Blue Jays Find Their Way, Crush Padres 14-0
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By Harry Kettle
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Summary:
- Nathan Lukes’ two-run homer on Wednesday led to the Toronto Blue Jays’ 14-0 blowout of the San Diego Padres.
- Daulton Varsho hit a grand slam as part of a 12-run explosion in the seventh and eighth innings.
- Kevin Gausman ruled the game with seven shutout innings.
On Wednesday night in the MLB, the Toronto Blue Jays dugout had one simple mantra: “Just keep swinging it“.
It was the kind of night where everything looked like it might fall into place, and eventually, it did.
Early on, the Jays were making solid contact, including a scorching 112 m.p.h. groundout off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first inning.
However, for a while, despite the good swings, nothing found grass. Then came the breakthrough.
In the fifth inning, Nathan Lukes finally got the Jays on the board with a two-run blast to right, cracking open what turned into a 14-0 blowout over the San Diego Padres.
We all thought it. That’s baseball for you. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit it, it matters if you are able to touch first base. So finally, it happened. Put some hits together and just good things happen.
Jays Erupted for 12 Runs
That homer seemed to open the floodgates. Toronto erupted for 12 runs across the seventh and eighth innings.
Daulton Varsho delivered the exclamation point with a grand slam in the eighth.
Bo Bichette chipped in with a fielder’s choice RBI and then a single that brought in another run. Guerrero Jr. and George Springer each contributed RBI singles.
Jonatan Clase came off the bench to smack a two-run double, and both Addison Barger and Ernie Clement kept the rally going with an RBI double and single, respectively.
Lukes added,
That was the Blue Jays, that was the lineup, those were the hitters that we are. Hopefully, we just keep on running with it.
“Just Keep Swinging It”
Manager John Schneider explained the team’s consistent hard contact during the game kept confidence high.
The vibe is, just keep swinging it. That’s part of the game, sometimes. They had some hard outs too, that kind of kept the game close there. It’s just keep swinging and the runs will come.
On the mound, Kevin Gausman looked like his old self again. After a rocky start against the Rays last week, he bounced back with seven dominant shutout innings, striking out nine and allowing only three hits.
I felt like I had a really good bullpen in between starts and kind of made some mechanical adjustments and some grip adjustments. It definitely showed.
With back-to-back scoreless starts, the Blue Jays may just be hitting their stride. Will their form continue – get the best baseball odds ahead of the action.
