After splitting yesterday's double header, the Blue Jays were looking to wrap up the homestand with a win. Hyun-Jin Ryu got the start. Reese McGuire was behind the plate.George Springer was back in the field after DH'ing in the second game of the double header yesterday. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was in LF after the game off in the 2nd game of yesterday's double-header. Corey Dickerson got the half day off as DH today. Bo Biichette got the complete day off with Breyvic Valera at 2B and Espinal Santiago at the hot corner. Could the Blue Jays end the home stand with a win? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Corey Dickerson singled scoring George Springer
- The Red Sox tied the game in the top of the 2nd as JD Martinez doubled home Rafael Devers
- A batter later, Kevin Plawecki singled home Martinez
- Four batters later, Enrique Hernandez singled scoring Plawecki
- The Red Sox added a run in the top of the 3rd as Plawecki doubled scoring Xander Bogaerts
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Teoscar Hernandez singled scoring Springer
- The Red Sox added a pair of runs in the top of the 4th as Martinez singled scoring Hernandez and Bogaerts
- A batter later, Plawecki singled home Devers
- Hyun-Jin Ryu pitching line: 3.2IP 10H 7R 1BB 1K 76 pitches (49 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got a pair back in the bottom of the 5th as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. whacked a 2-run blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen; also scoring Reese McGuire
- The Red Sox added a run in the top of the 6th as Bobby Dalbec singled scoring Martinez
- Garrett Richards pitching line: 5IP 6H 4R (3 earned) 1BB 2K 86 pitches (56 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 7th on a sac fly by Marcus Semien that scored Springer
- A batter later, Hernandez singled home Guerrero Jr.
- The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the 8th as Springer hammered a 3-run bomb to left-center; also scoring Breyvic Valera and McGuire
- Jordan Romano pitched a perfect 9th for his 10th save of the season
- Final score: Blue Jays 9 Red Sox 8
My Take:
- Hyun-Jin Ryu had his worst outing of the season, getting lit up for 7 runs on 10 hits while walking 1 and striking out 1. It's almost like the Red Sox woke up a bit and realized their precarious grip on a wild card spot was slipping with the Yankees on the verge of sweeping the Mariners and Oakland feasting on the lowly rangers. Seriously though, Ryu was simply catching too much of the plate and the Red Sox were not missing today. Ryu also seems most comfortable throwing to Danny Jansen, who's still not close to returning from his latest hamstring injury.
- You have to give a ton of credit to the bullpen for holding the Red Sox to 6 hits.1 run and a walk after the 4th inning. It allowed the Blue Jays offense to chip away at the lead and a sizzing George Springer to give the Blue Jays the lead. It was the second blown save in 3 games for Matt Barnes. Jordan Romano has been stellar in the closer's role. The Blue Jays just might have the chance to do some damage in the playoffs, that looks like a better and better possibility with each passing day
- This is why the Blue Jays paid $150 million for George Springer. He was directly responsible for 6 of the 9 runs scored tonight, scoring 4 himself and driving home a further 2 to complete the comeback.
- Reese McGuire also played a key role. Although, he was 0-2 at the plate, he drew 2 walks, including a huge one in the 8th that allowed Springer the opporrunity to rip the roof right off the Roger's Centre with a huge bomb. Oh yeah and he scored twice too
- Breyvic Valera continues to make the most of his opportunity to play. He was 2-4 today and scored once
- This win was huge in so many ways. They shrunk the Red Sox grip on the 1st overall WC spot to 0.5 games and will likely be tied with the A's with Oakland looking poised to sweep the Rangers (the A's were up 5-1 on the Rangers after 4 innings at the time of this posting). The Blue Jays also gained a game on the Yankees thanks to their loss to the Mariners.
- Up next, the Blue Jays head on a crucial west coast swing that begins Tuesday in Anaheim/LA against the Angels that begins with a double header where the Blue Jays will be the "home" team as a makeup for the April 11 game in Dunedin that was rained out. Ross Stripling will start the 2nd game against Angels lefty Jose Suarez. Neither team has named a starter for game 1.
