TORONTO – The easiest way for the Toronto Blue Jays to avoid the late-leverage issues that sunk their recent nine-game road trip and have dogged them all season is, rather obviously, to score enough runs that close-and-late spots don’t even happen.
To a certain degree, they’re built to win in a bludgeon-the-opposition fashion, using offence to provide the margin-of-error needed to mask other shortcomings. But putting up six-or-more runs isn’t always going to happen, even when the matchup suggests that should be the case.
Take Friday’s infuriating 4-1 loss in 10 innings to the Detroit Tigers, for example.
In theory, stacking a lineup with nine righties against left-hander Tyler Alexander, who began the night with an .848 OPS allowed against them, should have resulted in a relatively low-stress night for manager Charlie Montoyo and Co.
Factor in Robbie Ray starting and delivering his latest gem in a season that deserves more appreciation for how pivotal it’s been to the club’s fortunes, and everything seemed to have lined up in their favour.
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Instead, late leverage once again found the Blue Jays, as Alexander escaped jams in the second and third unscathed, surrendered Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 36th homer of the season – and first since Aug. 8 – leading off the fourth and then held things down through the seventh.
As a result, the Blue Jays once again had to sweat through the final frames, and once again failed to close out a tight game in their grasp, as a Ray wild pitch Alejandro Kirk allowed to slip through the wickets tied the game 1-1 in the eighth. They then compounded matters by squandering two on and none out in both the eighth and ninth innings, gifting an out to a wild Gregory Soto on a failed sacrifice bunt attempt in the latter frame.
That proved costly in the 10th when pinch-hitter Harold Castro stayed back on a Trevor Richards changeup and dunked it into left field to bring in Willi Castro with the go-ahead run, and after a walk, Adam Cimber surrendered run-scoring singles to Jonathan Schoop and Jeimer Candelario.
The entire rally came with two outs, adding to a cruel variation to an all-too-familiar fate for the Blue Jays, who went quietly in the bottom half to lose for the sixth time in seven games and fall to 2-8 in extra innings before a crowd of 14,649.
“We didn’t execute,” lamented Montoyo. “That’s the deal.”
That applied well beyond the bullpen on this night, as the offence went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position while hitting into four double plays. Then, in the critical moments, there was Kirk not blocking the Ray pitch, Valera bunting to first instead of third, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. uncorking a wild throw toward the Tigers dugout when he had a chance to get Castro at the plate and keep the game tied.
“I thought the guy was going to be out by a mile and Gurriel is really accurate, one of the most accurate outfielders. And when things don’t go your way, it’s funny, he makes a throw that’s not even close,” said Montoyo, who added later: “When you’re trying to win, you try a little harder. That’s just not how it goes. It should be the other way around – calm down.
“And you can tell we’re trying hard because our guy on the mound was lights out, like he’s always been, did an outstanding job for eight innings, gave us a chance, and maybe we were trying too hard to score for him. We didn’t do it.”
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A lack of recent bullpen execution is one reason Montoyo chose to ride Ray, even as his pitch count climbed all the way to 109, in a comment both on how dominant the lefty was, and the Blue Jays’ lack of faith in the options behind him.
Essentially they preferred having Ray at the end of his night face Robbie Grossman and Schoop a fourth time to any of their fresh set-up arms right after an off-day – a call validated by the 10th inning.
No matter, as everything the Blue Jays do in leverage outside of Jordan Romano of late seems to backfire, the way it did again this time. Zack Short opened the eighth with a single, was promptly sacrificed to second by Grayson Greiner and then cleverly stole third to force the infield in for Grossman.
His fly ball to right field wasn’t deep enough to score the run but with Schoop up, Ray bounced a slider through Kirk’s five-hole and poof went the lead. Schoop struck out two pitches later, capping a brilliant eight-inning, five-hit, 11-strikeout from Ray that wasn’t enough.
The missed opportunities in the eighth and ninth followed, with Valera put in to hit for Kirk and bunt Soto’s all over the place 100 m.p.h. He missed on his first two attempts and then with two strikes pushed one right to a charging Schoop at first, who fired across the diamond to get the lead runner. Randal Grichuk followed with his second double play of the night.
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“We’re not scoring runs, that’s obvious,” said Montoyo. “We just wanted to put the pressure on the other pitcher. (Valera) has got to bunt to the third-base side because Schoop was right there. Now anything (in play) wins the game. We just didn’t execute.”
After Romano pitched a clean ninth, that led to Richards in the 10th and more frustration.
“Trevor makes his pitch there – changeup, a foot off the plate and a guy dumps it into left field,” said Ray. “It’s just a tough break. You make your pitch and sometimes that happens. It’s no fault of anybody’s in that situation. You tip your cap. It was definitely tough to watch but we’re going to come back tomorrow and get back at it.”
There’s no alternative for the Blue Jays, who amid a softer portion of their schedule aren’t pitching well when they hit, aren’t hitting well when they pitch, and not playing a tight enough game to make up the gaps.
