SAN DIEGO — Six outs away from a hard-fought win on the road, the Blue Jays handed the ball to Jeff Hoffman.
Tyler Rogers had just pitched a clean seventh inning. Louis Varland was mentally preparing himself for the ninth. Within reach: a series win, a 5-4 road trip and a strong finish to a challenging first half.
But Xander Bogaerts led off the eighth with a single and promptly stole second. Manny Machado then singled home Bogaerts to tie the game 4-4, and pinch runner Jase Bowen stole another base against Hoffman, setting up a go-ahead sacrifice fly from former Blue Jay Ty France.
Three Mason Miller outs later, the Padres had won 5-4, and the first half of the season ended with more missed opportunities and frustration for the Blue Jays. Now 45-51, they’re 2.5 games behind the Mariners and Twins for the third American League Wild Card berth with 20.4 per cent playoff odds, as measured by FanGraphs.
“It’s not where we want to be,” said manager John Schneider. “That’s obvious. We’ve been trending in the right direction offensively the last two weeks or so, but we definitely have to be better in some areas, whether it’s on the mound or at the plate.”
The Padres’ late rally overshadowed a solid start from Kevin Gausman and a clutch, go-ahead RBI single from Jonatan Clase, who turned around a 100 m.p.h. fastball from Adrian Morejón in the top of the eighth after the Padres walked pinch hitter Alejandro Kirk to face him.
Yes, the Blue Jays are still in contention, but this isn’t what they envisioned when the season started. They rank among the bottom five in baseball in runs scored and have too often gotten in their own way — with Sunday’s blown save by Hoffman the latest such example.
The right-hander has now allowed 13 stolen bases in 16 attempts this season.
“We’ve got to give the catcher a chance,” Schneider said. “It’s something we’ve talked about a lot.”
With each loss, the pressure builds. No team has ever earned a wild-card berth with fewer than 83 wins. To reach that number, the Blue Jays would have to go 38-28 from here on — while also relying on their AL rivals to continue struggling.
To reach 85 wins, the fewest ever by an American League playoff team, the Blue Jays would have to go 40-26 to finish the season. Starting Friday, we’ll see if they’re up to the challenge.
“There’s little things we have to get better at, and we’re just looking for more consistency from regular guys up and down the lineup,” Schneider said. “Hopefully we’ll get the offence going.”
Working with a new windup, Gausman lost the strike zone in the second inning, walking two hitters, including one with the bases loaded, on the way to three runs.
“Weird,” Schneider said. “Other than that, I thought he threw the ball really well and had a really good fastball and a really good split.”
The right-hander found the zone again with a three-up, three-down third and stayed on the attack afterwards, allowing just two more baserunners over the next four innings.
“Delivery-wise, I just figured it out as I went,” Gausman said. “I felt like my misses, even in the second, were close, but they put the ball in play.”
Gausman’s velocity was also up, with an average fastball of 95.1 m.p.h. on a day he touched 97. That fastball velo paired well with his splitter, which generated nine swinging strikes, including the final pitch he threw to Jake Cronenworth.
From here, the Blue Jays go in two directions. One chartered jet will fly back to Toronto while another will carry players, coaches and staff to Philadelphia, where they’ll be well represented at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
The upcoming festivities are a chance to celebrate what’s gone right for the Blue Jays, like all-star starter Dylan Cease and Ernie Clement, who homered Sunday. But with just 45 wins heading into the second half, the focus will have to flip rapidly from celebration to production if the Blue Jays are going to stay in contention for long.
“I’m definitely looking forward to a break,” Gausman said. “It’s been a while since I had some time off, so I’m going to relish in that and take advantage of that. Then come back and get ready to go. It’s kind of make-or-break. We’ve got to start going better.”
Despite the loss, Schneider struck an even tone after the game. Asked why he remains optimistic despite the team’s injuries and struggles, he said he believes in the track record and resilience of this group.
“Because we haven’t done it,” he replied. “It’s kind of like the law of averages. There’s a difference between panic and knowing you have pieces that can get better and make this go a little bit more smooth and a little bit more consistently. That gives me a lot of hope.”
“Sitting over the break with a not-great taste in your mouth will be good for some guys. We’ll see a lot about ourselves when the break’s over.”
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