TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:
THE LATEST: The Blue Jays scored three runs in the top of the 9th but allowed four in the bottom half before eventually falling, 8-7, in 10 innings to the Dodgers last night… Were walked off for the 5th time this year and 2nd time on this road trip (July 21 at SEA)…Lost for just the 3rd time this year when leading after eight innings (now 47-3)…Are now 7-6 in extra-inning contests, playing extras in back-to-back games for the 3rd time this season (April 29-30 vs. SEA and May 20-21 vs. BAL)…Have played four one-run games on this road trip (1-3 in those games)…Hold a .586 win% (17-12) in one-run contests, 2nd best in the AL (BAL – .655).
Toronto has still won 11 of its last 17 games and has gone 30-21 over its last 51 contests…Its .588 win% over that span (since May 26) is the highest in the AL (2nd: BAL – .569)…Can improve to 10-8-0 in road series with a win today…Have gone 8-4 in rubber games so far this season.
BO UNDER THE BIG LIGHTS: Bo Bichette connected for a two-run homer to left in the 3rd inning last night…Marked his 17th longball of the year, tying him with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the team lead…Was also his 3rd dinger in five career games at Dodger Stadium. The two-time All-Star also singled twice and doubled to finish 4-for-6…Was his AL-best 5th game with 4+ hits, one back of Luis Arraez (6) for the most in MLB, and one back of Shannon Stewart (6 in 2000) for the most in team history…Currently leads the AL with 134 hits, 13 more than any other batter in the junior circuit, trailing only Arraez (139) for the most in the Majors…Among AL hitters, ranks 3rd in AVG (.312), 3rd in total bases (210), 11th in SLG (.490), and 12th in extra-base hits (41).
DANNY DRIVES ‘EM IN: Danny Jansen came into last night’s game as a pinch-runner in the 8th inning and ended up clearing the bases in the 9th with a bases-loaded double…Now has 44 RBI on the year, tying his career high from last season…His 4.55 AB/RBI rate for the year is 4th best among AL batters (min. 200 AB)…His 22 RBI in the 7th inning or later are tied for 7th most in the AL…Has gone 21-for-73 (.288) with five doubles, six homers, and 18 RBI over his last 26 games for a .603 SLG and a .953 OPS.
KEEPING IT 1,000: Whit Merrifield played in his 1,000th career game last night…Batted leadoff for the 2nd time this season… Doubled and came around to score in the 1st inning… Has reached base safely in 15 of his last 16 contests with a plate appearance while hitting .365 (23-for-63) with two doubles, four home runs, and 12 RBI (.984 OPS)…Is now batting .297 on the season, good for 7th among AL hitters.
VLAD HABITS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled and walked twice last night…Has gone 26-for-101 (.257) over his last 26 games, including six doubles, eight homers, and 23 RBI for an .888 OPS…Has recorded an AL-leading 177 hard-hit balls (95+ MPH) this season (2nd: Kyle Tucker – 158).
WORKING OUT WEST: The Blue Jays are at the end of a six-game, six-day road trip to the left coast (2-3 so far)…Own a 29-26 road record this season for a .527 win%, 3rd best in the AL…Will have the day off tomorrow and then begin a seven-game homestand with three games vs. the Angels (52-49) and four against the Orioles (62-39). Blue Jays hitters rank 3rd among AL clubs in road AVG (.260), 3rd in road OBP (.327), 4th in road SLG (.422), and 5th in road OPS (.748)…The pitching staff ranks 10th in the AL in road ERA (4.29), 11th in road WHIP (1.34), and 13th in road opponents’ AVG (.259).
KIRK CLICKING: Alejandro Kirk doubled in a run in the 8th inning last night…Has hits in each of his last four starts, going 9-for-16 (.563) with a double, a homer, and three RBI.
STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM: Kevin Kiermaier recoreded his 13th double and drew a walk to go 1-for-3 with a run scored last night…Has recorded 60 hits while batting 9th, the most in the Majors (2nd: Michael Harris II – 57)…Is 13-for-40 (.325) with two doubles, a homer, and five RBI across his last 14 games played (.841 OPS).
THE NEXT CHAPTER OF GÉNESIS: Génesis Cabrera picked up his 1st hold in a Blue Jays uniform as he tossed scoreless 6th and 7th innings last night (H, 3K)…Has pitched in the last two games for Toronto, combining for 3.0 run-free innings with one hit, no walks, and four strikeouts.
STARTING SOMETHING: Toronto pitchers have combined for 47 quality starts, tied for 4th most in the Majors…The starting rotation ranks 3rd in MLB in strikeouts (581), 6th in innings pitched (557.1), 7th in ERA (3.91), and 8th in opponents’ average (.243).
