Game Threat: Sometimes, all you need is to face the Minnesota Twins, Blue Jays (21-23) vs (Twins (10-31)

I think you can all agree with me when I say that the series opening game on Thursday, well, uh, wasn’t really what we were hoping for in a game against the on-pace-to-win-like-36-games Minnesota Twins. The Jays had to scratch and claw their way to extra innings against the all-of-a-sudden-really-good Ervin Santana before finally pulling ahead in the 11th. It certainly wasn’t the carpet bombing we were hoping to see, but whatever it was a win. 

But last night though? Hell yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. As, I’m guessing Josh Donaldson because it seems like something he would say, said, they just needed to kick the shit out of someone, and on Friday, they finally did! 

Donaldson clubbed a two-run bomb in the third inning for his first home run AND RBI since May 1. It was relatively quiet, with a few little kicks and sputters here and there, up until the sixth inning when the flood gates that had been sealed and bolted shut all season finally opened. 

Michael Saunders smacked a one-out single before Troy Tulowitzki drilled a double to centre field to drive him in and give the Jays a 3-1 lead. After Russell Martin struck out, Zeke Carrera was hit by a pitch he damn near swung at, giving the Jays some extra life. John Gibbons then decided “hey, we could use a rally, and Ryan Goins’ and his wRC+ of 15 sure as hell aren’t going to be a part of it,” so he pinch hit Jimmy “Plan The” Paredes, who promptly drove in Tulo with a single. Immediately after, just to show the world how much he loves batting leadoff, Hose Bautista clubbed a three-run homer to cap the five-run inning. 

And that was certainly all Aaron Sanchez was going to need, as he pitched a pretty damn good game, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and zero (!!) walks over seven innings while also striking out seven. That brings his season totals to an impressive 3.20 ERA with 52 strikeouts and 21 walks, which is, well, a very pleasant surprise from him this season. 

In injury news, Aaron Loup is joining the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on his rehab assignment. So far since coming back from the injury that kept him out of spring training and the first few weeks of the season, Loup has tossed two innings in Dunedin with four earned runs that all came in one bad outing. 

Also, Devon Travis’ rehab stint in Buffalo has gone excellent so far, as the second baseman has three hits in nine at bats through two games at Triple-A. That said, Gibby claimed that they don’t want to rush Travis back, which is fair, because when he’s activated from the DL, they’re going to have to make a somewhat difficult decision on who to send down (It’ll more than likely be Goins). 

After his first bad outing in his second stint as a Blue Jay, J.A. Happ will, like the rest of his teammates, look to get back on track against the Minnesota Twins. I don’t have to remind anyone, but I will anyway, but Happ got drilled by the Rays last week, surrendering eight runs in just two plus innings of work, which was as many runs as he had allowed in his previous five starts combined. 

For the Twins, rookie left-hander Pat Dean will make his first career big league start. Dean has tossed eight innings in relief so far this year for Minnesota, giving up four runs on 14 hits and two walks while striking out seven. He doesn’t have particularly good minor league numbers, as he tends to allow a lot of hits per nine, while not really walking anybody or striking anybody out. 

Meh, I don’t know. He’s a rookie lefty on the Twins, the Jays should continue their breakout parade and bash him around a little bit.