Instant Reaction: Blue Jays pounce on Twins early in 10-4 victory

In the bottom of the second, Andrés Giménez hit a solo home run, his sixth of the season, to give the Jays a 5-0 lead. The Twins would get that run back in the top of the fourth, but the Jays restored their five-run lead thanks to an RBI single from Springer in the bottom half of that inning.

In the top of the sixth, the Twins had a big inning, as Brooks Lee hit an RBI groundout, followed by a two-run home run from Matt Wallner, his second of the game off Max Scherzer. Thankfully, the Jays once again responded, putting a four-spot in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a two-RBI single from Lukes and a two-RBI single from Guerrero Jr.

Takeaways…

For the sixth consecutive start, Max Scherzer went six innings. Unfortunately, there was no quality start this time, as he gave up four earned runs, but he did save the bullpen and looked good in the process.

Speaking of the bullpen, the recently recalled Justin Bruihl pitched two scoreless innings, while Tommy Nance threw a scoreless inning. This is a big help for the bullpen, as Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Domínguez, Louis Varland, and Brendon Little will have had two days’ rest heading into Tuesday’s game.

It was a good game for the bats as well, as Alejandro Kirk hit his 11th home run of the season, while Andrés Giménez hit his sixth homer of the season. This is the second-most home runs Kirk has hit in a season (career-high is 14), while this was Giménez’s first extra-base hit since his home run off Max Fried on Canada Day. Giménez’s home run was also the furthest of his career, going 422 feet.

Nathan Lukes had cooled off heading into this game, but he got hot once again, thanks to two doubles. Joe Ryan threw 93 pitches in the game, with Lukes seeing 23 of them. George Springer and Giménez had the other two-hit performances, while Ernie Clement hit his 25th double of the season.

It’s nice to see Vladimir Guerrero Jr. back in the lineup. Although he struck out twice and went 1-4, that hit was an important one as it drove in the Blue Jays’ ninth and tenth run of the game.

The bad news is that both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox won their games, so the Jays didn’t gain any ground on either team. Still, they have a five-game lead over the Red Sox and a five-and-a-half game lead over the Yankees.

Toronto will be back at it tomorrow evening, with a 7:07 PM ET start time. Chris Bassitt is the expected starter, and he’s had significantly better numbers at home.