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| Daulton Varsho hit a solo home run in a 2-1 loss to the Royals |
After a shellacking thanks to some brutal pitching from Max Scherzer, who couldn't get out of the first inning, and position pitcher/backup catcher Tyler Heineman, who allowed half of the 20 runs against, the Blue Jays were looking to snap the 3-game skid, avoid their 16th series loss, 8th season series loss and clinch a postseason berth. Chris Bassitt was placed on the 15-day IL with a lower back strain and Mason Fluharty was recalled from AAA-ball. Shane Bieber got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Vlad got the half day off as DH with Ty France at 1B. Myles Straw was in LF and George Springer was in RF. IKF was at the hot corner. Ernie Clement was at SS and Davis Schneider got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays snap the 3-game skid, avoid their 16th series loss, 8th season series loss and clinch a postseason berth? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Royals opened the scoring in the bottom of the 4th as Bobby Witt Jr. hammered a solo bomb to dead center
- A batter later, Vinnie Pasquantino whacked a solo blast to right-center
- The Blue jays got one back in the top of the 7th as Daulton Varsho belted a solo jack to straightaway center
- Noah Cameron pitching line: 6.2IP 3H 1R (earned) 2BB 5K 98 pitches (62 for strikes)
- Shane Bieber pitching line: 6.1IP 4H 2R (both earned) 1BB 4K 87 pitches (58 for strikes)
- Carlos Estevez pitched a scoreless 9th for his 41st save of the season
- Final score: Royals 2 Blue Jays 1
My Take:
- Shane Bieber fired 6.1 innings, giving up a pair of runs on 4 hits while walking 1 and striking out 4. Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino hit back to back jacks, which turned out to be the difference in the game. Bieber retired nine of the first tend batters he faced and is pitching his way to being the game 1 option of a playoff series.
- The bullpen threw 1.2 scoreless innings. Kudos to Mason Fluharty for baring down and recording 2 outs after the bases were loaded thanks to the infield screwing up what should have been an inning-ending DP and Fluharty hitting a batter. Jeff Hoffman also managed to pitch a scoreless inning despite the fact every fan was likely screaming at their tv and holding their collective breaths since traditionally, Hoffman has not thrived in non-save situations (mind you he hasn't thrived in save situations lately either.)
- The offence is picking a horrible time to slump. One run won't cut it in the playoffs. That said it was nice to see Daulton Varsho go deep against a lefty since he is the better defender in CF. The Blue Jays will likely be sending out the lineup that'll give them the best chance to clinch tomorrow and after that, you may start seeing guys like Vladdy get a full day off.
- The Blue Jays were 0-1 with runners in scoring position
- So the Blue Jays missed a golden opportunity to clinch tonight with the Tigers having lost before the first pitch was thrown in tonight's game. The Red Sox and Yankees both gained a game on the Blue Jays with the loss, putting the Yankees just 2 games baack of the Blue Jays (really 3 games since the Blue Jays have the tiebreaker having clinched the season series against the Yankees) and the Red Sox are 5 games back. The red hot Guardians could be in play for best AL record as they sit just one game back of the Tigers in the AL Central. It's crucial for the Blue Jays to get a bye to give some of their banged up players a few days to rest and also set up the playoff rotation.
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to snap the 4-game skid and avoid being swept for the 4th time. Trey Yesavage starts against Royals righty Michael Wacha
