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Blue Jays lost their fifth straight game as they fell 6-5 to the Red Sox in extra innings
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Sep 25, 2024, 00:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 25, 2024, 00:05 EDT
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Tuesday’s game was the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays in a nutshell.
Toronto fell 6-5 in extra-innings to the Boston Red Sox, bringing their record to 73-85. They are now 12 games below .500, the most they’ve been all season.
In the bottom of the third, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 43 double of the season to drive in two runs. Two innings later, Nathan Lukes hit a sacrifice fly to score Toronto’s third run of the game.
However, the bullpen did bullpen things because it’s the Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen. In the top of the seventh, Ceddanne Rafaela singled to drive in two, with Masataka Yoshida grounding out to score the tying run in the top of the eighth.
Heading into extra innings, Trevor Story hit a double to make it 4-3 Boston in the top of the tenth. The next batter, Connor Wong, grounded out to make it 5-3, before Vaughn Grissom singled in Story to bring the score to 6-3.
The Blue Jays showed some fight in their half of the inning. Leo Jiménez hit his 11th double of the season to drive in the ghost runner. After Guerrero Jr. flew out, Spencer Horwitz walked to load the bases, before Alejandro Kirk drove in a run by standing in the batter’s box for four pitches that weren’t even competitive.
Unfortunately, the comeback fell short, as Addison Barger popped out to end the game.

Diving into the stats…

First off, let’s discuss Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He walked and hit a double, bringing his season slash line to .324/.397/.548 with 30 home runs in 680 plate appearances. As it stands, his 166 wRC+ is the same he had in 2021 when he finished second in MVP voting. Has he earned MVP votes this season? Probably. Should the Blue Jays give him anything he wants? Absolutely.
Guerrero Jr. had a “meh” April before turning it on. Another player who had a rough start to his season who has turned it on lately is Alejandro Kirk, who hit a double in Tuesday’s game. Since the final game in August, Kirk has a hit in 16 consecutive games. Despite his 91 wRC+, he’s posted a 104 wRC+ since April 14 heading into Tuesday’s game.
Another key storyline for the Blue Jays in the game was Bowden Francis. As per usual, he was terrific, finishing with a line of 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K to bring his season ERA to 3.30. He was in line for the win, but Easton Lucas gave up two earned runs, Génesis Cabrera gave up one earned run, and Tommy Nance gave up three runs, two earned. Not a great game for the Blue Jays’ pen.
The Jays bats were good in this game. Of their five hits, three of them were doubles from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Leo Jiménez. On top of that, they walked eight times compared to six strikeouts, while Addison Barger hit a single.
With that being said, the Jays are now on a five-game losing streak. The Pittsburgh Pirates also lost and now sit a half-game behind the Jays, giving Toronto 7.48% odds to move up to the first-overall pick.
The Jays will look to avoid the sweep on Wednesday, as Kevin Gausman will get the ball when the game starts at 7:07 PM ET.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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