2023 Game Twenty-Five: Blue Jays 8, White Sox 0

 

so happy for Vladdy right now

Yusei Kikuchi did it again! His ERA is down to 3.00! What! Just four hits and a walk alongside his eight strikeouts as he pitched into the sixth in a nice, easy win on a getaway-day game in front of a merry crowd of 35 069 (had to be a lot of school kids). Three hits for Bo (a homer, just fair!) two for Vladdy (a hustling double!), a super-cool double steal (Merrifield leading Espinal [three hits for Santi, and he needs every one of them he can get]) . . . just a great afternoon of baseball. And it really frees up the evening. Nothing not to like here, except for the ongoing sad plight of the White Sox, who were outscored 20-2 over the three-game series as they were swept away. It might not be their year. But it may yet be ours! The Mariners come in for the weekend, and even though it was of course the Mariners that ended things badly for the Blue Jays last season, it really felt then, and continues to feel now, like really the Blue Jays ended things badly for the Blue Jays last season, you know? Not a great start for Seattle so far, with the Mariners a couple games under .500, and Robbie Ray now out for the season. It will be nice to see Téo again, though. I do hope he is well. 

KS 

2023 Game Twenty-Four: Blue Jays 7, White Sox 0

 

I think his glasses (not pictured) are cool looking

How exceedingly interesting that, mere days ago, we noted that "to be fair" to Danny Jansen, "he is a guy who is streaky, and has stretches where he just rips everything to the pull-side for like weeks." How. Very. Interesting. Two home runs! Hit very much to the pull-side! Though it is widely accepted that the best hitters hit the ball to all fields—and as a team, the Blue Jays are nearly the best in the league in this respect, led by Chapman, Bichette, and Vladdy (numbers one, two, and four in AL Batting Average at the time of this writing) as well as Alejandro—Jansen wasn't doing himself any favours with that approach: it is as though his attempts to hit like a great hitter were getting in the way of his ability to hit like a good hitter, which for him means just getting out in front and see if you can't keep it fair. This ruled, and yet what ruled even more is that José Berrios threw seven innings of four-hit shutout baseball (the recently recalled Nate Pearson and Anthony Bass took it the rest of the way). If Berrios is going to be a solid, middle-of-the-rotation arm (and he has looked better than that of late), the Blue Jays—who are going to win a lot of games—are going to win a lot of games. 

KS

2023 Game Twenty-Three: Blue Jays 5, White Sox 2

 

home-run hero Cavan Biggio

Cavan Biggio, well-known for struggling against good fastballs (it's been a problem!), was probably as surprised as anyone when Lance Lynn, who in my mind throws nothing other than good fastballs, made a mistake with the slider microgenre (it grows more macro with each passing day it seems!) known as "the sweeper" in the Blue Jays four-run fourth inning. Cavan sure parked it! Lynn brought his Ricky-from-Trailer-Park-Boys energy to his postgame reflections on the moment, and was not thrilled about it. It was all the Blue Jays needed (though not all they got!) as Chris Bassitt had another good outing, pitching into the seventh and allowing just the two runs in so doing. The White Sox are just brutal so far this year, with their rotation underperforming expectations and their two best batters hurt. As I continue to have no real problem with the White Sox, this continues to feel like a shame.

KS

2023 Game Twenty-Two: Blue Jays 6, Yankees 1

 

clicking his heels on the way out of town

Kevin Gausman made it clear that nothing felt easy for him on Sunday, and that he really had to work through what did not seem to him to be his best stuff, but I think he should go easier on himself, in that he struck out eleven batters and walked none in seven shutout innings of three-hit baseball in Yankee Stadium. That's just all really good to do, man. And oh yeah also Vladdy got another one, going back-to-back with Daulton Varsho in the sixth. That's two out of three, then, against the Yankees in New York, and the Saturday loss came after both Yimi and Romano got touched up, which is not the kind of thing that's going to happen all that often. I feel really good about all of it! I think I feel best about how, for all five Blue Jays starters, their most recent starts were not just good but great, and all the guys you want to be hitting are hitting, with the lone notable exception of George Springer, who is struggling mightily, and honestly I would rather he not be at the top of the order until it comes together for him a little, because as much as all enjoy the guy, he is an out right now: through these first ninety-nine plate appearances, he's hitting .198 with an OBP of .263. That's just brutal. An essential SABRmetric principle, back when we all called it SABRmetrics and even spelled it that way (it's okay that we do neither anymore), is that pretty much anybody can do pretty much anything over one-hundred plate appearances, and I am not being rash and writing off Springer's season or anything like that, but remember how they bumped Bo down from the two/three spot to number five or so until he got it together and became pretty much the best hitter in baseball (hey guess who has the most hits in the AL right now hey it is Bo and then also it is Vladdy)? Could we do something similar with Springer, maybe, for a bit? I would honestly take Merrifield at the top of the order or even Kiermaier for a little while until we get things straightened out. 

