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
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.