosters expand and the so-called expects were saying that he could of pitched in a bullpen of a playoff contender down the stretch. So it looks like it is clearly a mistake as it is something to keep people awake and focused longer and Stroman will now while he sits 50 games and his growth in baseball in shut off for a while into next season and he will not be able to pitch after spring training for a while. He will diffidently need to think twice about what is on the label and make sure it is not against the rules in baseball as the majors are cracking down after the embarrassment of the Ryan Braun incident in the off season where the NL MVP was catch with a PED in his system and the sample disappeared and he got off with nothing. Jose Bautista after not getting through two games with the Jays after coming off the DL had another MRI and it showed that he needed surgery and will be gone the rest ofg the season but will be ready for spring training. It is still a mystery of what kind of power he will have next season as Edwin Encarnacion and Lyle Overbay both had this injury and Encarnacion took two years to get back to full strength and Overbay never did. A really tough season Tom Mehegan

Ricky Romero pitches better but Hughes pitches better

Ricky Romero and Phil Hughes had 7 innings of what u can do I can do beat and in the end Romero ended up as the tough luck loser as the Yanks came up with a 2-1 victory. Ricky Romero put up 2 runs on 5 hits and that would be probably the best performance in a while but Phil Hughes remembers giving up 7 runs on 9 hits on August 12 against the Jays in the Bronx in only 4 innings and tonight he gave up a run on 4 hits. Hughes did walk a batter more than Ricky (3-2)and Ricky did k an extra batter (6-5) and in the end it came down to some inexperience as Adeiny Hechavarria in the third forgot who was at the plate and as it was Ichiro who got a ground ball and with a runner on first looked at second before throwing to first cost the Jays an out that came back to hurt them as one of the extra batters Nick Swisher singled in the first run of the game. Then later in the game in the sixth inning the Jays had Phil Hughes on the ropes as he walked Colby Rasmus and Edwin Encarnacion to start the inning and Adam Lind flied out deep enough to move Rasmus to third but Yunel Escobar flared a ball to Robertson Cano at second that had a chance of getting over his head but Colby on contact started home and was doubled up to end the inning. Adeiny Hechavarria in the fifth hit his first ever homer in the majors to cut the Yanks lead from 2-0 to 2-1 in the fifth and if Colby had played it smarter he could of tied the game and the Jays only had a single in the last three innings and Rafael Soriano picked up his 34 save of the season. Moses Sierra who will get more opportunity in right field with Jose Bautista having season ending surgery had two hits and Jayson Nix who claim to unfame will be the guy who ended Mariano Rivera's career had two hits as well. J.A. Happ who has been spectacular since joining the jays will be pitching the finale Tom Mehegan

Jays recharged with Lind back in the lineup

The Rain out in Baltimore along with the train ride to the big apple recharged the Jays bats as flexed their muscles smacking three bombs in the game while the Yanks returned serve against the Jays as they hit 4 of them with Robertson Cano smacking two solo shots of starter Henderson Alvarez. In the end it took a Yorvit Torrealba single in the top of the 11th to setup the winning run as Mike McCoy came into pinch run and Derek Lowe tried to pick him off first base and mightily failed as he throw horrible and by the time the dust had settled McCoy was standing on third as Lowe was charged with a two base error. Adeiny Hechavarria stepped up with less than two and got the runner home from third as the Jays put 8 runs in a 8-7 victory over the Yanks which is the most in like three weeks since they last played the Yank and snapped a 7 game losing streak. The biggest hit of the night belonged to Colby Rasmus who to say he was struggling coming into the game would be an understatement to say the least as he had like struck out ten times in his last 9 games was an incredible 1 for 37 with 18 strike outs and even though he struck out twice in the game with the Jays down 7-5 in the top of the ninth he pumped a three run blast with two outs to give the Jays a 8-7 lead. To go with Colby's two hits as he had a single also Adeiny Hechavarria had hits and 2 RBIs while Yorvit Torrealba had three hits including his first homer as a Jay a two-run shot. Adam Lind made his return to the lineup in first at bat in over a month on a 1-1 count took David Phelps deep to lead off the second inning The Yanks lite Henderson Alvarez up like a christmas tree as they 4 runs on 5 hits and the two solo shots by Cano a walk and a k in only 3.1 innings and it looks like he has a leg injury so he maybe sitting down for an outing or two or more. Arron Laffey replaced him and gave up one hit over 2.2 innings pitched and it was a two-run blast to Nick Swisher in the fifth inning with one of the three walks on. The Jays bullpen retired 18 of the last 22 Yanks in the game and only two hits but one of them was to Derek Jeter on a 0-1 count to started the ninth inning with a homer off Casey Janssen who blow his second save in his last 3 opportunities after 15 straight saves and is falling victim to the lack of competitive games as he has only 5 opportunities in his 10 appearances in August. Darren Oliver bounced back with a two inning win where he only walked a bat and k'd three others in the game after not being sharp in his last few appearances Tom Mehegan

Morrow is back but Bautista is gone again

In an O's romp 8-2 ovr the Jays the shining light was Brandon who pitched brilliantly for four innings and then was simply gassed if the fifth as battled at times and put the D in position to finish the job and that is where everything fell apart. He gave up 4 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and was smoking the O's to the tune of 7 ks while still mastering the strike zone as he only walked one which was apart of him loading the bases and then getting out of it in the second as he struck out Manny Machado to end the inning. In the third he gave up two singles to start the inning and then got Nate McLouth to put a ball up for Jeff Mathis and then got Adam Jones to hit double play ball to new baby daddy Yunel Escobar who booted the ball badly and by the end of the inning the O's had tied the game up at 2. Morrow was unable to get out of the fifth inning as allowed the first two batters to collect hits and after another k Jays killer Adam Jones picked up a two-run double and now has 9 RBIs in 11 games against the Jays this season. The Jays were only able to muster 4 hits off Steve Johnson over 6 innings in his second career start and really the only damage offensively was an Edwin Encarnacion two-run homer in the first inning and then everything went quiet as Johnson k'd 7 himself and walked two and the Jays were only able to collect 6 total hits all game. Omar Vizquel only two hits behind the babe for 40th overall on the hit total as he got two more hits and will get every opportunity to play down the stretch. The Jays got some very bad news as Jose Bautista seems to have comeback to soon as he re injured his wrist and only took his first at bat and very much struggling Colby Rasmus who came into the game 3 for 40 at the plate and struck out 3 more times for 13 in his last 5 games. Chad Jenkins had a very rough 6 inning as it was 4-2 going into the inning and he gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk in the inning and then settled down after given up three singles in the seventh as he retired the last 5 batters of the game but his 4 runs on 6 hits and two walks over 4.1 really blow open the game for the O's. It maybe time to sit Jose as there is no point in rushing back Tom Mehegan

