Bo havin’ a blast
Two homers, including a walkoff in ninth, give Blue Jays another series win over the Yanks
Back and forth the Blue Jays and Yankees went in the series rubber match, each team taking and relinquishing a lead, each team matching the other pitch-for-pitch with neither able to seize control.
It made for a compelling afternoon of baseball at Dunedin's TD Ballpark, one that began with disconcerting news to Toronto's pitching, which has yet to elude the injury bug.
It would end on a walkoff homer by Bo Bichette, his second long ball of the afternoon, as Toronto won its second season series over the Bronx Bombers, this one with a nail-biting 5-4 win.
The Jays have yet to field their optimal lineup, one which, for those who have lost track of the many lost players, does not feature free-agent signing George Springer.
Toronto now heads to Kansas City with a 6-6 record having already taken two series against the Yankees.
“It's impressive knowing what we've gone through,'' said manager Charlie Montoyo following the win.
Whether it's refusing to allow adversity to knock them down, the way Bichette and fellow young gun Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have been hitting, the way Toronto's bullpen, which is now minus Julian Merryweather, has performed, some impressive signs have emerged.
Bichette homered twice on Wednesday, including his second career walkoff blast.
He wrapped up his day by going 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
Vlad Jr. had hit nine balls at least 110 mph this season.
He went 2-for-4 in the rubber match and has reached base safely in all 12 games, batting .390 (16-for-41) with a .519 OBP and a 1.105 OPS.
T.J. Zeuch, who was originally scheduled to start on Thursday in Kansas City, filled in for fellow right-hander Ross Stripling, a late-morning scratch because of a forearm issue.
Zeuch went four innings before Toronto's bullpen entered the fray. He gave up two homers to Aaron Judge and all four Yankees runs before the pen kept New York to one hit.
Zeuch wasn't aware until 11 a.m., that he'd be on the mound to start the game two hours later.
“I'm not going to use timing as an excuse for an outing,'' said Zeuch. “It was a little bit of a shock. There's an adjustment, but you have to be ready for whatever role.”
Not much was working for Zeuch, who said he was forced to go with his sinker.
“I've got to be ready at all times,'' he added. “I just have to be better next time.”
Montoyo wasn't complaining, knowing that at least Zeuch gave the Jays a chance.
“He made two mistakes,'' he Montoyo. “If you think about it, he did what we needed. He kept us in the game.”
And what a game it would turn out to be as Toronto tied it up on a wild pitch in the sixth inning before Bichette's walkoff in the ninth.
Trent Thornton and Anthony Castro, who was activated Wednesday and threw two perfect innings in his Toronto debut, were used before the Jays turned to Rafael Dolis, who earned the win.
On his game-winning blast, Bichette was looking for a certain pitch facing tough Yankees reliever Chad Green.
“It was a hanging slider and I was able to do something with it,'' said Bichette, who knows he's heating up and attributes it to slowing things down. There were times to start the season when Bichette said he was ready to hit every pitch thrown his way and waved at many out of the strike one. But lately, he has been less aggressive and is “ready to do damage.''
PITCHER IMPERFECT
Another day, another pitching calamity for the Jays, who have seen more than a few arms experience some kind of setback this early into a season.
Montoyo revealed that Stripling began to feel discomfort in his forearm.
“He tried to get it loose,'' said Montoyo. “He couldn't get the forearm to get loose. I don't know anything more. Our hope is that it's not bad.”
With Zeuch pushed up, Montoyo would not name a starter for the series opener against the Royals.
“We're still talking about it,'' said the manager following the win. “We'll see how Stripling is doing and we'll go from there.”
NOT-SO MERRYWEATHER
In keeping with the team's pitching woes, the news on Merryweather wasn't exactly uplifting. Montoyo said his reliever felt something was amiss while warming up on Tuesday night.
And then two batters later Merryweather was pulled after experiencing what the team called “left hip irritation.”
CLEARING THE AIR
A wild turn at third by Cavan Biggio led to an out on a rundown during a play that began when the Jays infielder hit a liner in the fifth that was misplayed by Judge in right.
“I've coached third base and that happens,'' said Montoyo. “There was miscommunication and we left it at that.”
Montoyo said his third base coach, Luis Rivera, and Biggio, who started at third base, talked it out.
“They are fine now,'' added the skipper.
EXTRA BASE BITS
Alejandro Kirk ended an 0-for-13 start to the season by recording his first hit, a tworun homer off Yankees starter Corey Kluber in the second inning ... Rowdy Tellez went 2-for-4 to record his first multihit game of the season. Tellez, who was an 0-fer in his first seven games, has four hits in his past three ... Palacios had a hit to become the third player in team history to reach base 10 times in his first five career games.