TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays stared down two paths as Friday night’s game unfolded at Rogers Centre. The club had held a four-run lead at one point, but the Athletics chipped away at that and by the fifth inning, the visitors cut it down to just one run.
One route would have seen the Blue Jays squander a prime opportunity against a weak A’s club. The other entailed the home side finding a way to keep their feet on the throat of the opposition.
The Blue Jays chose the latter path and did so relentlessly in what turned into a 11-7 win over the Athletics in front of 36,951 under an open roof in Toronto. With the victory, the Blue Jays moved to one game above .500 (29-28) and have now scored 23 runs in the first two games of this four-game set against the last-place A’s.
The Blue Jays built a 6-2 lead in the fourth inning that was highlighted by Ernie Clement’s second homer in as many days. In addition to the solo shot, the second baseman added two singles and a double, while scoring two runs on the night.
Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt coughed up most of that lead when he allowed a solo homer to Shea Langeliers in the fourth and a double to Brent Rooker in the fifth that plated two more runs.
Bassitt, coming off his worst start of the season on Sunday in Tampa, allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings, walking two and striking out six. He was picked up by the Blue Jays bullpen — Mason Fluharty, Yariel Rodriguez, Brendon Little each tossed a scoreless frame before Chad Green allowed two runs in the ninth — and an offence that answered the A’s jabs with haymakers.
George Springer and Alejandro Kirk collected key RBI singles in the fifth, Addison Barger belted a 109.8-m.p.h. solo homer into the second deck in right field and Bo Bichette added an RBI single of his own to put the game out of reach.
It was a miserable game for the A’s, save for the work of centre-fielder Denzel Clarke, a Toronto-native playing in just his seventh big-league game. The 25-year-old top prospect robbed Kirk of a homer in the fourth when he scaled the wall in centre for a Spider-Man catch that was reminiscent of Kevin Pillar. Clarke also impressively tracked down several fly balls to the gaps and even crashed into the wall in the sixth while attempting to rob Nathan Lukes of extra bases.
The recent awakening of the Blue Jays’ offence comes at a time when it’s operating somewhat shorthanded. Prior to Friday’s game, outfielder Anthony Santander was placed on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation and the club recalled outfielder Alan Roden from triple-A Buffalo. Santander had an MRI on Thursday night and the Blue Jays are still trying to determine next steps for the outfielder, according to Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
In other injury news, right-hander Max Scherzer tossed 22-pitches during a live BP session on Friday afternoon and is expected to throw again on Tuesday and increase his pitch count. Schneider said that Scherzer’s injured right thumb has been “trending in the right direction for a while now, and that leads to optimism for him to kind of keep going forward.”
The Blue Jays have yet to name a starter for Saturday’s game but could turn to left-hander Easton Lucas, who joined the club in Toronto on Friday as a member of its taxi squad.
More from Sportsnet Blue Jays place Anthony Santander on injured list, recall Alan RodenDodgers’ Betts out of lineup vs. Yankees, day-to-day with toe injury
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Blue Jays thwart Athletics with relentless offence )
Also on site :