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| Ernie Clement drove in the winning run in a 7-6 extra innings win over the A's |
After a walk-off win thanks to a clutch Andres Gimenez, the Blue Jays were looking for their 2nd straight win and 1st series win of the season. Dylan Cease got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Davis Schneider was in LF and Myles Straw was in RF. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 2 games and notch their 1st series win of the season? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 3rd as George Springer doubled scoring Myles Straw
- The A's tied it in the top of the 6th as Tyler Soderstrom doubled scoring Nick Kurtz
- Dylan Cease pitching line: 5.1IP 3H 1R (earned) 2BB 12K 90 pitches (61 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Daulton Varsho singled scoring Vladimir Guerrero Jr
- Mason Fluharty left the game in the top of the 7th after facing 2 batters and getting hit by back-to-back line drives
- Two batters later, A's tied it in the top of the 7th as Denzel Clarke singled scoring Jeff McNeil
- Two batters later, Shea Langeliers hammered a grand slam to dead center; also scoring Max Muncy, Clarke and Kurtz
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Guerrero Jr. singled home Jesus Sanchez
- The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 8th as Jesus Sanchez singled scoring Alejandro Kirk
- A batter later, Andres Gimenez singled scoring Varsho
- The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom of the 9th as Kirk whacked a solo blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen
- The A's retook the lead in the top of the 10th as Brent Rooker singled scoring Kurtz
- The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom half of the inning on a sac fly by Addison Barger that scored Sanchez
- The Blue Jays walked it off in the bottom of the 11th as Ernie Clement singled home Nathan Lukes
- Final score: Blue Jays 7 A's 6 (11 innings)
My Take:
- Dylan Cease fired 5.1 solid innings, giving up a run on 3 his while walking 2 and striking out 12. Cease retired 7 of the first 9 batters he faced. Unfortunately, his effort was wasted by the bullpen.
- Two games, two blown saves. After Jeff Hoffman ruined a stellar start by Kevin Gausman yesterday, Brandon Little was pressed into a tough situation with runners on 1st and 2nd with none out after Mason Fluharty was forced out after getting drilled by 2 comebackers. Little hasn't looked great since the all-star break last season. He had a couple of pitches that were touching 97mph, but he couldn't control his knuckle curve. Back to the drawing board for him. On the plus side, Spencer Miles, who was credited with the win, looked like he deserves a shot at a higher leverage situation.
- The offence bailed out Littl today with some clutch hits, topped by a solo blast from Alejandro Kirk. Jesus Sanchez came off the bench and scored twice. He was nearly picked off taking too long to decide to advance to 3rd on a soft liner that dropped in front of A's LF Tyler Soderstrom, whose throw forced 3B Max Muncy to dive back to apply the tag
- The Blue Jays are continuing to use ABS challenges wisely, overturning two more calls today (Kirk to get Cease a strikeout and George Springer to extend an at-bat)
- The Blue Jays were 7-20 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the win streak to 3 games and complete their 1st sweep of the season. Eric Lauer starts against A's righty Luis Morales
