MeeBay Forum » ontributor in Jordan Loveridg

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Ricky Romeros comeback bid hit another road bump Tuesday in an ugly 18-4 Jays loss to a Detroit Tigers split squad. The plan was for Romero and Marcus Stroman to combine for nine innings, with none of Torontos established bullpen members along for the ride. Instead the Tigers had their way with Romero, Jeremy Jeffress, Stroman and Marcus Walden. How bad was the Jays day? Romero had a dismal outing and he was long gone before the Tigers put up nine runs in the fifth inning for a 13-0 lead. The Jays issued 11 walks and were outhit 17-6 by Detroit in three hours and 28 minutes of spring training torment. Reading Detroits linescore was like dialling Moscow: 02119302. "Today all the way around it was just a bad day, every phase of the game," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "Ill let that one go. Ive got nothing to say. Tough for me to analyze. You were watching what I was watching." Several questions later, Gibbons did offer some analysis. "It just shows you if you dont pitch, its tough to play," he said. Romero gave up a two-run homer to Austin Jackson in the second after hitting a Tiger to put him on base and yielded another run in an unsightly third inning that featured a triple, four walks and two wild pitches. It could have been far worse, but two Tigers were caught stealing in the inning. The left-hander exited after 2 2/3 innings, giving way to Jeffress after yielding three runs on three hits with five walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches. Unofficially Romero threw 57 pitches, 23 for strikes on a sunny 20-degree day with 8,328 on hand at scenic Joker Marchant Stadium. "Weve taken too many steps forward to dwell on this," Romero said philosophically afterwards. Romero and Jeffress walked eight between them in the first four innings. Asked afterwards if Romero would get another start, Gibbons opted not to answer. But he did note Romeros earlier improved outings. "Im encouraged. Ive seen it. So he can still build off that," he said. Likely in the minor leagues again, however. Things continued to fall apart when Stroman gave up a walk, four singles, a double and a grand slam homer to Don Kelly in a fifth inning that went from bad to worse. It took Stroman, a first-round pick in the 2012 draft, seven batters to record an out in the inning. Walden, a fellow minor-leaguer, took over and the onslaught continued as Ian Kinsler slammed a three-homer over the left-field fence. Jeffress walked three and struck out two while giving up an unearned run in 1 1/3 inning. Stroman got one out, at the expense of six hits and seven earned runs. Walden gave up five earned runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings. While Romero suffered a meltdown on the mound, Toronto bats were quiet against Tigers starter Drew Smyly. Melky Cabrera, with a single and double, and Colby Rasmus (walk) were the only Jays to get on base in Smylys five innings. Toronto finally got on the board in the sixth inning with four runs against reliever Blaine Hardy. And the scoreboard kept ticking with Detroit adding three in the sixth and two in the eighth. Randy Boone and Justin Jackson also pitched for Toronto. Romero had seemed to be writing a story with a happier ending this spring. He came into Tuesdays game having given up one run in seven innings for an ERA of 1.29 in three appearances that saw him strike out six and walk five. "The big talk of camp right now is Ricky Romero," Gibbons said last Thursday. "It looks like hes on the way back, and thats what excites us all." Romero had limited the Tampa Bay Rays to one run in four innings in his last outing with two of those innings clinical 1-2-3 affairs. Tuesday was his first start of the spring and it went south after a first inning that saw him give up a leadoff single but get it back with a double play. Romero gave up three runs on three hits, walking five with no strikeouts. He had two wild pitches and hit a batsman. Three Tiger base-running errors limited the damage. Romero said he wasnt following through on his delivery, for some reason, and had trouble with his off-speed pitches. "Its a bad outing," he said. "Ive had three good outings. It happens as a pitcher ... My heads up. Its just a bad day." While saying he didnt want to make excuses, Romero somewhat strangely referred to a "weird weather day" in noting "the balls were a little slick and just kept coming out of my hand." Romero was an all-star in 2011 when he went 15-11 with a 2.92 earned-run average. In 2012, he slumped to 9-14 with a 5.77 ERA and things got worse in 2013, when he saw action in just four games in the majors with an 0-2 record and 11.05 ERA. The 29-year-old Los Angeles native spent most of last season in the minors where he went 5-8 with 5.52 ERA. A non-roster invitee this spring, Romero is due to make US$7.75 million both this season and next. Also Tuesday, left-hander Mark Buehrle and right-hander Brandon Morrow faced each other in an intra-squad game at the Jays minor-league complex. Morrow threw 3 2/3 innings with four hits, two runs (both earned), two walks and two strikeouts on 63 pitches. Buehrle went 4 1/3 innings with five hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and three strikeouts on 81 pitches. NOTES -- Tigers star Miguel Cabrera was part of the lineup playing the Mets .... Former Jay Rajai Davis was an injury scratch (hamstring) Tuesday. Wholesale China Jerseys .com) - In the absence of Dwight Howard, Donatas Motiejunas had a career night to keep the Houston Rockets winning streak alive. Wholesale NFL Jerseys For Sale . Even that couldnt slow them down against the New Orleans Hornets. