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| George Springer drove in a pair of runs, including himself on a solo HR, in a 16-2 rout loss to the Cubs |
After completing the sweep yesterday thanks to a phenomenol start by Trey Yesavage and a clutch base hit from Brandon Valenzuela, the Blue Jays continued the road trip at Wrigley Field. The Blue Jays took the season series last year, outscoring the Cubs 8-6. Lefty Brendon Little was recalled from AAA-ball and righty Chad Dallas was optioned to AAA-ball. Ace Kevin Gausman got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Davis Schneider got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 4 games? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Cubs opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Seiya Suzuki doubled scoring Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman
- Four batters later, Carson Kelly hammered a grand slam to left-center; also scoring Suzuki, Ian Happ and Matt Shaw
- Three batters later, Bregman singled scoring Dansby Swanson
- Kevin Gausman pitching line: 2IP 7H 7R 4BB 3K 68 pitches (35 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 3rd as George Springer singled scoring Andres Gimenez
- The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 6th as Springer whacked a solo blast to left
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was removed from the game prior to the bottom half of the inning after hurting his back striking out swinging to end the top of the 6th.
- The Cubs added a run in the bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk to Kelly forced in Suzuki
- A batter later, a bases loaded walk to Swanson forced in Happ
- A batter after that, Crow-Armstrong singled scoring Nico Hoerner
- A batter later, Kelly scored on a fielder's choice hit by Bregman
- The Cubs added a run in the bottom of the 7th as Kelly singled scoring Happ
- Two batters later, Justin Dean tripled scoring Shaw, Kelly and Swanson
- Final score: Cubs 16 Blue Jays 2
My Take:
- Kevin Gausman was lit up for 7 runs on 7 hits while walking 4 and striking out 3 over 2 innings. It was clear from the get-go that Gausman had absolutely nothing working on this day. Notoriously, the balls are difficult to work with in Chicago, but both teams are using the same balls. There's a good chance that the Blue Jays will attempt to move Gausman at the deadline if they are out of the playoff race in July since he is on an expiring contract. However, rough starts like this one won't help his trade value. He has certainly regressed in performance this season with age likely being a factor.
- The bullpen gave up 9 runs on 11 hits while walking 7 and striking out 1 over the last 6 innings. It might have been a mistake to recall Brendon Little, who coughed up 4 runs on 2 hits while walking 3 and strikinng out 1 over an inning. His ERA, already high upon his demotion, actually went up a couple of ticks to an even 27.00. Why was Tyler Rogers pitching in a blowout deficit? Why didn't Spencer Miler go a bit longer? It hasn't been that long since he was basically in the rotation and built up to be able to throw 80 pitches. It looks like Spencer Myles is the designated position player to pitch in blowouts. Tyler Heineman, traded to the Angels, filled the role previously
- The offense still can't get any consistency. After a good series in Boston, the bats were ice cold today with George Springer driving in both runs, including going deep in the 6th inning.
- The Blue Jays were 3-1 on ABS challenges and Cubs catcher Carson Kelly was 1-1 on ABS challenges
- The Blue Jays were 1-4 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to even the series and avoid their 12th series loss and 8th season series loss of the season. Patrick Corbin start against Cubs righty Colin Rea
