To say the Toronto Blue Jays lineup was not doing a good enough job during a tough stretch of baseball would be an understatement.
Toronto offence had been slowing down recently, only scoring ten runs between four games, as their batting average ranking for June has dropped to 27th in MLB (.217).
It’s been so bad that Jays SP Kevin Gausman told MLB reporter Keegan Matheson that if we (Toronto) don’t pitch well, we probably will lose—a reality from a veteran who seemingly sent a message to the ballclub heading into today’s game.
Gausman’s statement was a good wake up call for Toronto lineup, plating five runs today, all coming within the first four innings of the game to beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-0.
Toronto had a favourable pitching matchup, facing Guardians SP Carlos Carrasco’s season, which hasn’t been pretty, posting a high 5.50 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in the season. Carrasco’s struggle continued today, going 5 innings and surrendering five runs, three early in the ballgame.
It took less than two innings for Toronto to score multiple runs, starting with George Springer driving in Justin Turner to score for an early 1-0 Jays lead. Springer’s season has been a forgettable one for the outfielder, posting just a 584 OPS, over 100 points lower than the MLB average.
Addison Barger, called up yesterday by the Jays, hit a ground ball through a wide hole between 2nd and 3rd base to put Toronto up two.
Spencer Horwitz continued his hot start for Toronto, collecting another hit, his eighth one in a week’s span, and Toronto extended their lead to 3-0.
Springer once again reached base in the fourth, scoring on an Isiah Kiner Falefa single. Kiner Falefa collected two hits in the game, which is the 14th game; the utility player has gotten two hits in the game.
One more run was scored by Toronto from a double play situation, where Danny Jansen scored from 3rd for two outs inning.
It’s the fifth time in June Toronto has plated at least five runs in a game. Shockingly enough, between March and April, Toronto only accomplished that feat eight times.
Toronto’s bullpen day had another successful outing, as between longmen Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis in 6.1 innings, only five hits were allowed and zero runs scored. Francis is now riding an 8-inning scoreless streak, going back to his last outing in Oakland.
It’s the third time in seven games that Toronto has shut out an opponent, and their team pitching ERA in seven days has dropped to 2.38, third in the league during that span.
The Guardians haven’t lost a series to Toronto since 2021 and are looking to salvage their third straight series win tomorrow as they send SP Ben Lively (6-2, 2.59) to face Jays SP José Berríos (5-5, 2.93).
