Matinee not much fun for the hosts
In a game in which Blue Jays manager John Gibbons needed his starting pitching to go long, Marco Estrada went short. In a game in which the Jays’ big bats needed to come alive, the lumber remained silent.
That, in a nutshell, sums up Thursday’s sad matinee effort in an 8-1 loss to the Angels before an enthusiastic throng of 43,344, including many schoolkids on day trips. They went home disappointed, however, and luckily the clunker was Facebook-viewing only, with very few “likes” to report.
“This is a funk right now,” Estrada said of a streak that adds up to nine losses in 11 games.
“But I think we’re going to be just fine. Every team goes through this. Unfortunately we’re going through it right now. We’re better than this. We really are, whether people believe it or not, I don’t really care because I know we are much better. I know I’m much better. I’m not pitching like it right now.”
The Jays finished off a disappointing homestand going 1-6, including a four-game sweep at the hands of the Athletics on the weekend. The Jays are now a season-low four games below .500 and have arrived at the 50game mark with exactly the same 23-27 record as in 2017, when that April was a disaster and they finished with just 76 wins.
“We’re not putting complete games together and that’s a recipe for not having success,” the team’s best player, Josh Donaldson said. “We always enjoy playing at home, but it wasn’t a very good homestand for us. Maybe a change of scenery will be good. Hopefully that will lead to us winning games.”
In the second inning against Estrada, Japanese rookie sensation Shohei Ohtani led off with a base-on-balls, followed by an Andrelton Simmons double that bounced out of play to left-centre field. Catcher Martin Maldonado then slashed a two-run single to left and the Jays fell behind and trailed for good.
The free-swinging Angels added a run on a single by Albert Pujols in the third and then made it a four-run lead in the fifth on a leadoff home run by Mike Trout that bounced off the top of the fence in left-centre over a leaping Dwight Smith Jr.
Smith Jr. slammed his first major-league home run into the visitors bullpen behind the right field fence in the sixth. The Jays continued to go with a three-man bench, using all eight of their relievers over the final two games of the series.
The Angels received 22 outs from their starter right-hander Nick Tropeano, as he allowed just one run through 71⁄ in3 nings.
Right-hander Deck McGuire came in to finish the game for the Jays. The Angels elite trio of Trout, Pujols and Ohtani combined for five hits, two homers, two doubles and three walks.
The schedule does not get easier for the Jays as they embark on a nine-game, 10-day road trip to Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit.