Estrada’s rough month continues
Steve Buffery Toronto starter struggles again in 8-1 blowout loss to visiting Rays
ATORONTO s the weather heats up, Marco Estrada’s pitching has turned cold. The Blue Jays starter picked up his third straight loss this month in an 8-1 setback to the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night.
Estrada gave up six runs, all earned, in 3.1 innings on 12 hits (a career high), including two home runs. He is 4-5 on the season.
He has now given up 17 earned runs in his last 12.1 innings. It also marked his third loss in a row, having given up 28 hits in his last three games.
Many of the hits off Estrada were bloopers, bleeders or weak shots that found holes in the infield. But he also gave up the two home runs in the third, including a monster three-run blast to centre by Logan Morrison.
The Rays hammered three homers against the Jays — by Morrison, Taylor Featherston (off Estrada) and a ninth-inning bomb to right by Corey Dickerson off Toronto reliever Aaron Loup.
Meanwhile, Rays rookie starter Jake Faria was outstanding in his second career major league start, allowing six hits and one run over 6.1 innings. He didn’t give up an extra-base hit until the seventh inning, when Jays catcher Russell Martin hit a double off the wall.
Estrada survived the first inning without giving up a run, which was a minor victory itself. Heading into Tuesday’s game, he held a 7.62 ERA (11 earned runs in 13 innings) in the opening inning this season with an opposition average of .333 and a WHIP of 1.92. He gave up a first-inning single to Dickerson, but stranded the Tampa DH.
Estrada got out of a jam in the second, courtesy of the pitcher’s best friend, the double-play. With one out, the Jays starter gave up three weak singles in a row. But Estrada got Derek Norris to smack one to Troy Tulowitzki at short. Tulowitzki fielded the tricky grounder before firing it to Ryan Goins at second, who relayed it to Justin Smoak at first to end the inning.
Morrison put the Rays ahead 4-0 in the third after second baseman Featherston led off the inning with a solo blast to right. Featherston was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies Friday for cash considerations. Morrison, in hitting his 18th homer of the season, came up to the plate with Dickerson and Evan Longoria on base and deposited the Estrada offering into the Flight Deck in centre field.
The damage could have been worse if not for a good play by Tulowitzki. Following a double by former Jay Colby Rasmus, Robertson hit a hot grounder to the Toronto shortstop, who went home with the throw to get Steven Souza Jr. in a rundown for the second out. It also saved a run.
The Rays added two more runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead. Longoria hit a double to left off reliever Dominic Leone to score two runners who got on base via singles off Estrada, who was pulled for Leone with one out. The damage could have been worse if not for a fine running catch by Kevin Pillar in centre.
Tampa added another run in the seventh when Rasmus punched a sacrifice fly off reliever Jeff Beliveau to deep centre to score Longoria, who opened the inning with a walk.
The Jays finally got to Faria in the seventh when Martin hit his double and Ezequiel Carrera followed with a single to right to score Martin. That hit snapped an 0-for-17 slump for Martin. Rays manager Kevin Cash pulled Faria and brought in Pruitt.
Toronto had a chance to make it a game in the eighth. With the bases loaded and two out, Martin smashed a grounder off Pruitt that bounced hard off the pitching mound right to Featherston, who fielded it and touched second for the force out.