Toronto Blue Jays ride Osuna to victory in series opener
The Toronto Blue Jays took the series opener over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday at Tropicana Field, surviving another unstable bullpen performance to earn the 8-5 win. Dioner Navarro, Jose Reyes and Jose Bautista all went yard as part of another offensive outburst.
Starter Drew Hutchison earned the win to move to 7-1, but that record couldn’t represent the truth any less than it does. Hutchison ran into another high pitch count on Monday and lasted just 5.0 innings, leaving a tired bullpen exposed once again. Thankfully for the Toronto Blue Jays, Roberto Osuna shut down the Rays in the 8th and 9th to collect the save. Toronto escaped this one alive, but immediate changes remain necessary in the ‘pen.
Game Notes:
Tampa Bay opened the scoring by manufacturing a run, which is something they’ve done very well in recent years. A single, stolen base and sac fly led to an RBI single off the bat of David DeJesus. Hutchison was slow out of the gates again as he struggled to locate his fastball, limit his pitches or put away hitters late in the count.
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Hutchison continued to shuffle his feet through the second and third (63 pitches through 2.0 IP), dropping the Blue Jays to a 3-1 deficit. Home runs from Dioner Navarro and Jose Reyes would draw them back even.
Jose Bautista kept the home run parade going in the sixth with a monstrous shot of his own to left field, his 15th on the season and eighth in June.
MVJ: Roberto Osuna
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