Series recap: Jays wake up in Baltimore

September 24-26, 2012

After losing six in a row in the Bronx and at the Trop, the remaining Jays fans who have now turned their eyes elsewhere (not hockey) were looking for a turnaround in Baltimore. And it looks like they got one - a small one, mind you, as they went 2-2 in the four game set.

 

In all, the Jays come back off the road going 2-8, quite disappointing, but frankly, in a best case scenario, with the teams that they were playing and the state of the roster, 4-6 might have been the best to hope for.

On the pitching front, Laffey's effort was by far the highlight of the series. Alvarez, Romero, and Villanueva were not good. The bullpen however was excellent with the exception of Wednesday night's game when Farrell trotted out Carreno, Beck, and Carpenter down by 4, 6, and 8 runs. Janssen also looked rusty in his efforts but managed to get out relatively unscathed.

On the hitting front, Arencibia, Lind, Edwin, and Hechavarria were highlights, while Colby and Lawrie were disappointments.

• JP went 7 for 9 with two walks in the series, after going 2 for 37 with two walks since his injuries. Perhaps he's turned the corner, a great sign. Remember that in the 18 games before his injury, he hit .319 / .349 / .700 (with six home runs) and was really coming together. In Baltimore, he hit a  home run and a double.
• Adam Lind went 6 for 9 in the series (all singles). Since September 11, Adam's hitting 17-51 (.333) with 4 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run for an OPS of .906.  If Lind can end the season on this positive note, it will be difficult to dismiss him as the opening day 1B or DH especially against RHP and the value of his contract.  
• Edwin went 5-16 with two home runs. Edwin, in his last 11 games is batting 12-37 with 4 home runs and 8 walks (OPS 1.106).  
• Hechavarria went 3 for 8 and is running a 9 game hitting streak, batting 10 for 29 with 2 doubles and a home run in that stretch (OPS .889). Since August 23rd, Adieny is hitting (.303 / .329 / .434) over 81 plate appearances and is making the argument to be in the starting lineup next year.

On the awful side, Colby Rasmus went 1 for 12 (two walks) while Brett Lawrie went 2 for 16 (3 walks). Colby's batting .111 in his last 11 games played; Lawrie is batting .170. When your 1-2 in the order has a .255 and .200 OBP respectively, it's hard for Edwin to drive in runs. Bautista had the same problem at the start of the season when Escobar and Johnson headed up the lineup.

 

Monday afternoon: Jays 1 at Orioles 4

 

The Jays continued their offensive drought Monday afternoon, while Henderson Alvarez gave up four runs over 5 2/3rds inning in a step back after three good outings.

Henderson's enemy again was the home run. In the bottom of the fourth, a lead off walk to Chris Davis was followed up by an Adam Jones home run. Alvarez gave up an another home run to Flaherty to open the bottom of the fifth, and Alvarez really started to come undone in the bottom of the sixth, as the Orioles loaded the bases (Jones single, Wieters double, Thome intentional walk) with none out. Mark Reynolds then hit into a double play, scoring Adam Jones. Cecil then came on to finish the frame, and Frasor and Beck finished off the game without any damage being done.

Henderson's line was 5.2 innings pitched. Over 86 pitches, he walked 3, struck out 6, and gave up 2 home runs. The Jays defence was fine that afternoon with no glaring problems or issues.

 

On the offensive side, the Jays threatened (as usual) a few times in the game before breaking through in the eighth inning with two outs. Edwin singled, Lind singled, and Rajai Davis doubled home Edwin. Darren O'Day came on to strike out Kelly Johnson (good guess) to end the threat. Jim Johnson breezed through the last frame to record his 48th (!) save.

 

The rookie Steve Johnson let in 3 hits over five innings of work and looked great, now going 21 scoreless innings over a couple of starts and relief appearances. And besides Tommy Hunter, the rest of the Orioles pitching staff pitched with their usual efficiency.

 

For the Jays hitting, Colby reached twice on walks, and Adam Lind hit twice. Jeff Mathis went 0-2 as did Yunel. Anthony Gose went 0-4.

 

Monday night: Jays 9 at Orioles 4.

An excellent offensive effort by the Jays (Arencibia's 5 RBIs), and a key defensive play by Gose resulted in a Jays win.

