Prior to the ninth inning of Friday’s game, the game was tight; close; narrow. It looked like the Jays may need to eke out another win, which isn’t something they should need to do against one of the AL’s worst teams. With that said, there were certainly positives; the Blue Jays bullpen was as successful as we’ve seen it been. They bailed out their starter, and they secured the victory. To see just how, look no further than this:
WPA Chart Courtesy of Fangraphs
If you ignore those few little peaks, Friday’s soiree was rather even. It started with three innings of zero-run ball from both sides. After Jose Bautista walked to start the fourth inning, Troy Tulowitzki ended the deadlock with a two-run homer off of notably homer happy starter Jered Weaver. Those two runs would end up being two of five scored in the game; a rather surprising fact considering the series of events that ensued.
The first peak, that you can see in the graph above, occurred in the sixth inning. The inning commenced with two singles off R.A. Dickey, one from C.J. Cron, and the other from Jefry Marte. Now, at other times this season, a cruising R.A. Dickey who’d let two successive batters reach base would have gotten the chance to finish off the inning. In many of those other instances, that cruising R.A. Dickey came to a halt, and became a blowup of sorts instead. That’s why, despite throwing only 75 pitches, Dickey was pulled in favour of Jays’ right-hander Joe Biagini.
Biagini immediately went on to walk Andrelton Simmons, who has a career 6% walk rate. Things did not look good. But, to the surprise of many, he went on end the inning on the next three batters. Crisis No. 1 averted.
‘Crisis’ No. 2 came in the seventh inning, and gave another Blue Jays reliever their time to shine. In this case that reliever was Joaquin Benoit. Things did not start out so well for Benoit either, as Kole Calhoun singled off him as the first batter of the inning. In many circumstances, one single would not represent a crisis. However, the three batters up immediately after Calhoun were Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and C.J. Cron. I, for one, was holding my breath. It was all for naught though, as a flyout and two strikeouts swiftly ended the inning.
The Blue Jays only scored in the fourth and the ninth, and the Angels didn’t produce a scare much in any inning other than the ones that held the two aforementioned crises. It wasn’t a blowout victory, but it was a needed victory.
Top Play of the Game by WPA
As you may have imagined, the top play of Friday’s game was the only one that put any runs on the board: Troy Tulowitzki’s home run. The long ball increased the Blue Jays’ chances of winning by 20.8%. It was just Tulo’s second home run of September, which is a tad surprising considering how well he’s been hitting. Although, I’m sure some of that comes from his nice contrast in comparison to a few of his flailing teammates.
Bottom Play of the Game by WPA
Friday’s bottom play of the game came during Crisis No. 1, on a grounder to the pitcher, off the bat of former Blue Jay Yunel Escobar. The grounder came with the bases loaded, and resulted in a fielder’s choice at home plate, thereby taking away the Angels’ closest shot at run. Yunel’s plate appearance decreased the Angels’ chances of winning by 11.8%.
Up Next
Tomorrow, the Blue Jays and Angels have an odder east coast start, with first pitch set for 9:05 PM EST. On the mound will be two former Twins, both with promise at some point in their careers. The Blue Jays will put out left-hander Francisco Liriano, and the Angels will trot out right-hander Ricky Nolasco. At this point in their respective careers, you’d give the edge to Liriano, but it’s closer than Blue Jays fans would like.
Lead Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports