TORONTO — A close loss by the Toronto Blue Jays was overshadowed by events off the field on Tuesday.
Second baseman Devon Travis and right-fielder Jose Bautista both left the game as Toronto fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2, hours after shortstop Jose Reyes and three Blue Jays pitchers were traded to the Colorado Rockies for shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and reliever LaTroy Hawkins.
Travis was taken out with irritation in his left shoulder between the second and third innings, while Bautista pulled up lame while running out a ground ball to shortstop in the eighth.
"Sixty-one games to go, this is a team built to win, my job is to be in there doing all I can to help the team win," said Travis, who had an MRI later Tuesday night. "Obviously, it’s pretty frustrating. I’ll do anything I can to play through this one, though."
Bautista said after the game that his hamstring and calf started to cramp and he stopped running to prevent further damage.
"If I would’ve run it out I probably would’ve strained it," said Bautista. "But I think I did the right thing. I was for sure out and will be ready tomorrow."
Bautista had addressed the media before the game about the departure of his friend Reyes, who he described as like family to him.
"Sucks letting some people go, but it’s always good to get great players in return," said Bautista in the dugout Tuesday afternoon.
After the loss to the Phillies however, Bautista was clearly upset with how some had interpreted his comments about the trade.
"For the ones playing psychologist over my comments re trade how about this: understand what people try to say, dont let media manipulate you," Bautista said from his verified Twitter account.
When asked by a reporter if he wanted to expand on those tweets, Bautista said he would "leave it at that."
Andres Blanco’s double in the fifth inning scored the winning run as Philadelphia (38-63) won its fifth game in a row. Rookie Adam Morgan (2-2) earned the win, striking out two and giving up two runs over six innings of work. The Phillies bullpen shut down Toronto the rest of the way.
Felix Doubront (1-1) pitched four innings, giving up three runs and striking out three for Toronto (50-51), which lost back-to-back games. Ryan Tepera, Hawkins, Brett Cecil and Liam Hendriks all came in from the bullpen, combining for five innings of scoreless relief.
The Blue Jays’ lineup was in flux after Reyes, reliever Miguel Castro and minor-league pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco were traded to Colorado earlier in the day. Hawkins debuted for the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, but Tulowitzki remained in the United States while he resettled his family.
Travis took over Reyes’s lead-off role, hitting a home run in the Blue Jays’ first at-bat of the game. It was Travis’s first homer since May 3.
"I learned pretty quick that anybody in that lineup can hit a home run," said Morgan. "From then on out I really focused on keeping the ball down and mixing speeds in and out. Luckily it worked out."
Toronto added to its lead in the second when Ryan Goins’s sacrifice fly brought home Russell Martin for a 2-0 lead. Travis struck out to end the second and was then removed from the game with irritation in his left shoulder.
Cody Asche tied it 2-2 for Philadelphia in the fifth with a double over Bautista’s head in right field. That cashed in Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf from second and third base, respectively.
Blanco gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead in the next at-bat, scoring Asche on a double up the left-field line.
Howard reached base to start the fifth inning on what appeared to be a foul ball. The ball looked as though it bounced off Howard’s thigh and hit the dirt inside the batter’s box before bouncing into fair territory.
"He was yelling like he was in pain and I saw the ball but I stopped running because I saw the situation," said Doubront. "The umpires said they saw nothing. I was in shock because I threw the ball and finished the pitch and I saw the ball hit him in the leg."
Notes: Sarah Wells of Unionville, Ont., who won silver and bronze in track and field at the 2015 Pan American Games threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … Announced attendance was 30,516.
