TORONTO — The look of frustration was evident in Trey Yesavage’s body language.
The right-hander left a slider in the middle of the zone to Coby Mayo and the Baltimore Orioles third baseman unleashed a vicious swing. Yesavage immediately knew it was gone, the only question being how far the blast travelled.
Yesavage sunk his shoulders and, as he turned toward left field, the ball was still in the air. When it finally landed, in the front row of the second deck at Rogers Centre, the home run had added an exclamation mark to a stunning sixth inning that altered the direction of the Toronto Blue Jays’ 13-3 loss to the Orioles in front of 41,801.
“They put good swings on him,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider of the fateful sixth. “Happened kind of quick.”
The opener of the three-game series between the AL East rivals marked their fifth matchup in the last nine days. The Orioles frustrated Yesavage by drawing seven walks against him last weekend but in the early going on Friday, it looked like he was back to being himself.
After allowing a first-inning solo homer to O’s catcher Adley Rutschman, Yesavage settled down, retiring 15 of the next 16 by inducing plenty of weak contact that kept his pitch count low. The Blue Jays had built a 3-1 lead by the sixth thanks to a two-run homer from catcher Brandon Valenzuela and Yesavage appeared poised to deliver a lengthy outing that would’ve been welcomed given that the Blue Jays have yet to determine a starter for Saturday.
Jackson Holliday doubled to open the sixth frame and, after striking out Taylor Ward, Yesavage went up 0-2 on Gunnar Henderson before it all fell apart. The Baltimore shortstop battled back in the count and eventually drew an eight-pitch walk. Rutschman followed with a two-run double, pinch-hitter Jeremiah Jackson added an RBI single and then Mayo launched his no-doubter that capped the five-run inning and ended Yesavage’s night.
“I can't put my finger on anything that changed, but it was just a matter of compounding mistakes that just a lot of damage got done,” Yesavage said.
Following his last start, Yesavage looked at video and found his body was falling back toward first base during his delivery. He corrected that on Friday and it helped with his command. The right-hander stayed in the strike zone for the most part, however the Orioles were able to adjust accordingly.
“There's two totally different starts,” said Yesavage. “Last time, gave up one run on seven walks, which is surprising. But today, I had the ball in the zone and was getting hit around the park a little bit there in the sixth inning. So, it's just the way the game works. It's not going to be perfect every day I go out there. But just moving on to the next one.”
In total, the rookie allowed a career-high six runs as his ERA climbed nearly a full run to 3.16. If you zoom out, it’s noticeable that Yesavage is experiencing the first tough stretch of his brief, whirlwind career.
Over his past three starts, Yesavage has surrendered 11 walks and 12 runs over 17.1 innings. During times like these, he said his focus remains on staying confident.
“I really just dig deep down and remember who I am and there's a reason why I'm here,” said Yesavage.
The reason he’s here is that he’s among the most talented young pitchers in the game. Yesavage’s apex was on display during the Blue Jays’ post-season run and, for better and for worse, that’s raised the external expectations for a 22-year-old who was pitching in college just two years ago.
“I think people probably put some unrealistic expectations on a guy who was basically unhittable at times in the highest possible stress situations as a rookie,” said Schneider, who was asked what Yesavage needs to do to get back on track.
“I don't think he has to do anything crazy,” the skipper said. “I just think he's focused on getting ahead of hitters and executing when he does that. I’m not going to read too much into it. He's still one of our best pitchers.”
As for the Blue Jays, the loss continues a trend for a club that simply hasn’t been able to consistently string together wins. Two uplifting victories in Baltimore were immediately followed by two dispiriting losses, while Thursday’s encouraging win over Chris Sale and the Braves was followed by a clunker of a game that unravelled with some sloppy defence and baserunning in the later innings.
“It's frustrating for sure when you can put a game like yesterday together and then feel like you're kind of where you should be and then have it be basically a tale of two different games,” said Schneider.
