TORONTO — Max Scherzer kept his head down as he walked off the Rogers Centre mound and into the dugout. After passing pitching coach Pete Walker, the Toronto Blue Jays’ right-hander stopped at the water cooler to grab a drink and then stood by himself, presumably collecting his thoughts.
To say Sunday’s outing was a rough one for Scherzer would be an understatement. The veteran was removed in the third inning and charged with eight runs during what ended up being an 8-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins in front of 37,804.
The loss ensured the Blue Jays (6-9) ended their homestand with just two wins in six games, and they were outscored 40-23 along the way.
“Everybody’s got to look in the mirror about what they want to do and what they want to do better,” Scherzer said. “Obviously we want to be winning. This is the big leagues and this is our job to go out there and compete, be at our best and win ballgames. Unfortunately, we’re not doing that at the rate that we would like to right now.”
It’s been a tough stretch for the defending American League champions, who placed George Springer on the injured list Sunday morning with a left great toe fracture as the designated hitter became the club’s 10th player sidelined to injury.
However, it’s not just injuries to the starting staff and lineup that are plaguing the Blue Jays and contributing to the four consecutive series losses since opening weekend. There’s also a level of ineffectiveness at play and that was evident during the three-game set against the Twins.
Patrick Corbin, Eric Lauer, and Scherzer combined to allow 19 earned runs over 11.2 innings during their starts. The Blue Jays were able to overcome Corbin’s rough outing during Friday’s win, but the poor rotation performances put the club in massive holes on both Saturday and Sunday.
Right-handers Trey Yesavage and Jose Berrios are making progress toward returns, however, as the Blue Jays embark on a nine-game road trip through Milwaukee, Arizona and Anaheim, results from the incumbent members of the starting staff will need to improve.
“Solo homers aren’t going to beat you,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “I feel like this series, whether it was a couple of walks or hit-by-pitch before, that leads to two- or three-run homers, whatever it may be. That’s tough to claw back from.”
While that’s true, the offence has also been inconsistent. On Sunday, the lineup had plenty of opportunities to score but ultimately went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position, leaving 12 men on base and continuing a troubling trend.
“We can play a lot better baseball,” said centre-fielder Daulton Varsho. “I think everybody in this whole building knows that. I think fans know that.”
Added Schneider: “We’re missing that hit to keep the game flow where it should be. It seems like we’ve been playing out of sync a little bit with an inning here, an inning there, where it makes it pretty tough to come back.”
Scherzer was coming off a two-inning outing against the Dodgers that he left due to right forearm tendinitis. He underwent an MRI in between starts that showed there were no issues with the ligament, and he was deemed healthy for Sunday’s contest, which featured a Twins lineup with five lefties and three switch-hitters.
The right-hander touched 94.1 m.p.h. with his fastball in the opening frame and induced two flyouts and an inning-ending punchout. In the second inning, though, he had trouble locating and walked Josh Bell and hit Matt Wallner before surrendering a three-run homer to Tristan Gray, who unleashed on an 0-1 cutter in the middle of the zone.
Scherzer wasn’t able to stop the bleeding in the third when Kody Clemens led off with a 417-foot homer to right-centre field, and the Twins followed that with single-single-walk-single-sac fly. Scherzer was lifted for Joe Mantiply, who hit the first batter he faced before surrendering a bases-loaded double to Brooks Lee during what was a five-run inning.
The runs were charged to Scherzer, and in total, he allowed eight on five hits over 2.1 innings, with two walks and three strikeouts over 68 pitches (41 strikes).
“Today I got beat on walks and missed execution,” said Scherzer. “I can look at myself in the mirror and I’m accountable for how I go out there and how I execute, and today I didn’t get it done.”
The right-hander said his forearm was not an issue and that it loosened up well as the day progressed. He stopped short of saying that he’d moved past the tendinitis, though, noting he needs to see how his arm responds Monday.
Whether it’s his own ailment or the collective injuries of the team, Scherzer said “there’s no excuses in this game” and that there are opportunities for “somebody else to come up here and show what they can do.”
“Whether you’re hurt or not, no one cares,” he added. “This is about going out there and winning ballgames. And so, everybody has got to be accountable for what you do, and you got to be accountable for how we’re playing. And we gotta play better.”
