The Toronto Blue Jays ended the fall baseball season early.
Toronto lost 0-2 in the second game of the American League wild card game (best of 3) against the 2023 Major League Minnesota Twins held at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA on the 5th (Korean time). Toronto, which suffered two consecutive losses, failed to advance to the division series.
This time, Toronto failed to overcome the wild card series barrier. The same was true in 2020 and 2022. Toronto suffered a total loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020 when Ryu Hyun-jin joined, and bowed to two consecutive losses to the Seattle Mariners in 2022. And this year was also a blow to Minnesota, which had not had a postseason victory in the past 19 years.
Toronto brought on itself defeat due to the incomprehensible mound management of the coaching staff, including coach John Schneider. He did a great job of knocking out starting pitcher Jose Berrios in three innings. And Yusei Kikuchi was put up, but he immediately conceded and lost the lead. They fought hard on the mound and allowed as few runs as possible, but due to the batters’ sluggish performance, they lost the game.
On the other hand, Minnesota’s Sonny Gray kept the mound with 5 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, and no runs in 5 innings, and in the batting lineup, Jorge Polanco went 2 hits in 3 at bats and Carlos Correa also went 2 hits in 3 at bats and had 1 RBI. He led the attack by hitting multiple hits. Minnesota faces the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series.
◆ Starting lineup
Toronto is George Springer (right fielder) – Brandon Belt (designated hitter) – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (first baseman) – Bo Bichette (shortstop) – Cavan Biggio (second baseman) – Alejandro Kirk (catcher) – Kevin Kiermaier The lineup was formed in this order: (center fielder) – Matt Chapman (third baseman) – Dalton Basho (left fielder). The starting pitcher is Jose Berrios.
In response, the Minnesota Twins had Eduard Julien (second baseman) – Jorge Polanco (third baseman) – Royce Garcia (designated hitter) – Max Kepler (right fielder) – Alex Kirlov (first baseman) – Carlos Correa (shortstop) – Matt Wallner ( Left fielder) – Ryan Jeffers (catcher) – Michael A Taylor (center fielder). The starting pitcher is Sonny Gray.
◆ Berios, who was cruising, made an early and strong performance… Toronto bench
starting pitcher Berrios, who brought the loss upon himself, stayed on the mound without allowing a run for three innings. The game started off well by striking out starting pitcher Julien in the first inning. Afterwards, he was hit by a heavy hit from Polanco, but he stole a double play from Lewis and ended the inning without allowing a run.
It was like that in the second inning too. Berrios quickly increased the number of outs by striking out leadoff hitter Kepler on a grounder to third base and Kirillov on a missed swing. Although he got an infield hit from Correa, he caught Wallner with a line drive to first base and recorded the final out of the inning.
Berrios allowed himself on base in the third inning, but continued pitching scoreless runs. He struck out Jeffers and Taylor in succession. And although Julien hit a left-field hit, he struck out Planco and cruised along.
Berrios was on the mound in the fourth inning. He gave up a walk to leadoff hitter Lewis. It was a close battle with 8 pitches, but we were unable to get an out. Then the Toronto bench moved. Coach Schneider criticized Berrios early. Although he was a starting pitcher who was pitching without allowing any runs, he seemed to have judged that he was shaky after giving up a walk. Coach Schneider made the decision to promote Kikuchi instead of Berrios.스포츠토토
Toronto took out the Kikuchi card. It came back with a handshake. Kikuchi gave up an infield single to the first batter, Kepler, and a walk to Solano, leaving the bases loaded. And he gave up a run after hitting an RBI single to left field by Correa. Castro was treated as a double play toward the shortstop, but could not prevent the runner on third base from hitting home. Kikuchi finished the inning without allowing any additional runs, but lost the lead.
◆ Guerrero Jr. threw cold water on the bases loaded and Chapman threw away a chance to load the bases.
Toronto had a hard time attacking the opposing starting pitcher, Gray. Then, in the 5th inning, when we were down 0-2, we had a golden opportunity. Leadoff hitter Basho was caught with a ground ball to first base, but Springer continued the opportunity with a hit to right. Belt struck out, but Guerrero Jr. walked again. During Bissett’s at-bat, opposing pitcher Gray threw a wild pitch, resulting in runners on second and third base with two outs.
A situation where one hit is enough to tie the game. Guerrero Jr.’s base hit came out. Guerrero Jr. was tagged out due to Gray’s check on second base. I tried to twist my body to hit the base, but I couldn’t avoid second baseman Julien’s glove. Guerrero Jr. immediately requested a video review, but the ruling did not change.
There was a chance in the 6th inning as well. Toronto struck out Bichette, but had a chance to load the bases with back-to-back hits from Biggio and Kirk and an infield hit from Kiermaier. A situation in which even a come-from-behind runner went out. Chapman came to bat. However, Chapman hit an infield ground ball toward the shortstop, and it was caught as a double play.
◆ Unlike Toronto, Minnesota took full advantage of the opportunity, and the scoreless pitching continued.
Minnesota had a hard time attacking the Toronto mound, but took advantage of just one chance. In the fourth inning, leadoff hitter Lewis set the table by walking Berrios and getting on base. Kepler got an infield hit off pitcher Kikuchi, and Solano walked, leading to a bases loaded opportunity. And Correa scored the first run with a timely hit to left-center. Castro, the follow-up hitter, was caught in a double play toward the shortstop, but Kepler, the runner on third base, hit home and scored an additional point.
The mound did a good job of protecting the batting lineup’s precious scores. Starting pitcher Gray shut down Toronto’s batting lineup with no runs until the fifth inning. And Louis Balland, Caleb Tilba, Brock Stewart, Griffin Jacks, and Joan Duran took the mound one after another and finished the game without allowing a run.
◆ Will Toronto’s postseason end early, will the journey with Ryu Hyun-jin end like
this? Toronto reached the postseason stage again this time, but was eliminated in the wild card series. As a result, Ryu Hyun-jin’s dream of playing fall baseball this season did not come true. Ryu Hyun-jin, who underwent a long rehabilitation tunnel after undergoing elbow ligament joint surgery (Tommy John surgery) last year, has expressed his desire to pitch in the postseason, saying, “I want to be with Toronto until the end.” However, Ryu Hyun-jin was unable to stand on the mound as Coach Schneider excluded Ryu Hyun-jin from the 26-man entry for the wild card game.
Regarding the reason for excluding Ryu Hyun-jin from the wild card list, Coach Schneider said, “Ryu Hyun-jin is preparing to pitch if we advance to the division series. Since he is a veteran, I think he will understand the team’s situation.” He said, “I hope Toronto can continue to play in the postseason. I hope Ryu Hyun-jin comes back and helps then,” and said he will use Ryu Hyun-jin in the division series. However, Toronto ended the postseason early, so Ryu Hyun-jin was unable to perform on the fall stage.
Ryu Hyun-jin’s contract with Toronto has ended. In 2020, Ryu Hyun-jin signed a four-year, $80 million free agent contract and wore a Toronto uniform. He was unable to play many games due to injury, and went 24-15 with a 4.04 ERA for Toronto.
Local media predicts that Ryu Hyun-jin and Toronto’s association will end. When Ryu Hyun-jin performed poorly against Tampa Bay on the 1st, allowing 7 hits and 2 runs in 3 innings, there were media reports saying, “This game will be Ryu Hyun-jin’s last appearance in Toronto.” Attention is focused on whether Ryu Hyun-jin, whose contract with Toronto has expired, will be able to play in the major leagues next year.