The Blue Jays and Indians split a four-game series that included a 19-inning marathon and a lopsided Blue Jays win. Here are five takeaways from the weekend series…
Canada Day Marathon
A day game after a night game is a tough turnaround at the best of times. It was made even tougher on Friday when the Blue Jays went 19 innings only to lose 2-1. The Blue Jays’ offence betrayed them as they were one for 10 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded twice. Toronto’s top five hitters were two for 35 with 16 strikeouts.
The Blue Jays ran out of pitchers and had resort to using two position players for the first time in franchise history. Ultimately it was wiser than pressing Aaron Sanchez into service or using Marco Estrada, who has suffered from back tightness.
The teams combined for some big numbers Friday:
- Duration – 6 hours, 13 minutes
- Innings – 19 (tied for most in Blue Jays history)
- Pitchers – 19
- Strikeouts – 33
- Michael Saunders strikeouts – 5
- Runners left on base – 34
- Ejections – 3
The Vic Carapazza Experience
The most influential man on the field on Friday was arguably home plate umpire Vic Carapazza, mainly because he was unilaterally deciding who he shared it with and for how long.
Carapazza started the game off with a bang, ejecting Edwin Encarnacion and John Gibbons in the bottom of the first inning before several fans had even found their seats. Later on, in the 13th inning, Russell Martin was told he went around on a called third strike and lost it (Martin actually took issue with the first called strike of the at bat).
The Blue Jays struck out 18 times and an incredible 12 of those were called third strikes. Carapazza had a wide and high strike zone, which in isolation is fine but the main issue is it didn’t stay where he set it early; it seemed to fluctuate in and out throughout the proceedings.
Carapazza’s known to the Blue Jays for his work behind home plate in Game 2 of the 2015 ALDS, a contest the Blue Jays lost to the Texas Rangers. Carapazza, whose father-in-law Richie Garcia is a former umpire and umpiring supervisor, has been a full-time umpire since 2013.
Trevor Trolls
Trevor Bauer was scheduled to start Saturday, but was pressed into service on Canada Day when Friday’s game went longer than expected. After the win, he trolled all of Canada on Twitter:
Tulo Bobblehead Day
Fans lined up early for Troy Tulowitzki bobblehead day Sunday, and the shortstop repaid the appreciation by appearing from the dugout early to sign autographs. Then he sent fans home happy with one of his best performances as a Blue Jay. Tulowitzki had three hits with four RBI including his sixth home run in 13 games since coming off the disabled list.
Less than one full year after moving to the American League, Tulowitzki has now hit a home run against every MLB team.
Happy with Happ
J.A. Happ went seven innings on Sunday, giving up just five hits, zero walks and one earned run while striking out 11. He picks up his 11th win after having 11 wins all of last year. The 11 wins by Happ are the most by a Toronto pitcher before the All-Star break since Roy Halladay in 2008.
A decisive victory with a good pitching performance like Sunday’s 17-1 drubbing is exactly what the Blue Jays needed. The team plays seven more consecutive days before the break, so a quality start gave the tired bullpen a break after 18.1 innings of relief the previous three games.
Indians follow Cavaliers
Lost in the euphoria of what LeBron James and the Cavaliers did ending the Cleveland sports curse is how good the Indians have been. Cleveland won a franchise-best 14 straight before Saturday’s loss. Who did the simultaneously surging northeast Ohio teams beat along the way? The Cavaliers swept Detroit and Atlanta before taking two in a row from Toronto, then losing two. The Indians took series against Detroit and Atlanta before taking two in a row from Toronto, then losing two
