A final dress rehearsal for Shane Bieber went according to the plan.
The Toronto Blue Jays‘ key deadline acquisition picked up four strikeouts over seven innings of work during his final rehab start with triple-A Buffalo on Friday.
Bieber got up to 90 pitches — a season-high— with 64 strikes. Manager John Schneider announced earlier this week that the plan was for Bieber to try for 85 in his final appearance as the right-hander is working back from Tommy John surgery.
George Springer, also appearing in his final tune-up game, crushed a solo homer to right field on a 1-0 offering to give the Bisons a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
Springer hit the 7-day concussion injured list on Aug. 1, after being hit on the head by a pitch a few days earlier and is showing no signs of rust with an extra-base hit during both his games in Buffalo.
The pair of all-stars will head for Toronto after the contest, Schneider told reporters Friday, where the Blue Jays are in the midst of facing the Texas Rangers in a three-game set at home.
Next step will be determining how to deploy Bieber into the Blue Jays’ rotation. Schneider stated ahead of the game they would like to try and keep him on turn which would line him up for his debut next week in Pittsburgh.
