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| Alejandro Kirk drove in 3 runs, including a 2-run HR and finished a triple shy of the cycle as the Blue Jays doubled up the Rays 10-5 |
After a much-needed off-day/travel day yesterday, the Blue Jays opened a tough road trip that commenced the house of horrors AKA Tropicana Field. The Rays have dominated the season series, winning 8 of the first 10 games in the season series, outscoring the Blue Jays 54-28. Lenyn Sosa cleared outright assignment waivers and was assigned to AAA-ball. Jose Soriano got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Jesus Sanchez was in LF, Brett Bateman was in CF and Nathan Lukes was in RF. Josh Smith was at the hot corner and Kazuma Okamoto got the start at 1B. Could the Blue Jays start the week and road trip with a win? Here is today's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays took the lead in the top of the 1st as George Springer singled scoring Alejandro Kirk
- A batter later, Jesus Sanchez doubled home Springer
- The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the top of the 3rd as Kirk whacked a solo blast to left-center; also scoring Nathan Lukes
- The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 4th as Kirk singled scoring Ernie Clement
- A batter later, Brett Bateman scored on a wild pitch by Nick Martinez
- Nick Martinez pitching line: 3.2IP 9H 6R (all earned) 2BB 5K 82 pitches (56 for strikes)
- The Rays got one back in the bottom half of inning on a wild pitch by Jose Soriano that scored Ryan Vilade
- Same batter, Taylor Walls singled scoring Cedric Mullins and Richie Palacios
- The Blue Jays added a run in the top of the 5th as Kazima Okamoto smacked a solo blast to left-center
- Four batters laterm Brett Bateman singled scoring Clement
- Jose Soriano pitching line: 5.2IP 9H 3R (all earned) 0BB 2K 91 pitches (54 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the top of the 7th as Josh Smith smashed a 2-run blast to right; also scoring Clement
- The Rays got one back in the botom of the 8th on a sac fly by Mullins that scored Yandy Diaz
- A batter later, Liam Hicks scored on a sac fly by Palacios
- Final score: Blue Jays 10 Rays 5
My Take:
- Jose Soriano battled through 5.2 innings, giving uo 3 runs on 9 hits while walking none and striking out 2. He was pitching on an extra day of rest and his command was off a touch. Soriano was good enough to be able to battle out of the jams he got into, other than the 4th inning when he uncorked a wild pitch and gave up a 2-run single. He certainly has the arsenal to be a very good piece in the Blue Jays rotation for years to come
- The bullpen gave up a pair of runs on 4 hits while walking none and striking out none over the last 3.1 innings. Mason Fluharty and Spencer Miles retired every batter they faced. Matt Waldron should have thrown his last pitch as a Blue Jay tonight. This is the second consecutive outing where the Blue Jays had to get a reliever up and throwing and eventually in the ball game. The bullpen is already very overworked. They can ill afford to keep Waldron around if he can't handle pitching in the lowest leverage spot - the last innings of a blowout.
- The offense exploded today with a 10 run 17 hit output led by Alejandro Kirk (3RBI, includiing a 2-run HR; finished a triple shy of the cycle), Josh Smith (2-run HR), Ernie Clement (3 runs scored), George Springer (run scored, RBI), and Brett Bateman (run scored, RBI)
- Every Blue Jays starter had a hit and all but Andres Gimenez either scored a run or drove in a run
- Alejandro Kirk was 0-2 on ABS challenges and the Rays were 1-2 on ABS challenges
- The Blue Jays were 4-14 with runners in scoring position
- In terms of the uber tight wild card race, the Blue Jays are effectively tied with the Twins and Rangers for the 3rd wild card spot with the Guardians, Orioles and Tigers a half game back of the Blue Jays, Rangers and Twins. The Mariners aren't out of the race either and are 2 games back. The Rangers are up 5-0 on the Nationals and look like they are well on their way to a win, the Mariners are getting spanked 12-0 by the Brewers, the Tigers and Orioles lost their games while the Guardians and Twins won theirs. This race is almost certainly going to come down to the wire unless one team, like the Blue Jays goes on a big run (very possible given the favorable schedule after this week, but msny of the remaining games will be against the very teams they are battling for the wild card spot) or a big losing streak could take a team out of the race. It's going to be a fun final 5 weeks of the season.
- Up next, the Blue Jays try to extend the win streak to 2 games, notch their 17tth series win of the season and win their first series at Tropicana field since September 22-24, 2023. Max Scherzer starts against Rays righty Drew Rasmussen
