| Davis Schneider scored twice, including a 1st inning solo HR, in a losing effort as the Brewers came from behind and hung on to edge the Blue Jays 5-4 |
After a huge shutout win thanks to a strong start from Yusei Kikuchi and timely clutch hitting in thy 2nd, 4th and 9th innings, the Blue Jays were looking for their 2nd straight win and 9th series win of the season. The Blue Jays traded cavan Biggio to the dodgers for righty Brayden Fisher. Biggio was the second, between Bo Bichette and Vlad, to be promoted from triple-a ball in 2019 and played a utility role, playing every infield position but shortstop and also seeing time in RF. He is the son of hall of famer and lifelong Astro Craig Biggio. Braydon Fisher is 2-1 with a 5.86ERA in 15 appearances split between AA- and AAA-ball. Chris Bassit got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Vlad got the day completely off after a half day off yesterday (Spencer Horwitz was at 1B and Daniel Vogelbach served as DH today). Daulton Varsho was in CF and Davis Schneider was in LF. Ernie Clement was at the hot corner and IKF got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays make it two straight wins, 9 series wins and get back to .500 for the first time since April 29? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue jays opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Davis Schneider whacked a solo blast to the opposite field in right-center
- Chris Bassitt pitching line: 5IP 5H 0R 4BB 5K 100 pitches (60 for strikes)
- The brewers tied the game in the bottom of the 6th on a throwing error by Alejandro Kirk that scored Blake Perkins
- Same batter, William Contreras singled scoring Brice Turang
- A batter later, Christian Yelich singled home Turang
- A batter after that, Willy Adames hammered a 2-run bomb to dead center; also scoring Yelich
- Tobias Myers pitching line: 6IP 3H 1R (earned) 1BB 4K 66 pitches (49 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 9th as Spencer Horwitz singled scoring Ernie Clement
- Two batters later, Bo Bichette singled scoring Horwitz
- Three batters later. Schneider scored on a sac fly by Alejandro Kirk
- Trevor Megill got the last three outs for his 11th save of the season
- Final score: Brewers 5 Blue Jays 4
My Take:
- Chris Bassitt battled through 5 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits, walking 4 and striking out 5. Certainly not the most efficient outing for Bassitt, who through a ton of pitches and had to navigate out of jams in 4 of the 5 innings.
- The bullpen gave up 5 runs (all in the 6th inning and charged to Zach Pop and Tim Mayza) on 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3 over the last 3 innings. Trrevor Richards, who struck out the side in the 8th, was the only reliever to retire every batter he faced. The fateful 6th inning onslaught was started with a horrible throw from Kirk on a double steal and it snowballed from there
- The offence was literally a bookend with Schneider going deep for a solo shot in the 1st inning and a 3-run rally that fell a run short in the 9th. The other 7 innings, the Blue Jays managed 2 hits and a walk, one that was erased on a pickoff (Clement in the 6th inning). They were retired in order in 4 of the innings and Brewrs pitchers faced the minimum 3 batters in all but the 3rd inning.
- The Blue Jays were 2-4 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, after an off-day tomorrow, the Blue Jays start a 2-week stretch with home-and-home series against the Guardians and Red Sox starting with the Guardians on Friday. Last season, the Guardians won the season series 4-3 with both teams scoring 24 runs each.Kevin Gausman starts against Guardians lefty Logan Allen on Friday.
