Series Sum-Up: at Cleveland, April 13

Emily

Game 1: Friday, April 13th
JAYS WIN!!! 8-4
Starting Pitcher: Marcus Stroman
Winning Pitcher: Danny Barnes

 

Through the first two innings, Marcus Stroman wasn’t looking very sharp, with two runs allowed on three hits in the 1st, and then again in the 2nd. Mike Clevinger kept the Jay scoreless through three, with just one hit allowed, a double to Kevin Pillar. Then the momentum shifted. Stroman allowed a single and a walk in the bottom of the 3rd, but stranded both. In the 4th, the Blue Jays hung a four-spot on Clevinger thanks to a pair of walks and an RBI single from Pillar, capped off with a three-run blast from Aledmys Diaz.

 

 

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With the game tied, Cleveland lifted Clevinger after the 4th, and Stroman pitched two more scoreless innings before he was also finished. Toronto got two more baserunners, both on errors, in the 5th and 6th, but neither scored. Danny Barnes pitched the 6th and allowed a pair of hits, but was spared a run by a heads-up play at the plate made by Devon Travis and Russell Martin.

 

 

The Jays finally pulled ahead in the 7th, as, with a man on third and one out, Steve Pearce pinch-hit and reached on a fielder’s choice (Randal Grichuk was thrown out at the plate because the contact play had been on). Pearce advanced on a passed ball and scored on a Teoscar Hernandez double off Andrew Miller. The Blue Jays bullpen put up three more scoreless innings, but their bats weren’t done. They added insurance in the top of the 9th thanks to a Diaz single, Travis getting hit with a pitch, Pearce driving them in with a double, and Hernandez driving in Pearce again (with another double, no less). The Jays had seven hits, and the Clevelands had twelve.

 

 

Game 2: Saturday, April 14th
Jays… didn’t play.

 

Today’s game was cancelled due to rain. It will be made up on Thursday, May 3rd at 1:10 p.m. (that was previously an off-day for the Jays to travel between cities).

 

Game 3: Sunday, April 15th
Jays didn’t play again.

 

The third and final game in this series was also cancelled. May 3rd will now be a double-header in Cleveland, beginning at 1:10. So technically, that means they swept the series, right?

 

Overall Notes:

Josh Donaldson was put on the DL before the start of this series with inflammation in his right shoulder. This would seem to be a continuation of the “dead arm” problem he suffered on Opening Day – not that it’s gotten worse, but that it isn’t progressing as well as he or the team would have hoped. The stint was backdated to April 11th, meaning he could return as early as the series in New York next weekend. Teoscar Hernandez was called up as Donaldson’s replacement in the lineup.

 

Sunday was Jackie Robinson Day across all of baseball, honouring the 71st anniversary of the man who broke the colour barrier in baseball. Because the Jays got rained out, they’ll wear their 42 jerseys at home on Monday. Which is good, because then Curtis Granderson will still get to wear the amazing cleats he had made to honour Robinson and Larry Doby (the first black player on an American League team).

 

 

My Favourite Player(s) This Series: Pillar/Diaz/Hernandez

It’s not a very big sample to pick from, but all three of the above players had two hits in Friday’s game.

Kevin Pillar was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Aledmys Diaz was 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs scored. Teoscar Hernandez went 2-for-5 with a pair doubles and two RBI.

 

Where We Are Now:
9-5, .643
Second place in the AL East, 3.5 games back of Boston (as of Sunday evening)

 

At least the Jays will be playing their next series at home, where they have a roof, and can’t get rained out. They’re in Toronto for a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals.

 

Apparently the postponements will just bump the rotation back two days, but no word yet on how they’ll affect the scheduled ‘rest days’. Jaime Garcia was originally supposed to start Saturday, then he was going to be moved to Sunday, and now he’s slated to start the first game of the Royals series on Monday.

 

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