Blue Jays 6 Tigers 1
I might be dreaming, but we are 6.5 games ahead of the Yankees. 6.5. It is hard to believe.
Say it with me…..we should have scored more.
But four turned out to be plenty. Normally, we wait until the fifth or sixth innings to get our runs; today, we waited until the eighth. I guess the Jays just wanted to be more sporting, let the Tigers feel they had a chance for a bit longer.
We scored:
- Two in the eighth: Joey Loperfido and George Springer started the inning with singles. A wild pitch moved them to second and third. After a Vlad ground out, Bo Bichette singled them home (going to second himself on a throwing error. Springer slid into the plate.
- Four in the ninth: Ernie Clement singled, and Nathan Lukes followed with a homer. Two outs later, Springer homered and Vlad homered (getting forgiveness for ranging too far off third on a squeeze bunt attempt).
Kevin Gausman was terrific. Six innings, just one hit, one walk and ten strikeouts. He outdueled Tarik Skubal (though we didn’t score off him).
Gausman even picked up Addison Barger, who made a very sad error on a fly ball, hit right to him, and had it clang off the outside of his glove.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get the win.
Braydon Fisher pitched a quick 7seventh (getting the win). Tommy Nance had a quick eighth (with two strikeouts). He gave up a leadoff single in the ninth (getting the next batter to fly out). The batter would move up to second and third on defensive interference (twice).
Mason Fluharty came in and got a ground out, scoring the run, and a strikeout.
Skubal pitched six innings, allowing five hits, three walks, and seven strikeouts. We did pretty well against him.
In the fourth, with one out, Vlad singled and Bo doubled. Unfortunately, Alejandro Kirk (who doubled earlier) had to come out of the game after taking a ball off the mask. I hope he’s ok, cause we need him. Tyler Heineman pinch hit for him. John Schneider had him try to put down a squeeze bunt. He missed, and Vlad was too far off third and was put out. Tough spot for both. Putting down a squeeze bunt against Skubal isn’t easy, and scoring on a squeeze bunt is also not easy. Vlad needed a leadoff to have a shot. I hated the decision to try it, figuring Heineman had a better chance at hitting a sac fly.
And in the sixth, with one out, Springer singled, Vlad and Bo walked to load the bases. Heineman popped a soft one to center that Matt Vierling almost made a sliding catch on. Springer was in a tough spot; he had to run, and the bases were loaded. He came home and, for some reason, slowed up on the way and then didn’t slide (I see now why…..it was a force out, not a tag play. Sliding doesn’t get you to the plate quicker, just makes you harder to tag). Addison Barger in tough against an excellent lefty, struck out.
We had some terrific defense. Bo made three excellent plays at short. And Davis Schneider made a fantastic catch in the first on a fly down the left field line. He ran a long way and dived.
We had 12 hits (the Tigers only had two). Springer had three. Vlad and Bo had two. Schneider, Barger and Jimenez went hitless.
Jays of the Day: Gausman (.350 WPA), Bo (.370, 2 hits, a walk, 2 RBI, plus the defense), Loperfido (.167, 1 for 2), Springer (.103, 3 for 5, homer), Fisher (.086) and Nance (.086).
Other Award: Barger (-.214, plus the error), Vlad (-.140, even though he was 2 for 4, with a home run and a walk, and this doesn’t count the base running mistake), Heineman (-.116, 0 for 2, walk), Jimenez (-.107, 0 or 4) and Clement (-.092, 1 for 4).
The Jays have won 8 of the last 9.
Tomorrow they go for the four-game sweep of the Tigers. Max Scherzer (1-0, 5.14) vs. Jack Flaherty (5-10, 4.77).