When Jonathan Davis singled on Kelvin Herrera's 0-2 fastball for his first hit in 17 at-bats this season, it seemed like the veteran White Sox righty was in trouble. Then Eric Sogard popped up a bunt for the first out to help Herrera get footing in an inning.
It seemed like Herrera caught another break when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fouled off a center-cut cutter for the first pitch. On his second pitch, Herrera threw a fastball that ran in off the plate on Guerrero.
That's the one Guerrero hit out.
The hitting savant got his hands in and hoisted the fastball well over the White Sox bullpen for a 3-1 Toronto lead. When Jose Abreu's rocket double off Billy McKinney's glove cut the Blue Jays' lead in half in the bottom of the inning, Danny Jansen responded with another two-run shot to left off Jace Fry for the final score.
It was a quiet afternoon before Toronto brought the fireworks. Reynaldo López and Trent Thornton both held the opposition to one run over six innings, although Thornton made his afternoon look easier. He allowed just three hits and a walk, but one of those hits was a leadoff triple by Yoan Moncada, who then scored on Abreu's groundout to tie the game at 1 in the fourth.
López had to work harder for his quality start. His command was shaky at best, and his secondary pitches lacked both location and movement. He generated just six swinging strikes on 98 pitches, and 12 of his 21 changeups were taken for balls. He had marginally better results with his slider, but only one whiff.
In fact, López only recorded one strikeout on the day. At least he picked the right time for it.
López got through three economically, allowing only a McKinney solo shot on a hanging slider. But when Guerrero singled to lead off the fourth, López's start turned into a slog. He walked Justin Smoak, and while Rowdy Tellez and Randal Grichuk popped out and flied out harmlessly, they required 15 pitches between them. López then walked Freddy Galvis on four pitches to load the bases.
Up came McKinney, who watched the first three out of the zone to put López on the ropes. López placed a 93 mph over the middle for strike one, then came back with three high fastballs. McKinney swung at all of them, even though none of them may have been a strike. The last one was definitely out of the zone, and too high for McKinney to handle. He swung through for strike three, and López tacked on two more innings for a decent line against a weak lineup.
Bullet points:
*Evan Marshall threw a 1-2-3 seventh, and with Herrera struggling since the back spasms, Rick Renteria might want to consider flipping them until Herrera gets back on track.
*Tim Anderson went 3-for-4 with two checked-swing singles. He was also caught stealing for the second time all season.
*Moncada also reached base three times -- the triple, a walk, and a pitch off his kneecap. He stayed in the game.
*Charlie Tilson scored the Sox' other run on Abreu's double after reaching on a nine-pitch walk against a lefty to start the eighth.
*Nicky Delmonico went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and was optioned to Charlotte after the game. Eloy Jiménez is back.
Record: 21-24 | Box score
