Chris Archer collected a season-high 12 strikeouts against the Blue Jays on Friday night – it was not enough.
The Toronto Blue Jays have been hamstrung with injuries recently, literally. Troy Tulowitzki (hamstring) and Josh Donaldson (groin) are on the 10-day DL and the lineup card for manager John Gibbons looked mediocre-at-best. That-said, they were able to pick up an 8-4 divisional win over the Rays.
Archer’s Outing
Through four innings, Chris Archer faced the minimum number of Blue Jays batters. Kevin Pillar led off the game with a base hit but Tim Beckham erased him on a nifty double play. With his pitch count at 55, Archer headed out for inning number five – that’s when he started to show signs of fatigue. Kendrys Morales lined a double to center and then Justin Smoak ripped a single up the middle, scoring Morales.
Holding a two-run lead entering the seventh, Archer walked Russell Martin, setting up another bout with Morales. The career .591 hitter got Archer again – this time for a two-run home run.
Archer was replaced (107 pitches – 4H – 3ER – 11K) by Chase Whitley after the Jays tied the game.
Blue Jays Big Fly
The combination of Morales, Smoak, and Pillar totaled eight of the team’s nine hits. After Morales chased the Rays starter from the game, he squared off against Jumbo Diaz in the eighth.
Once again, Morales deposited a souvenir into the seats. Just as Beckham reached the 800 foot mark with two home runs last night, Morales (409′ and 398′) accomplished the same milestone.
HE DID IT AGAIN!
3-run home run for Morales and we have the lead! pic.twitter.com/7a6Gy4SLUZ
— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 6, 2017
This time Morales chased Diaz from the game and Kevin Cash signaled Justin Marks from the bullpen. His season-debut did not go so well. The first pitch he threw resulted in the tail-end of back-to-back home runs. This time it was Smoak who cleared the fence.
Notables:
Daniel Robertson had two RBI’s on the night, including his third home run of the season. He and catcher Derek Norris went back-to-back in the fourth inning.
The multi-HR game was Morales’ first with the Blue Jays but the 18th of his career. His 2-for-3 performance against Archer lofted his .600 lifetime average.
Quotables:
It was easy to see the frustration when Archer spoke after the game…
After being hit by a Francisco Liriano fastball earlier in the game, Kevin Kiermaier was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning. The center-fielder went in for x-rays on his right hand and the results came back negative. When asked about the injury Kiermaier spoke openly.
“I went to go up to the batting cage and pick up a bat…tried doing a swing about 20-30%. Didn’t feel good turning my wrist over and I knew at that point on I could play one more inning of defense but you guys are gonna have to get someone else loose,”
When asked about the thought of the pitch being intentional, Kiermaier simply stated, “something I’m not going to forget,”.
Up Next:
Jake Odorizzi (1-1; 3.50) and Marco Estrada (1-1; 2.43) take the field on Saturday. First pitch is set for 4:10pm.
