*Photo from FR24News*
The Toronto Blue Jays have had 3 homes in 3 years. In 2019, they were at Rogers Centre, their proper home in Toronto. In 2020, they played at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. In 2021, after a brief stint at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, FL, they are back in Buffalo at the start of June. The fans helped them out. Vladimir Guerrero Jr homered, Lourdes Gurriel Jr homered, and the Blue Jays have defeated the Miami Marlins 5-1 Tuesday night.
The Blue Jays are back in Buffalo, and, for the first time, they have fans at Sahlen Field to cheer them on. With the continued uncertainty regarding their return to Toronto, Buffalo will be their home until further notice. The players noticed the energy by the fans, which was a big part in their win.
Guerrero Jr was grateful for the fans in Buffalo, saying that "We feel great. The support of the fans here in Buffalo was great. We really needed that. We felt like we were playing home in Toronto. It was great in Toronto. For me, for the rest of my teammates, it felt great."
Guerrero got the Blue Jays on the board with a 3 run homer to left field, making it 3-0 Toronto to start. In the 5th, Starling Marte hit an RBI double and the Marlins got on the board, making it 3-1. In the bottom of the 5th, Marcus Semien scored on a ground out to give Toronto a 4-1 lead. In the 8th, Gurriel cranked a solo homer to left field, making it 5-1 Blue Jays.
Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo said about Guerrero that "He’s locked in. He’s one of the best hitters in baseball right now. That’s not easy to do, what he’s doing right now, especially against a guy like they had tonight. He’s got good stuff, some of the best stuff I’ve seen all year. Vladdy just sees a slider and takes him out to left, then a line drive to right. He’s fun to watch."
Robbie Ray got the win for the Blue Jays, allowing one run on 6 hits and two walks, recording 9 strikeouts in 6 solid innings of work. Tim Mayza then came on to pitch the 7th, then Rafael Dolis came in to pitch a scoreless 8th inning, and Jordan Romano worked the 9th to seal the Blue Jays victory.
Sandy Alcantara got the loss for Miami, allowing 4 runs on 9 hits, striking out 4 hitters in 6 innings pitched. The big blemish in an otherwise solid outing for Alcantara was the 3 run homer to Guerrero in the 3rd inning. John Curtiss and Zach Pop each threw an inning of relief, with Pop giving up the homer to Gurriel in the 8th.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Alcantara's outing that his "Stuff was good, kind of like normal. He made a few mistakes, seemed like some balls that he was trying to go one side of the plate, ended up on the other. He didn't seem to be able to get flat-out all night. Obviously Guerrero's homer was the big blow. Other than that, honestly pretty good."
The Marlins and Blue Jays continue their series tonight, with Pablo Lopez starting for Miami, and rookie Alek Manoah starting for Toronto.
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