*Photo from AP News*
Alejandro Kirk drove in a run, Ernie Clement homered and had a two RBI day, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Angels with a 5-3 victory Thursday night in Toronto.
Having swept a 3 game series against the Angels out west last week, the Blue Jays kept the beat going with their 4th straight win against the Angels and 8th in 10 games. All they needed this time was a 5 run inning, highlighted by a home run by Clement on a pitch that was all the way up to his eyes.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of the Clement homer "I've never seen that before. I basically just said 'Holy [crap]' with everyone else in the dugout. That’s just elite bat-to-ball skills. It’s kind of a blessing and a curse and he’s swinging a really hot bat right now. That was pretty ridiculous."
It was the Blue Jays who started the scoring, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Kirk doubled to left field to score Spencer Horwitz. Kirk then scored on a single to center field by Will Wagner, doubling the Blue Jays lead to 2-0. Clement kept the inning rolling for the Blue Jays with a two run home run, his 10th long ball of the season.
Later in the inning, the Blue Jays extended their lead to 5-0 as Joey Loperfido scored on a groundout to 3rd base by George Springer. The score stayed 5-0 until the 9th inning, when the Angels ended the shutout bid. Niko Kavadas got his first career major league hit and home run at the same time, hitting a 3 run shot to left field to make it a 5-3 game.
Clement said of his recent success before the game "I finally think I’m turning the corner a little bit and I’m impacting the ball more. I feel more comfortable at the plate. I’m just seeing it a little bit better, so I can get my ‘A’ swing off instead of just trying to hit the ball. My approach is a little more refined now and I can go up there with a plan."
Ryan Burr pitched the first inning as an opener for the Blue Jays before handing it off to Ryan Yarbrough, who threw 5 scoreless innings and allowed 3 hits while striking out 4 hitters. Brendon Little pitched a scoreless inning before Tommy Nance closed out the game despite allowing 3 runs.
Brock Burke started as an opener for the Angels and allowed 3 runs in 1+ innings before Mike Baumann was charged with two runs in one inning of work. Griffin Canning then came on and threw 6 shutout innings, allowing just a pair of hits while generating 6 strikeouts.
Game two of the series is all set for Friday night. The Blue Jays go for their 5th straight win against the Angels behind starting pitcher Chris Bassitt, while Jack Kochanowicz takes the mound for the Angels as they try to even the series.
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