We’re praising small miracles here with baseball officially back as the official start to the Grapefruit League, the unofficial games that begin before the regular season, have begun!
The Blue Jays started their Grapefruit schedule with a 4-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Dunedin Stadium with most of their projected Opening Day lineup starting the game and getting a couple of at bats each.
Ryan Borucki, last year’s most pleasant surprise, started for the Jays and pitched two scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk, striking out one. In a very athlete-ish interview following the game, he said, “I’m just going to go out there and control what I can control.” So, he said nothing of real substance. Despite being a relative newcomer to the major leagues, he’s got his post-game scrum game down pat.
Thomas Pannone, who will likely be one of the starters for the Buffalo Bisons early this year, was shelled for all four Tigers runs, giving up five hits (including a home run) in 2/3 of an inning. Conor Fisk finished the third and Sam Gaviglio (2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K), Elvis Luciano (1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB), Tim Mayza (1 IP, 1 H, 1 K), Jacob Waguespack (1 IP, 2 K), and Jackson McClelland (1 IP, 1 K) combined for another six innings of scoreless ball.
Manager Charlie Montoyo was trying to get everyone two at bats as all of the regular starters took the field in the season debut except for Randal Grichuk who is out with a mild case of plantar fasciitis. Teoscar Hernandez was 2/2 and Bo Bichette, the DH was the only other starter with a hit. Kevin Pillar added a walk while Santiago Espinal (1/2) and Jonathan Davis (1/2) had the only other hits for the Blue Jays.
In all, it’s not much to write home about except for the fact that it was a game played against a different team in front of a paying crowd. Just another five weeks or so until the games start meaning something.
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