Blue Jays 11 Angels 10
Remember when we were able to throw, but we couldn’t hit? Well, that’s quite the opposite. But it’s more fun.
I don’t know where to start.
Well, let’s start with Jose Berrios. It wasn’t good. He gave 6 hits, 6 wins (2 scored after leaving the game), 1 walk, 1 pose. He conceded 2 home runs, both from Shohei Ohtani. He didn’t have it. He may have been fooled by Gregor Chisholm, who noted that the Jays starters had played 14 games without allowing more than 3 wins. Or maybe he was bad on his own.
Surprisingly, the Jays had a 6-4 lead when he left the game. But he marched with runners to the corners and one out.
Ryan Borucki came in, and was worse than Berrios and then gave up a single that scored the two legacy runners. Draw game.
Ryan started the next entry. To be fair, there were 6 tickets left and we had a tired pen. It would take work to reach the goal. But Ryan was no better in the fourth, giving up a walk and a home run by Taylor Ward. Suddenly we were two. He knocked out Ohtani before leaving the game.
Enter Ross Stripling (who got saved last night). He came out of the fourth and threw a fifth without goals. Then he started the sixth with a walk and a double drive. And that was his day. In the 1.2 innings (when we needed it to be 3), 2 hits, 1 won, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts.
We fell 8-6 and Andrew Vasquez came in.
Vasquez hit Shohei, which didn’t fill me with confidence. But then the entry ended. And he got the first batter of the seventh, a left-handed batter, before he left the game.
Adam Cimber ceded a home run to Max Stassi and then got the last two outs. That home run hurt because we had just tied the game.
Yimi Garcia got the eighth inning after the Jays announced 2 to advance again. Garcia threw a lot of throws but came out of the entrance with only one walk allowed.
David Phelps reached the ninth, picking up his first save of the season, releasing a two-out single.
The last two entries were the only two in a row in which we didn’t allow a run.
On offense? Well, we had a lot of them. 13 hits and 8 passes. 8 walks.
Springer, Bichette, Kirk, Gurriel and Tapia had two hits. Gurriel had 2 steps left to play with his two hits.
We have marked:
- 2 to the second: Kirk arrived at the second by an error (its speed brought about a bad launching). An out later, Cavan Biggio made a single. And Lourdes Gurriel doubled them both at home. When we didn’t score Lourdes from the second with an out, I was worried we would miss our chance. He’s wrong again. Jays up 2-1.
- 4th to 3rd: Springer led with a single. A lineout and a ground out (moving Springer to the second) didn’t make it look like we’d score much of that entry. But Kirk’s single scored Springer. Chapman walked. Biggio walked. Gurriel walked, running. Tapia made a single at home two. A very nice swing.
- 3rd to 7th: Bo started with a single. Kirk walked. Chapman made a single to load the bases. After Biggio put (watching), Gurriel made another run. Two of his five props came with base-loaded balls. Tapia made a single to drive Kirk, his third drive in the game. It was a great day. Then Teoscar Hernandez walked, leading in our third hike race. Unfortunately, Springer hit a double play. But we tied the score (for a moment, Cimber giving up the home run untied him).
- 2nd round: Bo homered with an out to tie the game again (sure, that’s a word). 405 feet, 104.8 MPH off the bat. Kirk followed with a basic rule double, hitting 106.8 MPH. An out later, Vlad (pinch) was intentionally kicked out. Lourdes then doubled down on Kirk, the winning streak of the match as it turned out.
Very good job to score 11 runs with just one home run.
Jays of the Day: Gurriel (.630! WPA), Kirk (.299), Bo (.254), Tapia (.230), Hernández (.204), Phelps (.189) and Garcia (.136).
Suckage: Berrios (-.375), Borucki (-.332), Cimber (-.210), Espinal (-.226) and Springer (-.222).
Espinal has had a tough time since moving on to the 2-spot. He has 3 of 26 since he went up in order, after 0 of 6 today (he hit a ball on the wall that he thought was out). Maybe it’s point 2 of the order. Looks like no one can hit it. The 2-point hitters have hit .247 / .291 / .390 this season.
Tomorrow is a day off, and then the White Sox will host for the next three days.