After being Edged by the White Sox after multiple blow saves by normally steady relievers, the Blue Jays were looking to avoid a series sweep. Ross Stripling got the start with Gabriel Moreno behind the plate. George Springer got the full day off with Raimel Tapia in CF. Alejandro Kirk served as DH. Could the Blue Jays avoid the sweep and clinch the season series win? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- Guillermo Martinez did not make it past the lineup exchange. He was tossed from the game for something he allegedly said.
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd as Alejandro Kirk singled scoring Santiago Espinal
- Scary scene to end the Blue Jays 3rd. White Sox LF Adam Haseley and SS Danny Mendick collided chasing a foul ball that Haseley snagged to end the inning. Mendick got the worst of it and injured his right leg. He was replaced by Leury Garcia to start the 3rd inning.
- The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 3rd as Kirk hammered a solo bomb to dead center
- Adam Engel left the game at the start of the 4th with a right leg injury
- The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 4th as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled scoring Matt Chapman
- Three batters later, Bo Bichette drilled a grand slam to left; also scoring Espinal, Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno
- Lucas Giolito pitching line: 5IP 11H 7R (all earned) 1BB 3K 95 pitches (61 for strikes)
- The White Sox got one back in the bottom of the 6th as Luis Roberts singled home Josh Harrison
- The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the top of the 7th as Hernandez smashed a 2-run blast to left; also scoring Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- Ross Stripling pitching line: 6IP 5H 1R (earned) 1BB 5K 87 pitches (58 fpr strikes)
- The White Sox got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Reese McGuire singled scoring Jake Burger
- The White Sox got one back in the bottom of the 8th as Burger singled scoring Andrew Vaughn
- Two batters later, AJ Pollock singled home Sevy Zavala
- A batter later, Jose Abreu scored on a throwing error by Espinal
- Final score: Blue Jays 9 White Sox 5
My Take:
- Ross Stripling threw 6 strong innings, giving up a run on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 5. He retired 6 in a row at one point. He's all but secured his spot in the rotation for the remainder of the year with Hyun-Jin Ryu done for the year after Tommy John surgery last week. Also, Stripling has pitched well enough that he deserves a spot in the rotation.
- The bullpen wobbled but didn't completely throw the game away. I'm sure a lot of fans were biting their nails seeing Trent Thornton enter the game in the 8th with the bases loaded and the White Sox down a grand slam. Luckily Thornton was able to escape the jam. Tim Mayza closed out the game. Unlike last night where he blew a save opportunity in the 10th inning, Mayza allowed only a meaningless single to start the 9th before retiring the next 3 batters. He did have to endure a scary comebacker for the 2nd out.
- The Blue Jays offence jumped all over White Sox ace Lucas Giolito, scoring 7 runs on him. Likely all-star catcher Alejandro Kirk drove in a pair and scored once. Bo Bichette hit a grand slam in the 4th to cap the scoring against Giolito (Teo would go yard for 2 more runs in the top of the 7th). Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove in the other Blue Jays run.
- Every Blue Jays starter except Raimel Tapia had at least one hit.
- Up next, after an off day tomorrow, the Blue Jays begin a stretch of 19 games in 19 days, which will include 5 games over the Canada Day long weekend due to a double header against the Rays to make up one of the postponed games due to the lockout that wiped out the first 2 weeks of games. They open the stretch of games this weekend with a 3 games against the Brewers. It will be old friend time as the Blue Jays face former teammates Jonathan Davis, who was recently recalled by the Brewers, and Rowdy Tellez. Davis was 2-4 in his recent season debut. Tellez is batting .251 with 10HR and 39RBI heading into today's games over 65 games. The last time these two squads faced each other was 2017 and the Blue Jays and Brewers split the 4 games with the Blue Jays outscoring the Brewers 15-13. Alek Manoah starts for the Blue Jays. The Brewers have not yet set their rotation.
