Nathan Lukes drove in a pair of runs in a 5-2 win over the Yankees to advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2016 |
After the bullpen Blue yesterday's game, the Blue Jays were looking to eliminate the Yankees and avoid a decisive game 5. It was a bullpen game today with Louis Varland starting with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Nathan Lukes was in LF. Addison Barger was at the hot corner and Ernie Clement was at 2B. Could the Blue Jays finish off the Yankees? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled scoring George Springer
- Louis Varland pitching line: 1.1IP 1H 0R 0BB 2K 20 pitches (12 for strikes)
- The Yankees tied it in the bottom of the 3rd as Ryan McMahon whacked a solo blast to right
- The Blue jays retook the lead in the top of the 5th on a sac fly by Springer that scored Ernie Clement
- The Blue Jays added a pair of runs in the top of the 7th as Nathan Lukes singled scoring Clement and Andres Gimenez
- Cam Schlittler pitching line: 6.2IP 8H 4R (2 earned) 0BB 2K 88 pitches ( 69 for strikes)
- The Blue jays added a run in the top of the 8th as Myles Straw singled scoring Alejandro Kirk
- The Yankees got one back in the bottom of the 9th as Aaron Judge singled scoring Jasson Dominguez
- Jeff Hoffman got the last 4 outs for his first save of the postseason
- Final score: Blue Jays 5 Yankees 2
My Take:
- Opener Louis Varland bounced back very nicely after giving up 2 home runs last night and getting tagged with both the loss and the blown save. Tonight he got the first 4 outs and held the Yankees to a hit and a hit batter
- The rest of the bullpen to 2 runs on 5 hits and 6 walks while striking out 8 over the last 7.2 innings. This was a good lineup, the key was executing pitches when they had to. Some good defense behind them helped too. Jeff Hoffman got Austin Wells to fly out to end the 8th and escape a bases loaded jam. Probbably not wise to pitch to Aaron Judge in the 9th, but at least there were 2 outs and Hoffman kept him in the ball park. None of the relievers retired every batter they faced.
- The veterans came through tonight. Vlad opened the scoring in the top of the 1st with a clutch RBI single. There is going to be tons of scrutiny on Vlad next year when his $500 million, 14 year deal, especially when he slumps, but at the moment it looks like a steal. Vlad became the first player in ALDS/NLDS history to have 9 hits and 9RBI in a single ALDS series. Veteran George Springer scored once and drove in a run. Nathan Lukes drove in a pair, and Myles Straw had a huge RBI single in the 8th to give the bullpen a 4-run cushion with 6 outs to get
- The Blue Jays were 3-17 with runners in scoring position
- Inckluding the postseason, the Blue Jays were a combined 11-6 against the Yankees, outsoring their division rivals 107-75
- It will be interesting to see if some injured players come back. If Chris Bassitt and Bo Bichette are healthy, both will surely be added to the ALCS roster. Likely, Justin Bruihl and IKF would be left off the roster if both are ready to roll. Could Max Scherzer also be on the ALCS roster. He is 4-2 against the Mariners with a 2.97ERA over 9 starts in his career. He would also surely relish the opportunity to eliminate one of his former teams. Mind you, he is 2-3 with a 3.34ERA against the Tigers over 5 starts.
- Up next, the ALCS where the Blue Jays will face off against the winner of the Tigers/Mariners game 5 on Friday. The Blue Jays won the season series 4-3 against the Tigers, outscoring the Tigers 35-27. The Blue Jays won the season series against the Mariners 4-2, outscoring the Mariners 31-24. The road team won all series in both season series. The Blue Jays swept the Mariners in Seattle. Who starts game 1 for both teams will be largely determined by the health of Bassitt, but it'll likely be Kevin Gausman taking the bump first. With the winner of the Mariners/Tigers game on Friday needing to travel cross country, the ALCS will likely start on Thanksgiving Monday.