The Toronto Blue Jays are off to a not-good-enough 3-3 start in a 15-game stretch against teams with losing records.
Now, there’s a serious sense of urgency as the Blue Jays begin a six-game road trip with a three-game series in Colorado against the National League-worst Rockies.
With the out-of-town scoreboard not helping the Blue Jays much in recent days, Toronto finds itself 2.5 games out of a playoff spot as the calendar flips to September.
Nobody saw this coming when the year started — the Blue Jays were a trendy pick to contend for the World Series. That still might happen, but a lot of winning needs to start now.
It’s also September call-up day, so look for reliever Chad Green to make his debut in a Blue Jays uniform in Denver this weekend after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Here’s a look at the Blue Jays-Rockies series.
Probable Pitchers
Friday, 8:40 p.m. ET / 5:40 p.m. PT: Toronto LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Flexen (1-6, 6.94 ERA)
Saturday, 8:10 p.m. ET / 5:10 p.m. PT: Toronto LHP Yusei Kikuchi (9-4, 3.63 ERA) vs. Colorado LHP Ty Blach (1-1, 3.94 ERA)
Sunday, 3:10 p.m. ET / 12:10 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman (10-8, 3.30 ERA) vs. Colorado TBA
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Latest on the Blue Jays
The Blue Jays (73-61) clinched a 2-1 series victory over the Washington Nationals with a much-needed 7-0 win Wednesday at Rogers Centre before enjoying an off-day.
The series-ending win came less than 24 hours after manager John Schneider was heavily criticized for not pinch-running for Alejandro Kirk, who was thrown out at the plate after a fly-ball in the eighth inning, in what ended up being a painful 5-4 loss.
Chris Bassitt gave up just three hits in eight innings in the series finale, while the inconsistent Blue Jays offence gave him plenty of breathing room by pounding out 10 hits and scoring six runs on Nationals starter Patrick Corbin in five innings.
Kirk was the offensive standout, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. He has doubles in three consecutive games and is starting to turn things around after a mostly disappointing year.
The Blue Jays, who have their left side of the infield (Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman) on the injured list, are 2.5 games back of the Texas Rangers for the final wild-card spot. Toronto is 3.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros, who are tied for the second wild-card spot as well as first place in the American League West.
First baseman Spencer Horwitz and right-handed reliever Green are expected to join the Blue Jays from triple-A Buffalo when rosters expand Friday.
Latest on the Rockies
The Rockies (49-84) are going to miss the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.
Colorado faced three of the top teams in baseball in its past three series — the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays — and won just one of nine games.
The Braves completed a three-game sweep of the host Rockies with a 7-3 win on Wednesday. It wasn’t a good series for the organization as a whole. Two fans ran on the field Monday and made contact with Atlanta star Ronald Acuna Jr., with one knocking him over. They were charged with trespassing and disturbing the peace.
Atlanta scored 24 runs against a Rockies pitching staff with the second-worst ERA in MLB.
Sharing a city with the reigning NBA champion Nuggets, the 2022 Stanley Cup champion Avalanche and Sean Payton and Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos, the Rockies aren’t exactly the talk of the town.
Buffa-Love
Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement, a native of Rochester, N.Y., is a big Buffalo Bills and Sabres fan — and has the Bills’ ‘Shout’ song (albeit not the team’s version) as his walk-up song.
It’s a small sample size, but the recent call-up from triple-A Buffalo is earning some fans on this side of the border with his recent play.
Clement, who appears to be the primary shortstop with Bichette out, is batting .444 in 18 at-bats for Toronto. He had a couple of multi-hit games against Washington.
Sunday’s Starters
It’s a homecoming for Gausman, who was born just outside of Denver in Centennial, Colo.
This will mark his first appearance in Denver since he started two September games against the Rockies in 2021 as a member of the San Francisco Giants.
Gausman gave up a combined four runs in 13 innings in those starts.
The Rockies haven’t named a starter for Sunday because lefty Austin Gomber, who was on track to make the start, left his last outing early with back soreness on Monday against Atlanta.
Gomber (9-9, 5.50 ERA) has been one of Colorado’s better starters this season. Before Monday, he had eight quality starts in his last 10 outings.
Out of Town
The teams battling for the AL wild-card spots all have favourable matchups this weekend.
The Mariners are in New York to face the Mets, the Rangers entertain the Minnesota Twins and the Astros host the New York Yankees.
The fading Boston Red Sox, four games back of the Blue Jays, are in Kansas City to meet the Royals.
Head to Head
The Rockies and Blue Jays haven’t squared off since May-June 2019 when Colorado swept a three-game series in Denver.
Up Next
The Blue Jays head to Oakland for three games against the MLB-worst Athletics before starting a 10-game homestand.
