Blue Jays 3 Rays 4
I want to talk about one moment in the game….the rest was the same old stuff we’ve seen all season with the team that can’t score.
In the sixth inning, Jonatan Clase doubled off the left field wall (only a coupleof feet off a home run) to lead off the inning. Now Clase is fast, that’s what got him to the majors. I was cheering for him to steal third, but Davis Schneider struck out on six pitches with out Clase going anywhere. Next batter, Tyler Heineman bunts and actually beats it out for a single, but why a one-out bunt? It wasn’t meant to be a bunt single. A normal bunt, moving the guy to third with two outs would be silly, but ok.
Next batter is Nathan Lukes, who looks to be a good contact hitter to me. I’m pretty happy to have him up with runners on the corners. Something hit in the air would likely score Clase. A ground ball, that isn’t a double play, scores him. But Nathan shows bunt, and bunts foul. Not a suicide squeeze, a safety squeeze. Then shows bunt again, but takes a ball. By now the Rays are playing way in. Next bunt is back to the pitcher, easy throw home, Clase is out. Clase really should have read the bunt and not come home but, why squeeze? Lukes didn’t look comfortable. I’m not a fan of having a guy bunt who isn’t good at it at the best of times. But when you tell the other team ‘hey we are bunting here’, it is really bad baseball.
Ernie Clement followed with a single, scoring the runner from second, which tied the game at 2.
Down by two in the bottom of the ninth, we had a shot. Alejandro Kirk (pinch-hitting) led off with a walk. Lukes followed with a strikeout but Clement doubled to put the tying run at second. Vlad up with first base open and the Rays decided to pitch to him. Vlad singled, driving in Kirk. Clement rounded third but was stopped (looked like the right move). RBI number 100 for Vlad on the season. Next up, Spencer Horwitz, pops out to short. Horwitz had a tough day, 0 for 4, 2 k. And Luis De Los Santos ground out to end the game. He pinch hit for Barger earlier in the game, which seems like a bad move to me. Even with the platoon advantage, he doesn’t look like a better choice than Barger.
We had 11 hits on the day. Three each for Vlad and Clement. Two for Clase (I’m liking him). Barger/De Los Santo (who split the five spot in the order) and Joey Loperfido/Schneider (split the eighth spot), along with Horwitz, had 0 fors.
We were 3 for 12 with RISP.
On the pitching side:
- Ryan Burr started and got the first four outs, giving up a hit, with three strikeouts.
- Ryan Yarbrough followed, throwing four innings, giving up two hits, one run, with a walk and five strikeouts.
- Zach Pop came in with one on and Jonathan Aranda up, and served up Aranda’s sixth home run of the season.
- Genesis Cabrera gave up another run in the seventh, getting the loss.
- Erik Swanson gave up Brandon Lowe home run in the eighth, which turned out to be the winning run.
John Schneider had his fourth ejection of the year, arguing balls and strikes in the seventh (the AL leader for manager ejections is Aaron Boone with six).
There was an interesting moment in the seventh when Horwitz seemed to push Jose Caballero’s hand away from the bag on a pickoff. Called out and challenged (seemingly after the 15 seconds allowed to ask for a challenge) but the call on the field was upheld. The hand might have been off the bag when he was first tagged.
Guerrero needs six more hits for 200. Today was the 21st time he’s had 3 or more hits in a game this year.
Jays of the Day: Clement (.419 WPA), Yarbrough (.211), Vlad (.164)
Other Award: Horwitz (-.326), Pop (-.320), Lukes (-.226, much on the stupid bunt attempt), De Los Santos (-.196), Schneider (-.186) and Cabrera (-.174).
Tomorrow we start the second last series of the season against the Red Sox. Tanner Houck (8-10, 3.21) vs. Chris Bassitt (10-13, 4.16).