Blue Jays 4, Guardians 2: Almost Nice Enough Out to Open The Roof, Too

 

let me tell you something shocking about Louis Varland:
George Springer is actually a bigger guy (really makes you think about proportions)

Patrick Corbin again! Five innings, whether you like it or not! And this time, certainly, we liked it just fine: two runs on six hits and a couple of walks in what I suppose was, in truth, just four-and-two-thirds. Even so! No runs on just a hit and a walk for the bullpen thereafter: Fisher, Rogers, eighth-inning Jeff Hoffman (I remain a staunch Jeff Hoffman guy, on a human level), and Louis Varland throwing smoke to close it out (following the talk of the Blue Jays moving to a "closer-by-committee" approach, some wags have begun referring to Varland himself, fondly, as "The Committee"). Jésus Sanchez homered, Ernie Clement hit his league-leading thirteen double (I feel that doubles are arguably the most "show" thing you can lead in), Name Guy Young Legend Yohendrick Piñango picked up his first career hit (a crisp single!), and Vladdy kind of ho-hummed his way to three-for-four with a double: the only the time he was retired, it took a remarkable grab in left by young Angel Martínez (whose father Sandy was a backup catcher for the mid/early-late-nineties Blue Jays, you may recall [it is okay if you do not]) that saw a literal tip of the cap (a batting helmet molded into the shape of a cap, I suppose) from Vladdy to acknowledge its slickness. A fine Sunday afternoon of baseball, I'd say! When it began, I'd wondered if our defensive set-up—Pinango and Sanchez in the outfield corners, Clement at short (not a problem) and Schneider at second (not a great situation) with no Gimenez in the lineup (just a day off I think), and Lenyn Sosa at first to give Vladdy the half-day at DH—might lightly cost us, but my concerns proved misplaced (excuse me, misplacened).   

Next up for three games at the Dome we have the truly messed Boston Red Sox, who, in a remarkably bold move, fired pretty much everybody yesterday. The last-place Red Sox—an eighty-nine-win wild card team last year, you will recall—have only been like a game-and-a-half worse than the Blue Jays through these first twenty-five games or so, but the vibes are different, and seemingly desperate. It changes things, I suppose, that the Red Sox have not had quite the injury misfortune the Blue Jays have: as someone noted on the boards Monday afternoon, just as the Blue Jays placed Max Scherzer on the IL for both right forearm tendonitis and left ankle inflammation (and also probably just for being old [he is a younger man than me, so I say this in sympathy]), this makes our sixth starting pitcher to hit the IL so far, along with the one, two, four, five, and six hitters in our lineup, and, to be fair, really only one of our high-leverage relievers (though it is Yimi, which hurts more). But Trey Yesavage is set to make his first start of the season Tuesday! And Springer is taking BP! Taking BP and running a little! Some of our guys are less hurt than previously! Let's go!

KS