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Given the bad luck the Blue Jays have had wearing their red alternate jerseys this season, the team decided to ditch them yesterday — and by all accounts, it worked.
Toronto beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1. In their previous three Sunday home games, the opposition scored a combined 44 runs.
Mike Wilner tweets that from now on, the choice of uniform is up to the players, and they are no longer required to wear the red jerseys. Judging by the player’s responses after the game, they won’t be wearing them anytime soon.
“We should probably shred ‘em, burn ‘em, I don’t know,” Ryan Goins said after the game. “Give ‘em away to charity, something.”
The idea can’t be traced back to John Gibbons, however. Gibbons says that he didn’t suggest using a different jersey simply because he loves Canada red.
Bo Bichette left yesterday’s Dunedin Blue Jays’ game with a lower-body injury, later disclosed as a rolled ankle. Per @_ClintB_ on Twitter, Bichette ran through the bag and fell to the ground. He was removed from the game with his arm around a trainer on either side of him.
The Blue Jays recalled Matt Dermody and placed Dominic Leone on the bereavement list yesterday morning.
Dermody has appeared in five games for the Blue Jays this season, giving up seven earned runs and four home runs over four innings pitched.
In Toronto’s victory yesterday, Gibbons earned his 700th career win (his reaction: “Oh, it was, huh?”). Additionally, the Blue Jays won back-to-back series for the first time since the end of May, and completed a blowout win (five-plus runs) in consecutive games for the first time since mid-September last season.
J.A. Happ pitched six innings against his former team, allowing one earned run and walking three while striking out eight. Josh Donaldson, Darwin Barney and Justin Smoak hit home runs.
The Blue Jays begin a series against the Tampa Bay Rays today at 7:07 ET. Nick Tepesch gets the start for Toronto while Jake Odorizzi is on the mound for Tampa Bay.
Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkColley.