The Toronto Blue Jays continue to have this roller coaster ride of a season, with sweeping one series, and following it up with being swept. The Jays need to start putting wins together if they’re going to make a run at the playoffs. First up this week is a 3 game series with the Mets, and then a big 4 game series against the Red Sox.
Game 1: Jays 0 – 3 Mets
The first game of the series was all about the Mets pitchers, and mainly rookie starter Tyler Megil. The Jays could only manage 3 hits, and 4 base runners all game, needless to say, that wouldn’t be enough. Pete Alonso would get all the offense the Mets would need, with a home run in the 1st inning, and another HR in the 8th inning. The Mets would take game 1 by a score of 3-0.
Game 2: Jays 10 – 3 Mets
The Jays bats came to play in this game, and that was important because Hyun Jin Ryu wasn’t at his best. Ryu couldn’t get out of the 5th inning, and while he gave up 10 hits, he only gave up 3 runs. The long ball was the source of 9 of the Jays 10 runs. In the 3rd, George Springer and Teo Hernandez went yard for 3 runs, Marcus Semien had a 3-run shot in the 5th, and Bo Bichette and Teo Hernandez added 2 more home runs in the 7th and 9th inning. The Jays’ pen shut down the Mets offense the rest of the way, and tied the series at 1.
Game 3: Jays 4 – 5 Mets
New York would take the lead in the rubber match in the 2nd inning, when Jonathon Villar would single in a run. Ross Stripling would only allow that run in his 5 innings of work. In the 6th inning, the Jays would get on the board. They’d load the bases with no outs, and Bo Bichette would single in a pair, and Hernandez would also add an RBI to make it 3-1. Ryan Borucki and Jacob Barnes would combine to allow 4 runs, only manage 2 outs in the bottom half of the 6th, giving the Mets the 5-3 lead. Toronto would not be able to recover and would go down 5-4.
Jays Series Standout:
Teoscar Hernandez was the standout for Toronto, as he had a big game 2 with 2 HRs and 2 more RBIs in the 3rd game.
Game 1: Jays 4 – 5 Red Sox
Another chance for the Blue Jays to make up some ground, that didn’t start off great. Toronto went down 2-0 early but were able to tie the game in the top of the 3rd from RBIs from Vladdy Guerrero Jr and Marcus Semien. With the score 3-2 Red Sox, Bo Bichette would hit a big 2-run HR to take the lead in the 5th. The lead which they’d hold until the 8th inning, when Alex Verdugo would hit a 2-run shot off Trevor Richards to give the Red Sox the 5-4 win.
Game 2: Jays 4 – 1 Red Sox (7 innings)
Wednesday was a double because of a rainout on Tuesday, so that meant more 7 inning games coming up. Boston took the early 1-0 lead, but that would be the only run Jays starter Robbie Ray would surrender. Randal Grichuk would tie the game at 1’s in the second, then give the Blue Jays the 3-1 lead with a 2-run home run in the 4th. George Springer hit a solo shot in the 5th for added insurance, and Toronto took the first game of the day 4-1.
Game 3: Jays 1 – 4 Red Sox (7 innings)
In the second half of the double header, it was a different story. Steven Matz didn’t have a great outing, only going 3 1/3 innings. He gave up 9 hits, and 4 runs. The Jays offense wasn’t there tonight, as they only managed 1 run on an RBI from Bo Bichette. Toronto never looked in this one, and dropped this game 4-1.
Game 4: Jays 13 – 1 Red Sox
The Jays offense did decide to show up to the final game of the series, as Toronto put up 13 runs on the Red Sox. Every Blue Jays hitter in the starting lineup chipped in with at least 1 RBI, and Vladdy hit his 33rd HR of the season. Hyun Jin Ryu had a really nice start as well, going 6 innings, only allowing 2 hits, and didn’t give up a run. That was good enough to earn himself his 10 win of the season, and a split in this series.
Jays Series Standout:
I’m going to give this one to Randal Grichuk, as he basically won game 2 for the Jays himself.
Toronto also made a pretty big trade, acquiring Brad Hand for catcher Riley Adams. Hand is a long time MLB vet, and hopefully he can be a help to this Blue Jays bullpen.
It’s yet another frustrating week for the Blue Birds going 3-4, but hey, at least they won some of the games against Boston instead of being swept…next up for Toronto is a 3 game series against Kansas City, before a 4 game set against Cleveland.
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Here is the latest episode of the Chtib and Zhang show, where the boys are talking NBA champs, and the NHL offseason moves.