HITTING IT: Toronto batters have notched 918 hits this season, 3rd most in MLB…Are currently 3rd in the AL in team AVG (.262), 4th in OBP (.331), 5th in OPS (.749), 6th in SLG (.417), and 7th in extra-base hits (308).
INTERTAINMENT: Toronto is playing its 11th interleague series of the year…Has gone 21-10 vs. NL clubs so far…The .677 win% in interleague games is the best among MLB teams (2nd: MIA – .645)…Has set a club record with the 21 wins vs. NL clubs (14 in 2021). The Blue Jays have hit 670 home runs all-time in Interleague Play, the most among all 30 teams (2nd: NYY – 643).
VS. THE DODGERS: All-Time: 8-15
2023: 1-1 Road: 4-7
Road: 1-1 Dodger Stadium: 4-7
The Blue Jays are meeting the Dodgers for the first time since 2019, when they were swept in a three-game series at Chavez Ravine…Have gone 8-15 all-time vs. the Dodgers for a .348 win%, their lowest vs. any opponent (.421 vs. NYM).
George Springer is 7-for-31 (.226) with three doubles, two home runs, and five RBI across his nine career games played against the Dodgers (.830 OPS).
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette visited Dodgers Stadium as rookies in 2019…Guerrero Jr. went 5-for-7 with a solo homer and three walks across the three game series, while Bichette finished 3-for-13 with a pair of solo home runs.
Brandon Belt leads all current Blue Jays with 149 career games played vs. his former division rival… Has hit .237 (116-for-489) with 30 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs, 64 RBI, and 71 walks (.744 OPS).
STARTING PITCHER – Yusei Kikuchi, LHP #16
TODAY’S GAME:
Making his 21st start of the season and his 12th on the road…Took a no-decision his last time out, on 7/21 at SEA, tossing 5.1 shutout frames with 5 hits, a walk, and 8 strikeouts…Marked his 4th scoreless outing of the season…Has pitched into the 5th inning in all 20 starts this year, the only Blue Jay starter to do so.
Has surrendered 2 runs or fewer in 8 of his 10 starts since 5/30, posting a 3.29 ERA (19 ER/52.0 IP) with 17 walks and 60 punchouts…Over that span, ranks 8th among AL hurlers in ERA.
2023 HIGHLIGHTS:
Gave up 2R/1ER over 4.2 innings on 7/16 vs. ARI, allowing 2 hits and 3 walks with 4 strikeouts. Earned his 7th win of the season on 6/25 vs. OAK, tossing 7.0 frames of one-run ball with 2 hits, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts…Marked his longest outing as a Blue Jay. Faced one batter over the minimum on 6/20 at MIA, tossing 6.0 shutout innings with 2 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts on 87 pitches (57 strikes)… Marked his 3rd scoreless start of the season. Took a no-decision on 6/4 at NYM, giving up 2 runs over 5.0 innings with 4 hits, a walk, and 8 strikeouts…Induced a season-high 19 swing-and-misses. Improved to 6-2 on 5/30 vs. MIL, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and a seasonhigh 5 walks over 5.0 frames with 4 strikeouts…Punched out Joey Wiemer in the 4th inning for the 500th strikeout of his career…Became the 9th Japanese-born player to record 500 strikeouts and 500.0 innings pitched in the Majors. Shouldered the loss on 5/24 at TB, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks over 5.0 frames with 5 strikeouts…The outing was his 100th career start, becoming the 11th Japanese-born player to reach the century mark. Earned his 3rd win of the year on 4/21 at NYY, tossing 6.0 frames of one-run ball with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts…Has back-to-back starts of 6.0+ innings and 0-or-1 runs allowed for the first time since 6/18-25 of his 2021 All-Star campaign. Improved to 2-0 on 4/15 vs. TB, throwing 6.0 innings of one-run ball with
4 hits, a walk, and a season-high 9 strikeouts…Marked his most punchouts in a single game as a Blue Jay…Completed 6.0 frames for the 1st time since 6/30/22 vs. TB.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?: The Dodgers rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to tie the game at 7-7 and then walked it off in the 10th frame on James Outman’s RBI double that scored Chris Taylor. Los Angeles improved its extra-innings record to 4-4 on the season and is now in position to win its sixth consecutive series with a win this afternoon. The Dodgers continue their nine-game homestand (1-1) today with a 1:10 p.m. matinee finale against the Blue Jays, before an off day tomorrow and then a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds this weekend. Following another off day on Monday, the Boys in Blue close out the stand with three games against the Oakland Athletics (Aug 1-3). The Dodgers hold a 4.0-game lead over Arizona and San Francisco in the National League West and have held a share of first place every day since the All-Star break. The Dodgers have the best home record in the NL at 30-17 (.638), just ahead of Atlanta (32-19, .627).
