03-31-18 NYY vs TOR

Line Score - Final

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NYY	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	3	4	2
TOR	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	2		5	9	0

Box Score

TOR		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA		NYY		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
LF	Pearce	3	1	0	0	0	1	.200		DH	Walker, N	3	0	0	0	1	0	.200
LF	Granderson	1	0	1	0	0	0	.333		CF	Judge	4	0	0	0	0	1	.167
DH	Donaldson	3	1	1	0	1	2	.100		RF	Stanton	3	0	1	0	1	0	.333
1B	Smoak	4	0	3	2	0	0	.364		SS	Gregorius	4	0	1	0	0	0	.300
3B	Solarte	4	1	1	1	0	0	.250		C	Sánchez, G	4	0	0	0	0	0	.077
RF	Grichuk	3	0	1	0	1	1	.200		3B	Drury	3	1	0	0	1	0	.300
CF	Pillar	3	2	1	0	1	0	.333		LF	McKinney	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
SS	Díaz	4	0	0	0	0	2	.000		LF	Gardner, B	3	0	0	0	1	1	.167
C	Maile	3	0	1	1	1	0	.333		1B	Austin	3	2	2	3	0	1	.333
2B	Ngoepe	4	0	0	0	0	3	.000		2B	Wade	3	0	0	0	0	1	.125

TOR	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA		NYY	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Estrada	7.0	4	3	3	3	2	91-57	3.86		Sabathia	5.0	5	2	1	2	4	84-54	1.80
Tepera	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	13-5	0.00		Warren	0.2	0	1	1	1	0	7-2	13.50
Osuna	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	10-7	0.00		Holder, J	0.1	1	0	0	0	1	7-5	0.00

BLUE JAYS WIN! BLUE JAYS WIN! BLUE JAYS WIN!

After giving it little thought, I’ve decided that yesterday’s approach was a little too clunky, so you don’t have to click around again. On to the game!

Marco Estrada gave the Jays a little more length than what they had in recent days, and he should be happy with the results. His final line reads 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 3 BB. It was encouraging to see lots of groundouts and popouts today. It seemed like he leaned a little more on the fastball than changeup, but he wasn’t locating it particularly high in the zone. A bit of a different approach. While the results were mostly good, Estrada also walked too many without really challenging those batters, and allowed his fair share of hard contact. The Yankees hit some deep flies, and Tyler Austin launched two rockets into the stands. I’m not going to link to them.

Basically, that’s what you expect from Estrada, and I’ll take 7.0 innings with three earned runs all summer long.

We saw some offence today! And it came in all forms. The bats got going early. Donaldson, showing no ill effects of a dead arm, launched a double deep to centre field in the 1st. That may have been a homer if his arm had a little more life. Didn’t matter though, because Smoak drove him in to give the Jays their first lead of the season. They added another run in the 5th, when Smoak hit an RBI double. Note that Pearce scored all the way from 1st on that play. Guy’s a burner. Smoak ended up finishing the day with three hits. It was also his bobblehead day. Make more bobbleheads.

The bottom of the order started off pretty poorly, as Diaz, Maile, and Ngoepe were retired on all of five pitches in the 2nd inning. Maile seemed to take that to heart. His next time up, in the 4th, he saw seven pitches. Sure, he didn’t make it on base, but it was progress. Then we saw something remarkable. Pillar walked(!) in the 6th, and MAILE DROVE HIM HOME WITH A SINGLE. To make this even more unbelievable, Maile took a walk in the 8th. Terrific stuff.

The Jays tried to manufacture a run in the 7th. Granderson led off the inning with a single. He was later thrown out trying to steal 2nd. Credit to Gary Sanchez, who made a perfect throw to get the out. It would be nice if Granderson and Grichuk developed into base stealing threats. Remember last year, when I kept saying that Chris Coghlan could hit? That’s how I felt through the first 2.5 games of this season about Yangervis Solarte. He paid me back for that promotion, when he launched a go-ahead home run 455 feet deep in the 8th. This guy can play.

The 8th only got better after that. Pillar got aboard and stole his way to 3rd. Maile followed by stealing 2nd. AND THEN PILLAR STOLE HOME! It was outrageous. As Buck said on the broadcast, that was the first time that a player stole three bases in an inning since 1996, and the first time in Blue Jays’ history.