Chris Davis too hot for Jays to handle

So Chris Davis came into the game with 4 of his 20 homers and 7 of his 60 RBIs against the Jays this season in only 9 games and tonight he took his dominance of the Jays this season to whole different level as he three for four with three homers and 4 RBIs in the game and got a standing O in the eighth inning when he struck out. The O's continue to pay back the Jays with their 6-4 victory for simply man handing them over the last two seasons as the Jays coming into this season were 30-6 against with a perfect 18-0 in 2010. The Jays really had little to nothing against starter 24-year-old Zach Britton as he went 6.2 given up two runs on 4 hits and two walks to go with his six 6ks. The Jays were able to cut a 6-2 O's lead in half in the ninth with a two-run homer from Jeff Mathis and needed either Rajai Davis or Colby Rasmus to reach base so that Jose Bautista could come to the plate with the tying run on but Davis got beat out by a magnificent place by J.J. Hardy and even better play by Mark Reynolds who barely kept his foot on the bag as he was stretched out and Rasmus looked silly striking out against closer Matt Lindstrom. Jose Bautista did not look great as he went o for 4 with two ks and it will be a while for him to get the Rhythm and it could be a long while for power surge. Carlos Villanueva went 5.2 inning and gave up four runs on 5 hits with a walk and four ks and gave up two solo homers to Davis and it could of been a lot shorter than than it was as he throw 29 pitches in the first inning and gave up a ground-rule double and a walk and then got Matt Wieters to hit a ball to Rajai Davis who made a diving catch. The thing about the catch was that Rajai got careless with the ball and opened his glove and it fell into his hand but if it an inch one way or the other it would of falling to the ground as the Jays have learned this season u need to transfer the ball to your hand to make it an out and two runs would of scored and Chris Davis would been next up and he may of been closer to 40 and the game would of been out of control. Tomorrow is going to be the first time on major league mound for Brandon Morrow in over two months Tom Mehegan

J.A. Happ is everything the wanted and more but ...

J.P. Happ went head to head with Justin Verlander and was equal if not better than Verlander for his 7.1 as he gave up a single run on four hits and did walk 3 but his 7 ks made up for it. He got some very good D as Anthony Gose went all out for a ball early but the play of the game happened in the bottom of the fourth Ramon Santiago (who replaced Miguel Cabrera) hit a ball into foul ground and Edwin Encarnacion caught it and Kelly Johnson had a massive heads up play covering first to double up Omar Infante who had singled to open the inning and helped Happ get a 1-2-3 inning after the Jays got their first two hits of the game in the top of the inning as Colby Rasmus singled and Edwin Encarnacion drove him home with a two-run blast to put the Jays up 2-0. Verlander got six straight batters until all heck broke loose in the top of the sixth and by the end of the inning nobody was happy with the umps and it started innocently enough with Rajai Davis getting hit by a pitch and he felt it he was jumping up and down but stayed in the game. With Colby Rasmus at the plate Rajai decides to make Verlander pay and tries to steal second and actually does as his hand reaches the bag before it is tagged and second base ump Chad Fairchild calls him out and Rajai does not like it and has a word or two as he going back to the dugout. Then Justin Verlander is not happy with plate ump Alfonso Marquez and it looked to help him as Edwin and Kelly Johnson get rung up looking to end the inning and both have a few words. When Johnson is rung up he is at the plate having a conversation with Marquez who is animated but does not toss Johnson so Jays manger John Farrell gets involved to protect his second baseman and after he is done talking it was time for Jim Leyland comes out and make sure that Farrell does not get a call but the best part of all this is that nobody was tossed. The Jays lead stayed until the eighth inning where after getting the first out of the inning J.A. Happ walks Alex Avila and after 106 pitches he was replaced by Brandon Lyon who gave up a single before out No. 2. Then Darren Oliver comes in after not pitching in 5 days and gave up a ground ball out of the reach of Kelly Johnson and went into the outfield off the bat of Brennan Boesch to plate a run and with Prince Fielder at the plate a pitch off the plate and it hit Jeff Mathis and carried away from the plate that was scored a wild pitch and Austin Jackson scored to make it 2-2. It went extras and in top of the tenth the Jays got a lead-off single by Jeff Mathis and with one out he was replaced by Mike McCoy and Anthony Gose hit a screamer at in a normal situation would of been a RBI single/double but Austin Jackson came out of nowhere and took one for the team and laid out and made a game changing catch. In the bottom of the eleventh the Tigers won the game as Delmon Young grounded into a force play and was replaced by Quintin Berry who was 16 of 16 stealing bases and got his opportunity and got the benefit of the doubt as he stole second on a bang-banger and Alex Avila home on a shallow fly ball that Anthony Gose can not run down and Chad Jenkins picked up the loss. J.A. Happ is all the Jays could hope for and will be a good third starter next season Tom Mehegan

Jays the rainbow even though they lose another

The Jays have some very good things happening for them and even though Brett Lawrie took a step back it looks like Jose Bautista will be joining the Jays in Baltimore on Friday and he maybe coming without his power I bet he will figure out how to get on base and improve his batting average. Then there is Brandon Morrow who has not pitched in a major league park since mid-June is ready to take the mound on Saturday against the Orioles and lets hope he can continue the strong pitching he did earlier this season and go into the off season on a high note. The Jays lost 3-2 to the Tigers behind a much better performance from Arron Laffy than his last few starts as he went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits with 2 ks and his big problem was three walks which compared to Ricky last night it was nothing but did not give up a long ball as he gave up one on every hit in his last game with 3. The D was not sharp as all three runs scored on mistakes as in the fourth Omar Infante was created with a triple with one out but if Rajai Davis in left field came up with the ball clean instead off bobbling it would of been a double and he would of not scored the first run of the game on Arron Laffy wild pitch. In the fifth the Tigers got another run with two outs and a runner on second Jeff Baker came through with a single and because Moses Sierra accuracy was not at its best Baker picked up a RBI as new catcher Yorvit Torrealba (from the Rangers to replace Gomez/J.P.) had to go up the third base line to get the ball and it was 2-0. In the top of the sixth Edwin Encarnacion drove home Rajai Davis's walk with one out and cut the Tigers lead in half 2-1 but then the Jays got more bad news as Jeff Mathis took over for David Cooper who had a mishap on the bases in the fourth as he smoked a single right field in the fourth and took a wide turn but the ball was fired back in fast and he slipped on the base pass and had to dive back into first and injured his neck. In the bottom of the sixth inning with Yorvit Torrealba now at first and Jeff Mathis behind the plate the D hurt them again as Austin Jackson reached on a throwing error by Adeiny Hechavarria who was playing short for Yunel Escobar who has left the team for a couple of days as his wife had a baby. Then Jackson on a single by Prince Fielder was dead to right as Jeff Mathis received the ball from Rajai Davis and he was called out but then Mathis drops the ball and the eventual winning run scored. Anibal Sanchez for the Tigers 6.2 and gave up two runs on 5 hits with two walks and 6 big ks as the Tigers became the second team in the American league to record 1,000 ks so far this season but on his last pitch Adeiny Hechavarria got a sac fly RBI getting the runner home from third with less than two outs. Moses Sierra had two hits and looks to be ahead of Anthony Gose at the moment and I hope he takes over for Rajai in left when Bautista is back and make Rajai the fourth outfielder that he should be Tom Mehegan

Ricky likes to walk Tigers

So Ricky Romero did not come in with the most walks but he gave up a single to Austin Jackson and he had three hits in the game who moved to second on an error to Omar Visquel who was playing third because Brett Lawrie had a set back in the minors and will not being joining the team anytime soon. After following up with two outs Ricky pitched around Prince Fielder and walked him and was ahead 0 and 2 on Jhonny Peralta and walked him and then walked Delmon Young to bring in the first run and by the end of the second he had walked 6 of 8 batters and was down 3-0. Then after the walks ended he retired 11 of 13 Tigers but when Edwin Encarnacion cut the lead to 3-1 with a solo shot in the 6 inning but Ricky was not comfortable with it being a two run game so in the bottom of the inning he walked two more to give him the lead in walks with 86 and loaded the bases and Omar Infante had a RBI single and after Brad Lincoln came in for Ricky he gave up a RBI sac fly and it was 5-1 after sixth. Ricky Romero had 8 walks in the game which is the most walks in baseball this season and he lasted 5.1 innings and gave up 5 runs on 7 hits with no ks. The Jays faced Max Scherzer who was striking out so many Jays that he passed teammate Justin Verlander for the lead in ks and k'd 8 and went 7 innings and only gave up the Encarnacion homer and he gave up 5 hits. The Jays rallied for two runs off the bullpen in the eighth off Octavio Dotel as David Cooper had a RBI double which was apart of his three hit night and Yunel Escobar RBI single. In the ninth the Jays got Edwin Encarnacion up as the lead run with runners pn first and second and he argued about strike one and swung at a pitch in the dirt for strike two and with David Cooper on deck Edwin Encarnacion was called for bring his bat to far against Jose Valverde by the first base ump to give Valverde his 24th save of the season. Ricky is still looking for his stuff and his second summer win Tom Mehegan

Jays humiliated by Rangers

Jays took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as Yunel Escobar singled and Moses Sierra walked so it was first and second no outs and Mike McCoy had a ground out to score Yunel with one out. This when the Rangers bats came alive as they picked runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth inning and when the Jays finally looked up at the board it was 9-2 Rangers on their way to a 11-2 romp. It started with two in the third as they picked up four hits in a row with both Geovany Soto and Mitch Moreland both picked up RBI singles and in the fourth David Murphy drove home Micheal Young with a RBI double and Jays starter Henderson Alvarez was playing with fire early and got mild burns being able to k two in a row to come the third and get Mitch Moreland to end the fourth only down 3-1. Henderson Alvarez with bobbing like a Ricky Romero Bobble head in the fifth because everything thing came crashing down on his as the Rangers batted around just like the Jays did so well when healthy and by the time the inning was over Henderson Alvarez was nowhere to be seen as they put up 5 runs to make it 8-1. Henderson after getting the first out of the inning by getting Ian Kinsler to pop up he allowed the next 6 batters to reach base with the crushing blow being former Jays farm hand Micheal Young with his fourth homer of the season a three run shot that capped the inning and Josh Hamilton had a RBI double and Nelson Cruz had a RBI single. Henderson went 4.1 gave up 8 runs on 12 hits and 3 walks to go with 3 ks and then Brad Lincoln had a rough sixth inning after finishing the fifth for Alvarez as he gave up a two-run ground-rule double to Micheal Young to make 10-2 as Mike McCoy hit his first homer of the season in the fifth which was the second and last hit for the Jays in the game. In the ninth Chad Jenkins gave up a solo shot to David Murphy and the Rangers got great hitting performances from Micheal Young who had 3 hits and drove in 5 while Elvis Andrus had four hits and David Murphy had two RBIs in the game and three hits and so did Geovany Soto as pounded the Jays into the turf with a 19 hit attack. They cruised to the victory behind starting pitcher Matt Harrison who went 8 innings and retired the last 11 Jays he faced as the Jays had all of their last 14 hitters not reach base and he gave up two runs on two hits with a walk and 7 ks. Jose Bautista is in the minors and will probably be back but the power maybe missing for a while Tom Mehegan

Those trouble-making umps at it again

The trouble making umpire crew that handled the Dodgers and Pirates game where Angel Campos baited the Dodgers by constantly looking into the dugout Thursday and then Matt Kemp gets toss for supporting his teammate from the dugout and then Don Mattingly got tossed and now suspended for two games for sticking up for his players. So what does Angel and his crew get to do they get to come to Toronto and ump the Jays and Rangers series and the middle game of the three game series with the Rangers holding onto a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning and Yunel Escobar the third Jay hitter at the plate with bases loaded in the past two innings takes a pitch that looks like it caught the inside corner so he has couple of words for home plate ump Jeff Nelson. The at bat goes on and Yunel does not get all of a ball and pops it up and ends the inning and madly throws his bat down and nothing happens so we are still good so Yunel goes out to his position at shortstop and starts throwing around the ball in the infield and Nelson has his eye on his and when Yunel stares back he is tossed and just by chance angels in Yunel's neighborhood as the second base ump and the Rangers hold on to the 2-1 victory. The game itself was a good pitchers duel with lots of awesome plays along with miss plays by umps and players alike starting in the top of the first inning with two outs Josh Hamilton flies out 400 feet to Colby Rasmus to give Jays starter Carlos Villanueva a 1-2-3 inning but on replay it turns out that it actual hit the top of the wall before going into Rasmus's glove so it should of been a hit instead of an out. In the fifth inning with the Jays up 1-0 Adrian Beltre hit a lazy fly ball to Anthony Gose in Right Field and loses it in the sun and can not recover and bounces behind him and over the fence for a ground-rule double and the next pitch Villanueva throws tattooed by Nelson Cruz for a two-run homer. The D was on showcase as Adeiny Hechavarria at third dove for a ball off the bat of Craig Gentry in the second inning and was still able to get Mitch Moreland at second for the force out. In the ninth inning Mike McCoy who replaced Escobar and switched with Hechavarria made a beautiful play taken a hit away from Micheal Young. The Rangers also got a masterful play on D from Ian Kinsler with runners on first and second in the sixth and dove and kept a Jeff Mathis grounder in the field so David Cooper was unable to score to tie up the game and loaded the bases for Anthony Gose who got lucky as he battled Robbie Ross for 10 pitches as third baseman Adrian Beltre was unable to get to a ball as it was just out of his reach but Gose ended up getting k's on the 10 pitch of the at bat. The Jays had with two on and one out Edwin Encarnacion was walked intentionally in the seventh to load the bases for David Cooper who battled back from a 0 and 2 count to a 2-2 count and on the sixth pitch popped up to shallow left field to Josh Hamilton and Hechavarriva was not able to score from third and then Escobar does his thing and the inning's over. Roy Oswald got the emergency start for Ryan Dumpster who left the Rangers because of a family emergency and Oswald in the third he walked Anthony Gose who then stole second and balked to third and finally driven home by Hechavarria who had to hits to go with his first RBI while Oswald gave up the run on 2 hits and walked two and k'd 5. The story of Oswald is that he lasted 4.2 and had a runner on second with the lead and Ron Washington the Rangers manager decided to take him out instead of allowing him a chance at a win with one more out so Oswald was pissed in the dugout. Carlos Villanueva gave up two runs on 4 hits and walked a batter while striking out 4 in 6.1 innings and one pitch cost him the victory. Umps are stealing the show Tom Mehegan

Jays k'd 12 Rangers and hit for the cycle

J.A Happ started 3 and 0 on the lead off hitter Ian Kinslar and came back and struck him out to set the tone for the game as he struck out the side in the second and third and had 7 of his 8 ks once through the order and the Jays went on to win 3-2. When Kinslar came up again to start the fourth he became the first base runner of the game and then struck out his final batter of the game Elvis Andrus and went into the fifth inning without given up a hit where the lead off hitter Michael Young singled and that was followed up by a single David Murphy. In the fifth he also gave up his only run of the game as Craig Gentry had a RBI ground out and the lead was saved by Rajai Davis who went back to the fence on a ball hit by Mike Olt and hit the wall and caught the ball at the same time to end the inning and not allow the tying run scored. He gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk over sixth very strong innings to help the Jays win their first game in 5 as he has picked up his straight victory for the Jays. The Jays only got for hits in the game for a team cycleand three off Yu Darvish over eight innings and Edwin Encarnacion with Yu only walk of the game on base hit his 31st homer in the first to give the Jays a 2-0 lead. In the fifth the Jays got their two-run lead back with a two out triple by Anthony Gose that Craig Gentry dove for missed it and then Rajai Davis drove him home with a RBI single and Yu finished with 10ks. Kelly Johnson came up with a ground-rule double to complete the cycle in the eighth off reliever Alexi Ogando. The Jays bullpen struggled through the seventh inning Steve Delabar was able to get two outs in the inning and gave up a walk and a single but then was unable to get pinch hitter Nelson Cruz out and walked him to load the bases and Mike Olt reached base on an error on Omar Visquel to let the second Rangers run to score. Brandon Lyon came in and got Ian Kinslar to ground out to end the inning and he stayed in the game and k'd Elvis Andrus and then Arron Loup came in and struck out Josh Hamilton who was the last of the starting lineup to strike out as all of the original Rangers lineup got k's at least once. Casey Janssen went through the Ranger 1-2-3 to pick up his 16 save of the season and K'd David Murphy for the final of the 12 ks in the game of Rangers batters. Jays are going to be hopefully a better all around team next season Tom Mehegan

Blue Jays give up 5 homers in another loss

Lets start with what might be a little tiny sliver of good news in a 7-2 loss as Jose Bautista is hitting live baseball practice and will continue during the weekend and if all goes well he will head to the minors to get into games. Arron Laffy had good staff but when the Soxs got a hit they all left the field of play as he pitched 6 strong innings and gave his only walk to Youkilis in the first and then he gave up his first hit in the third to Dwayne Wise with one out snapping six straight Soxs retired and then in the fifth after retiring 5 straight he gave up back-to-back hits to Dayan Viciedo and Tyler Flowers with the Jays up 2-1 and it turned the tables of the game. Laffy retired the sixth batters he faced and ended up with 5 ks and with the shoe string battering order that was lessened tonight as Edwin did not play and it has putting a huge amount of pressure on the pitchers to be almost perfect. The Jays got three hits off Chisox starter in the third inning Francisco Liriano including a two-run homer from Moses Sierra and after Jeff Mathis picked a single 13 Jays were retired in a row as Yunel Escobar walked to lead off the seventh and it took til the eighth for the Jays get another hit as Jeff Mathis picked up his second hit of the game and was the only player in the game with more than one hit while Rajai Davis followed with a double. The Jays bullpen had its struggles in the eighth inning and it was Darren Oliver who looked very rusty as he has been getting spot duty as a setup man and came into the game with the Jays down 3-2 and with one out Kevin Youkilis singled and Oliver pitched around Adam Dunn for a walk to bring up Alex Rios who planted a three-run homer in left field. After getting the second out of the inning Oliver was replaced by Brandon Lyons who faced Alexei Ramirez who finished off a four-run eighth inning with the Soxs last homer of the night but then struck out Dayan Viciedo to end the inning. Jays lost everything to the Soxs for the first time since 2006 and now here comes Yu Tom Mehegan

Blue Jays crushed by the long ball

Ricky Romero continue his mystery tour of a season with only one in the Summer and that came June 22 and that was 10 starts ago and tonight he started and finished the same way as his first pitch hit Alejandro De Aza and his last pitch in the seventh hit Kevin Youkilis. In between that he had his bad parts like when he loaded the bases in the second on back-to-back-to-back singles and Dwayne Wise hit a ball down into the left field corner and the left fielder Edwin Encarnacion ran a long way and catch the ball but fell hard on the turf and the ball came out of his glove and just like Colby Rasmus earlier this season learned that u need to transfer the ball from glove to hand tp record the out and the end result was a two-run single and the Chisoxs had a 2-0 lead. Gavin Floyd the starter for the chisoxs starter pitched very well and through the first three innings had given up only 2 singles but Romero in the fourth faced Dwayne Wise again with a runner and Wise crushed a two-run homer to give himself all four RBIs in the game through four innings. The Jays got on the board with Rajai Davis at the plate with one out and runners on first (Anthony Gose) and second (Omar Visquel) and Davis was caught looking and he was not the only one as Kevin Youkilis was too and not covering the bag as the runners were running and the ball hit Visquel and he ended up on the play. During innings catcher A. J. Pierzynski (catcher) and Kevin Youkilis (third base) got into a heated argument but then separated and A.J. was glaring at Youkilis as Youkilis was looking at a bat. The Jays tied up the game in the sixth on Kelly Johnson 14th homer of the season a three-run shot and the 4-4 tie did not last as Ricky walked De Aza and then hit Youkilis. Farrell had enough and pulled Ricky for Brad Lincoln who fell behind a lot of batters and got really hurt no than Adam Dunn on a 2-0 pitch crushing a ball to right field for a three-run blast and with two outs Dayan Viciedo did not miss 3-1 pitcha two-run shot to cap a five-run inning. Jeff Mathis hit a solo shot in the ninth to make the final 9-5 for the Chisoxs who had not won back-to-back games at the Rogers Centre in 6 years. Ricky Romero went 7 plus and gave up 6 runs on 8 hits and 4 free passes (two walks and 2 hit batters) to go with 5 ks but struggled mightily but did retire nine straight batters after Orlando Hudson got a single right after the Wise homer while relying on the fastball way too much. Gavin Floyd went 6 and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits and k'd 8 and did not give up a free pass and really got hurt by Youkilis not covering third and Kelly Johnson sitting fastball and got a cutter that did not cut and launched it. The Jays got two hits from Omar Visquel who tied Harold Baines with 2866 while David Cooper collected two hits as well and has 51 hits in his career. Dwayne Wise had two hits and was joined A.J. Pierzynski and Dayan Viciedo as the Chisoxs had 3 homers in the game. Jays are waiting for healthy bodies and who knows when that happens Tom Mehegan

Henderson Alvarez has nightmare of a fifth inning

Going into the fifth inning the Jays were in control 2-0 with a two out RBI single by Yunel Escobar scoring Rajai Davis in the first and in the third Rajai Davis doubled to lead off the inning and stole third and was driven home by a Mike McCoy RBI ground out. The reason the Jays were in control in the game was because of Henderson Alvarez who through four had faced 14 batters and thrown only 42 pitches and had given up two singles and was charged with an error and had a double play ball behind him as well. That all changed in the fifth inning and he was a pitch away with two outs in the inning with a runner on first and second but that is where the nightmare began as he gave up two more singles to Alejandro De Aza and former Jay Dwayne Wise who both collected RBIs. Then Alvarez began to sweat during the nightmare as it all came down to him as with enemy No. 1 Alex Rios at the plate Alvarez stepped off the mound looked quickly at third and throw wildly to first as David Cooper jumped for it but the throw was too high and De Aza scored the winning run in a 3-2 Chisoxs victory while Rios ended up being k'd to end the inning. Henderson Alvarez throw 23 of his 84 pitches and he gave up 3 (2 earned) on 7 hits with no walks and 2ks but did have two throwing errors as he gave up only one more single over his last two innings and ended up with 13 ground balls to two fly balls and pitched very well in the game. The Jays got 8 hits in 6.2 off Jose Quintana but did not score a run after the third and had their chance with fifth as Edwin Encarnacion was up with one out and the bases juiced and he scotched a ball right to Kevin Youkilis at third who doubled up Rajai at second to the inning. In the seventh with two on and two out Edwin stepped up to the plate and out to De Aza and in the ninth with Colby Rasmus coming off the bench and collecting a single with one out and if Mike McCoy was able to come through with a two out hit Edwin would of had his third shot at bringing in the tying run at least but Chisox closer Addison Reed got McCoy to fly out to Alex Rios to end the game. Since ripping Rajai Davis a new one he has come out with a very hot bat and no fielding blunders in a couple of days as he had a 3 for 4 night and scored both Jay's runs Tom Mehegan

