Instant Reaction: George Springer clobbers two home runs in Blue Jays’ 12-9 victory over Reds

The Reds got one back, but the Blue Jays put up another four-spot in the top of the second, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an RBI single, followed by a three-run home run from Bo Bichette, his second in as many games. Unfortunately, the Jays weren’t going to cruise to an easy victory as the Reds scored five runs in the bottom of the second to bring the game to 8-6.

Two more runs were scored by the Blue Jays, as Springer hit his second home run of the game to give the Jays a 10-6 lead, but Austin Hayes hit an RBI double and Gavin Lux hit an RBI single to bring the Reds to within two yet again.

The scoring stopped for a bit, but the Blue Jays took a three-run lead thanks to a solo home run off the bat of Daulton Varsho, his 17th of the season. TJ Friedl once again brought the Reds to within two with a solo home run, but a passed ball scored Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Jeff Hoffman closed it out for the win.

Takeaways…

The Blue Jays should’ve cruised to a victory, as they jumped out to an 8-1 lead. José Berríos had other plans, as he gave up five runs (only one earned) in the second inning. That was it for their starter, as the Jays turned to their bullpen.

Dillon Tate pitched a scoreless inning, and Eric Lauer only gave the Blue Jays an inning and a third, giving up two earned runs. Louis Varland looks to be back to normal, as he pitched one inning and two-thirds of scoreless baseball. Seranthony Domínguez gave up a solo home run but struck out two, including the final batter of the inning. Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless inning for his 30th save of the season.

Although pitching, namely starting pitching, wasn’t great in this game, the offence picked up the slack. George Springer hit his team-leading 25th and 26th home runs, his second home run giving the Jays the winning run. Overall, he was 3-4, as was Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Alejandro Kirk had a two-hit game, nearly going to third on his bases-clearing double. Andrés Giménez, Ty France, Daulton Varsho, and Bo Bichette also had a hit. The latter each hit their second home run in as many games, albeit not back-to-back this time.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa made his Blue Jays debut (in stint number two), going 0-3 but scoring two runs. His error in the bottom of the second led to three unearned runs being tagged to Berríos, so that wasn’t great.

With the win, the Blue Jays maintain their two-and-a-half game division lead. Unfortunately, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox each won, meaning with the tiebreaker, the Jays’ division lead remains at 3.5 games.

The rubber match will be played on Wednesday at 6:40 PM ET, with Shane Bieber expected to start for the Blue Jays. They need to win this game to maintain the pace.