Blue Jays Takeaways: Anderson cruises then falters in loss to Twins

Brett Anderson issued his first walks as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday (Jim Mone/AP)

The Toronto Blue Jays lost the opener of their four-game series against the Minnesota Twins Thursday, as Byron Buxton continued his breakout season with a walk-off homer in the 10th inning.

Buxton, who also walked and singled Thursday, sent a Luis Santos offering deep into the left field seats with two outs in the 10th, as the Twins maintained their hold on the second American League wild card spot. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, took another tough loss.

Here are some things that stood out to me over the course of the evening…

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SMOAK STEPS UP
With the Blue Jays down to their last out in the ninth inning, Justin Smoak hit his 38th home run of the season to tie the game 2-2.

It was just the second home run of the month for Smoak, but he still ranks 20th among all qualified hitters with a .911 OPS.

ANDERSON IMPRESSES, THEN FALTERS
Brett Anderson cruised through four scoreless innings, but he didn’t make it out of the fifth. After retiring Jason Castro on a groundout to open the inning, he walked three consecutive hitters then allowed a two-run single to Jorge Polanco.

Considering that Anderson entered the start having walked zero hitters in his three starts with the Blue Jays, those consecutive free passes stand out. As he exited the game, the left-hander glanced toward his fingers in apparent discomfort, an indication he was having trouble gripping the baseball. Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae reported that he was dealing with a blister on his left index finger.

The Blue Jays are all too familiar with blister-related issues because of Aaron Sanchez, but Marcus Stroman successfully dealt with a hot spot earlier this summer, providing some hope for Anderson. Either way, the 29-year-old struck out four while allowing just two runs. He now has a 3.27 ERA during an impressive four-start stint with the Blue Jays.

NO OFFENCE TAKEN
The Blue Jays scored just twice against the Twins, as their offence continued to struggle. Entering play Thursday, the Blue Jays had scored fewer runs than any American League team (to be fair, Toronto has outscored four National League teams, but those clubs have pitchers hitting every day).

It won’t necessarily be easy, but the Blue Jays will have to improve offensively to be relevant this time next year. Among the places they could improve? Right field, where Jose Bautista’s wRC+ of 84 ranked 22nd among the 24 qualified right fielders entering play, and backup catcher, where Luke Maile’s -4 wRC+ ranks 427th among the 427 players with at least 100 plate appearances.

Really, a versatile player along the lines of Marwin Gonzalez or Chris Taylor would be ideal, but the teams that have those players aren’t eager to surrender them in trades.

NEW RELIEVERS AT THEIR BEST
Two of the Blue Jays’ newest relievers continued impressing Thursday.

Tom Koehler made his ninth relief appearance since joining the Blue Jays in an August trade, this time pitching for the third time in four days. The right-hander responded with a clean inning, touching 94 m.p.h. in a scoreless seventh. He has now completed 8.1 innings as a reliever, allowing two runs while striking out six and walking one.

Koehler’s under team control for 2018, but only if the Blue Jays tender him a contract. That’d mean giving him a raise on his $5,750,000 salary, so the Blue Jays could opt to non-tender him instead. Even if they non-tender Koehler, they could look to re-sign him for a lower guarantee, much like they did with Smoak following the 2014 season.

Later in the game, Carlos Ramirez entered with a runner on and nobody out but escaped by inducing a pop up and a double play grounder. The converted outfielder has now pitched 47.2 professional innings without allowing an earned run this year, including 10 scoreless frames at the MLB level.

Ultimately, though, Buxton got to the Blue Jays’ bullpen and the Twins took the opener.

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