<p>Coming into tonight&#8217;s game, the Blue Jays had been outscored 17-3 in their last two games, and they were looking to Chris Bassitt to turn things in the right direction. His first start of the season is starting to look like an anomaly, as he has now put together three consecutive quality starts including tonight&#8217;s outing, which contributed to a 4-2 Blue Jays win on Tuesday night over the Astros.</p>
<h2>Blue Jays Nation&#8217;s Player of the Game: Chris Bassitt</h2>
<p>Amidst some inconsistency and uncertainty in the rotation, Bassitt is starting to look like the consistent pitcher he has been for the past several seasons. Tonight was no exception, as he pitched 6.1 innings of 3-hit ball, which was much needed after Kevin Gausman only lasted 4.2 innings last night.</p>
<p>Bassitt did not allow a baserunner until the 4th inning when he walked Yordan Alvarez on a full count. It was a &#8220;vintage Bassitt&#8221; kind of night for him as far as his pitch mix goes. His best pitch of the night was his curveball, generating four whiffs and zero hits from it. He also was very effective with his pitch count, as he had three innings in which he threw 9 pitches or less.</p>
<p>All in all, Bassitt&#8217;s final line was 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 5 Ks.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Blue Jays win!</p>
<p>What a start from Chris Bassitt!</p>
<p>Matt Chapman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with some big flies. <a href="https://t.co/rn0tO2nOSM">pic.twitter.com/rn0tO2nOSM</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) <a href="https://twitter.com/Brennan_L_D/status/1648521537363013634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h2>Things worth mentioning&#8230;</h2>
<p><strong>Chapman and Guerrero to the opposite field: </strong>The Blue Jays struck first in the 4th inning after a pair of opposite field home runs from Matt Chapman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Chapman&#8217;s homer tonight was the second in as many nights, and it was only a matter of feet to the right of where last night&#8217;s homer run landed. That is now the 5th home run and 17th RBI on the season for Chapman, who also had a double off the left field wall in tonight&#8217;s contest.</p>
<p>Guerrero&#8217;s home run was almost identical to Chapman&#8217;s, and it conveniently came after Sportsnet was showing a graphic that Vladdy&#8217;s last 13 hits were singles. The ability to go the other way throughout this lineup is one of the more elite skills that it possesses, especially when you factor in Alejandro Kirk and Bo Bichette&#8217;s hitting repertoire.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matt Chapman&#39;s 5th of the season, also oppo.</p>
<p>At this point, Chapman is living in one of the best stretches of his career. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> <a href="https://t.co/beewc4sILl">pic.twitter.com/beewc4sILl</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1648491362965389312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><strong>Defensive gems: </strong>Bassitt was very good, but he also had some help from his defence with a couple of the outs. Most notably, Jake Meyers lined a ball in between Chapman and Bichette in the bottom of the 5th inning that was snagged out of the air due to a diving effort by Chapman. In the 6th inning with a runner on second, Alvarez flew a ball to left field that was dropping rather quickly, but Whit Merrifield made a nice running catch on the end of his glove to prevent a potential run from scoring.</p>
<p><strong>5th inning: </strong>The Blue Jays used some small ball to add some insurance runs in the 5th inning, as a walk and three singles provided two runs in the frame. The RBI singles came from Santiago Espinal and Bichette, with both going to the opposite field once again.</p>
<p><strong>Trouble in the 8th:</strong> The Astros didn&#8217;t show a ton of life offensively, but they stirred things up in the 8th inning with a pair of infield singles to lead off the inning against Yimi Garcia. Tim Mayza was called upon as two of the next three batters were lefties, but he allowed a pair of singles that scored two runs to bring the score to 4-2.</p>
<p>This did provide a full-circle moment for Jordan Romano, who was asked to record the last out of the 8th inning against Jeremy Pena. If you remember, the last time Romano pitched in Houston, he gave up a walk-off two-run home run to Pena almost a year ago to the day. Tonight was also the first time that Romano had pitched since Saturday when he took a comeback hit off the ribs.</p>
<p>Despite Sportsnet cameras leading you to believe that Pena had hit another home run, he flied out to George Springer in right field to end the inning. Romano would retire the side with a pair of strikeouts in 9th inning, earning his 7th save on the season.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays go for the series win tomorrow with Jose Berrios on the hill. Berrios is looking to capitalize on his outing last Friday against the Rays, in which he only allowed one run through five innings. The last time he faced Houston, Berrios had a solid outing last April in which he allowed one run over 5.2 innings.</p>
<hr />
<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold" style="text-align: center;"><a class="text-accent" href="https://gml-grp.com/C.ashx?btag=a_24038b_2065c_&amp;affid=7966&amp;siteid=24038&amp;adid=2065&amp;c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">RECAP PRESENTED BY BETANO</a></h1>
<div class="mb-5">
<div><img decoding="async" src="data:;base64,<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' version='1.1' width='727' height='404'/>&#8221; alt=&#8221;&#8221; aria-hidden=&#8221;true&#8221; /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61491" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png 727w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1-300x167.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" /></div>
</div>


