Game #4 - Colorado Rockies (1-3) @ Toronto Blue Jays (3-1) - game recap

 

Davis Schneider hit a 2-run HR in a 14-5 blowout loss to the Rockies

After a solid sweep over the A;'s thanks to some lights out pitching from starters Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease and Eric Lauer, the Blue Jays were looking to extend the winning streak to 4 games as they kicked off a series against the Rockies. The Blue Jays swept the season series last year, outscoring the Rockies 45-6. Cody Ponce got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. The rest of the lineup was the same as yesterday's win. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 4 games? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Rockies opened the scoring in the top of the 3rd on a fielding error by Cody Ponce hit by Jake McCarthy that scored Kyle Karros. Ponce left the game a batter earlier with a knee injury on the play
• Cody Ponce pitching line: 2.1IP 1H 1R (earned) 1BB 3K 47 pitches (30 for strikes)
• The Blue jays tied it up in the bottom half of the inning as George Springer belted a solo jack to left-center
• The Rockies retook the lead in the top of the 4th on a fielding error by Ernie Clement on a ball hit by Jordan Beck that scored Ezequiel Tovar
• Tomoyuki Sugano pitching line: 4.2IP  2H 1R (earned) 2BB 4K 72 pitches (41 for strikes)
• The Rockies added a pair of runs in the top of the 6th as  Troy Johnston whacked a 2- run blast to right; also scoring TJ Humfield
• Two batters later, Braxton Fulford singled scoring Beck
• Three batters later, Willi Castro doubled scoring Fulford and Brenton Doyle 
• A batter later, Ezequiel Tovar doubled scoring Castro and Hunter Goodman
• The Rockies added a run in the top of the 8th as formed Goodman doubled scoring Doyle
• Two batters later, Tovar doubled home Goodman
• A batter later Rumfield singled scoring Ryan Ritter
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom held of the inning as Andres Gimenez belted a solo jack to right- center
• Three batters later, Davis Schneider whacked a 2-run blast to left: also scoring Jesus Sanchez
• The Rockies added a run in the top of the 9th as Fulford smashed a solo blast to left-center 
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Okamoto hammered a solo bomb just over the wall in straightaway center
• Final score: Rockies 14 Blue Jays 5

My Take:

• The Blue Jays are experiencing an early test of their rotation depth after Cody Ponce left the game in the 3rd inning after an awkward stumble trying to make a play on a ball hit in no-mans land between the mound and 1st base. Best case scenario would be an MCL sprain. Ponce gave up an earned run on a hit while walking 1 and striking out 3. Super unfortunate injury since he worked so hard to get back to the majors. Hopefully the injury is short term.
• There has to be early concern about Brandon Little, who came into a lower leverage situation since his first appearance n Friday. Little gave up 5 runs, 4 charged to him on 4 hits while walking 1 and striking out 1. He needs his 4-seamer to have more life to it if he's going to be successful in the bigs. Tyler Rogers was the only reliever to retire every batter faced. The Blue Jays need Max Scherzer to thrrow some innings to give the bullpen a break tomorrow night
• The bats rallied a bit, but could not bring the score into a save situation. Andres Gimenez is the hottest hitter on the team and went deep for his first HR of the season
• The Blue Jays were 0-6 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to even the series and avoid their 1st series loss of the season. Max Scherzer starts against Rockies righty Ryan Feltner

Game #4 Colorado Rockies (0-3) v. Toronto Blue Jays (3-0)

Game #3 - Athletics (0-3) @ Toronto Blue Jays (3-0) - game recap

 

After the Blue Jays bailed out Brandon Little and pulled off an extra innings win and 2nd straight walk-off win, the Blue Jays were looking for 3 straight wins and to complete their 1st series sweep of the season. Eric Lauer got the start with Tyler Heineman behind the plate. Jesus Sanchez was in LF and Addison Barger was in LF. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 3 games and complete their 1st sweep of the season? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Blue jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as George Springer led off with a solo blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen
• The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd as Jesus Sanchez hammered a 2-run bomb to dead center; also scoring Tyler Heineman
• The Blue jays added a run in the bottom of 4th as Kazuma Okamoto whacked a solo blast to the opposite field in right-field for his first big league home run
• The A's got a pair back in the top of the 5th as Max Muncy whacked a 2-run blast to right and into the A's bullpen; also scoring Jacob Wilson
• The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk to Addison Barger that forced in Heineman
• Luis Morales pitching line: 4.1IP 5H 5R (all earned) 2BB 5K 71 pitches (41 for strikes)
• Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless 9th for his 1st save of the season
• Final score: Blue Jays 5 A's 2

My Take:

