MLB: Cleveland Indians at Toronto Blue Jays

Recap: Blue Jays 17, Cleveland 1; Bats Explode Behind Dominant Happ

The Blue Jays and the team from Cleveland have played a lot of stressful baseball this weekend thanks to Friday’s 19 inning affair and close games on Thursday and Saturday. Toronto didn’t want to put their fans through that again on Sunday, and Cleveland pitcher Corey Kluber was happy to help them along. The Blue Jays scored three in the first inning and forced Kluber to throw 82 pitches throughout the first three innings. They got to him again in the fourth, forcing him out of the ballgame in favour of Joba Chamberlain. Joba was able to get out of the inning, but not before allowing one of the inherited runners to score on a sacrifice fly. The Blue Jays made it a laugher in the sixth inning, scoring eight runs while bringing 13 men up to the plate. Three of those eight runs came on one swing from Troy Tulowitzki as he put a ball deep into the left field seats on his bobblehead day. They continued to add runs, scoring four more in the eighth inning.

Despite the offense going off, the big story in today’s game was J.A. Happ. The Blue Jays bullpen desperately needed a rest after being worked hard this series, and Happ gave them just that. He pitched seven innings, struck out a season best 11 batters, and allowed just one run on five hits and zero walks. Drew Storen came on in the eighth inning and retired the side in order, which is encouraging, even though it was a 13-1 lead at the time. Aaron Loup finished things off in the ninth, preserving a 17-1 victory for the Blue Jays.

Top Play of the Game by WPA

The Blue Jays were able to get to Corey Kluber early in this one, notching four hits in the first inning alone. With runners on second and third and two out, Russell Martin launched a home run deep to centre field to put the Blue Jays up 3-0. This increased Toronto’s win probability by 23.1 percentage points, and the Blue Jays never looked back.

Bottom Play of the Game by WPA

Because this one was over almost as quickly as it started, the lowest play by WPA standards only impacted the Blue Jays’ chances of winning by a measly 3.7 percentage points. With one out and and the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning, Edwin Encarnacion struck out, making the intentional walk to Josh Donaldson seem a bit better than it truly was in real time.

Tulo’s Back. Back Again.

Coming into today, Troy Tulowitzki was batting .292/.358/.646 since coming off of the disabled list on June 18th with five home runs, five walks, and just six strikeouts. That’s going to go up thanks to his 3 for 6 showing on Sunday, which included one dinger, and four RBI. With Jose Bautista on the disabled list, the Blue Jays can sure use another big masher in their lineup, so Tulo’s performance of late is definitely welcome, and a sign that maybe his Colorado days aren’t so far behind him after all.

Trend to Watch

We have to talk about the offense here, right? What a day it was for them. 17 runs. 18 hits. 10 walks. Only five strikeouts. Every batter in the lineup save for Junior Lake recorded a hit, and even he contributed with two walks. If there was any doubt about whether this lineup was still the best in the American League after their slow start, I think all of those doubts have been put to rest. It’s no contest.

Up Next

Fresh off a series split with Cleveland, the Blue Jays will continue to host AL Central opponents this week when the Kansas City Royals come to town on Monday night at 7:07 PM. Aaron Sanchez (8-1, 3.08) will take the mound for the Blue Jays, while Edinson Volquez (7-7, 4.80) will pitch for Kansas City.

Lead Photo: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

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