The night game featured the struggling Ricky Romero vs Wei-Yin Chen. In this match, the Jays needed some excellent defensive play to win this game. Ricky was truly lucky to end up with the win.

Edwin started off the scoring in the top of the first with a two run home run following a Brett Lawrie walk. Ricky's bottom of the first looked a little shaky with a opening walk.

Chen continued to be shaky in the 2nd. Sierra singled and Visquel doubled to open the inning. JP Arencibia hit a long fly ball to right to advance Visquel and score Sierra. Gose singled to left to score Visquel and it was 4-0 going into the bottom of the 2nd.

But in the bottom of the 2nd, 8 hitters for Baltimore came to the plate as Romero's pitching woes continued. Reynolds singled, then Machado hit a seeing eye single between 3rd and short. Chavez advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd with two out, but Andino hit a weak single again between short and 3rd to score two runs. Romero then errored allowing Teagarden to reach and McLouth was beaned before Romero got out of the inning. 4-2 after 2.

Romero managed to sail through the 3rd and 4th inning. Romero ran into some trouble in the bottom of the 5th as McLouth paid back Romero for hitting him by hitting a home run. Jones then hit a double and Romero walked two batters, loading the bases before Chavez hit a weak ground ball down the first base side that Romero handled and tagged him out to preserve the lead. Sierra immediately homered in the top of the 5th to give Romero a 5-3 lead going into the 5th, and with Romero having thrown 85 pitches and looking wild, it was really surprising to see him come out and pitch the sixth. I really thought that Farrell would want his bullpen to preserve the win.

In the bottom of the 5th, Romero continued his woes, giving up a double to Andino, a single and a walk, ending Romero's day. Sportsnet had some nice shots of Romero looking quite upset as Brad Lincoln came on to with the bases loaded and none out. JJ Hardy then singled to score a run. Lincoln then settled down and managed to strike out Adam Jones, then a shallowish fly ball by Davis was caught by Jones. Teagarden, the lumbering catcher tagged, and Gose threw a perfect one bounce strike to Arencibia to tag out the Oriole, just barely in time. 5-4 Jays after 6, and Romero was in line for the win.

In the 7th, with Jake Arreita on the mound, the Jays struck again. Encarnacion walked, Escobar singled, and Lind (who pinch hit for Yan Gomes against the righty) singled to load the bases. Sierra then hit into a fielders choice as Reynolds threw out Encarnacion for the force at home, and Visquel popped to short. Then, JP Arencibia, who was hitting 4-39 since his return, decided to hit a just-out-of-the park GRAND SLAM to take the a 9-4 lead.

Lincoln pitched the 7th, Loup the 8th and Janssen came on to pitch the ninth. He looked rusty, giving up 3 singles to load the bases with none out, but Reynolds managed to hit into a double play (scoring one) and Machado struck out to end the ball game.

Tuesday: Jays 4, Orioles 0

Aaron Laffey and the bullpen combine for a shutout, Jays get 13 hits for 2nd night in a row in a well-rounded effort.

Aaron Laffey threw something like 57 innings last year in the Mariners and Yankee organization before being converted into a starter by the Jays this year. So, far this year, Laffey threw 63.2 innings for Las Vegas and 90 innings for the Jays. I think if the Jays didn't have to use Laffey to start, they wouldn't, but with Happ on the bench and playing 10 games in 8 days left little choice for the Jays.

Laffey pitched 5 2/3rds inning, scattering 5 hits, pitching to contact (no walks, no strikeouts). Farrell decided to preserve his arm and took Laffey out of the game with Jones single while the Jays were up 2-0. Farrell then played matchups, putting out Delabar, Cecil (to get one out), and Lyon. Oliver and Janseen then finished the game, and once again Janssen looked rusty, as Escobar bobbled a ball with 1 out, then a popup and two walks later, the bases were loaded with 2 out with the tying run at the plate in Flaherty, who hit a fly ball to end the game.

Offensively, it was another 13 hit effort as every Jay got at least one hit. Gomes recorded an RBI in the first, with a single to score Lawrie in the 1st. In the fourth, Hechavarria hit a long double with two out to knock in Davis from first. The Jays scored two more in the 7th as Rasmus knocked in Arencibia who singled and advanced to second as Gose reached on a an error. Encarnacion then knocked in Gose but Davis threw out Rasmus as he tried to go 1st to 3rd. The throw by Davis was brilliant and just got Rasmus out at 3rd, so I wouldn't blame Rasmus from trying to advance.

Escobar, Gomes, Rajai, and JP Arencibia got two hits each. Arencibia was the only player who walked.

Wednesday: Jays 2 and Baltimore 12

Carlos Villanueva ran out of gas in the 5th inning as the Jays offense runs typically dry. The bullpen's minor leaguers allowed 2 runs each inning to put the game out of reach.

As I wrote in my previous blog entry, Villanueva has been audtioning to be a starter now since he entered the rotation on June 29th. The fear for Villanueva has always been his arm. He injured it last year, and he's never pitched as many innings as he has this year. I think that Villanueva has starter stuff, but that his arm will wear out at some point next year. For that reason, I think Villaneuva would be a perfect fit for the Jays as both Drabek and Hutchinson will be ready mid and late season to replace Carlos.

In the first inning, Edwin and and McLouth exchanged home runs. In the fifth, the Jays scored thir only other run of the game as Gose knocked in Arencibia who doubled on the previous at bat.

But in the bottom of the 5th, Villaneuva's arm had had enough. Villanueva's fastball had topped out at 90mph, and he was relying alot on his slider, change up and curve to get runners out, and he was successful at doing so. Villanueva up until the point was pretty good, throwing 7 strikeouts and walking 1. Jim Thome hit the 1st pitch (a change up) out of the park to tie the game. With two outs, Machado hit a home run (on another change up) to go down 3-2. McLouth and Hardy then singled before Chris Davis hit his 27th home run for his 27th home run (on a slider left up). That ended it for Villaneuva.

Down 6-2, Farrell elected to go to the AAA callups in the bullpen, going with Carreno in the 6th, who walked Wieters and gave up a 2 run home run to Mark Reynolds. In the 7th, Farrell went with Beck. Beck gave up a single to Hardy before Chris Davis hit a 2-run homer. In the 8th, Farrell went with David Carpenter. Lawrie had a terrible throw to allow Reynolds to reach, and then Machado homered. 12-2 after 8.

Offensively, Adam Lind went 3 - 4 (singles), while Arencibia (2B), Encarnacion (HR), Gose, and Hechavarria rounded out the hitting.

So, for Carlos, who may have one outing remaining, he is running on fumes. One might ask why Farrell would run out the Vegas trio to throw innings when down only 4 runs, but I am thinking that he needed to give his bullpen a rest.

Coming up: Jays vs Yankees

The Jays come home now to finish off their disappointing season, getting to hopefully play spoiler against the Yankees, who will be pulling out all the stops to win the division against the Orioles (who will be in Boston). The last series will be against the even more disappointing Minnesota Twins to close out the season.

 

Blue Jays blow it in New York

Is the nightmare over yet?

With the Jays having some success against the Yankees this season, there was a little bit of hope going into this long road trip on a positive note. With the Escobar incident and the rainout on Tuesday night, things looked bleak indeed.

Wednesday afternoon: Jays 2 vs Yankees 4

Wednesday afternoon's first of the day-night double-header featured Henderson Alvarez against the returning Andy Pettitte. In the bottom of the first, the Yankees quickly opened the game with singles from Ichiro and Swisher. With none out, Robinson Cano hit a very catchablefly ball over the head of Colby Rasmus, who was apparently just waking up. Seriously, a harder sprint and Colby should have easily caught that ball. That double scored the first run. The next two players scored Swisher and Ichiro through a ground ball out and a sacrifice fly. It was 3-0 after one. On the ground ball out, Adam Lind easily could have gone home but elected not to, costing the Jays a run. Alvarez should have gotten out of the inning with no runs, but his defence let him down.

After that, Henderson was great, retiring all Yankees save for Ichiro's single in the bottom of the 3rd over the next six frames.

The Jays offence however was ineffective against Pettitte. The Jays had runners in scoring position in the 2nd and 3rd inning but were unable to cash. Gose hit into the 3rd out in the 2nd; Lind hit into a double play in the 3rd, stranding Rajai on 3rd. Gose again hit into the 3rd out in the 4th with runners on 1st and 3rd. In the top of the 7th, with none out and a lead off double by Hechavarria, Gose attempted a bunt single but hit into a bunt fly ball caught by Chavez deep into foul territory - a great catch.

