Another good win. Chris Bassitt has looked shaky, which is a little concerning, but the rest of the pitching was very good and the starters piled it on on offence. It’s a shame these games don’t count, the Jays are playing good baseball.
It was a bit of a rough day at the office for Chris Bassitt. He gave up a run in the first on a pair of walks and a pair of singles, battling his command. The second was better, with just a double surrendered, but he opened the third by walking two of three batters and was pulled from the game at 56 pitches. Kevin Gowdy allowed one of his inherited runners to score before getting out of the inning.
Luckily, the Jays offence was on Cooper Criswell. Bo Bichette lead the Jays off with a single, then Vlad cashed him in with a ringing line double. In the second, they took the lead on a Davis Schneider walk and an Ernie Clement homer. Davis Schneider followed with a round tripper of his own to make it 4-1.
They got a fifth in the bottom of the third. Clement reached on an error, Schneider walked to advance him to scoring position, and Bichette drove him in with a line single.
Nick Sandlin pitched the fourth, giving up a solo home run and a single. The Jays added their final two runs in the bottom half. Anthony Santander walked, George Springer was hit by a pitch, and singles by Kirk and Schneider brought them home.
Yimi Garcia had a sharp 1-2-3 fifth, picking up a pair of strikeouts. After a quiet home half, Chad Green did the same in the sixth.
Zach Pop gave up the final run of the game in the seventh, on a single, a double, and a sac fly.
Not much happened from there. Mason Fluharty had another good inning, with two Ks and a ground out. Andrew Bash closed it out.
Tampa tomorrow to face the Yankees. Yariel Rodriguez will get the start, opposite Marcus Stroman. It’s the odd spring night game, so first pitch is at 6:35pm ET.