Jays Lose to Phillies

Blue Jays 4 Phillies 8

Until the bottom of the eighth, it looked like we had a chance.

Trent Thornton, who got the last out of the sixth and then struck out the side in the seventh, ran out of gas in the eighth. In the eighth, he gave up a walk (one ball was on a ‘pitch clock’ violation. Trent didn’t throw his last warmup pitch in time, apparently), single and walk to start the inning. That ended his night.

Erik Swanson came in and gave up a 2-run double. Another run scored on a ground ball to second, with Espinal throwing to the plate just a little late. We went from down by 1 to down by 4 in a hurry. All 3 runs go as earned runs against Thornton.

Alek Manaoh wasn’t great. He went 4.2, allowed 4 hits, 4 walks with just 1 strikeout. He gave up a 2-run homer in the fourth (Nick Castellanos hit it) and another run in the fifth.

Alek came out of the game in the fifth after a 2-out single. Tim Mayza got the last out of the inning. And he got 1 out in the sixth before giving up a double.

Nate Pearson came in with the runner on third. But he gave up a sac fly. Then a single, steal, an intentional walk and RBI single. That was it for Nate, who couldn’t throw the slider for a strike. Richards got the last out of the inning, but by then, it was 5-2.

On offense, we had chances to score more,

We got:

• A run in the third: Doubles by Kevin Kiermaier and Bo Bichette.
• One in the sixth: A Bichette home run. We had a chance to get more. Vladimir Guerrero walked, and Daulton Varsho singled, but Matt Chapman ground out, Brandon Belt struck out, and Alejandro Kirk ground out.
• And two in the seventh: Whit Merrifield singled. Kiermaier singled. Bichette reached on an error that scored a run. It was a ground ball to the first baseman, who looked to second and perhaps faked out his pitcher covering first because the pitcher wasn’t looking when he made the toss to first. Vlad was hit (well, grazed by a pitch), loading the bases with 1 out. But George Springer (pinch-hitting for Belt) struck out. Chapman was also hit by pitch, getting an RBI. But Danny Jansen, pinch-hitting for Belt against a lefty, ground out. It was a 5-4 game, but we should have scored more.

And, when the Phillies got 3 in the eighth, it was out of reach again.

We had 7 hits, 2 walks, 2 hit batters, and 1 guy reaching on an error, but we didn’t get the big hit when we needed it. The team was 1 for 10 with RISP.

Bo was the offensive star, with 2 hits, a homer and a double. He’s having a terrific season. I hope he continues like this all season and picks up some MVP votes. Kiermaier also had 2 hits, a double and a single.

Belt went 0 for 3, 3 k. Kirk went 0 for 4 (he did lace one to right field, just a few feet short of the wall, but it was caught), and Espinal was 0 for 3, with a k. Vlad was also o for but had 2 walks and was hit by pitch.

Jays of the Day: Bo (.338 WPA), Chapman (.094) and Kiermaier (.091).

The Other Award: Manoah (-.150), Pearson (-.120), Kirk (-.205), Belt (-.164), Jansen (-.142), Springer (-.117) and Espinal (-.106).

Tomorrow we have a 4:00 Eastern start. Kevin Gausman (2-3, 3.86) hopes for some run support. Zack Wheeler (3-2, 4.26) starts for the Phillies.