Pillar has a .400 OBP and three stolen bases on the season, so there’s that.

Tepera came in to pitch the 8th. Neil Walker flied out, and Aaron Judge struck out looking at a strike at the knees. Giancarlo Stanton walked, but it didn’t matter, as Didi Gregorius struck out on the next pitch. Tepera remains a revelation for this team. Osuna pitched the 9th. Sanchez grounded out, Brandon Drury lined out, and Brett Gardner struck out to end it. Osuna looks damn good so far.

Maile deserves some recognition today. He had the RBI, he took a walk, he stole a base, he made a smart defensive play, and he seemed to call a good game throughout (as highlighted when Judge struck out against Tepera). Good job.

We’re playing for .500 tomorrow! Stroman is facing Sonny Grey. That’s favourable.

03-30-18 NYY vs TOR

Line Score - Final

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NYY	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	4	8	0
TOR	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	0

Box Score

TOR		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA		NYY		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
2B	Travis	4	0	0	0	0	2	.000		CF	Gardner, B	4	0	1	0	1	0	.222
DH	Donaldson	4	0	0	0	0	3	.000		RF	Judge	4	0	0	0	0	1	.250
1B	Smoak	4	0	1	0	0	2	.143		DH	Stanton	4	0	0	0	0	2	.333
LF	Granderson	3	0	0	0	0	2	.200		SS	Gregorius	3	2	2	0	1	0	.333
PH	Pearce	1	1	1	0	0	0	.500		C	Sánchez, G	4	1	0	0	0	1	.111
3B	Solarte	4	0	1	1	0	0	.250		1B	Walker, N	3	1	1	0	1	0	.286
RF	Grichuk	4	1	1	1	0	1	.143		LF	McKinney	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
C	Martin, R	2	0	0	0	1	0	.000		3B	Drury	3	0	2	2	1	0	.429
CF	Pillar	3	0	1	0	0	1	.333		2B	Wade	4	0	1	2	0	1	.200
SS	Díaz	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000
PH	Morales, K	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
SS	Ngoepe	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

TOR	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA		NYY	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Sanchez, Aa	5.2	8	4	4	4	2	89-48	6.35		Tanaka, M	6.0	3	1	1	0	8	79-61	1.50
Barnes, D	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	6-3	6.75		Kahnle	1.1	0	0	0	1	1	18-10	0.00
Tepera	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	11-9	0.00		Robertson	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	5-3	0.00
Clippard	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	12-9	4.50		Chapman	1.0	2	1	1	0	3	23-18	4.50
Osuna	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	13-9	0.00

For the first time since 1985, the Jays have started the season by scoring fewer than two runs in each of their first two games. And the Jays won the division in 1985! Forget the fact that they have seven hits through two games, which is a new franchise record...

Did Sanchez look better tonight than Happ did last night? I’ve gone back and forth on it. I don’t know. His final line reads 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 2 K, 4 BB. Sanchez certainly looked promising early on, as he was whipping fastballs across the plate at 97 MPH, with plenty of movement. He stuck with the fastball for most of the night, with his changeup as his main secondary pitch. Not much from the curveball tonight, for better or worse.

The Yankees first got to Sanchez in the 2nd, when Brandon Drury hit an RBI double. Drury picked up another RBI in the 4th.

The game came apart for Sanchez in the 6th. He started the inning by walking Didi Gregorius. He then had an extended battle with Gary Sanchez, during which his command was noticeably wobbly. G. Sanchez eventually popped out. A couple of batters later, Sanchez found himself in a bases loaded situation, with reduced velocity, and some obvious control issues. Gibbons decided to leave him in to face Tyler Wade. I liked the decision. While Sanchez looked to be nearly running on empty, it wasn’t as if he was facing Giancarlo Stanton - Wade seemed a relatively easy out. Besides, Barnes was the alternative in the bullpen, and he has been less than stellar so far this spring. The plan backfired, as Wade hit a two-run double. I was wrong, Gibbons was wrong. I can certainly see the argument for pulling Sanchez before that at-bat, but I just don’t think it was an outrageous decision. That was the end of the line for Sanchez.

