Blue Jays rally, but still lose 6-5 to O's in series opener
Shortstop Freddy Galvis had a home run for the Toronto Blue Jays in the opening game of their series against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Photo: Jay Blue (file photo)
April 2, 2019
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
Sean Reid-Foley made an emergency start but only lasted two innings, snapping the Toronto Blue Jays' starters' shutout streak as the Jays lost 6-5 to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
Reid-Foley got into trouble early, after striking out the first batter he faced. He allowed a single to former teammate Dwight Smith Jr. and then gave up a home run to Jonathan Villar to put the Jays in a 2-0 deficit and to end the starters' shutout streak at 22 innings. He then gave up a single and a fielder's choice, pushing Trey Mancini to third on an error by Freddy Galvis. A walk loaded the bases and another walk pushed a third run in. A wild pitch brought in a fourth run but Reid-Foley recovered to strike out the next two batters, mercifully finishing the first inning.
In the second inning, Reid-Foley hit the first batter with a pitch and got Smith to ground out but gave up a single and a sac fly before retiring the side on a fly ball to right field, giving him five runs allowed (three earned) on four hits and two walks with a hit batter and two wild pitches, striking out three in two innings.
Thomas Pannone came on and held the Orioles to just one hit and one walk in four strong innings, striking out five batters to start his season on a positive note (and possibly to give him a shot at taking Clayton Richard's starting spot the next time through the rotation). Sam Gaviglio came on for the final three innings, giving up just a solo home run while striking out four to finish off the game and spare a bullpen that had three members unavailable (Ken Giles, Joe Biagini and Tim Mayza) due to a heavy workload in the opening series.
The offence continued to sputter against Orioles' starter David Hess who left the game with a no-hitter intact after 6 1/3 innings.
But once Hess was out of the game, the Jays struck for two runs against Pedro Araujo in the seventh, as Justin Smoak took a walk and Randal Grichuk hit a home run to cut the lead to four runs. In the eighth, against Mike Wright Jr., Freddy Galvis hit a two-out home run (his first as a Blue Jay) to cut the lead in half heading into the ninth.
Brandon Drury singled to lead off the ninth against Wright and with former Jays minor leaguer Richard Bleier on, Justin Smoak lined out and Drury advanced to second base. Randal Grichuk hit a double to get Drury to third and Kevin Pillar drove him home with a sacrifice fly. The Jays scored their final run when Teoscar Hernandez hit a triple, driving in Grichuk before Lourdes Gurriel struck out for the third time that day, ending the game with the Jays trailing by one run.
Grichuk was 2/4 with two RBI and two runs for the day, while Brandon Drury, Teoscar Hernandez, Freddy Galvis and Rowdy Tellez each had a hit.
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