Game #136 Milwaukee Brewers (85-52) @ Toronto Blue Jays (78-58) - game recap

 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in the only Blue Jays run on a sac fly in a-4-1 come-from-behind loss to the Brewers

After a brutal loss due to the bullpen blowing up and an anemic offence, the Blue Jays were looking to avoid their 15th series loss and 4th season series loss of the season. Justin Bruihl was optioned to AAA-ball and Easton Lucas was recalled from AAA-ball. Kevin Gausman got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Vlad got the half day off as DH with Ty France at 1B. George Springer was in LF and Myles Straw was in CF. Addison Barger got the start at the hot corner. Could the Blue Jays avoid their 15th series loss and 4th season series loss of the season? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Blue jays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 6th on a sac fly by Vladimir Guerrero Jr that scored George Springer
• The Brewers tied it up in the top of the 7th on a ground out by Sal Frelick that scored Christian Yelich
• Quinn Priester pitching line: 5H 1R (unearned) 0BB 82 pitches (56 for strikes)
• Kevin Gausman pitching line: 7IP 4H 1R (earned) 0BB 8K 95 pitches (66 for strikes)
• The Brewers took the lead in the top of the 9th as Jackson Chourio whacked a solo blast to the opposite field in right and into the Brewers bullpen
• A batter later, Yelich smacked a solo blast to the opposite field in left-center
• Four batters later, Isaac Collins doubled scoring Frelich
• Abner Uribe pitched a scoreless 9th for his 4th save of the season
• Final score: Brewers 4 Blue Jays 1

My Take:

• Kevin Gausman fired 7 strong innings,  giving up a run on 4 hits while walking none and striking out 8. The Blue Jays needed this effort from Gausman to give an overworked bullpen a break. He retired 9 of the first 11 batters, with the 9th out being a pickoff at 1st base. Gausman also retired 9 of the last 10 batters he faced. 
• The bullpen imploded again. This time Jeff Hoffman came in with a 1-1 tie in the 9th, looking to hold the score to give the Blue Jays a chance to walk it off in the bottom half of the inning. Instead, he gave up 3 runs on 3 hits (two of which were back-to-back home runs to start the 9th) and a walk. It's clear his confidence is not great. Trouble is, the Blue Jays don't have anyone pitching well enough to take over the closer's role. Seranthony Dominguez has wildness issues and gave up 2 hits. Louis Varland and Brandon Little have been terrible lately and Yariel Rodriguez can't be trusted either. If the Blue Jays miss the playoffs entirely, Pete Walker needs to go.
• Offensively, Vlad drove in the only run on a sac fly. It's hard to win scoring only one run. The bats definitely cooled off with the all-star break.
• The Blue Jays were 1-4 with runners in scoring position
• The Yankees could close the gap to just 2 games if they win as expected tonight. The Red Sox lost so the Blue Jays remain 3.5 games ahead of them.
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to snap the 2 game skid and avoid being swept for the 5th time and 2nd season series sweep. Max Scherzer starts against Brewers righty Brandon Woodruff

Game #136 Milwaukee Brewers (84-52) v. Toronto Blue Jays (78-57)

 

Game #135 Milwaukee Brewers (84-52) @ Toronto Blue Jays (78-57) - game recap

 

Davis Schneider drove in a pair of runs in a 7-2 loss to the Brewers

After an off-day yesterday, the Blue Jays continued the road trip as they welcomed the Milwaukee Brewers to town. The Brewers took the season series last year and both teams scored 8 runs. Shane Bieber got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. The rest of the lineup was the same as Wednesday's wild comeback win. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 2 games? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Brewers opened the scoring in the top of the 6th as Andruw Monasterio whacked a solo blast to left
• Three batters later, Andrew Vaughn singled scoring Brice Turang
• Two batters later,  Caleb Durbin singled scoring Christian Yelich
• A batter later, Isaac Collins doubled home Vaughn and Durbin 
• Shane Bieber pitching line: 5.1IP 5H 2R (both earned) 0BB 92 pitches (59 for strikes)
• The Brewers added a run in in the top of the 7th on a ground out by Yelich that scored Turang
• A batter later, Vaughn singled scoring William Contreras
• Freddy Peralta pitching line: 6IP 1H 0R 1BB  8K 95 pitches (62 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom held of the inning as Davis Schneider singled scoring Bo Bichette and Myles Straw 
• Final score: Brewers 7 Blue Jays 2

My Take:

• Shane Bieber threw  5.1 solid innings, allowing a pair of runs on 5 hits while walking none and striking out 6. He struck out the side in the 1st inning and had an out streak of 9 batters.  There is just one pitch he'll want back (the one he threw to  Andruw Monasterio that left the ballpark). Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn't get out of the inning/
• A large part of the blame for this loss goes to a bullpen that has been brutal lately. Brandon Little  and Louis Varland combined to allow 4 runs in the 6th inning after Shane Bieber left the game with one out in that inning. Little has been walking too many batters. As a reliever, you have to come in throwing strikes, Varland managed to escape the inning, but not before giving up a pair of base hits that plated 3 more runs. A lot of fans want to see Varland in the closer's role, but he's been as shaky as Jeff Hoffman lately. Justin Bruihl gave up 2 more runs in the 7th inning to put the game out of reach. None of the relievers retired every batter they faced.
• The offense was stymied for most of the game, and looked like they might rally in the 8th, but only managed to score twice on a clutch Davis Schneider single off a lefty reliever. Bo Bichette was the only Blue Jays batter to reach base multiple times
• Fans and Daulton Varsho were breathing a sigh of relief that x-rays on Daulton Varsho's hand  were negative, after the Blue Jays outfielder was drilled on the right hand/pinky finger by a fastball in the 7th inning. He was in a ton of pain and obviously frustrated after missing the first month of the season recovering from off-season shoulder surgery then missing more time after pulling his hamstring running the bases a month later. He'll likely miss a few days at least here, but it could have been much worse.
• The Blue Jays got bad news on Yimi Garcia, who will undergo season-ending surgery on his pitching elbow to clean some things up. The Blue Jays could have used him in the bullpen, but it was best to get the surgery done now so he's at full strength come spring training.
• It was a mixed bag standings wise. The Red Sox lost their game, but the Yankees prevailed in their game and both teams are 3.5 games back of the Blue Jays for 1st in the AL East. The Blue Jays have a tougher schedule.
• The Blue Jays were 1-5 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to avoid their 15th series loss and 4th season series loss. Kevin Gausman starts against Brewers righty Quinn Priester.

