Category: MLB

The Toronto Blue Jays Marucs Semien had himself an afternoon against his former teammates the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu May 6, 2021 (@Blue Jays photo)

Toronto 10 – 16 – 1

Oakland 4 – 6. – 2

By Lewis Rubman

May 6, 2021

OAKLAND–This pitching match up of this afternoon’s contest between the 15-14 Toronto Blue Jays and 19-13 Athletics pitted two veteran starting pitchers recently returned from the Injured List. Going for the visitors was Hyun Jin Ryu, reinstated just yesterday (?), who had compiled an impressive April earned run average of 2.60 in his 27-2/3 innings of work over five starts.

Never mind that his won-lost record was 1-2; his WHIP was a measly 1.06. His resumé includes seven years of stardom with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Association, where he won 59 regular season games. That doesn’t seem so impressive until you realize that only Chan Ho Park, who won 124, had more games in his W column. Ryu, like Park, went on to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers Ryu seems to have a case of the seven year itch, since that’s the amount of time he stayed with the Dodgers (if you count 2015, a season he missed due to injury).

He signed with Toronto in December of 2019, in time to turn in a 5-2, 2.60 COVID shortened season mark. He finished third in the Cy Young balloting and had the third highest WAR of all players in the majors. Among pitchers, only Shane Bieber, at 3.2, did better.

This was only the second appearance of the season for the A’s Mike Fiers since coming off the Injured List on April 26., He was adequate in his first start, a week ago yesterday, giving up three runs and six hits over six innings in a losing effort against Baltimore’s Jim Means,who went on to throw a no-hitter a couple of days ago.

Fiers has tossed two of those himself, most recently on May 2, 2019 against Cincinnati. There was no question of Fiers throwing a no-hitter today; Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette opened the game with back to back singles. But Fiers recovered and retilred Vladmir Guerrero, Jr., Teoscar Hernández, and Randal Grichuk, the last on a three pitch strike out.

The Athletics started off with a bigger bang than Toronto’s. Mark Canha launched Ryu’s second offering, an 88 mph four seamer, into the left field seats for his fifth home run of the year and first lead off four bager of his career. Then Ryu set down Ramón Laueano, Matt Olson, and Sean Murphy in order.

Fiers got two quick strikes on Semien, leading off the third. But the A’s alumnus worked the count full before pulling a double down the left field line, just beyond the reach of a diving Matt Chapman. Bichette followed with a 3-2 walk, bringing Junior Guerrero to the plate.

With lthe count at 2-2, Fiers struck him out swinging, and Murphy picked Bichette off at first for an unusual double play. Toronto appealled the call at first, but a video review quickly confirmed it. Fiers seemed to have escaped the worst, but he hadn’t. Hernández walked, and Grichuk whalloped a blast that left his bat at 110 mph and landed 412 feet away, in center field, putting the Jays up, 3-1.

Oakland got a run back in the third on a one out single to right center by Tony Kemp, who advanced to second on Canha’s ground out to short, followed by a walk to Laureano and Olson’s automatic double that hopped over the low right field fence on one bounce. The A’s went ahead when the next batter, Sean Murphy, lined a double to left that brought both of them home. When Chapman struck looking to end the inning, the green and gold was back on top, 4-3.

That didn’t last long Jonathan Davis singled to open the fourth. Then Danny Jensen, htting all of .072 blasted an authorative home run to left. A fly out and an infield single leater, Fiers was gone, and Deolis Guerra was pitching for the home team. The A’s bullpen, tested and found wanting last night, was called on once more. Bichette stole second and third on Guerra, and Hernández, whom he walked, stole second, but the A’s reliever got through the frame without allowing another run.

Fiers’ line for the afternoon was five runs, all earned, one nine hits and two walks. He struck out two, and 43 of his 69 pitches were strikes. He allowed two home runs. Oh, those warm dry afternoons in the Coliseum! He eventually was charged with the loss.

There was a glimmer of hope for the A’s with two out in the bottom of the fifth. Laureano fisted a line drive single to right that got past Hernández, allowing Oakland’s fleet footed center fielder to motor to thirid. But Olson went down swinging on a change up to end the mini threat.

Things got hairy for Guerra in the sixth. With one down, Semien’s fly ball landed in front of Piscotty in right. Bichette followed with a line drive single to left that eluded Andrus’s glove. Junior Guerrero hit sharply to the mound. Guerra fielded the ball, turned, and threw low and outside to second.

The error loaded the bases. It also ended Guerra’s agony. Romo came in. Hernández’s single to center scored Bichette and Semien. Guerrero stopped at second. Grichuk then hit a double to deep right center that Laureano mishandled and which brought Guerrero home with Grichuk ending up at third when Kemp threw wildely on his relay to that base.

Guerra gave up three runs, two of them earned, in two innings of hard labor. He allowed two htis and a walk, threw 32 pitches, 23 for strikes. Romo faced four batters in his 2/3 of an inning. Two of them got hits, and he was charged with one run, which was earned.

Travis Bergen relieved Ryu for the Oakland sixth. Toronto’s starter pitched five innings to qualify tor the win. The four runs he allowed were earned. He gave up six hits and a walk, strikng out six. His pitch to strikes ratio was 91-58. Bergen threw two hitless innings, allowing a walk.

Reymin Guduan pitched the seventh for Oakland and surrendered the Blue Jays their tenth run on a 386 foot homer to left by Semien, who was cheered loudly by a good portion of 3,611 fans in attendance. He stayed on until Adam Kolarek assumed the unpleasant task of facing the surging Blue Jays for the final frame. In spite of singles to the first two hitters he faced, he got out of the inning unscathed.

The forelorn A’s fruitlessy faced Joel Payamps in the eighth, and he hung around to finish the job in the ninth.

24 hours before the final out was recorded at 3:48, it looked as if the A’s might sweep this four game series against the Jays. They ended up with a split.

The Jekyll and Hyde A’s take on the Tampa Bay Rays in a three game series starting at 6:40 tomorrow evening. Sean Manaea (3-1,3.48) is scheduled to face Rich Hill.

The Toronto Blue Jays Teoscar Hernandez connects for an RBI single in the first inning against Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 5, 2021 (AP News photo)

Toronto 9 -10 – 0

Oakland 4 – 7 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

May 5, 2021

OAKLAND–This morning, the Blue Jays announced that on June 1 they will fly away home. The A’s opponents du jour, who have been playing their home games in their spring training facilities in Dundin, FL, will not be returning all the way to Canada but to neighboring Buffalo.

The upgrade of Salhen Field, the home park of their Triple AAA affiliate in upstate New York, is expected to have been completed by then. Ironically, the first team to visit the Jays in their northern home away from home will be the Miami Marlins. Just before game time, Toronto also announced that they had put George Springer on the IL and promoted Jonathan Davis.

The A’s also announced a move, one on a much lower scale. Aramis García, the catcher acquired along with Elvis Andrus in the Khris Davis deal, has been placed on the Injured List with viral enteritis. He was replaced by fellow backstop Austin Allen, who had been on the taxi squad and batted ninth tonight and catching.

He threw out Randal Grichuk trying to steal second in the top of the sixth, ending the inning. He ended the top of the seventh as well, this time with a nifty 2-3 put out of Joe Panik on a dribbler in front of the plate.

Seven year veteran Robbie Ray (1-1, 2.78) started for the Blue Jays. His best pitch is his fastball, which has been averaging 95 mph this season. Reasonably enough, it’s his most frequent offering, followed, in descending order, by the slider, curve, and occasional change up.

Although at game time he owned a mediocre lifetime record of 50-52, 4.22, he was tied for third place among pitchers with more than 100 innings of MLB experience for strike outs per nine innings at 11.03. Tonight was the first time he faced the A’s.

Oakland entrusted its fortunes to Chris Bassitt (2-2, 3.93). Those figures in parenthesis aren’t reassuring, but behind them are reasons to give the Athletics and their fans some confidence. Bassitt’s two loses were in his first two starts, against the Astros and Dodgers, in that order.

After his second defeat, his record stood at 0-2, 5.56 with an opponents’ batting average of .289. Between then and game time, it was 2-0, 3.13, and .221. He was 0-1, 5.25 lifetime in his meager two starts against Toronto. He pitched tonight on five days’ rest.

Toronto jumped all over him in the first inning, but the damage they inflicted on Oakland wasn’t insurmountable. That would come later.

