Fresh off a trip to Denver that yielded a series win, the Blue Jays returned home with hopes of putting the skids to Cleveland’s long win streak. Carlos Carrasco had other plans, extending Cleveland’s run to a franchise-record 13 victories with a truly masterful outing. Carrasco dominated the Jays all night, going seven and a third innings while surrendering only three hits and racking up a whopping 14 strikeouts. Every member of the starting lineup was retired by way of the K tonight in what was a dominant performance from one of Cleveland’s many talented arms.
For his part, R.A. Dickey pitched well enough to keep Toronto close. It looked like he could be in for a long night after giving up singles to the game’s first two batters, but Dickey managed to escape unscathed. He surrendered home runs to Rajai Davis and Jason Kipnis in the second and third, respectively. Cleveland’s other run off of Dickey scored when Jose Ramirez plated Mike Napoli after a leadoff double in the sixth. All in all, Dickey’s final line read 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K on 92 pitches. A returning Brett Cecil worked a scoreless eighth while Bo Schultz surrendered a run in the ninth, but the Jays were ultimately undone by an anemic offensive showing.
Toronto scored its run thanks to an absolute blast into the WestJet Flight Deck in straightaway centre field off the bat of Josh Donaldson. Beyond that, the Jays couldn’t get much cooking. Devon Travis singled in the first but was promptly erased on a double play ball. The Jays had a chance to get back into the game in the eighth following a one out double from Darwin Barney, but Cleveland reliever Bryan Shaw was able to sandwich strikeouts of Russell Martin and Devon Travis around an Ezequiel Carrera walk to end the threat.
Closer Cody Allen retired Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders to secure the win for Cleveland. It was a night to forget for Blue Jay batters, who struggled all night long to the tune of 17 strikeouts.
Top Play of the Game by WPA
Josh Donaldson’s fourth inning homer was tonight’s top play of the game, accounting for .116 WPA. While the dinger served to halve Toronto’s deficit, it was as close as they would get.
Bottom Play of the Game by WPA
The bottom play of the game belongs to Devon Travis, who struck out to end the eighth inning with two runners on. Darwin Barney doubled and Ezequiel Carrera walked to bring Travis to the plate as the go-ahead run in a 3-1 game at the time. Travis’s K was good (or bad) for a -.083 WPA.
Cec and Destroy
On a positive note, Brett Cecil returned from a lat strain tonight, marking his first major league action since May 14th. Before the game, John Gibbons noted that Cecil would be immediately inserted into late inning work and delivered on that promise tonight. Cecil worked a clean eighth inning, notching a strikeout to go with a groundout and pop up. Cecil’s return will give the Blue Jays a high leverage relief option they have been desperately seeking since he went down in mid-May.
Travis Still Streaking
After a lacklustre start to his season, second baseman Devon Travis appears to have returned to the form that excited so many during his rookie year. While he struck out in a big moment in the 8th, his first inning single extended his hit streak to seven games while he’s managed to hit safely in 16 of his last 17. Travis carried a .150 average into the team’s June 13th game against Philadelphia but leaves tonight’s affair with a .283 mark. His continued improvement is a most welcome sign and it’s likely that he’ll land in the leadoff spot before too long.
Up Next
After scoring 24 runs in three games at Coors Field, tonight was a rude awakening for Toronto’s offense. They’ll look to bounce back tomorrow when game two of the four game set kicks off at 1:07 ET. Marcus Stroman (6-4, 5.33 ERA) will look to snap out of his funk against Josh Tomlin (9-1, 3.32 ERA) on Canada Day.
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