2023 Game Eighty-One: Blue Jays 6, Giants 1

 

let's: go

A five-run first inning! I can't remember the last time we had one of those! What a treat! How fortuitous for it to happen on a bullpen day, too, when you might neat a little extra, right? And yet the true "bullpen day" component of the bullpen day—first Trevor Richards for three, then Bowden Francis for four—allowed just the one run, and not even all that much traffic, really; never a truly worrying amount, at any rate. This was a pretty merry way to mark the halfway point of a fairly strange season (though all seasons sort of are, I suppose): few among us would have predicted Alek Manoah's slide from a top starter to an unworkable one, or even Vladdy's much milder though very real struggles, and yet here we are at the halfway point in a totally suitable and appropriate position. The Blue Jays have had the best record in baseball since I believe May 26th (it has certainly not felt that way on a day-to-day basis!), and sit in the final Wild Card spot, though a full ten games out of the AL East lead (the Rays, though cooler of late, remain on pace for 107 wins, which is not something you can really plan for, probably). This is something like the Blue Jays sixth or seventh best first-half in team history, which is a good reminder that every season in which you have a shot at ninety wins is truly a blessing. I think it is important not to lose sight of that.

KS    

2023 Game Eighty: Giants 3, Blue Jays 0

 

at least there was a guy throwing underhand 

It is never a great feeling to to first and third, nobody out, and come away without a run (R.I.P. to the Blue Jays; they never scored), but when it happens in the first inning, how bad is it really? Eight more chances! That's what you'll get! Surely we'll push somebody across! And yet no: Kevin Gausman's twelve strikeouts (including the 1500th of his fine career) over seven innings were sort of for naught, as the Blue Jays somehow managed not to score despite eight hits (a possible factor: they drew no walks, and were struck out seventeen times, which is just so many times). I enjoyed our two days in a Wild Card spot! Felt like old times! 

KS

2023 Game Seventy-Nine: Blue Jays 12, Athletics 1

 

form is so crucial

Given the extent to which the boys elected to bop on Sunday—home runs from Springer and Biggio; a bunch of hits from pretty much everybody else—it was not, strictly speaking, necessary for Yusei Kikuchi to allow just one run on two hits over seven complete innings pitched in his best-yet start as a Toronto Blue Jay, but that's totally what he did, though. What a delight it is when Kikuchi is rolling! Everybody loves that guy! He tries so hard! And at the end of action Sunday night, the Blue Jays found themselves in sole possession of a Wild Card spot (WC3! arguably the best one!) for the first time in what feels like kind of a while; perhaps since those really awful two weeks? You remember those? The weeks? 

KS 

2023 Game Seventy-Eight: Blue Jays 7, Athletics 3

yusssssssssssssssss

Jordan Romano had to come into the game when Yimi Garcia aggravated a knee-injury in a ninth inning that wasn't really going all that well anyway, but this one wasn't particularly close after Vladdy's second home run (a monstrous shot to straightaway centre field on a somewhat-hanging 3-2 curve) in as many days was added atop Dany Jansen's from a little earlier. José Berrios, who we love to see thrive, throve through six for another quality start (he is racking them up!). Yusei Kikuchi will take the ball Sunday, which is something we all feel pretty okay about these day, whereas Oakland is running out Luis Medina, with whom I am unfamiliar, but whose season statistics suggest that a series win remains viable for the Blue Jays. Let us vie, then; let us vie so dang hardly. 

KS

2023 Game Seventy-Seven: Athletics 5, Blue Jays 4

 

everybody's favourite guy Tony Kemp

I may very well have expressed this exact sentiment before, but the fact that Jordan Romano has been about as good as any closer in either league for kind of a while now does little to mitigate the drag of ninth-inning loss (I mean I suppose they are pretty much all ninth-inning losses, aren't they?); in fact, it may actually heighten the drag slightly? I think it's fair to say that the legitimately tragic Oakland Athletics needed it more, coming in on an eight-game losing streak in a truly doomed season, but even so it would have been neat for Vladdy's first home-ballpark home run of the season (on June 23rd! that's amazing!) to have come in a win. Chris Bassitt wasn't at his best—and though I did not see this part of the game, I have seen it said that he didn't seem thrilled at getting pulled?—but still this one remained totally winnable right up until it was lost. All of the teams most relevant to the Blue Jays right now (the Yankees, Angels, and Astros) all lost, so a real missed opportunity here. Ah well!

