Jays overpower Royals in Game 3
TORONTO — The Blue Jays got back to being the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the ALCS Monday night. After being held to three runs total in Games 1 and 2, the Blue Jays broke out for 11 runs in their Game 3 win over the Royals (TOR 11, KC 8), including three runs in the second and six more in the third.
After pitching so brilliantly in Game 5 of the ALDS last week, Johnny Cueto got creamed in ALCS Game 3, allowing eight runs in two-plus innings. In hindsight, the Ryan Goins at-bat in the second inning was the sign Cueto didn’t have it in Game 3 and the Blue Jays were back in business.
With runners at second and third with two outs, Cueto jumped ahead in the count 0-2 to Goins, but simply couldn’t put him away. It ended up it being a nine-pitch at-bat that ended with a two-run single.
Cueto threw Goins everything he had in that at-bat. A changeup, a slider and three different types of fastballs: straight four-seamer, sinking two-seamer and a cutter. Goins worked the count full before lacing the two-run single.
That was it right there. That was the sign Cueto was in trouble. When he was unable to put away the No. 9 hitter with two outs and two on in the second (!) inning. No disrespect to Goins — hey, he homered later in the game! — but he’s a guy someone like Cueto should carve up.
From that point on, Cueto was both woefully ineffective and very rattled. The Rogers Centre crowd chanted “Cue-To! Cue-To!” throughout the night a la the 2013 NL Wild Card game, and it clearly bothered Cueto. He was fidgety on the mound and taking a lot of time between pitches.
Five consecutive batters reached base to start the third inning against Cueto. A three-run Troy Tulowitzki home run was mixed in there, blowing the game open to give the Blue Jays a 6-2 lead. Cueto faced 17 batters and retired six. Six!
He was terrible and good teams will bludgeon terrible pitching. The Blue Jays strung together quality at-bats, jumped on hittable pitches, and did major damage when Cueto missed over the plate. Four of those 11 runners he allowed reached in two-strike counts. Here’s how Inside Edge graded his start:
That’s a generous grade “D” in my opinion. Eight runs in two-plus innings is the epitome of an “F” start to me. Inside Edge is not as harsh a grader as I am, I suppose.
Anyway, Cueto was awful, no doubt about it, though the Blue Jays must be credited. Their offense was dormant in Games 1 and 2, but the good at-bats returned in Game 3. The Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson home runs will get the most attention, but the Goins’ at-bat was just as important. That was the approach that had been missing in Games 1 and 2.
Heck, look at the outs the Blue Jays made. Donaldson struck out in the first inning, but saw six pitches. Edwin Encarnacion struck out as well, but he saw eight pitches. The Blue Jays forced Cueto to throw 25 pitches in that first inning. It was a grind, and that’s what the Toronto offense does best. Grind at-bats then punish mistakes.
This is similar to what happened in the ALDS, by the way. The Rangers won Games 1 and 2, but the Blue Jays got back to their normal approach in Game 3 to eke out a win, then hammered an ineffective Derek Holland in Game 4. They sped up the process in the ALCS and did that all in Game 3.
In a way, both the Blue Jays and Royals have similar offenses in that everyone seems to feed off each other. We’ve already seen the Royals string together base hit after base hit after base hit to mount remarkable comebacks this postseason. They did it to the Astros in Game 4 of the ALDS and to the Blue Jays in Game 2 of the ALCS.
The Blue Jays? They string together long at-bats and hit for power when things are clicking. It’s a different style than Kansas City’s but both work, though Toronto’s approach tends to result in more big innings. The long ball is a rather devastating weapon and the Blue Jays have a lot of players who can go deep.
Cueto’s ineffectiveness opened the door for the Blue Jays in Game 3. He was struggling long before the runs piled up and the “Cue-To! Cue-To!” chants started. The Blue Jays worked him hard in the first, working him hard in the second, and worked the Royals pitching staff hard all night.
With the offense breaking out and the Royals starting the solid but not overpowering Chris Young in Game 4, suddenly the ALCS feels much less lopsided.
Troy Tulowitzki and the Blue Jays got back to doing what they do best in Game 3. (USATSI)
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