PHILADELPHIA — Friday’s outcome felt like it largely came down to one pitch.
Sure, the Philadelphia Phillies routed the Toronto Blue Jays 8-0 on a beautiful night at Citizens Bank Park in the opener of a three-game set. However, the momentum of the game hinged on one offering from Kevin Gausman.
That came in the second inning as the Blue Jays’ right-hander faced off against Kyle Schwarber. The Phillies slugger had taken Gausman deep three times in 12 career at-bats and so, you got the sense this plate appearance would be meaningful in one way or another.
With two outs and the Phillies already plating one run, Gausman had the chance to get out of the inning with minimal damage. Schwarber simply didn’t let that happen, though, depositing a 1-0 fastball from Gausman over the fence in dead centre for a three-run shot.
It was his 22nd homer of the season and brought the crowd of 40,596 to a frenzy in what was essentially the death blow of the game.
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Phillies starter Ranger Suarez made sure of that, silencing a Blue Jays offence that has been piling up comeback wins over its recent hot stretch.
Suarez allowed just four hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out seven. The Blue Jays have hit lefties well this season, but the soft-tossing Suarez mixed his six pitches well, keeping Toronto hitters off balance while allowing just one runner to reach second base.
The Blue Jays put runners on first and second in the eighth against right-hander Joe Ross, but Alejandro Kirk popped out and George Springer hit a weak grounder to third to end the threat.
The Phillies didn’t need much in the way of runs and that’s why Gausman’s second inning proved fateful.
In total, the right-hander allowed four runs on four hits over five innings, walking four and striking out seven. The Phillies did an excellent job of making Gausman work and his pitch count of 95 resulted in manager John Schneider having to dip into the bullpen in the sixth inning.
Friday’s defeat snapped the Blue Jays’ three-game winning streak and it was just their fourth loss in the past 17 games.
