Jays Beat Nationals

Nationals 3 Blue Jays 6

I’ll admit that when the Nationals scored in the first inning, it would be another one of those nights.

And then, when the Jays loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but didn’t score, the feeling grew.

But a four-run second inning put those feelings to rest.

In the second. Danny Jansen led off with a walk. An out later, Kevin Kiermaier walked. George Springer singled home a run. And, with two outs, Vladimir Guerrero doubled home two. A Davis Schneider single made it 4-1.

Danny Jansen crushed a home run to left, 402 feet, in the third, putting us up by five.

A needed insurance run came in the fifth. With two outs, Jansen walked, Ernie Clement rolled a grounder to just the right spot, getting an infield single (one of those lucky hits that seem to only happen for the other team), and Keirmaier singled in the run.

The Jays had 9 hits on the day. Clement had 2. Daulton Varsho had the 0 for.

We also had 6 walks, with Jansen and Springer getting 2 each.

Kevin Gausman wasn’t as sharp as usual. He gave up a run in the first on a CJ Abrams single and steal and a Joey Meneses single. Gausman fought through the next three innings, giving up at least one base runner in each.

The fifth inning wasn’t much fun either. Again, Abrams started it off with a single, and Lane Thomas was hit by pitch. A double steal and a Meneses double made it 5-3, and we were starting to worry. But a pair of strikeouts and a 3-1 ground out ended the inning.

In all, Kevin went 5 innings, allowed 7 hits, 3 earned, 2 walks with 7 strikeouts.

One of those strikeouts was his 200th of the season. He had 205 last year, making him just the third Jays pitcher to have two or more 200 strikeouts in a season. Roy Halladay had 3, and Roger Clemens had 2.

Gausman also picked Alex Call off first base in the second inning.

Trevor Richard pitched two terrific innings, using only 22 pitches. We all thought he would come out for a third, but Genesis Cabrera pitched a nice quick eighth.

Jordan Hicks (for whatever reason, Cabrera only threw 9 pitches. I would have trusted him with the 3-run lead) pitched the ninth. But Hicks got his 5th Blue Jays save.

Jays of the Day: Vlad (.155 WPA), Kiermaier (.131), Springer (.107) and Richards (.090).

The Other Award: Varsho (-.103, for his 0 for 4).

Tomorrow Jose Berrios (9-9, 3.55 ERA) vs. Al Gore (6-10, 4.38) (Actually it is MacKenzie Gore, but wouldn’t it be far cooler if it was Al Gore?)