Schneider Homers In The 14th Inning, Jays Win

Pirates 3 Blue Jays 5 (14 innings)

Four wins in a row. Two more gets us to .500.

We were pretty lucky to get to extra innings. Our one run scored when Pirates center fielder Hwan Bae lost Daniel Vogelbach’s fly ball to center, turning an easy out into a double.

Let’s start with extras:

In the tenth:

Top

Nate Pearson in to pitch. Nick Gonzales on second.

Rowdy Tellez and Yasmani Grandal both popped out. Bae struck out.

Bottom:

Clement on second.

Kevin Kiermaier bunted down the third baseline. I’m not a fan of the bunt, but he did it perfectly. Davis Schneider struck out after fouling off two pitches off the plate and then chasing a pitch high. He needed to make contact. That’s what I hate about the bunt; the next guy has to succeed, or it is a wasted move. Then Danny Jansen ground out on the first pitch he saw.

In the eleventh:

Top

Pearson still in. Bae on second.

Andrew McCutchen ground out, moving up the runner. Bryan Reynolds hit a fly to the right field, and Springer made an amazing catch. It was a sac fly, but it could have been worse. And Connor Joe flew out to end the inning.

Jays down 2-1.

Bottom

Jansen on second.

Vlad ground out softly to short, not moving up the runner (I guess I was wrong about softly, it was hit 108.3 mph. Bo ground out on the first pitch very softly, 51.1 mph. But, thankfully, after Justin Turner walked, Springer singled (a great catch in the top half of the inning and a game-tying hit in the bottom half). Biggio popped out to left to end the inning.

In the Twelfth:

Top

Tim Mayza in. I’m starting to count pitchers left in the Jays pen. Connor Joe is on second.

Oneil Cruz grounds out to move up the runner. Ke’Bryan Hayes hits a fly to medium center. Bad throw from Kiermaier and the run scores. A strikeout ends the inning.

Jays down 3-2

Bottom

Biggio on second. Clement flies out to move Cavan to third, and Kiermaier flies out to score the score again. Davis takes a pitch in the ribs (it looked painful). But a Jansen strikeout ends the inning.

In the thirteenth

Top

Mayza is still in. Nick Gonzales at second.

Edward Olivares grounds out, moving the runner to third. In comes Genesis Cabrera. Tough spot. He gets two strikeouts to get out of the inning. Nice job, Cabrera.

Bottom

Jays can win by scoring the Manfred Man (Jansen)

Vlad grounds out to short, moving up the runner. We just need a sac fly. Bo gets intentionally walked (right move). Justin Turner struck out on four pitches. Springer walked on six pitches. Biggio struck out on a pitch off the plate. Tom’s a wee bit pissed off.

In the fourteenth

Top

Cabrera is still in (we are short on pitchers now). Jared Triolo on second.

Andrew McCutchen popped out to third. Bryan Reynolds hit a ground ball to third, and for some reason, Triolo went to third; Clements tags him out. Dumb baseball. A strikeout ended the inning.

Surely (don’t call me Shirley), we can score and win now.

Bottom

Biggio on second. Someone named Kyle Nicolas pitching for the Pirates. But he can get to 99 on the fastball.

Ernie Clements up to bunt. Pulls the bat back on the first pitch. It was wide of the plate, but called a strike. Next pitch is also outside, but Ernie tries to bunt it, and misses. Then a ground ball to short that Ernie almost beat out. Kiermaier follows with a ground ball to first.

Then:

DAVIS SCHNEIDER HOMERS ON THE FIRST PITCH. JAYS WIN!

102.2 mph, 370 feet to right field.

Before all that?

Jose Berrios was terrific. 7 innings, 6 hits, just the 1 run, no walks and 5 strikeouts. He gave up a run in the fifth. Singles by Gonzales and Rowdy Tellez started the inning. A flyout and a strikeout made it look like we would get out of the inning, but McCutchen singled the run in.

We got good work from Chad Green and Yimi Garcia, who each pitched a scoreless inning.

We didn’t get much offense—just 6 hits in 14 innings (with 7 walks). Bailey Falter looked very good, going 6 shutout innings against us.

Scheider was 0 for 5 with the hit-by-pitch before that homer. Turner, Springer, Vogelbach, Clement and Kiermaier each had a hit.

And we were 2 for 19 with RISP. Many of those were in extras.

Vlad and Bo had particularly bad days at the plate, each going 0 for 5 with a walk.

Jays of the Day: Cabrera (.619 WPA), Springer (.367), Vogelbach (.263 for the pinch hit “double” lost in the sky by Bae), Pearson (.250), Berrios (.230), Garcia (.135), and Green (.106). I forgot to add Davis (.084).

The Other Award: Clement (-.378 for a 1 for 6), Biggio (-.358, 0 for 3, 2 k), Bo (-.314, 0 for 5, walk, 2 k), Vlad (-.213, 0 for 5, walk, 1 k), and Jansen (-.191, 0 for 4, 2 walks, 2 k).

Of note Daulton Varsho and Jordan Romano didn’t play and must not have been available. If it is still a flu going around the clubhouse, I’m going to irritated.

The most innings the Jays have gone since the Manfred Man came to baseball.

Tomorrow it is a 3:00 Eastern start. Mitch Keller (6-3, 3.59) vs. Yusei Kikuchi (2-4, 3.25).