Game 137 – Back-to-Back Jacks

It was not a good follow up start for Purcey after his great outing in TB. He gave up 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 3+ innings. He wasn’t helped by the tight strike zone of Cousins. It seemed like Purcey was really getting squeezed. Regardless both pitchers had to deal w/the inconsistent strike zone so it is no excuse. Purcey just didn’t pitch well.

The Jays bullpen however was once again there to bail him out and this time the Jays offence came back to take the lead. Tallet came into the game in the 4th and gave up a SF scoring one of the inherited runners, but otherwise pitched out of it. He gave up 2 hits in the 5th but no runs. The Jays bullpen slammed the door shut from there as Carlson threw 2 perfect innings, followed by a perfect inning from both Downs and Ryan.

The 2 innings from Carlson were especially big. He came on in the 6th after the Jays had just scored 3 to close the gap to one. By retiring the Twins quickly in order he kept the momentum on the Jays side and got the bats right back to it. The Jays responded by scoring 2 more in the bottom half to take the lead. Carlson then came back out and retired the 3,4,5 hitters of the Twins.

The Jays really used the long ball to get back in this game. They got back-to-back HR’s from Bautista (2-run shot) and Rios in the 5th off Perkins. That is only the 2nd time all season they have hit back-to-back jacks. Overbay then added a 2-run shot in the 6th off Bonsor after Rolen walked (it was also a walk that was on in front of the Bautista HR). It is a good thing the Jays hit the long ball b/c they went just 2 for 10 w/RISP.

Bautista and Rios certainly combined for more than just the back-to-back jacks. They each had 4 hits (2 1B, 1 2B, 1 HR). Bautista scored 2 runs and drove in 2, while Rios scored 1 and drove in 2.

On w/the stats:
Adv: Kubel
P-Adv: Purcey (1)
Adv+: Span
P-Adv+: Purcey (4)
WG: Wells (7)
ME(f): Wells (3)