The Toronto Blue Jays have the day off after suffering their first sweep of the season and falling below .500 thanks to a visit from the American League-leading Chicago White Sox.
With three straight losses to Chicago, the Blue Jays have now lost six of their last eight and move to 10-13, good for second-last in the AL East.
Here are five takeaways from the series.
Welcome back, Dioner (sort of)
Dioner Navarro sure knows how to make the Blue Jays miss him. The veteran catcher, who shared duties behind the plate in Toronto last season but was basically second fiddle to Russell Martin, made quite the splash in his return. Navarro racked up a single, a double, a triple and a home run in this three-game set—a series cycle, if you will—and extended his hitting streak to six games.
And what a time to return: When Jays’ infielder Darwin Barney is listed as the team’s back-up catcher, with Martin missing the first two games of the series due to a neck injury. It only underscores how valuable the big Venezuelan was behind the plate for Toronto.
Navarro hit a home run off R.A. Dickey on Tuesday, but his biggest hit came in Game 3, an 0-2 (stand-up!) triple to score two and break a 0–0 tie. Then he stood on third base and yelled “Boom!” and pumped his fist. Last season, that would’ve been an impassioned pot-stir. What a difference a year makes.
That triple off his old battery mate, Marco Estrada, kick-started Chicago’s offence in a 4–0 win to complete the sweep. Navarro did say before this series started that he could hit of his old pal, Estrada, and even that dangerous changeup.
Quiet bats
In the last two games of this series, the Blue Jays scored one run, total. They managed just four hits on Wednesday (Josh Donaldson had two, including a double) and four on Tuesday. It didn’t help that they were facing the likes of Chris Sale, who improved to 5-0, and lefty Jose Quintana, who has given up just five earned runs this season. Toronto struck out 13 times on Wednesday, with Martin (4) and Jose Bautista (3) accounting for more than half of those whiffs.
Wednesday’s shut-out marked the first time the Jays have gone scoreless since Sept. 13 against the Yankees. Donaldson told reporters after the game that while they were facing good pitchers, some of his teammates “need to evaluate their approach.”
(In good hitting news, Kevin Pillar is riding a five-game hitting streak, and Edwin Encarnacion hit his 200th home run as a Blue Jay in this series, moving to sixth on the team’s all-time list. Encarnacion needs two more to catch George Bell, and three more to catch Joe Carter.)
Estrada’s right shoulder
It was Estrada who came in earlier this season after the Blue Jays lost their first two in a three-game set against Boston, and the right-hander earned the win to stave off the sweep. It looked like the 32-year-old was going to save the day again, giving up three hits in a solid 6 and 2/3 innings of work on Wednesday. But the Blue Jays bats gave him no support after Navarro opened the scoring, and Estrada is now 1-2.
Perhaps more concerning is that Estrada, who began the season on the shelf due to a back injury, was favouring and rubbing his right shoulder quite a bit during the game, and in the dugout. Afterwards he told reporters it “didn’t feel very good.”
Woe is the bullpen
Not to beat a dead horse here, but the bullpen blew another one to open this series. On Monday, Marcus Stroman left the game with a 5–1 lead, bases loaded and two out in the sixth. Lefty Brett Cecil came in, Gavin Floyd relieved him, and by the end of the sixth the Jays’ four-run lead was a one-run deficit. Stroman was mighty frustrated while watching from the dugout.
A night later, Drew Storen did some eye-rolling and a lot of looking up at the roof after he gave up three runs on four hits, including a home run. Those Stroman and Storen looks about sum up the bullpen: They did the Blue Jays zero favours.
Cecil, who had such a solid second half last season, and who is currently the Jays’ only left-handed option, earned his fourth loss of the season. He’s allowed six of nine inherited runners to score. And Storen’s ERA is 9.38. The good news for the Blue Jays: lefty Aaron Loup, who’s been injured, is throwing a bullpen session on Friday.
Dickey’s fifth start
April has never really been R.A. Dickey’s month. A perennial slow starter, he’s 5-12 in April since he joined the Blue Jays in 2013.
The 41-year-old knuckleballer gave up six earned runs, eight hits and two homers in his fifth start of the season to earn the loss on Tuesday. Dickey went six innings and faced two batters in the seventh (including Navarro, who sent it out of the park).
Dickey started solidly, holding Chicago to one run through four innings. It was the fifth inning when things went south, starting with a Brett Lawrie lead-off single. Dickey now sports a 6.75 ERA. After the game, he told reporters: “I’m thankful April’s over.”