After Marcus Semien went down swinging to open the game, Bo Bichette rapped a single to left and moved on to second when Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., sent a line drive up the middle into center for another base hit. Teoscar Hernández banged a single to right, driving Bichette across home for Toronto’s first tally. Guerrero scored their second on Randal Grichuk’s single to center. Then Bassitt settled down to get the two outs he needed to get out of the inning.

Ramón Laureano reduced the gap by blasting one of Ray’s 95 mph fast balls an estimated 395 feet, leaving the park over the State Farm sign in right center, with one out in the home first. That made it seven home runs and 15 RBI for the A’s centerfielder.

Matt Chapman, who seems well on the way to putting his hitting woes behind him, closed the gap completely in the bottom of the fourth. His 396 foot smash to left came on an 87 mph slider Ray threw on a 1-2 count . The brought his totals to five dingers and fourteen runs driven in. Not bad for a guy who’d just crawled over the Mendoza line.

The A’s pulled ahead in their half of the sixth. Laureano doubled to deep left center to lead off. He moved up 90 feet on Olson’s ground out to short into the shift and scored on DH Sean Murphy’s pop fly single to center over a drawn in infield. Jed Lowrie’s fly that Grichuk corralled at the right center wall looked like it might widen the margin, but, of course, it didn’t.

That was the last out that Ray would record. In his six innings on the mound, he threw 95 pitches, 68 for strikes. The three runs he yielded were earned and came on six hits, two of which went the distance. He didn’t walk anybody and, running true to form, struck out nine.. Jordan Romano, his replacement, amused the crowd with his habit of squatting between each pitch, but still managed to set down the bottom of the Athletics’ order in order.

Bob Melvin also called on a reliever, Lou Trivino, to open the next inning. Bassitt left after throwing 90 pitches (63 strikes) over seven innings. The two earned runs he allowed in the first were the only ones scord against hm. Four of the six hits gave up also came in the initial frame. Like Ray, he gave up no free transportation. He struck out seven Blue Jays.

Lou Trivino, however, wasn’t as effective and Romano. He walked the number nine hitter, McGwire, who promptly was replaced by the newly arrived pinch runner Jonathan Davis, and the wheels came off. Semien singled Davis to second.

Bichette forced Semien out at second but beat Andrus’s relay to first, putting runners on the corners with one out. Trivino unleached a wild pitch to Guerrero, allowing Davis to score the tying run and Bichette to take second. He then stole third.

Trivino gave an intentional pass to Junior. Hernández singled to left, scoring Bichette and moving Junior to second. Grichuk´s single to left plated Guerrero and moved Hernández to third and Trivino to the showers. Adam Kolarek, now pitching, fielded Biggio’s bunt to the mound and threw late to home. Credit Biggio with a sacrifice and an RBI, and charge another run to Trivino.

Kolarek heaved a wild pitch that moved both runners up a base. Gurriel grounded out to Andrus, Grichuk scored, and Biggio moved to third. Santiago Espinal, hitting for Reese McGuir lined out to Laureano to end the inning. Toronto now led 7-3.

With David Phelps pitching in the bottom of the eighth, the A’s managed to sneak a little closer on a walk to Olson and an RBI double by Murphy.

Toronto punished that meek uprising with a two run double by Guerrero in the top of the ninth that ended the scoring for both teams, leaving the A’s looking up at a 9-4 defeat.

The responsiblity for Oakland’s loss can be hinted at by the numbers of their relief pitchers.

Pitcher. IP. H. R. ER. BB. K PC (strikes)

Trivino. 1/3. 3. 5. 5. 2. 0. 19 (9) Kolarek. 2/3. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 9 (7) Weems. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 1. 27 (13)

WP: Trivino, Kolarek

Toronto used a total of five moundsmen, Ray, Romano, Phelps, Tyler Chatwood, and Ryan Borucki. Romano got the win. The loss, and concommitant blown save, went to Lou Trivino, who now is 1-1, 4:15.

Tomorrow afternoon’s game is scheduled for 12:37. Hyun Jin Ryu (1-2, 2.60) will start for the Jays and Mike Fiers (0-1, 4.50) will toe the rubber for the Athletics.