Mariners edge Blue Jays
Wounded birds struggling to find reliable replacements for injured regulars
TORONTO — Out of position and out of the game. As simple as that. With the injuries to the assorted bodies, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is often forced to put together a make-do lineup, a patchwork of sorts.
It caught up with him Saturday against the Seattle Mariners.
Gibbons insists his club is playing hard and on that he is right. But they are also playing out of position.
Against Canuck lefty James Paxton of Ladner, Gibbons had his lineup stacked with right-handers and that meant Danny Valencia was in left with left-handed hitting Ezequiel Carrera on the bench.
Valencia is a third baseman by trade who moonlights occasionally in the outfield.
Out in right, meanwhile, Chris Colabello has been replacing the injured Jose Bautista (bum right shoulder) for the past few weeks. His best position is at first but in a pinch, like the Jays are now, he can play the outfield.
In the third inning of what turned out to be a 3-2 loss to Seattle, two plays that first Colabello and then Valencia couldn’t make resulted in two runs against veteran Mark Buehrle.
Buehrle is a contact type of pitcher who relies on his defence behind him.
When the defence makes the plays behind him, Buehrle can be successful. When they can’t, he’s in trouble.
On Saturday in the third inning, Colabello couldn’t make the play on a ball that sailed over his head for a double. It was a catchable ball, one that say Bautista makes easily, but Colabello, who is a first baseman by trade and an outfielder out of necessity, got twisted around and couldn’t get back in time.
After Buehrle walked the next batter, Willie Bloomquist followed with a drive to left. Valencia tracked the ball but on reaching the warning track, pulled up and had the ball slam off the wall for a double that scored both runners.
A more experienced left fielder, an everyday left fielder, more than likely catches that ball.
So two balls that should have been caught weren’t and the result was two runs scored.
“I feel like we have the pieces in here,” Buehrle said. “Obviously we have a lot of guys on DL, guys playing out of position, guys that were in the minor leagues that are up here and a lot of guys that are missing pieces from our starting lineup. I feel when we get some of these guys back, get ’em healthy, I feel like we’ve got the pieces in here.
“But when guys are playing out of position, guys are playing hurt, playing through injuries it’s not a good thing.”
Gibbons wasn’t about to badmouth Valencia or Costello, either.
“We’ve got two guys that are infielders playing the outfield and they’ve done a damn good job,” Gibbons said. “That’s basically what it is. They’re gutting it out every day they’re out there and done a good job for us really.”
Ladner, meanwhile, pitched six innings with four strikeouts, allowing two runs for Seattle.
Tom Wilhelmsen and Carson Smith each worked a scoreless inning of relief before closer Fernando Rodney came in to earn his 12th save of the season.
“It’s very cool to be back in Canada, pitching here,” said Paxton. “It’s special to be back in my home country.”