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| Matt Chapman drove in the only Blue Jays run in a 9-1 loss to the Padres |
After an off-day yesterda, the Blue Jays continued their two-week stretch of games against west coast teams with a three game set against the Padres that began tonight in Toronto, In 2019, the Padres won the season series 2-1, outscoring the Blue Jays 26-17. Alek Manoah got the start with Danny Jansen behind the plate. Daulton Varsho was in LF and Whit Merrifield was at 2B. Brandon Belt served as DH. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 5 games and start the week with a win? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Padres opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Juan Soto whacked a 2- run blast to the opposite field in left-center; also scoring Fernando Tatis Jr
- The Blue jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Matt Chapman singled scoring George Springer
- Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker was ejected from the game in the top of the 2nd
- The Padres added a run in the top of the 3rd as Soto doubled scoring Tatis Jr
- Alek Manoah pitching line: 3IP. 4H 4R (all earned) 5BB 0K 92 pitches (49 for strikes)
- The Padres added a run in the top of the 5th as Manny Machado hammered a solo bomb to left-center
- Three batters later, Gary Sanchez rifled a solo bomb to left-center
- Joe Musgrove pitching line: 6IP 5H 1R (earned) 1BB 7K 109 pitches (68 for strikes)
- The Padres added a run in the top of the 8th as Tristan Grisham belted a solo bomb to right-center
- The Padres added a run in the top of the 9th as Jake Cronenworth doubled scoring Soto
- A batter later, Machado scored on a sac fly by Sanchez
- Final score: Padres 9 Blue Jays 1
My Take:
- Oh boy, the Alek Manoah, who has been floundering all season showed up. He was fortunate to only be down by 2 runs after the 1st inning after a laborious 41 pitch inning. The most concerning start on this night was the 5 walls and no strikeouts. Sure, bad umpiring didn't help matters, but umpires generally won't give pitchers the benefit of the doubt on close pitches if they have not consistently been in the strike zone all night. The Blue Jays have an interesting decision to make with Hyun-Jin Ryu potentially making his 2023 debut next week or the week after. Also, the trade deadline is approaching and the Blue Jays are rumored to be exploring potentially bringing ex-Blue Jays starter back in a trade with the Cubs. At the end of the day, a big factor in what happens to Manoah in the coming weeks will be what's best for his long term success. There's no question that Manoah wants to pitch in the majors, but running him out every five days and having him struggle mightily is not going to do him any favors.
- The bullpen, and in particular mitch White and Nate Pearson gave up 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks over 4 innings (Jay Jackson gave up a hit over two innings). For White, this was a crucial appearance with Chad Green expected to join the bullpen soon in his return from Tommy John surgery. The Blue Jays could also explore trade options to boost the bullpen for the crucial stretch drive
- Offensively, it was good to see the Blue Jays respond with a run in the 1st inning after Manoah's rough start to the game. Unfortunately, that's the only run the Blue Jays would score.
- The Blue Jays were 1-8 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to even the series. Jose Berrios starts against Padres righty Yu Darvish
