| Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove in a pair of runs in a 7-3 loss to the Orioles |
After a rough loss yesterday, the Blue Jays began a series against the Orioles, who swept the Blue Jays a week ago. The Orioles have won 4 of 6 games in the season series thus far and have outscored the Blue Jays 36-34. Yusei Kikuchi was looking to exact some sweet revenge after getting knocked around for 5 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 4. The start was even more important for Kikuchi since Ross Stripling should be ready to return this week and Mitch White has held his own in 2 starts for the Blue Jays. George Springer was activated from the 10-day IL and served as DH for tonight's game. Bradley Zimmer was DFA'd to create a roster spot. Danny Jansen was behind the plate. Teo was back in RF after DH'ing yesterday. Bo Bichette was back at SS after the full day off yesterday. Raimel Tapia was in CF and Whit Merrifield was at 2B. Could the Blue Jays snap the two-game skid against the Orioles and one-game skid overall? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Orioles opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Anthony Santander singled scoring Ryan McKenna
- The Orioles added a pair of runs in the top of the 3rd as Ryan Mountcastle hammered a 2-run bomb to left-center; also scoring Santander
- The Blue Jays got a pair back in the bottom half of the inning as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled scoring George Springer and Danny Jansen
- The Orioles added a run in the top of the 4th on a fielder's choice on a ball hit by Tyler Nevin that scored Jorge Mateo
- A batter later, McKenna doubled scoring Terrin Vavra
- A batter after that, Brett Phillips scored on a sac fly by Adley Rutschmann
- Yusei Kikuchi pitching line: 3.1IP 4H 6R (3 earned) 3BB 3K 80 pitches (50 for strikes)
- The Orioles added a run in the top of the 5th on a sac fly by Vavra that scored Mountcastle
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bashed a solo blast to the opposite field in right-center
- Kyle Bradish pitching line: 4.2IP 6H 3R (all earned) 4BB 5K 96 pitches (54 for strikes)
- Final score: Orioles 7 Blue Jays 3
My Take:
- Another game, another disastrous start for Yusei Kikuchi. This time, he gave up 6 runs (3 earned thanks to a Bo Bichette error) while walking 3 and striking out 3 over 3.1 innings. The Blue Jays are basically batting teams trying to make the playoffs. They can't afford to keep running Kikuchi out there when he can't pitch deep into games and he gives up a whack of runs. DFA might be the answer as they did with Bradley Zimmer today.
- The bullpen did a good job tonight, although Trevor Richards did give up a run in the 5th to really put the game away. Trent Thornton threw 2 solid innings, walking 1 and striking out 3.
- In his return from the IL, George Springer was 2-4 with a run scored and a walk. He's expected to get more games at DH as he eases back into playing mostly every day. His injured elbow, which could well need surgery in the off-season, will dictate when he plays. Certainly the Blue Jays have enough players capable of playing in the outfield that Springer could probably exclusively DH most of the remainder of the season if need be.
- Vlad started a new hitting streak with his solo bomb in the 5th inning
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to snap the 2-game skid as well as the 3-game losing streak against the Orioles. Alek Manoah starts against Orioles righty Dean Kremer
