By: Emily (@JaysGirlEmily)

Canadian Baseball Network

Game 1: Friday, June 24th
Jays lose, 2-3
Starting Pitcher: Aaron Sanchez
Losing Pitcher: Jesse Chavez

It’s not a good day when your only offense seems to be Kevin Pillar and Michael Saunders. Saunders scored both Blue Jays runs, and Pillar drove him in both times. They even got lucky the second time, because Saunders was hit with a pitch and advanced to scoring position on a balk. The Jays had eight hits and walked four times, but stranded eleven.

Sanchez gave up eight hits through six innings, and two earned runs. He only walked one, and struck out four. Jesse Chavez entered a tie game in the 7th and gave up what would be the winning run in the form of a lead-off double. Drew Storen pitched a scoreless eighth in spite of one hit and hitting a batter. The Blue Jays would go on to load the bases in the ninth with just one out, but the tying run was stranded 90 feet away after a strikeout and a fly out.

Game 2: Saturday, June 25th
JAYS WIN!! 10-8
Winning Pitcher: R.A. Dickey
Save: Roberto Osuna

The Blue Jays jumped out in front 5-0 in the first two innings, scoring three runs on five hits in the 1st and then two in the 2nd, on a Devon Travis two-run homer. The bottom of the seconnd was a bit of foreshadowing, as Dickey gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs – to the 7-8-9 hitters in the White Sox lineup. 

Brett Lawrie, the first of the three, actually had his ruled an inside-the-park homer, as it bounced off the top of the outfield wall but he reached home safely anyways. The Blue Jays widened their lead in the fourth, as two hits and a walk loaded the bases, and then Josh Donaldson walked in a run. Edwin Encarnacion added two RBI on a single.

Dickey gave up six hits and four earned runs – all homers, and two of them to Lawrie. A fifth, unearned run scored after an error in the sixth. The Jays stranded the bases loaded in the sixth, and went down in order in the next two innings as the White Sox had lead-off homers in both. It was 8-7 in favour of the Jays when Donaldson led off the 9th with a single.

EE drove Donaldson in with a double, and scored himself on a Troy Tulowitzki single. In the bottom of the inning, Roberto Osuna gave up yet another solo homer, to Adam Eaton. A Jose Abreu single meant the tying run was at the plate with one out. But Melky Cabrera ground into a double play to end the game, giving Osuna the save.

Game 3: Sunday, June 26th
Jays lose, 2-5
Losing Pitcher: Marcus Stroman

Stroman’s recent struggles continued, as after a clean 1st he gave up a total of four runs on seven hits and four walks in 5.0 total innings of work. Joe Biagini pitched two perfect innings, and then Bo Schulz, making his return from rehab, gave up the final White Sox run in the eighth on a home run to J.B. Shuck.

In typical Chris Sale fashion, Sale shut out the Jays into the eighth inning, when Troy Tulowitzki hit a solo homer. Junior Lake followed up with his first home run as a Blue Jay in the same inning. Those two made up a significant portion of the Jays’ five hits on the day.

Other Notes:

Can former Blue Jays players stop having such good luck against this team, please?? What did we do to them? Were we not nice enough to them when they were in Toronto? Melky Cabrera was 3-for-4 in two games, and hit a home run. Brett Lawrie was 3-for-4 in two games, and hit two home runs. Dioner Navarro only played in one game, and still got in on the home run action. Sheesh.

Darrell Ceciliani was optioned to Buffalo prior to this series, with Junior Lake being called up to replace him. Gavin Floyd was also placed on the DL after he hurt his shoulder in Saturday’s game.

Weirdly Specific Record Alert:

This was the first time in Blue Jays history that they’d given up seven home runs and still won the game. (I’m not sure that’s a feat they should try to top)

My favourite player(s) this series: Travis/Donaldson

Devon Travis is starting to look like his old self again, and it’s truly wonderful to see! He had five hits in this series, including a home run, and scored twice. He also made two nice inning-ending catches in Saturday’s game.

Josh Donaldson continues to be incredibly feared by the opposing pitching – with two hits per game, he went 6-for-12 and walked twice. That’s an OBP of .667 for the series.

Where we are now: 
41-36
.532
3rd place in the ALE, 5.0 games back of Baltimore

The bad news is, the AL Central has been a pain all season, and they’re playing several series against that division in the next few weeks. Jose Bautista is still hurt, needing a walking boot on his foot for at least two weeks before being re-evaluated.