Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Game #127 Baltimore Orioles (37-90) @ Toronto Blue Jays (58-69) - game recap


Thomas Pannone threw 7 strong shutout innings in his MLB debut as the Blue Jays shut out the Orioles 6-0 to extend their winning streak to 10 and sweep their 3rd straight series over the AL East rivals

If the Blue Jays played the Orioles all 162 games, it would translate to a record of 144-16 (the Blue Jays won 9 of the first ten vs. the O's this year and I'm going to assume they would keep the pace up all year). If the Blue Jays faced the A's all 162 games, we'd have a record of 0-162. Last night, the Blue Jays continued their dominance of the Baltimore Orioles with a convincing 8-2 win in a game that really wasn't that close. Today they were looking for their third straight series sweep of the Orioles. Danny Jansen made his return behind the plate after a night off last night. Russell Martin continues to be one of the primary third baseman with the injuries to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Josh Donaldson and Yangervis Solarte. Thomas Pannone was making his first MLB start. Hopefully his debut was closer to that of Ryan Borucki than Sean Reid-Foley. Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights

  • The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the 7th as Kendrys Morales hit a solo HR to right-center
  • Thomas Pannone pitching line: 7IP 1H 0R 2BB 3K 108 pitches (66 for strikes)
  • David Hess pitching line: 7IP 3H 1R (earned) 0BB 7K 90 pitches (63 for strikes)
  • The Blue Jays added to the lead in the bottom of the 8th as Richard Urena doubled, scoring Teoscar Hernandez
  • A batter later, Danny Jansen scored on a wild pitch that was also ball four 
  • A batter later, Devon Travis hit a three run HR to straightaway center that also scored Billy McKinney and Urena\
  • Final score: Blue Jays 6 Orioles 0
My Take

  • This was a classic pitcher's duel. There were only four base runners the first 5 innings for either team. Thomas Pannone was excellent in his MLB debut, allowing one hit and walking 2 and hitting a batter over seven strong innings. He had perfect innings in the 3rd, 5th and 6th innings. Pannone had the Orioles batters off balance with solid command of his fastball and stellar control. He's definitely earned another start if Stroman is not ready to return or Estrada is moved before the 31st.
  • Unfortunately, Danny Jansen had his 7 game hitting streak snapped, but he drew a walk to extend the on-base streak to 8.
  • Kendrys Morales had another 2 hits today and Devon Travis smacked a key three run HR in the 8th
  • Teoscar Hernandez misplayed another ball in LF today, luckily the Orioles did not score in the inning. Defense is the biggest thing Hernandez will have to work on going forward.
  • Up next, the Blue Jays welcome the Phildelphia Phillies to the Rogers Center after an off-day Thursday. The Phillies are battling for the 2nd wild card spot, currently a half game back of Milwaukee and St. Louis and neck and neck with Colorado. Phillies righty Jake Arrieta takes the bump against Blue Jays rookie Ryan Borucki, who will be looking to bounce back from the roughest outing of his young career where he could not get out of the 1st inning.