But this is all relatively minor stuff as we head back home with a nice, tidy 13-9 record (not showing off, but still very much on pace for an excellent ninety-six wins). Have you noticed, though, that the AL East continues to be bananas? After that little hiccup, dropping a series in Toronto, the Rays are back at it, and have rattled off five straight wins and sit at 19-3, for some reason, and then the Orioles, who as we noted fairly early last season are not a bad young team at all, are 14-7 at present (and while nobody thinks that is sustainable for them, they are not a bad young team at all). The Blue Jays and Yankees are both 13-9, and then even the Red Sox, who nobody expects to do anything this year, are a game over .500. Ridiculous! Will all three Wild Card teams come from the AL East this season? Wouldn't hurt my (baseball) feelings one bit! 

Next up, the White Sox, with whom my problem has never been. Bassitt, Berríos, and Kikuchi lined up against Lynn, Clevinger, and Kopech looks pretty good to me, especially since Lance Lynn, a hothead whom we all admired for how he just throws like a zillion fastballs and does great, is having a brutal start to the season. I hope it all works out for him, starting in like a week or so, haha! 

KS

2023 Game Twenty-One: Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2

 

come on man

When Brandon Belt flied out to leave the bases loaded in the top of the sixth in a then-scoreless game in which Alek Manoah had pitched (and continued to! through seven!) like the Alek Manaoh of old (he is twenty-five), this one honestly felt a little doomed, and so Anthony Volpe's two-run homer in the eighth off of my guy Yimi came as no great surprise. What did surprise me, quite thoroughly, was Danny Jansen's pinch-hit, two-run homer in the top of the ninth to pull the Blue Jays even, as Jansen has really struggled at the plate so far this season (though, to be fair, he is a guy who is streaky, and has stretches where he just rips everything to the pull-side for like weeks). But the Yankees got to Jordan Romano, and LeMahieu singled through the five-man infield (Whit Merrifield, who had been playing left field, was positioned right up the middle, but the ball went through the left side), and so a walk-off loss to the Yankees ended an otherwise lovely Saturday afternoon. I hope the boys were able to shake it off as quickly as I did, though. I hope they found themselves able to enjoy their Saturday night in New York City. 

KS

2023 Game Twenty: Blue Jays 6, Yankees 1

 

not

even 

dead

I think it is fair to say about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that he is neither a shy nor retiring person; he seems rather at ease and at home in the overall context of being a star baseball player starring at playing baseball. That being so, why not just straight-up say how you feel, right Vladdy? And so it was Friday, at which time the fine beat writer Ben Nicholson-Smith reported: "Asked in NY about off-season comments in which he said he’d never sign with the Yankees, 'not even dead,' Vlad Guerrero Jr. doubled down, saying he has personal/family reasons for preferring not to play for the Yankees and would 'never' change his mind." It doesn't seem like they were crazy about any of this in New York! Some people even booed him a little! I have no idea what personal/family reasons Vladdy is alluding to here (did Vladdy Sr. have issues with the Yankees I have forgotten about? is this a "Pedro Martinez is my godfather" situation?), though I must admit that the first thing that came to mind was this now-famous clip in which Ken Griffey Jr. speaks powerfully about his own personal/family reasons. Who can say? Only Vladdy, I suppose. In any event, Vladdy does not seem to mind being a villain in Yankee Stadium (where he has hit really a lot of home runs) even a little, and his cool little shuffle-step trot around the bases seemed a little cooler as he so trotted after his first-inning two-run shot (Springer was aboard on a double). Would you believe Brandon Belt homered, too? And hit a double over Aaron Judge's head (that's really hard to do!)? Brandon Belt, of all people! I hope he keeps it up but also I fear that he will not be a part of this lineup by the All-Star Break. Prove me wrong, please! By getting all kinds of extra base hits like you did Friday!  

