Blue Jays 10 Cardinals 9
That was a wild one. Some games age you just by watching them. This was one of those.
The Jays were up 4-0 after the top of the fourth. The Cardinals scored four in the bottom of the fourth.
The Jays were up 8-4 after seven innings. The Cardinals got two in the eighth.
Chris Bassitt was very good, except for that fourth inning. In the fourth, he started things off by hitting Brendan Donovan. A strikeout was followed by an Alex Burleson single, then a Nolan Arenado single scored a run. Next, Nolan Gorman homered, and we were tied at four.
Bassitt gave up four hits that inning, and only two others in his other six innings. Seven innings are as deep as he’s pitched into a game this season. He left at 89 pitches. He has pitched 100 or more thrice this season, but the eighth had two lefties coming up in the first three batters.
Mason Fluharty came in for the eighth. He’s thrown in three of our last four games and has thrown 50 pitches in the previous five days, so I thought he wouldn’t be throwing many. Mason got a strikeout, then a ground out, but gave up a single.
Chad Green gave up a Nolan Arenado home run, making it a two-run game again.
We got a couple of runs in the top of the ninth to make a four-run game again. Jeff Hoffman had been warming up, but they stayed with Green as it wasn’t a save. I’m not big on managing to the save, but Hoffman has thrown a lot lately, too.
Green got the first out of the ninth, then two singles. But a pop-up brought us to one out away from a win.
But John decided Hoffman should come in here. I don’t get it. A home run would still have us ahead, give Green the chance. Oh well. Hoffman’s thrown 47 pitches in the last five days….a day off seemed like a good idea.
And it would have been. First pitch, home run. And it is a one-run game. I’ll admit I was swearing a lot.
But Hoffman got Burleson to ground out to end the game. Save 17 on two pitches.
We scored:
- Three in the first: Bo and Kirk singled and, with two outs, Andrés Giménez homered. Hard to believe, but then the entire game was hard to believe.
- One in the fourth: Springer and Clement singled. Alan Roden (getting a start, yay) singled home Clement.
- Two in the fifth: Jonatan Clase and Bo singled to start the inning. Addison Barger doubled on a pop fly that landed just fair in left, scoring one. Springer followed with a sac fly.
- Two in the ninth: Bo led off with a single. Kirk singled, an out later. Giménez singled with two out, scoring Bo. And Kirk scored on a wild pitch.
We had 16 hits. Bo and Kirk had three each. Barger, Springer, Giménez and Roden had two. The only starter not to get a hit was Myles Straw, but he made a nice running catch to end the eighth inning, so I’ll forgive.
Jays of the Day: Giménez (.292 WPA, 2 for 5, 4 RBI), Barger (.133, 2 for 5, 1 RBI), and Kirk (.120, 2 for 5, 3 runs, 2 RBI).
The Other Award: Surprisingly, no one had the number. But I’m giving one to Green, because he aged me.
We will likely be discussing John’s bullpen decisions later. The one that surprised me was bringing in Hoffman.
The Green one was interesting. I thought they didn’t want to push Fluhardy, but Green hasn’t earned our faith this season.
I noticed they didn’t dump ice on Giménez during the post-game interview. I think the players were drained, just like we fans.