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Today in Jays History: Vernon Wells hits 3 home runs

MLB: Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Marlins Photo by Bob Leverone/Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images

15 Years Ago Today (well, yesterday)

The Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 8-5.

Vernon Wells hit 3 home runs. He was 3 for 4, with a walk and 4 RBI.

Troy Glaus had 2 solo home runs.

The Jays beat Josh Beckett, who, coming into the game, had a 7-1 record and a 3.80 ERA. He left the game with a 4.46 ERA, giving up 10 hits, 7 earned, 1 walk, 4 home runs, with 7 strikeouts.

We scored:

  • Three in the first: Alex Rios singled, and Wells and Glaus followed with back-to-back home runs, making it 3-1 Jays.
  • One in the third: Well homered again in his second at-bat, making it 4-1.
  • One in the fourth: Bengie Molina led off with a double. Aaron Hill followed with a single. Edgardo Alfonza scored Molina with a ground out. Alfonzo signed with us as a free agent after being released by the Dodgers in May. He had been a pretty good infielder with the Mets, but at 32, he wasn’t anymore. Alfonzo played in 12 games with the Jays, hit .162/.289/.189 in 43 at-bats, and got his release in June. He didn’t play in the majors again. 5-2 Jays.
  • Two in the fifth: Troy Glaus led off with his second home run of the game. An out later, Shea Hillenbrand singled, and Molina was hit by pitch. Hill singled to score Shea, and that was it for Beckett. 7-2 Jays.
  • One in the eighth: Well gets his third home run of the game. 8-5 Jays.

Gustavo Chacin got the start. He went 5 innings, gave up 4 hits, 2 earned, 4 walks with 1 strikeout. Chacin got the win, moving to 6-1 on the season with a 5.11 ERA. We were scoring for him. Chacin finished the season 9-4 with a 5.05 ERA in 17 games. He made five starts for us in 2007, and then they sent him to the minors. He didn’t pitch for us again.

Gibby ran out six relievers over the last 4 innings, including sending B.J. Ryan out there for a four-out save, his 12th of the season.

The win gave the Jays a 28-22 record, 1.5 games behind the tied for first place Red Sox and Yankees. We would finish the season 87 and 75, good for second place, 10 games back of the Yankees.

The three home runs raised Wells’ batting line to .325/.379/.615 with 15 home runs. He would finish the season with a .303/.357/.542 line with 32 home runs.

Toronto Blue Jays Table
Batting AB R H RBI BB SO PA BA OBP SLG OPS Pit Str WPA Details
Reed Johnson LF 5 0 1 0 0 1 5 .343 .439 .419 .858 23 15 -0.040
Alex Rios RF 5 1 2 0 0 2 5 .352 .386 .637 1.023 24 16 -0.014
Vernon Wells CF 4 3 3 4 1 1 5 .325 .379 .615 .994 16 9 0.282 3·HR
Troy Glaus 3B 4 2 2 2 1 0 5 .261 .362 .611 .973 24 13 0.125 2·HR
Lyle Overbay DH 4 0 0 0 0 3 4 .299 .380 .503 .883 16 11 -0.066
Shea Hillenbrand 1B 4 1 1 0 0 1 4 .335 .370 .540 .910 13 11 -0.027
Bengie Molina C 2 1 1 0 0 0 3 .288 .326 .432 .758 11 8 0.035 2B,HBP
Gregg Zaun C 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 .342 .379 .620 1.000 4 3 0.012
Aaron Hill SS 4 0 2 1 0 0 4 .257 .293 .353 .646 12 10 0.033
Edgardo Alfonzo 2B 3 0 0 1 0 0 4 .089 .136 .107 .243 13 8 -0.012 HBP
Team Totals 36 8 13 8 2 8 40 .361 .425 .806
Boston Red Sox Table
Batting AB R H RBI BB SO PA BA OBP SLG OPS Pit Str WPA Details
Coco Crisp CF 4 2 1 0 1 1 5 .324 .375 .486 .861 16 10 -0.074 SB
Kevin Youkilis 1B 4 0 1 0 1 0 5 .315 .429 .478 .907 23 14 -0.008
David Ortiz DH 4 0 1 0 1 0 5 .267 .362 .545 .906 16 10 0.054
Manny Ramirez LF 2 0 0 1 3 1 5 .305 .435 .569 1.004 29 13 -0.001 IW
Jason Varitek C 4 1 1 1 1 1 5 .240 .337 .397 .735 18 11 -0.080
Mike Lowell 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1 5 .321 .373 .571 .944 14 10 0.047 HBP
Trot Nixon RF 5 1 1 1 0 0 5 .295 .408 .436 .844 15 9 -0.096 HR
Alex Gonzalez SS 4 1 1 0 1 2 5 .221 .291 .307 .598 22 14 0.040
Alex Cora 2B 4 0 1 1 0 1 4 .273 .373 .318 .691 11 9 -0.055
Team Totals 35 5 8 4 8 7 44 .229 .386 .314 .701 164 100 -0.173
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/30/2020.
Toronto Blue Jays Table
Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF Pit Str WPA
Gustavo Chacin, W (6-1) 5 4 2 2 4 1 0 5.11 23 88 52 0.086
Pete Walker 0.2 2 3 3 2 2 1 4.76 6 28 16 -0.061
Scott Downs 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4.88 2 11 3 -0.154
Jason Frasor, H (3) 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 6.38 5 14 10 0.183
Scott Schoeneweis, H (8) 0.1 2 0 0 0 0 0 7.04 3 6 5 -0.101
Justin Speier, H (8) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.79 1 5 4 0.102
B.J. Ryan, S (12) 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.69 4 12 10 0.118
Team Totals 9 8 5 5 8 7 1 5.00 44 164 100 0.173
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/30/2020.
Toronto Blue Jays Table
Pitching IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BF Pit Str WPA
Gustavo Chacin, W (6-1) 5 4 2 2 4 1 0 5.11 23 88 52 0.086
Pete Walker 0.2 2 3 3 2 2 1 4.76 6 28 16 -0.061
Scott Downs 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4.88 2 11 3 -0.154
Jason Frasor, H (3) 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 6.38 5 14 10 0.183
Scott Schoeneweis, H (8) 0.1 2 0 0 0 0 0 7.04 3 6 5 -0.101
Justin Speier, H (8) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.79 1 5 4 0.102
B.J. Ryan, S (12) 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.69 4 12 10 0.118
Team Totals 9 8 5 5 8 7 1 5.00 44 164 100 0.173
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/30/2020.