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| Daulton Varsho hit a 2-run HR in a losing effort as the Twins came from behind to defeat the Blue Jays 7-4 |
After a strong comeback win over the Twins yesterday thanks to a solid team effort offensively, the Blue Jays were looking to extend the winning streak to 3 games and notch their 2nd series win of the season. Eric Lauer got the start with Brandon Valenzuela behind the plate. Jesus Sanchez was in LF and Nathan Lukes was in RF. Ernie Clement was at the hot corner and Davis Schneider was at 2B. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 3 games and notch their 2nd series win of the season? Here is today's game recap.?
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Daulton Varsho whacked a 2-run blast to right-center and into the Twins bullpen; also scoring George Springer
- The Twins got one back in the top of the 3rd as Brooks Lee smacked a solo blast to left and into the Blue Jays bullpen
- Five batters later, Byron Buxton was forced in on a bases loaded walk to Ryan Jeffers
- A batter later, Josh Bell singled scoring Austin Martin and Luke Keaschall
- Two batters later, Trevor Larnach hammered a three run bomb off the second deck in right; also scoring Jeffers and Bell
- Eric Lauer pitching line: 5.1IP 5H 7R (all earned) 5BB 3K 95 pitches (53 for strikes)\
- George Springer left the game after his second AB after fouling a ball off his big toe and fracturing it.
- Joe Ryan pitching line: 7IP2H 2R (both earned) 1BB 5K 91 pitches (65 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays got a pair back in the bottom of the 9th as Jesus Sanchez drilled a 2-run jack to right-center; also scoring Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- Final score: Twins 7 Blue Jays 4
My Take:
- Eric Lauer battled through 5.1 innings, giving up 7 runs on 5 hits while walking 5 and striking out 3. One inning, the 3rd, snowballed on him to the tune of 7 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. Lauer actually retired 6 of the 7 batters he faced. Maybe he should have done what Shohei Ohtani did on Wednesday and tied his shoelaces a few times in the 3rd inning to slow things down a bit. That was important that Lauer pitch into the 6th inning with Scherzer due to start tomorrow and liable to blow out his arm the way the Blue Jays injury luck has gone this season (he is dealing with forearm tightnessm often a precursor to UCL tears).
- Spencer Miles was outstanding today, finishing the game to save the bullpen for tomorrow. Miles held the Twins to a hit and a walk while striking out 2 over 3.2 innings. The Bllue Jays could have some interesting decisions to make once they start getting some injured bodies back since there is only room for 5 pitchers in the rotation. The Blue Jays could opt for a 6-man rotation once or twice, but that's not sustainable since pitchers are creatures of habit and an extra day of rest doesn't necessarily mean they will have their best stuff going.
- And the injury bug continues to hit the Blue Jays hard. This time, George Springer went down with a fractured big toe after fouling a ball off it in his second AB. While Springer completed the at-bat, he was clearly in pain running to 1st base on the ground out. Best case scenario would see Springer back in 2-4 weeks if it's not a displaced fracture. Likely Eloy Jimenez gets the callup and you could see a platoon of players filling the void both at DH and at the leadoff spot.
- Offensively, Daulton Varsho went deep in the 1st inning and Jesus Sanchez went deep in the 9th inning. With Springer now probably out at least a couple of weeks, the Blue Jays are going to be searching for runs even more.
- The Blue Jays were a perfect 3-3 on ABS challenges and the Twins were successful on their one ABS challenge. I'm a little surprised teams aren't challenging more often, considering there are some bad/gullible umpires who routinely fall for catchers dramatically moving their gloves back in the strike zone. I guess with only 2 challenges, one would want to be pretty sure that the call is incorrect
- The Blue Jays were 0-3 with runners in scoring position\
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to end the home stand with a win and notch their 2nd series win of the season. Max Scherzer starts against Twins righty Taj Bradley.
