OOTP Season Sim Game 32: Jays Walk-Off Yankees

A bit of minor league news before the game. Bison’s pitcher James Dykstra is out for the season with a ‘ruptured ulnar collateral ligament’. He’s out 13 to 14 months. Dykstra was a minor league signing back in December. He was off to a very good start in our sim season. He had a 1.13 ERA in 5 appearances. I wonder what if would be like to be one of these players and see that you had a career threatening injury in the sim game.

Buffalo have had more than their share of pitching injuries.

And Charlie has decided to remove Chase Anderson from the rotation (about time) and put Shun Yamaguchi back in. Yamaguchi made 2 starts at the start of the season and had 2 wins and a 2.77 ERA. For that he was pulled for Anderson, who would have a 1-2 record and a 10.26 ERA in 4 starts. Yamaguchi has not been a happy camper:

Yankees 6 Blue Jays 7

A walk-off win.

We were down 6-3 to start the bottom of the eighth. In the inning, Bo Bichette hit a solo homer off Chad Green to make it 6-4.

Bottom of the ninth, Aroldis Chapman comes in. He gets a strikeout of Teoscar Hernandez then Travis Shaw hit hit 14th home run of the year (I apologize anything I may have said about the Shaw signing), making it a 1-run game.

After a Cavan Biggio strikeout, Danny Jansen, pinch-hitting for Reese McGuire, walked. Chapman also walked Bichette, putting the tying run on second. That was the end for Chapman. Carson Smith came in.

The Jays pinch-ran for Jansen with Anthony Alford. This is a gutsy move, we used both our catchers, if it became a tie game, we would have been using an emergency catcher. But down a run, it is good to have our fastest player on second base.

Smith went to a full-count against Randal Grichuk before walking him to load the bases, bringing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the plate. Can you imagine the moment? This is what I miss without baseball, the moment.

Vlad took 2 called strikes (stupid umpire), before watching a ball off the plate, and then drove a single (110 mph) through the hole between short and third. Alford scored the tying run and Bichette, waved in by Luis Rivera, just beat the throw to the plate to win the game.

32,336 sim fans (all simulating social distancing) went home happy (21 degrees out and they have the dome closed?).

Any game you can hang a loss on Chapman is a good game.

Chapman now has a 7.71 ERA in 13 appearances with 2 losses (he gets the loss today) and a blown save (not today), Smith got the blown save.

We manged 3 runs off J.A. Happ in 7 innings. Getting a run each in the third (Bichette solo homer), fourth (Vlad solo homer) and sixth (Derek Fisher solo homer) innings.

We had 9 hits, and five of them were home runs. Bo Bichette had two of them. Gurriel had 3 hits. Bo and Vlad had 2 each.

---

On the pitching side:

• Tanner Roark started, going 6 allowing 5 hits, 2 homers, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts and 4 earned.
• Eduardo Jimenez (just called up) pitched an inning, allowed a hit, walk, run with 2 strikeouts. We now have Jimenezs (Jimenezi?) on the pitching staff, Dany and Eduardo.
• Rafael Dolis (who has been very good in the setup role) got 2 outs (both strikeouts), giving up 2 hits and an earned run).
• Wilmer Font pitched the last 1.1 without allowing a base runner, getting 3 strikeouts. He picked up the win.

Jays of the Day: Vlad, Bo, Gurriel and Font.

Jays are now 20-12, with a little 3-game win streak going.

We finish off the series with the Yankees tomorrow. A sweep would be nice. Matt Shoemaker (1-3, 8.20 in 6 starts) goes for the Jays. Jordan Montgomery (3-2, 2.66 ERA in 6 starts).