Finally, the Jays' offense sputtered in the top of the 8th against David Robertson. Lawrie doubled and Lind singled. Kelly Johnston, in to pinch hit for Jeff Mathis, singed home Lawrie. Omar Visquel, who had tied Babe Ruth in hits earlier in the game, then doubled home Mike Mccoy (who was pinch run for Lind), and with one out, there were runners on 2nd and 3rd. Hechavarria struck out, Gose walked, and Rajai Davis hit a line shot pretty much right to Ichiro who made an instinctive great basket catch to end the inning. 3-2 Yankees into the bottom of the eighth.

Darren Oliver came on in the 8th, but with two out, an Ichiro ground rule double and a Swisher single scored an insurance run for the Yankees. That was Swisher's first hit against Oliver in 19 plate appearances.

Soriano wrapped the game for the Yankees with his 41th save.

For the game, every Jay except for Mathis managed to get on base, but the game was about not able to cash in runs, going 3-13 with RISP and leaving 11 on base. Ichiro went 3-4 and scored the 1st and 4th run of the game and made key defensive plays. Rasmus let a ball get over his head, and Lind could have saved a run and elected not too. Gose was up three times and failed to cash in runners, and that is the short story of this game.

Wednesday night: Jays 1 at Yankees 2

This evening's game featured a struggling Ricky Romero against rookie reliever-turned starter David Phelps in his 11th start of his career.

Ricky looked shaky in the 1st, and the Jays looked like they would be in for a long night (turns out that would be the next game). Jeter singled and Swisher walked, but Cano flied out and A-Rod hit into a double play.

The Jays managed to score their only run in the second as Arencibia and Johnston walked. Hechavarria singled home Arencibia.

The bottom of the second was no better for Romero, as he walked Nix and McGehee. Ichiro singled, but Rasmus pegged Jason Nix coming home on a gorgeous and perfect throw straight to Arencibia, who applied the tag just before Nix' hand touched the plate to save a run and record an out. Chris Stewart, however, hit a ground rule double deep into the corner in left to tie.

Romero struggled through the next four frames, but the Yankees were never able to cash in anyone. Even though Romero allowed seven hits and walked five over 6 innings (WHIP = 2), he left the game in a 1-1 tie going into the 7th.

The Jays offense did nothing to help as the rookie pitched a 3 hit gem through 2 outs in the 7th. The Jays managed to load the bases in the top of the 7th against him through a single, walk, and an error, but Boone Logan came on to strike out Sierra to end the inning. Why Farrell didn't elect to pinch hit for a struggling Sierra I'm not sure.

Delabar ended up taking the loss for the Jays with an opening walk to Granderson, a sac bunt, and a single by Ichiro (who went 7-8 in the double header) to take a 2-1 lead. Soriano came on again to close it out for his 42nd save.

Defensively, Lawrie was very much focused as was the rest of the team, but offensively, they just couldn't get it off the ground, only getting three games the entire game versus a pitcher who just isn't that good.

Thursday: Jays 7, Yankees 10

This game was not nearly as dramatic as it was over early for the Jays thanks to Aaron Laffey and Brad Lincoln.

The Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd with a double-double combination from Lind and Johnson. They added to the scoring with a bases loaded hit-by-pitch as Hughes plunked Sierra in the back. It was 2-0 Jays by the middle of the 3rd. 

But Ichiro opened the scoring in the bottom of the third with a fast ball left over the plate for Ichiro to hit out of the park. 

By the bottom of the fourth, Laffey hit his mental wall. The inning opened with a 10 pitch Russell Martin walk. Martin stole second, and a routine ground ball to Johnson by Granderson was bobbled, allowing him to reach. McGehee then walked to load the bases, and Ichiro did it again, doubling home two. That ended the day for Laffey. On came Brad Lincoln, who walked Nix to load the bases. Jeter singled to keep the bases loaded and score another run. Nick Swisher then belted a grand slam to right field to finish a seven run 4th inning and end much hope for the Jays.

