SEATTLE — At a certain point it doesn’t matter how well the Toronto Blue Jays pitch if they hit the way they did during their latest lost weekend, this time at T-Mobile Park against the Seattle Mariners.
They were shut out for the second straight day Sunday afternoon, a 4-0 loss to the American League West leaders in the rubber game of this ALCS rematch, managing only two runs across the three games. Both came during the third inning of Friday’s 2-0 win and in the 24 innings that followed, the Blue Jays produced only six hits and four walks.
In total, they had 10 hits in the series, one fewer than the 11 runs Seattle scored Saturday.
“They were really good. We were really bad. So it's a pretty good combo for a tough weekend. I just think we can be a lot better as a team,” said Ernie Clement, who went 1-for-3 in the finale and wants to see his team “just get back on the attack. They attacked the zone the whole series and we just didn't seem like we were really ready to hit. As an offence, we just have to be better.”
No debating that, even if Logan Gilbert was full value over 7.1 innings of one-hit ball Saturday, while Emerson Hancock rode a heavy dose of fastballs (40 per cent) and sinkers (23 per cent) to another seven shutout frames in the finale, when he allowed only two hits and two walks.
The Blue Jays have grinded out several elite starters this season, but the Mariners largely had their way with them, prompting manager John Schneider to lament how “we got bullied out of here by fastballs the last couple games.”
“Obviously some more slug and just a little bit more conviction in what you're swinging at, is what it comes down to really,” Schneider said in identifying two focal points for the next series at the San Francisco Giants beginning Monday. “They're obviously a really good pitching team … but if you're trying to get after a guy's fastball, you've got to be convicted with it and take the right swings in the right areas. We just didn't hit the fastball the last couple of days.”
The woes at the plate made two blips by Trey Yesavage — a Cal Raleigh sacrifice fly in the third and Mitch Garver’s homer in the fourth, right after Cole Young reached on a Clement throwing error to cap an eight-pitch at-bat — feel insurmountable.
Yesavage deserved a better fate, getting through six innings while allowing only three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts, the fourth straight outing in which he’s allowed three earned runs or less. He did it this time largely on the strength of his fastball, which sat 94.2 m.p.h. and generated eight misses, as he didn’t have a good feel for his splitter.
Another complication was some type of miscommunication about the pre-game anthem times, which led Yesavage to warm up earlier than needed. While it was “not an excuse,” said Schneider, “we kind of got the wrong anthem times here and he was sitting there for about 20 minutes after he was ready to go in the bullpen.”
Yesavage didn’t “want to make excuses, either” and added that “I'm not going to say it affected me, but the start time, the anthem time need to be followed. It's just plain and simple.”
The Mariners said the pre-game schedule was sent to the Blue Jays well in advance and because the Peacock broadcast led to an unusual 2:05 p.m. first pitch, they also followed up with Blue Jays officials, to ensure they were clear on all the times.
Whatever led to the confusion, it only added to the misery as the Blue Jays dropped back to their low point of six games below .500 at 42-48. They’re 3-9 since fighting their way back to level on June 22 and have six games remaining before the all-star break to position themselves for a better second half. The trade deadline is less than a month away, too.
“You've got to find a way to win when you're not playing your best and we're not doing that,” said Clement. “I don't know. You play like shit, you don't play as a team, it's really tough to win baseball games. So we've got to start playing for each other and playing a lot better. You can't win baseball games when you play like that.”
Kevin Gausman starts against Landen Roupp in Monday’s first of three against the Giants, with three at San Diego afterwards leading into the all-star pause. It sounds like the Blue Jays will have George Springer back from his paternity leave, too, as Schneider said “the tentative plan” was for him to travel Monday and join the team in San Francisco.
The quality of his at-bats help can help change the tone atop the lineup, which would be especially helpful after a such grim weekend at the plate in Seattle. While the way the Mariners pitched is largely responsible for that, they also exposed the Blue Jays’ season-long issues in the box.
That’s why Schneider called the results, “one weekend in isolation a little bit, but we just haven't had guys clicking at the same time.”
“There are guys missing time and then when you get guys back, guys aren't clicking at the right time,” he continued. “Guys are kind of going through it periodically at the wrong time, up and down the lineup, really. So that's kind of been the nagging issue this year and definitely the last week.”
An issue that continues to be troublingly difficult for the Blue Jays to resolve.
0:42
1:49