Game #118 - Toronto Blue Jays (56-62) @ Philadelphia Phillies (62-56) - game recap

 

Nathan Lukes hit a go-ahead 2- run HR in the iith inning of a 7-5 extra innings comback win over the Phillies

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After hanging on for a huge win on the strength of two sac flies by Alejandro Kirk and a solo home run off the bat of Josh Smith, the Blue Jays were looking to extend the win streak to 2 games and notch their 16th series win of the season. Max Scherzer got the start with Brandon Valenzuela behind the plate. Vlad was back in the lineup after missing a few games with a sore hamstring. George Springer was a late scratch due to a sore left shoulder so Jesus Sanchez served as DH and Myles Straw was in LF. Could the Blue Jays make it 2 straight wins and notch their 16th series win of the season? Here is today's game recap. 

Game Highlights:

• The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. whacked a solo blast to left
• The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 3rd as Guerrero Jr. singled scoring Myles Straw
• Aaron Nola pitching line: 5IP 6H 2R (both earned) 2BB 6K 97 pitches (57 for strikes)
• The Phillies got one back in the bottom of the 6th as Trea Turner whacked a solo blast to left-center
• A batter later, Bryce Harper belted a solo jack to right-center
• Three batters later, Luis Arraez scored on a sac fly by Brandon Marsh 
• A batter later, Justin Crawford tripled scoring Bryson Stott
• Max Scherzer pitching line: 5.1IP 5H 2R (both earned) 0BB 4K 84 pitches (58 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays tied it in the top of the 8th as Andres Gimenez doubled scoring Guerrero Jr. and George Springer
• The Blue Jays took the lead in the top of the 10th on a sac fly by Gimenez that scored Brett Bateman
• The Phillies tied it in the bottom half of the inning on a asac fly by Arraez that scored Turner
• The Blue Jays retook the lead in the top of the 11th as Nathan Lukes smashed a 2-run blast to right-center; also scoring Brandon Valenzuela
• Lazaro Estrada threw a perfect 9th for his 1st save of the season
• Final score: Blue Jays 7 Phillies 5 (11 innings)

My Take:

• Max Scherzer fired 5.1 solid innings, giving up a pair of runs on 5 hits while walking none and striking out 5. He is now in the top 10 in career strikeouts after he struck out Kyle Schwarber in the 6th inning. He is showing he still has a bit left in the tank. If my math is correct, he is 1.1 innings from pitching 3000 career innings. Barring injury or a disastrous start, he'll reach that milestone next start against Boston on Thursday.
• The bullpen gave up 3 runs on 4 hits while walking 3 and striking out 3 over the last 5.2 innings. Spencer Miles, who has been a better reliever than starter this season, had a rare bad night coming out of the bullpen, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits before he could get out of the 6th inning. Louis Varland got the win. Lazaro Estrada was the only reliever to retire every batter he faced
• Offensively, Vlad (2 runs scored, 2RBI, including a solo HR), Andres Gimenez (3RBI) and Nathan Lukes (11th inning go-ahead 2-run HR) led the way. It was great to see Vlad finally come through at the plate. Love him or detest that contract of his, Guerrero Jr. will be a key cog in the lineup for the next decade.
• Lots of ABS challenges in this one. The Blue Jays were 5-1 on ABS challenges and the Phillies were 4-1 on ABS challenges
• The Blue Jays were 4-14 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the win streak to 3 games, complete their 2nd sweep of the season and notch their 8th season series sweep of the season. Shane Bieber starts against Phillies lefty Jesus Luzardo

Game #118 Toronto Blue Jays (55-62) v. Philadelphia Phillies (62-55)

 

Game #117 - Toronto Blue Jays (55-62) @ Philadelphia Phillies (62-55) - game recap

 

Josh Smith scored three times, including his first HR as a Blue Jay as the Blue Jays hung on to edge the Phillies 5-4

After dropping yesterday's make-up game in Chicago due to an awful day for the offense, that was a dreadful 1-19 with runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays continued the road trip in Philadelphia. The  Phillies took the series in Toronto 2 months ago, outscoring the Blue Jays 14-9. Luis Urias was placed on the 100-day IL with a right quad strain. Outfielder Rudy Martin Jr. was DFA'd and outfielder Brett Bateman was selected to the MLB roster (and got the start in CF). Jose Soriano got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Jesus Sanchez was in LF. Josh Smith was at the hot corner and Ernie Clement got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays start the weekend with a win? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Andres Gimenez whacked a solo blast to right
• The Phillies tied it in the bottom half of the inning as JT Realmuto singled scoring Brandon Marsh. Jesus Sanchez was charged with a fieldig error on the play
• The Blue Jays retook the lead in the top of the 3rd on a sac fly by Alejandro Kirk that scored Brett Bateman
• The Phillies tied it in the bottom half of the inning as Bryce Harper singled scoring Kyle Schwarber
• The Blue Jays retook the lead in the top of the 4th as Nathan Lukes singled scoring Josh Smith
• Jose Soriano piching line: 4.2IP 4H 2R (1 earned) 3BB 3K 94 pitches (62 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays added run in the top of the 6th on a sac fly by Kirk that scored Smith
• Zack Wheeler pitching line: 5.1IP 7H 4R (all earned) 5BB 6K 116 pitches (72 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 8th as Smith belted a solo jack to right-center
• The Phillies got one back in the bottom of the 9th on a fielder's choice hit by Trea Turner that scored Bryson Stott
• A batter later, Harper singled home Justin Crawford
• Tyler Rogers got the last 3 outs for his 4th save of the season
• Final score: Blue Jays 5 Phillies 4

My Take:

• Jose Soriano battled through 4.2 innings, giving up a pair of runs on 4 hits while walking 3 and striking out 3. Soriano retired the first 5 batters he faced before the Phillies started getting to him. He fell an out shy of qualifying for his first win in a Blue Jays uniform. He'll be a part of the rotation whenever baseball starts in 2027.
• The bullpen had mixed results. Matt Waldron and Mason Fluharty retired every batter they faced. Lazaro Estraded, credited with the win, walked a couple of batters but gave the Blue Jays 4 outs. Brendon Little also walked a couple of batters and had fans biting their nails.Then there was Tyler Rogers, who nearly blew a 3-run lead and it took a review to confirm the last out on a bang-bang play at 1st when Kazuma Okamoto made the decision to go after the ground ball when he should have been retreating to 1st base. Rogers isn't likely available tomorrow after throwing nestly 30 pitches. Somewhere, Jeff Hoffman is watching a replay of the 9th inning and having a chuckle now that he can't be blamed for blowing a save in Toronto anymore - at least not in a Blue Jays uniform.
• Offensively, Alejandro Kirk had a pair of sac flies, Josh Smith scored three times amd went deep for his first HR in a Blue Jays uniform, and, making his big league debut, Brett Bateman misse his first career HR by inches in the first pitch he saw in the majors.
• Alejandro Kirk was 1-2 on ABS challenges and the Phillies were an impressive 4-1 on ABS challenges.
• The Blue Jays were 2-10 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the winning streak to 2 games and notch their 16th series win of the season. Max Scherzer starts against Phillies righty Aaron Nola

Game #117 Toronto Blue Jays (54-62) v. Philadelphia Phillies (62-54)

 

Game #116 - Toronto Blue Jays (54-62) @ Chicago Cubs (67-49) - game recap

 

Dylan Cease threw 7 shutout innings in a 3-2 come-from-behind, extra innings loss to the Cubs

After a huge extra innings comback win thanks to a clutch 2-run HR off the bat of Ernie Clement, the Blue Jays were looking to extend the win streak to 2 games and notch their 16th series win and 7th season series win of the season as they made a brief one day stop in Chicago to make up the June 22nd rainout at Wrigley Field. The two teams split the first 2 games of the series, with the Cubs outscoring the Blue Jays 22-10.  Dylan Cease got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Vlad remained out with soreness in his hamestring and back. Davis Schneider got the start in LF. Ernie Clement was at the hot corner and Luis Urias got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 2 games and notch their 16th series win and 7th season series win of the season? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Blue Jays opened the scoring on a balk charged to Davd Peterson that scored Kazuma Okamoto
• Luis Urias was removed from the game with a hamstring injury prior to the bottom of the 4th 
• David Peterson piching line: 5IP 7H 1R (earned) 3BB 3K 89 pitches (53 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 7th as Alejandro Kirk singled scoring Andres Gimenez
• Dylan Cease pitching line: 7IP 2H 0R 1BB 10K 104 pitches (66 for strikes)
• The Cubs tied it in the bottom of the 9th as Alex Bregman whacked a 2-run blast to left; also scoring Pete Crow-Armstrong
• The Cubs walked it off on a throwing error by Brandon Valenzuela on a double steal that scored Crow-Armstrong
• Final: score: Cubs 3 Blue Jays 2 (11 innings)

My Take: 

• Dylan Cease fired 7 shutout innings, scattering a pair of hits, walking 1 and striking out 10. He retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced and the last 6 batters of the day. Cease was throwing some nasty pitches and absolutely dotting the corners of the strike zone. He's bee the team's best starting pitcher be far. 
• The bullpen gave up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2 over 3.1 innings. Louis Varland blew his first save of the season on a 2-run HR to the Cubs best hitter, Pete Crow-Armstrong. To be honest, this game should have been over sooner but Ernie Clement made a terrific leaping catch to end the 10th inning and Myles Straw bailed out Brendon Little, who took the loss by gunning down the ghost runner to start the 11th inning. Brayden Fisher retired every batter he faced
• The anemic offense scored a run on balk and Alejandro Kirk tacked on a run with an RBI single. There has to be a serious look into why every single player regressed so badly from last year. It\s alarming that we're in August and Vlad still doesn't have a home run in Toronto. The approach at the plate has to change and batters need to start being more patient.
• As if the team needs anymore adversity, Luis Urias hurt himself while running the bases.
• The Blue Jays were 2-1 on ABS challenges and the Cubs were 1-2 on ABS challenges
• The Blue Jays were brutal and pathetic 1-19 wih runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays continue the road trip in Philadelphia. The Phillies took the series in Toronto 2 months ago, outscoring the Blue Jays 14-9. Jose Soriano makes his Blue Jays debut against Phillies righty Zack Wheeler