Blue Jays notebook: Inherited runners and Jesse Chavez not a good combo

Blue Jays right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez continues to struggle when he enters the game with runners on base. Lefty Franklin Morales had already surrendered the lead in Sunday’s 12th inning on a Jonathan Schoop single, scoring Pedro Alvarez, when Chavez entered with Orioles on first and second.

Adam Jones crushed his first pitch for a three-run homer to left-centre field. Chavez has allowed 15 of 31 inherited runners to score in 39 appearances, and his ERA now sits at

4.57.

BENCHED: The Blue Jays pride themselves on having potent bats up and down the lineup, but in terms of contributions off the bench they are receiving little help. The current group includes outfielders Ezequiel Carrera and Melvin Upton Jr., catcher Josh Thole and infielder Darwin Barney, who will see more work at shortstop if Troy Tulowitzki is lost for any length of time with a chip fracture in his right thumb. In 105 games, the Jays’ mid-game replacements have combined to go 15-for-98 (.153) with three doubles, three homers and

eight RBIs.

RIPPLE EFFECT: When Tulowitzki left Sunday’s game after taking a pitch off the thumb, Jays manager John Gibbons lost his designated hitter and inserted his pitcher into the fifth spot in the batting order. Josh Donaldson had started as DH — to give him a day off in the field — but when Tulowitzki went down, the AL MVP entered defensively with Barney moving from third to short. Carrera pinch hit for the pitcher and struck out in the eighth. Later, Gibbons made a rare double-switch in an AL park when Upton pinch-hit for lefty Brett Cecil in the 11th and then stayed in to play centre field — with the new pitcher, Morales, taking Kevin Pillar’s spot in the order.

SWEET SIXTEEN: The Jays finished July with a 16-8 record after playing 19 of 24 games at the Rogers Centre. Their team batting average has increased each month: .232 in April, .243 in May, .263 in June and .265 in July. However, the Jays slugged 14 fewer homers in July than they did in June: 33 to 47. They also scored 23 fewer runs, although there were three fewer games because of the all-star break.