Sierra hit a two run homer in the top of the 5th to score a walked Adam Lind to bring the Jays within 4. However, Brett Cecil let in two more runs in the bottom of the 5th, thanks to a Granderson double, Nix double, and Jeter single. It was 10-4 after 5.

The Jays tried to come back in the 8th, with a Johnson home run, an Arencibia single, a Gose double, an infield single by Lawrie (scoring Arencibia), and a Mike McCoy fielder's choice (to score Gose). David Robertson struck out the side in the 9th to end the game.

Stick a fork in it, the Jays are done

Truly, it's difficult to watch the Jays close out the season. The players with nothing left to prove are doing just that -- proving nothing. They are out of it. Colby Rasmus continues to struggle badly, batting just above .200 for September, but he will be the starting CF next year. Brett Lawrie has hit .200 since his return, but he will be the starting 3B. JP Arencibia is 2 for 29 since his return. Moises is hitting .162 in September -- he knows there's no room for him. Yunel is hitting .233 and Rajai is hitting .207 for September. Kelly Johnston is batting sub .200 for September. The only 3 bright stars on the team are Hechavarria, Encarnacion, and Gose. Encarnacion just continues to go out day after day and do his job. And Adam Lind continues to be a shade above mediocre.

And there are really no excuses this time. Back in August, the media claimed that with players missing, you could just pitch around everyone. But the weaklings in the lineups are still the regulars, who seemed to have checked out for the year. It's mental mistakes everywhere that are costing the Jays games -- from Moises' miscues on sunny days to Rajai and Colby's mental errors in not reading fly balls to Escobar's antics to not making plays to the correct bases, this team seems to have just fallen apart.

And why not? The season was as much a letdown for the players as it was for the fans. Freak injuries to the starters, then the relievers, then the starting lineup guaranteed the end of any hope for making the playoffs. Add to that the tradeaway of Lunchbox and the failure for Alex to pick up any piece that would help the Jays in their efforts, and what you have is a broken down team with no leadership and no hope. Farrell is not a veteran manager, and Alex Anthopoulos is not a veteran General Manager.

Ricky Romero was supposed to be the leader of the pitching rotation but all he has done is struggle. Morrow's return added some stability to the rotation. The loss of Bautista for the season certainly added a major  blow to the team. Brett Lawrie's loss made people realize that he is not the godsend to this team, and that he has a great deal of growing up to do. Rogers trotted him out at the beginning of the year as the team's brash, young, spokesperson, but as the year wore down, that role was taken away. Brett Lawrie is gifted, but he is far too aggressive, whether it's stealing bases unneccessarily, throwing helmets at umpires, or diving into camera bays. Restraint is required, young Jedi.

And the clubhouse antics of Yunel revealed the ugly and homophobic side to baseball and to the general unrest in the clubhouse. The clubhouse isn't nearly as cohesive as advertised. People in the dugout knew exactly what Yunel painted, and they did and said nothing except let him go out there and be the fool. A cohesive dugout would not have let that happen.

At the end of the year, there will be more questions than answers. Fans had hoped that Adam Lind and Kelly Johnston would have good years, but both are up for replacement. I really can't see Adam Lind staying on the Jays, as he is prone to health problems and has definite hitting issues. Yunel's existence on the team is questionable especially with an well-auditioning Hechavarria. A gaping hole is in leftfield with no one really stepping up to fill it, forcing Anthopoulos to deal in the off-season. 

It just seems like there are many more holes than there was at the beginning of the season to be resolved. At the beginning of the year, people would have been quite happy to say that 2013 would look like Escobar - Lawrie - Bautista - Edwin - Lind - Johnston - Rasmus - Lawrie - Arencibia -  Snider, and that indeed would be a formidable lineup if everyone was hitting as good as advertised. But for next year, we might see Hechavarria at short, a new 1B or DH in town, and definitely a new 2B and LF. Rajai and Jeff Mathis will be on the bench. Mike McCoy probably right now is slated to be the utility infielder, and the Jays will probably go out and acquire an inexpensive veteran bench player as they did in Omar Visquel. AA has a lot of shopping to do in the off-season, and the Jays' management knows that the fans are expecting a contender next year.

August 27: Blue Jays 8, Yankees 7

Colby Rasmus the hero, Jays only blow save once



Colby's 3 run home run in the top of the 9th
Kathy Kmonicek / AP



I love, absolutely love to see the Yankees lose.

