Blue Jays meltdown opens door for wild Yankees comeback victory
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
Just when the New York Yankees appeared destined to begin the season 0-2, the Toronto Blue Jays fell apart on Wednesday night allowing the Yankees to rally for wild 4-3 victory at rain-soaked Yankee Stadium.
The Blue Jays jumped out to an early two run lead and were able to maintain that lead until the eighth inning behind a stellar pitching performance from R.A. Dickey. However, a combination of poor relief, bad luck and lousy weather turned things completely in the Yankees favor.
That’s the cliff notes version. Now let’s fill in some of those gaps.
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• It all started with a wind-aided double by pinch-hitter Chris Young that fooled rookie second baseman Devon Travis.
• After Jacoby Ellsbury lined a clean single to center field against Aaron Loup, Brett Gardner was hit by a pitch to load the bases and force a pitching change.
• Next in line was Brett Cecil, who immediately uncorked a wild pitch that allowed one run to score and advanced the other runners.
• After Cecil struck out Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira was walked intentionally to reload the bases.
• In a left-on-left battle, Cecil plunked Brian McCann to force home the tying run.
• Chase Headley singled home the go-ahead and eventual winning run on a ground ball that deflected off Cecil’s wrist.
There’s only way one to describe the inning, according to Jays manager John Gibbons.
“We just imploded,” Gibbons said. “Started with the wind-blown hit there, and then we hit a couple of guys; we don’t normally do that, and it just got away.
“We’ll figure some things out … roles and who can do that. You’re still guessing on some guys, but the better they pitch, the more opportunities they’ll have to pitch.”
One guy who could get more opportunities is 20-year-old Robert Osuna. That destructive eighth inning had the potential to be much worse for Toronto, but Osuna made a strong major league debut by striking out Alex Rodriguez and getting Stephen Drew to fly out with the bases loaded. That outing gave the Jays a fighting chance, but Andrew Miller closed the door for New York in the ninth to pick up his second career save.
Now the teams will move on to the rubber match on Thursday, which is scheduled to feature rookie Daniel Norris and veteran CC Sabathia on the hill.
ROCKIES, BRAVES IMPROVE TO 3-0
Only two teams completed action on Wednesday night with a perfect 3-0 record, and we doubt anyone out there would have dared wager anything on those two teams being the Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves.
Amazingly, Colorado only won 21 games on the road all of the last season, but they’re already 14-percent of the way there after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 in 10 innings. Wilin Rosario delivered a pinch-hit home run to provide the difference in the extra frame. Former Brewers closer John Axford pitched the tenth to earn the save after LaTroy Hawkins gave away Colorado’s two-run lead in the ninth.
The Rockies also got this monster home run from Carlos Gonzalez, which may still be traveling if not for the Miller Park scoreboard.
In Miami, the Braves took care of business in much more efficient fashion, besting the Marlins 2-0. A.J. Pierzynski’s two-run home run provided the only offense. Shelby Miller was sharp in his Braves debut, tossing five scoreless frames.
For the series, Atlanta outscored Miami 16-3.
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As for undefeated teams remaining in MLB, the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers all improved to 2-0 on Wednesday. They’ll all go for sweeps on Thursday.
ALBERT PUJOLS MOVES INTO 18TH PLACE ON ALL-TIME HOME RUN LIST
Adrian Gonzalez wasn’t the only Los Angeles player hitting notable home runs on Wednesday. Angels first baseman Albert Pujols joined elite company himself when he turned on Hisashi Iwakuma’s first-inning fastball and sent it soaring into the second deck at Safeco Field.
The home run was Pujols’ first of the season and No. 521 overall in his now 15-year career. That moved him into a tie with Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Willie McCovey and Frank Thomas for 18th on the all-time home run list.
Looking down the road, it’s reasonable to think Pujols could finish the season as high as 15th on the all-time list. Mike Schmidt holds that spot with 548 home runs, which means Pujols would need to reach 29 this season to best him. He hit 28 last season, so it’s safe to assume he still has the pop.
Next in his sights will be Jimmie Foxx (534) and Mickey Mantle (536).
Pujols’ two-run first-inning home run also proved to be the difference on Wednesday. The Angels held on for a 5-3 victory to win the season-opening series over the Mariner rival Mariners.
TWINS STILL SCORELESS IN 2015
The Minnesota Twins are off to a brutal start offensively. After being shutout 11-0 by Anibal Sanchez and four Detroit Tigers relievers on Wednesday, the Twins are the only team in baseball without a run through their first two games. In fact, the closest they’ve come so far in 180 feet away, as no runner has been able to reach third base.
Overall, the Twins are 9-for-62, which is good for a .145 average. They’ll look to get on track, or at least on the board, in Thursday’s finale against Detroit when they square off against Shane Greene.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
