After splitting the 4- game series to the White Sox, the Blue Jays went across Lake Erie for a weekend set in Detroit. The Tigers took two of three in Toronto last weekend, outscoring their former AL East rivals by a score of 9-7. The Blue Jays claimed Jarrod Dyson off waivers, In 77 games, Dyson is batting .221with 0 HR, 10 RBI and 8 stolen bases (he's been caught stealing 3 times). For every time he draws a walk, Dyson strikes out 4.5 times. Brad Hand was placed on the bereavement list as he deals with the death of his grandfather. Connor Overton was recalled from AAA-ball. Steven Matz got the start with Reese McGuire behind the plate. Teo got the half day off as DH with Corey Dickerson in RF and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in LF. Josh Palacios was in CF and Kevin Smith got the start at the hot corner. Could the Blue Jays start the weekend with a win? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlghts:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 3rd as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled scoring Bo Bichette
- The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the 4th as Miguel Cabrera singled scoring Jeimer Candelario
- Matt Manning pitching line: 6IP 6H 1R (earned) 1BB 5K 83 pitches (58 for strikes)
- Steven Matz pitching line: 6IP 4H 1R (earned) 0BB 2K 85 pitches (57 for strikes)
- The Tigers took thelead in the bottom of the 8th on an inside-the-park HR to right-center by Victor Reyes.
- Gregory Soto pitched a perfect 9th for his 16th save of the season
My Take:
- Steven Matz threw 6 strong innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits while walking none and striking out 2. He survived getting beaned by a comebacker in the 4th, but did well to get the out. Matz retired 8 in a row. It was a solid effort wasted by an inept offense
- The bullpen conceded a late run on an ill-advised diving attempt by CF Josh Palacios that was flubbed and went all the way to the wall. Reyes chugged around the bases and scored fairly easily on the play. Palacios would have been better served to concede the hit and hold Reyes to a double, at most. Mayza allowed another hit and struck out a batter with a wild pitch, but eventually managed to escape the jam with just the one run allowed
- Now let's talk about the Blue Jays offense, or lack thereof. They had chances in the first three innings, drawing a walk in the 1st inning, only to have Vlad ground out and Teo strike out swinging. In the second inning, the Blue Jays had runners on 1st and 2nd with none out and did absolutely nothing. Essentially Palacios achieved the same result he would have with a sac bunt by swinging away and grounding one right to first base. Kevin Smith, who looks very overmatched against big league pitchers popped out and Reese McGuire was called out on strikes. In the 3rd inning, finally a legit run! A air of doubles brought one home.
- After the 5th inning, the Blue Jays had a grand total of 1 base runner: a 2-out walk to Teo. The next batter, Corey Dickerson, hit a routine grounder to end that threat.
- The Blue Jays were a pathetic 1-8 with runners in scoring position.
- In terms of the wild card race, The Yankees were up 1-0 on the A's in the top of the 4th and the Mariners were up 3-1 in the bottom of the 1st (and threatening to tack on a lot more with the bases jammed and just 1 out) on the Royals. The Red Sox beat the Indians earlier.. The Blue Jays are 6.5 games back of the Red Sox for the 2nd WC spot. They are 2.5 games back of the Mariners, who are 4 games back of the Red Sox and they are 3.5 games back of the A's, who are 3 games back of the Red Sox. Bottom line, theBlue Jays need to go on a significant streak and probably get help from other teams.
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to snap the 2-game skid. Alek Manoah gets the start against Tigers righty Jose Urena.
