Justin Smoak had himself a pretty outstanding final two at-bats on Tuesday night.
First, the switch-hitting first baseman took Texas Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson to the opposite field and over the wall in left to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth and then in the 10th, he went “oppo” again, driving a Phil Klein offering down the line and out to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 3-1 walk-off win in Game Two of their four-game set with the Rangers at the Rogers Centre.
And oh by the way: they were Smoak’s first two home runs of the season.
This was another game were runs were at a premium, as starters Martin Perez and Marco Estrada were both locked in from the outset and limited the opposing offenses to very few chances. Estrada gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced, second baseman Rougned Odor, but allowed just three base runners the rest of the way before exiting after six, while Perez gave up four hits and three walks over his five innings of work before turning things over to the bullpen.
Toronto had a chance to finish things in the ninth, but their season-long struggle to get a timely hit when it counts once again reared its ugly head.
After Smoak went yard to tie the game up, Kevin Pillar belted a double off the wall in left center and the Jays eventually wound up with the bases loaded, two out and Jose Bautista at the dish. Rather than come up with a single to win it, the All-Star slugger flied out to right and the game went to extras. On the night, Toronto was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base while striking out 11 times.
The big night for the first baseman may be the lead story from Tuesday night’s game, but there were a few other performances – good and bad – that deserve a little attention.
On the negative side, reliever Brett Cecil’s struggles continue as he was brought in to face the lefties at the top of the Texas order – Odor and rookie Nomar Mazara – and both collected knocks off the former closer, who was replaced by stopper Roberto Osuna.
But there was more good news than bad out of the bullpen in this one, as Jesse Chavez continued his terrific work in middle relief, striking out three in 1.1 inning of work and Rule 5 pick-up Joe Biagini delivered two scoreless innings to pick up the first win of his career. After never having pitched above Double-A before the start of the season, Biagini currently boasts a 1.04 ERA through his first six big league appearances.
One more note: prior to the game, manager John Gibbons announced that he was moving to a platoon at second base with Darwin Barney splitting reps with the struggling Ryan Goins. Both are exceptional fielders, but Barney is hitting .281 to Goins’ .160, so it only makes sense to get the former Chicago Cub regular and Gold Glove winner more playing time.
Player of the Game: Justin Smoak
Who else was it going to be? As good as Estrada, Chavez and Biagini were, Smoak was Toronto’s entire offense on Tuesday night and his performance deserves Player of the Game honours.
The former first-round pick of the Seattle Mariners has been hitting the ball well so far this season, but Tuesday night’s three-hit, two-home run, three-RBI effort was easily his best game of the year. Smoak swatted 18 home runs last season, his first with the Jays, but is a career .225 hitter. So far this year, he’s doing 40-points better and if he can keep his average above .250 and continue putting the ball over the fence with some regularity, a career year could be in the offing.
On Deck: Game Three goes down tonight at 7pm ET/4pm PT with Aaron Sanchez (2-1, 2.59) making his first career start against the Rangers, who counter with Colby Lewis (2-0, 3.19), who owns a 3-6 record with a 6.97 ERA in 11 career games against Toronto.