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 31 points apiece and the Thunder overcame injuries to two key backups to beat New Orleans 101-93 Monday night for their 10th straight home win. http://www.chinajerseysnhlwholesale.com/. Watch the action live on TSN and listen on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 7pm et/4pm pt. The Raptors maintained their spot atop the Atlantic Friday after defeating the Wizards, 96-88, for their second win in a row. Cheap NHL Jerseys China .C. -- LeBron James called comments on an audio recording of a man identified as Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling "appalling" and said hes not sure if he would suit up for the remainder of the NBA playoffs if he played for the Clippers. NFL Jerseys Wholesale . -- Brendan Leipsic had two goals and an assist and Nicolas Petan extended his point streak to 11 games as the Portland Winterhawks slipped past the Red Deer Rebels 5-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action.Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of former foes in both the Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences get together in Sin City on Saturday night, as the 14th-ranked Utah Runnin Utes clash with the Runnin Rebels of UNLV as part of the MGM Grand Showcase. The Utes, who are now members of the Pac-12 Conference, had been riding a six- game win streak following a 53-49 loss to nationally-ranked San Diego State -- another MWC program -- earlier in the campaign, but that came to an end last weekend. Pitted against a ranked opponent for the third time, Utah was turned back by 10th-ranked Kansas on the road, 63-60, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Meanwhile, UNLV has won three in a row since being set down by Arizona State in an ugly 77-55 decision earlier this month. The Rebels, who are playing down the road from their own Thomas & Mack Center, last took the floor against Portland on Wednesday night as they squeezed out a 75-73 overtime victory at home. UNLV leads the all-time series by a count of 24-22, with the Rebels posting a 78-58 win over the Utes in Salt Lake City back on March 5. 2011, the final MWC home game for Utah. The Utes dug themselves a major hole against Kansas as they shot only 34.6 percent from the field in the first half, compared to 60.0 percent for the Jayhawks, and missed all seven chances behind the 3-point line, en route to a 39-21 deficit at the break. The roles were somewhat reversed in the second half as the hosts converted just six total field goals, but the deficit was too great to overcome for Utah. Delon Wright ended up withh 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, as he shot 9-of-13 from the field, but he was the only visitor in double figures.dddddddddddd Jakob Poeltl came within two points of a double-double as he cleared a game-high 11 rebounds as the Utes came up short. Connecting on his field goal tries at a 59.8 percent clip, Wright paces the team in scoring with 16.2 ppg. But more than just a scoring threat, he is also responsible for 5.4 rpg, a team-best 43 assists and 18 steals. Sadly, the squad is now going to miss a huge contributor in Jordan Loveridge (11.5 ppg) who is out following knee surgery, which leaves only Poeltl (10.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and Brandon Taylor (10.1 ppg) as the only other active, double-digit scorers for the program. Cody Doolin played the hero for UNLV earlier this week when his driving layup with only 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock gave the team the win in overtime versus visiting Portland. In a game that featured 10 ties and nine lead changes, Doolin finished with 15 points, trailing only Rashad Vaughn and Christian Wood who tallied 25 and 17 points, respectively, for a team that got away with shooting just 4-of-18 behind the 3-point line. Vaughn has struggled out on the perimeter in the early going, connecting on just 29.5 percent of his chances, but still he is the leading scorer for the Rebels with his 17.5 ppg, followed by Wood with 13.4 ppg to go along with 9.2 rpg and 29 blocked shots. Defensively, the group is holding foes to just 36.6 percent from the floor, but those opponents are also coming away with 40.0 rpg. ' ' '