KS

2023 Game Seventy-Six: Blue Jays 6, Marlins 3

 

me too, guys; me too

Wednesday afternoon baseball! Getaway day! And for the second straight day, a precisely two-hour, twenty-seven-minute affair, despite kind of a lot of runs, most of them coming the Blue Jays's five-run second, which, coupled with Kevin Gausman continuing to be a genuine pleasure on the mound, gave this one an early and extremely welcome air of inevitably. I don't think anyone would say Gausman had his best stuff—he struck out but six in his definitional quality start (three runs over six complete)—but he doesn't even need to, which is a pretty choice sitch.  

KS 

2023 Game Seventy-Five: Blue Jays 2, Marlins 0

normal throwing

Ace of the human heart Yusei Kikuchi (Go Ace!) with a no-walk two hitter! The way I have written that just now suggests a complete game, but no, it was six innings, with clever help from Yimi, Swanson, Mayza, and Romano, aided crucially by a two-run eighth on the strength of big hits from George Springer, Espinal . . . and Ernie Clement? Sure! Why not! A crisp two-hours, twenty-seven minutes, and Miami is not a city with which one generally associates crispness.

KS

2023 Game Seventy-Four: Marlins 11, Blue Jays 0

 

and then they did

Five runs in four innings is not the kind of start we have come to expect from José Berrios; nor does one look to Nate Pearson to be charged with five runs whilst credited with a mere third of an inning. And yet here we are! Even before the five-run seventh, this one was well and truly through. The first shutout loss of the Blue Jays' season! That's actually quite a run.

KS 

2023 Game Seventy-Three: Rangers 11, Blue Jays 7

 

oh come on man

It honestly never even crossed my mind, as the Blue Jays built an early 6-0 lead against the Rangers' fine starter John Gray, that they would squander it almost immediately and lose the game 11-7, and thereby drop the three-game series. Furthest thing from my mind! But Chris Bassitt couldn't keep it together, and as he himself noted afterwards, it is particularly brutal that he could not, in that it meant the Blue Jays essentially had back-to-back bullpen games. That's pretty tough on the guys! This road trip, frankly, stinks; and yet as we head to Miami, we are somehow only a half-game out of a playoff position, as the Astros continue to struggle, and the Yankees, for their part, lost both games of a double-header against the Red Sox yesterday. Could be worse?

KS

2023 Game Seventy-Two: Rangers 4, Blue Jays 2

 

strange days for Yimi

A bullpen day is inherently intriguing to the Baseball Mogulist (and indeed the Out of the Parkist, or really any baseball simulationist given not just to baseball simulation but—and this is crucial—to baseball simulationism), and although it would obviously be better were Alek Manoah still around and putting up Cy Young-finalist numbers every fifth day, I really cannot say that I entirely mind that we are having so many of these (bullpen days, I mean). They're kind of neat! And honestly, this one went fine: four runs allowed is not at all a bad performance out of the pen, though it is unfortunate that three of those four came off of Trevor Richards fairly early. But at a certain point you've just gotta put some runs up on the board! Right fellas! Right . . . fellas? Vladdy's struggles continue to be a drag, but I did take some measure of comfort from his fourteen-pitch at-bat that ended in a well-earned walk. Maybe he'll figure it out? Remember how mystifying first-half Bo was last year, but then he straightened out whatever had been hindering him and ever since he has been the best? Maybe something like that!

KS

2023 Game Seventy-One: Blue Jays 2, Rangers 1

 

he looks fairly standard here but earlier in the evening
Jordan Romano looked p s y c h o

For the second straight game, all of the Blue Jays' runs came on home run swings by Danny Jansen, but this time it totally worked out! Much credit for this rests with Kevin Gausman, who allowed just one run through six without his best stuff (just four strikeouts alongside two walks), then Swanson, Mayza, and Jordan Romano in relief. The Rangers are good again, and this is a thing I know, but it is not yet a thing I fully feel, and it will take time for these things to align, I think.

KS 

2023 Game Seventy: Orioles 4, Blue Jays 2

 

still pretty nice!

