TORONTO — During the Toronto Blue Jays‘ dominant stretch that catapulted the team atop the American League East, it seemed like nearly every single decision had worked out in the club’s favour.
Sunday represented the rare instance where that wasn’t the case.
Trade deadline acquisitions Louis Varland and Seranthony Dominguez struggled in relief as the Blue Jays fell to the Royals, 7-4, in 10 innings at Rogers Centre.
With the game tied 2-2 entering the 10th, Dominguez surrendered a double to Kyle Isbel that allowed ghost runner Randal Grichuk to score as the Royals took the lead.
Then, the wheels fell off for the right-hander, who joined the Blue Jays last week in a trade with Baltimore.
Dominguez hit Jonathan India and walked Bobby Witt Jr. to load the bases, and Tyler Tolbert followed with a single that scored two runs and effectively put the game out of reach.
Dominguez was replaced by Tommy Nance and the Royals scored two more runs as they captured a win and took two of three from the Blue Jays, who fell to 65-48.
The Blue Jays were clinging to a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning when Varland entered the game. It was the first leverage opportunity for the Blue Jays’ right-hander since being acquired by the team on Thursday and pitching in Friday’s blowout loss to Kansas City. Varland earned two quick outs before Witt Jr. doubled and was driven in by a single from the next hitter, Vinnie Pasquantino, that knotted the score.
That negated a strong outing from starter Chris Bassitt, who was in line for the win. The right-hander allowed one run on one hit over six innings, walking three, hitting one batter and striking out five.
Bassitt’s only real struggle came in the fourth when he lost control of the strike zone. The right-hander struck out Witt Jr., but then walked two straight batters before hitting Salvador Perez to load the bases. Mike Yastrzemski made Bassitt pay with a sacrifice fly to left field, but the right-hander promptly punched out Adam Frazier to escape the jam with minimal damage.
While the result of Sunday’s contest was important, there was arguably just as important a development at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, where Shane Bieber took the mound for the Bisons against the Syracuse Mets.
The right-hander, acquired from Cleveland ahead of the trade deadline, was making his first rehab start in the Blue Jays’ organization as he continues his buildup following Tommy John surgery.
Bieber allowed two runs on five hits, walking one and striking out six. He tossed 62 pitches and sat at 92.9 m.p.h. with his fastball, topping out at 94.4.
Up next for the Blue Jays is a trip to Colorado for a three-game set beginning Monday, followed by a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
