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| Yusei Kikuchi notched his first career save in a 9-0 shutout win over the Red Sox |
After an off-day yesterday, the Blue Jays opened the final home stand of the regular season against the Red Sox tonight. The Blue Jays have won 13 of the 16 games in the season series against the Red Sox, outscoring Boston 100-52. They have swept the last 2 series against the Red Sox for 6 straight wins over their AL East rivals. Alek Manoah got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. George Springer was back in the field after DH'ing Wednesday. Danny Jansen served as DH tonight. Could the Blue Jays start the final regular season homestand with a win? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st on a ground out by Alejandro Kirk that scored George Springer
- The Blue Jays added run in the bottom of the 2nd on a sac fly by Whit Merrifield that scored Raimel Tapia
- The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hammered a 2-run bomb to the second deck in left; also scoring Bo Bichette
- Nick Pivetta pitching line: 5IP 6H 4R (3 earned) 3BB 2K 100 pitches (62 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the 6th as Tapia drilled a solo bomb to right and into the Red Sox bullpen
- Three batters later, Springer belted a 3-run bomb off the basing of the second deck in left-center; also scoring Danny Jansen and Merrifield
- Alek Manoah pitching line 6IP 2H 0R 2BB 4K 96 pitches (59 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the 8th as Springer singled scoring Merrifield
- Yusei Kikuchi pitched the last 3 innings for his 1st career save
- Final score: Blue Jays 9 Red Sox 0
My Take;
- Alek Manoah threw six shutout innings, scattering a pair of hits while walking 2 and striking out 4 in his final regular season start of the season. While he'd be ready to pitch in the last game of the regular season, the Blue Jays should and most likely will have a bullpen day. Quite honestly, the team should be giving the key relievers a few batters each on October 5th to insure they are sharp heading into the playoffs
- Yusei Kikuchi had his best outing in a Blue Jays uniform, notching his first career save while pitching the final three innings. The Red Sox only managed a hit and a walk against the Japanese lefty. Despite today's performance, he will likely be left off the playoff roster
- The bats were on today as the Blue Jays went yard three times for six runs. The light hitting Tapia smashed a solo shot and George Springer added a 3-run shot and Vlad had a 2-run jack. The final five games are going to be about making sure the offense is firing on all cylinders,
- In terms of the WC race, the Blue Jays remain in the top WC spot, 2 games ahead of Seattle and 2.5 games up on the Rays. Baltimore is likely to be eliminated this weekend. They are 4.5 games behind the Rays for the final WC spot with just 5 games left.. The Ray and Orioles won and the Mariners were tied at 1 against the A's.
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the win streak to 2 games and notch their 26th series win of the season. Ross Stripling starts against Red Sox righty Brayan Bello