Blue Jays young guns win it in 11

The Jays were ahead of the Chisoxs 2-1 thanks to Moses Sierra first ever major league homer in the bottom of the seventh but in the ninth inning Adam Dunn on Casey Janssen's first pitch over the left field fence and unlike yesterday Rajai Davis was not able to bring it back for Dunn's second homer of the game. In extra innings after Steve Delbar in the 10 inning became the first Jays to ever to strike out 4 in an inning as he struck out Tyler Flowers for the second of the inning on a curve and it got away from Jeff Mathis and Flowers was safe at first and then k'd Gordon Beckham and Alejandro De Aza to end the inning. He struck out two more in the 11th for 6 in the two extra innings and got got the putout at first from David Cooper who grabbed the ground ball of Adam Dunn. In the bottom of the 11th David Cooper came through for the Jays as it was runners on the corners after Kelly Johnson walked with one out and Edwin Encarnacion singled him to third which lead to Coopers single to a very busy Alex Rios who made great plays in right field but was unable to get to the ball and the Jays won the game 4-3 in 11. The starters were solid for both teams as Carlos Villanueva went 7 outstanding innings with a walk and 8 ks and it was the longest outing as a Jay and he had a problem with Adam Dunn as he had two of the Soxs 5 hits and until the fourth Villanueva had only given up a walk to Kevin Youkilis and then retired 9 straight batters. In the fourth inning Adam Dunn got a little hungry and hit a ball almost into the restaurant for his first homer of the game and is now the home run leader with 33. Jake Peavy went a strong 8 innings as he gave up two runs on 5 hits with two walks and 6 ks and it was Moses Sierra who was his problem child as Sierra reached base three times as he walked, singled, and homer against Peavy. In the third inning Peavy was his own worst enemy as he hit both Anthony Gose and Kelly Johnson before Edwin Encarnacion hit a two out RBI single to put the Jays up 1-0 and then both Johnson and Encarnacion were both caught in run downs with Johnson finally getting tagged out. Brandon Morrow looks to be getting two more double A starts before returning to the Jays Tom Mehegan

Edwin Encarnacion sets a career high in 6 run four

Edwin Encarnacion sert a new career mark in RBIs as he hit a two-run blast and escorted Mike McCoy who is back again and he capped off a 6 run innings and put the Jays up 7-0 after four innings of work on their way to a 10-7 victory. The bats have not been this loud for a hole week as the Jays crushed up 14 hits and it is a very welcomed happening which may not be happening very often the rest of the way as Colby Rasmus is day-to-day and Yunel Escobar is up in the air. The Jays left more runners on base today 7 than yesterday's 5 but can up with key hits going 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position today. The big bat today was Rajai Davis who is trying to make up for his D with hisa bat and I still could live without him even though he collected all 5 base runners that were on base for his in the fourth and fifth as he had runners on first and second and both scored on his double in the fourth and then he doubled with the bases loaded in the fifth and all runners scored and it put the game away at 10-1 after five. Edwin and Moses Sierra both had three hits in the game while Rajai Davis and David Cooper had two each as the Jays hammered Phil Hughes for 7 runs on 9 hits over four innings and then Ryota Igarashi gave up Davis's three-run double in the fifth. J.A. Happ picked up his first win as a Jays and was stellar when he needed to be as he gave up a single to the first batter of the game Derek Jeter and then retired 12 in a row before Andrew Jones doubled with one out and Casey McGehee drove him home with his own double with two outs in the fifth. In the sixth he was hurt by the long ball as with one out Derek Jeter hit a solo shot and with two outs and a man on Robertson Cano hit a two-run shot on Happ last pitch of the game as he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and did not walk a Yank and k'd 4 of them over 5.2 innings. Brad Lincoln did not help his cause today in the seventh as he pitched pitched an inning and his down fall was after given up a lead-off single to Curtis Granderson and then got two quick outs but he had three shots at getting the third out as he gave up back-to-back RBI doubles to Jason Nix and Derek Jeter and followed by a Nick Swisher RBI single to get Lincoln out of the game. Darren Oliver still had trouble getting out of the seventh as he gave up a double to Mark Teixeira and hit Robertson Cano to load the bases as the Yanks had 5 straight batters reached but after Andrew Jones grounded out Oliver went 3 up and 3 down in the eighth and Casey Janssen did the same in the ninth to pick up 15 save of the season. It is nice to see the Jays put on a show in front of almost 44 thousand as they got 130 for the series Tom Mehegan

Rajai Davis's defense creates a big mountain to overcome

The Jays got early on against the Yanks got a very strong performance from Arron Laffy who over the first three innings hit a batter and allowed an infield hit to Derek Jeter that Adeiny Hechavarria had no chance of getting an out on but when the play was over it was a bang banger that Hechavarria catch bare-handed as he cut across the field and nearly missed the putout with a strong throw to first. In the fourth inning it was a different story as Arron Laffy allowed 4 runs on 4 hits and a walk where he gave up two singles, a double, a walk, and a three run homer to Casey McGehee who hit his first homer as a Yank and is hitting a loonie as a Yank (1 for 10 in three games). The reality is that the four-run inning should of not been as just before McGehee's homer Jayson Nix singled to left field with runners on first and second and two outs and Mark Teixeira was huffing and puffing going around third and the ball beat him to the plate but Rajai Davis's throw was a little off line as it was closer to the middle of the plate and first base than on the third base side.This made it made it so that catcher Yan Gomez needed to dive towards Teixeira as he did so he slide his leg across the plate for the first run of the game. Rajai Davis is utility outfielder at best who has never been given a full-time job and on a contender would not be playing as much as he is for the Jays and it is his lack of focus and carelessness that cost the team big time as through out the time in Toronto he makes bad plays that lead to losses. For example when Ricky Romero was struggling at Yankees Stadium when they were last there and when he needed to come up with a simple play in the outfield he ended up jumping when if he did not jump he would catch the ball and the 4 run first inning would been cut to three in the rain shorted finale. In the end as the Yanks take the middle game 5-2 it should of been all about Edwin Encarnacion who with two RBIs set a new career high in RBIs with 77 as Arron Laffy struggled throw 5.2 innings and being tested time and again by the Yankees given up 5 runs on 7 hits with 4 walks. The only other run for the Yanks was a Derek Jeter ground-rule double cashing in a Casey McGehee double in the sixth inning and did get great D behind him as with two walks on and one outs he got Andruw Jones and Curtis Granderson to ground out both to Davis Cooper at first in the fifth. The young bats of the Jays left 5 batters and went 2 for 8 against Ivan Nova and David Robertson who got the last out of the eighth and Rafael Soriano went three up and three down for his 28 save. Nova went 7.2 innings and gave two runs on 5 hits but also hit Yunel Escobar twice the first time it looked like in the shoulder blade and the second on the elbow so that Omar Visquel came in as a pinch hitter in the eighth and in the ninth we saw Adeiny Hechavarria play short for the first time in the majors. He got 10 ks and 4 of them were Anthony Gose who had rough afternoon but I will take young players getting used to the majors over players that just do not show the jam of being able to focus on the task at hand. The play of the game was a ball that David Cooper hit to Teixeira and he went to second for the force out with one out and runners on first and second and Jayson Nix did not keep his foot on the bag but the Ump had already made up his mind so instead it was two outs with runners on the corners instead of bases loaded one out for Moses Sierra who hit a ball to Teixeira to end the sixth inning. David Cooper in the same situation the last time up struck out in the fourth on ball four and Sierra still did ground out to Teixeira while Rajai Davis did got on base with a single and a double and scored both times on Encarnacion RBI singles. Yunel may be the next on the DL or it maybe Colby who re-injured with groin injury Tom Mehegan

Jays new pitchers explode into flames

In the eighth inning with Ricky Romero figuring out away to get through 7 innings and not being touch up for huge innings and the Jays were down 3-2 but the new guys that the Jays pickup on the 10 game road trip or just before it gave up 7 runs over the last two innings. In the eighth Steve Delbar, who was pick-up for Eric Thames from Seattle, gave up 3 runs on four hits when the Jays need a shutdown inning and gave up a lead-off homer to Mark Teixeria and followed that up with a two-run single to Ichiro. The Jays had a rally in the bottom on the eighth as they put up a run as Anthony Gose singled and then ran and ran as he stole second and third and after Rajai Davis walked Colby Rasmus them promptly killed the rally with a double play and Edwin Encarnacion foul out to end the inning. In the ninth David Carpenter came in, he was apart of J.A. Happ trade from Houston just before the trip, and he was batting from the first pitch Derek Jeter looked at a fast ball and liked it so the second pitch was the same fast ball and he laced it to Rajai Davis and Nick Swisher followed driving him home with a double nd after Teixeira lined out and Robertson Cano was intentionally walked and Raul Ibanez came off the bench and delivered a RBI single to make it 8-3 and after Jason Nix got k'd Carpenter hit Canadian Russell Martin and spelled the end for Carpenter. Then Brad Lincoln, who they got for Travis Snider from the Pirates, came in and got a liner that Rajai Davis dove for and missed off the bat of Ichiro who was credited with a two-run single and 4 RBIs in two innings but Lincoln was best of the three as he got Curtis Granderson to end the inning. The Jays got off the mat in the ninth with a run as they put together three singles with a balk in the middle and if the bullpen did their things the Jays could of gotten a better result for the 41.6 thousand that packed the Rogers Centre. The starters were very good as Ricky Romero he got through the first 1-2-3 and then he compounded a Robertson Cano single with a walk which did three times in the game and then the D hurt him with Jeff Mathis getting to a bunt from Jayson Nix throw it wildly and the Yanks were on the board. After he walked Russell Martin on four pitches Ichiro Suzuki grounds out and the Yanks were up 2-0 and Ichiro ended with 5 RBIs in the game but Ricky got out with no more damage in the inning. In the third inning he gave up a single to Nick Swisher and when Robinson Cano singled with one out Swisher tried to score and Anthony Gose wild throw allowed him to score an unearned run as Ricky Romero started 11 of the last 13 Yanks being retired by him. He ended up going 7 innings given up 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits but did give 4 free passes (3 walks and a hit batter) and really battled and kept the team in the game and the two errors were not helpful. Jeff Garcia went 6 innings for the Yanks and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits did not walk a Jay and gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the second and a RBI double in the fourth both to Kelly Johnson as he had two of the 5 hits off Garcia while Davis Cooper had two of the Jays 9 hits in the game. Of those 41.6 thousand squeezed into the stadium the guy next to me who name was Tim and he was with his girlfriend and he was drunk and she first went back a row were a bunch of ladies were and talked with them. Then Tim found a bunch of guys in that row that he sat with and then he got a little out of control and his girlfriend wanted him to sit beside her and they ended up leaving and she was pissed and he will be dealing with more than just a hangover lets just say in the morning. Tom Mehegan

Blue Jays ran early but still got swept away

Henderson Alvarez and the Blue Jays continued their disastrous trips to St. Petersburg Florida and it was a good first inning for Alvarez with only give a single but in the second inning Ben Zobrist reached on an error on Edwin Encarnacion who tried to scoop the ball to Alvarez before he had it on what would of been a bang bang play and it was beginning of the end for the Jays as after Carlos Pena grounded out for the first out things fell the railings. as he allowed 13 of the next 21 batters to reach base and when the Jays finally opened their eyes and looked at the score board it read 6 runs 11 hits with two outs in the fourth inning and he was credited with 4 earned runs as Edwin's error cost him to extras runs and 3 walks did not help him at all. When it was all said and done Evan Longoria had three hits and 2 RBIs and in the bottom of the eighth he and Joel Madden held up the game in a 7-1 victory where Madden asked the umps to review Evan third hit of the game that went off the top of the wall and stayed in and the ump actually reviewed the call underneath and it was called a double. Jeff Keppinger had three hits and Jose Lobaton had two hits and three RBIs in the game. The Jays got on the starter early and this time it was Matt Moore with Rajai Davis leading off with a double and stole third and with one out and Edwin Encarnacion at first on a walk Moore was charged with a balk that brought in Rajai for the only run of the game and Edwin stole third and Yunel Escobar hit a ball to Keppinger at third who got Edwin at home and that was all the offense the Jays got. Moses Sierra single to open the second and he stole second but then Moore retired the next 14 straight and 15 of 16 when he left after sixth innings of one run on two hits with two walks and 6ks and the Jays picked up their third and ginal hit in the ninth inning Davisd cooper had a double. The game ended with fireworks as Rajai Davis was hit in the top of the eighth by J.P Howell and in the bottom of the inning Casey Janssen hit Matt Joyce may of cost the Jays as he throw 12 more pitches to get the final out of the inning. Brett Lawrie is on the DL and should be not rushed back Tom Mehegan

Toronto Blue Jays almost blow up Fernando Rodney in the ninth

Fernando Rodney the closer for the Tampa Bay Rays who throws really fast (almost three digits) and had saved 33 of 34 save opportunities came into the game with the Rays up 3-1 in the ninth and he was hittable tonight as Yunel Escobar did not wait around as he made contact (not very hard contact) and hit a soft looper into the outfield grass and it just in the air just a little to long as Matt Joyce came in a very long way to make the catch for out # 1. This very important as the next David Cooper if that ball drops and Escobar is on Cooper ends up being the tying run and Cooper ended up hit one of the shortest legit homers in baseball at 315 feet to a very short wall in left field and it traveled like 315 and a half feet as it bounced off the top of the short fence and out for a solo shot to make it 3-2. Rodney got Kelly Johnson and Jeff Mathis to both hit balls to shortstop Elliot Johnson to end the game and even though he gave up his second homer of the season and it almost became his second blown save of the season and would of been both by the long ball he did only throw 9 pitches and is now tied for the lead in saves with 34. Carlos Villanueva was back right in time for the game after dealing with personal issues had one huge hiccup in the game with Jays up 1-0 going to the bottom of the third as gave up back to back doubles to Desmond Jennings and then to B. J. Upton to tie up the game. Then he compounded the situation as he gave up a single to Matt Joyce to make it three straight hits by the Rays but then he got a ground ball off the bat of Evan Longoria for the 6-4-3 double play to clear the bases and give the Rays a 2-1 lead. Things a lot more difficult for Villanueva as he walked the next two batters with two outs and on full count pitch to Jeff Keppinger who hits a ground ball through the infield for what would be the winning run and Villanueva pitched to 8 batters in the inning and then got the next 10 of 11 and retired the order last time through with 4ks and only allowed a single to Sean Rodriguez lead off the fourth. He went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and three walks to go with 7ks in the game. Alex Cobb went 7 innings for the Rays and gave a run on 5 hits and k'd 7 and did not walk a batter but did hit two Jays in the game in the third Rajai Davis was hit by a pitch and Colby Rasmus's single moved him to third and and Edwin Encarnacion drove him home with his 75 RBI on a sac fly. Kelly Johnson in the seventh doubled to lead-off the inning and Jeff Mathis moved him to third on a sac bunt but then Cobb k'd the last two batters he faced in the game Anthony Gose and Adeiny Hechavarria (who was hit in the fifth) and the Rays kept getting the k's as Joel Peralta came in k'd the side three up and three down to make it 5 Jays in a row sat down by a k from the pitching staff with the k's in baseball. Bautista may be done for the season and Lawrie still can not swing a bat (important) Tom Mehegan

