TORONTO – In the late innings of Tuesday’s game, it became clear the Toronto Blue Jays were speeding toward one of two possible outcomes: exhilarating win or dispiriting loss.
And despite an impressive five-run rally in the seventh and one more run in the tenth, it was another frustrating night for the Blue Jays, who lost 7-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays in 10 innings, their third consecutive defeat.
“It’s tough when you come back from 5-0 to not get it done there late,” starter Patrick Corbin said afterwards. “We’re playing a really hot team. We’ve got to come in tomorrow and at least try to get one.”
Now 18-24, the Blue Jays are a season-worst six games below .500 and they’ve lost all five of the games they’ve played against the Rays this season. Bit by bit, the losses are piling up for the Blue Jays and their list of concerns isn’t going away.
Of course, the loss would have been far more one-sided without a five-run seventh from the Blue Jays. Hits by Ernie Clement, Jesus Sanchez and George Springer got the rally going, but it was a two-run double by Yohendrick Piñango that brought the Blue Jays to within one. One batter later, Junior Caminero made an error and Piñango scored to tie the game.
“I always say you don’t want one guy to try to do it,” manager John Schneider said. “You’ve got to just keep everyone doing their part.”
But while the Rays scored twice in the tenth, the Blue Jays managed just one run in the bottom half of the inning.
“They’ve been very competitive for a long time now,” Corbin said. “They do the little things well. They pitch well with some timely hitting. They’re doing something right over there.”
To be fair, some teams recover from worse records than 18-24 every year. The problem is, most teams that start like this don’t recover – so if the Blue Jays want to be the exception to prove the rule, they need better results soon.
Those solutions could come from any number of sources. As injured position players like Alejandro Kirk, Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger make their way back this month, the roster will get stronger both on offence and on defence.
But the timeline for others, like Jose Berrios and Max Scherzer, is murkier, meaning the Blue Jays essentially have four and a half starters right now, depending on what they decide to do with Spencer Miles.
As for Corbin, he acquitted himself well enough Tuesday, scattering nine hits over 4.1 innings while allowing three runs. There wasn’t a whole lot of bat missing here – just four swinging strikes and one strikeout – but he continues holding his own as a credible big-league starter.
While Vladimir Guerrero Jr. contributed a sacrifice fly in the tenth, he’s still seeking his first extra-base hit in May.
When the topic of Guerrero Jr. came up before the game, Schneider pointed out the work the 27-year-old puts in behind the scenes and noted that some other prominent sluggers are off to slow starts. Then he returned to the question.
“What am I seeing from Vladimir? I think he’s trying to do a lot. He’s trying to do a little bit too much.”
“He wants to be the guy to carry us and the more he does that the harder it gets,” Schneider continued. “From a swing standpoint, I feel like he’s just a tick off with his timing, with his load, his bat tip. And they’re pitching him tough. It’s like hard sinkers in (and) breaking balls away. He’s got to just have a game or two to kind of get himself going.”
After another hitless game for Guerrero Jr., Schneider repeated that he has “all the confidence in the world” that the first baseman will turn his offensive game around.
As for the Blue Jays’ defence, Daulton Varsho made a tremendous catch in centre field in the tenth, crashing into the outfield wall to prevent further damage by the Rays. While Varsho collided into the wall, it was “more chin-first than it was head-first,” according to Schneider.
“He’s good,” the manager said. “I love the way he went about that.”
Elsewhere on defence, there were moments where balls evaded the likes of Varsho, Clement and Davis Schneider, continuing a trend of hit-and-miss fielding.
“Totally,” Schneider said. “You want to just make a couple more plays or play a little bit tighter, give yourself a chance to come back. And there’s games that we’ve just straight out gotten beat. But I think the (defensive) expectation for this group is higher than what they’ve shown for sure.”
As a team, the Blue Jays ranked seventh in MLB in outs above average entering play Tuesday. But while the numbers are respectable, those who know this team understand there’s another level of defensive performance possible here.
The same can be said of many Blue Jays hitters and, when it comes down to it, their season as a whole thus far.