Do you really want to talk about the offence? Is my tone really this negative so early in the season?
Grichuk did what he’s supposed to do in the 2nd, when he belted an opposite field shot. I expect him to be an All-Star this year. We’ve seen flashes of his defence already, and his bat could play up at the Rogers Centre. Might as well start working on the Fan Vote now. Elsewhere, Pillar hit a double in the 2nd, before the Yankees retired 16 straight batters. It was ugly. And don’t get too excited about Pillar - he struck out on a ball in the dirt in the 5th. Of course, he has been our most productive batter so far, so it’s not fair to rag on him all that much.

For what it’s worth, the 7th inning was particularly forgettable. Granderson struck out, Solarte popped out, and Grichuk flied out… and Tommy Kahnle threw all of six pitches.

The Jays got on base again in the 8th! Martin walked! Nothing came of it, but still. There was some hope in the 9th. With two outs, Pearce came through with a pinch-hit double. Granderson followed that with an RBI double. That brought Grichuk to the plate, as the tying runner. He struck out looking. It was exciting for a minute there.

I wish Donaldson took more at-bats during spring training. He looks late to everything right now, and I’m not sure that it’s related to his shoulder being dead. It seems more like rust to me. Three strikeouts tonight.

I noticed last night that I spend more time talking about the bullpen than anything else. I’m going to try to shorten this bit down. Barnes cleaned up after Sanchez in the 6th, as he got Brett Gardner to pop out to end the inning. Tepera deserves a little more recognition. He came in for the 7th, and struck out both Aaron Judge and Stanton, before Gregorius grounded out to end the frame. That was a strong showing. Clippard pitched the 8th. He picked up a couple of strikeouts and a flyout, and looked better than last night.

Osuna pitched the 9th. For those keeping score at home, that means the Jays used five relievers last night, and four tonight. It’s not hard to imagine Luis Santos taking Barnes’ spot, at least on a temporary basis, to provide some long relief. Back to Osuna. He had a strong showing, as Drury grounded out, Wade bunted into a groundout (which Osuna fielded well), and Gardner grounded out. Most importantly, Osuna’s fastball was sitting between 95-96 MPH.

A note on the defence: it wasn’t great in the 2nd. The problems started when Gregorius hit a triple that sailed over Pillar’s head. That one was preventable. As he often does, Pillar broke towards home when the ball came off the bat, and then had to readjust and run towards the outfield wall. His misstep left him a couple feet short of making the catch. To his credit, Solarte saved a run after that, as he made a heads up throw to home to get Gregorius. There was one more slight misplay, as Travis allowed Billy McKinney to sneak a grounder past him. That hit really just showed that Travis has slightly limited range, but it wasn’t a big deal, and he has moved pretty well so far. Even so, the defence has been frustrating through the first couple of games.

We may never have a lead again.

03-29-18 NYY vs TOR (Opening Day)

(Photo via @HMeegs)

Line Score - Final

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NYY	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	6	11	1
TOR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	2

Box Score

TOR		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA		NYY		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
2B	Travis	4	0	0	0	0	2	.000		LF	Gardner, B	5	2	1	1	0	0	.200
3B	Donaldson	3	0	0	0	1	0	.000		RF	Judge	4	1	2	0	1	2	.500
1B	Smoak	3	0	0	0	1	2	.000		DH	Stanton	5	3	3	4	0	1	.600
LF	Granderson	2	0	1	0	1	1	.500		C	Sánchez, G	5	0	1	1	0	1	.200
PH	Pearce	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000		CF	Hicks	4	0	2	0	0	2	.500
DH	Morales, K	4	0	0	0	0	2	.000		SS	Gregorius	3	0	0	0	1	0	.000
RF	Grichuk	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000		3B	Drury	4	0	1	0	0	2	.250
C	Martin, R	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000		1B	Walker, N	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250
CF	Pillar	3	1	1	1	0	2	.333		1B	Austin	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000
SS	Díaz	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000		2B	Wade	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000

TOR	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA		NYY	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Happ, J	4.2	4	3	2	1	5	96-58	3.86		Severino, L	5.2	1	0	0	3	7	91-60	0.00
Axford	0.1	2	1	1	0	1	14-9	27.00		Green, C	1.1	0	0	0	0	3	22-14	0.00
Loup	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	11-6	0.00		Betances	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	13-8	9.00
Barnes, D	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	18-13	9.00		Chapman	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	10-8	0.00
Oh, S	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	12-10	0.00
Clippard	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	21-11	9.00

Yeah, yeah. I know. The Jays will never reach .500. If they keep playing like they did today, then you’re probably right. But enough of that negativity for a second. Baseball is back!

