Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Game #151 Toronto Blue Jays (69-82) @ Baltimore Orioles (43-108) - game recap

Lourdes Gurriel Jr singled in the game winning runs as the Blue Jays came from behind to defeat the Orioles 6-4

After a convincing shutout over the basement-dwelling Orioles, the Blue Jays turned to Aaon Sanchez, who has turned in two solid performances in September. Reese McGuire started his 4th game behind the plate tonight. I have been impressed with his speed and poise behind the plate. Baltimore sent Dylan Bundy to the mound, looking for his 9th win of the season.  Who will win tonight's meaningless game? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights

  • The Orioles opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Cedric Mullins homered to straightaway center
  • The Orioles added a run in the bottom of the as Trey Mancini scored on a sac fly by Breyvic Valera that was initially called out but was overturned upon replay when it was found that Reese McGuire did not have control of the ball and had not tagged Mancini
  • The next batter, DJ Stewart singled and eventually scored on a play that was an absolute comedy of errors. Stewart singled on a line drive to right. Billy McKinney threw the ball to nowhere in particular. Aaron Sanchez then threw the ball past Reese McGuire, allowing Valera to score and the umpires then awarded Stewart home plate. Essentially there should have been at worst runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Instead,, thanks to two horrible throwing errors on the same play, 2 runs scored on the weirdest inside the park home run you'll ever see.
  • Aaron Sanchez pitching line: 4IP 4H 4R (2 earned) 3BB 1K 77 pitches (44 for strikes)
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 5th as Dwight Smith Jr. doubled home Aledmys Diaz
  • The Blue Jays got another back in the top of the 6th as Billy McKinney scored on a ground out by Justin Smoak
  • The Blue Jays tied the game in the top of the 7th as the Orioles committing their own throwing error as Orioles third baseman Wilkerson threw the ball away allowing Devon Travis and Rowdy Tellez to score
  • A batter later, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled, scoring Reese McGuire and Teoscar Hernandez
  • Dylan Bundy pitching line: 6.2IP 7H 5R (2 earned) 1BB 6K 105 pitches (69 for strikes)
  • Ken Giles pitched a perfect 9th to remain the only closer to be perfect in save conversions. Tonight was his 23rd save of the season.
  • Final score: Blue Jays 6 Orioles 4
My Take

  • This was not the best game for Aaron Sanchez. He gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 costly throwing errors on the same play. He also walked three batters. The game started about as bad as you can for Sanchez as the first batter of the game took him yard. The Orioles had at least one runner on base every inning tonight. Sanchez will likely get 2 more starts before his season ends. Hopefully the next 2 starts are more positive than this one.
  • I don't even know what to say anymore. I thought I had see it all this year with the lackluster defense, until tonight. With one out in the first and a runner on first, DJ Stewart lined a single to right. The play should have ended right there but Billy McKinney tried to play hero and gun down Breyvic Valera, who was going from first to third on the play. McKinney's throw was horrible going nowhere near any of the infielders. Aaron Sanchez ran over, grabbed the ball and tried to throw out Valera at home. He completely missed Reese McGuire and the ball went out of play, allowing Stewart to score on a single! McKinney has to be aware of the situation and make the smarter play in just getting the ball to the cutoff man. Worst case, there would have been runners on 1st and 3rd with one out and Sanchez would have been a double play ball from getting out of the inning allowing just one run.
  • Dwight Smith Jr. started in LF and misplayed a ball off the fence allowing Trey Mancini to get a triple on the play. He sort of made up for it in the 5th inning when he drove in the Blue Jays first run on a double. He was 1-3 today and struck out once
  • Reese McGuire had an up and down day today. Defensively, he had zero chance of catching that errant Sanchez throw that led to 2 runs. He also missed out on tagging out Trey Mancini when he could not corral the throw home cleanly. McGuire threw out one base stealer (Adam Jones to end the 1st) and had 2 others (Jonathan Villar and DJ Stewart) steal bases off him. He was 0-3 at the plate, but drew a walk and scored the game winning run.
  • Rowdy Tellez started at first base and was 1-4 and scored the Blue Jays 3rd run. He was involved in 13 plays defensively.
  • Jose Hernandez pitched a scoreless 7th inning, retiring all 3 batters he faced.
  • Up next, the Blue Jays go for the series sweep as Marco Estrada takes the mound looking to rebound from a rough start where he was lit up for 8 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 2.2 innings. He'll be facing an unannounced Orioles starter.