CLEVELAND – The last time George Springer had homered was July 7. That changed on Wednesday night against the Cleveland Guardians, but he sure did have to work for it.
The Toronto Blue Jays right-fielder came to the plate in the second inning against rookie left-hander Logan Allen and had the kitchen sink thrown at him. Allen started Springer off with a sweeper that caught the inside of the strike zone and then mixed in all of his offerings. Springer saw one slider, three sweepers, three changeups and six fastballs.
Springer worked a full count, fouled off a total of eight pitches and finally, got a fastball up in the zone and turned on it, depositing it into the left-field stands to give the Blue Jays their only run, helping the club to a 1-0 win over the Guardians at Progressive Field. Right-hander Kevin Gausman spun a seven-inning gem, making the most of the little run support — a theme that’s followed him all season.
The Blue Jays have scored four runs in three games against the Guardians and yet have come away with two wins. It’s a testament to the club’s excellent pitching and Gausman underscored that on Wednesday.
He allowed four hits over seven scoreless frames, striking out six and walking none. It was a classic Gausman outing, featuring mostly fastballs up in the zone and splitters down.
The right-hander improved his American League-leading strikeout total to 183 on the season, while lowering his ERA to 3.04.
Gausman was helped by some excellent outfield defence with Daulton Varsho chasing down several hard-hit balls and Whit Merrifield saving a run in the first inning by diving and fully extending to snag a liner off the bat of Jose Ramirez.
Gausman’s counterpart, Allen, shut down the Blue Jays over the rest of his five innings, as did a trio of Guardians relievers.
The Blue Jays did manage to load the bases with none out in the eighth inning on consecutive singles by Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Matt Chapman. However, Danny Jansen promptly flew out to right-field and Davis Schneider hit into an inning-ending double play that was the result of a pretty diving stab and glove flip by Guardians shortstop Gabriel Arias.
NOTES: Reliever Chad Green will enter MLB’s concussion protocol after being hit in the head on a throw from catcher Tyler Heineman during a rehab appearance with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday night. Green has been working his way back from Tommy John surgery and was close to being activated by the Blue Jays … Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (lower back) was to throw off the mound Wednesday at Rogers Centre. He’ll be re-evaluated on Thursday and the club will determine whether he’ll be activated from the injured list on Friday or sent on a rehab assignment.
