The Blue Jays got to White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez early and often this afternoon in Chicago. The offence provided the Blue Jays with a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning and tacked on 6 more runs over the next 4 before Robin Ventura finally went to the White Sox bullpen in the 6th. Neither R.A. Dickey or the bullpen was particularly sharp today, with Dickey, surrendering 5 runs (4 earned) in 5.1 innings of work, and both Drew Storen, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna allowing solo home runs. If the ball was flying out of US Cellular Field, the Blue Jays didn’t seem to capitalize. But despite surrendering seven home runs to the Sox, the Jays offence made sure that it didn’t matter, scoring twice more in the 9th for good measure en route to a 10-8 win. Saturday afternoon’s game saw the middle of the Blue Jays lineup do all of the offensive damage – with Edwin Encarnacion driving in 4 runs and Devon Travis and Troy Tulowitzki collecting two RBI’s a piece.
Top Play of the Game by WPA
Oddly enough, the top play of the game by WPA was Alex Avila’s 8th inning home run off of Jason Grilli. The homer brought the White Sox to within one run of the Blue Jays, before Toronto scored two more of their own in the 9th. The play increased Chicago’s chances of winning the game by 14.1 percentage points.
Bottom Play of the Game by WPA
With two on and none out in the bottom of the 7th inning, Drew Storen was able to strikeout the White Sox number three hitter (and known Jays’ nemesis) Jose Abreu for the first out of the inning. Despite allowing a home run earlier in the inning to Tim Anderson, Storen was able to minimize the damage against him this afternoon, even with a couple of loud outs. The strikeout of Abreu reduced the White Sox chances of winning the game by 7.1 percentage points.
Bullpen Management
The Blue Jays were up 5-3 when they loaded the bases with one out in the 4th inning when White Sox manager Robin Ventura opted to stick with struggling starter Miguel Gonzalez. I’m inclined to think Ventura was simply trying to rest his relievers as he made the savvy but unconventional decision to bring in his primary setup man, Nate Jones, into the game during 7th inning last night to face the top of the Blue Jays order. Whether Ventura was trying to rest a tired bullpen or just decided to stick with Gonzalez longer than he should have, the Blue Jays were the benefactors this afternoon.
Home Runs Allowed
R.A. Dickey struggled with the long ball today in Chicago, with all 4 of the White Sox earned runs coming via the home run. While Brett Lawrie’s first of two homers is officially listed as an inside the park job, he missed clearing the fence by no more than a foot or two. While Dickey’s propensity to surrender homers is nothing new, it’s important to remember that he is often able to be effective despite surrendering so many big flies. If that isn’t enough to ease your mind, just look at the league leaders in home runs allowed and you’ll see Max Scherzer up there ahead of Dickey; he’s pretty ok at pitching isn’t he?
Floyd Leaves with Potential Injury
After coming in to relieve R.A. Dickey in the 6th inning, Gavin Floyd retired one batter before he called the training staff out to the field. Floyd appeared to be grabbing at his right shoulder and left with what the team is calling “right shoulder tightness”. Floyd has a 4.11 ERA in 30.1 innings of work out of the Blue Jays bullpen this season.
Up Next
The weekend series in Chicago concludes tomorrow afternoon, with White Sox ace Chris Sale (12-2, 2.83 ERA) taking the mound against Marcus Stroman as he attempts to rebound from another poor start last weekend against the Orioles.
Lead Photo: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports