Walk off Sweep!

Blue Jays 3 - Red Sox 2

The Blue Jays managed to pull off the sweep today, beating the Red Sox 3-2 thanks to a walkoff double from Matt Chapman. The sweep, coupled with a Guardians’ sweep of the Rangers and some other very favourable outcomes in the Mariners and Astros’ games, has allowed the Jays to climb back up and are now sitting in the second wild card spot!

The early story for the Jays today was defense, helping Ryu escape some pretty big jams. In the first inning, Cavan Biggio made a great diving catch in right field to lead off the game.

In the second inning, it was Bo Bichette making an incredible throw home to cut down the runner. It was runners on second and third with none out at the time, and the Red Sox didn’t score.

The Red Sox got runners on second and third with none out in the third inning as well, but failed to score any runs again. A short fly ball followed by a groundout to third base kept the runners at bay, and the Red Sox ultimately left the bases loaded.

The Jays ended the fourth inning with a great double play from Bichette and Davis Schneider to strand a runner at third base.

After Ryu walked Devers with two outs in the fifth, his day came to an end. Yimi García got the strikeout to end the fifth, and then put up another zero in the sixth inning.

The Red Sox scored their first run in the seventh inning on a shaky looking Génesis Cabrera, who had a walk and bean ball before an RBI single ended his day. Chad Green ended that inning, and threw a perfect eighth inning as well.

Erik Swanson came in for the ninth inning holding onto the 2-1 lead, and got the Red Sox down to their final strike. Unfortunately Rafael Devers didn’t concede the loss, launching an opposite field home run to left to tie things up. Swanson got a fly ball to end the inning, putting himself in line for the vulture win.

On the offensive side of things, the Jays really didn’t do a whole lot. They scored their first run on a sac fly from Kevin Kiermaier in the second inning. Daulton Varsho launched his 17th home run of the season in the fifth inning. And then the Chapman double to win it!

Jays of the Day: Ryu (.222), Green (.202), Garcia (.125), and Chapman (.418).
Suckage Jays: Cabrera (-.113) and Swanson (-.209).

The Blue Jays wrapped up their massive homestand with a 6-4 record, somehow picking up a couple games on the Mariners and Astros while holding their half game lead over the Rangers. With 12 games to go, the Jays are now sitting in a position where their playoff odds are above 75%.

The Jays hit the road this week, with three games against the Yankees in the Bronx, then on down to Tampa for three games in the Little Trop of Horrors. The Jays are still very much in control of their destiny.