OOTP Season Sim: Game 122

This is the game from August 12. It is the third of four against the Rays in Tampa Bay.

Blue Jays 1 Rays 2

Since getting back into this, the Jays offense has been terrible.

This game we got a good start from Aaron Sanchez. 5 innings, just 2 hits, 1 earned, 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. It is his best start since coming over in trade from the Mariners. But it wasn’t enough to get him a win.

Eduardo Jimenez pitched the sixth and got the first out of the seventh, giving up just a hit and a walk.

Rafael Dolis pitched 1.1, giving up the game losing run on a Michael Perez home run. That was Perez’ first MLB home run. He was called up at the end of July, when the sim Rays had tired of Mike Zunino’s offense (he was hitting .162/.227/.297 in 76 games before being send down to the minors.

On the offensive side, we only managed 3 hits in 8 innings off Rays starter Brendan McKay.

One of the hits was a home run from Randal Grichuk, his 22nd of the season. Nick Anderson and Diego Castillo shared the ninth inning. Anderson did put on the tying run, a leadoff walk to Derek Fisher, but then got Teoscar Hernandez and Vladimir Guerrero to strikeout. Castillo got a fly out from Bo Bichette to end the game.

Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel each got a rare day off.

Eduardo Jimenez left the game with an ‘unknown’ injury. A decision on whether he goes on the IL will come in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow Hyun Jin Ryu (9-4, 3.63 ERA in 21 starts) tries to even the four game series. Blake Snell (9-7, 3.32 in 22 starts) goes for the Rays. Maybe sim Kevin Cash will pull him in the middle of a great start and let the Jays have the win.

The Jays slump is tightening things up at the top of the AL East.

In the OOTP game I’m playing, I won the World Series in 2023.

In 2020 I made the playoffs, getting a Wild Card spot but made it to the World Series, losing out to the Dodgers.

2021 everything went wrong, Pearson was out for the season. Ryu got old quick. The guys that hit well for me in 2020 forgot how to hit in 2021, and my team went 64-98, but I did get the fifth pick in the next draft.

2022 I spend a ton of money on free agent Noah Sydergaard and we did a lot better, 80-82, but still well short of the playoffs. But we did get closer to the team that would go 104-58, and win the World Series. Sydergaard won the Cy Young. He’s signed through 2028, so he might be a lead weight for the team by the end of the contract but I’m am hoping he’ll lead the way to another WS or two before then.