PHILADELPHIA — With a three-run lead and six outs to go, the Blue Jays were positioned well entering the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday night.
Tim Mayza had just struck out Bryce Harper with the bases loaded to escape a seventh-inning jam and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had responded with a no-doubt, three-run homer to left field. With their best relievers rested and two innings to go, the Blue Jays were in a good spot.
But Yimi Garcia allowed three runs to tie the game and Matt Vierling’s fifth hit of the night walked off Adam Cimber as the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 4-3 in a 10-inning game that took more than four hours to complete. A strong start from Kevin Gausman went to waste and a wild series at Citizens Bank Park ended in disappointment for the Blue Jays (84-65).
Granted, the Blue Jays’ bullpen has been better over the last couple of months, with Romano in particular offering remarkable consistency. But he has now blown two straight saves dating back to Sunday’s series finale against Baltimore. And while Cimber entered with a ghost runner already on second, he was unable to escape. Anthony Bass, meanwhile, did not pitch at all.
If nothing else, the timing of this bullpen slump is coming at a troubling period, given the importance of the games ahead.
Earlier, Guerrero Jr. looked to have given the Blue Jays all the offence they’d need with one swing. With runners on the corners and none out in the top of the eighth inning of a scoreless game, Guerrero Jr. crushed a 99 m.p.h. pitch from Seranthony Dominguez 429 feet into the left field seats for his 30th of the 2022 season.
Those power numbers are perhaps easier to overlook than they should be. By hitting 48 homers last year, Guerrero Jr. showed he’s capable of more — and that upside hasn’t been fulfilled this season.
At the same time, he entered play Wednesday with a 134 OPS+, which means he’s 34 per cent better than league average at the plate when taking into account era and ballpark. Among the hitters with a lifetime OPS+ of 134: Mookie Betts, Prince Fielder and Fred McGriff. This performance doesn’t match what Guerrero Jr. accomplished last year, but it still puts him among the game’s top offensive players.
Meanwhile, Gausman allowed just five singles while walking two and striking out eight against a tough Phillies lineup. His stuff was lively, with a fastball that topped out at 98.4 m.p.h. and a splitter that generated 11 swings and misses. And he worked smoothly with Alejandro Kirk, who returned to his position behind the plate after left hip soreness led to an eight-day break from catching.
Paired with a Rays loss, the Blue Jays stayed even with Tampa Bay, but the Yankees swept the Pirates, meaning the Blue Jays fall to 6.5 games back in the AL East. At this point, every Yankees win pushes the division title further out of reach and increases the likelihood of a three-game wild-card series.
“Everybody’s checking the scoreboard and paying attention,” third baseman Matt Chapman said Wednesday afternoon. “For us, every single game is a must-win. Whether we’re keeping up pace with the teams right next to us or trying to gain a game. That’s the mentality right now is win every day.”
Of course it doesn’t help when the Yankees pull off unlikely comebacks the way they did Tuesday, when Aaron Judge hit home run No. 60 and Giancarlo Stanton followed up with a walk-off grand slam.
“We’re paying attention,” Chapman said. “Watching what Aaron Judge is doing day-in and day-out is impressive. He’s a great player. He’s fun to watch. Unfortunately he’s driving that team that’s ahead of us right now, so from a competitive standpoint, we’re trying to make up games but that’s how tough this division is.”
From here, the challenge only intensifies as the Blue Jays head to St. Petersburg, Fla., for four games against the Tampa Bay Rays, the team chasing the Blue Jays in the wild-card race. Since Tampa Bay holds an 8-7 advantage in the season series, the Blue Jays will need to win at least three of four against the Rays to secure the tiebreaker advantage, should the teams finish the season with identical records.
And while there’s a case to be made that finishing third and locking in a first-round matchup against the AL Central winners, that’s not how Chapman views it. The Blue Jays are 43-32 at Rogers Centre this year, and there’s more comfort at home, too. Even if the Blue Jays are now overwhelmingly likely to reach the playoffs, they care about how they get there.
“Regardless of where we end up we want to host,” Chapman said. “We want to play in front of our home fans. We know how well we play at home and how fun it is to have our fans behind us. I’ve played on the road in the playoffs before and it’s tough. It’s always nice to have the home crowd, so we really want that.”
Ideally, they’d make sure these four games at the Trop are their last.
