The Toronto Blue Jays made an interesting decision on fan-favorite Ernie Clement during their series against the Kansas City Royals.
Toronto won the series opener on Friday night by a score of 9-1 to get back to .500. The Blue Jays are now 1 game back of the Cleveland Guardians for the final Wild Card spot.
Toronto is set to start Max Scherzer on Saturday with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
Toronto Blue Jays Drop Ernie Clement in Lineup
Toronto is set to take on the Royals in the second game of its three-game series on Saturday.
In the second game of the series, the Blue Jays dropped Ernie Clement to the eighth spot a day after he hit seventh.
The Blue Jays lineup on Saturday is as follows:
- B. Bateman CF
- G. Springer DH
- V. Guerrero Jr. 1B
- A. Kirk C
- N. Lukes RF
- K. Okamoto 3B
- A. Giménez SS
- E. Clement 2B
- M. Straw LF
Clement has struggled the last little bit, but he is starting to turn a corner. Yet, the Blue Jays still dropped him in the lineup as Andres Gimenez returned to the lineup.
Clement is hitting .276 with 9 home runs and 46 RBIs this season. However, in his last 7 games, he’s hitting .160 with 3 RBIs and has struck out 3 times.
Clement was a first-time All-Star this year and started at second base.
Toronto Battling for Playoff Spot
The Blue Jays have started to play much better baseball and are now 1 game back of a playoff spot.
Toronto is coming off a series win over the Cleveland Guardians after sweeping the Seattle Mariners. Clement also believes Toronto is starting to play to their level of how good they are.
“We’re gritty as hell,” said Ernie Clement. “If we go down early, we’re not afraid to come back. Right now, we’re punching first, which is something I don’t think we had done early in the season. …
“We’re a really good baseball team. It was only a matter of time before things started clicking and we started playing our game, figured out our team identity, figured out our lineup. There’s been so many moving pieces throughout the whole year. It’s nice to finally have a solid grasp on who we are.”
The Blue Jays are 71-71.
Blue Jays Drop Ernie Clement During Pivotal Royals Series