There are lots of things going on with the Jays these days. The litany of injuries continue. Will Lawrie come back? What is the extent of Jose's new injury? How will Hechavarria play? Will Rasmus continue to strike out incessently? What about the rumours around Farrelll and the Red Sox?

Well there was a game to play, and with long man turned starter David Phelps in his third start in a row and the Jays riding a 7 game losing streak and Henderson Alvarez on the mound, things did not look good for the Jays tonight.

And it started off as a bit of a duel, with Cano's first two at bats and two runs being solo home runs. Adam Lind, in his first AB after rehab, also homered pretty much to the same place Cano did, to the bullpen just right of centerfield. Cano's second home run was to the short porch in right to open the bottom of the fourth. Then, the Yankees scored their third run off a deflection off of Henderson's foot that took him out of a game as the ball bounced into right field, scoring Teixiera from second who walked. On came Laffey.

With runners on 1st and third with one out, the Jays conceded a run on a Chavez fielder's choice. After four, it was 4-1 Yankees.

Onto the top of the fifth as a Torrealba hit a two run shot to the short porch (again, in rightfield) to score Johnson who walked to open the inning.

Then Laffey had a terrible bottom of the fifth, walking Jeter, then a Swisher HR (into the second row of stands in left), then got an out, walked, got an out, walked, and then got an out to end the inning. After 5, it was 6-3 Yankees.

Hechavarria got one back at the top of the seventh on a solid single on a low pitch down the third base line to score Torrealba who was on second from a fielder's choice by Moises. 6-4 after 7.

Laffey left the game at the end of the sixth with another injured leg off Jeter. Hopefully, he will be all right as will Alvarez, because the Jays six man rotation would be solved if one of these two got injured.

The Jays kept it clean in the 7th (Delabar / Loup) and 8th (Loup / Lincoln) as the Yankees threatened in the 8th with two out and a runner on third with Ichiro out, but Lincoln induced a ground ball to Escobar.

But going into the 9th inning with closer Soriano coming into the game facing Torrealba / Sierra / Hechavarria, things looked bleak. But Moises managed a base hit and Hechavarria did not hit into a game ending double play, but with two out, things still looked bleak. Rajai hit a single into left with Moises running on the pitch putting runners on first and third with two out and Colby Rasmus up. 

Colby's troubles have been well documented here. Since he injured his groin in Oakland, he's gone .123 over 57 at bats and has not recognized some pitches. However, he had no problem recognizing Robertson's hanging curveball, and did this, a three run home run to deep right centre. Welcome back, Colby, welcome back. And a very rare blown save by Soriano, who had not let in a run in 10 appearances and got seven saves in a row. This was his third blown save this year. And Colby Rasmus was the hero.

But the game wasn't over yet. On came Casey Janssen against Derek Jeter, who, on the 2nd pitch of the at bat, hit a deep fly ball that just went over the wall in deep right field. Cheap home run, but it tied the game. Blown save for Janssen, and Jays fans all over the nation probably sighed with despair.

But the Jays perservered, and the Jays caught a lucky break. Torrealba singled to open the 11th (after a clean 10th inning by Oliver), and Mike McCoy came on to pinch run. But Derek Lowe threw a ball into the legs of McCoy in a pickoff attempt and the ball went into right field, and McCoy advanced to third with none out. Sierra struck out, but Hechavarria hit a slow ground ball that froze McCoy off third. Nix threw out Hechavarria but McCoy went home on the throw to first and easily beat out the throw home. 8-7 Jays.

Oliver came on for a second inning of relief. He walked Ichiro with one out, but was forced out at second by a Jeter fielder's choice. Olvier then faced Swisher and got him into a full count before Oliver froze Swisher with a 75 mph slider for a called strike 3. Win for Oliver.

So, all in all, a very entertaining game. Torrealba went 3-5, and Rasmus, Lind, and Hechavarria went 2-5. It remains to be seen whether Rasmus will continue his slump-breaking behaviour.

Both Laffey and Alvarez are day-to-day and should be able to continue in their starting and relieving roles.

Tomorrow, it's Ricky Romero off his 2nd worst outing ever vs Phil Hughes.

August 18: Rangers 2, Jays 1

Jays miss moments to mount comeback - fall short in vilifying Villanueva

While the pitching staff held the Rangers to two runs, Escobar, Rasmus, and Johnson are falling short, really short for the Blue Jays offense.

Villanueva pitched another brilliant outing against the hard-hitting Texas Rangers, holding them to two runs for the second night in a row. After Villanueva faced the minimum after 4 innings, an Adrian Beltre ground rule double (that Gose should have had -- he lost it in the sun) and was followed up by a Nelson Cruz home run. Both hits were due to a 82 mph changeup that Villanueva left up. Villanueva left the game with one on and one out at the top of the 7th. His pitching line was great: 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts over 6 1/3, throwing 86 pitches (58) for strikers.

Aaron Loup, Chad Jenkins, and Darren Oliver pretty much shut down the remainder of the Texas offense as they got one more single in the top of the 8th.

The Jays offense was pretty much as disappointing as usual with many missed opportunities. The Jays offense came in the bottom of the third from the AAA combination of Gose and Hechavarria. Anthony Gose hit a single, stole 2nd, was balked to 3rd, and scored on Hechavarria's first RBI of his major league career, a single to right.

In the bottom of the fourth, Edwin was on second with no one out but couldn't advance as Cooper lined, Yunel flew, and Jeff Mathis struck out.

In the bottom of the fifth, Anthony Gose singled and Hechavarria advanced him to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt. Davis then bunt popped out and Colby popped out.

In the bottom of the sixth, Cooper and Escobar singled with one out. Johnson struck out, but Jeff Mathis reached on a slow single to Kinsler to load the bases for Gose, who struck out after 10 pitches (a great at bat, but was beaten).

And in the bottom of the seventh, the Jays had runners at 1st and 3rd with nobody out (Hechavarria ground rule double, Davis single). Colby then popped out to 3rd base. Edwin was intentionally walked to load the bases. David Cooper flew out to left field, but the ball was not deep enough, and Hech was given the stop sign from Butterfield. And Yunel hit a short fly ball to center to leave the Jays with nothing to show.

The Jays then went 6 up, 6 down to lose the game.

Some positives of the game was Mathis's throw to 2nd to catch a stealing Craig Gentry at the top of the 3rd, and a nice pick off by Loup to catch David Murphy going to 2nd. Hechavarria went 2 for 3.

Major disappointments was Colby Rasmus batting 0 for 5 and is now running an 0-14 streak and is 5-30 with one HR since he came back from his groin injury on August 3. Kelly Johnson is batting 2-20 in his last 7 games. Escobar is battng 3 for 23 in his last 7 games. So, it is the regulars who are now a big part of the problem for the Jays offence. When these three regulars combine to hit one hit per game, it's easy to see why the Jays offense is extra impotent in the last week. Only Edwin (who is 10-25 in the last 7) and Rajai (10 for 35 in his last 8 and 7 stolen bases) have been potent for the veteran Jays.

This is a game that the Jays would probably win with Bautista, Lawrie, Lind, and Arencibia in the lineup -- a tough show for the Jays today, but it shouldn't come as a surprise. Rasmus' bat needs to heat up again, and Brett indeed is due back early next week probably in Detroit although he only went to bat once in today's Gulf Coast game (due to poor field conditions).

Tomorrow's game features Henderson Alvarez vs Matt Harrison in what is sure to be an offensively challenged day yet again for the Blue Jays.

August 11: Yankees 5, Jays 2

Jays continue batting struggles as Laffey fails to hold the Yankees

The game was over by the middle of the fourth innings, with a three run Casey McGehee three run homer to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead. The Las Vegas Jays went 0 for 18 tonight. Anthony Gose struck out 4 times, and Ivan Nova went 7 and a third, gave up 2 runs, struck out 10, and walked 1 in a pretty easy effort that was closed out by the very effective Robertson/Soriano combo. Edwin Encarnacion and Davis created all of the runs tonight, with Edwin knocking in Davis who was in second (once on a single-balk, the other on a double) with two singles. Kelly Johnson got the only other hit.

