Blue Jays Win Nail Biter, Earn Series Split

Blue Jays 7 - Angels 6

The Jays got on the board first in this one. Justin Smoak led the 2nd off with a walk, and with 1 out Aledmys Diaz beat out an infield single to Andrelton Simmons. A strikeout later, and Devon Travis drove a ball over the right centre field fence for the 3-0 lead.

Sam Gaviglio cruised through his first 3 innings, retiring the first 9 batters on some high popups, easy grounders and a pair of strikeouts. He got Kinsler and Trout out on strikes to open the bottom of the 4th too, but then served up a home run to Justin Upton. That was followed by a popup that was lost in the sun and landed right in front of the mound. But Luis Valbeuna hit a liner to right field to end it.

The 5th inning would prove to be the end of the night for Gaviglio. After a leadoff single to LF, Kole Cahoun hit a grounder to SS, but that bobbled in and out of the glove of Diaz and by the time he got to ball to Smoak, Calhoun was safe. That was followed by a single by Martin Maldonado to CF, and Pillar couldn’t get Simmons at home, but Maile threw to 3B and got Calhoun. A strikeout and wild pitch later, and Ian Kinsler picked up his first hit of the series to drive in Maldonado and tie the score at 3. That was the end of the night for Gaviglio, who was relieved by Joe Biagini, who allowed another hit before getting out of the inning stranding the runners.

Aledmys Diaz responded immediately in the 6th inning, greeting Noe Ramirez’s 3rd pitch by sending it over the wall. A pair of strikeouts later, and Curtis Granderson deposited one over the fence too, giving the Jays the 5-3 lead. A 3-base error by old friend Deck McGuire allowed Diaz to start the 8th inning at third base, and Luke Maile promptly brought him home.

After Biagini pitched a scoreless 6th and Seunghwan Oh a perfect 7th, the Jays brought out John Axford to start the bottom of the 8th up 6-3. He got Justin Upton to fly out, before getting a hard grounder up the middle that just missed Axford. But Devon Travis was right there. Unfortunately for Travis, he misplayed it a little bit and took it in an... uncomfortable spot. He quickly picked up the ball, but couldn’t get enough on the throw to make it to first.

Aaron Loup came in to face the lefty, and got him. With Kole Calhoun due up third, Loup stayed in to face Andrelton Simmons with 2 outs and a runner on first. Simmons hit a hard grounder to 3B and Solarte was a little sloppy picking it up. But he still got it, and threw just barely wide of Smoak, the second error of the inning. Loup then walked Calhoun on 6 erratic pitches, and that was the end of his night. Ryan Tepera was brought in for the 4 out save with the bases loaded, but Martin Maldonado unloaded the bases with a double over the head of a too shallow Teoscar Hernandez. Tepera picked Maldonado off second to end the inning.

After a clean 9th inning from both sides, we were treated to some free baseball. And it was a treat indeed. Pinch hitting for Aledmys Diaz, Kendrys Morales drove the ball over the right field fence for the 2-out home run.

Tyler Clippard came on to get the save, and did so around a leadoff single to Justin Upton. Jays win 7-6.

Justin Smoak looked better at the plate today, driving a pair of doubles into RF, going 3-4 with a walk. Nice to see him put a charge into the ball. Aledmys Diaz, Curtis Granderson and Yangervis Solarte all had 2 hit games.

Teoscar Hernandez and Kevin Pillar were the only ones to not get a hit, going a combined 0-10 with 4 strikeouts.

Jays of the Day: Morales (.414), Diaz (.224), Travis (.210), Clippard (.197), Granderson (.110), Biagini (.104)

Suckage Jays: Tepera (-.233), Pillar (-.185), Gaviglio (-.145), Hernandez (-.113)

We had a much busier gamethread today than the last few games, with 456 comments. Alan F. lead us to victory again. Need you to keep this streak alive.

The Jays head to Houston now to take on the defending champs, starting with a game tomorrow night at 8:10 ET.