DUNEDIN, Fla. – The Toronto Blue Jays took the early lead and never gave it up in a win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater Saturday afternoon.
Kevin Pillar’s two-out RBI single in the second inning gave the Jays a lead they never relinquished as their first six pitchers combined to throw eight innings of three-hit shutout.
Here are some things I liked about the game, and some things I didn’t:
THE GOOD
18 up and 19 down: After Mark Buehrle allowed back-to-back ground-ball singles to open up the bottom of the first, he and four relievers combined to retire the next 18 Phillies who came to the plate, resulting in 19 outs as Ryan Howard grounded into a double play to end that opening frame.
Marco Estrada followed Buehrle with two perfect innings, Miguel Castro and Wilton Lopez each threw a 1-2-3 frame, and then Steve Delabar came on to strike out Freddy Galvis before allowing a single to Darin Ruf to break up the great run.
Bright house can barely hold him: Josh Donaldson belted his first career Grapefruit League home run, sitting on a 2-0 fastball from Phillies’ righty David Buchanan in the top of the fourth. The Blue Jays’ new slugger didn’t get all of it, but still almost hit the ball right out of the stadium. The mammoth blast cleared both the Blue Jays’ and Phillies’ left-centrefield bullpens and wound up at the back of the boardwalk that forms the outer ring of Bright House Networks Field.
Who’s that guy? Caleb Gindl continued his impressive spring with an RBI double in the seventh inning. Signed as a minor-league free agent out of the Brewers’ organization, Gindl is likely ticketed for Buffalo but is opening some eyes this spring. He’s already had two extra-base hits (he tripled Wednesday afternoon in Bradenton) and is 3-for-7 with a walk and has been hit by a pitch.
The battle rages: Pillar and Dalton Pompey each had a single in Saturday’s win, and both continue to have good at-bats with a strong approach and plan at the plate. The knock on Pillar as a major-league player has been his inability to lay off a right-hander’s breaking ball when he’s behind in the count, but so far this spring he’s looked awfully good in two-strike counts. There’s a good chance the Blue Jays wind up taking both of them north.
THE BAD
Really nothing. The Blue Jays played a strong game on both sides of the ball, with no major miscues at all. There was a nervous ninth with Jayson Aquino and Ryan Tepera giving up a loud double each and the Phillies got the tying run to the plate after going into the inning trailing 4-0, but at that point it was the Blue Jays’ kids going up against a lineup of real major leaguers.
I could point out that Munenori Kawasaki made his second error of the spring — dropping a Matt Hague throw from third because he was thinking about turning a double play — but he made up for it with a base hit in his next at-bat.
Or maybe the fact that Mark Buehrle isn’t a better soccer player. The Phillies’ second hit was a ground ball up the middle by Freddy Galvis that deflected off Buehrle’s foot into left field for a single that put runners on the corners with nobody out. Buehrle emerged unscathed, though, popping up Ruf and getting Ryan Howard to ground into an inning-ending double play. After the game, Buehrle said he barely felt the ball hit him.
The Blue Jays play their sixth game of the spring — and third against the Pirates — on Sunday afternoon. Aaron Sanchez will start and is scheduled to throw two or three innings. Chad Jenkins will follow, as will Scott Barnes and Andrew Albers, a couple of lefties trying to build off impressive first spring outings.
The game will be on Sportsnet with Buck Martinez and Joe Siddall; Jerry Howarth and I will bring you the action along the Sportsnet Radio Network with an array of Blue Jays guests helping us out in the analyst’s chair, including Alex Anthopoulos.