| Josh Smith scored three times, including his first HR as a Blue Jay as the Blue Jays hung on to edge the Phillies 5-4 |
After dropping yesterday's make-up game in Chicago due to an awful day for the offense, that was a dreadful 1-19 with runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays continued the road trip in Philadelphia. The Phillies took the series in Toronto 2 months ago, outscoring the Blue Jays 14-9. Luis Urias was placed on the 100-day IL with a right quad strain. Outfielder Rudy Martin Jr. was DFA'd and outfielder Brett Bateman was selected to the MLB roster (and got the start in CF). Jose Soriano got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Jesus Sanchez was in LF. Josh Smith was at the hot corner and Ernie Clement got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays start the weekend with a win? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Andres Gimenez whacked a solo blast to right
- The Phillies tied it in the bottom half of the inning as JT Realmuto singled scoring Brandon Marsh. Jesus Sanchez was charged with a fieldig error on the play
- The Blue Jays retook the lead in the top of the 3rd on a sac fly by Alejandro Kirk that scored Brett Bateman
- The Phillies tied it in the bottom half of the inning as Bryce Harper singled scoring Kyle Schwarber
- The Blue Jays retook the lead in the top of the 4th as Nathan Lukes singled scoring Josh Smith
- Jose Soriano piching line: 4.2IP 4H 2R (1 earned) 3BB 3K 94 pitches (62 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays added run in the top of the 6th on a sac fly by Kirk that scored Smith
- Zack Wheeler pitching line: 5.1IP 7H 4R (all earned) 5BB 6K 116 pitches (72 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 8th as Smith belted a solo jack to right-center
- The Phillies got one back in the bottom of the 9th on a fielder's choice hit by Trea Turner that scored Bryson Stott
- A batter later, Harper singled home Justin Crawford
- Tyler Rogers got the last 3 outs for his 4th save of the season
- Final score: Blue Jays 5 Phillies 4
My Take:
- Jose Soriano battled through 4.2 innings, giving up a pair of runs on 4 hits while walking 3 and striking out 3. Soriano retired the first 5 batters he faced before the Phillies started getting to him. He fell an out shy of qualifying for his first win in a Blue Jays uniform. He'll be a part of the rotation whenever baseball starts in 2027.
- The bullpen had mixed results. Matt Waldron and Mason Fluharty retired every batter they faced. Lazaro Estraded, credited with the win, walked a couple of batters but gave the Blue Jays 4 outs. Brendon Little also walked a couple of batters and had fans biting their nails.Then there was Tyler Rogers, who nearly blew a 3-run lead and it took a review to confirm the last out on a bang-bang play at 1st when Kazuma Okamoto made the decision to go after the ground ball when he should have been retreating to 1st base. Rogers isn't likely available tomorrow after throwing nestly 30 pitches. Somewhere, Jeff Hoffman is watching a replay of the 9th inning and having a chuckle now that he can't be blamed for blowing a save in Toronto anymore - at least not in a Blue Jays uniform.
- Offensively, Alejandro Kirk had a pair of sac flies, Josh Smith scored three times amd went deep for his first HR in a Blue Jays uniform, and, making his big league debut, Brett Bateman misse his first career HR by inches in the first pitch he saw in the majors.
- Alejandro Kirk was 1-2 on ABS challenges and the Phillies were an impressive 4-1 on ABS challenges.
- The Blue Jays were 2-10 with runners in scoring position
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the winning streak to 2 games and notch their 16th series win of the season. Max Scherzer starts against Phillies righty Aaron Nola
