Games notes : Blue Jays vs Phillies

A beautiful start to game 5 for the Blue Jays on a wonderful day in Dunedin, FL.  After a 1-2-3 inning by Drew Hutchison we got to see Troy Tulowitzki show off his new leg kick out of the lead off spot.  Tulo went deep on a hip high pitch to deep left center field.  The ball was hit so hard it was probably good that it went over the wall it may have injured the left fielder.  The hard line drive homer was Tulo’s first and he would finish the day 1-3.

The Tulo homer would just be the start as Josh Donaldson would walk which was followed by a Chris Colabello single.  Now with 2 runners on Michael Saunders dug in against Aaron Nola.  After just missing a home run Saunders got a 3-2 low and inside which he slugged to the deep part of right center field.  It looked way to similar to a typical John Olerud swing and the ball floated over the wall for a 3 run shot.  Regardless it was good to see him swinging some good lumber this early in the spring.  More on Saunders to come.

In the second inning, Hutch would have some issues.  After a single, a hit by pitch, and another walk Hutch had the bases loaded.  He would then hit Logan Moore with another pitch to score the first Phillies run.  Hutch would finish the second inning to close out his day with 1 hit, and earned run, 2 strikeouts, a walk, and 2 hit batters.

Steve Delabar would make appearance and allow 1 hit and an unearned run in the 3rd.  In the bottom of the 3rd Chris Colabello would double on a hard line drive up the middle.  Saunders worked another great at bat against Elvis Araujo and on a 3-1 pitch he turned on it.  The ball went deep to right and hit the foul pole for his second homer of the day.  The swing on this homer was really impressive as the ball was thrown high and tight to Saunders.  If Saunders truly has this kind of bat speed he will be an impressive addition to an already potent lineup

In the top of the 4th Ryan Tepera put himself into some trouble.  After getting the first out he served up a pitch to Logan Moore that was driven to right for a double.  Tepera would allow another single and then hit Freddy Galvis to load the bases.  Odubel Herrera would single in a run before Tepera would lock things down for the inning.

David Aardsma would come in for the top of the 5th were he recorded the first 2 outs quickly on 2 pitches.  Taylor Featherston would then -dig in and hit the 3rd pitch of the inning over the left field wall to make the score 7-4 Jays.  In the bottom of the 5th the Jays would strike back.  Chris Colabello reached on an error and moved up to second.

Michael Saunders would step up and hit a hard line drive through the shortstop to move Darrell Ceciliani who pinch ran for Colabello 3rd.  With runners on 1st and 3rd Junior Lake would double to deep center to score Ceciliani.  Junior Lake would steal 3rd and score on a throwing error by the Phillies catcher.  The Jays closed the inning with the lead 9-4.  

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Conner Greene would make his first appearance and impress.  He faced 4 batters and struck out the side.  He would walk former Blue Jay J.P. Arencibia on 5 pitches.  The other 3 batters he faced looked lost.  He would strike out 2 swinging and 1 looking.  The natural smoothness to Greene’s delivery merged with a nice arm angle lead to a lot of movement for the Jays prospect.  Spring Training visitors should look forward to watching Greene bud into a solid pitcher.

Next: Pat Venditte has a chance to be our switch pitcher

The Blue Jays would also have pitching appearances from Arnold Leon and Scott Diamond.  Each would allow a base runner but worked their way through an inning of work each.  Wil Browning would come in to close out the day and promptly allowed a single to start the inning.  He would strike out the next 2 batters he faced before having further issues.  Browning would allow back to back doubles to put the score at 9-6 Jays.  Browning would bounce back and strike out the last hitter to end the game.  The Jays pitching staff would rack up 11 strikeouts on the day.

The Most Valuable Jay of the day is clearly Michael Saunders.  Saunders showed why the left fielder job is his to lose.  Saunders woudl close out the day going 3-3 with 2 homers and 5 RBI.