The real thing beginning now.
On Saturday, the Blue Jays clinched the top spot in the Grapefruit League. So Sunday’s game was just for fun, as they took on the Pittsburgh Pirates and defeated them 2-1 to finish their Spring Training 17-10-1. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one.
In the bottom of the third, Nathan Lukes hit an RBI single with Will Wagner and Ernie Clement on base, driving in the former to take a 1-0 lead. Later that inning, Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter threw a wild pitch to allow Clement to come in to score to give the Jays a 2-0 lead.
The only Pirates run came in the top of the sixth as Chris Bassitt ran into some command issues in his final inning. Joey Bart hit a sacrifice fly to cut the Jays’ lead in half, but it wasn’t enough as the Jays won their final Spring Training game.
Takeaways…
This was the Blue Jays’ second consecutive game that finished 2-1, as they also beat the Twins by the score on Saturday. Let’s hope this isn’t a sign of things to come this season.
As you can imagine, the batters didn’t have a great game as Will Wagner’s double was the only extra-base hit by the Jays in this one. Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes, and Anthony Santander all had a single. The Blue Jays also didn’t draw any walks and struck out seven times.
Thankfully, the pitching did well in this game. Chris Bassitt pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two hits, an earned run, and three walks while striking out four. His Spring Training ERA finished at 1.74.
First out of the bullpen was Brendon Little, who pitched an inning and gave up a hit. Nick Sandlin got his final action of Spring Training, walking a batter and striking out a batter in two-thirds of an inning. Nate Garkow picked up the save and pitched an inning and two-thirds with four strikeouts.
Enough of Spring Training. The Blue Jays fly to Toronto and host the Baltimore Orioles on Opening Day on Saturday. That game starts at 3:07 PM ET, with José Berríos starting for the Jays against Zac Eflin.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.