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Joey Loperfido and Addison Barger hit clutch home runs in the Blue Jays’ 5-4 walk-off win over the Angels

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Close your eyes and picture this.

Imagine a chart with four quadrants, the x axis is “fun” and the y axis is “good”. A team fits into one of four categories, good and fun (like the 2015 Blue Jays), good and boring (like the 2023 Blue Jays), boring and bad (like the early season 2024 Blue Jays), and bad, but fun. I’ll let you take a guess where the post-trade deadline Blue Jays rank.

On Friday, the Blue Jays looked as if they’d continue their recent trend of .500 ball, as they quickly gave up four runs in the top of the second inning. It all started with Kevin Pillar being hit by a pitch, before Anthony Rendon doubled him in. After Niko Kavadas walked, Jo Adell hit a double to make it 3-0. The next batter was Taylor Ward, and he singled in Adell to make it 3-0.

Over the course of the game, the Blue Jays chipped away at the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, the first two batters (Daulton Varsho and Spencer Horwitz) reached base with a single and double respectively, before Alejandro Kirk cashed Varsho in with a ground out. Ernie Clement hit a clutch single to make it 4-2.

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Kirk drove in another run in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a single, making it a 4-3 game. They had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, as Joey Loperfido hit a double and Steward Berroa walked. However, José Quijada struck out Varsho and left the two runners stranded and kept the game 4-3.

That was until the bottom of the ninth. First up was Joey Loperfido, who hit his fourth home run of the season on the fourth pitch of the at-bat to tie the game at four. If Loperfido can figure it out at the major league level, they have a great player.

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Addison Barger was up next and on the sixth pitch of the at-bat in a 3-2 count, it looked as if he walked it off. However, he pulled the ball just foul. It didn’t matter though, as he hit his fourth big league home run on the next pitch, giving the Blue Jays a 5-4 win via the walk-off homer.

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The 2024 Blue Jays may not be good, but they sure are fun.

Diving into the stats…

Chris Bassit gave up four earned runs in the top of the second inning. Despite this, he finished with six innings pitched, along with two walks and six strikeouts to bring his season ERA to 4.41. The veteran pitcher always shakes it off, it’s great to see.

It was a good day for the bullpen, especially Erik Swanson. The reliever pitched a clean inning while striking out two to bring his ERA to 6.66. Génesis Cabrera continued to pitch well, striking out two in an inning of work, while Chad Green picked up the win with a strikeout in his inning of work.

This was easily Joey Loperfido’s best game as a Blue Jay, perhaps even as a big leaguer. On top of the clutch home run to tie the game, he hit a double and made a spectacular Daulton Varsho-esque catch in left field.

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Alejandro Kirk has had quite a few multi-hit games in recent times, and he hit two singles with two RBIs in Friday’s game. He and Loperfido weren’t the only ones with a multi-hit game though, as Addison Barger and Varsho each had two hits, while Spencer Horwitz hit a double and Ernie Clement hit a single.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a rare off-day, but hell, the Jays won so who cares about lineup decisions! With the win, the Blue Jays are 61-68 with the sixth-highest odds of winning the draft lottery (5.31% chance to land the first-overall pick.)

The Jays have a chance to win the four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, as that game starts at 3:07 PM ET. Bowden Francis will get the ball for the Jays and will be opposed by Carson Fulmer. So far this season, the Jays are 5-0 against the Angels.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.