Blue Jays 8 Nationals 11
That game had a ton of stuff, but most of it was not good.
We could just talk about moments:
- Manoah was good through 3 innings but looked tired in the fourth, and when the team doesn’t have a long man and has a few overworked or injured (Garcia) guys in pen, they tried to milk all they could out of him, But in the fourth, he gave up a leadoff single. Then there was a popout. A walk and a ground out followed, and it looked like he might get out of it. But a single score two. A single and a home run scored three more. Our 6-2 lead became 7-6 with us trailing.
- Alek gave up an unearned run in the first, Bo Bichette made a throwing error an easy ground ball by the leadoff man Jacob Young. Bo’s first error since game two. A single walk and a bases-loaded walk brought the error around. Unearned. Alek struck out 2 in the inning. The error cost more than the run; it cost Manoah a dozen or so pitches, but those things happen. He also gave up a home run in the third. In all 4 innings, 6 hits, 6 earned, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts and a hit batter.
- Vlad hit a grand slam. 108.8 mph off the bat. He also had a single 106.2 mph and a walk.
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in 3 runs on two singles.
- We played for one run more than I would have liked. One-run strategies are dumb when the final score is 11-8. In the seventh, with the game tied 8-8. Alejandro Kirk hit a one-out double. He came out for pinch-runner Danny Jansen. IKF singled Danny to third. Then, with Ernie Clement at the plate, John Schneider called for a suicide squeeze, which, with it tied at the time, might have seemed ok. But Clement can hit, and we have a tired bullpen, which has been ineffective. Clement popped it up a bit, and Jansen slowed down on the way home. It was a dumb thing to do because if it was caught, he was out. If he stopped, the Nats catching the bunt would have got him, and he wouldn’t have made it back to third before a throw. Just run home. When the ball hit the ground, the hesitation cost him the chance to score. A throw home beat him, but then Jansen’s slide ended up a few feet short of the plate. A successful bunt could have given us a one-run lead, but the Nationals had 9 outs to go, and odds were they would score again. We needed multiple runs.
- And yeah, the pen gave up runs. Nate Pearson threw a quick fifth inning. In the sixth, he gave up a leadoff double and was pulled. I was unhappy, knowing we didn’t have a lot of innings in the pen, but it’s okay.
- Génesis Cabrera came in. He got a ground out, but Luis Garcia hit an RBI single, and we were 8-8.
- Cabrera gave up a lead-off double in the seventh; out he goes, in comes Erik Swanson. Swanson got a flyout and a strikeout. But then there was an Eddie Rosario home run, which was 10-8.
- And Zach Pop gave up another run in the eighth (not that it mattered anymore) off a hard-hit double, sac bunt and sac fly.
- Beyond that, we had two guys try to steal when the hitter at the plate had two strikes and two outs, and both times it seemed to get the batter’s attention, and they both struck out. I don’t like guys going on 2 strikes for that reason.
- There was a bunch of other minor stuff to complain about. Davis Schneider had a hit to left bounce past him, costing us two bases. More than once outfielders threw to third, well late to catch the runner, allowing the batter to get to second. We ought to stop that.
- We had 10 hits. Turner and Bo had the 0 fors, but each had a walk. Bo hit one hard down the third base line in the eighth, but the third baseman was guarding the line and turned it into a double play. Springer had a hit but also had 3 strikeouts in 5 at-bats. He needs to come out of the leadoff spot. Vlad, Davis and IKF had 2 hits each.
- There were five ‘official’ errors between the two teams. Bo’s hurt. Swanson missed the bag at first on a 4-1 putout attempt. It was one of those cases where Vlad ranged too far, but IKF was able to make the play. It is a tough play for the pitcher to get the catch from the second baseman and find the bag (he missed it). Davis’s moment in left wasn’t called an error, but it should have been.
Jays of the Day: Vlad (.350 WPA), IFK (.182). Davis had the number, too (.133), but also had the mistake in the left. Awe, let’s give him one anyway.
The Other Award: Manoah (-.516), Swanson (-.164), Cabrera (-.102), Springer (-.179), Bo (-.121) and Turner (-.113).
There is no game tomorrow, which is just as good. On Tuesday, we start a series in Philadelphia. Jose Berrios (4-2, 1.44) vs. Cristopher (who is missing an ‘h’) Sanchez (1-3, 3.68).