Toronto finally ended their 6 game losing streak on Sunday in game 3 against the Kansas City Royals, 5-2. Brad Litsch took the mound for the Jays and seemed to be exactly what the doctor ordered. The win makes their record 11-15 but keeps them in last place of the AL East just 3.5 games back from the division leading Orioles.
The offense finally got it together getting double digit hits for the 1st time in 6 games when they faced the Detroit Tigers on April 20th. The exact number of hits was 12 for this game including 4 extra base hits, 2 of which came from Alex Rios. Rios took the leadoff spot for this game going 4-for-5 with a double and a triple and 3 runs scored. His batting average is now up to .330 which is currently a career high. Scott Rolen has also played well since making his comeback from his injury going 2-for-5 including a solo-homer in the 1st inning, 2 RBI and a run scored. He now has 1 homer on the season and 4 RBI. Aaron Hill had a nice game as well going 2-for-4 bringing his batting average to .284 this season. Finally a game we can speak of where Toronto got the necessary hits to take the game getting 2 runs in the 1st, 1 in the 5th to take the lead, and added 2 insurance runs in the 9th making the score 5-2.
Brad Litsch took the mound for the Blue Jays and pitched the most important game of the season so far stopping the 6 game losing streak in its tracks. He worked 7 innings deep only allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned and struck out 4. He earned the win for Toronto bringing his record to 3-1 this season and his ERA to 4.85. B.J. Ryan came in for the 8th getting his 1st hold of the season while striking out 1 in the process. As a strange decision Jesse Carlson came in to close the game for the Jays and did just that recording his 1st save of the season. Gil Meche got the start for KC and had a rough night against Jays hitters. He pitched 6 and 2/3rds innings giving up 9 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk and a homer. He was given the loss for the game bringing his record to 1-4 and his ERA to an ugly 7.22.
A good game for Toronto and it is exactly the kind of game the Jays needed from both the bats and pitchers. If we can see more games like this where both sides come together we will see many more wins roll our way.