Among the things I enjoyed about Thursday afternoon's game were that it looked like a lovely day in lovely Camden Yards; that Danny Jansen got a hold of a couple pitches and parked two home runs to deep left field; and that Yusei Kikuchi turned in a creditable performance. The rest of it, honestly I could take or leave.

KS

2023 Game Sixty-Nine: Blue Jays 3, Orioles 1

yay

A Springer Dinger in the sixth, a two-run eighth thanks to Kiermaier, Merrifield, and Bo, and five perfect innings from José Berrios (who took a no-hitter into the seventh!) are all you need to beat these remarkably good young Baltimore Orioles. It is a drag more people don't come out to see them! I think they announced a little under seventeen thousand. Beautiful night, beautiful ballpark, great young team—what more could you want? But it's not even really summer yet, I get it. It was a school night.

KS

2023 Game Sixty-Eight: Orioles 11, Blue Jays 6

 

not pictured: Chris Bassitt, really sad

Chris Bassitt has been really good this year—on the whole I have no complaints!—and this is only the second time he has been truly shelled, but wow: eight runs (all earned) on eleven hits and a walk in three innings. That's brutal! In the end, the Blue Jays were only slightly outhit (seventeen to fifteen [that's so many hits!]), but timing is so crucial; it is just so important. Another homer for Cavan Biggio, though! Let's get him in there every day until this "heater" subsides!

KS

2023 Game Sixty-Seven: Blue Jays 7, Twins 6

 

of all people!

When the count went to two-and-oh with Cavan Biggio up in a big spot late, I thought, "well, he certainly has his limitations (who among us?), but one thing you can be sure about is that Biggio is not going to go up there swinging at nonsense; the walk is always a possibility." He turned on the next pitch and drove it deep into the right field stands for a game-winning three run homer. Just as I predicted! It would have been a whole lot cooler if this had one the series for the Blue Jays, instead of merely salvaging it, and both Friday's loss (extra innings) and Saturday's (a truly horrific eighth inning) stung like actual bees, but what can you do? On to Baltimore, to play, well, really a much much better team than Minnesota. Oh dear.

KS  

2023 Game Sixty-Six: Twins 9, Blue Jays 4

very much so, Adam Cimber; very much so 

The Twins' seven-run eighth really felt like the turning point in this one, didn't it? Bullpen day went as well you could have hoped right up until then: Trevor Richards was great for three, Tim Mazya proved a worthy lefty once again, and Bowden Francis did perfectly well. But that eighth; what a mess . . .

KS

2023 Game Sixty-Five: Twins 3, Blue Jays 2

 

hey happy Pride everybody

The Blue Jays had runners on second and third with nobody out in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, and couldn't get anybody home despite bringing Bo, Kirk, and Belt to the plate (Vladdy was walked [intentionally]). Frankly, it is tough to win that way! Kikuchi pitched well, and Pearson, Yimi, and Swanson pitched even better in relief. A tense and interesting game, and then just right at the end there, really quite a drag. 

KS 

2023 Game Sixty-Four: Blue Jays 3, Astros 2

 

he picked a runner off an inning later, too; he is just a neat guy

There is no shame in allowing a two-run home run to Alex Bregman, and that was the only real problem José Berrios encountered in six innings befitting La Makina. What a pleasure to have Berrios rolling again this season! He is an easy guy to cheer for, I have found. I followed the Blue Jays three-run fifth—walks to Varsho, Springer, and Vladdy; runs cashed in by Chapman's ground-out, Alejandro Kirk's game-tying ground-rule double, and Belt's go-ahead single (Kirk slid into a tag at the plate to end the inning)—on the radio, and man, Ben Wagner was fired up and I liked it. Three out of four from the Astros! A good team! The Blue Jays have now gone ten-and-three ever since they stopped going two-for-nine, which was a really good call on their part. Next up, the Twins, against whom we played well recently, and who a quick glance at the standings reveals to be a sub-five-hundred division leader (those are rare!). I would like to thing we would take two of three? Kikuchi tonight, bullpen day tomorrow, Gausman up again Sunday . . . yes, I think two of three would be great. Let's try that. 

