Blue Jays 1 Rays 0
This season is going just the way we all thought it would, great pitching and god-awful hitting. Thats how we all thought it would go, right?
Knowing Hyun Jin Ryu was starting, we expected good pitching. And Ryu was good until he came out of the game with a glute strain, just 3.2 innings into the game. In the 3.2 innings, before leaving the game, Ryu allowed 3 singles and a walk with 5 strikeouts. About the only thing hit hard off him was a 101 MPH ground ball hit at Santiago Espinal, who amazingly knocked it down but couldnt corral it quick enough to get the out.
Im hopeful that the strain will not keep Ryu out long. We really need him. I dont know who would get his starts.
Unfortunately, that had us using many relievers:
- Tim Mayza got the last out of the fourth but gave up back-to-back singles to start the fifth, getting Charlie to go get him to bring in
- Tyler Chatwood, who got three quick outs. Chatwood hit the first batter of the sixth, next up
- Ryan Borucki. He got three weak ground-outs. It would have been 2 weak ground-outs, but none were hit hard enough to turn a double play. He also got the first two outs of the seventh. I thought he could have been allowed to get the third, but Charlie figured
- David Phelps should face Yandy Diaz (who has hit lefties (.845 OPS) much better than righties (.738 OPS)). Phelps ruined that plan by plunking Diaz, but he got the next batter. And the first two of the eighth, before walking Brandon Lowe. Which got us
- Rafael Dolis. He got the last out of the eighth. I was ok with that change, as Phelps looked to be tiring. A 1, 2, 3 ninth (in under 45 minutes) for the save, his second of the season.
Mayza gets the win.
5.1 shutout innings from 5 relievers is pretty amazing.
On offense….I think I used the term god awful above.
We scored 1 run in the fifth inning. We had singled from Marcus Semien and a bunt single from Lourdes Gurriel. A ground out force put runners on the corners before Santiago Espinal got one to land between the drawn-in infield and the outfield.
And that would be it. We had all of 6 singles. Gurriel and Espinal had 2 each. Semien and Panik had one each. Cavan Biggio had two walks and Vlad one. That was it for baserunners.
Bo Bichette had a terrible day. He has been either extremely hot or extremely cold so far this season. Randal Grichuk had a rough time too.
Danny Jansen is totally snake bit. He lined a hard one to the outfield, caught, lined one 105.6 MLB at third, caught, had a fly ball that the right-field lost in the lights, but still caught and, well, a popup.
Good news:
#BlueJays starter Hyun Jin Ryu said after the game he doesnt think his glute injury is serious and he doesnt believe it will require an IL stint.
Kaitlyn McGrath (@kaitlyncmcgrath) April 25, 2021
The defense was fine today, not that there were tested much. Joe Panik made a couple of nice plays at second, but most of the Rays’ contact was weak.
Jays of the Day: Dolis (.255 WPA), Borucki (.232), Ryu (.180), Chatwood (.149) and Phelps (.093). And lets give one to Espinal for the RBI and Panik for the two nice plays
Suckage: Mayza (-.113, and he gets the W), Bo (-.155), and Jansen (-.118).
Tomorrow is a day off. Tuesday the Jays host the Nationals in Dunedin. TBD gets the start.
The Jays are now 10-11 and Springer should be back Tuesday (which Hernandez not far behind), so it could be worse.
We had 526 comments in the GameThread. EMK19 led us to the victory. Good Job.