And yet it is clearly low-key-ace Yusei Kikuchi who deserves our praise above all others on this night: a run on four hits and two walks in six innings? In Yankee Stadium? Which is a little bit of a joke of a stadium in some respects, as you may have heard about? Great job, Yusei Kikuchi! Did you know that Kikuchi's record this season is 3-0, and the Blue Jays have won all four of his starts? Did you know that I have chosen to ignore how Kikuchi has clearly outperformed all of his peripherals and is plainly due for regression? Well it's all true! Let's go! 

once again Yusei Kikuchi, and once again I say pitch

KS 

2023 Game Nineteen: Astros 8, Blue Jays 1

 

you cannot pin this one on . . . La Makina

That the Blue Jays failed to score ("here lies Beavis . . .") with the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the seventh was drag enough, but that the three batters who had a chance to knock a few in were first Springer (a liner ripped to the understatedly great Jim Bregman at third, to Springer's demonstrative chagrin [he was like I am so chagrined right now]), Bichette (a strikeout in an at-bat that began with a charged strike owing to Bo's tardiness), and Vladdy (a relatively lazy fly ball to centre) was a full-on hyper-drag. Zach Pop and Adam Cimber—neither of whom we have any problem with, for the record—then proceeded to make an utter hash of José Berríos's excellent start (two runs on three hits and a walk over seven complete? you'd take it every time!), and what had been a brisk, well-played affair turned into a full-on laugher. Ah well! The Astros, despite their record thus far, are probably still actually good, and will probably win the division again, and by the end of the season it will probably seem like coming out of Houston with one win out of three is not a terrible result. But I'm not wild about it right now!

KS

2023 Game Eighteen: Blue Jays 4, Astros 2

 

show them where you hit it, Vladdy

After looking harried and ill at ease in his first few starts, Chris Bassitt turned in a confident and composed six-and-a-third last night, holding the Astros (who are probably still good!) scoreless on just three hits and a walk (he struck out five). The only two runs Blue Jays pitchers allowed were statistically charged to Yimi, but those were Tim Mayza's guys to get afterwards, is how I feel about it; Yimi did his part. So too Chapman and Vladdy, each of home homered, and Jordan Romano, who looked like a psycho as per usual for his slightly unusual four-out save. Great job, everybody! Loved the Brandon Belt/Whit Merrifield hit and run in the fifth! And it was Belt who was running! You might not have figured that part! Wouldn't it be swell to take the series tomorrow night with José Berríos on the hill? I think so too! Let's go! 

KS

2023 Game Seventeen: Astros 9, Blue Jays 2

 

this is picture suggests way more shirt
 than he was actually wearing
at any point

The Houston batters laid off Kevin Gausman's splitter so thoroughly, and ripped his fastball so extensively, that I cannot have been alone in wondering if maybe the Astros had something on him? It wouldn't be the first time! For either party! Gausman had been great to start the year, but a seven-run first meant this one was pretty much over from the gecko, as they say, although there was a moment a little later with a couple runners on and Vladdy at the plate where I caught myself thinking "you know, if Vladdy gets ahold of one here . . ." but alas he did not. The only joy to be found on this night was in Matt Chapman's home run, and in the almost preternatural shirtlessness of Houston slugger José Abreu: no doubt rightly proud of his fairly magnificent physique, Abreu wears no undershirt, and leaves his jersey more unbuttoned than buttoned, I think, if you counted (it's gotta be close, at least). Honestly I love it, and I feel like more of the guys should just let if fly out there, should they desire it.

