Royals 5 Jays 6
When I said I didn’t like the Justin Turner signing, that was clearly a typo; what I meant was I didn’t like Justin Turner’s singing.
He had a tremendous day: 2 home runs and 3 RBI. He hit a two-run homer in the first, erasing the Royals’ early 2-0 lead. And then he homered in the third, giving us a 3-2 lead.
And Danny Jansen hit his second home run of the season (what better time to do it than the Jansen giveaway day) later in the inning, making it 4-2 Jays.
We got another run in the fifth. Daulton Varsho led off with a double, and Davis Schneider singled him home. RBI number 12 for Davis.
And Vlad got us a needed insurance run in the sixth with a double, following Addison Barger’s first MLB hit. 113.8 mph off the bat for Vlad. 106.2 for Barger. I hoped Turner would get his third home run just after, but no luck. We still had a shot for more add-ons, but after Varsho walked, Jansen’s flyout ended the inning.
We had 12 hits and 4 walks on the day. Turner, Schneider (who hit a ball foul into the second deck in the seventh), Vlad and Kiner-Falefa each had two. Daulton Varsho missed a home run by a couple of feet in the first inning. IKF almost got a third hit in the seventh when the left and center fielder nearly collided. Michael Massey took a mouthful of Isbel’s glove for making the catch, as they barely missed each other.
We got two on in the eighth. Springer and Vlad each singled, and Turner hit one short of the track.
On the pitching side, Yariel Rodriguez was a victim o some bad defence in the first. Bobby Witt had a one-out season, and Nelson Velazquez ground one to third, a play that Addison Barger should have made but let the ball play him, and then he threw a little offline to second, allowing the batter to get to third. After that, Michael Massey ground too short, and IKF’s throw to first was a little high and (barely) pulled Vlad off the bag. The Jays challenged, thinking his foot hadn’t come off the bag before the catch, making it 2-0.
The Royals got another run in the fourth. A walk and two singles got the run in. A two-out Witt walk ended Rodriguez’s day. 3.2 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 3 walks and a strikeout. It was not a great day, but it would have been much better if he had had some better defense. A quicker, and scoreless first inning would have helped his pitch count (and ERA).
Génesis Cabrera got the last out of the fourth, stranding two runners. He also pitched a scoreless fifth.
Trevor Richards gave up a solo homer to Kyle Isbel in the sixth.
Tim Mayza threw a quick seventh (helped by a very questionable strike-three call on Nelson Velázquez).
Erik gave up a leadoff home run in the eighth to make it a 6-5 game. Then, he had a line drive that looked like a double but just landed foul, which worried me. But he got out of the inning with the lead.
Nate Pearson came in for the save. He gave up a leadoff single to Maikel Garcia. Bobby Witt followed that with what would have been a double play if he wasn’t so damn fast. A fly out to the center brought Salvador Perez out to pinch-hit (nothing is easy this season). A single brought the tying run to third and had me signalling for another beer. Nate got to two strikeouts on Michael Massey, then, after a couple of foul balls, got strike three for his second MLB save. Thank you, Nate.
Jays of the Day: Turner (.238 WPA), Cabrera (.164), Vlad (.107) and Nate (.161). Honourable mention: Jansen, Schneider, and Mayza.
Other Award: Rodriquez has a -.188, but that’s hardly fair.
Tomorrow we have game two of the series with the Royals. Jose Berrios (4-1, 1.23) vs. Cole Ragans (1-2, 3.90).