It was a fine outing for J.A. Happ. Nothing spectacular. His final line reads 4.2 IP, 2 ER/3R, 3 H, 5 K, 1 BB. Happ started off shaky, no thanks to his defence. Brett Gardner was the first batter of the game, and he reached 1st when Granderson lost a line drive in the lights. That’s not a good way to make new fans. A couple of batters later, Giancarlo Stanton made his presence known with a two-run shot. Happ settled down after that, as he retired seven in a row. Happ’s only other earned run came when he was already out of the game, as he left Aaron Judge at 1st in the 5th, and he was later driven home. One concern for Happ was his pitch count, as he reached 96 pitches in only 4.2 innings. That was reminiscent of his first stint with the Jays. Still, considering it was his first start of the year, and that it was against the Yankees, it was fine.

Hoo boy, the offence:

"The ceremony for Roy Halladay was so touching that everyone decided that was good enough for the day and decided to go home."

Two hits (a new Blue Jays Opening Day record). One run. Three walks. 12 strikeouts. The ball didn’t leave the infield after the 2nd inning. On the good side, Granderson had a hit and a walk. And credit where it’s due - Pillar took Dellin Betances deep on the first pitch he saw. On the bad side, everything else. I know it’s only game one, so I won’t dare question why Brook Jacoby is still involved, but I also won’t not question it.

The bullpen didn’t have the best day. Axford made his Blue Jays debut in the 5th, with a runner on and two outs. As I said earlier, he allowed the runner to reach home, as Stanton ripped an RBI double. Next up, Gary Sanchez did the same. Axford eventually struck out Aaron Hicks to end the inning. For what it’s worth, Axford’s fastball had good velocity with plenty of movement, but it didn’t spend much time around the plate.

Loup came in to work the 6th. He gave up a leadoff walk to Didi Gregorius, but quickly erased that when Brandon Drury grounded into a double play. Neil Walker then hit a round rule double. Walker just about scored after that, as Tyler Austin hit what should have been a run-scoring error charged to Donaldson, but the umpire judged him to be out at 1st to end the inning. More on Donaldson later.

Barnes pitched in the 7th. He kind of stunk. He gave up a leadoff homer to Gardner and a single to Judge, before he got Stanton to strikeout and Gary Sanchez to ground into a double play. The home run effectively put the game out of reach.

We saw another debut in the 8th, as Seung-hwan Oh took the mound. At that point, I really wished we had a long man, and wondered why - already down 5-0 - they didn’t get Barnes to work two innings. Oh gave up a leadoff single, as Hicks hit a grounder that pulled Smoak off the bag, and Oh hesitated before running to cover 1st. Didi Gregorius then hit a deep flyout and Drury struck out. Walker should have grounded out to end the inning, when he hit a weak dribbler back to the mound, but Oh fielded it bare-handed and dropped it. Ugly stuff. The inning ended on the next pitch, as Tyler Wade grounded out.

And… another debut in the 9th. Tyler Clippard came in. Can someone explain why we used five relievers to cover five innings? I’m befuddled. Gardner flied out and Judge struck out to start the inning. Then Stanton hit another home run because of course he did and oh god we have to see him so much now. Sanchez popped out to end the onslaught for today.

I’m worried about Donaldson. Early in spring training, we heard that his shoulder was “hanging.” Still, he came back, and was thought to be healthy-ish today. Turns out, that was less than true. I counted four different throws that Donaldson made to 1st which were suspicious at best. Whether it was the throw being weak or off-target, his shoulder clearly wasn’t up to the task. I really don’t understand why he stayed in the game following the 5th inning, when it was apparent that he wasn’t fit to play. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

In better defensive news, Smoak looked sharp today, as he speared a couple of sharp liners from Gardner and did his best to handle Donaldson’s errant throws. With Eric Hosmer in San Diego, Smoak will win the Gold Glove this season.

The road to .500 continues tomorrow.