Bullpen Implodes, Blue Jays Lose To Yankees

What a tough loss. The Blue Jays took a 3-1 lead into the eighth, when the bullpen imploded. Aaron Loup began the inning by surrendering a bloop double to Chris Young, and a hard single to Jacoby Ellsbury. He then proceeded to hit Brett Gardner, leaving the bases loaded without registering an out. Brett Cecil's wild pitch scored one run, before hitting Brian McCann with the bases loaded to tie the game up. A Chase Headley infield single, off of Cecil's glove, scored the eventual game-winning run.

On Offence

• Jose Reyes: 1 for 5, infield single, K.
• Russell Martin: 0 for 3, with a sac fly in the fifth. Also struck out in the third inning with a guy on 3^rd and one out, but at least he didn't do it twice.
• Jose Bautista: 0 for 3, 1 BB, 3K. Two of his strike outs came when there were 2 out and runner(s) in scoring position.
• Edwin Encarnacion: 2 for 4, 2 singles. First hit came in the 4^th when his groundball beat the shift. Then singled in the eighth on a line drive down the LF line, moving Bautista from first to third.
• Josh Donaldson: 0 for 3, BB. Hit an easy fly ball, an infield fly and struck out on an ugly swing. Did not look great at the plate today
• Dalton Pompey: 0 for 3, BB. Grounded out to the pitcher twice and hit an easy fly out.
• Kevin Pillar: 1 for 4, infield hit on weakly hit ball to third. Robbed of a double by Brett Gardner in the 6^th, which would have likely scored Dalton Pompey from first. Made weak contact in his other at bats.
• Justin Smoak: 1 for 3, 2B. His double just missed clearing the wall, but Pillar moved to 3B on the play and eventually scored. Also made a great defensive play to get the first out in the 6^th. Yankees would have had 2 on and none out, but Smoak robbed Brett Gardner with a diving grab.
• Devon Travis: 2 for 4, 2 singles, 1K. One was an infield single to SS to score Pillar, while the other was a perfectly placed groundball between SS and 3B.
• Danny Valencia: 0 for 1, groundout. Pinch hit for Smoak in the 9^th against Andrew Miller.

Pitching:

• R.A. Dickey: 6.1 IP, 4H, 1 ER, 4K, 3BB.
• Miguel Castro: 0.2 IP, 1K. Came in for Dickey with one out and the tying run on 1^st. Got Rodriguez to flyout to LF, then proceeded to strikeout Drew on 3 pitches to end the inning. Incredible movement on both his fastball and changeup.
• Aaron Loup: 0 IP, 3 ER, 2H, HBP. A bloop double started the ugly inning, but he failed to limit the damage.
• Brett Cecil: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1K. Wild pitch to the first batter he faced scored a run. He then struck out Beltran, but ended up hitting Brian McCann with the bases loaded. An infield single off of his glove gave the Yankees the lead.
• Roberto Osuna: 0.2 IP, 1K. Started his career by facing Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded. Struck out A-Rod before getting Stephen Drew to fly out. Impressive showing to say the least.

Jays of the Day go to Justin Smoak and Roberto Osuna. Smoak was solid on both offence and defence, while Osuna managed to strand the bases loaded in his major league debut. Honourable mentions go to R.A. Dickey and Edwin Encarnacion.

Suckage goes to Aaron Loup and Brett Cecil, for obvious reasons. I'll also give one to Bautista for his 3 strikeouts.

Daniel Norris will be up against C.C. Sabathia in tomorrow's rubber match. The Jays' improved offence against left-handed pitching will be on display, while Norris should be fun to watch.