Blue Jays 10 Guardians 6

Eric Lauer starts are becoming must-watch games. Tonight he was terrific. 5.1 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned (on the last pitch of his night, Carlos Santana’s home run), 3 walks with 5 strikeouts.

He did get some help from some great defense:

In the second inning, Andrés Giménez made a great diving stop on a ground ball that I was sure was past him, and then got up and made a hard throw to first to barely get Johnathan Rodríguez.

In the fourth, Ernie Clement made an excellent pick-up and throw on an Angel Martinez sac bunt.
Vlad started a very nice 3-6 double play, stepping on the bag at first, and throwing to Bo for a tag out at second in the fifth.
Myles Straw made more than one nice catch running towards the wall on balls that could easily have been over him for doubles.

Offensively, we did more than enough. We scored:

Two in the first: Bo Bichette started the inning with a single. Ernie Clement (batting second against the lefty, good move, John) doubled, and Bo scored from first. I thought, with no outs, they were taking an unnecessary chance; Bo was just safe. An out later, Alejandro Kirk singled Clement home.
One in the fourth: George Springer led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and, two outs later, scored on a three-base error by right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez. Rodriguez had the ball go off his glove when reaching for it.
One in the fifth: Clement took a one-out walk, and stole second and scored on another Kirk single.
Two in the seventh: Vlad had a one-out single, and an out later, Springer singled. Davis Schneider walked (after a drive that was just foul or would have been a home run). Jonatan Clase (he should borrow one of the h’s in Johnathan Rodriguez’s name) had a two-run single.
Four in the eighth: Gimenez and Clement singled. Kirk walked to load the bases and Springer unloaded them with a home run.

We had 14 hits but only two extra-base hits. Springer had three hits. Clement, Vlad, Clase, and Clement each had two hits. We also took five walks.

Davis Schneider was the only starter not to get a hit. He was ripped off on a called third strike that was high in the first inning. And he missed a home run by feet.

Braydon Fisher got the last two outs of the sixth.

Mason Fluharty had trouble in the seventh, getting one out while walking two.

Chad Green came in and quickly gave up a Lane Thomas home run. They told us that that was Green’s 10th home run given up this year. I could have sworn it would have been the 30th. Green got out of the inning, but we went from a five-run lead to a two-run lead. Thankfully, we got the four runs in the eighth.

Paxton Schultz gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded, he got out of the inning on a strike three call that looked wide of the zone (it was close). Thanks, ump.

Yariel Rodriguez got the ninth, even with the five-run lead. He gave up a home run to make it a four-run game with two outs in the ninth.

Jays of the Day: Lauer (.204 WPA), Clement (.148), Springer (.145), and Kirk (.120).

The Other Award: Green. His WPA was -.074, and he raised our blood pressure.

Tomorrow Max Scherzer makes his second Blue Jays start. Gavin Williams starts for the Guardians (5-3, 3.58). The Jays will have to make a roster move to get Max on the roster. At the moment, I’d be thinking about DFAing Green, but that won’t happen.