Max Scherzer pitches four hitless innings in Blue Jays 1-0 victory over Phillies

Instant Reaction: Max Scherzer pitches four hitless innings in Blue Jays 1-0 victory over Phillies

The Toronto Blue Jays have won two consecutive games for the first time this Spring Training.

On Saturday afternoon, they traveled to Clearwater, Florida to take on the Philadelphia Phillies. It was a low-scoring game, with the Jays coming away with a 1-0 victory to move to 4-8-2 this Spring Training. Let’s take a look a look at what went on in this one.

It took a while, and I mean a while before the game got its first run. Leading off the top of the ninth was Rafael Lantigua, who hit the game’s only extra-base hit with a double. He stole third, and Sean Keys drew a walk to put runners on the corner with one out. Up stepped Jonatan Clase, who grounded out, but was able to beat out the double play for the run to come home.

Exciting game.

Takeaways…

Saturday’s game was a low-scoring affair. Until the ninth inning, the closest scoring play either team had was in the top of the seventh. With Jonatan Clase at third, Yohendrick Piñango stepped up to the plate and grounded out to the first baseman, who got the out there and made a heads up throw to home to tag out Clase and end the inning.

The Phillies’ best chance to score came in the sixth inning, as they had two runners on thanks to two singles, their only hits of the game. Thankfully, the Blue Jays got out of it by turning a double play.

Max Scherzer made the start for the Blue Jays, and oh man did he ever look great. Ignoring the fact that he went four hitless innings with a strikeout and a walk, the 41-year-old’s fastball sat 93.9 mph, and reached a tick just below 96 mph. His six whiffs were also tied for a game-high. With his injury troubles from last year seemingly behind him, it looks as if he could be ready for the season opener.

After Scherzer departed, he left the game with a no-hitter intact. Chase Lee was the first out of the bullpen, striking out a batter and giving up a free pass in a hitless and scoreless inning. The no-hitter was broken up in the bottom of the sixth, as Josh Fleming gave up two hits, but got out of the inning unscathed thanks to a clutch double play.

Lázaro Estrada came out for the bottom of the seventh, generating a flyout, lineout, and groundout. He then returned for the bottom of the eighth, getting a pair of groundouts and a strikeout. Connor Seabold got the save, hitting the first batter with the first pitch he threw, but then he struck out the side.

On the offensive side of things, the Blue Jays got two hits from Daulton Varsho, coming off the bat at 101.1 mph and 104.3 mph. Rafael Lantigua’s double (the lone extra-base hit of the game) had an exit velocity of 99 mph, while Jesús Sánchez’s single had an exit velocity of 109.2 mph. The lone hit that wasn’t considered hard hit was Nathan Lukes’ single, which came off the bat at 93 mph.

The Blue Jays return to action in a split squad game on Sunday. Cody Ponce will start on the road against the Baltimore Orioles, and Kevin Gausman will start in Dunedin in a game against the Detroit Tigers. The road game has a start time of 1:05 PM ET, the home game starts at its usual time of 1:07 PM ET.

Takeaways…

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