That was a significant improvement. The offence managed only three runs on eight hits and one walk, which remains a significant concern. But the pitching, lead by a terrific Kevin Gausman, was able to shut down and excellent Dodgers lineup.
The five game losing streak has been pretty bleak, so avoiding the sweep feels like a significant victory. Hopefully it’s something they can build on.
Kevin Gausman didn’t have his best stuff today, topping out at 96mph and recording just five strikeouts, but he was painting the corners, scattering three hits through the first five innings. His only significant mistake came with two out in the sixth, when he left a fastball over the heart of the plate that Freddie Freeman launched 425 feet off the batter’s eye. He recovered quickly, striking out Teoscar Hernandez to end the sixth and coming back to work a scoreless seventh. It was his best outing of the season, and doubly impressive coming against baseball’s best offence.
Meanwhile, Jays were able to get on Michael Grove in a way they couldn’t in the first two games of the series. An opportunity in the first was snuffed out when Vlad Guerrero jr. got himself picked off first. They executed better in the second, though, stringing together a Justin Turner single, a Davis Schneider double, a couple of run-scoring ground outs and Alejandro Kirk’s long awaited first home run of the season to jump out to a 3-0 lead.
Alex Vesia handled the third for LA, and the Jays weren’t able to add on in spite of a Bo Bichette single and a Schneider walk. The dreaded Ryan Yarborough, veteran Blue Jay killer from his time with the Rays, took over in the fourth. He faced one batter over the minimum across four innings. As usual, the junkballing lefty was kryptonite to the Blue Jays offence.
Yimi Garcia struggled in the eighth. He lost a long battle with Austin Barnes, eventually walking him on 10 pitches, and then gave up a double to Mookie Betts to put the tying run in scoring position. He was able to get Shohei Ohtani to pop out and after John Schneider decided to intentionally walk Freeman he struck Hernandez out. Schneider called on Tim Mayza to face the lefty Max Muncy. Mayza courted disaster, working the count full before giving up a deep fly ball, but Daulton Varsho was able to catch it at the wall to preserve the two run lead.
Nabil Crismatt continued the Dodgers’ bullpen’s dominance, sitting the Jays down in order.
Jordan Romano recorded the save, with the help of a phenomenal diving catch by George Springer that robbed Andy Pages of a double. He recorded the other two outs with Ks, looking very strong.
Jays of the Day: Gausman (0.286), Mayza (0.131), Kirk (0.108), Schneider (0.104)
Not so much: nobody
Thankfully we’re done with the Dodgers. The bad news is that it’s the Royals coming to town, which is suddenly kind of an imposing prospect after years of representing more or less free wins, as we discovered last week. Jonathan Bowlan will make his first appearance of the year for the visitors while Yariel Rodriguez (0-1, 3.86) will look to exact some revenge for the first rough outing of him MLB career last time out in Kansas City.