RBI double for Captain Kirk puts the @BlueJays on the board first 🫡
Davis Schneider homered again but the Blue Jays fell 13-8 to the Rangers
Photo credit: © Jerome Miron - USA Today
Sep 18, 2024, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 18, 2024, 06:28 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays played their longest nine-inning game on Tuesday evening.
There’s some good (eight runs), but there is a whole lot of bad as well, as they fell 13-8 to the Texas Rangers to bring their season record to 72-79.
Toronto tacked on two runs in the top of the first, as Alejandro Kirk hit his 17th double of the season to drive in George Springer. The next batter, Ernie Clement, hit a single to make it 2-0. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 42nd double in the top of the second to give Toronto a three-run lead.
In the bottom of the third and fourth, the Rangers combined for seven runs to take a 7-3 lead. However, the Blue Jays fought back in the top of the fifth, capped off by Davis Schneider’s third home run in as many games to tie the game at seven.
Here's Davis Schneider's 409-foot homer to tie it. I'll report back later on which former teammate's bat he was using for this one. #BlueJays
Texas took control of the game in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs that inning, as well as four more over the course of the game. Bo Bichette hit his first RBI since July 6 in the top of the eighth.
Diving into the stats…
The bats were hot in this game, as the Jays tallied 13 hits in total. George Springer hit his third triple and a single, Bo Bichette had two singles, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two singles and a double, and Davis Schneider had a home run and a single. Alejandro Kirk hit a double and walked twice, while Nathan Lukes also walked twice with a hit.
In fact, every player except Leo Jiménez had a hit in this game for the Jays. Even then, he was hit by a pitch for the 14th time in just 181 plate appearances. Of any player with a plate appearance in the big leagues this season, Jiménez is tied for 12th in hit by pitch totals. The thing is, every player ahead of Jiménez (except for Matt Wallner) has 380 or more plate appearances. Jiménez has a hit by pitch rate of 7.7%.
Leo Jiménez's HBP% of 7.7% is higher than these player's BB%: Ernie Clement (2.2%) Joey Loperfido (3.4%) Addison Barger (4.2%) Isiah Kiner-Falefa (4.6%) Kevin Kiermaier (4.6%) Will Wagner (4.7%) Bo Bichette (6%) Leo Jiménez (6.8%) Brian Serven (7%)
Despite giving up seven runs in 3.2 innings pitched, Chris Bassitt’s ERA dropped from 4.20 to 4.16, as all but one run was unearned. Bassitt made a throwing error in the bottom of the third to allow one earned run. Ernie Clement had an error in the bottom of the fifth, meaning all five runs were unearned. Oof.
Ryan Burr and Zach Pop were solid out of the bullpen, but Larry Nance gave up two earned runs, Brendon Little gave up a solo home run, and Luis Frías allowed three earned runs in two thirds of an inning.
With the loss, the Texas Rangers passed the Blue Jays in the standings, meaning the Jays’ odds jumped up a bit to land the first overall pick, moving to 5.31% rather than 3.67%. So that’s good, at least?
The three-game series continues Wednesday at 8:05 PM ET. Bowden Francis will have another shot to throw a no-hitter, as he’ll be opposed by Texas’ Cody Bradford.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.