Boy, did the Toronto Blue Jays need that.
Coming into Sunday’s contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks amidst a major slump, the Blue Jays’ bats woke up in a big way.
Toronto tied a franchise record with eight first-inning runs, sending 12 batters to the plate, collecting eight hits and walking once.
The Blue Jays had previously scored eight runs in the first inning twice.
They reached the mark against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 26, 2007, and against the New York Yankees on July 14, 2011.
The Blue Jays opened the game with seven straight hits off Arizona starter Ryne Nelson, with the big blow coming off the bat of Kazuma Okamoto.
Coming to the plate with the bases loaded, Okamoto lined a double off the left-field wall, plating two runs. It marked the first Blue Jays extra-base hit of the season and snapped a 1-for-20 stretch with the bases juiced.
The seven straight hits before recording an out also tied Toronto’s franchise record to begin a game.
While Okamoto’s double put the Blue Jays up five, the lineup kept working against Nelson.
After the Diamondbacks righty finally struck out nine-hole hitter Brandon Valenzuela for his first out, Nathan Lukes followed Okamoto’s big swing with a bases-loaded double of his own. It was Lukes’s second knock of the inning and marked the end of Nelson’s afternoon.
Arizona turned to reliever Andrew Hoffmann, who was able to stop the bleeding by getting Ernie Clement to pop out and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to strike out.
from Sportsnet.ca
via i9bet
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