The Blue Jays are unable break through the Shields

Colby Rasmus was 2 for 3 with a walk in the game and a solo homer in the fourth and a walk against James Shields and tallied the only run in a 4-1 loss against the Rays and Shields went 8 innings and throw 116 pitches in the game and gave up 2 hits and a walk along with a hit batter to go with 6ks. James Shield 67 strikes and 49 balls and really never was in trouble and retired 11 of his last 13 batters he faced including a double play in the seventh to erase Yunel Escobar being hit by a pitch. Fernando Rodney had a pretty easy ninth inning as he retired Edwin Encarnacion and Yunel Escobar on ground balls after Rasmus got a single with one out with only real problem was being questioned by the home plate ump on wiping his forehead and then touching the ball when he needed to wipe on his Jersey before touching the ball. In his first start J.A. Happ got unlucky as in the second when he gave up soft two hits to Ryan Roberts out if the reach of Edwin Encarnacion down the line behind first base and Moses Sierra had get it and it turned into a double and then a looper off the bat of Sean Rodriguez over Kelly Johnson's head scores the first run of the game. In the third Desmond Jennings lead off the inning softly lined a ball right in front of Colby Rasmus and then a ground-rule double from B. J. Upton and Ben Zobrist walked to load the bases and then the harder hit balls off the bats of Evan Longoria and Jeff Keppinger for sac flies to put up a 3-0 lead. Happ gave up solid doubles in the fifth to Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist and he ended up given up 4 runs on 7 hits with a walk and 5ks but should of been in better shape as the Rays just hit his pitches perfectly. The Jays had two firsts in the game as Adeiny Hechavarria got his first major league hit in the third a single and Chad Jenkins struck out the first major league batter he faced Ryan Roberts and he pitched a 3 innings shutout and gave up two hits as k'd two and did not walk anyone Tom Mehegan

Drew Hutchison finish til at least 2014

Drew Hutchison, the 23-young stud pitcher of the Blue Jays, after avoiding the worst it has happened once again for the third time this season a pitcher is heading to Dr. Andrews for the Tommy (John) surgery and will be sitting out the entire 2013 along side Luis Perez who had the surgery done during the all-star break and Kyle Drabek who had it done for the second time Monday after Hutchison went down. Drew and the Jays have been waiting since mid-June against the Phillies when Hutchison finished a horrible streak of 3 of 4 starters were sidelined with injuries for him to rehab with the hope of having him pitch in September but after a set back in his recovery it was decided to have the surgery. Drew will be out at least 18 month and at best he will be back after the all-star break in 2014 and it is a huge set back for Drew who in 11 starts with 5-3 with a 4.60 ERA but had figured out how to avoid the disaster inning hurt him in his early starts as he went at least 6 innings and gave up a run or less in 4 of 6 starts before he faced the Phillies on June 15. It is also a tough time for the Jays as they are still trying to get starting pitching like everybody else in the majors as they are putting J.A. Happ back into the starting rotation on August 7 and it is the first start since being traded to Toronto from Baseball-worst Houston Astros. Jays could of had Cliff Lee but decided to not do it and will need to go out and get a veteran pitcher who will not be a strong as Lee so bad decision Tom Mehegan

Jays get help from the sun in a 3 run fifth

With the Jays down 4-3 to the A's with two outs and no outs in the fifth inning Rajai Davis popped a ball into the outfield grass behind second base but Adam Rosales lost it i the sun and it dropped on the grass for a single and after Anthony Gose doubled and Edwin Encarnion was intentionally. Then the cleanup hitter for the day came up and hit a two-run single to give the Jays a 5-4 lead and Kelly Johnson singled home Edwin to make it 6-4 and with an amazing grab off the bat of Jemile Weeks and throw to first to double up an one out walk to Brandon to end the game after being move over to third for the ninth inning to pickup a 6-5 win. The Jays started the game by taken their first lead in the series before extras when Rajai Davis doubled and was on the run when Anthony Gose laid down a sac bunt and did not stop at third and came into score to give the Jays a 1-0 in the first. Arron Laffy retired the first 5 in a row to start the game but then gave up a single and Derek Norris doubled for a RBI and then in the third he walked Jemile Weeks and after Jonny Gomes singled it brought Josh Reddick to the plate and he hit a three-run homer to give them a 4-1 lead. Laffy retired 10 of his last 12 batters including a double play started by Adeiny Hechavarria and Laffy finished 6 innings give up 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk to go with 4ks. While the bullpen the A's down as Brandon Lyon struck out the side in the seventh but gave up doubles to Adam Rosalesand then Coco Crisp for a RBI and then Arron Loup and Steve Delabar got shutout inning in the eighth and Casey Janssen had trouble with Derek Norris to start the inning as he was hitting long foul balls but then he relaxed and k'd him and ended up getting his 14 save of the season. Jays got a two-run homer from Edwin Encarnacion in the fourth to give him 29 on the season with 74 RBIs while the young outfielders of Anthony Gose and Moises Sierra had two hits in the game with Gose scoring twice and Sierra made a beautiful catch off the bat of Coco Crisp in the bottom of the fifth inning to save a probable run as Jonny Gomes followed with a double. J.A. Happ has been moved up to Tuesday as Villanueva has left the team but will be back for Wednesday start Tom Mehegan

Ricky Romero comes up with an ace performance to help Jays end losing streak

Rick Romero pitched one of his best games and came up with an ace performance when the Jays need it the most as he went 7 strong innings and did have to fight his mental strength as well and was a big part of getting a win on John Farrell's 50 birthday. Ricky did not get his first win in his last 8 starts but put the Jays in position to win the game and he only gave a double as the only extra base hit the Jays pitching staff gave up and it did score the only run the A's put on the board as Derek Norris drove in a walk to Chris Carter in the second inning and it held up again til the ninth. Then in the fifth Ricky got frustrated with Kelly Johnson not getting a ground ball that would of been out number 3 and instead it was a hit and Romero walked the next two batters to load the bases as apart of his four walks in the game and then finally settles down and got Michael Taylor swinging and it was one of his 5 ks on the day. For the third game in a row the Jays put a run on the board and for the second game in a row the Jays tied the game up with a homer of Ryan Cook to tie the game up and sent it to extras and this time with one out the clean up hitter David Cooper hit a ball for a solo shot that Jeff Mathis hit last night all 388 feet away from home plate. The Jays pen put up another 4 scoreless innings and Steve Delabar pitched to 5 batters and got four of them out with 3ks and Casey Janssen throw 3 pitches to erase Delabar's walk in the ninth with a ground ball double play. Jessie Chavez, who is back up with the Jays as Brett Cecil was sent down to Las Vegas to figure out how not to allow homers, and Chavez pitched well and allowed a single to Jamie Weeks and walked a couple to load the bases and it was more him not getting the calls than throwing balls and kept the ball down and got Josh Reddick swinging to finish the tenth. The put up two runs in the top of the 11 to take a 3-1 victory with Edwin Encarnacion singling to open the inning and with one out Edwin stole second and Rajai Davis walked and with last night's hero at the plate Jeff Mathis the runners were off again and even though Mathis struck out A's catcher George Kottaras throw the ball away down the line to plate the winning run. Then with Moises Sierra at the plate he hit his first ever major league double to score Rajai and it was the second hit of the night for Sierra and both time he got caught trying to score as in the top of the second he tried to score from first on an Anthony Gose double and ran into the tag and in the 11 he tried to score from second on Anthony Gose single and slide in and may of hurt his hand but stayed in the game. Darren Oliver 13 pitches to get the A's 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11 for his second save of the season. Adeiny Hechavarria has come up and today 0-3 with a walk and two ks as he played third for the first time maybe ever as Brett Lawrie out til at least Tuesday while Anthony Gose got to play center and had his issues with Sierra trying to run him over for fly balls as Colby Rasmus sat out today and maybe back tomorrow. J.A. Happ will take Cecil's start on Thursday in Tampa Tom Mehegan

