<p>Make that back-to-back disheartening losses for the Blue Jays, who fell to the Red Sox tonight 6-5 thanks to Alex Verdugo&#8217;s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Jordan Romano, who, from the viewer&#8217;s eye, wasn&#8217;t warming up until relatively later in the game, left multiple fastballs over the heart of the plate, and Verdugo mashed the second one just over the right field wall. The fact that it was Verdugo makes it a little harder to swallow for Jays fans, as his offseason comments about Alek Manoah certainly stirred the feelings up for many.</p>
<p>Piling this loss on top of yesterday&#8217;s 10-8 loss to Seattle has shifted the vibes for this team after they had just won six in a row.</p>
<h2>Blue Jays Nation&#8217;s Player of the Game: Bo Bichette</h2>
<p>If Matt Chapman didn&#8217;t have an inhumane month of April, Bichette might&#8217;ve had an opportunity to earn some accolades. He made sure to kick May off with a bang. Bichette was undoubtedly the best hitter on the field tonight, going 5-for-5 with four singles and a mammoth three-run homer in the second inning. Tonight marked the second time this season that Bo has had a five-hit game.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bo Bichette led the AL in hits in 2021.<br />Bo Bichette led the AL in hits in 2022.<br />Bo Bichette is leading the AL in hits in 2023.<br />And they aren&#39;t quiet hits. <a href="https://t.co/MKBCfGMfur">pic.twitter.com/MKBCfGMfur</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Codify (@CodifyBaseball) <a href="https://twitter.com/CodifyBaseball/status/1653186706009640960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h2>Things worth mentioning</h2>
<p><strong>Jose Berrios:</strong> It wasn&#8217;t Berrios&#8217; worst outing, but it certainly wasn&#8217;t one of his best. He was able to sandwich in some zeros between his first and final innings, but he eventually met his doom with loud contact and the home run ball, something we saw a lot of last year.</p>
<p>Berrios didn&#8217;t record his first out until his 21st pitch of the first inning. The first four batters he faced went double-double-single-walk, ultimately leading to two runs for Boston. Fortunately, he was able to get out of the inning, and proceeded to pitch four consecutive scoreless frames. He got some help from his defence with a nice sliding catch by Cavan Biggio in the third inning, as well as a nice field on a tough hop by Matt Chapman to kickstart a double play to end the 5th inning.</p>
<p>Although in a rhythm, Berrios still allowed a few too many baserunners and a little too much loud contact to feel good about his entire outing. He struggled with location, mainly, which limited his ability to get ahead in the count. That caught up to him in the bottom of the 6th, allowing a pair of home runs to Jarren Duran and Enmanuel Valdez and thereby surrendering the lead.</p>
<p>John Schneider gave Berrios a chance to get another out or two, a single from Reese McGuire would end his night. Berrios&#8217; final line was 5.1 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, and 4 K&#8217;s.</p>
<p><strong>Nate Pearson </strong>was the bright spot of the game on the pitching side of things for the Blue Jays, as he tossed two scoreless frames in relief of Jose Berrios and helped keep Toronto in the game.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">7 whiffs on 16 swings for Nate Pearson&#39;s fastball, including 3 Ks. </p>
<p>Love seeing him get used in that high-leverage spot, should be more to come here. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZtCrUIJPsl">pic.twitter.com/ZtCrUIJPsl</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Thomas Hall (@ThomasHall85) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasHall85/status/1653215823358468099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><strong>Enrique Hernandez was really good&#8230; then really bad: </strong>The Blue Jays trailed 5-3 entering the 8th inning, and it was up to the bottom of the order to get a rally started. Danny Jansen sharply grounded a ball to Kike Hernandez at short, but Hernandez was able to glove a very tough bounce and throw Jansen out at first. It was a kind of play that could&#8217;ve swayed momentum into Boston&#8217;s favour for good, but Hernandez made sure that Toronto still had a chance.</p>
<p>After a Biggio double, Kevin Kiermaier reached on a throwing error from Hernandez that also permitted Biggio to score. Bichette singled to advance Kiermaier to second, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would also reach on a throwing error from Hernandez. Hernandez fielded Vladdy&#8217;s ground ball and ran to second to record one out, but tried to simultaneously throw Guerrero out at first. Instead, he launched it into the dugout, and Kiermaier came around to score to tie the game.</p>
<p><strong>What&#8217;s next: </strong>The Blue Jays will send Yusei Kikuchi to the mound tomorrow night against Tanner Houck, as Toronto will look to halt this mini two-game skid.</p>
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Make that back-to-back disheartening losses for the Blue Jays, who fell to the Red Sox tonight 6-5 thanks to Alex Verdugo's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.



