CLEVELAND — About two hours prior to Thursday’s game, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was called into his manager’s office for a chat. Justin Smoak, the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman, was battling a tight neck and wasn’t able to get it loose enough to play on a frigid, four-degree night. Charlie Montoyo had to shuffle his lineup. And he wanted Gurriel to shift over from second to first.
The last time Gurriel fielded that position he possessed a different citizenship. It was 2012, and Gurriel was an 18-year-old playing for Sancti Spiritus in the Cuban National Series. He spent 15 games at first base that season, before shifting back to his natural second base the year following. He’d go on to play a little bit of shortstop, a little bit of third, and a little bit of left field over his six seasons in Cuba, before he defected in 2016.
It had been a while, is what we’re saying. And the standard of Gurriel’s defence at second base this season has already been the subject of some scrutiny, as routine plays have appeared to give him trouble, and turns at the keystone have been anything but smooth. So, when Gurriel was asked to man a position he hadn’t played in seven years, on a frigid Ohio night that numbed hands and dulled reaction times, you knew the ball would find him.
Flash forward to the fourth inning. Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez had allowed a pair of leadoff singles to Cleveland three-four hitters Jake Bauers and Carlos Santana, the first well struck, the second taking a nasty hop in front of shortstop Freddy Galvis and skipping into centre field. Then he walked Brad Miller on five pitches — one of the balls was well within the strike zone, to be fair — loading the bases. Not what you want.
Cleveland’s next hitter, Greg Allen, went after the first pitch he saw and chopped it to his right at 77 m.p.h. Gurriel tried to make a backhanded stab as Miller ran between him and the ball, but couldn’t close his glove on it, ending up settling for a force out at second and nothing more as a run crossed the plate. Another came soon after, when Roberto Perez hit a sacrifice fly two pitches later.
It was a tough play, no doubt. Especially on such a cold night. But if Gurriel made it, the Blue Jays would have had at least one out at home, and potentially another at first, although Allen runs well. Instead, two runs scored in the inning. And, in a 4-1 Blue Jays loss, those two runs were all Cleveland needed. Which is the point.
A million other things contributed to that inning playing out the way it did. Sanchez left a pitch up to Bauers. Galvis couldn’t corral a grounder from Santana. Home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez didn’t help on the walk of Miller. And maybe Smoak doesn’t make that play at first, either. Maybe no one does. Maybe the Blue Jays had a legitimate complaint that Miller interfered with Gurriel as he passed by, or even strayed from the base path. (Montoyo came out to question the play, but came away satisfied with the answer). It’s not on Gurriel.
Rather, what this play demonstrates is the extremely fine line the Blue Jays have been walking to this point in the season due to an often baffling inability to generate offence. Sometimes, one misplay is enough to sink the ship. Thursday, the Blue Jays were hitless until the ninth inning. That’s when they broke through, plating their lone run of the game on a Teoscar Hernandez double. As has been the case a number of times this season, it wasn’t enough.
“You know what’s most impressive about Aaron and our starters — pitching with no room for error every day,” Montoyo said. “Any little thing that happens, we’re down. Because we haven’t been hitting the ball.”
Toronto’s pitching has had to essentially be perfect in order to give the team a chance to win, and it damn near has been. Blue Jays starters began the season with a 24-inning scoreless streak, and carried a 1.16 ERA — the fourth-best mark through seven games by any team since the mound was lowered in 1969 — into Thursday’s game. Toronto’s staff as a whole had pitched to a 2.05 ERA, setting a franchise record with 80 strikeouts through the first seven games of the season.
But Thursday, there the Blue Jays were, getting no-hit through five innings for the fourth time in the club’s first eight games of the season. And there they were in the sixth and seventh, still hitless. It must be noted that Trevor Bauer, who finished sixth in Cy Young voting last season, was on the mound for Cleveland. He’s awfully good. But that doesn’t change the fact the Blue Jays offence has been awfully bad.
And if it had been even marginally better to this point, the Blue Jays could have a much improved record today. Three of Toronto’s four losses during its season-opening homestand were by only a run. The other was by two. The club was batting .202/.266/.350 and averaging 3.3 runs per game. Randal Grichuk had three home runs. The rest of the team had four.
“I think we’re pressing right now. Just because everybody’s struggling at the same time. Every at-bat seems like it means so much to everybody that everybody’s trying to do too much,” Montoyo said. “So, we’ve got to find a way to relax and it starts by getting hits. It’s been a struggle the first eight games. But like I’ve said before, I know we’re going to find it.”
It is about getting hits. Reaching base hasn’t been the problem. Bauer walked six before becoming the second pitcher this season to be lifted from a start against the Blue Jays with a no-hitter intact. He gave the Blue Jays a golden opportunity in the third by walking Galvis, hitting Alen Hanson in the foot, and walking Brandon Drury to load the bases with none out.
But Socrates Brito struck out chasing three curveballs, two of them well beneath the zone, before Grichuk struck out on four pitches for a second out. Rowdy Tellez fared a bit better, fouling off several tough curveballs from Bauer and pushing his pitch count over 30 for the inning. But when Tellez finally put one of those Bauer breaking balls in play, all he could muster was a medium-range fly ball to centre, ending the frame.
“We didn’t take advantage of that. Even though [Bauer] was throwing a no-hitter, he wasn’t as sharp as he usually is,” Montoyo said. “He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball, so I don’t want to take anything away from Bauer. But it’s tough to tell right now who’s doing good and who’s not because our offence is struggling.”
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It’s a shame because Toronto’s starting pitching has been solid, and Sanchez was no exception. He allowed only those two runs in the fourth over his six innings, striking out five and walking only two. He leaned on his fastball all night, as he does, but also mixed in an effective selection of curveballs and changeups. Despite an inconsistent zone, which caused some conflict between Gonzalez and the Blue Jays bench in fifth, Sanchez threw 64 per cent of his pitches for strikes and continued a strong start to the season.
“Overall, I thought it was a good start. Fastball command was there. Breaking stuff was good,” Sanchez said. “I think in my first start, I was a little bit over-amped. Coming out, juices flowing, first start of the year. Getting the second one under your belt, it’s just back to staying in control — controlled aggression and controlled emotions. I’m excited.”
Tim Mayza had a rough go after taking over for Sanchez in the seventh, allowing a leadoff double, botching a throw to first on a sacrifice bunt attempt, and walking three in the inning (one intentional), including one that forced in a run. By the end of the seventh, Cleveland was up by four, which is essentially an insurmountable deficit for the Blue Jays these days.
After the opportunity in the third was squandered, the Blue Jays put runners on in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, stranding them all. Then, in the eighth, Toronto loaded the bases again in an almost identical sequence to the third, as a hit batter was sandwiched by a pair of walks. That brought Gurriel, the unlikely first baseman, to the plate.
Not always one to work a long plate appearance, Gurriel laid off some tough pitches from Cleveland right-hander Brad Hand and worked the count full. He awaited Hand’s pay-off pitch with an opportunity to tie the game, an opportunity to make up for the botched play at first four innings prior. He went after what would have been ball four, popping up to end the inning.
“That’s what’s going on right now. But I know from experience that we’re going to get out of that. When that’s going to happen, I mean, we’re facing good pitching now. [Carlos] Carrasco tomorrow. But it starts with one guy getting hot,” Montoyo said. “Hopefully it starts like that tomorrow.”