KS

2023 Game Sixteen: Rays 8, Blue Jays 1

 

it's not that he wasn't trying

Alek Manoah didn't have it at all, and then he kind of did, and then he pretty much did, and then, ultimately, did not. In the end, it was an ugly line: seven runs on nine hits and four walks over four and two-thirds innings. Yikes! And yet not the worst line we saw on Sunday: consider the Reds' Luis Cessa, who allowed nine runs in the first to the Phillies, and they left him in until it read fourteen runs on eleven hits and three walks in three innings. I mean, my god. Anyway, with the great Shane McClanahan on the hill for the Rays, Manoah needed to be nearly perfect for the Blue Jays to have a chance, and he was far from that yesterday. Velocity looked good though! Maybe he's turning the corner! Or about to! This trip through the rotation, everybody except Manoah pitched really well, which is certainly not what we would have expected. But for the second straight series in this lovely opening homestand I find myself saying "well, the sweep would have been nice, but . . .," which is a sign that things are really going very well on the whole, and so why not head off to Houston with a spring in our step? The Astros have yet to really look like the Astros this year, so maybe we can steal a series!

KS

2023 Game Fifteen: Blue Jays 5, Rays 2

Yusei Kikuchi, I say pitch
(after the great Maureen Findlay Konnyu)

Jackie Robinson Day is really nicely handled every time, in my experience, and they sure had a beautiful day for it on Saturday, as the early summer in Toronto continued (it is about to be replaced by, like, dank spring's revenge, apparently, and soon). As the visibly scorekeeping Geddy Lee no doubt noted, the Blue Jays managed five runs on just seven hits, which is not a tonne (of them), and pleasingly, it was the six-seven-eight hitters (Kirk, Merrifield, Jansen) who delivered the big ones. How efficient! But the star of the show was for sure Yusei Kikuchi, who just did such a great job, and was so happy, and everybody was so happy for him. A run on four hits and a walk over six innings with nine strikeouts? Yusei Kikuchi was dealing. Long may he deal. And that's a series win! Let's go for the sweep! Against the thirteen-and-two Rays! How hard could it be! 

KS 

2023 Game Fourteen: Blue Jays 6, Rays 3

"Does Bo Bichette know he's famous?"
a child once asked (it seems likely that he does)

It seems funny to say about a game in which José Berríos allowed but a lone run in five nice innings against a great lineup, and in which George Springer opened the game with a home run (a true Springer Dinger) and Bo Bichette went five-for-five (two doubles!), but it kind of felt like the thirteen-and-oh Tampa Bay Rays gave this one away, a little? With some uncharacteristically poor pitching and defense, at times? That's not really what we have come to expect from them, these ever-pesky Rays. But it happens to everybody, I suppose, even the peskimost among us. It is also perhaps funny that, of all the great Blue Jays things to have happened in this great Blue Jays game against a great team, the moment that sticks out to me the most was that after Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz had grounded out sharply (right back to José Berríos, who was lightly contused), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. offered him the ball, because, as a fellow first baseman, he would need one to warm up the infielders the next half inning. It's one of those little things, like hearing a catcher yell "coming down" before throwing to second at the end of the warmup, that takes me back to the dusty diamonds of my youth in a way that rules.

KS

2023 Game Thirteen: Tigers 3, Blue Jays 1

 

here's a nice one of Espinal!

Would I have preferred the sweep? Of course, and yet, even with this fairly ludicrous 2023 Blue Jays lineup, there will be nights in which we only put up a single run, and on such nights, we will lose the game. However! I choose to take not inconsiderable consolation in Chris Bassitt's best start of the season, which is not a faint-praise situation, in that it was a totally good start by any measure: two runs? over six complete innings? striking out seven? Let's do that every time! The bullpen, kind of the "B" guys as we were never protecting a lead, did just fine. And I just like the Detroit Tigers, as they keep me in mind of the AL East of my youth, and remind me of my old friend Neil, who loved those teams. I have probably mentioned that before, and will probably mention it again.

Next up, the Tampa Bay Rays, for whom I feel no real fondness, and who come in winners of a record-tying thirteen straight to start the season. Well I guess we'll just see!  

KS

2023 Game Twelve: Blue Jays 4, Tigers 3 (F/10)

 

