Game #135 Atlanta Braves (81-54) @ Toronto Blue Jays (54-81) - game recap

Matt Joyce was 3-5 with 2 runs scored and 2RBI in a 9-4 victory over the Blue Jays

After a solid 3-1 victory last night that was chalk full of Canadian content (Calgaryan Mike Soroka started for the Braves and threw 6 innings. Freddie Freeman.who's parents are Canadian went 0-3, Josh Donaldson made his long-awaited return to Toronto just over a year after the trade that sent him to Cleveland. Dosh went 0-4. Ex-Blue Jays trainers George Poulis and Mike Frostad returned to Toronto as well, but not for the first time, and of course, Alex Antropolous, who spear headed the 2015 and 2016 Blue Jays teams that made it as far as the ALCS were back in town. Vlad, who was born in Montreal and he went 2-4 with an RBI). Tonight, the Blue Jays were going for the sweep in the mini 2-game series with the rematch in Atlanta starting next Monday. Jacob Waguespack got the start for the Blue Jays. He is one of just 2 true and reliable starters in the rotation at this point (Trent Thornton being the other). Mike Foltynewicz started for the Braves. Lineup was pretty similar to last night, except Justin Smoak was at 1B (DH last night), Rowdy Tellez was DH (1B last night) and Brandon Drury was in LF with Teo in CF and Grichuk in RF. Danny Jansen got the start behind the plate after a night off last night. Could the Blue Jays make it two in a row vs. the Braves? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Braves opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd as Matt Joyce drilled a solo bomb to the second deck in right
• Three batters later, Rafael Ortega doubled scoring Adeiny Hechavarria
• Two batters later, Ronald Acuna Jr. Doubled home Tyler Flowers and Ortega
• Two batters later, Freddie Freeman doubled home Acuna Jr.
• Jacob Waguespack pitching line: 3IP 6H 5R (3 earned) 2BB 2K 73 pitches (40 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 4th as Justin Smoak scored on a ground out by Brandon Drury
• Two batters later, Teoscar Hernandez scored on a passed ball by Flowers
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 5th as Randal Grichuk doubled home Cavan Biggio
• Mike Foltynewicz pitching line: 4.2IP 8H 3R (2 earned) 2BB 3K 98 pitches (60 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 7th as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled home Danny Jansen
• The Braves added a run in the top of the 7th as Joyce singled home Ozzie Albies
• A batter later, Hechavarria singled scoring Josh Donaldson and Freeman
• The Braves added a run in the top of the 9th as Freeman hammered a solo bomb to dead center
• Final score: Braves 9 Blue Jays 4

My Take

• All the pixie dust that Jacob Waguespack had built up from three strong starts in a row was gone in tonight's start. The rookie righty essentially had one bad inning, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits, a fielding error by Vlad and a walk in the 2nd inning. He would pitch one more inning before being pulled for Sammy G. He's still a strong candidate to be in the rotation next season, especially given there aren't really any pitchers ready to make the bigs, although Anthony Kay and Nate Pearson will certainly get long looks in spring training and Matt Shoemaker should be healthy and raring to go. There is still a ton of uncertainty with the health of Ryan Borucki
• The Braves lost newly signed catcher, Francisco Cervelli, who came up lame running from 1st to 3rd. The Braves third base coach seemed to indicate that the issue was with his left quad
•  The Blue Jays chipped away at the 5 run deficit, but the closest they came was 1 run down in the bottom of the 6th. After that RBI singled, 10 consecutive Blue Jays were out to end the game. The Braves tacked on three additional runs in the 7th and one more in the 9th to put the game out of reach.
• Bo Bichette extended his hitting streak to five games with a leadoff single to start the game
• Every starting Blue Jay got on base at least once and all but Rowdy Tellez and Billy McKinney had at least one hit. Guerrero Jr. and Grichuk had 2 hits each
• Up next, after an off-day tomorrow, Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini, Roberto Osuna and the Astros come to town. Sanchez will not pitch in this series due to a pectoral muscle injury. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will also miss facing his brother as he continues to rehab a quad injury. Biagini has been shuttled between the bigs and minors since the late trade deadline deal. Game 1 Friday sees Trent Thornton pitching against Astros lefty Wade Miley, who is trying to show AJ Hinch and Co. that he should be the 4th starter in the playoffs behind Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander and Garrett Cole.