Game #47 Oakland A's (25-22) @ Toronto Blue Jays (22-25) - game recap

Marcus Simien was 3-4 at the plate with a home run and 3 RBI as the A's routed the Blue Jays 9-2 and swept the 4-game series 

Here we go again, the Blue Jays are trying to avoid being swept for the first time this season. It seems that this has been the case a lot the past few weeks. Yesterday, the Blue Jays bullpen blew a 4-0 lead in the top of the 8th inning. Today the Blue Jays face a pitcher who has been pitching well of late and held the Red Sox to 2 runs over 6 innings in his last start. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays send Joe Biagini to the mound. He has yet to show he can pitch past the 5th inning. Here is today's game recap.

Game highlights:

• The A's opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd of the 3rd on an error by Josh Donaldson on a Stephen Piscotty ground out that scored Matt Champan
• In the top of the 5th The A's doubled the lead on a Chad Pinder single that scored Piscotty
• A batter later, Jonathon Lucroy scored on a Dustin Fowler ground out
• The next batter, Marcus Simien hit a 2 run shot to dead center scoring Pinder
• Joe Biagini pitching line: 4IP 6H 4R (3 earned) 2BB 2K 87 pitches (50 for strikes)
• In the top of the 6th, Lucroy singled home Chapman
• Two batters later, Piscotty and Pinder scored on a Fowler sac fly
• The next batter, Simien hit a sac fly to score Fowler
• Daniel Mengden pitching line: 7IP 2H 0R 1BB 2K 97 pitches (64 for strikes)
• Yangervis Solarte broke the shutout bid in the bottom of the ninth  with a 2 run HR that also scored Teoscar Hernandez

My take:

• The fifth inning continues to be Joe Biagini's kryptonite. He pitched fine the first four innings, giving up 4 hits and a walk over the first 4 frames. Then the fifth inning came around and Biagini gave up a pair of singles and a walk and his day was done. I've said it time and time again, Biagini's ideal role is in the bullpen as a middle-long man. The Blue Jays need pitchers who can pitch 2 or 3 innings. This is the third straight start where Biagini has failed to get through the fifth inning.
• The Blue Jays defense did Biagini and co. no favors today. The first run was scored on a grounder to Donaldson that should have been the third out. Richard Urena misplayed a grounder to allow Piscotty to reach base. Teoscar Hernandez made a bad route to the ball and allowed two runs to score, instead of one and the batter Dustin Fowler ended up on third base. Urena made a second error in the 8th allowing Jed Lowrie to reach base. Baseball is a game of fundamentals that requires concentration. Today, the Blue Jays looked like a team that just wanted to get this nightmare series over with. On the other hand, the A's were sharp in all aspects of the game today
• Kendrys Morales actually had a good day today with a pair of hits (half of the Jays output today) and pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
• Up next, the Angels come into town for a three game set starting Tuesday. Shohei Ohtani will not be on the mound as he pitched today. However, he'll be in the lineup as DH for at least 2 of the games. The first pitching matchup sees Angels righty Garrett Richards up against Jays lefty JA Happ.