After pulling out another win thanks to some nice work from the bullpen on yet another bullpen day with max Scherzer heading right back on the IL with a sore back and a nice offensive effort from Andres Gimenez, who factored in all three runs scored yesterday, scoring twice and driving in the other rub, the Blue Jays were looking to extend the win streak to 3 games and complete their 2nd sweep of the season. Trey Yesavage got the start with Brandon Valenzuela behind the plate. Yohendrick Pinago was in LF, Nathan Lukes was in CF and Jesus Sanchez was in RF. Could the Blue Jays make it three straight wins and complete their second sweep of the season? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue jays opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Vladimir Gurrero Jr hammered a solo bomb to dead center and over the green monster
- The Blue jays added a run in the top of the 2nd on s sac fly by Andres Gimenez that scored Kazuma Okamoto
- The Blue jays added a run in the top of the 7th as Nathan Lukes whacked a solo blast to right- center and into the Red Sox bullpen
- The Red Sox got one back in the button half of the inning on a ground out hit by Willson Contreras that scored Ceddanne Rafaela
- Sonny Gray pitching line: 7IP 6H 3R (all earned) 1BB 4K 89 pitches (63 for strikes)
- The Red Sox got one back in the bottom of the 8th as Isiah Kiner-Falefa smacked a solo blast over the green monster in left
- A batter later, Caleb Durbin belted a solo jack over the green monster in left-center
- Trey Yesavage pitching line: 7.1IP 4H 3R (all earned) 0BB 6K 95 pitches (66 for strikes)
- The Blue jays retook the lead in the top of the 9th as Brandon Valenzuela doubled scoring Ernie Clement
- Mason Fluharty pitched a perfect 9th for his 1st save of the season
- Final score: Blue Jays 4 Red Sox 3
My Take:
- Trey Yesavage was excellent today, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits while walking none and striking out 6 over 7.1 innings. He retired 21 of the first 23 batters he faced. Yesavage also reached a milestone, pitching into the 8th inning for the first time in his career. This deep effort was badly needed by a bullpen that has been asked to get all 27 outs once every 5 days and for a couple of weeks 2 times in 5 days.
- The bullpen threw 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up 1 hit, walking none and striking out none. Tommy Nance was credited with the win and Mason Fluharty notched his first save of the season.
- A rare thing happened today. Vlad went deep for just the 3rd time this season. It's so perplexing why Vlad is having such difficulty getting airtime with his swings. He's got a pretty good mentor,; his father Vladimir Gurrero Sr. who went deep 449 times in his illustrious career. Evidently, he doesn't really communicate with the hitting coaches on the team. Perhaps Ross Atkins needs to look into that and revamp the hitting coaches in the off-season and maybe consider someone who might be able to work with Vlad. Brandon Valenzuela continues to impress, knocking in the game winning run with a clutch hit in the 9th inning.
- The Blue Jays were 2-2 on ABS challenges. The Red Sox did not attempt an ABS challenge today
- The Blue Jays were 1-4 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, the Blue Jays head to Wrigley field in Chicago. The Blue jays won the season series last year, outscoring the Cubs 8-6. Ace Kevin Gausman starts for the Blue Jays. The Cubs haven't set their rotation for the series yet.
