SEATTLE – For months the Toronto Blue Jays planned and shuffled and researched and debated ways to contain Aaron Sanchez’s workload so he could start pivotal games in September, and perhaps beyond. They pushed back starts, acquired Francisco Liriano, ran with a six-man rotation and even optioned their all-star right-hander to single-A Dunedin for 10 days.
The reward for all that manoeuvring started Wednesday afternoon, in the first of three starts against three competitors for a post-season berth Sanchez was lined up for. Facing Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners, his performance went to plan, but the outcome did not, the Blue Jays falling 2-1 when Robinson Cano’s sacrifice fly in a messy 12th inning averted a series sweep.
Jose Bautista put his team on the cusp of a much happier ending to a 4-3 road trip by spoiling Hernandez’s gem with a mammoth solo shot to left field with one out in the ninth off Edwin Diaz that tied the game 1-1. But as they have so often this season, the Blue Jays squandered chances to win the game before R.A. Dickey, their 10th pitcher of the day, took over in the 12th and things came undone.
Josh Donaldson threw away Guillermo Heredia’s leadoff grounder to put the runner on second, and then Ryan Goins fielded Ben Gamel’s bunt and threw to third in time, but the ball popped out of Donaldson’s glove leaving everyone safe. Cano then lofted a fly ball to deep left to seal the victory, an unhappy ending to Dickey’s first relief appearance since July 21, 2012 for the Mets against the Dodgers.
"A lot of things went well," lamented manager John Gibbons. "We just coughed it up in the end."
What stings for the Blue Jays is that missed chances to score in the 10th, when Mariners shortstop Mike Freeman made a diving catch on a Kevin Pillar liner with a runner at third, while in the 11th, the first two batters reached but nothing came of it.
"The play he made on Pillar, that’s the game," Gibbons said of the Freeman catch. "It was a hell of a play."
The loss capped a 4-3 road trip that included two steadying wins before raucous Canadian-filled crowds at Safeco Field after a pair of discouraging losses closed out a four-day visit to Anaheim. The Blue Jays remain a game up on the Baltimore Orioles for the first wild card, two up on the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. The Mariners clawed back within three.
"Tough luck game today but it was a good series overall," said Sanchez. "Our bats came alive (Tuesday). We’re not worried. Every game means something and that’s something that is not new to us."
The Blue Jays have their final off-day of the regular season Wednesday and the break is needed. A four-game series against the New York Yankees opens Friday when Francisco Liriano starts against Bryan Mitchell. Marcus Stroman, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ follow against CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka, the rotation now set at five men for the rest of the year.
"It’s been tough and tough for the other guys, too," Sanchez said of all the juggling. "The rotation has had my back and I feel like I’ve had their back, too. At the end of the day it’s been about what it’s going to take to pitch that game, that day, whether it be on 10 or six or five days rest. To get back to the normal routine we have on every five days is going to be good for all of us."
Pitching for the first time since a blister limited him to 3.2 innings Sept. 11 against the Boston Red Sox, Sanchez was back to his usual self, blistering his fastball over six strong innings while his curveball improved as the game went along. The only run against him came in the third when Jesus Sucre hit a one-out double and Nori Aoki just barely poked an 0-2 curveball to centre for an RBI single.
The Mariners proceeded to load the bases that inning but Kyle Seager grounded out to Sanchez to end the threat and he wasn’t threatened again.
"Obviously after 10 days, it’s always a little odd but the finger was OK," said Sanchez. "Overall, I felt good out there."
Sanchez’s next turn up is in the opener of what looks to be a pivotal series against the Orioles before potentially getting the ball against the Red Sox in the regular-season finale Oct. 2. If that game has no bearing on the standings, the Blue Jays are likely to push him back for whatever comes next.
At this point, barring the unexpected, the thinking is Sanchez should be able to finish out the season with no further limitations.
"We’ll manage it start to start but the gloves have been off all year, so our gloves are still off when it comes to the opportunities in front of him and as long as he’s recovering well and he’s healthy then he should continue to pitch," said general manager Ross Atkins. "There’s just a lot of information in and around that recovery."
Hernandez, meanwhile, buzzed through an offence that experienced a reawakening in Seattle, allowing just two hits and three walks over seven shutout innings.
The Blue Jays really had one chance to score against him and that came in the fourth, when Josh Donaldson led off with a double. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a grounder off Hernandez’s left foot that deflected to Robinson Cano, who threw to first for the out while Donaldson took third.
But Bautista rolled over a changeup for a groundout to third base for the second out while Russell Martin did the same to end the frame.
Justin Smoak led off the eighth with a walk off Steve Cishek but pinch-runner Dalton Pompey was promptly thrown out trying to steal second, and after a Devon Travis two-out walk, Diaz came in, buzzed Donaldson with 98 high and tight, and later struck him out on a chase slider.
Bautista rallied the Blue Jays in the ninth with his homer that drew them level, but the decisive blow once again didn’t come.
"We had chances and didn’t come through and we made some mistakes," said Bautista. "That’s the way it goes. A lot of games left and the position we’re in we just have to finish strong. I think that should be the focus."
Ten games remain, to be precise, and the machinations are over for the Blue Jays, who have their rotation set the way they wanted. Executing the task at hand is all that remains.