KS 

2023 Game Sixty-Three: Blue Jays 3, Astros 2

 

yissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Jordon Romano needed a little help to get it done—Mauricio Dubon's double was inches away from leaving the yard, and Kevin Kiermaier's sliding catch a few batters later saved a run for sure—but he got it done! What a tidy little win, on the strength of Chris Bassitt's eight remarkably efficient innings, home runs from Bo and Belt, and Alejandro Kirk's pinch-hit single to plate the winning run in the seventh. And the whole thing only took two hours and three minutes! I respect a win that respects the evening of its audience. Great job everybody!

KS

2023 Game Sixty-Two: Blue Jays 5, Astros 1

 

hey Springer hey Springer hey Springer: sweet dinger

Okay, here we go: a day after the sad debacle of Alek Manoah's final start for at least a good while (if not the season?), we have Kevin Gausman's seven innings of four-hit, one-run (Mauricio Dubon's leadoff homer!), thirteen-strikeout baseball, bolstered by home runs from Springer, Varsho, and Bo Bichette. Gausman, Bassitt, and Berrios have all been fantastic over the last month, but especially Gausman, obviously, who might find himself not only a part of the AL All-Star team in a few weeks, but possibly starting it? It is enormously convenient to have a fallback ace.  

KS

2023 Game Sixty-One: Astros 11, Blue Jays 4

 

see you . . . soon? we hope? 

Before things got as bad as they were going to Monday night, Buck Martinez said that his advice to the struggling and embattled Alek Manoah, were he asked it, would simply be to go out there and be as aggressive as possible: rather than trying any measure of finesse, just fire it in there, because whatever happens, it can't be as bad as it has been, right? And yet it somehow was worse: six runs on seven hits and a walk in just a third of an inning (Alex Bregman hit a fly ball to Kevin Kiermaier for Manoah's lone out). It has been clear for a while now that Manoah just doesn't have it right now, and not just in the sense that he is no longer the top-three Cy Young Award finalist from a year ago, but to such an extent that he has probably been the worst pitcher in either league this season (there are different ways to measure this, but a strong, sad case can be made). The announcement Tuesday morning that Manoah was being reassigned not to Triple-A Buffalo, but to the player development complex in Dunedin, seemed at once a little shocking yet totally the right move, as it can't just be about getting more reps of the same thing, but something close to a complete rebuild. The best-case scenario is of course Roy Halliday—who came up, was amazing, then awful, went back down, changed his arm angle, and came back as Roy Halliday—but there are an awful lot more players who have had it, then lost it, and never got it back than there are Roy Hallidays. Anything we could get out of Manoah at this point, whether that be passable fifth starter, or a multi-inning guy out of the bullpen, would be a creditable salvage operation; front-of-the-rotation starter seems pretty much out of the question. We can hope though, right? But right now it is a sad affair any way you look at it. I feel for the big guy.

KS   

2023 Game Sixty: Blue Jays 6, Mets 4

 

the inimitable physical charisma of Starling Marte, ladies and gentlemen

I have long thought the Mets are neat, and I am always pleased on those rare occasions upon which the Blue Jays actually get to play them, especially in New York, because I like the look of the ballpark quite a bit (this was less true of Shea). I suppose I was not surprised to learn that Sunday's win made for the first time the Blue Jays have ever swept the Mets in New York, given how infrequently they actually play them there, but although I was not surprised, I was certainly delighted! The most delightful occurrence Sunday, I think, was when Chapman's second-base-dangling drew an errant throw from the catcher, which dribbled into short centre field in such a way that Chapman saw an opportunity not just to take third (anyone would), but in fact to boldly strive for home. You'd have to be a lot faster than most people would think for that to work out, wouldn't you Matt Chapman! Good thing that you are that, then, Matt Chapman! Yusei Kikuchi (and later Nate Pearson) tested the limits of my longstanding "we don't worry about solo home runs" policy, as all four Mets runs came on those exact things, but it all worked out fine once Brandon Belt, who turned outstanding the moment he stopped being awful (what a brutal first month!), hit a two-run home run to straightaway centre field at, if not the absolute best times, really one of the better times you are likely to see.

