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| Daniel Vogelbach drove in a pair in a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Pirates |
After a brutal loss on a bad start from Yusei Kikuchi and another subpar effort from the offence, the Blue Jays were looking for their 7th series win and 4th season series win. Chris Bassitt got the start with Danny Jansen behind the plate. Vlad got his first start at the hot corner since September 27, 2019. The last time he was at the hot corner was June 16, 2022 when he played the last 2 innings of that game there. Justin Turner got the start at 1B and 1KF was at 2B. Could the Blue Jays make it 7 series wins and 4 season series wins? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Pirates opened the scoring in the top of the 3rd as Rowdy Tellez singled scoring Connor Joe
- The Blue Jays tied it up in thr bottom half of the inning on a wild pitch by Quinn Priester that scored Daulton Varsho
- The Pirates retook the lead in the top of the 5th as Tellez doubled scoring Oneil Cruz and Ke'Bryan Hayes
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa
- Two batters later, Daniel Vogelbach doubled scoring Davis Schneider and Guerrero Jr.
- Quinn Priester pitching line: 4.2IP 8H 4R (all earned) 0BB 3K 87 pitches (58 for strikes)
- Chris Bassitt pitching line: 5IP 8H 3R (all earned) 1BB 7K 100 pitches (63 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the 6th as Schneider doubled home Varsho
- The Pirates got one back in the top of the 9th as Tellez singled home Cruz
- Yimi Garcia got the last 3 outs for his 3rd save of the season
- Final score: Blue Jaus 5 Pirates 4
My Take:
- Chris Bassitt battled through 5 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits while walking 1 and striking out 7. He pitched his way in and out of trouble all day. Clearly the neck issue, while not bad enough to keep him from playing, is hampering his effectiveness, Maybe an IL stint of 15 days might heal him up.
- The bullpen gave up a run on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 6 over the last 4 innings, Trevor Richards was the only reliever to retire every batter he faced.
- The offence did just enough to prevail today. Vlad (a run batted in and a run scored), Daniel Vogelbach (2 run double), Davis Schneider (an RBI and a run scored) and Daulton Varsho (2 runs scored) did the damage offensively today
- At this point, the all-star rep will either be Danny Jansen or Vlad
- The Blue Jays were 3-9 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, the Blue Jays begin a 4-game series against the Orioles. The two teams split the 2 games in Baltimore three weeks ago (the middle game was postponed due to rain) with both teams scoring 5 runs. Kevin Guasman starts against Orioles righty Grayson Rodriguez.
