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| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 9th as the Blue Jays came from behind to knock off the Red Sox 6-5 |
After a solid win last night on the back of 7 shutout innings by Kevin Gausman, the Blue Jays were looking for their 2nd straight win and 13th serie3s win of the season. Ross Stripling got the start with Gabriel Moreno behind the plate. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was back in the field after DH'ing yesterday. George Springer got the half day off as DH with Raimel Tapia in CF. Could the Blue Jays make it two straight wins and notch their 13th series win of the season? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Teoscar Hernandez doubled scoring Bo Bichette
- Two batters later, Matt Chapman doubled home Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Hernandez
- The Red Sox got one back in the top of the 2nd as Trevor Story whacked a solo blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen.
- The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the 3rd as Santiago Espinal singled scoring Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
- The Red Sox got one back in the top of the 5th as Christian Vazquez scored on a groundout by Rob Refsnyder
- Ross Stripling pitching line: 5IP 5H 2R (both earned) 3BB 2K 90 pitches (57 for strikes)
- Michael Wacha pitching line: 5IP 5H 2R (both earned) 1BB 3K 81 pitches (56 for strikes)
- The Red Sox tied the game in the top of the 6th as Refsnyder drilled a 2-run bomb to dead center; also scoring Christian Arroyo
- The Red Sox took the lead in the top of the 7th as Vazquez singled home Xander Bogaerts
- The Blue Jays tied the game in the bottom of the 9th as Bichette singled scoring Bradley Zimmer
- A batter later, Guerrero Jr. singled home George Springer
- Final score: Blue Jays 6 Red Sox 5
- Ross Stripling battled through 5 innings, giving up a pair of runs on 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out 2. His only real mistake was hit out of the yard by Trevor Story. Richards threw enough good pitches to escape innings and limit the damage.
- The bullpen nearly caused the Blue Jays to lose. Trent Thornton gave up a 2-run shot to dead center to take the win away from Stripling. The normally reliable Tim Mayza gave up a run on a couple of hits and a walk. More importantly, the Blue Jays were forced to use 5 relievers.
- Everybody contributed to the offence today with every starter getting at least one hit. In fact, even Alejandro Kirk got a hit in his pinch hitting appearance.
- The Blue Jays were 6-12 with runners in scoring position.
- With the Rays losing today, the Blue Jays will either be 3rd in the AL East standings or 2nd in the AL East standings when they start the rare 5-game series against the Rays. Tomorrow's pitching matchup features Alek Manoah going up against Red Sox righty Nick Pivetta. Tomorrow's start by Manoah will likely determine who starts Thursday's game. Yusei Kikuchi is pencilled in at the moment, but may be either pushed back, skipped or relegated to the bullpen if Manoah can't pitch deep into tomorrow's game. The Blue Jays must manage their bullpen usage the next 2 days with a tough 4 games in 72 hour stretch Friday through Sunday's finale, and that includes a double header Saturday to make up one of the games postponed by the lockout.
