Friday, July 8, 2022

Game #84- Toronto Blue Jays (45-39) @ Seattle Mariners (42-42) - game recap

 

Bo Bichette scored a run and drove in a run in an 8-3 loss to the Mariners

After a hard-fought win in oakland yesterday, the Blue Jays headed north to Seattle for a 4-game series that began tonight. The Blue Jays took 2 of 3 from the Mariners back in Toronto May 16-18 and outscored Seattle 10-7. Lefty Yusei Kikuchi was placed on the 15-day IL with a neck strain. Righty Max Castillo was recalled in his place. Lefty Anthony Banda got the start with Gabriel Moreno behind the plate. George Springer remained out of the lineup. He has been dealing with an elbow injury. Bradley Zimmer was in CF. Teoscar Hernandez was back in the field after DH'ing yesterday. Alejandro Kirk was the DH tonight. Could the Blue Jays make it two wins in a row? Here is tonight's game recap. 

Game Highlights:

  • The Mariners opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Carlos Santana single scoring Julio Rodriguez
  • Two batters later, Cal Raleigh singled home JP Crawford. Eugenio Suarez was thrown out at 3B on the play to end the inning
  • Anthony Banda pitching line: 0.1IP 2H 2R (both earned) 1BB 0K 13 pitches (7 for strikes)
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 2nd as Gabriel Moreno singled home Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
  • The Mariners added a run in the bottom half of the inning as Dylan Moore whacked a solo jack that went off the glove of Gurriel Jr. and into the Blue Jays bullpen
  • The Mariners added a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd as Suarez singled scoring Crawford and Santana
  • A batter later, Raleigh smashed a 2-run blast to right; also scoring Suarez
  •  The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 5th as Bo Bichette singled scoring Santiago Espinal
  • A batter later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled home Bichette 
  • The Mariners added a run in the bottom half of the inning as Suarez drilled a solo bomb to left
  • Marco Gonzales pitching line: 6.2IP 8H 3R (2 earned) 1BB 0K 88 pitches (63 for strikes)

My Take:

  • The Blue Jays tried to take a page out of the Rays book on a bullpen day and use lefty Anthony Banda as an opener with Casey Lawrence being the guy who ate up the bulk innings. The plan backfired when Banda could only get one out. Casey Lawrence allowed a further 5 runs on 7 hits over the next 2.2 innings. Luckily Max Castillo was able to throw 3 innings but now the Blue Jays need Ross Stripling to go 6 or 7 innings tomorrow.
  • Quirky stat of the day: Neither starting pitcher recorded a strikeout 
  • Santiago Espinal should be the leadoff hitter when George Springer is not in the lineup. He has good AB's and he went 3-5 today.
  • The Blue Jays actually had a good day driving in runners. They were 3-6 with runners in scoring position. Trouble is the Mariners plated 8 runs on this night
  • Up next, the Blue Jays try to even the weekend series with a win. Although neither team announced a starter for tomorrow's game, Ross Stripling is up next, unless he is injured.