Blue Jays' momentum halted as Phillies complete convincing three-game sweep

PHILADELPHIA — The vibes surrounding the Toronto Blue Jays were strong heading into Philadelphia for a three-game rematch against the Phillies.

The Blue Jays had taken two of three from the National League powerhouse at Rogers Centre before embarking on a three-city, nine-game road trip that began with a roaring start. Two wins over the Minnesota Twins were followed by a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals as the Blue Jays continued to alter the course of their season and build up a nice cushion in the win column, well above the .500 mark.

The baseball season can be a long roller-coaster ride, though, and those vibes can be dampened quickly. The Phillies underlined that by hammering the Blue Jays, 11-4, on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park to complete a convincing three-game sweep over the visitors.

“Baseball's funny sometimes where you go from playing really well to, you know, you run into a good team,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider.

The Phillies outscored the Blue Jays 22-6 during the series and the latest laser show came at the expense of right-hander Jose Berrios during a tough outing that profiled as his worst since Opening Day.

The Phillies jumped on Berrios to open the bottom of the first with Trea Turner driving an inside sinker down the third-base line for a leadoff double and then immediately scoring as Kyle Schwarber sent the next pitch into centre field for an RBI single.

Alec Bohm and Otto Kemp padded the lead in the third and fourth innings with RBI singles before Bohm launched a two-run homer in the fifth that pushed the score to 6-2. The drive, on a first-pitch sinker from Berrios, travelled an estimated 433 feet and brought the 44,681 Father’s Day crowd to its feet.

Overall, Berrios allowed six runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings, walking one and striking out five. It was his shortest outing of the campaign and the most runs and hits he’d allowed since March 27 against the Orioles.

Schneider said he felt Berrios had good stuff and Berrios echoed that while also tipping his cap to a Philadelphia offence that ranks second in MLB in batting average and fourth in on-base percentage.

“All series they've been taking great at-bats,” said Berrios. “They've been grinding pitch-by-pitch. When they do that, they can do a lot of damage. They are a great lineup. Today I think I made a lot of good pitches but they made better adjustments.”

Nick Castellanos authored an exclamation point to the contest with a grand slam off Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson in the sixth inning.

Meanwhile, facing Phillies ace Zack Wheeler while trying to avoid a sweep is a tough ordeal for any ball club. The Blue Jays dodged the right-hander in Toronto when he missed his start due to the birth of his child, but weren’t as lucky this time.

Wheeler entered Sunday ranking fourth in MLB in opponents' average (.186) and eighth in strikeouts (101), tallies that he added to with a strong performance.

The Blue Jays got to him in the fifth when Andres Gimenez and Ernie Clement opened the frame with consecutive singles ahead of Alan Roden’s sacrifice fly to centre. Clement later scored on an error from Wheeler, but that was the extent of damage against the right-hander, who proceeded to strike out nine batters and lower his season ERA to 2.76.

Wheeler and fellow Phillies starters Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez combined to hold the Blue Jays to four runs on 13 hits over their 20 innings this series.

“Starting pitching kind of just shut us down,” said Schneider. “They're pretty good. And that set the tone.”

Among the few positives for the Blue Jays on Sunday, were right-fielder Will Robertson’s first career hit in his MLB debut — an RBI single off the right-field wall in the seventh inning — and Roden avoiding serious injury after smashing head-first into the left-field wall while making a highlight-reel catch in the fifth.

“That was unbelievable,” said Schneider. “His mouth was bloody. He actually left his eye black on the wall. Which gave us a little bit of a laugh after he said he was Okay. Hit his knee a little bit, too. But he's played great in the outfield this entire season and that's a hell of a catch.”

The Blue Jays (38-33) will have the chance to regroup during Monday’s off day before returning to Toronto for matchups with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox.

The pursuit of good vibes will continue as the roller-coaster ride moves on.

“It comes, right? It's part of it,” said Schneider. “There's going to be highs and lows. There's going to be times where you run into a really good team and really good pitching. It happens in baseball."

“You don't want to get the feeling of losing a series, obviously,” he continued. “But I think the guys know well enough that this little stretch can happen. It happens quickly and they'll be ready to go on Tuesday.”