Blue Jays jump back into playoff spot following huge win in Oakland

Things worth mentioning…

• Things didn’t look too good early on as Ken Waldichuk, a left-handed pitcher with a 5.92 ERA coming into the game, cruised through six scoreless innings. The Blue Jays have had a difficult time with soft-tossers before but they hammered Waldichuk in Toronto earlier in the season so it was surprising to see them struggle like they did.
• The bats finally woke up in the seventh inning. Alejandro Kirk, Cavan Biggio, and Santiago Espinal walked to load the bases and then Kevin Kiermaier hit back-to-back singles to make the score 2-0. Davis Schneider busted things open with a two-run double, Whit Merrifield added another run with an RBI single, and Biggio drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 6-0.
• Chris Bassitt was excellent going up against his former club. Bassitt went eight innings and allowed only one earned run while striking out seven batters and walking none. It was the second eight-inning outing in a row for Bassitt, who tossed eight shutout frames against the Washington Nationals in his last start.
• The Blue Jays will send Hyun Jin Ryu to the mound looking for the sweep of the Oakland A’s on Wednesday afternoon. If they win, it would be their first sweep since taking three of three from the Red Sox in Boston in early August.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO