Worth Mentioning

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his first major league RBI in the opening inning. First of many, Guerrero hit a strong grounder to left field on a 2-0 count — hit with an exit velocity of 90.8 MPH, not his strongest-hit ball but it was good enough to score in Smoak from the second base. Vlad finished the game 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout added to that RBI.

• After allowing three walks in just four opposing at-bats in the second, Thomas Pannone dishes one right in the middle of the strike zone for Rangers catcher Isiah Kiner-Falefa to take advantage of and hit a three-run double to right field. Not the best look for his first start of the season. At the end of the brutal second inning, he had a total of five earned runs in just three hits. Pannone was pulled to make way for Derek Law to make his Blue Jays debut. The starter’s final line was 2.1 innings pitched, seven earned runs, five hits allowed, and three walks with just a single strikeout.
• Pannone wasn’t the only starter to struggle in this one. Lance Lynn allowed the Jays to be within striking distance all throughout his appearance — allowing three of his five earned runs in the fourth to put the Rangers’ lead just to 8-5. He finished the game with six innings pitched, eight hits, five walks and just three strikeouts. For some reason he was allowed to tally 103 pitches.
• The bullpen had a strong showing. Derek Law pitched 1.2 innings, allowing two walks and earning a run, but it was the work of Sam Gaviglio and Elvis Luciano that kept the Rangers at bay. Gaviglio struck out two batters without allowing a hit or a walk through two innings and Luciano pitched two shutout innings as well with just one hit allowed, but struck out three. What seemed like the weirdest baseball experiment the Jays would perform this season, Luciano has turned out to be a fairly smart acquisition through this young season. This performance lowers his ERA to 3.07 on the season.
• Sogard continued to his all-star start with the Jays, going 1-for-3 with two walks, a run, and two RBI. The one hit was a massive triple that powered past an outstretched Joey Gallo at centre field.
• On the other end of the spectrum, Socrates Brito is somehow still in this lineup. With Alen Hanson getting DFA’d earlier this week, one should assume that Brito is soon to join him after not really adding anything to this team. Tonight he was able to notch in a “single”, but that was only because Logan Forsythe had a massive brain cramp and just didn’t get the out at first after successfully making the infield play. Brito is still carrying a .331 OPS this season and his .176 OBP is the ninth-lowest among all batters with at least 30 plate appearances. There won’t be any rush, but it makes sense to at least expect him to not be on this team much longer.