Blue Jays 8 White Sox 4
Ninth win in a row!
One of those games where we were up big and then had the White Sox get a few runs late.
José Berríos had an easy time of it through six innings, just two hits, one earned, two walks, with four strikeouts. He came out at 76 pitches. I was ok with that, as it was 8-1 at that point. Might as well save some bullets from a pitcher we are going to need the rest of the way.
But Robinson Piña didn’t impress. He gave up four hits, three runs, only one earned, with a walk and a strikeout. An Addison Barger throwing error cost him, though I’m not sure if it should have been his error or Vlad’s for not making the scoop out of the dirt. Had they gotten that out, Piña’s line would have looked much better.
Nick Sandlin came into the game with one out and two on in the eighth, and got a strikeout and a pop out, to keep it 8-4.
Chad Green gave up a double and a single in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle, but then got a pop-up and gave up a hard line drive, but Joey Loperfido ran back a little ways (he was already playing well back) and made the catch to end the game.
Closer than we would have liked, but a win is a win.
On offense we scored:
- One in the fourth: Vlad walked and stole second. They are doing a good job of picking spots for him to steal. I could do without him trying, but then I’m a cautious sort. I don’t see the need for him to run. But Bo Bichette singled him home.
- Two in the fifth: Back-to-back homers from Joey Loperfido and Nathan Lukes. Loperfido has been having a nice time since coming up. I hope he continues to get at-bats.
- Five in the sixth: Bo started the inning with a double. Barger followed with a home run. Then Kirk singled, Myles Straw walked, and Ernie Clement singled (hit the left field wall on the fly, it would have been a double if Kirk wasn’t the lead runner. Loperfido singled in two and gave us runners on the corners. Then Luke’s put down a bunt, I didn’t think a great bunt, it was picked up by the catcher just 10ish feet from the plate, but he decided he couldn’t get back to the plate to stop Straw from scoring, so he took the out at first, and it was 8-1. Having a guy put down a squeeze bunt in the at-bat after he hit a home run (and when you have a 7-1 lead) is interesting. That run changed our chance of winning from 98.7% to 98.8%. But, heck, we’ve won 9 in a row now, so every move John Schneider makes is a good one.
We only had eight hits and five walks, but three of the hits were home runs (all by lefty batters). Bo and Loperfido had two each. Springer went 0 for 5, with a K. Vlad was 0 for 2, but with 3 walks. And Wagner was 0 for 2.
Jays of the Day: Berrios (.164 WPA), Loperfido (.152, homer, 3 RBI, and some nice play in the outfield), Lukes (.113, 1 for 3, homer, 2 RBI, 1 walk), and Bo (.113, 2 for 5, RBI). Let’s give honourable mention to Sandlin (for stopping the bleeding in the eighth).
Other Award: He didn’t quite have the number, but Pina earned one for, well, not making us sweat, but for making it a little less comfortable.
Tomorrow we have Chris Bassit (8-4, 4.32) vs. Aaron Civale (1-5, 4.32). Let’s run the streak to ten.