Rockies pitchers combine on a tidy 25-hitter as Blue Jays romp in Mile High opener
One pitch into the evening and one could sense this was going to be a game the Blue Jays began to clear the stench of a recent stretch that saw them drop six of their previous eight.
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Nathan Lukes lashed Tanner Gordon's first offering to centre for a double and the hit parade was on — 25 in all, as the Jays pounded the Rockies 15-1 to maintain their three-game lead on the Boston Red Sox atop the AL East.
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Monday night's game was played at Coors Field in Denver, where no lead, even the most lopsided, is ever safe, as evidenced last Friday when the Rockies trailed the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1 before storming back for a 17-16 walk-off win.
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♦ Through three innings, they had compiled 12 hits and nine runs, while striking out but once.
♦ By the fourth, every Toronto starter had recorded a hit. By the eighth, every Jays starter — except for Vlad Guerrero Jr., who went 1-for-5 — had a multi-hit game.
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♦ By game's end 11 different Jays batters had recorded a hit.
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♦ Ernie Clement went 5-for-6 for his first career five-hit game while Lukes, Joey Loperfido and Bo Bichette had three hits apiece.
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The 25-hit barrage did fall short of the team record of 29, set in July of 2022 in a 28-5 pasting of the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
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The litany of hits, however, shouldn't overshadow how well the Jays played defensively — especially in the outfield, where Daulton Varsho and Lukes made highlight-reel catches — and how starter Eric Lauer pitched. The lefty was his usual efficient self, allowing one run in six innings on seven hits and a walk. He struck out four.
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The Jays needed a break in the schedule and were afforded one, facing the Rockies (30-82) in the opener of a three-game series, which will be viewed as successful only if a sweep is achieved.
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The following are three takeaways on a night the Blue Jays hit three home runs — two by Bichette — and Varsho's first since his recent return from the injured list, coming in a seven-run third inning
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