CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Toronto Blue Jays broke out the big bats in a five-run fifth inning and rode that rally to a win that evened their spring series with the Philadelphia Phillies at 2-2-1.
Seven straight Jays reached in that frame, all with two out, off Philly starter Aaron Nola and reliever Ben Lively. The inning was capped by an opposite-field grand slam hit into the wind by Darrell Ceciliani.
Here’s what stood out to me about the Blue Jays’ St. Patrick’s Day victory:
LOUP REMAINS ON
Lefty Aaron Loup continued his strong spring by retiring all four batters he faced, two left-handed and two right-handed.
Loup came on in the bottom of the fifth with two on and two out, the Phillies having cut what was once a 7-3 Blue Jays lead in half by scoring a couple of runs off Bo Schultz. The first batter he faced was Michael Saunders, and he got his former teammate to hit a little dribbler back to the mound. Loup pounced on it and fired to second to erase a runner, leaving men on the corners for Cameron Rupp.
The Phillies’ catcher, who had a .993 OPS against left-handers in 2016, hit an even weaker little dribbler back to the mound. Loup flipped it to first to end the inning.
The lefty came back out for the sixth to retire Brock Stassi on a foul pop that Rowdy Tellez dove into the stands to snare. He then got switch-hitter Freddy Galvis on a hard grounder to second before handing things off to Ryan Tepera, who tossed a hitless 1 1/3 of his own.
In five appearances covering 4 2/3 innings, Loup has allowed just one run on three hits, with two walks and four strikeouts, as he continues to stake a claim to a spot on the opening day roster.
WHAT’S MY NAME
Several public address announcers around spring training have trouble with Darrell Ceciliani’s name, but mostly it’s that they stress the first syllable in Ceciliani rather than, correctly, the second one, so it’s no surprise to hear his name being mispronounced.
What was a surprise, though, was to see the Blue Jays’ right-fielder come to the plate in the fifth inning and hear him introduced as Daniel Ceciliani.
Whether or not Ceciliani heard the announcement, he made sure the crowd knew who he was by parking the Jays’ first grand slam of the spring – a line drive to left-centre that cut through a hard wind – into the seats.
Ceciliani had tripled to deep right-centre the inning previous, driving in Ezequiel Carrera, who had walked.
There doesn’t seem to be an opening in the Blue Jays outfield for him, especially with Steve Pearce almost ready to get into action out there, but Cecilaini continues to make a strong impression, just as he did last spring.
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INVISIBLE MAN
Kendrys Morales made his second appearance of the spring at first base and, as he did in his first game, went virtually unnoticed.
Brought over on a three-year deal to be the Blue Jays’ primary designated hitter, some bemoaned Morales’ lack of foot speed and defensive ability, noting incorrectly that he was only a bat, unable to play the field.
With the Kansas City Royals the past two seasons, Morales only played 16 games at first base, but that had far more to do with the great glove and health of Eric Hosmer more than any major defensive issues that he has.
Morales won’t win any gold gloves, by any means, but as he showed again on Friday, he’s perfectly capable of playing first base on occasion without hurting his team. Unlike his first sortie, Morales actually had to make a play during his five innings on defence, hauling in a foul pop with no issue.
For the game, just like his other outing in the field, Morales was pretty invisible in the field, which is exactly what you want from someone who has the reputation – earned or otherwise – of being a defensive liability.
The Blue Jays open up the penultimate weekend of the Grapefruit League schedule by hosting the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. Mat Latos gets the start as J.A. Happ works in a minor-league game. Chase Whitley, the former Yankee working his way back from Tommy John surgery, answers for T-Bay. Jerry Howarth, Kevin Barker and I have the call on the radio and online beginning with the pre-game show at 12:30pm Eastern, with Blue Jays Talk to follow! You can hear it all here.
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