After another meltdown by the bullpen led to a blowout loss to the Orioles, the Blue Jays were looking to get right back at it and snap the 5 game skid. Alek Manoah got the start. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was given the day off after appearing to strain his lower back on a swing. This meant Jared Hoying made his MLB debut. Bo Bichette got the half day off, serving as DH with Joe Panik at 2B. Reese McGuire got the start behind the plate. Could the Blue Jays snap the 5-game skid? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Marcus Semien led off the game with a solo bomb to left
- Two batters later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drilled a solo shot to dead center
- The Orioles got one back in the bottom of the 2nd as Ryan Mountcastle crushed a solo bomb to straightaway center
- The Orioles tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd as Cedric Mullins cracked a solo blast to right-center
- The Orioles took the lead in the bottom of the 4th as Mountcastle bashed a 2-run bomb to left; also scoring Trey Mancini
- A batter later, DJ Stewart smashed a solo bomb to right-center
- Alek Manoah pitching line: 3.1IP 4H 5R (all earned) 1BB 6K 69 pitches (44 for strikes)
- The Orioles added a run in the bottom of the 6th as Mountcastle hammered a solo bomb to left
- Dean Kremer pitching line: 6IP 3H 2R (both earned) 3BB 6K 90 pitches (52 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 7th on a double play ball hit by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. that scored Joe Panik
- The Orioles added a run in the bottom half of the inning as Cedric Mullins cranked a solo bkast to right-center
- The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 8th as Semien smacked a solo blast to left
- The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 9th on a bases loaded walk to Semien that forced in Cavan Biggio
- A batter later, Bo Bichette singled scoring Gurriel Jr. and Santiago Espinal
- A batter after that, Guerrero Jr. doubled home Semien and Bichette
- A batter later, Randal Grichuk doubled scoring Guerrero Jr.
- Final score: Blue Jays 10 Orioles 7
My Take:
- Not a great outing for the rookie Blue Jays righty. Alek Manoah gave up 4 home runs (3 solo shots and a 2-run shot) and hit a batter. He was ejected after a bench clearing brawl ensued after he hit Maikel Franco. Supposedly the umps weren;t impressed with the way Manoah acted/wanted to avoid any retaliation by the Orioles. Surely Charlie Montoyo will give him a good talking to after the game.
- After so many games where the bullpen laid an egg, it must have felt good to beat up on another team's bullpen. After falling behind 5-2 after 4 innings, the Blue Jays slowly chipped away at the lead with solo shots in the 7th and 8th innings. The 9th inning was more impressive. The batters showed patience, drawing walks, fouling off pitches to stay alive and then taking advantage of the bad pitches. The best part? Zero home runs. Good teams can manufacture runs in ways other than a home run. Even better, all five runs were scored with the Blue Jays down to their final out. Hopefully this comeback win is a confidence booster
- It was good to see Lourdes Gurriel Jr. enter the game after being injured yesterday. The Blue Jays are a bit short with Teoscar Hernandez and Jonathan Davis both tending to their wives who both had bouncing baby boys
- The bullpen held the Orioles to a pair of solo shots plus three more hits and a walk over the final 5.2 innings and struck out 6
- Up next, the rubber match and final game before an off-day. Blue Jays ace Hyun-jin Ryu pitches against Orioles righty Matt Harvey