never in doubt

Kevin Gausman allowed but three runs (first a two-run homer, and, later, a solo one) in his eight innings of five-hit, no-walk, eleven-strikeout work last night, but the Blue Jays nevertheless went into the bottom of the ninth down 3-1, their only run scored on a generous obstruction call all the way back in the fourth. Gausman is perhaps low-key cursed in this respect? But the dream of every opposing-team pitching change since the dawn of time was realized as the Tigers brought in Trey Wingenter, who just didn't have it: a Vladdy single was followed by a Chapman walk and a Varsho HBP (a slider directly to the foot ), and there we were, down by two, but with the bases loaded and nobody out. Two fly-ball outs later, and it was all tied up, headed to extras, which meant Jordan Romano, since the big eighth inning the night before mean he hadn't pitched in a few days. A nifty stretch by Vladdy on Bo's throw after a tough charging play was fitting on this, Vladdy Gold Glove Bobblehead Day (word on the boards is that the pregame lineup was significant), and a perfect Kevin Kiermaier bunt and a George Springer bouncer through the drawn-in infield was all that was needed in the bottom half to send the truly impressive second-day crowd (35 300! on the second day!) home merrily. A ten-inning game finished in two-hours, forty-minutes? Yes please! Somebody somewhere said that the pitch clock has turned every pitcher into Mark Buehrle; high praise indeed. He was so good! You know who else was good? Of a pitcher? That's right, Pedro Martinez, check out him:

you come to me
 on the day of my godson's
Gold Glove bobbleheading . . .

Everybody's doing great! Let's keep it going! 

KS

 

2023 Game Eleven: Blue Jays 9, Tigers 3

 

hey man nice catch

Well that went about as well as we could have hoped, didn't it? Although I'm sure that, on an individual level, Alek Manoah would have preferred fewer walks (five is more than enough), and fewer instances of hard contact, had there been no hard contact at all we would have missed out on what turned out to be one of the great catches in the history of the SkyDome: Kevin Kiermaier's home-run-robbing/Bo-Bichette-impressing snag could very well be the best over-the-wall catch we will ever see in this ballpark, and it came in the very first game wherein the walls were of a height over which anyone has any real chance of reaching up (eight feet in dead centre, I believe they said). So that was pretty great! So too the many dingers: Matt Chapman (AL Player of the Week!), Kevin Kiermaier and George Springer back-to-back, Bo Bichette on the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth, Alejandro Kirk with a three-run shot to sit Jordan Romano back down in the pen (this one's yours, Anthony Bass; go get 'em) . . . that's a lot! Add a Daulton Varsho stolen base, and Kirk throwing a dude out at second, and you've got a complete success. The many upgrades and improvements to the ballpark really seemed to be both of those things, and the sellout crowd (including, crucially, both Home Plate Lady and the scorekeeping Geddy Lee) had a tonne to cheer for, including pre-game awards for Vladdy (Gold Glove), Kirk (Silver Slugger), and Romano (Tip O'Neil), and a first pitch by the truly radiant and flourishing Fred McGriff, whose coming induction into the Hall of Fame was here marked. What a night! Everybody loves Fred McGriff; everybody loves dingers; everybody loves Blue Jays baseball.

f l o u r i s h i n g

KS

2023 Game Ten: Blue Jays 12, Angels 11 (F/10)

 

good job, Whit, we're gonna need every one of those today

The realities of Easter Sunday kept me away from Yusei Kikuchi's hard-luck first inning (Daulton Varsho is in my view blameless for losing a ball in sunshine that brilliant), and actually I didn't even check in until it was time to do the dishes, at which point it was 6-0 Angels, and seemingly a laugher. Imagine my surprise, then, that the Blue Jays came all the way back, Matt Chapman's first career grand slam followed a few batters later by a two-run Kevin Kiermaier triple. And then some: the six-run, bat-around sixth was followed by a seventh in which the Blue Jays sent nine to the plate and scored four on a fairly ludicrous sequence of bloops and bleeders. Jordan Romano, who'd allowed nary a run in his four successful saves in the Blue Jays' first nine games, really didn't have it in the ninth, like at all, which, though a little agonizing, sure, nevertheless seemed decorous with the ultimately baffling baseball ordeal we all encountered this fine day? Given this overall baseball-weird happening, could we really mind Alejandro Kirk missing a Mike Trout pop-up behind the plate that would have ended the game? I would submit "not really." To Romano's credit, despite his uncharacteristic troubles, he did strike Drury out to end the ninth, and give us a chance in extras. Which we made the most of! Keirmaier's ground-rule double was followed by the first hit of George Springer's long afternoon, and after Trevor Richards, God bless him, did the best he could, Tim Mayza came in and got Shohei Ohtani on three pitches to end the game with the bases loaded. No complaints!

