Jays flop on all fronts against Sox
Offence abysmal, pitchers walk 10 in loss to Boston
Much of what has ailed the Blue Jays in the early going this season, according to players and team officials, has been their inability to match a good offensive game with decent pitching and steady defence. We just haven’t been able to put it all together, they say.
Well, the last two nights against the first-place Boston Red Sox the Jays have managed neither, falling well short on both sides of the plate.
The Red Sox beat the Jays 3-1 Thursday night, taking two of three to become the first 20-game winners in the majors. So far this young season, John Farrell’s got a dream team to go along with his dream job.
As it was Wednesday night against Clay Buchholz, the Jays managed little offensively while struggling on the mound as well.
Jays starter J.A. Happ battled with his control, walking seven, while Canadian right-hander Ryan Dempster — his first time pitching in Toronto — held the Jays to just four hits through six strong innings.
On the bright side, the Rogers Centre dome was open for the first time this season, allowing the announced crowd of 25,851 to watch the Jays suffer their 19th loss of the season under a clear night sky.
WALKING THE WORLD: Perhaps he was gripping the ball a little tighter knowing Ricky Romero was returning to the Jays’ rotation Friday. Whatever it was, Happ was not at his best. He walked a career-high seven and was pulled from the game in the fourth inning after walking the bases loaded. Jays pitchers as a whole were off the mark on Thursday, combining to issue 10 free passes. “I think there’s a line between not giving in and making quality pitches and I was constantly on the wrong side of that line tonight,” Happ said. “I made it tough on myself, but our bullpen came in and did an awesome job.” The Jays’ bullpen, one of the team’s few strengths to start the season, continues to be overworked. Jays starters are averaging fewer than 52⁄ innings per outing.
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NO OFFENCE: While Brett Lawrie got the Jays off to a hot start with his third career leadoff home run, they mustered little else and for the second night in a row were limited to one run on single-digit hits. The Jays went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, squandering two bases-loaded opportunities and stranding eight baserunners. Lawrie’s homer was the Jays’ only extrabase hit. Melky Cabrera struck out three times, while Emilio Bonifacio concluded the game hitting .171.
GIBBY KEEPS JUGGLING: Jays manager John Gibbons continued to tinker with his lineup, moving Adam Lind up to the second spot in the order, in his latest search for an offensive spark. The top of the Jays’ order has been in a state of flux since leadoff hitter Jose Reyes injured his ankle last month. The slow-footed Lind may seem an odd choice at the top of the order — it was his first time hitting higher than third since 2007 — but he is currently leading the team in onbase percentage and walks. Lind went 0-for-3 with a walk on Thursday. Against leftys, Gibbons said he will use Rajai Davis in the two spot.
FARRELL FUMING: Before the game, Red Sox manager John Farrell responded to allegations made by Sportsnet analyst Dirk Hayhurst that Wednesday’s starter Clay Buchholz had doctored the ball with a foreign substance. Hayhurst, a former major-league pitcher, made the claim on Twitter and on Sportsnet radio, accusing Buchholz — named AL pitcher of the month for April on Thursday — of applying a substance on his forearm, which he then used to slick the ball. Both Farrell and Buchholz denied the claim, saying the substance was merely rosin. “It bothers me immensely,” Farrell said, as reported by MLB.com, calling the claim “unfounded.” “Could be rosin, could be something else,” Hayhurst wrote Thursday on Twitter. “Looked awfully fishy, is all.”