After an untimely loss to the Yankees last night, the Blue Jays try to get right back on track with a win. Jake Lamb cleared waivers and is now a free agent. Jacob Barnes had his contract selected and Anthony Castro was optioned to AAA. Jose Berrios got the start with Reese McGuire behind the plate. The rest of the lineup was the same as last night. Could the Blue Jays even the series? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Marcus Semien belted a 2-run bom to left-center and into the Blue Jays bullpen; also scoring George Springer
- The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the second as Springer singled scoring Santiago Espinal
- The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the 3rd as Bo Bichette hammered a solo bomb to dead center
- The Yankees got one back in the top of the 5th as Gio Urshela singled scoring Gleyber Torres
- A batter later, Brett Gardner doubled home Urshela
- The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom half of the inning as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled scoring Springer
- The Yankees got one back in the bottom half of the inning on a sac fly by Aaron Judge that scored DJ LeMahieu
- Gerritt Cole pitching line; 6IP 9H 5R (all earned) 0BB 6K 96 pitches (66 for strikes)
- Jose Berrios pitching line: 6IP 4H 3R (all earned) 0BB 7K 98 pitches (67 for strikes)
- The Yankees tied the game in the top of the 7th as Kyle Higashioka doubled scoring Joey Gallo and Torres
- The Blue Jays retook the lead in the top of the 9th as Bichette whacked an opposite-field shot to right-center
- Jordan Romano pitched a scoreless 9th for his 22nd save of the season
- Final score: Blue Jays 6 Yankees 5
My Take:
- Both Gerritt Cole and Jose Berrios battled through 6 innings with neither starter walking a batter. The difference was Cole allowed 2 more runs on 5 more hits and Berrios struck out an extra batter and also threw two more pitches than Cole. The Blue Jays got to Cole early and were consistently adding runs. Berrios retired the first 14 Yankees he faced before the Yankees scored 2 runs on 3 straight hits. Overall, it was a solid final start of the season for Berrios
- Unfortunately Tim Mayza gave up 2 runs in the 7th to prevent Berrios from the win. Adam Cimber was lights out, retiring 4 straight batters. Jordan Romano also did his job to preserve the win (although the Yankees had a runner on 2nd with 2 out in the 9th.
- After the bats were largely silent last night, they came to life in a big way tonight, led by George Springer (scored twice and drove in a run), Marcus Semien (whacked a 2-run shot to open the scoring. the RBI put him over 100 for season joining Teo, Vlad and Bo in the 100 RBI club on the season), Vlad doubled home a run and Bo hit 2 HR, including a clutch solo shot in the 8th
- The Blue Jays were 3-9 with runners in scoring position,
- In terms of the WC race, the Red Sox won and the Mariners and A's were scoreless in the 4th at the time of this posting. Worst case, the situation will be the same as end of last night - a game back of the Red Sox for the 2nd WC spot and a half gam,e back of the Mariners, who will be a half game back of the Red Sox if they beat the A's tonight.
- Up next, the Blue Jays go for the series win. Ace Robbie Ray maes his final start of the season against Yankees righty Corey Kluber
