Bats, bullpen slip on lost trip
BALTIMORE— The Blue Jays continue to battle with an offence that is underperforming and a bullpen that is not deep enough to compete in the AL East.
Starter Marco Estrada was only able to carry the game through five innings on Thursday, handing a one-run lead off to a bullpen that was a little shy of bodies on this night, unable to pitch shutout ball over the final four innings with no add-on runs from the offence. The result, a 3-2 loss to the Orioles and one game below .500 on their sevengame road trip.
Even though the ’pen suffered a blown save and the loss, it was the offence that continued to disappoint. The Jays scored two runs in the first inning against Chris Tillman, a pitcher they have handled with apparent ease in the past. But the hitters couldn’t add any more runs and the history of this team is that when they score two or less, they usually lose.
“We played good ball, but we’ve got to dig deep and play like the team we know we’re capable of (being),” Jose Bautista said. “We’ve got to start tagging on more runs. The pitchers are doing their jobs and giving us a chance. Our offence is capable of scoring much more than we have been doing.”
In many cases when a team is struggling, it can be one player that pulls them up by the bootstraps and carries them until the others can follow suit. But Bautista does not necessarily agree that is the way out of the maze. He believes it can also be a group therapy solution.
“We need to get going all together on offence,” Bautista said. “We need to start clicking a little bit more. It doesn’t have to be the guys that are kind of cool (with the bats) now, or the guys that are hot now. (It can be) whoever’s up at the plate with the situation on that particular day. We’ve just got to start grinding and figure out how to come through. We’re all trying, but it comes to a point you feel like you’re good enough and you’ve already won the division last year. It’s time to defend it.”
Manager John Gibbons was trying to coax six outs from ambidextrous reliever Pat Venditte but only got four, leaving the bases loaded and one out. Brett Cecil took over and limited damage in the seventh to one run, tying the game. But in the eighth, Manny Machado looped a fly-ball double onto the right-field line, scoring the winning run against Cecil, who deserved better. Not available out of the bullpen were Drew Storen, Jesse Chavez and Gavin Floyd, with Roberto Osuna only for a save.
“We’ve been playing so many damn close games, there’s really no breathing room,” Gibbons said. “So they’re getting used a lot.”
There has been continuing concern about the Jays’ incredible shrinking offence and one man at whom fingers have been pointing has been catcher Russell Martin, who drew a walk and was hit by a pitch on Thursday, but also struck out twice. He’s batting .130 in 15 games. In his first season with the Jays, there were legitimate reasons to anticipate a slow start and he did just that. The reasons? After signing as a free agent, he had to learn a new pitching staff, to catch R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball, and was at the centre of a media storm in Montreal as a returning hero who had pre- and post-game press conferences for two days just prior to the season.
“I’ve had good starts; I’ve had not so good starts,” Martin explained. “The only difference is that you notice it more when it’s early in the season.”
The series finale at Camden Yards began in crazy fashion for both teams, on a day when the world mourned the loss of the artist forever known as Prince. “Dearly beloved we are gathered here today 2 get through this thing called life,” began the great one on “Let’s Go Crazy.” But all that these two teams were trying to do was get through a crazy first. One frame evolved into a headspinning 40 minutes.
Leading off, Michael Saunders singled and Josh Donaldson doubled. After Joey Rickard robbed Troy Tulowitzki of a three-run homer with a leaping grab at the fence, Tillman then loaded the bases and walked Justin Smoak, forcing in the Jays’ second run. That’s it. That’s all. No more runs this night.
Facing Estrada, Rickard led off with a line drive that Donaldson seemed to glove easily. But it continued through the leather into short left field. The MVP dashed to the clubhouse for a new glove. Machado singled and Adam Jones crushed a line drive to straightaway centre, a ball that usually ends up on a top-10 highlight reel for Kevin Pillar. But this time he broke the wrong way as he headed back, stumbling as the ball one-hopped the wall. It was an inning that could have gone into a death spiral, but a strikeout and a double play ended it.
The Jays finally play a non-division opponent on the weekend, with the A’s at the Rogers Centre.