After a 10-1shellacking against the Orioles yesterday with a strong team-wide effort from the offence and 6 shutout innings from Alek Manoah, the Blue Jays were looking to extend the winning streak to 3 games. Bad New came today, Hyun-Jin Ryu will undergo elbow surgery, either a partial revision or full TJ surgery. It will be the second surgery on his pitching elbow for Ryu, who underwent debridement surgery in September 2016. His 2022 season is now over after 6 subpar starts, 2 of which he left early due to the pain in his forearm/elbow. Ryu never threw more than 78 pitches in a start this season and threw over 5 innings just once. Here's hoping he can get healthy and regain his 2020 form when he finished 3rd in AL Cy Young voting. Ross Stripling likely remains in the rotation for the remainder of the season, barring a trade later in the season. Julian Merryweather was placed on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain. Jeremy Beasley was recalled in his place. Yusei Kikuchi got the start tonight. He was looking for a bounce-back start after failing to get out of the first inning five days ago. Gabriel Moreno was behind the plate. Matt Chapman was back at the hot corner after a few days off to rest a sore wrist. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was back in LF after DH'ing yesterday. George Springer got the half day off as DH today with Raimel Tapia in CF. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 3 games? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Orioles opened the scoring in the top of the 3rd as Ryan Mountcastle whacked an opposite-field 2-run blast to right-center; also scoring Richie Martin
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning on a ground out by Bo Bichette that scored Matt Chapman
- The Orioles added a run in the top of the 4th as Robinson Chinos singled scoring Ryan McKenna
- The Blue Jays tied the game in the bottom half of the inning as Chapman drilled a 2-run bomb to the second deck in left; also scoring Raimel Tapia
- The Orioles retook the lead in the top of the 5th as Austin Hays clobbered a solo bomb to dead center
- Three batters later, Mountcastle scored on a sac fly by Tyler Nevin
- Yusei Kikuchi pitching line: 4IP 5H 4R (all earned) 4BB 4K 68 pitches (41 for strikes)
- The Orioles added a run in the top of the 6th as Cedric Mullins singled scoring Jorge Mateo
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Gabriel Moreno singled home Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
- Jordan Lyles pitching line: 5.1IP 5H 4R (all earned) 2BB 7K 96 pitches (59 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 8th as Moreno singled home Santiago Espinal
- Jorge Lopeze got the final 5 outs for his 9th save of the season
- Final score: Blue Jays 6 Orioles 5
My Take:
- The good news? Yusei Kikuchi made it past the 1st inning. The bad news? Kikuchi struggled with command, issuing 4 walks and having several hard hit balls against him. He had to work his way out of three huge jams. With Ryu done for the year, he needs to pitch better if the Blue Jays want a lefty in the rotation.
- Trevor Richards continues to be ineffective as a reliever. He came in after Kikuchi gave up a solo HR to start the 5th and was expected to keep the deficit at 1. Instead, the Orioles tacked on 2 more runs on him over 1.1 innings and that proved to be the difference in the game. He ultimately deserves to have the loss on his record.
- Gabriel Moreno continues to impress in his MLB debut. Tonight, he had 2 clutch hits that brought the Blue Jays within a run with 5 outs to play with. The Blue Jays will have a difficult decision to make when Danny Jansen is ready to return from a fractured finger. Jansen has also been swinging a hot bat and has a reputation as being a good defensive catcher. Do the Blue Jays go with three catchers or send Moreno to AAA-ball for more playing time?
- After a dreadful first 6 weeks or so of the season of batting with runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays are all of a sudden leading the league in that stat over the last month. It could be a case of strength of opponent with the Blue Jays offence facing the game's tougher pitching staffs. The schedule is now in their favor and thus the #'s are evening out.
- Every Blue Jays starter except George Springer and Cavan Biggio reached base at least once
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to retake the series lead. Ace Jose Berrios starts against Orioles lefty Bruce Zimmermann
