Cardinals 6 Blue Jays 1
So the winning streak ends with a bang.
Adam Wainwright was great. Kevin Gausman was not.
Albert Pujols was great too. He had 3 hits, single, double and home runs. He became the oldest player to bat at the Rogers Centre. He crushed a 3-run shot by Trevor Richards, adding two earned runs to Gausman’s night.
It was a good night for the over 40s.
Kevin was 4.2. Allowed 8 hits, 5 earned (2 scored after leaving the game), 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. Kevin seemed to be getting deep in the count against every hitter. He left the game on 86 pitches. I probably would have left it inside. 2 on and 2 outs in the fifth, I wish he would go deeper, but John Schneider realized Albert had 2 hits off Gausman and didn’t want a third. At that point it was only a 2-1 game. But the Pujols home team made it 5-1.
We were also treated to the pitching styles of Jeremy Beasley (1 inning, one hitter) and Anthony Banda (1 inning, 2 hits and a walk, but no runs).
We had just 5 hits (and only one extra-base), and no walks in 7 innings against Wainwright. He was getting calls on the outside of the player’s outside edge, and that helped him. And he had a fantastic curve tonight.
We couldn’t get a shot against Giovani Gallegos or Ryan Helsley out of the pen.
Vlad is the only Jay with more than one hit. But then he was also thrown out trying to score from second to third. He beat the throw but it came off the bag. I thought Buck complained too much. Some guys would have been applauding the aggression.
I can’t beat them all, although I don’t know why not. But the Jays will need to start another winning streak tomorrow.
In his final game at the Rogers Centre, Pujols would also have been robbed of a base. It took a great leap from Gausman, but the pitch was thrown out at the plate. It would have been Albert’s second steal of the season.
There are no Jays of the Day today. Bo had the high mark (.077 WPA), driving in our only run.
Richards (-.164), Gausman (-.143) and Kirk (-.113) get the prize at the other end of the scale.
The Tigers come to town tomorrow, only missing one player because he’s “done his own research,” reliever Andrew Chafin.
It’s John Alexander (2-3, 4.05, in 14 games, 4 starts) for the Tigers. Yusei Kikuchi (3-5, 5.12), right next to the IL.