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Blue Jays edge out Phillies thanks to excellent pitching from Yusei Kikuchi and the bullpen
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Lewis
Aug 15, 2023, 21:54 EDT
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That’s the kind of win we’re hoping to see in October.
The Blue Jays edged out the Phillies by a score of 2-1 in the series opener on Tuesday behind excellent pitching and a couple of scrappy runs.

Things worth mentioning…

  • The Yusei Kikuchi Revenge Tour keeps on rolling. At this time last year, Kikuchi was being pushed out of the starting rotation. This year? He has among the best ERAs of any pitcher in baseball since the All-Star break. Kikuchi went six innings and allowed one earned run, dropping his ERA on the season to 3.44. He allowed four hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out seven.
  • On the other side, Zack Wheeler was pretty much untouchable for the Phillies over seven innings. The Blue Jays finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning after the Phillies had gone up 1-0. Whit Merrifield started off with a single, Brandon Belt drew a walk, and then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded into a double play. George Springer then came up with two outs and slapped a single up the middle to tie the game at 1-1.
  • The go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning was even more draining to watch. Nathan Lukes came in as a pinch hitter and had a very good at-bat to draw a walk. After that, Merrifield hit a ball into left field that Kyle Schwarber had in his glove but dropped. Belt came up and struck out, Vladdy drew a walk, and Springer grounded into an out at home. With the bases loaded and two out, Cavan Biggio came to the play and drove in Toronto’s second run by getting hit in the foot.
  • Jordan Romano came into the game after being activated from the Injured List earlier in the day and he mowed through Alec Bohm, Bryce Harper, and Nick Castellanos to record the save. Before that, Jordan Hicks came into the game for the eighth inning and struck out the side. We saw on Tuesday just how good the Blue Jays bullpen can be when its firing on all cylinders.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO

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