Game Recap: Blue Jays Split Double Header

Having lost the first game of their unplanned doubleheader, the Blue Jays were looking scrape a win together, even the series and end the day on a positive note. The offence was absent in the first game and it looked like runs would be equally hard to come by in the second game.

Max Scherzer was his usual dominant self, except the times when one Kevin Pillar stepped up to the plate. Yup, one of the poorest hitting position players so far this season had the Cy Young winner all figured out. Pillar put the Jays up early with a solo home run, singled his next at bat and then in the 6th, he homered again. This one was the 3-run, go-ahead, Donaldson-esque variety. Scherzer finished that inning but that was effectively it for him.

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Baseball never fails to surprise, both starters had hits off each other on the evening. Pitching-wise, Marco Estrada also had a solid night. He had one poor inning in the 4th out of 6 total. He limited the Nationals to 3 runs.

With Scherzer out of the game, the other Jays, besides one-man show Pillar, began putting up runs in the 7th. They added 3 more off of Blake Treinen. In the 8th, the pitchers continued their solid offensive night as Liam Hendriks showed off a good eye with a walk. Casey Janssen threw a scoreless frame against his old club in the 9th.

Hendriks got it done on the mound as well throwing two scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts. Brett Cecil finished things off with a perfect ninth.

Game Notes:

– As mentioned above, Estrada got a hit and actually looked pretty athletic as a runner out there. Emergency pinch runner candidate in the future?

– The Jays pulled off a generously scored double steal of second and home in the 7th with Russell Martin scoring

– Feast or famine offence continues

– Estrada got his first “win” of the season—which goes to show what a useless stat that is.

– Chris Colabello now has a 13 game hitting streak. The most in the Majors

– Jays pitchers were on fire…at the plate going 1/3 with a walk.