Rough Night for the Pitchers, Jays Lose

Astros 10 Blue Jays 7

Let’s start with the good stuff:

• Vlad hit his 6th home run of the season. 114.4 MPH. 446 feet.
• Matt Chapman hit a home run off the facing of the fifth deck. 110.2, and 418 feet. But launched.
• Our 6 thru 9 hitters had 10 hits. Chapman 2 for 4, Tapia 4 for 5, Espinal 2 for 4, Heineman 2 for 3.
• Vlad made a terrific play, throwing out a runner trying to go second to third on a ground ball to first. The rule is that if the ball is hit behind you, you go for third but Vlad has a great arm.

Hmmmm beyond that, there wasn’t much good.

The pitchers had a tough night:

• Yusei Kikuchi had a tough time of it. He went 2.2, allowed 4 hits, 4 earned, 3 walks with 4 strikeouts. He gave up an Alex Bergman home run.
• Trent Thornton went 1.1, allowing 2 hits, 1 earned.
• Tayler Saucedo gave up a hit and a walk before leaving with an injury. Right hip discomfort is what the team is saying.
• Trevor Richards had the worst of it. 1.1 innings, 3 hits, 5 earned, 2 walks, with 2 home runs. He got left in longer than he likely would have because he was our fourth pitcher, and there was a lot of game left.
• Julian Merryweather got 5 outs without giving up a run, 1 hit, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.
• David Phelps gave up 2 hits and a run in his inning.
• Andrew Vasquez allowed a hit and a walk but had 3 strikeouts in the 9th.

And as well as the bottom of the order had a good night, the top didn’t. 1 through 5 went 3 for 21:

• Springer 1 for 4, walk, 2 strikeouts.
• Bichette: 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts. He had a hard lineout to right (109.5 MPH, with an expected .790 BA), but it found a glove. It seems like that is the way things go when you are slumping.
• Vlad: 1 for 5, the crushed home run, 2 strikeouts.
• Gurriel: 1 for 3, walk and hit by pitch.
• Zack (almost called him Max, a reference no one will get) Collins: 0 for 4, 4 strikeouts. It may be time to take him out of the middle of the order. He’ll run into one now and then, but he will not be a high average hitter.

Jays of the Day: Vlad (.184 WPA) and Tapia (.149).

Suckage: Kikuchi (-.307), Richards (-.165), Saucedo (-.092), and Bichette (-.192).

Tomorrow we have a 3:00 start. Jose Berrios (1-0, 4.91) vs. Luis Garcia (1-0, 4.60). Jose will need a good start to keep our stretch of not losing two in a row.