Guardians 5 Blue Jays 4
Stop me if you have heard this one, but the Jays really should have scored more:
- In the first, Bo Bichette led off with a double and Vlad singled him to third. But Anthony Santander grounded one to first base. Kyle Manzardo touched the bag and threw to second. Vlad stopped to get into a rundown. Bo went for home, and was thrown out. Maybe he should have waited a moment for the rundown to start, but taking the chance of a bad throw to get a run was worth the lost base (Vlad ended up at second) with two out. But George Springer struck out.
- In the third, we loaded the bases with an Andrés Giménez single and walks to Vlad and Santander. But Springer popped out to end the inning.
- We got our three runs in the fourth. Alejandro Kirk reached on an error by third baseman José Ramírez. Additson Barger hit into force at second. Alan Roden was hit by pitch. And Nathan Lukes doubled home one. Giménez singled home two more. But then Bo and Vlad made outs to end the threat.
- In the eighth, Springer walked. Kirk lined a single to right. I thought Springer would go to third base, but he held at second. Tyler Heinimen came in to run for Kirk. Ernie Clement bunted them to second and third. I didn’t mind the idea at first. Clement doesn’t hit RHP at all, and he put down a great bunt, bringing the tying run to third. But, Myles Straw was next up and he’s (how to put this politely) not a major league batter. We needed a fly ball deep enough to score Springer. We got a pop-up off the end of the bat. Straw needed to wait for a pitch in the middle of the zone. And Nathan Lukes popped out to third base to end the inning. We didn’t have a pinch hitter for Straw; the last guy on the bench was Daulton Varsho, who is out with back tightness.
- We got a break in the ninth. Well, two breaks. Emmanuel Clase threw a perfect 100 mph pitch at the bottom of the zone, which should have been strike three, but was called a ball. Giménez then hit a soft grounder that Clase booted and threw wide of first Giménez to second. Bo then singled, putting the tying run on base. Vlad lined one hard to right, but it found a glove. It scored a run, but that run didn’t matter. Bo would steal second with Santander at bat. But Santander ground out and Springer struck out. That was the game.
Bowden Francis, for the second start in a row, had a tough time. He gave up 6 hits and 4 earned runs in 4.1 innings. He’s just a little off. I don’t know what’s happening, but he isn’t right.
Josh Walker came into the game with one out, a runner on first in the fifth, and got out of the inning. And he got the first two outs of the sixth.
Dillon Tate gave up a single and a walk, getting out of the sixth. He also got the first two outs of the seventh, but then walked two in a row.
Yariel Rodríguez got the last out and pitched a quick eighth.
Brendon Little came in for the ninth and struggled with the strike zone. He gave up a leadoff single and a walk. Then got a strikeout and a ground out. But two more walks would bring home what turned out to be the winning run.
We ended up with 7 hits and 3 walks. Bo and Giménez had two each. Vlad, Kirk and Lukes had the others.
Jays of the Day: Giménez (.218 WPA), Bo (.177) and Kirk (.134). Honourable mention to Rodriguez and Walker.
Other Award: Santander (-.276, 0 for 4 with a walk), Straw (-.244, 0 for 2), Francis (-.215), and Vlad (-.128).
Nathan Lukes was in center (to start the game) and left (after Straw came in), and seemed (to me) to be way too cautious going for fly balls. He had two bounce just in front of him, both of which I thought he should have caught.
Tomorrow is an off-day and then the Jays start a series against the Angels in Anaheim.