• Eric Lauer was excellent through the first 4 innings, retiring 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the 1st inning. Fatigue seemed to hit him in the 5th inning, when he gave up 2 straight hits, including a 2-run HR to chop the lead in half. He did recover to retire the next 4 batters, before giving up a single to the last batter he faced. The Blue Jays should consider keeping him in the rotation when Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage come off the IL because facing a southpaw starter every 5 days can throw hitters off. Certainly he needs to be the long man out of the bullpen and the Blue Jays should keep him stretched out because there are a few pitchers with health concerns.
• The bullpen had it's best day of the season, holding a tough A's lineup to 2 hits, while walking none and striking out 6. Gutsy effort from Mason Fluharty, who was drilled on back to back comebackers. He came in and struck out the only batter he faced today. Brayden Fisher got 5 outs and Jeff Hoffman rebounded nicely after blowing the save in the opening game of the season on Friday. 
• The bats showed some pop with George Springer (61st career leadoff HR), Jesus Sanchez (2-run HR in the 3rd inningl first HR as a Blue Jay), and Kazuma Okamoto (solo shot in the 4th and first HR of his career) all went deep. The Blue Jays added an important insurance run in the 5th thanks to a patient AB from Addison Barger to force in a run on a bases loaded walk. It was nice to see the team give some run support to the pitchers.
• The Blue Jays were 1-2 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays welcome the Colorado Rockies to town. The Blue Jays swept the season series last year, outscoring the Rockies 45-6. Cody Ponce starts against Rockies righty Tomoyuki Sugano.

Game #3 Athletics (0-2) v. Toronto Blue Jays (2-0)

 

Game #2 - Athletics (0-2) @ Toronto Blue Jays (2-0) - game recap

 

Ernie Clement drove in the winning run in a 7-6 extra innings win over the A's

After a walk-off win thanks to a clutch Andres Gimenez, the Blue Jays were looking for their 2nd straight win and 1st series win of the season. Dylan Cease got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Davis Schneider was in LF and Myles Straw was in RF. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 2 games and notch their 1st series win of the season? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd as George Springer doubled scoring Myles Straw
• The A's tied it in the top of the 6th as Tyler Soderstrom doubled scoring Nick Kurtz
• Dylan Cease pitching line: 5.1IP 3H 1R (earned) 2BB 12K 90 pitches (61 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Daulton Varsho singled scoring Vladimir Guerrero Jr
• Mason Fluharty left the game in the top of the 7th after facing 2 batters and getting hit by back-to-back line drives
• Two batters later, A's tied it in the top of the 7th as Denzel Clarke singled scoring Jeff McNeil
• Two batters later, Shea Langeliers hammered a grand slam to dead center; also scoring Max Muncy, Clarke and Kurtz
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Guerrero Jr. singled home Jesus Sanchez
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 8th as Jesus Sanchez singled scoring Alejandro Kirk
• A batter later, Andres Gimenez singled scoring Varsho
• The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom of the 9th as Kirk whacked a solo blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen
• The A's retook the lead in the top of the 10th as Brent Rooker singled scoring Kurtz
• The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom half of the inning on a sac fly by Addison Barger that scored Sanchez
• The Blue Jays walked it off in the bottom of the 11th as Ernie Clement singled home Nathan Lukes
• Final score: Blue Jays 7 A's 6 (11 innings)

My Take:

• Dylan Cease fired 5.1 solid innings, giving up a run on 3 his while walking 2 and striking out 12. Cease retired 7 of the first 9 batters he faced. Unfortunately, his effort was wasted by the bullpen.
• Two games, two blown saves. After Jeff Hoffman ruined a stellar start by Kevin Gausman yesterday, Brandon Little was pressed into a tough situation with runners on 1st and 2nd with none out after Mason Fluharty was forced out after getting drilled by 2 comebackers. Little hasn't looked great since the all-star break last season. He had a couple of pitches that were touching 97mph, but he couldn't control his knuckle curve. Back to the drawing board for him. On the plus side, Spencer Miles, who was credited with the win, looked like he deserves a shot at a higher leverage situation.
• The offence bailed out Littl today with some clutch hits, topped by a solo blast from Alejandro Kirk. Jesus Sanchez came off the bench and scored twice. He was nearly picked off taking too long to decide to advance to 3rd on a soft liner that dropped in front of A's LF Tyler Soderstrom, whose throw forced 3B Max Muncy to dive back to apply the tag
• The Blue Jays are continuing to use ABS challenges wisely, overturning two more calls today (Kirk to get Cease a strikeout and George Springer to extend an at-bat)
• The Blue Jays were 7-20 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the win streak to 3 games and complete their 1st sweep of the season. Eric Lauer starts against A's righty Luis Morales