Blue Jays Game Recap: Bad Inning Costs Series

After pounding the Orioles on Tuesday, things were looking fairly good. The Blue Jays took 2 of 3 from the Yankees and Red Sox previously. Beating your division rivals is important. So, it would have been great if they could have come back out and put it to the O’s. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Instead, they dropped this series. In fact, it was what we might have come to expect from the 2015 Blue Jays. One night, they score a bunch of runs, the next night, they struggle to get any kind of offense going. Tonight was that kind of night.

Aaron Sanchez was a bit of Jeckyll and Hyde tonight. He resembled a train wreck in the 2nd but then settled nicely for the rest of his outing. He gave fans a taste of the ups and downs that come with a 22 year old rookie.

The final score is a tad misleading given the way Aaron Sanchez pitched against the Orioles. A night where you give up 5 runs on 7 hits doesn’t look so hot. Except, if it we were to take out the 2nd inning, Sanchez put forth a fairly impressive outing. And, when you do consider the terrible 2nd inning, the outing was that much more impressive. Sanchez didn’t back down. In fact, he was able to bounce back and put up zeroes the rest of the way. He did give up hits here and there, like a double to Chris Davis in the 3rd.  But Sanchez didn’t break. He gutted out all the way until he walked two more in the 6th.

Despite all of this, we can’t ignore what happened in the 2nd inning. As much as we’d like to, we can’t. Sanchez walked Davis on 4 pitches to start the bottom of the inning. He followed it with a walk to J.J. Hardy. Caleb Joseph followed it by ripping a two run double down the LF line to score the first 2 runs. Manny Machado doubled Joseph in and then was doubled in by Alejandro De Aza. The triple double wasn’t all, though. A wild pitch by Sanchez allowed De Aza to move to third where he was driven in by Jimmy Paredes. One bad inning, as bad as it was, wouldn’t be so terrible if the offense could have helped the young starter out. 

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays offense went very cold after scoring 10 runs the night before. This seems to be how things go with the 2015 Blue Jays. The offense, which is leading the league in runs scored, is hot one night and cold the next. This up and down type of performance is not ideal, to say the least. Perhaps, they could settle more in the middle and stay an even 6 runs every night. That would be more comforting. Instead, we get a night where they collected just 3 hits. Of course, when they did have runners on, they failed to bring them in. In fact, they ended up with 14 left on base. They made Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez look really good for 7 innings.

The Orioles would add a solo shot in the bottom of the 8th from Rey Navarro for his first big league home run off Brett Cecil.

Game Notes:

– After tonight’s performance, Aaron Sanchez leads the American League with 29 walks. R.A. Dickey is tied for 3rd with 19.

-In the 3rd inning, the Blue Jays had runners on 2nd and 3rd and could not score a run. They did not have another chance until the 8th when Kevin Pillar worked a lead off walk and Ryan Goins blooped a single to RF with none out.

-The Blue Jays mark of 31 straight games with a double came to an end tonight.

-Until the 8th inning, it looked like this would be the first time all season the Blue Jays had been shut out. It was their 35th game. That streak still stands.

–Jose Bautista got to face his bestie, Darren O’Day in the 8th inning. The match up was rather anti-climatic. It lasted all of one pitch and Bautista was jammed and he couldn’t stop his swing from producing a weak ground ball back to the mound. No fireworks.

Grades:

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