TORONTO — The videoboard above centre field at Rogers Centre sat frozen as the sixth inning unravelled on Simeon Woods Richardson and the Toronto Blue Jays, stuck at one on, one out and a 4-0 scoreline as the Kansas City Royals kept piling up the runs.
Not until Vinnie Pasquantino’s two-run drive capped a six-run outburst did the screen finally move, an updated linescore below a generic backdrop flashing the ugly 10-0 count amid heavy boos from a crowd of 42,261.
More boos loomed in the bottom half of the inning, this time for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after a groundout to second by the struggling slugger, and while George Springer’s two-run homer brought a brief respite of joy, it did little to mask the misery of a trying 13-2 setback.
Spencer Arrighetti, making his second start since returning from the injured list, allowed two runs in each of the first two innings before rallying with two clean frames. Woods Richardson, needing to both keep the game close and cover innings, did neither, pressing newly signed Michael Lorenzen into two innings of mop-up duty, and Myles Straw into his fourth appearance of the season in the ninth.
Combined with Noah Cameron killing the offence softly like Mark Buehrle would back in the day, it all added up to a second straight series loss for the Blue Jays (65-70), who also dropped to 3.5 games back of the idle Cleveland Guardians (68-66) for the American League’s third wild-card spot.
Rough all around.
Regardless, the Blue Jays have no time to lick their wounds, as two crucial series loom, the first beginning Friday against the Seattle Mariners (64-70), their opponent in last fall’s epic American League Championship Series enduring a similarly stilted follow up.
Dylan Cease, Jose Soriano and Max Scherzer are lined up to start there and how they fare will help determine the way they roll out for a three-game set at Cleveland that begins next Tuesday. The club’s hope is to throw both Cease and Soriano against the Guardians, using Monday’s off-day to keep them on regular rest, but they’ll need to avoid extending both this weekend to pull that off.
However that plays out, they still must decide how to approach Tuesday’s series opener, which currently lines up with the vacancy created by Shane Bieber’s trip to the IL. Arrighetti could start that game on regular rest, but he may need the extra day as he’s still building up on the fly.
The Royals ambushed him out of the gate, with Carter Jensen crushing a leadoff homer and another run scoring on an Arrighetti fielding error, and two more crossing in the second on Jac Caglianone’s two-run single.
How he ultimately fits the puzzle is still being determined while Jameson Taillon, slated for a rehab start with triple-A Buffalo on Friday, won’t be ready to return before Wednesday, restricting the Blue Jays’ options as they seek to concentrate innings in the hands of those they trust most.
Given all that uncertainty, Lorenzen, released nearly a week ago by the Colorado Rockies, adds another versatile arm into the mix, for at least a short time, but perhaps longer depending on how things go.
“Availability for length, availability to do a lot of different things and with our bullpen kind of being in flux in terms of availability, you pick up a guy that's done it before and that can basically throw every day,” said manager John Schneider. “He was like, literally, whatever you want, I can throw 100 pitches today if you need me to. He's like, you can try to break me, it's not going to work.”
Said Lorenzen: “I feel ready to jump in. Throw me in there. My arm feels good, body feels good. I got a nice little all-star break rest, I guess you could say. I feel fresh, I told him he can use me however he needs to.”
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