So where do we stand at the end of this ten-game, season-opening road trip? Well, certainly not atop the AL East, as the Tampa Bay Rays have literally yet to lose a game, and although it is true to say that the quality of their opposition has thus far been quite low, it is no less true to note that they are absolutely whomping that opposition with a truly staggering run differential. But we can't do anything about that, and it seems unlikely that the Rays are going to win all of their games for all that much longer, so how have we ourselves done? I think that by any reasonable standard, a six-and-four road trip has to be deemed a success, in that, first of all, literally all of it occurred on the road, and that, secondly, playing at a .600 clip means a ninety-seven win season when all is said and done. If you can keep on eking out that one win over .500 every ten games, you're all of a sudden one of the top teams in the league, year-in, year-out. It doesn't even sound all that hard to do! I say let's try!

KS

2023 Game Nine: Angels 9, Blue Jays 5

 

it's been tough

José Berríos nearly got away with it: he left the game with the Blue Jays up 4-3 in the fifth, but there were two on and nobody out as Adam Cimber came in to face Mike Trout. That a three-run home run woud follow felt nearly inevitable; it quite possibly felt that way to Adam Cimber himself, who looked more or less unfazed by the development (he's certainly given up home runs to worse players, so why get down about this one, right?). Ah well! Three more hits for Bo, though, a home run among them; three more for Vladdy, and a home run for Chapman, too. In fact, coming into the game, I'm pretty sure I saw that the MLB leaders in base hits so far this season were Chapman, Bichette, and Guerrero, in that order. It hasn't all been smooth sailing through this long, season-opening road trip, but it is undeniable that the boys have been boppin'.  

KS 

2023 Game Eight: Blue Jays 4, Angels 3

Bo . . .

. . . flows?

My decision to stay up way too late watching baseball was entirely validated by Bo Bichette's towering, game-changing three-run home run in the top of the seventh with Espinal and Springer aboard. It was the last thing I saw, but from there I had the Fan 590 radio call in my ear the rest of the way, Ben Wagner my guide through Yimi's flawless seventh, Swanson's hard-contact (an Ohtani double) and loud-outs eighth, and Romano's easy ninth (four saves so far, with an ERA of precisely 0.00). Chris Bassitt's second start cannot be seen as anything but a success, following a career-worst outing in St. Louis: by statistical definition, and also just by any reasonable standard, three runs through six complete is indeed a start of quality. It must be said that it was a little frustrating to watch, though: Bassitt has eight pitches, and hadn't really worked with Alejandro Kirk before (Jansen was ill last night), and there were pitch-com issues, and it just felt like he was up against the pitch clock/everybody's patience all night. But a good result, for sure! And maybe he'll just settle in with regard to the rest of it? Aside from Trout's first-inning, two-run homer, the Angels really didn't do a whole lot of anything. Looking at the box score I see that while Ohtani and Trout combined for three-for-eight with that home run, the rest of the Angels went . . . oh no they went oh-for-twenty-two. Dear me. 

Oh hey also: it was the Angels home opener, which meant an even more ludicrously late start than I'd expected (fair enough; everybody gets a home opener), but it also meant Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (aka Dadimir Guerrero) throwing out the first pitch! Pretty neat! I will attach a nice photo of this below!

KS  

no fewer than two Hall of Famers (let's make it three!)

2023 Game Seven: Blue Jays 6, Royals 3

 

Vladdy: is in there

The other day, I noted that aside from low-key ace Yusei Kikuchi's inspiring performance, the first trip through the Blue Jays rotation had been pretty rough. This was a false statement! Kevin Gausman had actually pitched really well in St. Louis, allowing only three thoroughly unearned runs on an uncharacteristic Matt Chapman error as his (Gausman's) weird luck from last year seemed to carry over. No such weirding Thursday, though, as he just rolled through his six scoreless innings (season ERA: 0.00). Between Vladdy's homer and Cavan Biggio's (!), and just all of generally good stuff from the bats, the Blue Jays built up enough of a lead that, after Anthony Bass pitched the seventh, John Schneider, his bullpen somewhat depleted, understandably opted for Trevor Richards, just to see. This went poorly: Richards day went home run, walk, single, and in the end he was charged with three runs whilst recording nary an out. Tim Mayza didn't fare a whole lot better, but fortunately, Yimi Garcia, who is nails, came in, and was nails. The ninth fell to Adam Cimber, which I felt good about first æsthetically, and then actually, when it went groundout, groundout, strikeout. A genuine pleasure! Looks like it could be a long season in Kansas City, but at least they've still got that really nice ballpark. Finally, I must say that I am deeply appreciative of getaway-day afternoon games that fall on judo nights, or rather judo night days, if you follow. Let's do more like that. 