WE WERE NEVER OUT, MAN: Facing a 7-3 deficit in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers staged a furious rally consisting of five hits and a walk that tied the contest up at 7-7. It was only fitting that James Outman won the game with the first walk-off hit of his career as the rookie outfielder went 3-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base, a run and an RBI double. According to STATS, he’s the only MLB rookie in the modern era to go 3-for-3 or better with multiple walks, a stolen base and a walk-off hit in a game. The last time any player did that was Sept. 26, 1998 when Rickey Henderson accomplished the feat vs. the Angels. Elsewhere, J.D. Martinez blasted his 25th home run of the season in the eighth frame, making the Dodgers the only team in baseball boasting three players (Mookie Betts-27, Max Muncy-25 and Martinez) with 25 or more home runs. On the mound, Brusdar Graterol won his fourth game of the season after working a scoreless 10th and Julio Urías posted his third quality start (6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 5 K) in his last four outings. The last time the Dodgers won a game where they scored four runs or more in the ninth inning to send the game to extra-innings was Sept. 18, 2006 vs. the Padres, the infamous 4+1 game. Outman is slashing .310/.437/.500 in 18 July games.
OH, CANADA: The Dodgers are 15-8 all-time vs. the Blue Jays and have won nine of their last 11 vs. Toronto since 2013. This series marks the first meeting between the two clubs since the Jays paid a visit to Dodger Stadium in 2019 and were swept. Los Angeles is 18-12 (.600) in Interleague play this year and over the last 10 seasons, the Dodgers have the highest winning percentage (.619) in Interleague play with a 130-80 record, ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (127-86, .596).
BIG BOPPIN’ BETTS: All-Star Mookie Betts went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored last night and is slashing .353/.467/.765 with eight homers, 21 RBI and 23 runs scored in his last 22 games. Betts ranks third in the NL in home runs with 27 while ranking fifth in slugging (.562), third in OPS (.939) and third in runs (80). Since May 1, the 2018 American League MVP is hitting .290 (81-for-279) with 23 homers, 57 RBI and .996 OPS. During that span, he is tied for third in the Majors in homers, third in runs (63), third in OPS, sixth in RBI and fourth in extra-base hits (42).
STEADY FREDDIE: Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored, while hitting his 21st homer of the season, a solo shot in the first frame that started the Dodgers scoring. In just 100 games, Freeman has already matched his home run total from a season ago. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Freeman is the 1st player in Dodgers history with at least 20 HR and 35 2B before the end of July. Freeman is tied with Ronald Acuña Jr. for the most runs scored in the Major Leagues with 87 and also leads the Majors with 35 doubles, is second with 58 extra-base hits and is tied for second with a .328 average. Freeman’s career best in runs scored is 120, established in 2021. Freeman has reached base safely in 25 straight games since June 24 and during that time he is slashing .356/.444/.683 with 18 extra-base hits, 24 RBI and 27 runs scored. His career-long on-base streak is 46 games, set in 2016.
PROVIDING THE POP: The Dodger offense continues to be at the top of the Major Leagues in various categories, including walks (426, 1st), runs per game (5.69, 2nd), extra-base hits (364, 3rd), home runs (166, 2nd), slugging percentage (.456, 3rd) and OPS (.792, 3rd).
SHOWTIME: The Dodger bullpen allowed four runs in 4.0 innings last night, but still owns a 2.41 ERA (19 ER/71.0 IP) over the last 17 games since July 3, which ranks second in baseball. Caleb Ferguson saw his scoreless innings streak end at 14.2 last night, but right-hander Yency Almonte hasn’t allowed an earned run since June 14, a span of 15 appearances (14.2 IP). Since May 20, Almonte owns a 1.09 ERA (3 ER/24.2 IP) with 29 strikeouts and a 0.81 WHIP in 25 games.
EL JEFE: On this date in 1998, former Dodger broadcaster Jaime Jarrín entered the broadcast wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame alongside fellow 1998 Inductee, the late Dodger hurler Don Sutton. Jarrín retired last year after 64 seasons behind the microphone.
TODAY’S STARTER vs. BLUE JAYS: RHP TONY GONSOLIN (5-3, 3.94 ERA in 15 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
- In his last start against the Rangers on July 21, he hurled 5.0 innings, giving up two hits, four runs, one homer and three walks while punching out six…did not factor in the decision
- 2022 All-Star got his first win of the season on May 14th against San Diego after firing five scoreless innings and giving up two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts
- In his rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on April 20th, he hurled three innings, allowing one hit, two earned runs, two walks while sitting down seven
- Made one Spring Training start, tossing 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out two
- Gonsolin is 31-9 in his career and is tied for the second fewest decisions all-time among pitchers to reach 30 victories. In addition, his 27-6 (.818) record as a starter is the best in the modern era through 60 games started.
VS. BLUE JAYS:
- Will face Toronto for the first time in his career
