Yesterday, Canada Day was celebrated in style by the Blue Jays (or should it be Red Jays?) as they gave Kansas City a Royal hiding. This lovely infographic sums it all up nicely:

Cavan Biggio had a 4 hit, 4 RBI game. His 22 RBI are the third most through 32 major league games in Jays history (Devon Travis with 24 and Junior Felix with 24 are the two better.). He has also raised his OPS to .837

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. continued his hot streak by knocking out three hits in four at-bats to now lead the team with a .318 average. Is he the Blue Jays potential outfield saviour?

In amongst our offensive barrage of 18 hits and 11 runs there was a pleasing start by Clayton Richard, who picked up his first win as a Blue Jay and first victory since June 22, 2018. In doing so he snapped a string of nine consecutive lost decisions. Richard went six innings while allowing three runs on seven hits. He struck out four batters and walked one.

Richard said:

I’m getting ahead of hitters consistently, that’s a big reason for that. Jano (catcher Danny Jansen) has been calling terrific games and I’ve pretty much just been relying on what he’s putting down.

Its clear that Danny Jansen gives Blue Jays better frame of reference for success.

In other pitcher related news, Thomas Pannone was named the International League’s pitcher of the week. Stretched to a starter’s role, Pannone was 2-0 with 14 strikeouts and an 1.64 ERA for the AAA Bisons.

Of course, Canada Day is special for many people, no more so than Canada’s lone MLB umpire Stu Scheurwater. Read his fascinating story in From Saskatchewan to The Show

MLB bits

The Mets are a gift keeps on giving. We celebrated Bobby Bonilla day yesterday:

If you are blissfully unaware of the madness of his contract, then you must read Bobby Bonilla Day: The story behind the best baseball contract ever.

Here is More Than You Probably Wanted to Know About First-Inning Scoring.

Paul Goldschmidt Is the Hidden $130 Million Flop of MLB’s Big-Money Offseason

Play of the Day

A head’s up (and butt down) play by Cody Ponce of the Biloxi Shuckers: