Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Game #42 - New York Yankees (25-19) @ Toronto Blue Jays (24-18) - game recap

 

Kevin Gausman threw 7 solid innings in a 6-3 loss to the Yankees

After a tough loss to the Yankees desopite a late game rally, the Blue Jays were looking to even this 4-game series and retake the lead in the season series. Kevin Gausman got the start with Danny Jansen behind the plate. Vlad was back in the field after the half day off yesterday as DH. George Springer got the half day off as DH tonight with Cavan Biggio in RF. Could the Blue Jays even the 4-game series and retake the lead in the season series? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

  • The Yankees opened the scoring in the top of the 3rd as Gleyber Torres singles scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa
  • Two batters later, Jose Trevino scored on a double play ball hit by Harrison Bader
  • Domingo German pitching line: 3IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K 37 pitches (26 for strikes)- was ejected for a foreign substance violation.
  • The Yankees added a run in the tlop of the 5th as Kiner-Falefa whacked a solo jack to the opposite field in  right
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Kevin Kiermaier drilled a solo bomb to dead center 
  • Two batters later, Bo Bichette doubled scoring George Springer 
  • A batter later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled home Bichette
  • Kevin Gausman pitching line: 7IP 5H 3R (2 earned) 2BB 10K 102 pitches (63 for strikes)
  • The Yankees retook the lead in the top of the 8th as Aaron Judge hammered a solo bomb to dead center; also scoring Aaron Hicks 
  • The Yankees added a run in the top of the 9th on a sac fly by Torres that scored Kiner-Falefa
  • Wandy Peralta pitched a scoreless 9th for his 3rd save of the season
  • Final score: Yankees 6 Blue Jays 3

My Take:

  • Kevin Gausman threw seven solid innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 10. He ran into a tough inning in the 3rd when he gave up a pair on 2 hits and a walk. Gausman retired the final 7 batters he faced.
  • The difference in this one was Aaron Judge taking taking Erik Swanson deep for 2 runs. Anthony Bass gave up an insurance run on a sac fly. The bullpen needs to be able to keep the score where it is on a more consistent basis, otherwise, the Blue Jays risk missing the playoffs or having start on the road for the entire playoffs 
  • Offensively, the Blue Jays had one big inning in the 5th where they rallied for 3 runs on 4 hits. They simply could not take advantage of starter Domingo German being ejected (by the way he was tossing a perfect game after 3 innings at the time of the ejection
  • Speaking of the ejection, let's talk about it a bit. Since last season, the league has been trying to crack down on pitchers using foreign substances to improve their secondary pitches, such as sliders and curve balls. It is perfectly legal for pitchers to use rosin to get a better grip on the ball. In fact, if rosin was banned, it could be a safety issue with more batters getting hit and possibly seriously injures. What is not legal is excessive use of said rosin or using pine tar or your own saliva. In the past, you'd see the ball caps of some pitchers excessively dirty and those pitchers would regularly wipe at the brim of the cap to get even more rosin/pine tar on their hand. You'll still see pitchers lick their fingers between pitches, but they must wipe their hand on their pants. An ejection comes with an automatic 10-game suspension, so effectively German will now miss his next two starts.
  • Up next, the Blue Jays try to snap the two-game skip and prevent losing their 4th series of the season. Chris Bassitt starts against Yankees righty Gerritt Cole