Toronto at Athletics

Toronto at Athletics

This is Missed It. Toronto at Athletics, Tuesday, September 8, 92 and partly cloudy at Sutter Health Park, with the Blue Jays. You missed it? Here's the whole game, as it happened.

Pregame

It's a fresh one here, folks. The Toronto Blue Jays are in town to take on the Athletics. We've got a ballgame ahead of us, and we're just getting started. Let's see what tonight brings.

Innings 1-3

We get underway, and it's a quiet start for our Blue Jays in the top of the first. Four batters come up, and we don't scratch anything across. Score stays zero-zero. Then the Athletics come up, and right away, there's a little tension. No outs, bases empty, and Henry Bolte drops a soft ground ball down to third. Kazuma Okamoto fields it, but Bolte beats it out. A single. That's a little momentum for them, and you can feel the home crowd start to stir. They're trying to get something going early. But we settle in. The inning moves along, and with two outs and two on, Carlos Cortes steps in. He grounds one to second, Ernie Clement fields it, flips to Andrés Giménez at second, and Zack Gelof is out. Force out. Inning over. We get out of it, still zero-zero. Now it's our turn to make some noise. Top of the second, no outs, bases empty. Josh Smith steps in, and he doesn't waste any time. He gets a pitch he likes and sends it flying to right field. That ball is gone. Home run. One-nothing, Blue Jays. The dugout erupts, and we've got the lead. But we're not done. No outs, bases empty again, and now Kazuma Okamoto steps in. He's already made a play in the field, and now he makes one at the plate. He lifts one to left field, and it carries. That's another home run. Two-nothing, Blue Jays. Back-to-back jacks, and suddenly we're rolling. The Athletics come up in the bottom of the second, and they go down in order. Three batters, no runs. We're still up two. Top of the third, we send three batters up and can't add on. Bottom of the third, they do the same. Three up, three down. After three, it's still two-nothing, our way.

Innings 4-6

Top of the fourth, we get four batters up but can't push anything across. Still two-nothing. Then the Athletics come up in the bottom of the fourth, and they're looking for a spark. Two outs, bases empty. Carlos Cortes steps in again, and this time he gets all of it. He sends one to right field, and it's gone. A home run. Two-one. They're on the board, and you can feel the game tighten up just a little. We come back in the top of the fifth, three batters, no runs. They do the same in the bottom of the fifth. Still two-one. Then the top of the sixth, and this is where we stretch it out. No outs, two on. Alejandro Kirk steps in, and he delivers. He singles on a ground ball to center fielder Henry Bolte. Nathan Lukes comes around to score. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moves up to third. Three-one, Blue Jays. That's a big hit, and we've got some breathing room again. The Athletics come up in the bottom of the sixth, and they're trying to answer. No outs, bases empty, and Henry Bolte singles on a soft ground ball to third. Kazuma Okamoto fields it, but Bolte beats it out again. That guy's been a thorn all night. Now they've got a runner on, and you can feel the momentum shifting just a little. But we hold. No outs, two on now, and Zack Gelof strikes out swinging. Big strikeout. Then with two outs and two on, Carlos Cortes grounds out, Ernie Clement to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Inning over. We get out of it, still up three-one.

The Stretch

So here we are, heading into the back half of this one. We're up four-one, and it feels like we've got control. But the play that turned this half was Carlos Cortes's home run in the bottom of the fourth. That cut our lead to one, and for a moment, it felt like they might be climbing back into it. But we answered in the sixth, and now we need to keep the pressure on. We need to hold this lead, keep them at arm's length, and close this thing out.

The Sequence

Top of the seventh, and we're trying to add on. One out, a runner on, and Brett Bateman strikes out swinging. Two outs, a runner on, and Nathan Lukes grounds out, second baseman Donovan Walton to first baseman Jeff McNeil. Inning over. Still four-one. Bottom of the seventh, and the Athletics are fighting. One out, bases empty, and Donovan Walton steps in. He gets a pitch and sends a line drive to right field. That ball is gone. Home run. Four-two. They're within two now, and you can feel the tension in the air. But we don't panic. One out, bases empty, and Alika Williams grounds out, Kazuma Okamoto to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Inning over. Still four-two. Top of the eighth, and we're looking for insurance. No outs, bases empty, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singles on a line drive to left fielder Carlos Cortes. A hit. But we can't bring him around. Three batters, no runs. Still four-two. Bottom of the eighth, and they're trying to rally. No outs, bases empty, and Henry Bolte strikes out swinging. Big strikeout. Three batters, no runs. Still four-two. Top of the ninth, and we get four batters up but can't add on. Still four-two. Now it's the bottom of the ninth. Three batters for the Athletics. They need two runs to tie, one to walk it off. But we hold. Three batters, no runs. Ballgame over.

Wrap-up

Final score, four-two, Blue Jays. We came in, we took the lead with those back-to-back homers, we answered when they cut into it, and we closed it out. It's a win, and it feels good. That's the ballgame, folks. We'll take it and move on.

Outro

That was Toronto at Athletics, from the Blue Jays side. This has been Missed It. Every game, both sides, at missed it dot net. Produced by James Barrett.

Toronto at Athletics

This is Missed It. Toronto at Athletics, Tuesday, September 8, 92 and partly cloudy at Sutter Health Park, with the Athletics. You missed it? Here's the whole game, as it happened.