Coming into tonight's game, the Blue Jays had been outscored 17-3 in their last two games, and they were looking to Chris Bassitt to turn things in the right direction. His first start of the season is starting to look like an anomaly, as he has now put together three consecutive quality starts including tonight's outing, which contributed to a 4-2 Blue Jays win on Tuesday night over the Astros.
<h2>Blue Jays Nation's Player of the Game: Chris Bassitt</h2>
Amidst some inconsistency and uncertainty in the rotation, Bassitt is starting to look like the consistent pitcher he has been for the past several seasons. Tonight was no exception, as he pitched 6.1 innings of 3-hit ball, which was much needed after Kevin Gausman only lasted 4.2 innings last night.

Bassitt did not allow a baserunner until the 4th inning when he walked Yordan Alvarez on a full count. It was a "vintage Bassitt" kind of night for him as far as his pitch mix goes. His best pitch of the night was his curveball, generating four whiffs and zero hits from it. He also was very effective with his pitch count, as he had three innings in which he threw 9 pitches or less.

All in all, Bassitt's final line was 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 5 Ks.

https://twitter.com/Brennan_L_D/status/1648521537363013634?s=20
<h2>Things worth mentioning...</h2>
<strong>Chapman and Guerrero to the opposite field: </strong>The Blue Jays struck first in the 4th inning after a pair of opposite field home runs from Matt Chapman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Chapman's homer tonight was the second in as many nights, and it was only a matter of feet to the right of where last night's homer run landed. That is now the 5th home run and 17th RBI on the season for Chapman, who also had a double off the left field wall in tonight's contest.

Guerrero's home run was almost identical to Chapman's, and it conveniently came after Sportsnet was showing a graphic that Vladdy's last 13 hits were singles. The ability to go the other way throughout this lineup is one of the more elite skills that it possesses, especially when you factor in Alejandro Kirk and Bo Bichette's hitting repertoire.

https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1648491362965389312?s=20

<strong>Defensive gems: </strong>Bassitt was very good, but he also had some help from his defence with a couple of the outs. Most notably, Jake Meyers lined a ball in between Chapman and Bichette in the bottom of the 5th inning that was snagged out of the air due to a diving effort by Chapman. In the 6th inning with a runner on second, Alvarez flew a ball to left field that was dropping rather quickly, but Whit Merrifield made a nice running catch on the end of his glove to prevent a potential run from scoring.

<strong>5th inning: </strong>The Blue Jays used some small ball to add some insurance runs in the 5th inning, as a walk and three singles provided two runs in the frame. The RBI singles came from Santiago Espinal and Bichette, with both going to the opposite field once again.

<strong>Trouble in the 8th:</strong> The Astros didn't show a ton of life offensively, but they stirred things up in the 8th inning with a pair of infield singles to lead off the inning against Yimi Garcia. Tim Mayza was called upon as two of the next three batters were lefties, but he allowed a pair of singles that scored two runs to bring the score to 4-2.

This did provide a full-circle moment for Jordan Romano, who was asked to record the last out of the 8th inning against Jeremy Pena. If you remember, the last time Romano pitched in Houston, he gave up a walk-off two-run home run to Pena almost a year ago to the day. Tonight was also the first time that Romano had pitched since Saturday when he took a comeback hit off the ribs.

Despite Sportsnet cameras leading you to believe that Pena had hit another home run, he flied out to George Springer in right field to end the inning. Romano would retire the side with a pair of strikeouts in 9th inning, earning his 7th save on the season.

The Blue Jays go for the series win tomorrow with Jose Berrios on the hill. Berrios is looking to capitalize on his outing last Friday against the Rays, in which he only allowed one run through five innings. The last time he faced Houston, Berrios had a solid outing last April in which he allowed one run over 5.2 innings.

<hr />

<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold" style="text-align: center;"><a class="text-accent" href="https://gml-grp.com/C.ashx?btag=a_24038b_2065c_&amp;affid=7966&amp;siteid=24038&amp;adid=2065&amp;c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">RECAP PRESENTED BY BETANO</a></h1>
<div class="mb-5">
<div><img src="data:;base64,<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' version='1.1' width='727' height='404'/>" alt="" aria-hidden="true" /><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61491" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" /></div>
</div>

Matt Chapman flashes the bat and the glove to back Chris Bassitt’s strong outing in 4-2 Blue Jays win

Blue Jays Nation: Christmas wish list for the remaining offseason

Blue Jays Prospect Spotlight: Connecting with pitcher Colby Martin about his draft experience and first taste of pro ball

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) celebrates after hitting a double in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium

Recent articles from Evan Stack

Breaking News