Blue Jays defence shines as Estrada wins 2016 debut

Toronto Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada needed only three runs of support to beat the Red Sox in the last game of the series thanks in part to some high caliber defensive plays made behind him.

Estrada gave the Jays seven innings of shutout ball.  He only gave up two walks while striking out eight.  It was exactly what the Jays needed out of their starter and Estrada came in off the DL pitching the same way he did at the end of last season.  Drew Storen came in to replace Estrada and had a solid, clean inning.  Roberto Osuna came in for the ninth and recorded his third save.

In the third inning, Jose Bautista made a strong relay throw to Ryan Goins, who turned and fired the ball to Martin.  Martin made a fantastic play at the plate, tagging Dustin Pedroia out at home.

Goins had a very strong game both at the plate and defensively.  He walked, singled and hit a double down the left field line.  In the field he was an integral part of that play at the plate.  He also was a part of an important double-play.

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Red Sox starter Steven Wright pitched into the seventh and threw 118 pitches.  He caught his stride in the fifth inning and really zeroed in on the strike zone, not allowing Jays runners to reach base.  He left the game with five strikeouts and three walks, allowing two of the three runs the Jays scored against the Red Sox.

Pedroia managed to extend his hit streak against the Jays to 24 straight games and Mookie Betts, who was so dangerous against the Jays last year, was silenced this game, striking out twice.

Josh Donaldson provided an insurance run in the eighth and now has four on the season.  The Jays had the bases loaded twice, and there were plenty of runs left on that could have added to Toronto’s run differential.  However, in the end, due to fantastic shut-out pitching and great defenc,e three runs were all we needed.