Jeff Mathis brought the Jays back in the ninth but lose in extras

So thw Jays were down to their last out of the game against the A's closer Ryan Cook down 4-1 and David Cooper the first first baseman of the night singles and was lifted for pinch runner Moises Sierra and then Rajai Davis singled to bring up Jeff Mathis as the tying run and after fighting back from 0-2 to a full count pitch which was a high fastball that he sent the ball 367 feet over the wall that was 366 feet away to tie the game at 4. In the bottom of the ninth Yan Gomez came in and played first base and then in the 12 inning the Jays had a single from Omar Vizquel, who came in off the bench to replace Brett Lawrie in the bottom of the first after Lawrie took a wicked swing and fouled off a ball and held his rib cage and finished the at bat being catch looking. Then Colby Rasmus hit a ball into the lwft field corner where Yoenis Cespedes missed played and when he throw to Brandon Inge who throw home where Vizquel ran out of gas and was thrown out at home and on the play Colby got hurt and after the inning he was replaced by Edwin Encarnacion as Gomez went into the outfield and Gose became the center fielder and Edwin became the third first baseman while pitchers had to hit through the rest of the game. The A's got the win in the 15 inning where Jemile Weeks lead off with a triple off Arron Loup and then Coco Crisp had a sac fly to win the game and even though Loup lost the game he pitched very well pitching the last two innings and gave up two hits and he even got to stand at the plate and be caught looking. While the A's got the last three innings from Travis Blackley who continued to fool the Jays batters as he only gave up a single and picked up the win and they got 6 innings from Dan Straily in his first major league start and he gave a run on five hits and k'd 5 and walked one. In the extra innings the bullpen of Jerry Blevins, Pat Neshek, Sean Doolittle, Travis Blackley only allowed three hits. The Jays got three innings out of Brad Lincoln who did not start well as he load the bases with a singled followed by two walks in the tenth and then retired the next 9 batters. Brett Cecil did not pitch well tonight as he allowed 4 runs on 9 hits with a walk and k'd a batter each but gave up a run in each of his last four innings and got lucky in the second with a run in and runners on first and second with no outs and got back-to-back ground balls including a double play to end the inning while in the fifth the Jays outfielders got mixed up and Rasmus caught the ball but Gose was right beside him and was going after the ball as well. Brett Cecil still allowed two homers in the game as he gave up a solo shot to Jonny Gomes in the third and Chris Carter to lead off the fourth inning. Jays continue to lose on and off the field Tom Mehegan

Blue Jays give up more walks than hits in another loss

So the Jays came into this game against with a four game losing streak and had only scored 7 runs on 23 hits over that streak and tonight the Jays out hit the A's 10-7 and that is three more than the next highest total in the last 5 games now but still fell to the A's 4-1 given up 8 walks in the game. They had their chance through out the game with David Cooper flying out to CoCo Crisp in center with runners on first and second in the fourth while Rajai Davis went a step further as he had bases loaded in the sixth right after he lost another ball and this time it was in the lights (# night game) and ground out softly to first base to Brandon Moss who stepped on the bag and just kept running all the way to the dugout. Then still not on the board in the ninth with a Cooper double and Rajai single putting runners on the corners with no outs the kids are unable to come through as Yan Gomez struck out swinging and Moises Sierra hit a double play ball that if he was not so darn fast it would been game over so with a run in Brett Lawrie singled which brought up Colby Rasmus as the tying run but he grounded out to second to end the game. So Henderson Alvarez was looking good as he had only allowed a walk and a single through two innings with his new battery mat Yan Gomez behind the plate but when he gave up a lead off hitter in the third to the nine hitter Eric Sogard he lost his composer as he through a wild pitch that got past Gomez the runner moved into second and with one out Seth Smith singled him home. Then Josh Reddick came and smashed a two-run homer as the A's took a 3-0 lead and collected 3 of their 4 hits off Alvarez in the inning. Alvarez in the fifth after Rajai Davis lost the ball in the lights and CoCo Crisp ended up on third base with no outs and after he fielded his position perfectly off a ball hit to him by Seth Smith he then walked the three and four hitters but got Brandon Moss to hit into an inning ending double play and walked the first and last batter he faced in the sixth for his fifth walk. He went 5 plus innings and gave up 3 runs on four hits and walked 5 (one intentional) and just showed not a lot pose on the mound in the third inning while J.A. Happ finished seventh and eighth given up a run on 2 hits with 2 walks and 4 ks. Bartolo Colon pitched eight innings for the A's and allowed no runs on 7 singles with 3 ks and a walk and he gave up two singles to Colby Rasmus, Edwin Encarnacion, and Yunel Escobar with the other going to Anthony Gose. It will be a tough couple of month for Jays fans Tom Mehegan

Eric Thames teaches the Jays a lession

Carlos Villanueva with a 3-1 lead with two outs in the fifth was smokin' hot having thrown 53 pitches and 40 of those for strikes and had gone 9 up and 9 down before given up back-to-back singles to Dustin Ackley and Michael Saunders to lead off the inning which put runners on the corners for Jesus Montero who grounded into a double play where Ackley scored but Villanueva got out of the it only given up the one run. With two outs in the fifth Villanueva is unable to get a ball past Mike Carp on a 1-1 count or a 1-2 count as he fouled off two pitches before grounding into the outfield to bring up former Jay Eric Thames in his second at bat against his former team and Villanueva who got ahead of Thames with two curve balls and then with the count 1-2 it looked like he was not on the same paige as Mathis behind the plate and still throw a pitch which was a slider that Thames delivered into left center field to tie the ball game up. The Mariners took the lead with Michael Saunders on third with two outs and John Jaso singled off Villanueva who took his first loss of the season 5-3 and is now 6-1. Arron Loop gave up a two out ground rule double and an Ackley single to give the M's another two out run. The game turned on a base running blunder by Rajai Davis who was on second and Anthony Gose on first with two outs in the fifth with a run in on sac fly by Jeff Mathis Rajai breaks for third trying to steal and stops but Gose started to run on Rajai move so Gose was at second so Rajai was a dead duck to end the inning. I do not know if it was a set play and Rajai forgot that Gose was at first but after the out Rajai looked to very apologetic to Gose so that may of been what happened and if it is a straight double steal U can not not stop. After this play the M's starter Blake Beavan was a different pitcher as he retired 8 of the last 9 Jays he faced after starting the first five inning given up 3 runs on 6 hits with Rajai Davis and Colby Rasmus getting two of the 7 hits he gave up over 7.2 innings. The Jays got Solo homers from Colby Rasmus in the first and Kelly Johnson in the fourth Tom Mehegan