Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Davis Schneider was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on May 25, and a brief stint in the minor leagues might have been just what he needed.
Schneider, who was recalled from Buffalo on Friday, will be seeking his third home run in as many games when the visiting Blue Jays face the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
Schneider hit a solo home run against Boston starter Payton Tolle and added an RBI double as the Blue Jays opened a three-game series against the Red Sox with a 6-1 victory on Tuesday. Schneider went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in an 8-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday.
“I feel like I’m getting back to what I’m good at — swinging at good pitches I know I can handle,” Schneider said. “Even though those balls are up in the zone … I feel I can handle them. So I’m getting back to what I’m good at. Swinging at good pitches and trying not to do too much.
“In the first at-bat (Tolle) threw me a cutter, a changeup and a front-door whatever, four-seam or two-seam. He didn’t do what I was expecting him to do, so I kind of changed my game plan a little bit. Tried to sit a little soft my second at-bat and luckily he threw a change-up.”
Schneider had 60 plate appearances with Buffalo.
“I feel like the mindset never changes,” he said. “You still get to play baseball every day. … Triple A, it’s not the big leagues, but I’m still lucky to be playing baseball every day. I saw it as an opportunity just to work on things and luckily I got called back up at a good time. Here we are.”
Tuesday’s loss had a familiar look to Red Sox fans. Toronto starter Dylan Cease pitched five scoreless innings and Boston failed to score more than three runs for the 38th time in 70 games.
“It’s tough,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “We took four or five walks. Obviously drove the pitch count up and gave ourselves chances. I think we had a runner in scoring position or multiple in each of the five innings (Cease) pitched. We were one big hit away.”
The Red Sox were 1-for-12 with batters in scoring position and left 13 runners stranded.
Boston’s only run came on Jarren Duran’s 12th home run of the season. Connor Wong was 2-for-2 and reached base three times.
“I thought we put together solid at-bats, (but) we couldn’t really get anything going,” Wong said. “(Cease) did a great job. He’s got deception, he’s got stuff. I thought we fought pretty well, we just weren’t able to scratch one in.”
Right-hander pitcher Max Scherzer (1-4, 10.23 ERA) will be Toronto’s starter Wednesday. It’ll be his second start since being activated from the injured list.
A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer is 5-7 with a 5.77 ERA in 14 career appearances (all starts) against Boston.
The Red Sox are scheduled to start rookie left-hander Jake Bennett (1-2, 5.28).
It will be Bennett’s fourth major league start, and his first appearance against the Blue Jays.
–Field Level Media
