The Toronto Blue Jays followed up their defeat on Friday with another loss on Saturday.
They headed to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Spring Training home, falling 9-5 to bring their Grapefruit record to 12-8-1.
In the bottom of the first, the Cardinals scored two runs, getting RBI singles from Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan. The Jays were able to answer with two RBI singles of their own, as Nathan Lukes and Ali Sánchez drove in two runs in the top of the second to tie the game.
Alec Burleson hit a home run, his second of Spring Training to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. The Blue Jays once again had an answer, as Addison Barger hit his second double of Spring Training to tie the game at three.
It was all downhill from there though. Burleson drove in two runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-3. Lars Nootbaar hit a solo home run, followed by an RBI single from Brendan Donovan giving the Cardinals a 7-3 lead.
They scored twice more, getting RBI doubles from César Prieto and Matt Koperniak giving the Cardinals a 9-3 lead. In the top of the seventh, Robert Brooks and Will Robertson each hit a home run giving us the final score of 9-5.
Takeaways….
This game was a mixed bag for Bowden Francis. Overall, he finished with a line of 3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, and 5 K with a home run given up. He was pulled in the first inning before returning for the second and third innings.
Brendon Little allowed earned for the first time this season, giving up two earned runs in an inning of work. Kevin Gowdy and Lazaro Estrada each gave up two earned runs in an inning and a third and an inning and two-thirds respectively.
The Blue Jays had better success with the bats than in Friday’s game. Their two home runs came at the end of the game from prospects Robert Brooks and Will Robertson, while Addison Barger hit their other extra-base hit, a double. Rainer Nuñez, Devonte Brown, Nathan Lukes, Ali Sánchez, and Steward Berroa each had a single, while Ernie Clement had two singles.
Toronto returns to action in Dunedin on Sunday at 1:07 PM ET, with José Berríos starting that game against the Atlanta Braves.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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