The Blue Jays and Red Sox wrapped up a crucial three-game set with first place in the AL East on the line. The Red Sox will remain in 1st place no matter what after winning last night. Steven Matz took the mound for the Blue Jays. Danny Jansen was back behind the plate after a day off. Jonathan Davis was in CF, Santiago Espinal was at the hot corner. Teoscar Hernandez was in LF and Randal Grichuk was in RF.Bo Bichette got the half day off, serving as DH with Marcus Semien at SS and Cavan Biggio at 2B. Could the Blue Jays notch the series win? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled scoring Bo Bichette
- Two batters later, Randal Grichuk doubled home Guerrero Jr.
- The Red Sox took the lead in the top of the 2nd on a three-run blast to the opposite field in right by Bobby Dalbec also scoring Christan Vazquez and Hunter Renfroe
- Two batters later, Enrique Hernandez singled scoring Michael Chavis
- Two batters later, JD Martinez singled home Hernandez
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Bichette doubled scoring Marcus Semien
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 5th on a fielding error by Rafael Devers on a ball hit by Teoscar Hernandez that scored Semien
- Two batters later, Cavan Biggio singled home Guerrero Jr.
- Nick Pivetta pitching line: 5IP 7H 5R (4 earned) 2BB 8K 95 pitches (63 fot strikes)
- The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the 6th as Jonathan Davis singled scoring Danny Jansen
- Five batters later, Grichuk singled home Davis
- Steven Matz pitching line: 6IP 10H 5R (all earned) 2BB 4K 93 pitches (68 for strikes)
- The Red Sox got a run back in the top of the 9th on a ground out by Alex Verdugo that scored Dalbec
- A batter later, Martinez whacked a 2-run blast to right-center; also scoring Chavis
- Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 9th for his 10th save of the season
- Final score; Red Sox 8 Blue Jays 7
My Take:
- The game started out rough for Matz as the Red Sox had a big 5 run inning in the 3rd off a 3run HR and a pair of RBI singles.. He was pitching his way in and out of trouble all night. His only clean 1-2-3 innings were the 1st and 6th innings - the first and last he pitched.
- Rafael Dolis had a brutal 9th inning for his 1st blown save of the season. He gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, walked one and capped it all off giving up a 2-run HR that put the Red Sox up by one. He started the inning with a 2-run lead, but he was wild from the start. Given he threw 29 pitches in the inning, it's unlikely he'll be available tomorrow
- Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk went a combined 8-18, scored 5 runs and drove in 4 runs.
- The Blue Jays were 5-14 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, the Blue Jays kick off a crucial 4-game set vs. the Rays, who are second in the AL East, a game and a half ahead of the Blue Jays, who dropped to 4th in the AL East after 2 consecutive losses. The Blue Jays got a rare series win at Tropicana Field, taking 2-3 April 23-25. The pitching matchup tomorrow will feature Rays ace Tyler Glasnow pitching against an unannounced Blue Jays pitcher.
