Thursday, September 19, 2019

Game #152 Toronto Blue Jays (61-91) @ Baltimore Orioles (49-103) - game recap

Randal Grichuk hit a grand slam in an epic come from behind 11-10 victory over the hapless Orioles

After a convincing come from behind win last night that moved the Blue Jays within striking distance of 63 wins and avoiding 100 losses, the Blue Jays were back at it and looking for the series win. Righty Clay Buchholz was on the hill. He has pitched pretty solid since returning from a serious grade 2 strain of his teres major muscle. Blue Jays batters had to contend with Dylan Bundy, who brought a career 4-3 record with a 3.24ERA in 13 games (9 of them starts) against the Blue Jays. Vlad got the half day off, serving as the DH tonight with Brandon Drury playing the hot corner. Derek Fisher got the start tonight in LF and Rowdy Tellez was back at 1st base. Both players have been in the doghouse recently due to poor play. Prior to the game, the Blue Jays worst fears were realized. Tim Mayza had the surgery to repair his UCL. He also had his ulnar tendon, that was torn right off the bone, repaired. Both tears were complete grade 3 tears. The outcome means Mayza will not only miss the remainder of this season, but the entirety of next season too. His aim will be spring training 2021. Could the Blue Jays make it 3 wins in a row? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:
  • The Orioles opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Rio Ruiz doubled home Anthony Santander
  • A batter later, Austin Hays doubled home Ruiz
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 2nd as Bo Bichette singled scoring Rowdy Tellez
  • The Orioles added 2 more runs in the bottom half of the inning as Trey Mancini doubled home DJ Stewart and Jonathan Villar
  • The Orioles added a run in the bottom of the 4th as Villar hammered a solo bomb to right-center
  • Two batters later, Santander smashed a 2-run blast to right-center, also scoring Mancini
  • Clay Buchholz pitching line: 3.2IP 10H 7R (all earned) 0BB 4K 85 pitches (54 for strikes)
  • Dylan Bundy pitching line: 5IP 5H 1R (earned) 5BB 8K 105 pitches (63 for strikes)
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the top pf the 6th as Bichette singled home Tellez
  • The Blue Jays got three back in the top of the 7th as Teoscar Hernandez drilled a 3-run bomb to dead center; also scoring Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Reese McGuire
  • The Orioles added a run in the bottom half of the inning as Hays scored on a sac fly by Stewart
  • The Orioles added a run in the bottom of the 8th as Villar scored on a sac fly by Mancini
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 9th as Cavan Biggio singled home Tellez
  • A batter later, Randal Grichuk completed the epic comeback with a grand slam to left also scoring Richard Urena, Billy McKinney and Biggio
  • Two batters later, McGuire doubled home Jonathan Davis
  • The Orioles got one back in the bottom of the 9th as Stewart doubled scoring Hanser Alberto
  • Derek Law pitched the 9th for his 5th save of the season
  • Final score: Blue Jays 11 Orioles 10
My Take:
  • It's funny how baseball works sometimes. Orioles starter Dylan Bundy allowed just one run on five hits, but he walked 5 batters over 5 innings. Clay Buchholz did not walk a batter, but gave up 7 runs on 10 hits. The defense, and an unlikely source in Derek Fisher, saved Buchholez from further damage by leaping to rob Anthony Santander of a HR in the 1st inning.
  • It was a tale of 2 games in one. It looked for half the game like the Orioles were going to take the second game of the series, but then the Orioles bullpen combined to allowed 10 runs on 10 hits, along with 4 walks, capped off by a go-ahead grand slam. Thank goodness the Blue Jays tacked on one more insurance run because Derek Law came in and very nearly blew the save, loading the bases before getting Stevie Wilkerson to pop out and Trey Mancini, who had been killing the Blue Jays all night, to bounce out to 2B.
  • I guess Ken Giles was unavailable on back-to back nights. I can understand the Blue Jays caution given the elbow issues he's battled all year
  • The Blue Jays got a couple of injury scares. First Vlad was forced to leave the game after sliding awkwardly into second base. It's unclear if that's where the injury occurred or if he did something after turning on the jets after trotting into 1st thinking he was going to be out. Expect the Blue Jays to be extra cautious with him. The other injury scare was to Reese McGuire, who had a deflected ball go off his sensitive area. A few pitches later, a second bounced ball almost nailed him. Danny Jansen was getting set to come into the game after the first pitch, but McGuire was able to continue.
  • Bo Bichette (3-6, 2 RBI), Cavan Biggio (2-6, run scored, RBI), Grichuk (go-head grand slam), Reese McGuire (3-4, run scored, RBI, 2 walks), Teoscar Hernandez (3-run HR to get the Blue Jays within striking distance), and Rowdy Tellez (1-2, 3 runs scored, 3 walks) all had good days at the plate
  • Up next, the Blue Jays go for the series sweep as Wilmer Font serves as the opener for Anthony Kay. The Orioles will counter with righty Gabriel Ynoa