On to Los Angeles! The way it all lines up, we will not see Shohei Ohtani pitch, which is a drag, but also probably for the best.

KS    

2023 Game Six: Blue Jays 3, Royals 0

 

two great guys (Salvador Pérez is neat)

Alek Manoah's second start of the season went a whole lot better than his first, didn't it, as he allowed just the one hit in seven scoreless innings Wednesday, outdueling thirty-nine-year-old future-Hall-of-Famer and genuine weirdo Zack Greinke. Swanson and Romano were great in relief, and Vladdy's three-hit night included his first home run of the season. I am enjoying Kansas City! It's nice to check in with Blue Jays legend Jackie Bradely Jr., too. 

KS

2023 Game Five: Blue Jays 4, Royals 1

 

staff ace 菊池 雄星

Understandably, this one was being referred to as "The Daulton Varsho Game," owing to that selfsame Varsho's opposite-field home run, his bunt single, and his tremendous, inning-ending throw to the plate. All great stuff! But a bigger story, to me, is that Yusei Kikuchi pitched as well as we have seen him as a Blue Jay, and in fact had the best start of anyone in the rotation this first time through it. The excellent Keegan Matheson suggested that this was the most "expressive" we have seen Kikuchi on the mound, but in this instance I find myself in low-key disagreement with this exemplary beat reporter, and would suggest instead that Kikuchi is pretty much always super expressive; it is just that he is usually expressing an unbearable sadness, and his great yearning. Not this time, though! Any game in which Yusei Kikuchi's fine start is relieved by Yimi Garcia is going to be a big winner in my books, and when you add to that mix several scoreless inning from Mayza, Swanson, and Romano, we are really talking. We're battling our way back to .500! We can do it, guys! Plenty of season left!

KS  

2023 Game Four: Royals 9, Blue Jays 5

but Springer is usually so merry

Aside from Matt Chapman continuing to hit all these doubles (so many), and Bo Bichette hitting the first Blue Jays home run of the season (they are the last team to do it this year! wild!), I would have to say this continues to be a fairly un-rad start to the season, characterized chiefly by a super rough first time through the starting rotation. Tonight it was José Berríos, who looked okay at times, but who made a distressing number of mistakes inside the strike zone (rather than outside of it [a less damaging kind of mistake]). Maybe everybody will manage to settle in after some early jitters? In the context of the whole season, I mean? Early season jitters? 

KS  

2023 Game Three: Cardinals 9, Blue Jays 4

 

ah, hamburgers

Taking the series in St. Louis would have made for a really nice start to the season, wouldn't it (have), but it was not in the cards (wordplay), as newcomer Chris Bassitt pitched what is I am told, and have every reason to believe, the worst game of his major-league career. Bassitt famously has all kinds of pitches, and the Cardinals were dialed in on seemingly all of them to such an extent that you almost hope he was tipping, and isn't just this bad at throwing all of them? I remain optimistic! Please do not mistake me! But seven runs in the first three innings is a little deflating. On to Kansas City, though, which usually goes pretty well (outside of the ALCS [obviously]). 

KS

2023 Game Two: Cardinals 4, Blue Jays 1

 

me too, Vladdy; me too

Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty put together a true all-timer of a weird pitching line in this one, allowing no runs and no hits on seven walks and a hit batter in his five innings of work. What on earth! To his credit, he struck out four, and none of the contact he allowed was all that ringing, let's say, but eight baserunners in five innings, and nary a run? This is an outcome as wild as Flaherty was himself in this particular outing! The Blue Jays, who had nineteen base hits just the other day (perhaps you will recall it), managed a measly three hits Saturday, seemingly to their own surprise as much as to ours. Kevin Gausman, who looked great but continues to have weird luck, struck out seven but allowed three runs (none of them earned) on an error by . . . Matt Chapman? Just a weird one all around.

KS