By Jay Blue

Blue Jays from Away

The Blue Jays split their squad on Saturday, sending one team to Tampa to face the Yankees and the other stayed at home to square off with the Orioles but both clubs lost.

Going on the road, Thomas Pannone got the start for the Blue Jays and his old nemesis, the home run got him early as he gave up a home run to Aaron Judge who decided that it didn't matter if the Blue Jays played four outfielders against him. Gleyber Torres also hit a two-run home run, giving the Yankees a three-run lead right off the bat.

The Jays tied it up in the top of the second as they also went deep twice with Kendrys Morales hitting a two-run shot and Richard Urena hitting a solo blast. The Yankees kept going though, with three more runs in the second, including a home run from former Blue Jay Gio Urshela and former Blue Jay minor leaguer Jorge Saez hit a home run in the fourth to make it 8-3. Justin Smoak continued the homer train with a solo shot in the sixth but the Yankees scored four more in the sixth, and two more in the seventh, on a home run by Matt Lipka, to bring their total to two touchdowns and a 14-4 lead.

In the top of the eighth, Josh Palacios hit a sac fly and Danny Jansen brought home two with a triple while the Jays gave those three runs back in the bottom half with three runs including another home run.

Thomas Pannone's line wasn't pretty at 1 2/3 innings, six runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts and three home runs. Joe Biagini allowed a hit and struck out two in 1 1/3 while Justin Shafer gave up two runs in one inning. Tim Mayza allowed a run on a walk in his inning and Corey Copping gave up three runs on four hits in the sixth. Shawn Morimando was tagged for two home runs and five runs in the seventh and Ty Tice finished it off with some style, striking out a pair in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Justin Smoak (1/3), Kendrys Morales (1/3) and Richard Urena (1/2) each hit a home run while Danny Jansen was 1/4 with two RBI and Bo Bichette was 2/2 with a walk and a stolen base, bringing his spring average to .441. Ryan Noda was 1/2 and Rodrigo Orozco was 1/1. Kevin Pillar was 1/3 and Otto Lopez (Montreal, Que.) was 1/2.

Staying home, Sam Gaviglio came out of the gate looking outstanding against a mostly minor-league squad of Baltimore Orioles. He had four strikeouts through a perfect two innings but ran into trouble in third but emerged unscathed after getting some good and bad defence behind him. With a one-out double on, Gaviglio got a ground ball to Freddy Galvis at shortstop who threw it in the dirt to first base. Moving quickly, however, first baseman Andy Burns picked up the ball and fired to second, getting the batter and keeping the runner from second from scoring. Gaviglio struck out the next batter to end the inning.

There was more trouble in the fourth as Gaviglio walked Mark Trumbo to start the inning and he scored on a one-out double. After the next batter grounded out, Brad Wilson came on to relieve Gaviglio and gave up a double, scoring another run before retiring the side on a groundout.

Baltimore scored again in the fifth as Elvis Luciano hit the first batter and walked the third, sandwiching a strikeout. He got the bases loaded as Mark Trumbo singled and then Luciano walked Chance Sisco before Danny Barnes came on to get the next two outs without any more damage being done. Barnes went on to pitch a quick sixth, striking out two. David Paulino gave up two runners in the seventh before getting two pop outs and a groundout and Javy Guerra allowed a solo home run to the first batter he faced, giving Baltimore their fourth run. He struck out a batter, walked a batter and got a double play ball to end the inning. Guerra finished the game, giving up a single but getting another double play and a ground out to finish the Orioles off.

For the Orioles, starter Alex Cobb mowed down the Blue Jays through 4 2/3 innings. The Jays didn't get a hit until the fifth inning, getting just one runner on an error in the fourth. The Blue Jays scored three in the fifth, with Jonathan Davis getting things going with two outs, getting on thanks to a throwing error by Cobb. Cavan Biggio singled to score Roemon Fields, who was running for Davis while Reese McGuire hit a double to drive in Biggio and make the score 3-2. The next batter, Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) hit a single to drive in McGuire and tie the game up. But that was all the scoring the Blue Jays did. Biggio and Gunnar Heidt added walks while Andrew Guillotte had a hit in his only plate appearance and Yeltsin Gudino was 1/2 with a strikeout.

Aaron Sanchez takes on the Twins and former Blue Jay Preston Guilmet in action in Dunedin on Sunday at 1:07 pm.

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