TORONTO – Chris Bassitt didn’t know he was going to start Saturday’s game until Friday afternoon.
The intended plan was for the right-hander to toe the rubber on Tuesday against the San Diego Padres, however that changed once Kevin Gausman was scratched from his planned start on Saturday with left side discomfort.
“The luxury of him is that he’s kind of ready to go whenever,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Bassitt. “Rubber armed and prepared.”
The team expected Bassitt to adjust, be unfazed and conduct business as usual. He certainly did that with a strong performance to lead the Blue Jays to a 5-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of 42,328 at Rogers Centre.
Bassitt was his usual crafty self, effectively mixing his seven pitches to keep Diamondbacks hitters off-balance. The right-hander allowed two runs on seven hits over six innings, walking none and striking out seven. He tossed 96 pitches and generated 10 whiffs on 49 swings.
The only damage against him came in the fourth inning, when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Emmanuel Rivera scored on a rather unorthodox, two-out infield hit. Second baseman Cavan Biggio made a sliding stop on a Jake McCarthy chopper and tossed the ball to first base, where Brandon Belt received it. However, the first baseman could not step on the bag before McCarthy reached. The play was called safe on the field and that ruling stood following a replay challenge by the Blue Jays.
Whitt Merrifield led off the bottom of that inning with a solo home run off Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen that just cleared the left-field wall and gave the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead.
Gallen is arguably the best pitcher in the National League this season and that was underlined by his selection as its starter in the All-Star Game. The right-hander’s 3.7 WAR, per FanGraphs, ranks second in the majors behind only Gausman (4.0), however Blue Jays hitters employed a patient approach against him, running up his pitch count early.
The club loaded the bases on Gallen in the second inning with singles from Merrifield and Alejandro Kirk and a walk from Biggio. That brought up George Springer, who worked an impressive at-bat, laying off some close pitches before lining a single to left field that drove in two runs and put the Blue Jays up 2-0.
Gallen was done after the fifth inning, having allowed three runs on six hits, walking three and striking out five.
Bo Bichette tagged Diamondbacks reliever Scott McGough for a solo homer in the eighth inning, his 16th homer of the season, while Merrifield added a sacrifice fly.
The Blue Jays’ bullpen trio of Nate Pearson, Erik Swanson and Yimi Garcia each contributed an inning of scoreless relief. Of note was Schneider’s choice to use Garcia instead of closer Jordan Romano, who experienced lower back tightness during the All-Star Game on Tuesday. The manager said prior to Saturday’s game that the Blue Jays would monitor Romano throughout the day and see if he was going to be available to pitch.
Gausman, meanwhile, began experiencing discomfort during his last outing, a July 8 start against the Tigers in Detroit. He was selected to All-Star Game, but decided against going to Seattle to spend time with his family. Gausman underwent an MRI on Friday that showed “no real concerns,” according to Schneider. He’s considered day to day.
“He’s just sore, so with the [return from the All-Star break], just being careful with it,” said the manager. “Starting pitcher for sure, whenever you’re feeling something a little bit out of the ordinary, you want to just be careful. It’s not like a specific move or pitch. Just trying to get the soreness out.”
Gausman has been the Blue Jays’ best pitcher this year and, one could argue, their most important player. The fact that he could return in a few days is a positive for the Blue Jays, whose lack of organizational pitching depth came into focus last month with the demotion of Alek Manoah.
Manoah’s back with the club now, though, and Hyun Jin Ryu was slated to make a rehab start with triple-A Buffalo on Saturday night. It will be his third rehab start and the 36-year-old left-hander, who underwent Tommy John surgery last June, is expected to throw about 65 pitches.
Should Gausman require a stint on the injured list, Ryu could in theory offer some insurance to the Blue Jays’ rotation. However, that scenario will be discussed in the coming days. In the meantime, the Blue Jays have to be happy with Bassitt, a steadying presence in the rotation whose 115.2 innings on the season are tied with Gausman for the team lead and rank them fourth in the American League.