And just like that, with three straight series wins over good teams (Twins, Brewers, Mets), the Blue Jays are good again? Or at least okay? Four games at home against Houston feel pretty big right now, and I think I would be content with a split. It's Alek Manoah on the hill for game one, and maybe this is the one where he really starts turning it around? Couldn't hurt to try, I don't think. I can't see how it would.

KS  

2023 Game Fifty-Nine: Blue Jays 2, Mets 1

 

he went out and got that one

José Berrios was totally La Makina (as has been the case more often than not this season [we love to see it]), Alejandro Kirk dunked Brandon Belt home with the weirdest little single just kind of passed Lindor at short, and Swanson did a great job to close out the ninth with Romano unavailable, but the highlight of highlights in this one was definitely Vladdy's go-ahead double down the third-base line in the top of the ninth, just a pitch or two after John Schneider had been ejected after an awfully funny looking strike ("You've been horseshit for them, and you've been horseshit for us," or words near that, seemed to have made up at least a portion of Schneider's opening volley towards the home plate umpire). Let's keep it going! Just like this! This is all great!

KS 

2023 Game Fifty-Eight: Blue Jays 3, Mets 0

 

a man with other things to attend to

It was a weird one for Chris Bassitt, making his first start against the Mets since no longer being one of them (you may well recall it), in that his wife went into labour back home in Toronto just before the game. I don't know who exactly determined it, but it was determined (one assumed by all parties) that Bassitt would pitch, and fly back not just right after, but like super right after. And he pitched like a guy with somewhere else to be: three hits and no walks against eight strikeouts in seven-and-two-thirds. It was awesome! The only scoring came on Springer's leadoff homerun (or indeed dinger), and Varsho's fairly monstrous two-run shot in the ninth. There was a real focus and intensity to this one, though I hesitate to call it "a playoff feel" because it did not drown me in anxious sorrow, but instead was a lot of fun. 

KS

2023 Game Fifty-Seven: Blue Jays 3, Brewers 1

 

I much happier watching George Springer cheering for diving catches
in CF than I ever was watching him attempt such catches himself
(I did not find it cheering)

First-inning home runs from Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman are all you need if Kevin Gausman is gonna slice 'em up with eleven strikeouts in six-and-two-third scoreless innings (Erik Swanson and Jordan Romano, you guys did a really good job too). I love Thursday afternoon baseball! And this was one of the fun ones where all kinds of school come on field trips—I think Dan Shulman said it was about twenty-thousand kids! I don't remember it ever being quite like that on field-trip Thursdays in my own 2001-2006 era of regular/fanatical SkyDome attendance.

KS   

2023 Game Fifty-Six: Brewers 4, Blue Jays 2

 

it's just not working out

Everything continues to be miserable for Alek Manoah, who is finding new ways to have bad starts: this time, it's not like he got shelled or anything—we've all seen much worse than two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings—but it was all just taking him so many pitches that John Schneider felt he couldn't really run him back out there for the fifth. Manoah was at eighty-nine pitches, which, had he been rolling, wouldn't worry you, of course, and from Manoah's perspective, I bet he felt like he was just battling through it, you know? He's probably thinking like sure it's been two runs through four yeah but I can hold the line and get us through six but given the ways things have been falling apart (most, if not all of the ways), what can you do? It all continues to feel like a shame. The Blue Jays hit, but not in a timely fashion, and their seven hits were only could for two runs. This one felt winnable! And yet was lost.

KS

2023 Game Fifty-Five: Blue Jays 7, Brewers 2

 

Vladdy thinking BP thoughts

I would submit that it is no mere coincidence that, only two days after Daulton Varsho was seen being nice to him when he was sad after the game, and just one day after Bo had a really nice talk with him throughout Chapman's ninth-inning at bat, Vladdy went three-for-five and is totally fixed now. Or maybe it is, what do I know, but it was all very cheering to see! Help each other out: that'll be our motto! Let's hear it, too, for Yusei Kikuchi, who allowed just two runs in his five innings (he is kind of starting to walk a lot of guys again, which should probably be concerning). From there it went Pearson (two innings!), Cimber (welcome back!), Mayza (in true LOOGY mode), and finally Yimi, who, it pains me to say, has struggled this season, but he allowed just the one out pitching the ninth here. Maybe the bullpen guys have been having nice talks with him? I hear that those can help. 

KS