Grichuk’s two homers power Jays to series win over Evil Empire

Blue Jays: 6 Yankees: 4

That makes two series wins in a row against division rivals. And as a bonus:

TJ Zeuch had as good of a start as I think any of us could have reasonably expected. He went 5.1 innings and gave up three runs (two earned, and the one unearned was an inherited runner who scored after Zeuch left the game). He walked three and struck out five, which is not bad considering the lineup he was facing and his low strikeout rate.

Wilmer Font opened the game for TJ Zeuch, and just like the first time he opened up for TJ Zeuch, he did not have a scoreless outing. He pitched one inning, and gave up a solo shot to Aaron Judge.

Bo Bichette hit a ground rule double with two strikes off the Yankees’ opener Chad Greene, and alertly made a steal attempt of 3rd. He would have had it uncontested if Randal Grichuk hadn’t check swing fouled a pitch way inside. It was something that shouldn’t have happened once he saw Bichette was gong to be safe, but he more than redeemed himself so we will let it slide. Biggio advanced him on a ground out, but Rowdy Tellez struck out so they couldn’t score him.

The Jays did score in the next inning off Jordan Montgomery, in what turned to be a piece of revenge for the players in the JA Happ return. With two outs, Drury doubled, McKinney singled (scoring Drury) and advanced to 2nd. Richard Ureña then doubled, scoring McKinney and giving the Blue Jays the lead.

The lead was short lived as the Yankees tied the game, then retook the lead in the top of the 3rd. Tyler Wade had a one-out single, then he scored on a DJ LeMahieu double that neither Teoscar nor Grichuk seemed to come close to getting to. A walk to Judge and a RBI single by Didi Gregorious and the lead was gone.

Thankfully, the Yankees’ lead was also short lived when Randal “Moneybags” Grichuk tied the game with a solo bomb to opposite field. That was his 27th on the season, a new career high for him.

After striking out five times in a row, the 5th inning was a thing of beauty.
Bo Bichette had a one-out bunt single, then Cavan Biggio collected a hard earned walk, extending his on base streak to 17 games. This set up Grichuk for his second home run of the day, a no doubter to left field, to give the Jays a 6-3 lead. After Tellez struck out, Hernandez walked and McGuire singled, but Nestor Cortes Jr got Drury out to end the inning.

The 7th inning was a little nerve-wracking. Zeuch gave up a double to Austin Romine, then got the number 9 hitter to pop out before handing the ball over to Derek Law for the top of the order. Law had some really sharp and nasty pitches, and some that were nowhere close to the strike zone. Law made a great pitch to LeMahieu and induced a ground ball to Richard Ureña who initially bobbled it, then made a horrible throw to Drury at 1st, allowing LeMahieu to reach 2nd, and Zeuch’s runner to score. LeMahieu then stole 3rd, and Law hit Judge with a changeup to put the tying run on first with only one out. However, Law struck out Gregorious and got Torres to groundout, preserving the two run lead.

Down several relievers, Sam Gaviglio was the setup man du jour and he pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Ken Giles pitched a clean inning to earn his 20th save. Extend him, already.

Jays of the Day: Grichuk (+.341 WPA), McKinney (.106)

No suckage Jays.

It was a quiet day in the GameThread. Belisarius led us to victory.

Up next: The Blue Jays have an off day before heading to Baltimore to take on the Orioles at 7:05pm ET. TBD will oppose TBD. It’s going to be great.