Jordan Romano, who, from the viewer's eye, wasn't warming up until relatively later in the game, left multiple fastballs over the heart of the plate, and Verdugo mashed the second one just over the right field wall. The fact that it was Verdugo makes it a little harder to swallow for Jays fans, as his offseason comments about Alek Manoah certainly stirred the feelings up for many.

Piling this loss on top of yesterday's 10-8 loss to Seattle has shifted the vibes for this team after they had just won six in a row.
<h2>Blue Jays Nation's Player of the Game: Bo Bichette</h2>
If Matt Chapman didn't have an inhumane month of April, Bichette might've had an opportunity to earn some accolades. He made sure to kick May off with a bang. Bichette was undoubtedly the best hitter on the field tonight, going 5-for-5 with four singles and a mammoth three-run homer in the second inning. Tonight marked the second time this season that Bo has had a five-hit game.

https://twitter.com/CodifyBaseball/status/1653186706009640960?s=20
<h2>Things worth mentioning</h2>
<strong>Jose Berrios:</strong> It wasn't Berrios' worst outing, but it certainly wasn't one of his best. He was able to sandwich in some zeros between his first and final innings, but he eventually met his doom with loud contact and the home run ball, something we saw a lot of last year.

Berrios didn't record his first out until his 21st pitch of the first inning. The first four batters he faced went double-double-single-walk, ultimately leading to two runs for Boston. Fortunately, he was able to get out of the inning, and proceeded to pitch four consecutive scoreless frames. He got some help from his defence with a nice sliding catch by Cavan Biggio in the third inning, as well as a nice field on a tough hop by Matt Chapman to kickstart a double play to end the 5th inning.

Although in a rhythm, Berrios still allowed a few too many baserunners and a little too much loud contact to feel good about his entire outing. He struggled with location, mainly, which limited his ability to get ahead in the count. That caught up to him in the bottom of the 6th, allowing a pair of home runs to Jarren Duran and Enmanuel Valdez and thereby surrendering the lead.

John Schneider gave Berrios a chance to get another out or two, a single from Reese McGuire would end his night. Berrios' final line was 5.1 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, and 4 K's.

<strong>Nate Pearson </strong>was the bright spot of the game on the pitching side of things for the Blue Jays, as he tossed two scoreless frames in relief of Jose Berrios and helped keep Toronto in the game.

https://twitter.com/ThomasHall85/status/1653215823358468099?s=20

<strong>Enrique Hernandez was really good... then really bad: </strong>The Blue Jays trailed 5-3 entering the 8th inning, and it was up to the bottom of the order to get a rally started. Danny Jansen sharply grounded a ball to Kike Hernandez at short, but Hernandez was able to glove a very tough bounce and throw Jansen out at first. It was a kind of play that could've swayed momentum into Boston's favour for good, but Hernandez made sure that Toronto still had a chance.

After a Biggio double, Kevin Kiermaier reached on a throwing error from Hernandez that also permitted Biggio to score. Bichette singled to advance Kiermaier to second, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would also reach on a throwing error from Hernandez. Hernandez fielded Vladdy's ground ball and ran to second to record one out, but tried to simultaneously throw Guerrero out at first. Instead, he launched it into the dugout, and Kiermaier came around to score to tie the game.

<strong>What's next: </strong>The Blue Jays will send Yusei Kikuchi to the mound tomorrow night against Tanner Houck, as Toronto will look to halt this mini two-game skid.

<hr />

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