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Recap: Blue Jays 5, Dodgers 2; A Kevin Pillar Homer Lifts the Jays to Victory

The Blue Jays won a close game late…again? It got a little too close for comfort in the end, as the Dodgers loaded the bases in the top of the 9th, but the Jays held them off. It’s funny how things change. For the first month of the season, the Blue Jays hardly ever scored late. In fact, over their first 11 games, they had scored just three runs in the 6th inning or later, which led to quite a few tough losses. Now, over the past four games, the team has scored nine runs in the 6th inning or later, en route to three end of game wins. In today’s tilt, forty percent of the Blue Jays’ runs were generated fairly typically: via a Jose Bautista home run with Josh Donaldson on base. However, the recently resurgent Kevin Pillar also hit a homer, his second of the season. Pillar’s walk rate is still abysmal, but his true average is up to .267 on the season, which is an improvement on his 2015 total of .257.

As for the pitching side of things, Marcus Stroman was relatively dominant once again. He threw seven innings, struck out eight batters and handed out two walks. Those eight strikeouts today tie for the 2nd highest single start total of Marcus’ career. Of course, the only game in which he had more strikeouts came during his last start against the Rays. Stroman also had a noble opponent in the Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda, who threw 6 IP with 7 strikeouts, 4 walks, and 2 earned runs. His ERA is now at 1.66 on the season, which is tied for 8th best in the league.

Top Play of the Game by WPA

There should be no surprise here; the top play of the game came on the aforementioned Kevin Pillar clinching home run. Joe Blanton had come in to pitch for the Dodgers to close out the 7th, retiring Josh Donaldson with the bases loaded, so he took the ball for the eighth as well. After making easy work of Jose Bautista, he then gave up a ground rule double to Encarnacion. The right-handed Blanton then intentionally walked Justin Smoak to get the platoon advantage against Pillar and set up the double play. In many instances this would have been a smart move. However, Pillar took a Blanton pitch deep, scoring three runs, and increasing the Jays’ win expectancy by over 30%.

Bottom Play of the Game by WPA

In addition to Joe Blanton’s flub in the eighth inning, the Dodgers had troubles in the seventh inning as well. They first tried Louis Coleman, and then later Adam Liberatore against the Blue Jays, but those two pitchers ended up leaving the bases loaded for Josh Donaldson. Josh Donaldson batting with runners at all bases might have one of the league’s highest run expectancies. The Dodgers brought in Joe Blanton to fend off the bringer of rain, and he did just that, getting Donaldson to foul out to first base. That dropped the Jays’ win expectancy by 11.6%.

Yasiel Puig’s Arm is Still Ridiculous

In the third inning Darwin Barney pulled a ball deep in the corner at the Rogers Centre. With almost any other right fielder in the corner, Barney would have had an easy double. However, Yasiel Puig wasn’t having any of it. Other than the Blue Jays two home runs, Puig’s throw was arguably the most exciting play of the game.

Stroman Gives Up Runs Late Again

As you probably noticed, Marcus Stroman once again gave up a few runs at the end of his outing. In some ways, this seems like a clear trend. On the season Stroman has given up 11 runs between the 6th and the 7th inning, while giving up just nine runs in all other innings combined. However, one thing to note here is that this isn’t that uncommon for a starting pitcher. As starting pitchers go late in to games, they’re not only likely to be more tired, but batters have also faced them a couple times already. Even the best of starters will give up more runs late. As well, Stroman has only had seven starts; we need not be too worried just yet.

Up Next

Tomorrow at 1:07 PM, the Blue Jays will get to take on the Dodgers once again. Although, this time, the Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw will be on the mound. Kershaw is a lefty, and the Blue Jays have some really good right handed hitters, but it’ll be tough to tag him for many runs.

Lead Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

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