TORONTO – There was pomp, there was circumstance, there was all the usual hoopla that accompanies a home opener, plus Masahiro Tanaka’s big-league debut to boot.
Then there was the plain old baseball, and with the Toronto Blue Jays 2-3 through one full turn of the rotation after Friday night’s 7-3 loss to the New York Yankees, and the starters covering only 26.2 of the team’s 43 innings thus far, there was also lots to think about.
Take away Mark Buehrle’s stupid good 8.2 innings Wednesday in Tampa Bay and the Blue Jays would be on the road to an eight-man bullpen again. R.A. Dickey and Brandon Morrow each went five in their starts, Drew Hutchison did them one out better, while Dustin McGowan only made it through 2.2 innings Friday in his first start since Sept. 26, 2011.
“We definitely need more innings out of that,” said Gibbons. “We didn’t get a lot of innings (Thursday) night and tonight, then you’re forced to go to your bullpen. (McGowan) feels fine, he’s better than that, he’ll get better than that.”
No conclusions need be drawn from this eight-hit, four-run outing – McGowan was obviously amped up given the emotions of the night, and tipped his pitches from the stretch in the first – but he dropped them in a 2-0 hole during a messy first and all three Blue Jays losses so far have come when their opponent scores first.
More important is that they don’t fall into the pattern of early deficits and early exits, the poisonous mix so common from their starters last year. What happened too often was that to eat up innings, manager John Gibbons often had to use his protect-lead relievers in games when the Blue Jays were down simply to cover the work, and that left them less than fresh on days they were needed to help nurse a W home.
They’re not at that point yet, but they can’t risk letting it get there, which is why Jeremy Jeffress was designated for assignment after the game, with Chad Jenkins recalled from triple-A Buffalo.
Gibbons was also partly looking to squeeze as much work as he could from McGowan when he left him in to face the left-handed Yangervis Solarte with two on and two out in the third. A replay challenge overturned a 4-3 out call on Ichiro Suzuki that would have ended the frame the previous batter.
With southpaw Aaron Loup waiting in the bullpen, McGowan served up a two-run double that put the Yankees up 4-3, and the Blue Jays trailed the rest of the way. Loup took over right after, but Gibbons may have wanted to try and save him for the next inning, knowing he’d still need 18 more outs from there.
“I had him ready for (No. 9 hitter Dean) Anna,” explained Gibbons. “We still feel good about Dusty, you’ve got a young, inexperienced hitter up there, and he burned us. You’re hoping you can get out of the inning there, he didn’t have much left him in, he was done after that anyway, but I was waiting for Anna.”
Todd Redmond, Brett Cecil, Steve Delabar and Jeffress followed him into the game, leaving long man Esmil Rogers (who already has 3.2 innings under his belt), Jenkins and closer Sergio Santos as the only fresh arms available Saturday if needed.
Loup, Delabar and Jeffress each surrendered a run, helping the Yankees pull away once they took the lead, while Tanaka retired 16 of the final 18 batters he faced after a shaky start.
Melky Cabrera homered on Tanaka’s third big-league pitch and Jonathan Diaz’s two-run single in the second gave the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead, an advantage that didn’t make it through the Yankees’ next turn at the plate.
“When I got out there I felt like I had worn myself out almost in the bullpen,” said McGowan. “ I got out there and I pitched and competed, I battled. That’s all you can do on days like that.
“They hit some balls hard, but there were also ones that just found a hole, too. For me, I’ve got to learn to get the ball back down.”
That the Blue Jays couldn’t mount a serious threat after that is both a credit to Tanaka, and an indication of the stop and go offence in their lineup right now. Strong starting pitching can help compensate that, but so far the same hot and cold is running through the rotation, too.