Blue Jays bunch together their hits in a big second inning to blank Giants

Article content

The Blue Jays made the most of their hits on Friday night, while the visiting San Francisco Giants came up empty on theirs with alarming frequency.

Toronto turned double plays in each of the first and second innings behind Chris Bassitt, then bunched together six of their 10 hits to score four times off future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander en route to a 4-0 win as the post all-star break schedule officially began.

The Giants outhit the Jays 11-10, but they couldn’t plate any runs, going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position

The following are three takeaways on a night the Blue Jays won their eighth consecutive home game and widened their lead atop the AL East to three games over the New York Yankees, who lost to the Atlanta Braves.

1. Houston impact

At the bottom of Toronto’s order, one could find Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner, two of the three pieces the Jays acquired at last year’s trade deadline when lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi was sent to the Houston Astros.

Both Loperfido and Wagner have done well since being called up. In the series opener against the Giants, Loperfido hit seventh in the order with Wagner in the ninth hole. Combined, they went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, two runs scored and two walks.

They both featured prominently in the four-run uprising in the second.

With runners on first and second and none out, Loperfido doubled to right to plate the game’s opening run.

After Ernie Clement groundout out, Wagner also doubled to right as Alejandro Kirk and Loperfido scored. Wagner then scored on Nathan Lukes’ single.

2. Ballpark buzz

With so few seats available on the Jays’ bandwagon, tickets are becoming extremely scarce.

By far the best atmosphere for any series was felt when the New York Yankees came to town for a four-game set.
The vibe was quite good Friday, but it lacked that playoff feel.

The game did attract a sellout of 41,339, which should be the norm this homestand, which features two more games against the Giants before the Yankees come to town for a three-game series.

Winning does wonders to a venue’s turnstile and fans have clearly bought into this winning run the Jays have forged, especially at home.

No team in the AL has lost fewer home games than the Jays, who have compiled a 33-16 record at Rogers Centre.

3. Hall of a shame

There were two no-doubt Hall of Famers at the ballpark. At least Max Scherzer didn’t have to answer why he was so bad.

When it comes to Verlander, the evidence was quite clean and painful.

The 42-year-old right-hander has now started 16 games this season for the Giants — and has exactly zero wins attached to his name. The 0-fer streak continued in stunningly inglorious fashion.

Verlander worked around a hit and a walk in the first inning by inducing an inning-ending double.

There was no escaping the carnage he helped create in the second, which began on an infield hit by Addison Barger that went off his glove.

With two outs in the third, Verlander walked Wagner with two outs and would get relieved.

Verlander is as accomplished as they come when it comes to pitching or any other position. Like Scherzer, he’s a two-time World Series champion, but Verlander’s resume is even more acclaimed.

It made Friday’s outing — and his 0-8 record— hard to stomach.

A total of 66 pitches were needed to record eight outs. Nine hits were yielded, no strikeouts recorded as Verlander’s ERA increased to 4.99.

As for Scherzer, Verlander’s teammate for the first time when the two teamed up for the Detroit Tigers, the veteran’s next start arrives when the New York Yankees are in town once the Giants leave town Sunday.

Up next

The emerging Eric Lauer (4-2, 2.78 ERA) will have his hands full Saturday (3:07 p.m. first pitch) when he opposes Logan Webb (9-6, 2.94 ERA) … The Jays’ win streak with Lauer on the mound ended at six when they lost to the host Chicago White Sox 2-1 … Lauer did record seven strikeouts and issued one walk in 4.0 innings … In 125.2 innings this season, the right-handed Webb has recorded 139 strikeouts, while surrendering just 28 walks.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com