Pregame

It's a fresh one here at the Coliseum, folks. The Toronto Blue Jays are in town, and the Athletics are ready to get after it. We've got a good one brewing, and we're just about set for the first pitch. Let's see what we can do tonight.

Innings 1-3

We get things started in the top of the first, and Toronto sends four batters to the plate. They don't get anything going, and we're out of the inning. Score stays put at zero-zero. Now it's our turn. Bottom of the first, no outs, bases empty, and Henry Bolte steps in. He gets a hold of one, a soft ground ball that just finds its way past the third baseman, Kazuma Okamoto. Bolte is on first, and the crowd is already buzzing. That's the kind of start we need, a little life at the top of the order. We keep it moving. A couple of batters later, we've got two outs and two runners on. Carlos Cortes is up, and he hits a ground ball to second. Ernie Clement fields it, flips to Andrés Giménez at short, and Zack Gelof is out at second. The inning ends, but we had our chances. It's still zero-zero. Top of the second, and Toronto comes out swinging. No outs, bases empty, and Josh Smith gets a hold of one. He sends it deep to right field, and that ball is gone. Just like that, it's one-nothing Toronto. The crowd goes quiet for a second, but we've seen this team battle back before. And then, before we can even catch our breath, Kazuma Okamoto steps in. No outs, bases empty, and he launches one to left field. That one's gone too. Two solo shots in a row, and just like that, it's two-nothing Toronto. That's a punch in the gut, but we've got plenty of game left. We come back in the bottom of the second, and we send three batters to the plate. Nothing doing. We go down in order, and it's still two-nothing. Top of the third, Toronto sends three more batters, and they don't score. Good, we needed that stop. Bottom of the third, we send three of our own, and we can't get anything going either. We're through three, and we're down two-nothing. It's early, but we need to find some answers.

Innings 4-6

Top of the fourth, Toronto sends four batters to the plate, and we hold them. No runs. We need to get something going on our side. Bottom of the fourth, two outs, bases empty. Carlos Cortes steps in, and he gets a pitch he likes. He sends it deep to right field, and that ball is gone. Cortes with a solo shot, and we're on the board. It's two-one now, and the crowd is back in it. That's the spark we needed. Top of the fifth, Toronto sends three batters, and we hold them again. Good pitching, good defense. Now let's get back in this. Bottom of the fifth, we send three of our own, and we can't get anything going. We're still down two-one. Top of the sixth, and Toronto starts to put something together. No outs, two runners on, and Alejandro Kirk steps in. He hits a ground ball to center field, Henry Bolte is there, but he can't get to it in time. Nathan Lukes scores, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moves to third. It's three-one Toronto now. That one stings, but we've got to keep our heads up. Bottom of the sixth, we need an answer. No outs, bases empty, and Henry Bolte is up. He gets a soft ground ball to third, and Kazuma Okamoto can't handle it. Bolte is on first, and we've got a runner. Then, no outs, two on, and Zack Gelof is up. He swings and misses, strikes out. That's a tough one. Then, two outs, two on, and Carlos Cortes is up. He grounds out, second baseman Ernie Clement to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Inning over. We had our chances, but we couldn't cash in. It's still three-one.

The Stretch

Alright, let's take a breath here. We're down three-one, and it feels like we've been chasing this game since the second inning. The play that turned this half was Carlos Cortes's homer in the bottom of the fourth. That got us on the board, gave us life, and made it a one-run game. But then Toronto answered in the sixth, and we couldn't get anything else going. We need to find that spark again. We need to get back to the bottom of the order, get some guys on base, and make something happen. We've got three innings left, and we're not out of this.

The Sequence

Top of the seventh, Toronto sends four batters to the plate. One out, a runner on, and Brett Bateman strikes out swinging. Two outs, a runner on, and Nathan Lukes grounds out, second baseman Donovan Walton to first baseman Jeff McNeil. Inning over. We held them. Bottom of the seventh, we need a run. One out, bases empty, and Donovan Walton steps in. He gets a pitch he can handle, and he sends it on a line drive to right field. That ball is gone. Walton with a solo shot, and we're back within one. It's three-two, and the crowd is roaring. We're right back in this thing. One out, bases empty, and Alika Williams grounds out, third baseman Kazuma Okamoto to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Inning over, but we got the run we needed. It's three-two, and we've got two innings left. Top of the eighth, Toronto sends three batters to the plate. No outs, bases empty, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singles on a line drive to left fielder Carlos Cortes. He's on first, but we get out of the inning without any damage. Still three-two. Bottom of the eighth, we need to keep the momentum. No outs, bases empty, and Henry Bolte strikes out swinging. That's a tough one. We send three batters to the plate, and we can't get anything going. We're down to our last chance. Top of the ninth, Toronto sends four batters to the plate, and they don't score. We hold them. Now it's bottom of the ninth, we're down three-two, and we need a run to tie it, or more to win it. We send three batters to the plate, and we can't get anything going. The game ends. It's over.

Wrap-up

Final score, Toronto four, Athletics two. We fought, we clawed, we got back within one, but we just couldn't get that last hit. Donovan Walton's homer in the seventh gave us life, but it wasn't enough. We drop this one, and it stings. But we'll be back at it tomorrow. This one's over, and we move on.

Outro

That was Toronto at Athletics, from the Athletics side. This has been Missed It. Every game, both sides, at missed it dot net. Produced by James Barrett.