Game #135 Milwaukee Brewers (83-52) v. Toronto Blue Jays (78-56)

 

-Game #134 Minnesota Twins (60-73) @ Toronto Blue Jays (78-56) - game recap

 

Addison Barger hit a clutch RBI double to lift the  Blue Jays to a 9-8 comeback win over the Twins

After dropping yesterday's game due to the bullpen (especially Jeff Hoffman) imploding, the Blue Jays were looking to notch their 23rd series win and 17th season series win of the season. Eric Lauer got the start with Tyler Heineman behind the plate. Vlad was back in the field after DH'ing the last 2 games (George Springer served as DH tonight). Davis Schneider was in LF, Daulton Varsho was in CF and  Nathan Lukes was in RF. Addison Barger was at the hot corner. Could the Blue Jays notch their 23rd series win and 17th season series win of the season? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Twins opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Byron Buxton led off the game by hammering a solo bomb to dead center
• The Blue Jays tied it up in the bottom of the 2nd as Davis Schneider drilled a solo blast to the second deck in left
• The Twins retook the lead in the top of the 3rd as Buxton whacked a solo blast to left-center
• Three batters later, Luke Keaschall belted a solo jack to left-center
• The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom half of the inning as Bo Bichette singled scoring Andres Gimenez and George Springer
• The Twins added a pair of runs in the top of the 4th as Edouard Julien doubled scoring Austin Martin and Julien. Technically it was an inside the park home run, but Julien was credited with a double and Tyler Heineman was charged with a throwing error on the play
• Two batters later, Ryan Jeffers singled home Buxton. Jeffers was thrown out at 2nd base to end the inning
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Schneider hammered a solo bomb to the second deck in left
• Three batters later, Gimenez belted a solo jack to right-center
• Simeon Woods-Richardson pitching line: 3.2IP 5H 5R (all earned) 2BB 2K 69 pitches (44 for strikes)
• The Twins added a run as Brooks Lee smashed a solo blast to left
• Two batters later, Royce Lewis singled scoring Kody Clemens
• Eric Lauer pitching line: 4.2IP 10H 8R (6 earned) 0BB 4K 98 pitches (68 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 6th as Gimenez doubled scoring Davis
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom of the 8th as Ty France belted a solo jack to left-center
• Three batters later, Addison Barger doubled scoring Alejandro Kirk and Springer
• Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless 9th for his 29th save of the season
• Final score: Blue Jays 9 Twins 8

My Take:

• Eric Lauer was lit up for 8 runs on 10 hits while walking none and sriking out 4 over 4.2 innings. He may be tiring since he's already doubled the number of innings he threw in 2023. He added 4 more HR to the total given up by Blue Jays pitchers (only the A's have allowed more long balls this season). It is a concerning trend that needs to be addressed in the off-season, if not sooner. Lauer might be better suited to a bullpen role come playoff time. Two of Berrios, Gausman, Bassitt, Bieber, Lauer and Scherzer will not be in the playoff rotation. 
• The bullpen gave up 2 hits, walked 2 batters and struck out 6 over the last innings. I don't know what was more gutsy: John Schneider's decision to go right back to Jeff Hoffman after Hoffman imploded last night or Hoffman having a mostly dominant inning, including a huge strikeout of Matt Walllner, who hit a 3-run HR off the Blue Jays closer last night. There has been much angst over Hoffman in the closer's role, particularly his dreadful ERA, which is by far the worst of the likely playoff contender's closer, but tonight he showed why he should be the Blue Jays closer. Here's hoping tonight's  performance is the start of a hot streak for him.
• The bats were not going to let the Blue Jays lose tonight. Davis Schneider belted a pair of HR, Ty France came off the bench and went deep for the first time as a Blue Jay, Addison Barger erased a bad day at the plate with a go-ahead 2-run double and Bo Bichette knotted the game at 3 with a clutch 3-run single. If the Blue Jays do win a playoff round or two, it will be thanks to a lineup that can hurt you in most parts of the batting order and the ability to get clutch hits at the right time
• The team will be breathing a sigh of relief they came back and won because if the Twins won, the Bosox would have been just 3 games back and the Yankees would have been 3.5 games back. Instead the Red Sox and Yankees remain 4 and 4.5 games back respectively. Both the Yankees and Red Sox can gain a half game if they win their respective games tomorrow with the Blue Jays idle until Friday
• Up next, after an off-day tomorrow, the Blue Jays will be looking to extend the win streak to 2 games as they open a tough weekend series against the Brewers, who took the season series last year. Both teams scored 8 runs. Shane Bieber makes his home debut for the Blue Jays Friday. The Brewers haven't set their rotation for the seres yet.