Phillies score five runs off of Kevin Gausman to earn series split

Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
After edging out a win in the first game, the Blue Jays sent their ace to the mound in search of a two-game sweep over the Phillies.
Though this looked like a favourable matchup on paper, Kevin Gausman wound up getting tagged for five earned runs as the Phillies took the second leg of this mini-series in Toronto with a 9-4 win.
Things worth mentioning…
- The Blue Jays got out to a couple of different early leads in this game. Daulton Varsho hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Cavan Biggio hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third after the Phillies had tied the game. The bats were pretty much silent after that. They drew a couple of walks but the only hit the Blue Jays had between the fourth and ninth innings was a single from Alejandro Kirk.
- Gausman was far from his ace-like self on Wednesday but he also saw his line take some damage because of a terrible defensive play behind him. Gausman got Bryson Stott to hit into what should have been an inning-ending groundout but Santiago Espinal, was who filling in at third for Matt Chapman, clunked the throw to first. Two runs scored on the play and the Phillies went up 5-4.
- Toronto’s bullpen got knocked around a little bit after Gausman came out of the game. Tim Mayza came in and allowed a couple of inherited runners to score, Jeff Jackson allowed a solo homer to Jake Cave, and Bowden Francis allowed a solo bomb to Bryce Harper.
- The Blue Jays will be off on Thursday and then they’ll head to Cincinnati on Friday to start a three-game set with the Reds. Kevin Kiermaier and Trevor Richards are likely to be activated from the Injured List by then and Bo Bichette might be back as well.
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