The Blue Jays were coming into this week of games riding high, winning 4 of their 5 previous games. They would look to keep that momentum going when they took on the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox, both were 3 game series.
Game 1: Jays 1 – 13 Astros
This is a game that Toronto want to forget, and forget quickly. Hyun Jin Ryu was on the mound, and he had a tough outing, giving up 6 earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. The Astros bats were on fire Friday night, they put up 13 runs on 16 hits, it wasn’t pretty for Toronto. Meanwhile, Zack Greinke was the Houston starter, and he went the full 9 innings for the complete game win. The Jays need to put this one behind them and move on, complete dominance from Houston.
Game 2: Jays 6 – 2 Astros
The Jays needed to rebound, and that’s exactly what they did. This game was scoreless going into the 4th inning, when Houston would draw first blood. Myles Straw would walk with the bases loaded to make it 1-0, but that was the only run that Jays starter Ross Stripling would allow in his 5 innings of work. The Jays would get that run back and then some in the bottom half of the inning. 3 base hits in a row from Vladdy, Teo, and Lourdes would tie the game at 1, and Joe Panik would cap the inning off with a 3-run HR. The next inning Guerrero Jr would put this one out of reach with his MLB leading 18th home run of the season, making it 6-1. The Astros would get 1 back in the 9th, but that would be all as the Jays evened the series.
Game 3: Jays 3 – 6 Astro
The rubber match on Sunday did not go as planned for Toronto as they could only muster 5 hits all game. Jose Altuve and Chas McCormick each had solo Shots to make it 2-0 after 2 innings. Teo Hernandez would score in the bottom half of the second when Lourdes Gurriel Jr would hit a sac fly to make it 2-1. The Astro just kept adding to their lead, while the Jays never really got going in this one. It was 6-1 going into the bottom of the 9th, where the Blue Jays had a little rally going, but it was too little too late as Toronto added 2 more runs, but fall 6-3.
Jays Series Standout:
There wasn’t too much to be excited about in this series so I’ll give this to Joe Panik. He had the big 3-run HR to give the Jays the advantage in game 2.
Game 1: Jays 1 – 6 White Sox
The Jays were looking to bounce back from their series loss against Houston, and they would turn to starter Robbie Ray. Ray went 6 1/3, while only giving up 1 run, and striking out 13! Unfortunately, Ray’s upstanding effort wouldn’t be enough as the lone run the Jays scored was in the 2nd inning, when Jonathan Davis would cash in Lourdes Gurriel Jr with a sac fly. Ray would leave in the 7th with the game tied at 1, and in the 8th is when it fell apart for the Jays pen. The White Sox would manufacture 5 more runs in the 8th, from 2 sac flies, RBI bloop single and a triple. Hopefully the Jays bring their bats tomorrow night…
Game note: Riley Adams made his Major League debut and recorded his first hit in the big leagues with a double in the 5th inning.
Game 2: Jays 6 – 2 White Sox
Alek Manoah was making the start for the Blue Jays Wednesday night, and he had a decent outing. He would go 5 innings, striking out 4, while only allowing 1 earned run. With game tied at 1 in the 5th inning, Nick Madrigal would give the White Sox the lead with an RBI double. The Jays bullpen would shut the door the rest of the way, keeping them in the game. In the 8th inning, Chicago decided they didn’t want to win this game when they loaded the bases, and they walked Vladdy to make it 2-2. Next up was Teoscar Hernandez, and on a 3-0 pitch hit a weak ground ball that should’ve ended the inning, but a throwing error would lead to 2 more runs for Toronto. The Jays would add another 2 runs in the 9th inning, thanks to a Rowdy Tellez RBI and another error by the White Sox. The White Sox made a total of 4 errors in this game (yikes) basically handing the game to Toronto.
Game 3: Jays 2 – 5 White Sox
Jays ace, Hyun Jin Ryu was on the mound and he was hit early. Jose Abreu would double in a run to make it 1-0, and then Yasmani Grandal would cap off the inning with a 2-run HR to make it 3-0. Ryu would settle in after that, not giving up a run before being relieved after 6 innings. Dallas Keuchel was the starter for Chicago and he was very good. He gave up a couple of RBI singles, one in the 5th to Marcus Semien, and one in the 6th to Lourdes Gurriel Jr, but that was it. He also struck out 8 Blue Jays in his 6 innings of work. 3-2 is the closest Toronto would get in this one, as an Adam Engel solo home run in the 7th, and another RBI from Abreu in the 8th was enough to see this game out.
Jays Series Standout:
this is a series to forget for Toronto, and I genuinely though about giving this one to the White Sox defence for how bad they were in game 2. But I decided to look at the positives and give the nod to Riley Adams for registering his first Major League hit.
Even though this was yet another mediocre week for the Blue Jays, the good thing about baseball is the amount of chances you’re given. Toronto can make up some ground in the next 7 games with 4 of them being against Boston, and then the following 3 against the Yankees.
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