And the fans have to accept that this is the problem with the team. They are the not-ready for prime time players. Don't expect any run production or miracles from this team. The starting rotation is not good enough to pitch without letting in enough runs for the Jays meager run support to do anything. The Jays were successful without Jose Bautista because the starting lineup of Lawrie / Rasmus/ Encarnacion/ Lind / Escobar / Johnson / Arencibia / Davis / Snider was good enough to score runs and win games, and in fact, after Arencibia and Lind (who were hot before they went on the DL) went on the DL on the 27th of July, the Jays are 4-11. Lind and Arencibia was the tipping point for the team, and with Snider's trade at the deadline, it forced a AAA player in the outfield just weakened the offense even more.

Hechavarria has started his major league career 1 for 14 with 7 strikeouts. Anthony Gose's career is 12 for 55 with 21 strike outs. Yan Gomes bats .176. Moises is doing okay as well as is Cooper, who has seen plenty of major league action.

Hechavarria probably was due to be a mid-2013 callup and a replacement for Yunel in the 2014 season. Yan Gomes is the utility infielder and probably is not designed to be a regular, a 2013 bench player. Anthony Gose also was probably designed to be a 2014 callup and a replacement for Rasmus, but he is probably pegged in left-field. Moises has been a welcome surprise, but he is also not ready yet.

To add injury to insult, it looks like Escobar got his elbow hurt by an Ivan Nova pitch (second of the game) and listed day-to-day, along with Rasmus.

And it looks like it will be at least a week before anyone comes back with any regularity. Bautista starts swinging a bat on Monday, but he will be shut down if he has any pain. Rasmus likely will need a week for his groin to heal and may go on the DL. Lawrie is on the DL for a week. Arencibia is not back until mid-September at the earliest. Adam Lind may be back earlier than that.

So look for lots of woes in this home stand, with very little in the way of heroics. Davis, Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson are the only offensive threats left on the team, and with a three person line-up and against some excellent bullpens and starters, don't expect anything from this team.

Frustrating times for the fans, frustrating times for the team, frustrating times for all. But if all goes well, the offense will be back by the end of the month and the Jays will need to win games again. Don't be surprised though if the Jays go 8-21 in August (or worse).

August 7: Rays 4, Rasmus 1

Jays bats typically silent in sleepy loss

The Jays scoring drought continued in Tampa Bay last night as James Shields pitched brilliantly for the 2nd game in a row, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk over 8 innings. The lone run was a Colby Rasmus blast to open the top of the 4th giving the Jays a glimmer of hope.

JA Happ simply was as expected, not good, giving up 4 runs over 7 hits in 4.1 innings. The Rays scored one run in the second on a single-double combination, two runs in the 3rd in a single-double-sacfly-sacfly combination, and a run in the 5th on a double-double combination.

Happ threw 82 pitches in what we knew was going to be a short effort (since his arm really wasn't ready for a 100+ pitch set) but he walked only 1.

There was a couple of firsts in the game (and I'm not talking about a delay-of-game call by a soccer referee): Adeiny Hechavarria got his first hit in his 8th plate appearance, a solid single to center.

And the Jays got to see the start of 24 year old Chad Jenkin's career in the majors. Jenkins, promoted from AA over the weekend, went 3 innings, recording 2 singles and 2 strikeouts. He looks very good on the mound, with a 90-92 mph fastball and a 82-84 mph slider. Drafted by the Jays in the 1st round of the MLB June Ameteur draft in 2009, the starter has gradually moved up the ranks. This year at AA, he posted a 4.96 ERA and a 1.536 WHIP over 20 starts for the Fisher Cats. Likely his role on the team will be long relief with Brad Lincoln. I wouldn't be surprised however if we saw a start from him before the end of the season, perhaps when Alvarez is taken off the starting rotation for innings.

Last night's loss, while not unexpected, was disappointing. James Shields was outstanding last night, and the Jays just did not bring it to the plate. It is very difficult to score without baserunners. And with such a mediocre start by Happ, only a decent offense can overcome that deficit. Tampa is in the hunt and has excellent pitching to back them up. The Jays have terrible starting pitching and with 4 of their best hitters out of the line up, terrible hitting. The only way you are going to win games with the combination of the two is luck and steps up in terms of performance.

Tonight's matchup hopefully will be a better one for the Jays. Carlos Villanueva, back from personal leave, will take the mound tonight against Alex Cobb.