Three things: Joey Votto’s first home run of the season sinks Jays

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This article was published 22/05/2022 (1260 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 3-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at the Rogers Centre on Sunday:

Broken record

It feels as though this is the story of every game, but once again the Jays didn’t get hits when they needed them. Baseball’s worst team at hitting with runners in scoring position got even worse Sunday, going 1-for-10 with men on second or third or both. Especially dismaying is the fact that all of those opportunities came in the first five innings, after which the Jays went hitless. Reds relievers Tony Santillan, Alexis Diaz and Art Warren combined to retire the final 10 batters they faced, and 13 of 14.

The biggest opportunity came with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, thanks largely to two errors by Cincinnati third baseman Taylor Motter. Santiago Espinal flied to centre, too shallow for George Springer to try to score, then Matt Chapman struck out to end the threat.

Two Kikuchis

Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi almost got knocked out of the game in the first inning, but did he ever recover well. The lefty opened the game by walking three of the first four batters he faced, and threw just eight of his first 25 pitches for strikes.

He almost wriggled out of the early jam, but Aristides Aquino got him for a two-out, two-run, ground-rule double down the left-field line to open the scoring.

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Kikuchi hit the next batter to reload the bases, but then got seriously locked in. The portsider retired the next 10 Reds to come to the plate, striking out half of them, before allowing an Aramis Garcia single to open the fifth.

Mimico’s finest

Cincinnati’s Joey Votto, the pride of Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke, couldn’t have picked a better time to belt his first home run of the season.

The towering, majestic shot down the right-field line came in the top of the eighth inning off Yimi García, breaking a 2-2 tie and providing the Reds with the game-winning run.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness