| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in runs in both ends of the double header. The Rays won 6-2 in the 1st game and prevailed 11-5 in the second game |
After pounding the Rays yesterday on a rare Canada Day win, the Blue Jays played an even rarer double header at home, necessitated by the series in April postponed by the lockout, Righty Casey Lawrence was recalled from AAA-ball as the 27th man. Alek Manoah started the 1st game and Thomas Hatch started the 2nd game. Gabriel Moreno was behind the plate in the 1st game and Alejandro Kirk caught the 2nd game. Vlad DH's the 1st game and was in the field the 2nd game. Matt Chapman was back in the field after the full day off yesterday. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was also back in the field after DH'ing yesterday. Bo Bichette was in the field the first game and DH'd the second game. George Springer was in CF and had the second game completely off (Bradley Zimmer was in CF game 2). Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was in LF the 1st game and Raimel Tapia was in LF the second game. Santiago Espinal was at 2B the 1st game and SS the 2nd game. Cavan Biggio was at 1b the 1st game and 2B the 2nd game. Could the Blue Jays sweep the double header? Here is/are today's game(s).
Game Highlights (1st game):
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled scoring Bo Bichette
- The Blue Jays lost starting pitcher Kevin Gausman after he was drilled by a liner. Luckily x-rays were negative
- Kevin Gausman pitching line: 2IP 4H 0R 1BB 3K 42 pitches (31 for strikes)
- The Rays tied the game in the bottom of the 2nd as Isaac Paredes smashed a solo blast to left
- The Rays added a run in the top of the 5th as Randy Arozarena singled home Wander Franco. The liner deflected off Casey Lawremce, who was thankfully ok,
- Three batters later, Rene Pinto singled home Harold Ramirez and Arozarena
- The Rays added a run in the top of the 6th as Franco drilled a solo bomb to the opposite field in left
- Shane McClanahan pitching line: 7IP 3H 1R (earned) 1BB 10K 94 pitches (68 for strikes)
- The Rays added a run in the top of the 8th as Yandy Diaz singled home Taylor Walls
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 9th on a double play ball hit by Matt Chapman that scored Teoscar Hernandez
- Final score: Rays 6 Blue Jays 2
My Take (1st game):
- It was a rough day to be a Blue Jays pitcher, Both Kevin Gausman and Casey Lawrence had line drives deflect off them. Gausman was forced to leave the game and Lawrence was ok to continue. Gausman attempted to chase after the ball, but collapsed just in front of the mound. X-rays were negative, but it would not be a surprise to see him miss a start.
- It was a gutsy effort from Lawrence, who gave the Blue Jays a much-needed 5.5 innings and threw 87 pitches three days after throwing over 90 pitches for Buffalo
- The Blue Jays bats were stymied in the first game, managing just three hits and a walk off lefty Shane McClanahan. Although, every starter except Cavan Biggio reached base at least once
- A day after Russell Martin threw out the first pitch, Vlad Sr threw to his son Vlad Jr. ahead of this one. Although Vlad Sr. never played for the Blue Jays (he was released from a minor league tryout in 2012 at his request), He played a significant part of his career for the Expos and Vlad Jr. was born in Montreal.
- Up next, the second game of the double header. Thomas Hatch starts against Rays righty Drew Rasmussen
Game Highlights (2nd game):
- The Raysa opened the scoring in the top of the 1st on a double play ball hit by Ji-Man Choi that scored Yandy Diaz
- The Rays added a pair of runs in the top of the 2nd as Francisco Meija smashed a 2-run blast to right and into the Rays bullpen; also scoring Isaac Paredes
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning on a sac fly by Matt Chapman that scored Alejandro Kirk
- The Rays added a run in the top of the 3rd on a double play ball hit by Randy Arozarena that scored Wander Franco
- A batter later, A batter later, Paredes doubled scoring Harold Ramirez
- A batter after that, Taylor Walls singled home Paredes
- The Rays added three runs in the top of the 5th as Paredes hammered a 3-run bomb to the second deck in left; also scoring Arozarena and Ramirez
- A batter later, Meija whacked a solo blast to right
- Thomas Hatch pitching line: 4.2IP 12H 10R (all earned) 2BB 4K 71 pitches (50 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got one back in thew bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk to Cavan Biggio that forced in Raimel Tapia
- Drew Rasmussen pitching line: 4.2IP 5H 2R (1 earned) 2BB 2K 68 pitches (41 for strikes)
- The Rays added a run in the top of the 6th as Ramirez doubled home Diaz
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hammered a solo bomb to left center
- The Blue Jays got a pair back in the bottom of the 7th as Bradley Zimmer belted a 2-run jack to the second deck in right; also scoring Santiago Espinal
- Final score: Rays 11 Blue Jays 5
My Take (2nd game):
- Thomas Hatch was lit up for 10 runs on 12 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. A short outing by Kevin Gausman in the first game meant Hatch needed to at least pitch into the 5th inning. The 4th inning was the only scoreless inning for Hatch, who won't be starting another game anytime soon. He'll be lucky to be a long option in the bullpen after this performance
- The bullpen held the Rays to a run on 2 hits while walking 1 and striking out 7 over the final 4.1 innings
- Offensively, the Blue Jays tried to make a game of this clunker, but ultimately the deficit was too great. Vlad drove in runs in both games
- Up next, the Blue Jays wrap up the series and home stand with a matinee tomorrow. Ross Stripling starts against Rays righty Shane Baz
