Blue Jays get to Phillies closer in ninth for walkoff win

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It was the Blue Jays’ turn to pick things up for Louis Varland.

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The Jays closer has bailed out his teammates on numerous occasions this season, as evidenced by the fact he entered Tuesday night’s game against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies having allowed just one earned all season in going 11-for-11 in save opportunities.

But with Varland being summoned in the ninth inning of a 1-1 deadlock, the hard-throwing right-hander issued a leadoff walk to Bryce Harper, then a two-out double to Bryson Stott down the left-field line to put the Jays down by a run.

Never fear. The Jays battled back in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a thrilling 3-2 victory and set the stage for Wednesday’s rubber match.

And it was the kids again who featured prominently. After Jesus Sanchez reached on an infield single to lead it off, Yohendrick Pinango bounced a ball through the right side for a single, pinch-runner Myles Straw dashing to third.
Daulton Varsho pinch-ran for Pinango and promptly stole second, giving the Jays runners at second and third with none out.

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A wild pitch by Phils closer Jhoan Duran allowed Straw to score from third, before a walk-off single by Brandon Valenzuela — the Jays’ first hit in the series with a runner in scoring position — won it.

Varland (3-1) emerged as the winning pitcher, even though his ERA doubled to .050 with his second earned run allowed.

The following are three takeaways on a rare night when Ernie Clement struck out twice for just the second time this season. The previous double-K came five games ago against the Orioles.

VLADDY LEADS OFF

It has been said that desperate times call for desperate measures.

Sixty-seven games into a baseball season hardly qualifies as a time to press the panic button, but given the sad state of affairs surrounding Vladimir Guerrero Jr., there’s no time like the present to throw things into the blender.

His slug factor is nowhere to be found — of his three home runs this season none have been produced at home — he’s been playing with some kind of cavalier attitude and there’s no denying how lackadaisical he’s been when manning first base or how he hasn’t sprinted down the line.

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Something needed to be done and the Jays felt one way to provide some much-needed spark was to insert him into the leadoff spot.

When he previously appeared at the top of the order, it came on the final game in 2024 when the Jays were about to wrap up their last-place finish in the AL East.

The team is nowhere near as bad this season, but the club has not been playing well and the lineup has been operating well below expectations, in part due to Vlad Jr.

George Springer, Toronto’s incumbent leadoff hitter, wasn’t in the starting lineup Tuesdays.
Springer struck out three times in Toronto’s series-opening 5-2 loss. He’ll probably return to the leadoff role Wednesday.

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On Tuesday, Guerrero, as DH, hit a chopper to the pitcher in his first at-bat. In his second plate appearance, he led off the third inning by hitting a grounder to third base and beat the throw, though, he didn’t exactly run at full speed once he left the box.

A visibly relieved Vladdy threw his arms in the air once he ran through the bag, a predictable reaction for someone who went hitless when the Baltimore Orioles were in town for a three-game series and who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts Monday night.

He flew out to deep left-centre to leadoff the eighth inning in a tie game.

DEALING DYLAN

Having previously pitched on May 24, it was expected Dylan Cease would show some rust when he took to the mound Tuesday.

As it turned out, the only damage Cease gave up came in the first inning when he gave up doubles to Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh.

After that, he found his groove, giving the Jays six complete innings of three-hit ball, a very solid outing featuring 11 strikeouts and only one walk issued.

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SLUGGING SANCHEZ

When it comes to surprises, Jesus Sanchez, Valenzuela and Pinango have been the most pleasant with a strong case to be made also for Kazuma Okamoto.

Sanchez arrived as more of a proven commodity from the Miami Marlins but has been almost every bit the revelation.

On Tuesday, prior to his leadoff single in the ninth, he pulled the Jays even in the sixth inning with a homer off a tough Zack Wheeler — his seventh dinger of the year — and wound up going 3-for-4 and raising his batting average to .296.

UP NEXT

Max Scherzer hasn’t been on a major-league mound since a disastrous outing on April 24 when he gave up three home runs in 2.1 innings against the visiting Cleveland Guardians, who tagged the veteran right-hander for seven runs. Mad Max is scheduled to make his return in Wednesday’s series finale (7:07 p.m.) vs. the Phillies following an injury absence as he dealt with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation; any ball that’s kept inside the park will be viewed as progress; Philly counters with LHP Jesus Luzardo (4-4, 4.56 ERA).

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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