CHICAGO — Kevin Gausman walked Pete Crow-Armstrong on four pitches to begin his outing on Friday and things immediately went downhill for the Toronto Blue Jays.
The right-hander lost control of the strike zone, and the Chicago Cubs lineup proceeded to work him hard while essentially deciding their 16-2 win over the visitors in the first inning on a beautiful Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
The loss, coming off an encouraging sweep over the Red Sox in Boston, dropped the Blue Jays to 37-39 as the club failed to reach the .500 mark. There wasn’t much good going on for Toronto outside of George Springer launching his third homer in seven games and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. checking out okay after tweaking his back on a sixth-inning swing and being removed from the contest as a precaution.
“I just want to be careful,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “Just checked with him. He's feeling better. Nothing like what it was when he missed a couple games (last weekend). So, unless anything changes, I think he should be good to go for tomorrow, so that's positive.”
Gausman issued free passes to the first two batters he faced and both came around to score on a Seiya Suzuki double that went off right-fielder Jesus Sanchez’s glove. That would’ve been the second out, but Gausman continued to struggle by walking the next two hitters. He struck out Nico Hoerner before Cubs catcher Carson Kelly deposited a hanging slider into the left-field stands for a grand slam that punctuated the long inning.
“Weird command from the get-go,” said Schneider. “It's uncharacteristic of him.”
All told, Gausman allowed seven runs in the first inning while facing 12 batters and tossing 44 pitches. His four walks in that frame were more than he’d issued in any start this season and any outing dating back to July 1 of last year.
“Four walks in one inning. Not normally me,” Gausman said. “ Just a lot of close pitches. But yeah, I mean you put that many guys on in the first, you're kind of asking for trouble.
“We've been playing really good and, you know, first game of a series, as a starter, you set the momentum,” he added. “And I just didn't.”
Gausman said he felt fine physically and wasn’t dealing with any mechanical issues. His splitter had the right shape and the problem was simply his command.
“They could tell that I was kind of out of whack and picked their spots to be aggressive,” he said. “Just not a good day.”
Gausman lasted just two innings on 68 pitches, and rather than have him go out for a third frame, Schneider opted to remove the right-hander to limit his workload. The problem for the Blue Jays, who’re only four days into a stretch of 16 games in 16 days, is that the short outing from Gausman will have a cascading effect.
Having to burn through five relievers on Friday will apply more pressure to a bullpen that’s already carried a heavy load this season. For context, Blue Jays starters have tallied 345.2 innings this season while the club’s relievers have combined for 327, the fourth highest in MLB.
Braydon Fisher followed Gausman and covered an inning before giving way to Tommy Nance and left-hander Brendon Little, who was recalled prior to the game with the Blue Jays sending right-hander Chad Dallas to triple-A.
Little, whose struggles in the playoffs and earlier this season have been well documented, had posted a 2.31 ERA in Buffalo, but his 19 walks in 23.1 innings suggested he’s not yet solved the command issues that led to his demotion in April.
The left-hander began his outing on Friday by walking Crow-Armstrong but retired the next two Cubs hitters to end the fifth inning. In the sixth, he fell apart by walking two more batters and allowing two singles as the Cubs continued to pour on the runs.
Spencer Miles and Tyler Rogers also pitched for the Blue Jays before outfielder Myles Straw was handed the ball to record the final four outs.
While the extensive reliever usage on Friday was unwelcome, the impending return of right-hander Shane Bieber will offer a boost to the pitching staff.
Bieber, who on Wednesday pitched in his fifth minor-league rehab outing, rejoined the Blue Jays in Chicago and said he’s “definitely happy with where everything's at and how I'm feeling,” after getting up to 80 pitches.
The plan is for Bieber to throw a bullpen on Saturday and if he feels good, he’ll likely be activated and start Monday’s game, according to Schneider.
While the results weren’t there for Bieber in his start against the Charlotte Knights — he surrendered five runs on four walks and seven hits — the veteran right-hander said he’s focusing on the good, along with the bad.
“I don't care what kind of game it is, I want results,” Bieber said. “When you get that you always feel a lot better. But when you're looking at the grand scheme of things and what I'm setting out to do, building the pitch counts and getting ready to impact the team in a positive way here, I think you have to check that box of getting through innings and getting through ups and I was able to do that.
“I'm trying to separate the good from the bad and move forward.”
An approach the Blue Jays will also need to take after Friday’s thumping, even though there was far more bad than good.
