Blue Jays sweep the Tigers, win 9-2

Sunday afternoon marked the 3rd game of the 3 game series. The Blue Jays have taken the 1st two games and were looking for another sweep. The Jays sent out their veteran southpaw Mark Buehrle to the mound. There was also a lineup change as Troy Tulowitzki dropped to the 5th slot in the order and Ben Revere took leadoff for the first time as a Jay. Hoping to avoid the sweep the Tigers sent out their own veteran pitcher Alfredo Simon.

Josh Donaldson opened up the scoring in the bottom of the 1st inning with a one out solo home run to deep left field. Edwin Encarnacion hit the 2nd home run of the inning with a two out solo home run to right field.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning Russell Martin drew a one out walk. Kevin Pillar was next up and hit a two run home run to left field.

In the bottom of the 4th inning Troy Tulowitzki led off with a double to right field. Justin Smoak ground out but advanced the runner to 3rd base. Russell Martin hit a two run home run to left field. Kevin Pillar kept the inning going with an infield single. The Blue Jays put the hit and run on but Ryan Goins hit a fly ball to deep center forcing the runner back to 1st base. Ben Revere drew a two out walk to put two runners on base. Josh Donaldson ground out to end the inning and the threat of more runs.

In the top of the 6th inning Rajai Davis led off with a double to left field. Ian Kinsler hit a line drive to 3rd base for the 1st out. Rajai Davis was able to advance to 3rd base on a throwing error by Josh Donaldson. Miguel Cabrerra ground out but the runner was able to score on the play to put the Tigers on the board. J.D. Martinez ground out to end the inning.

Drew VerHagen came into the game to pitch the bottom of the 6th for the Tigers. Drew pitched a clean 1-2-3 6th inning.

Victor Martinez drew a lead off walk in the top of the 7th inning. Nick Castellanos hit a deep ball to center field that was caught by Kevin Pillar but bounced out of his glove when he fell to the ground. That setup two runners in scoring position with no outs and the end of the day for Mark Buehrle. Mark Lowe entered the game to try and limit the damage. James McCann ground out to short but one run came across to score. Jose Iglesias and Anthony Gose both popped up to end the inning.

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Jose Bautista hit a two out single in the bottom of the 7th inning. Edwin Encarnacion followed that up with a single of his own to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Troy Toluwitzki lined out to right field to end the threat.

Aaron Sanchez came into the game to pitch the 8th inning. Miguel Cabrerra drew a two out walk. J.D. Martinez singled to right field to put two runners on base. Victor Martinez ground out to end the inning.

Bruce Rondon entered the game to pitch the 8th inning for the Tigers. Russell Martin picked up a one out infield single for his 2nd hit of the game. Kevin Pillar drew a walk to put two runners on base with only one out. Ryan Goins hit a ball into the gap in left center to score two more runs. Ben Revere struck out for the 2nd out of the inning. Josh Donaldson hit a single to score Goins from 2nd base. Blaine Hardy came in to pitch to Jose Bautista. Josh Donaldson was able to advance to 2nd base on a wild pitch. It didn`t matter as Jose struck out to end the inning.

Bo Schultz came in to pitch the 9th inning. Nick Castellanos hit a lead off double to right field. James McCann hit what appeared to be a single to center but Tulowitzki ranged and made a spinning throw to 1st to get the 1st out of the inning. Jose Iglesias hit a fly ball to deep right field and Nick Castellanos decided to not test Bautista`s arm. Lucky for him as Bautista threw a bullet home to prevent another run from scoring. Anthony Gose ground out to end the came and complete the sweep for the Blue Jays.

Game Notes:

• Edwin Encarnacion extended his hit streak with a bang. He popped a home run in 1st inning to emphasize how hot he is hitting.
• The offense keeps chugging alone. This series has been loaded with hits and runs. In the 3 game set they combined for a massive 29 runs.
• On the same token the pitching has been on point this series as well. They were able to limit the Tigers to a total of 5 runs over the 3 games.
• The power has been on display from top to bottom of the lineup. Russell Martin, Kevin Pillar, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion all hit the long ball.
• Ryan Goins extended his hit streak to 9 games. He hit a clean double in the 8th inning to cash in a couple RBI. He has been contributing both on the field and at the plate since taking over every day at second base.

Grades:

Next: What the Blue Jays SHOULD do with Edwin Encarnacion

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