ATLANTA — A few days ago, the Toronto Blue Jays were on the brink of clearing the .500 mark for the first time since early April.
Three losses later, their record has dropped back to 29-32 and their resilience is being tested once again.
Reinforcements are coming, and the Blue Jays have been making things close, pushing until the very end again Tuesday. Yet their offence couldn’t come up with a game-changing late hit, and the Blue Jays lost the series opener to Atlanta 4-3.
“We feel like we take four steps forward and two steps back,” starter Kevin Gausman said afterwards. “We really haven’t hit our stride yet.”
Reflecting on a start in which he allowed four runs on five hits over six innings, Gausman said he needs to be better. In particular, he highlighted his leadoff walk to Ronald Acuna Jr., who would later score one of two first-inning runs.
“I just can’t do that,” Gausman said. “A rough start in the first and really climbing uphill the whole game.”
“I need to pitch better,” he added. “I can’t give up two runs in the first on the road in the first game of a series.”
While Gausman didn’t really find his best splitter until the sixth inning, he had no trouble missing bats against MLB's second-best offence. The right-hander struck out eight while generating 19 swinging strikes on 96 pitches – an exceptionally high ratio.
“He still managed to get his swing and miss with both fastball and split,” manager John Schneider said. “They’re also very aware of the split, so I thought he did a very good job of pivoting to the heater and the split was better as the game went on.”
“Wildly effective,” was how Gausman put it.
But even if he was critical of his outing, it’s not as though his teammates provided much breathing room offensively. The Blue Jays’ lineup managed only three runs on nine hits against the NL East leaders – two hits apiece from Nathan Lukes, Yohendrick Pinango, Ernie Clement and Okamoto, plus a double into the left field corner from Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
“We just couldn’t sequence them up or get that extra-base hit with a couple guys on,” Schneider said. “That was kind of the difference today.”
Otherwise, the offence had no answers for starter Bryce Elder and the Atlanta bullpen, as George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Andres Gimenez and Brandon Valenzuela all went hitless. In the course of a long season, there’s naturally an ebb and flow to player production, but few would have predicted that Springer (.632 OPS) and Guerrero Jr. (.777 OPS) would be here in early June.
For the Blue Jays to turn their season around, they need more from those established stars. Otherwise, the Blue Jays risk wasting strong efforts from starters like Gausman, Trey Yesavage and others.
With two runners on and a chance to tie the game in the ninth, pinch-hitter Jesus Sanchez popped up to end the game.
“Tough one,” Schneider said. “But they’re a good team for a reason.”
Before the game, Schneider shared one of his most optimistic injury updates in weeks. Starters Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber are all tentatively slated for rehab starts at triple-A this week, while relievers Yimi Garcia and Tommy Nance are progressing, too.
That wave of pitching should add front-of-the-rotation upside while also easing the strain on some of the relievers who have been taking on more work than anticipated due to injuries elsewhere on the staff.
And perhaps most encouraging of all: catcher Alejandro Kirk will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday as his broken left thumb has healed enough that he’s been facing live pitching again. Not only does Kirk excel on defence, his bat-to-ball skills and sneaky power will be a welcome addition to this lineup, too.
In the meantime, there's still plenty of work to do. After a tough loss in the opener, the Blue Jays will look to regain some of the ground they lost, starting Wednesday with Patrick Corbin on the mound opposite Grant Holmes.
Maybe then they can raise their level of execution as a collective.
“You feel confident in the group, but we’ve just got to play a little better,” Gausman said. “And that includes me … But everybody needs to just be a little better, be a little more consistent. I’d say that’s the biggest thing we’re chasing is consistency.”
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