TORONTO — At some point the Toronto Blue Jays are going to have to start winning close games.
So far that hasn’t happened against the Seattle Mariners, who assured themselves of a series win by defeating the Blue Jays 3-2 Saturday, but it’s a must for a Toronto team losing ground in a winnable American League East.
The Blue Jays were unable to take advantage of a strong outing by Mark Buehrle, so they lost for the second consecutive day and for the 11th time in their last 14 games. Toronto couldn’t muster much offence beyond a solo home run by Chris Colabello, and while Canadian left-hander James Paxton deserves full credit for pitching well, the result was all too familiar for the Blue Jays: another loss in a one-run game.
“We’re playing good, solid baseball, we’re just not winning the games,” manager John Gibbons said before the game. “We’re just getting beat. We’re not kicking balls around.”
Gibbons knows his team has a “dismal” 2-10 record in one-run games, but he believes there’s enough talent in place for the team to turn its fortunes around. Given that Toronto had outscored the opposition 226-211 entering play Saturday, it stands to reason that some of those one-run losses will ultimately turn into wins.
Still, the Blue Jays need victories sooner rather than later. Even though they have 117 games remaining, they’re now a season-worst seven games under .500 at 19-26. The division won’t look so winnable forever.
“Losing’s losing,” Gibbons said. “It’s never easy. You’ve just got to move on, as cliché as that might sound, it’s just a fact in baseball. The game doesn’t let you up either way, you know. You’re back at it the next day.”
At least Buehrle’s 7.1-inning outing represents a positive for the Blue Jays, who are finally starting to get some more consistency from their starting rotation. The left-hander allowed three earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four, and aside from Kyle Seager’s second-inning home run, he kept hard contact to a minimum.
“We’re not winning, so it’s obviously frustrating,” Buehrle said. “We’ve lost some close games. A lot of one-run games where we’re not coming through on top, so we’ve got to keep battling. You can’t put your head down. It’s a long season.”
Considering how slowly Buehrle’s season started, his recent run of four consecutive solid starts lets the Blue Jays breathe a little easier, at least when it comes to the rotation. Gibbons says Buehrle’s location has been sharper of late.
“He’s a master, really, of keeping (hitters) off-balance,” Gibbons said. “That’s why he’s so effective. You really don’t hang around as long as he has, win as many games as he has, perfect game, the innings, without knowing how to survive without your best stuff. He’s a special guy and he gave us a tremendous effort today, we just couldn’t score enough runs to put him over the top.”
Colabello’s homer, his third on the season and second in as many days, brought the Blue Jays within one, and while that was as close as they got, his continued offensive production represents another positive for Toronto. But with the good comes the bad, and Colabello also misread a fly ball for the second consecutive night, allowing Chris Taylor’s double to start a third-inning rally for Seattle. To some extent, those defensive lapses are inevitable when Danny Valencia and Colabello are playing the outfield with limited experience.
“We’ve got two guys who are infielders playing the outfield,” Gibbons said. “That’s basically what it is. They’re gutting it out every day. They’re out there and they’ve done a good job for us, really.”
Colabello, clearly disappointed after misplaying Taylor’s fly ball into a double, disagreed. He made no excuses for his defensive lapse, explaining that he expects more of himself. Asked if the home run made the miscue easier to bear, he explained that hitting’s just one element of his game.
“I’m supposed to do that anyways, right,” he said. “If you want to be a complete baseball player you save runs, you get runs. If it had been a two-run homer to take the lead or something, maybe (I’d enjoy it). At the end of the day, you feel a little better about it, but I guess ‘no’ is the answer to the question.”
Two consecutive days with home runs and defensive mistakes makes it feel a little like Groundhog Day for Colabello, “and probably in the worst way.”
While Buehrle’s line would have looked better with stronger defence behind him, he knows the effort is there. Now it’s a matter of making up ground without some key players.
“When guys are playing out of position and guys are playing hurt, playing through injuries it’s not obviously a good thing,” Buehrle said. “It’s no excuse, I mean other teams are going through the same thing.”
Still, with Jose Reyes, Devon Travis, Michael Saunders and Dioner Navarro on the disabled list, the Blue Jays’ lineup looks considerably weaker than usual, so getting contributions from unexpected sources such as Colabello is necessary, even if the possibility of regression exists later on and his outfield defence remains below-average.
Ryan Goins twisted his left ankle leaving the batter’s box in the fifth inning, crumpling to the ground, but ultimately staying in the game to the relief of the Blue Jays. The ankle now feels sore but “fine” and he expects to be able to play Sunday.
Despite Buehrle’s solid outing, the Mariners simply outplayed the Blue Jays, and another one-run loss followed for Toronto. Logic says the offensive talent will eventually shine through and the Blue Jays will start winning those games. But that’s hardly reassuring for a struggling team that needs results more than anything else.