Dodgers 3 at Blue Jays 4
158 days later, the Jays got the job done. With Shohei Ohtani starting the last game of the series, the Jays took a 4-3 lead to the 9th and finished out the job. Granted, the stakes were slightly smaller this time, but snapping a six game losing streak is no small feat either.
It almost went sideways from the very start. 13 pitches in, Dylan Cease had walked Ohtani and Kyle Tucker with the hear of the Dodger order up. He rebounded with a strikeout, and then a stroke of good fortune as Freeman ripped a low line drive right at Ernie Clement. Tucker was caught breaking and easily doubled off. That same drive on a slightly different vector, and this is potentially a very different game.
Cease was immaculate over the next couple innings, until a Will Smith tapped a soft ground ball on which Okamoto had little shot, but a rushed throw went down the line and put him in scoring position to score on an ensuing Freeman single. Dylan ceased to be as effective from that point, allowing a couple more runners in the 5th, before the 6th went off the rails with a pair of walks sandwiched around yet another Freeman single to load the bases with none out.
So it was Varland time, and he largely limited the damage allowing a sacrifice fly to Teoscar before a timely strikeout and ground out to limit the damage to one run. Alas, Mason Fluharty almost repeated the feat in the 7th with a pair of walk sandwiched around an Ohtani ground out. The Jays turned to Tyler Rogers, who did allow a single for another run, but set down the next five batters to hold the line.
It wasn’t clear at the point it would matter, as the bats were once again pretty quiet. They had some traffic early against Ohtani, but only managed a single run in the 3rd when Jesus Sanchez doubled with two out to drive in Daulton Varsho. Ohtani settled in with a couple clean innings.
Vladdy led off the 7th with a double, but but caught up indecisively ona ground ball to short and was TOOTBLAN’d. Ohtani navigated easily out of the inning, but it was the end of the line. Luckily, for the Dodger bullpen finally sprung a leak.
Davis Schneider worked a nice walk against Jack Dreyer, with Heineman singling to put two on for George Springer. He drove a ball off the wall in right centre to make it 3-2, and Varsho followed with a solid single to knot it. Springer had to hold on third, but with one out it was still a golden opportunity to take the lead. Alas, it was Blake Treinan time and after essentially pitching around Vladdy to load the bases, he too got out of the inning.
The go ahead run was again catalyzed by the Davis Schneider, who again walked with one out in the 8th. Andres Gimenez singled him to third, and finally it the turn of an opposing catcher to mess up a throw in a critical spot as Gimenez took second and the ball got away. Schneider scored, and now it was just a matter of closing out a one run lead in the 9th. And when has that ever been an issue?
And let’s be honest, we are were all worried about some deja vu (in a few ways) with Hoffman coming in. And it was neither easy nor clean with a one single and walk, but he too bore down and got a strikeout and comeabcker to the mound to end it.
Jays of the Day: Schneider (+0.25 WPA), Springer (+0.22), Varsho (+0.18), Hoffman (+0.16), Varland (+0.12), Vlad (+0.11). Rogers (+0.05) falls short of the number, but was critical in holding the line until the bats broke through.
Boo Jays: Okamoto (-0.24) and Clement (-0.14)
It’s a good time for the third offday of the season (technically; the season formally started March 25th with two offdays fore the opener). Hopefully a much healthier team takes the field Friday in Minnesota.
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