Blue Jays grind out an extra-innings win despite Nate Pearson’ struggles

Things worth mentioning…

• A big theme of this season has been the Blue Jays’ frequent fundamental failures leading to frustrating losses. On Tuesday, it was refreshing to be reminded that other teams have game-altering fuck ups too. After blowing a 7-3 lead, the Jays ended up in extra innings, and, honestly, given the way things have gone thus far, nobody would have blamed you for expecting this one to wind up being another heartbreaker. But, the Trash Birds! They’re still trash! In the Jays’ half of the 10th, Lourdes Gurriel slapped a ball on the ground to Chris Davis who somehow wasn’t able to make a throw to catch the glacial drift that was Travis Shaw running home from third. Then, in Baltimore’s half, with the game on the line, Dwight Smith Jr. got caught up between third and home after Cedric Mullens hit a single. Boy oh boy, it’s refreshing to be on the other side of that kind of thing for once.

• Nate Pearson got the start for the Blue Jays and, yet again, his command was a major issue. Pearson was routinely falling behind in counts and then laying pitches in the middle of the zone, which is never a good recipe. All told, he went four innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits, three of which were homers, and three walks. That’s back-to-back tough starts against pretty bad lineups (first Miami, now Baltimore) which you obviously don’t like to see.

• The bats did manage to compensate for Pearson’s struggles, though. Yet again, it was Randal Grichuk leading the charge offensively, as he drilled a two-run homer in the second inning and a two-run double in the fifth. Grichuk’s OPS is suddenly all the way up to .961!
• Another performance worth mentioning was Cavan Biggio, who’s been thriving in the leadoff spot. Though Biggio didn’t have a hit on Tuesday, he set the table all night by taking three walks in five trips to the plate. They weren’t just walks from bad pitches, either. Biggio showed a ridiculously good eye at the plate, letting a handful of borderline pitches go by to continually work good counts. I know it sounds like a tired, old-school cliche, but there’s nobody on this team who consistently has more quality at-bats than Biggio does, so he’s perfectly suited for that leadoff role. His OPS is now quietly up to .825 despite a .228 batting average. That’s a testament to his ability to take walks.