Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Game #119 Toronto Blue Jays (54-65) @ Kansas City Royals (36-83) - game recap

Kevin Pillar was 2-4 with 3 RBI and a run scored as the Blue Jays edged the Royals 6-5

After battery mates, Sean Reid-Foley and Danny Jansen made their major league debuts last night, battery mates Jansen and Ryan Borucki re-united tonight. Jansen had a great start to his MLB career with a 2-3 night at the plate and throwing out a base runner. Borucki has also done very well against difficult opponents such as the Yankees, Red Sox and Astros. Tonight, he faced an inferior opponent (at least on paper). Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights
  • The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the second as Teoscar Hernandez scored on a double play ground out by Aledmys Diaz
  • A batter later, Kevin Pillar singled home Kendrys Morales to double the lead
  • The Blue Jays added another run in the top of the 3rd as Russell Martin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in Curtis Granderson
  • The Royals got on the board in the bottom of the 3rd as Whit Merrifield singled scoring Adalberto Mondesi
  • A batter later, Alex Gordon singled home Merrifield
  • A batter later, Salvador Perez doubled to score Gordon
  • The Blue Jays took the lead again in the top of the 4th as Danny Jansen hit a bomb to left-center for his first career HR
  • The Royals tied it in the bottom half of the inning as Mondesi singled to score Alcides Escobar
  • Ryan Borucki pitching line: 4IP 6H 4R (all earned) 4BB 1K 81 pitches (43 for strikes)
  • Heath Fillmyer pitching line: 5IP 5H 4R (all earned) 5BB 3K 93 pitches (52 for strikes)
  • The Royals took the lead in the bottom of the 7th as Jorge Bonifacio doubled home Perez
  • The Blue Jays took the lead back in the top of the 8th as Kevin Pilar lined a 2 run HR to left also scoring Diaz
  • Ken Giles pitched a perfect 9th for his 14th save of the season
  • Final score: Blue Jays 6 Royals 5
My Take

  • It wasn't a stellar start for either pitcher. Ryan Borucki gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks over 4 innings today. His command seemed a bit off and he wasn't missing bats today. You have to wonder if the delayed start effected both starting pitchers who had to wait around after warm ups for a rain delay.
  • Congrats to Danny Jansen, who hit his first career home run in the 4th. He acknowledged friends/family in the crowd as he made his way back to the dugout. He had a rougher time in the field though, as two base runners stole bases off him today. He should talk to veteran Russell Martin about how to better frame pitches. It could be the inexperience hasn't earned him the benefit of the doubt from umpires yet or we had a crappy home plate ump tonight. The 4th pitch to Brett Phillips in the 2nd inning was 100% a strike\
  • It was a back and forth game today with both teams seeming to want to win this game for pride (neither team is going to come close to making the playoffs)
  • Curtis Granderson made a base running mistake that nearly cost the team a run. He only made it to 3rd base on a double by Justin Smoak. Even if hew felt he had to wait to see if the ball was going to be caught, he still should have scored on the play
  • Up next, the Blue Jays look to guarantee at least a split in the 4 game series as Marco Estrada pitches against Royals righty Jorge Lopez