ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jose Reyes typically exudes positivity even under the toughest of circumstances, yet even the ever effervescent shortstop vented frustration after the Toronto Blue Jays’ latest stinging loss, a 7-5 setback Friday night in which the Los Angeles Angels rallied with three runs in the eighth inning.
Understandably, he sounded like a man sick of what he’s seeing.
“Every time you get a loss it’s tough, specifically when you had a lead late in the game,” said Reyes. “This is August, we cannot allow those games to get away, if that’s going to continue to happen, we’re going to go nowhere, we’re going to be home in September.
“We just need to continue to fight, continue to take it one day at a time. We had an opportunity to win this game, we need to find a way to close them out, one way or the other. It’s tough to play the way we’ve been playing. It’s not acceptable with the kind of team that we have. We’re better than this. Like I said, we’re going to continue to fight, go out there every day and see what happens.”
What may very well continue happening if the Blue Jays don’t get more consistent starting pitching soon is more nights like this one, when an overtaxed bullpen is too worn out to get the job done.
Todd Redmond’s first real blip since joining the Toronto Blue Jays starting rotation July 7 meant he couldn’t make it through four innings and earned him a demotion to triple-A Buffalo afterwards. Brad Lincoln was recalled to take his place with the relief corps mostly used up.
“Nine-man ‘pen, we need a nine-man ‘pen,” said manager John Gibbons, only half joking.
Up 2-0, Redmond hit a wall with two out in the fourth inning, promptly coughed up three runs, left with the bases loaded, and then watched his teammates rally to reclaim the lead only to subsequently cough it up late.
Jose Reyes hit a two-run homer in the sixth to tie the game 4-4 and a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Colby Rasmus later in the frame reclaimed the lead, but things fell apart in the eighth when Steve Delabar surrendered a leadoff double to Chris Nelson, a game-tying RBI triple to J.B. Shuck, and a decisive two-run homer to Kole Calhoun.
“I feel bad because we battled back to take the lead, I come and make a few bad pitches and all of a sudden it switches to the other team,” said Delabar. “We’ve been battling the whole year, we’ve just got to keep battling.”
Like so many others this year, this one really hurt for the Blue Jays, who were caught stealing three times and watched Shuck steal a home run from Jose Bautista. They lost for just the second time this season when leading after seven (37-2).
“It is what it is, we cannot worry about what the starting pitching does,” Reyes replied when asked if there might be more games like this without better starting pitching. “I can control my job, so I know when I come here my job is to help the ball club win a lot of ballgames, I can’t focus on doing the job for somebody else. I come here with the right attitude every day, helping this ball club as much as I can, we just need to continue to fight out there, because it’s not going to get any easier.”
Redmond had pitched well beyond expectations since joining the rotation, with the Blue Jays winning three of his four previous starts, and was in control for three innings before everything unravelled during a fourth he wouldn’t escape.
The big blow was a two-run Chris Iannetta double that Rasmus nearly chased down in left-centre but ultimately was just out of his reach after a long run. An intentional walk to Mike Trout ended his night, and Loup got Josh Hamilton on a grounder to second to end the frame with no further trouble.
“You’ve got to put a tourniquet on that,” Gibbons said of Redmond’s fourth. “Two outs, hit a batter, steals second, all hell breaks loose. We’re sitting there in the eighth inning, it’s not a big lead, but it’s a one-run lead and we feel good about that, and they lowered the boom.”
The Iannetta double came after Shuck robbed Bautista in the top of the frame with a leaping grab over the short porch in left, hanging on to the ball as his entire body fell into the stands. All was not lost, as by virtue of Shuck falling into the stands, Maicer Izturis was allowed to advance from first to second, and he promptly scored on an Edwin Encarnacion base hit that made it 2-0.
While Redmond left the Blue Jays with a second straight truncated outing after Josh Johnson’s 2.1 innings Thursday, J.A. Happ made his third rehab start for the triple-A Bisons, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. The veteran lefty, working his way back from a right knee sprain suffered after taking a line drive off the head, struck out six but wasn’t very efficient with 95 pitches.
Happ’s 30-day rehab assignment expires Aug. 11, meaning he can make one more start for the Bisons on regular rest before he must be activated.
With a hole to be plugged in the rotation now that Redmond is gone, Happ’s path back to the major looks a little bit clearer. Ready or not, whether he’s ready or not, the Blue Jays urgently need him and the rest of the rotation to start doing their fair share.