In a clutch situation, the Toronto Blue Jays resorted to clutch tactics on the mound, and it didn’t pay off.
Toronto scored first in game two of their wild-card series against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday.
On this day, Toronto was aggressive on the mound. Manager John Schneider called on Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassitt out of the bullpen.
Kikuchi, in particular, warmed up in the first inning, ready for early action.
Regardless, Berrios was good. He had an 84.3-mph slurve, a 95.3-mph sinker, an 86.5-mph changeup, and a 95.3-mph four-seam fastball. Eight of the 25 swings by opposing batters were strikes.
He wasn’t intimidated by the previous day’s hero, Royce Lewis. He induced a grounder to first base to end the inning. He had runners on base in the second and third innings, but left them stranded.
In the fourth inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Lewis and the Toronto bench opted to make a change. He threw 47 pitches.
It would have been different if the team had the lead, but the score was still 0-0.
Kikuchi took the mound. Kikuchi didn’t have the best outing. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk.
It was disappointing to see. The first batter, Max Kepler, hit a grounder to second base that was deep enough to be an infield single. Second baseman Cavan Biggio threw and made the catch, but couldn’t make the throw.
The next batter, Donovan Solano, was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the bases loaded, he had to face Carlos Correa. Correa’s pitch sailed wide of the shortstop for an RBI single.
Another pinch-hitter, Willie Castro, induced a grounder to shortstop, but it didn’t prevent the runner from coming home.
As a result, the game was lost. The Jays had too much faith in their “bullpen” Kikuchi.메이저사이트
If Toronto can turn this game around and advance to the Division Series, it could open the door for Ryu. That’s because he used up two starters in one game.